Text: Luke 17:5,6

The apostles said to the Lord, “Make our faith greater.” The Lord answered, “If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you’. 

Faith the size of a mustard seed

A small congregation built a new church on a piece of land left to them by a church member.

Ten days before the new church was to open, but their world came crashing down when the local building inspector arrived and informed the Pastor that unless they double the number of parking spaces, they would not be able to use the new church.

Unfortunately, the new building had used every square centimetre except for a rather steep hill behind the church.

In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move that rocky hill. Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had “mountain moving faith.”

They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved before the scheduled opening dedication service.

At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation’s 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o’clock the pastor said the final “Amen”. “We’ll open our new church next Sunday as scheduled,” he assured everyone. “God has never let us down before, and I believe he will be faithful this time too.”

The next morning as the Pastor was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door and a rough looking construction foreman entered. “Excuse me, Reverend. I’m from a Construction Company.

We’re building a huge shopping mall. We need some fill – in fact, heaps of fill. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that rocky hill behind the church?

We’ll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge. We need to do this now to allow it to settle properly.” Well, the little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned (Source unknown).

Wow. When you first hear this story it’s easy to say that this is exactly what Jesus was talking about when he said, ‘If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you’.

In other words, through faith we can move mountains.

But is that right?

Is that a correct conclusion?

Was it their ‘mountain moving faith’ or the length of time they spent in prayer that in the end gave them what they were seeking?

Were those 24 people super heroes of faith and so moved the mountain?

The disciples were facing their own mountains that needed moving.

In the previous verses Jesus had been talking about the effect that sin has on our lives.

Firstly, Jesus warns that anyone who causes another person to sin would be better off if a huge rock were tied around his neck and thrown overboard somewhere in the deepest part of sea.

The disciples were worried about this and quite rightly.

Who hasn’t caused someone to sin?

Who hasn’t said and done things that have caused others to be hurt, fell alienated, angry, hateful, and unforgiving?

If that weren’t enough Jesus goes on to say more. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

If he sins against you seven times in one day, and each time he comes to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

It’s a difficult thing to talk to someone – rebuke someone – whose lifestyle does not reflect their position as a child of God. Jesus goes on to say even more.

When a person says he/she is sorry, Jesus says there is to be no limit to the number of times we are to forgive that person.

Very possibly he could be asking for forgiveness for the same or a similar sin over and over and over again.

Jesus says in no uncertain terms, ‘You must forgive him’.

That kind of forgiveness goes right against our human nature.

That person who keeps on offending us doesn’t deserve forgiveness and yet Jesus pronounces some dire consequences on those who can’t overcome their need for revenge and be forgiving.

The disciples had a problem – you might say they had their own mountain that needed moving.

They recognised their own sinfulness and their failure to live up to their calling as people who belong to God and disciples who claim to follow their master and do his will.

So, they come to Jesus with all this on their minds and say, “Make our faith greater!

Give us a greater amount of faith so that we will be able to do the things that you have asked of us”.

They felt that an increase in their faith would enable them to move the mountain of sin that was getting in the way of their faithful discipleship.

And what does Jesus do – how does he answer their prayer?

Does he lay his hands upon them and pray and give them more faith?

Does he snap his fingers and grant them a double dose of his Spirit and faith?

Does he give them ‘mountain moving faith’ so that they could remove all obstacles that got in their way?

No, he doesn’t – instead he says to them, “If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you”.

The point Jesus is making is that they have already been given faith.

Even a tiny faith the size of a mustard seed is enough as far as God is concerned.

The size of faith doesn’t matter because God is the one doing the moving.

If it is my faith that moved the mountain, then the bigger the mountain the more faith I would need to move it.

The bigger the obstacle the more strength I’d need to climb it.

The more serious the illness a faith even greater would be required to overcome it.

The more serious the sin the more faith I would need in order to have it forgiven.

That kind of thinking kind of makes sense, but that’s not how faith works. In fact, faith doesn’t do the work at all. And thank God for that.

God is the one doing the work through faith. Think of faith as the key that opens the door to God acting in our lives.

If I have a bigger key ring than you do, does it matter?

The size of a key ring doesn’t matter – key rings don’t open doors but it’s that little key on the ring that opens doors.

Even a little faith opens the door for God to move the mountains and trees and even our hearts.

So, what Jesus is saying to his disciples, who asked for their faith to be increased, is that even if they have the smallest amount of faith, they can do great things.

Even the smallest faith can grasp what God has and is doing in our lives;

even the smallest faith is able to recognise the ways that God is able to make changes in lives and in our world through us.

We have all met people who have lived through very difficult times, and no doubt many of us have thought about the great faith they must have had to come out of their troubles as well as they have.

We may even have said to them – with respect and admiration, ‘I don’t think I could have faced what you have faced. I admire your great faith.’

In response to this I have heard people say, ‘My faith is no greater than anyone else’s. I just didn’t know what faith I had until I needed it. God helped me, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have made it.’

Jesus didn’t need to increase the size of the faith of the disciples. They already had faith.

He assures them of that and states that, even though their faith may be small, God can accomplish great things through them.

And we know that he did. They went on to share the Good News about Jesus even in the face of some strong opposition, being brought before rulers and judges, being imprisoned and killed.

Didn’t Paul say when he was recalling some of the difficulties he had to face as an apostle, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me” (Phil 4:13).

He doesn’t talk about how great his faith in God was, but rather he talks about what his faith was focussed on.

There are times when our confident, perhaps even over confident faith, is brought crashing down because of what is happening in our lives.

There are times when our faith seems so trivial and weak in the face of gigantic threats to our health, our family, our self-worth.

But no matter what size and strength we consider our faith to be at any given moment, faith as small as a mustard seed (and that’s pretty small) is able to uproot a mulberry tree (which has an extensive root system, and plant (not dump) it into the sea and still expect it to bear mulberries.

Years ago, I was asked by the parents of a child who was severely intellectually disabled whether their child would have enough faith and understanding to come to Holy Communion.

My answer: ‘I wasn’t particularly concerned about understanding. Their child may never be able to express what she believed in words.

But as far as God is concerned a faith the size of a mustard seed is all that is needed for him to be able to do great things in their child’s life.’

What a joy it was for all those at church, especially the parents, to see the outstretched hands of this child, waiting for them to be filled with the love of God through the body and blood of Jesus in the sacrament.

Praise God that in spite of our sins he has given us faith – even faith as small as a mustard seed.

And God working through the faith he has given us will defeat the devil’s temptations to sin, he will help us overcome the obstacles we face when forgiveness is required.

God working in us through faith can move mountains and trees and even our own hearts for his glory. Faith is powerful, because the Christ in whom faith believes is powerful.

Faith, even one that is described as being the size of a mustard seed, relies on Jesus, his love and strength. This kind of faith enables us to rise above the most threatening circumstances.

To repeat Paul’s words, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me” (Phil 4:13).

Let’s not twist all this around in order to convince ourselves that now we don’t need to take faith and prayer and the study of God’s Word seriously.

But realize that you already possess more than enough of what’s needed to change your life, your heart, your family, your community, even your world.

In summary, today we are being asked not how much faith do we have but rather what are we doing with the faith that God has already given us?

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

    Luke 16:19-31
  :Gifted to give

What would you do if you unexpectedly received one million dollars? Would you automatically think of giving some of it away to others in greater need than you? On the Sunday TV program Songs of Praise a new definition of a millionaire was suggested as “someone who gives a million dollars away”. Today we thank God for all those around us who have so generously supported the ministry of our Church to the poor and needy. In the Early Church the poor were called “the treasures of the Church” because in helping the poor, Christians were helping Christ Himself who meets us in the poor and needy.  

The focus of Jesus’ ministry was on those in greatest need of His help. Jesus deeply and warmly loved those on the edge of society or those who were looked down on with disdain – the weak, the sick, the disabled and outcasts. Jesus reminds John the Baptist that His mission was to bring good news to the poor. By this, Jesus also includes those suffering from spiritual poverty, of which there are so many here in our own community. In today’s parable, Jesus focuses on the needs of poor people like Lazarus.

Children and grown-ups like hearing this parable. In this story it seems that for a moment, the curtain is drawn aside and we get a tiny glimpse of the hereafter, of heaven and hell. The other thing that pleases a child’s imagination and perhaps many adults, is to see how this rich guy, who had it so “good” in this life, gets what’s coming to him in the next life, while poor Lazarus, who had such a hell of a life on earth, at last receives the joy and consolation of heaven.

But by focussing on that aspect of the story, we’re missing its central point. The real point of the story is not so much about the rich man or about Lazarus, but rather about what Abraham says to the rich man about his five brothers still at home on earth and their need to hear God’s Word. The sin of the rich man isn’t that he was rich but that he was indifferent. It’s not bad to be rich, nor is it a sign of goodness to be poor. But it’s wrong when a person is so wrapped up in his possessions and affluent lifestyle and is so thoroughly selfish that he is totally indifferent to the needy person placed at his gate. The rich man’s terrible sin isn’t that he never helped Lazarus, but that he did nothing at all, feasting while Lazarus died at his gate. In the time of Jesus, affluent people used bread as we use serviettes – to wipe their fingers. Hungry Lazarus would gladly have fed on such scraps, but the rich guy pretends not to notice Lazarus’s desperate need for food.

What’s more, he pretends not to notice God, His Maker and the Giver of all the gifts he enjoys. These two realities go together – if you love God, you will love your neighbour and have a special compassion for a neighbour in need. At the other end of the scale, indifference to your needy neighbour is a reflection of your indifference to God. God’s Word says to you, “Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20).”

Let’s focus on being different now. Lazarus certainly was a different person in the next life. In contrast to the rich guy in our parable who is unnamed, Lazarus has a name. His name is a very important clue for understanding this story, because his name means “God is my helper.” His name shows that despite all his poverty and misery, he has put his trust in God. He believed God is his Helper. And when he dies, what he has always believed comes true. In heaven he discovers the joy of being with the God in whom he trusted.

The rich man is certainly a different person in the next life. For him it is a “riches to rags” story. In the next life he finds himself in hell. What is hell? To be separated from God. And what is heaven? To be with God. In this life the rich man separated himself from God; in the next life, the separation from God becomes absolute. So now he’s a radically different person – no more enjoying the comforts of this life, but enduring the discomforts of hell. Another thing is different about him in the next life. For the first time he thinks of someone other than himself. He is concerned about his five brothers left on earth and asks Abraham to send someone from the dead, lest they also come to the place of torment.

He thinks that there’s only one thing that will change his brothers on earth and make them different, that is if someone comes from the dead to warn them and then they will believe. “Not so”, Abraham tells him. “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And if they won’t listen to them, that is, if they won’t hear God’s Word for them, then they won’t listen even if someone comes to them from the dead.

Although this is only a story told to us by Jesus, nevertheless what He said actually happened. There was a brother who did come back from the dead, and would you know, his name was Lazarus! Remember how Jesus raised Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus from the dead. And what happened after Jesus raised Lazarus? Those who already believed, believed all the more. But those who didn’t believe immediately began plotting to assassinate Jesus. There were times like the feeding of the five thousand when people saw the miraculous things Jesus did and still didn’t believe in Him. Seeing is not necessarily believing.  Rather, faith in Jesus gives us super-sight. Jesus says to Martha at the death of her brother Lazarus, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40)” Faith enables us to see God at work in our lives and around us, things those without faith cannot see.

So who are we in this story? We’re the ones still alive. We are the five brothers. And like them we have Moses and the prophets. In fact, we have even more, because not only do we have Moses and the prophets in the Old Testament, we also have the Gospels and the Epistles, the New Testament of our merciful Saviour Jesus Christ. We have the life-giving good news of His grace that can make us different, and can make us dare to live differently. What an incomparable blessing that is. It’s all about the Word who took on human flesh and lives among us, full of grace and truth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ became poorer and more wretched than Lazarus was so that by His poverty we could become rich in the things that matter eternally. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you, through His poverty, might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).”

After His birth, where Jesus lay in a borrowed manger in a lowly stable, He was rejected, scoured, despised, tortured and crucified for us. Jesus gave up everything for us and our eternal benefit and blessing. After Jesus rose from the dead He became Lord of heaven and earth and the real owner of everything on this earth. He now says to you and to me: “Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands – all that you can hold (Luke 6:38).” Or as the prayer of St. Francis puts it, “For it is in giving that we receive” the joy of knowing that we are blessing others with what God has given us. Jesus says to you “Blessed are those who hear God’s Word and put it into practice (Luke 11:28).”

It’s not hard to put ourselves in the rich man’s place and imagine what he might think, looking at Lazarus, all covered in loathsome sores: ‘But if the doctors cannot do a thing for him, what am I expected to do? He is as poor as the stray dogs themselves. But surely it is not my fault that he is poor. I never robbed him or stole from him. God knows the streets are full of beggars. There are plenty of others as badly off as he is. But what can one man do about it? They would have to bankrupt the government to make any noticeable difference. If one lone beggar finds his way to my door, does that give him more claim on me than the others have? I have let him live exclusively, for weeks and months, on the discarded scraps from my table. Surely that is something I am doing for him. What more can I do?’

When we suffer from donation-fatigue like that, we need to pray to Jesus, “Thank You for loving me so much more than I could ever deserve. Through Your Word and sacraments, continually fill me with a love that overflows into the lives of others.” 

People who love each other want to be together and hear each other speak. When we love our Lord, we want to be where He is with us in a very special way, that is, in the Lord’s Supper, where He gives Himself to us in an awesome act of love. He does this to continue making us more and more like Him. More and more we will become eager to love others with Christ’s life-transforming, life-renewing love.

We give to God because God promises to multiply with His blessing whatever we give, whether to Him or our needy neighbour. “God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).”

For souls redeemed, for sins forgiven, for means of grace and hopes of heaven,

To you, O Lord, what can be given? You give us all.

We lose what on ourselves we spend; we have as treasure without end

Whatever, Lord, to You we lend – You give us all.

Amen.

Jeremiah 8: 18-9:1 ; Timothy 2:1-7; St Luke 16:1-13

Have you been scammed? Scams are ubiquitous these days with the advent of electronic communications and internet banking the field is endless for scammers to get to work on the vulnerable or the gullible in our community. The fact that scamming is a very profitable business entails that there is now a host of strategies by which people are encouraged to use to avoid being fleeced of their hard-earned cash. But one thing we learn from scammers is that they are single minded in conducting their business. They don’t give up easily but continue to try and deceive you. They are single minded in their nefarious endeavours.

There are many parables in the gospel which indicate that the children of this world are more alert to their situation than the children of God. They can make decisive decisions in the light of the situation which confront them. Here in this parable a steward of a certain rich man has been told that he has been found out defrauding his employer. So as is the usual custom for the children of this world he immediately decides to secure his future by making friends with some influential people who are customers of his employer. Immediately, he sets about doing some creative accounting. Loading up their invoices with goods for which they don’t have to pay. This is a common case of fraud and it is not unusual today to read of similar situations in the commercial life of the community.

But what is remarkable about this situation is that Jesus praises the action of this fraudster and He does so on the basis that he is very much alive to the situation in which he finds himself. He is about to get the sack and so he sets about securing his future by his unlawful action. He knows how to secure his wellbeing in the changed circumstances of his life that are about to happen and makes a decisive decision to abandon his previous way of living and become a fraudster without any compunction or guilt but with a single eye on his self-preservation.

The point being that this crook is more alert to his situation than those who are eyewitnesses of an event the equivalent of which is the creation of the world. These are the people who see and hear Jesus the Son of God who has come into this world to redeem it from corruption by allowing Himself to be made one with their sin that they may be forgiven and renewed by God. This miracle of grace, the incarnation of the eternal Son of the eternal God, is not acknowledged by these people since He appears to be just another itinerant teacher that can be assessed, debated or ignored depending on our whim or inclination. This parable concerns the situation of the church in the time between the first and final appearing of its Lord. This is the time when Christians grow weary and ask themselves whether it is all worthwhile. Wouldn’t it be easier simply to go with the flow and forget about the faith, we are all in the same boat, aren’t we are all going the same way? This problem of uncertainty, and indecision about our relationship to God’s act of redeeming grace in Christ, whether there is anything in it, is a manifestation of the brokenness of the relationship between God and ourselves in Christ.  It echoes the suggestion of the serpent in Gen. 3 to the effect of introducing an element of uncertainty in the relationship between God and humankind.  “Did God say?”

Another saying of Jesus’ tells us the same thing. The single eye (Mat. 6:22, 23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”) the single eye or double vision is that which defines the wholeness and the light of the body.  It too raises the problem of uncertainty in the relationship between Christ and the Christian, it too manifests or shows the brokenness of the relationship.  Likewise, the suggestion of the serpent in Gen. 3, the archetypal original sin is to the effect of introducing an element of uncertainty in the relationship between God and humankind.  “Did God say?” The single eye and the implied concentration of sight on the one thing that fills the body with light: but if the sight of the eye is not singular but divided the body is full of darkness. Here it is either or, not both and.

Throughout the history of God’s relationship with his people Israel the question is continually posed by prophet and judge to King and people concerning their vacillation as to the location of their trust – either in God who had promised himself to them as their God or  in other god’s or alliances of a political and military nature to protect and secure their lives.  The question was and is for Israel and the Church whether people would or would not allow God to be the God he had promised himself to be for them. So, Jeremiah laments the fact that Israel raises the question is God really God? “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in Her?” He then goes on to say that through and in the indifference of Israel God Himself suffers loss. “For in the wound of the daughter of my people my heart is wounded.” Jeremiah 8: 19 & 21. 

And it is the same question raised by Jesus in the context of the fulfilment of that history of God’s relationship with Israel in Himself, as the Messiah of Israel, the Son of God who assumed flesh in order that he may take to his own heart the alienation, the estrangement, of God’s people.

The question which Jesus’ parable about the crooked book keeper poses for us is in relation to Jesus Himself: do we believe in the decisive action undertaken by God on our behalf.  Is this God really God for us? Is this journey of the Son of God into the far country for our sake, the shedding of His blood, the gratuitous violence of the Roman soldiers, the suffering the rejection, the abandonment by men and above all by God: is all this necessary for God to be our God? Is all this nastiness necessary, this divine self-humiliation, for the sake of God’s relationship with God’s own creation? The answer of course is that this is the way God has acted, there is no other way that human beings and creation can be recreated, than through this divine act of humiliation for our sakes, identifying himself with godforsakenness of the human condition?

The issues raised by Jesus words; the crooked employee who makes a risky but decisive decision to safeguard his future by committing a fraud on his employer, the issue of the single eye alone filling the body with light: these words of Jesus are about our attitude to God’s self-revelation in the most contradictory form of suffering, abandonment and death. Is this God God; if so, what does that mean in defining who we are in solidarity with all people in our wretchedness and alienation from God and each other? The singleness of our eye and the luminosity of light of who we are, depends on the risk we are prepared to take in making a decision, like the fraudster, about whether our life’s purpose and its future is determined  by acceptance or rejection of God’s action in Christ, the once for all fulfilment of his purposes, for Israel, the Church, and Christians, in the way of Jesus to the cross. Will we allow this God to be God?  Will we accept that we live as God’s people by this, his gracious judgement, alone. Luther’s sola gratia and sola scriptura mean precisely this. Here there is no middle pathway between faith and unbelief, light and darkness, Gospel and Law. In relationship to the truth which he brings there is only the possibilities of receiving Him as the truth of our life or not.  Here the possibilities are limited by this choice. It is the risk of faith or unbelief; the single eye, and the whole self full of light: or continuing to labour with our hearts divided and thus choose to live in the darkness of unbelief and guilt

Dr Gordon Watson.

The Text: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Found By Grace, Filled With Gratitude

 

A little girl lost in a big store came up to someone and said, “My Mummy is lost; I can’t find her.” We know, of course, that it’s the child whom the mother has lost. She has no doubt been searching frantically for her lost daughter. There are many people all around us who are not aware they’re lost to the Kingdom of Heaven until they’re found by Jesus.

One Saturday morning, a visitor knocks on the door of a pastor’s home and asks, “Have you found Jesus?” The pastor replies: “Oh, I didn’t know He was lost.” A better question might have been: “Has Jesus found you?”

What an unsurpassed joy it is when the message becomes true of the hymn:

            Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

            That saved a wretch like me!

            I once was lost but now am found,

            Was blind but now I see.

St. Paul didn’t know he was lost until our risen Lord interrupted his “search-and-eliminate-Christians” plans on the road to Damascus. He was so sure he was doing the right thing by seeking to destroy the rapidly growing community of Christ. Paul had seen the tenacious nature of faith in Christ, in someone like St. Stephen who courageously and amazingly prayed for those who were killing him, “Lord, forgive them for this sin.” A faith like that had to be stamped out, Paul had thought. As well as cursing Jesus, Paul had shown no mercy to our Lord’s loyal followers, beating them and throwing them in prison. Paul was the most passionate persecutor of Christians back then. 

Every Christian at that time would have considered Paul to be the most unlikely person to be converted to Christianity. None of them would have dreamed Paul might become Christ’s greatest advocate and most effective missionary. But then, God’s grace does surprising things. Paul had no idea that Jesus identifies so closely with what happens to His persecuted people. Jesus asks Paul, not “why are you persecuting Christians?”, but “Why are you persecuting Me?” Until that day on the road to Damascus, Jesus had shown great patience to Paul. On that life-changing day, Jesus showed outstanding mercy to His greatest opponent, a man who had treated Jesus’ followers so un-mercifully.

That day, Paul discovered how astonishing and how totally undeserved is the grace of Christ. He spent the rest of his life praising and thanking God for His grace whenever he could. He now gives our Lord the credit for everything good he achieves. His missionary achievements far outweigh those of all the other apostles, but he attributes it all to grace. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them – though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).”

It’s beyond comprehension that Jesus should choose for his primary spokesman, someone who had been such a terrible sinner. But Paul learned that, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20).” Paul is Exhibit “A” for the way the grace of Christ can completely change and transform our lives. If there’s hope for Paul, there’s hope for us all. If there’s hope for Paul, the chief of sinners, there’s hope for everyone else. “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost (1 Timothy 1:15).”

Paul calls this marvellous summary of the Gospel “a statement that is completely reliable”, that is, a fundamental and unshakeable truth that we can stake our whole lives and our eternal future on. The most saintly Christians are those who are the most conscious of their sins. They’re aware of the big gap between what they profess and what they practice, and plead for God’s help to narrow the gap. Their constant prayer is, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” They feel that it is a much more fruitful activity to do something about their own sins, rather than focus on the sins of others. For those who have been Christians for most of their lives, their own sins appear greater than the sins of others. There’s good reason for this. We don’t know the hearts and minds of others as well as we know our own hearts and minds.

St. Paul invites all of us to “in all humility, regard others as better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).” Paul practised what he preached. Not only did he consider all the other apostles better than he, but he also considered all other Christians as better than he was. Such an attitude couldn’t but help to contribute to the effectiveness of his ministry. That’s why Paul saw it as a privilege to serve others and see Christ in them. Ever since our risen Lord appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus, Paul could never look another Christian in the eye without seeing our Saviour there. Christians know that they have defects and failings which are unknown to others, and which they have no right to suppose that others have also. On the other hand, we see in others, virtues that we do not yet possess. Overwhelmed by our Lord’s goodness and grace to us, we thank God for all the good qualities, gifts and virtues we see in others.

Our Lord’s forgiveness and grace is truly praiseworthy and astonishing for all the changes it can bring about in us. His forgiveness can heal the painful memories sin causes. He promises to no longer remember the sins He has forgiven. Forgiveness takes the sting out of the memory of sin. Our forgiven sins leave a print on our memories, but unforgiven sins leave a wound.

Christ brings His cross to our altar to give to each of you personally its gracious and merciful benefits. Where the forgiveness of Jesus won for you on the cross is gratefully treasured and embraced, the sting of sin is gone from one’s memory. There’s nothing left but a disappearing scar. Your sin has become an event of the past.

Paul’s recollection of his past has little pain for him, because his overwhelming focus is on what lies ahead. “I am focussing all my energies on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13).” We often wish that the stain sins leaves on our memory could be purged away immediately. All of us have much in our lives we wish we could forget. But God lets some memories of past faults and failures remain as a barrier against future sin. God uses these memories to equip us to serve Him more sensitively. It makes us more sympathetic to the failings of others. “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Ask God to heal you of those memories that come back to haunt you in the middle of the night. Hand them over to Him so they can no longer ruin your peace of mind. “Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).” The truth is that when we’re forgiven, our sins cease to haunt us. They can’t be recalled without great effort. It is only an unforgiven sin whose stain stays. “Be forgiven and forget,” and live in the sunshine of God’s mercy.

The miracle of God’s grace is that it can make and keep each one of us as His treasured servants, despite our short tempers, depression, discontent and failure to pray as we ought. St. Paul was endlessly grateful that Jesus trusted him to be His spokesman to the nations. Trust is always a risk. Our Lord has no qualms about taking a risk with us. He’s prepared to be disappointed by how we serve Him from time to time, in the hope that each time He picks us up after we fall, we will grow closer to Him. Our greatest asset will be our longing to have Jesus become more and more a part of our daily lives.

Franz was dying. His daughter Lena asked him, “Father, are you thinking of Jesus?” Franz replied that when he could no longer think of Jesus, Jesus was thinking of him. That’s the good news it gives me great joy to share with you this morning: Jesus thinks of you more than you could imagine or dream. Your Lord remembers you even when you’re too busy or too tired to think of Him. He remembers you with deepest love and tenderness.  One church I know of has written over the back of its pews: “Be Patient – God Is Not Yet Finished With Me.”  God is in less of a hurry than we are. “The Lord isn’t being slow to carry out His promises as anybody else might be called slow; but God is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost, but everyone to be brought to change their ways (2 Peter 3:9).”

Jesus is God’s patience in human form. He showed admirable patience with the twelve slowest learners in Israel, so that there can be hope for all the rest of us. No farmer expects to receive a harvest in the same month his crop was sown. Jesus didn’t look for quick results from His preaching and teaching. He’s prepared to wait patiently for His harvest of fruits – joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, goodness and kindness – from your life. The grace of Christ has found you and will go with you on your journey through this life. That same grace can keep alive in you, a gratitude that never stops overflowing with joy.

Hearts, hands and voices that continually thank God for His amazing grace, have discovered a joy that has the taste of eternity about it.

From 1 Timothy 1:17, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Text: Philemon 4-21

The Reconciling Miracles of a Faith Active in Love

 

Dear friends in Christ,

What’s been the most welcome, life-changing letter you ever received? Carefully crafted letters can achieve miracles. In trying to reach an agreement over something that’s emotionally explosive, we often say things we don’t mean to say.

But a letter can be re-drafted until it says exactly what we want to say. When someone has hurt you, do you just grin and bear it or do you take the initiative and try to resolve the issue in a loving and forgiving way? It’s not easy to take the initiative in this situation, is it? It requires the ability to forgive the person who has sinned against you as soon as possible.

Even “good” Christians have said how hard it is to forgive someone who has hurt you deeply. What do we do if a family member or friend has less and less to do with us and gives us the cold shoulder? We may need to pray that Jesus will enable us to forgive and forget what’s happened to us. We can do this because our Lord’s love for each one of us, all of us, is such a forgiving love. That’s what’s so good about it. The New Testament offers us invaluable help in being able to constantly display a forgiving love.

Christianity revolutionised relationships between different kinds of people. Those who would have nothing to do with folk of a different ethnic background or social status became the best of friends; they became brothers and sisters in Christ. The Christian Church entered the scene as a radically new community in which long-standing differences and divisions founded on race, colour or social status became irrelevant.

This is especially evident in today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to his dear Christian friend, Philemon. This is Paul’s shortest and most personal letter, a masterpiece of tact, courtesy and diplomacy. In it, St Paul reveals his confidence in the power of Christ’s love to totally transform the fractured relationship between a slave-owner and his runaway slave. For a slave to run away like Onesimus did, was a major crime back then. While slaves were better off than free peasants, their masters had complete ownership of them and treated them as their property.

Rather than advocating outright the abolition of slavery, in his letters, St Paul puts the master/servant relationship on a radically new footing, as far as Christians are concerned. All Christians, regardless of their status in life, whether slave or free, servant or master, are equally brothers and sisters in Christ. In Christ’s community, status, rank, or class divisions no longer count. St. Paul makes it virtually impossible for Christians to continue being slave owners or treating their slaves as their property. In his stress on dignity and respect for slaves and their fair and generous treatment, St Paul goes far beyond any other ancient document on this subject.

The apostle Paul begins this letter by addressing Philemon as a “dear friend and co-worker” because he is grateful for everything Philemon has done for the Church that meets in his home, and the immense love Philemon shows to his fellow Christians. He wants Philemon to see how incalculably valuable his love for his fellow Christians has been. His love has motivated them to keep showing their love for their fellow Christians in a growing measure. God grant that we too may continue to grow in love for each other and thanking God for each other.

Philemon’s fellow Christians found him to be like a breath of fresh air. Paul is keen that Philemon sees what joy his love has brought to both Paul and the other members of the Church community, so that he will now share that same love with his runaway slave Onesimus. “I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother (v7).” We see how deeply Paul loves Philemon, how highly he esteems him and how completely he trusts him.

Having run away, Onesimus amazingly meets up with St Paul in prison, and through Paul he becomes a Christian. This enables Paul to call Onesimus his child and his own heart. Paul now bases his plea to Philemon to welcome back and forgive Onesimus, not on the basis of his apostolic authority, but rather, out of Christlike love, that goes the second mile and does much more than can be expected. Miracles happen when, in seeking reconciliation with someone estranged from us, we show them a love like that. God let Onesimus run away from his master so that he might become a believer in Christ and a Christian brother to both Philemon and Paul. The letter to Philemon is all about the radical difference faith in Christ can make in our relationships with one another.  “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).” Christ alone enables us to let the past stay there and be forgotten.

Christ’s love for us determines how we relate to each other. We’re told of the early Christians that they loved

“new” Christians and embraced their friendship as soon as they met them. They had learned this from our Lord Jesus. Jesus liberated people of different colours, creeds and status with a love like they had never known before. He showed infinite kindness towards life’s “little people”, changing their lives forever. Our Lord loved the rich young ruler even when that wealthy young man walked away from Him. Jesus offers each one of us, all of us the power to take the initiative in reconciliation with those with whom we’re not on the best of terms, and enables us to tell them both how much Jesus loves them and how much we love them too.

When someone has offended us, we must remember how taking offence can so easily be used by Satan to keep us unreconciled with that person. Jesus says to us, “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23).” Jesus wants us to take the initiative towards reconciliation and forgo our rights.

In today’s text, St Paul emptied himself of his rights as an apostle in the hope that Philemon would also waive his right to punish Onesimus, just as Jesus gave up His rights and came to this earth as a servant to save us from our sin and guilt. He paid the price for all our debts before God, so that our future would be so different from our past. We can now show each other the same kind of unconditional love Jesus has shown us. St. Paul was acting like Jesus to Onesimus, pleading the runaway slave’s cause, just as Jesus pleads our cause before the throne of God in heaven.

Paul does for Onesimus what Christ has done for each of us. He acts as if he were the runaway slave who wronged his master. Paul accepts responsibility for any loss Philemon might have sustained and offers to repay Philemon himself. Paul would be only too happy to keep Onesimus with him, because now as a fellow Christian, Onesimus has such great potential to help him in every way. In sending Onesimus back to his master, Paul feels he’s losing a part of himself. He says “I am sending him – who is my very heart – back to you (v12).”

Practising a love only Jesus could inspire in him, Paul continues, “So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me (v17).” That’s the kind of love our Lord wants to activate in us, a love that goes the second mile, a love that delights to do more than the bare minimum for the benefit and blessing of others. The revolutionary nature of Christlike love is best expressed in putting the needs of others ahead of our own. Those who brighten up someone else’s day, or lighten someone else’s load are of incalculable value to our church and our community.

Art Buckwald got into a taxi with a friend. When they got out, his friend said to the driver, “Thank you for the ride. You did a superb job of driving.”

The driver was stunned. “Are you a wise guy or something?” he replied.

“No, my dear man, and I‘m not putting you on. I admire the way you kept cool in heavy traffic.”

“Yeah”, the driver said, and drove off.

“What was all that about?” Art asked his friend.

“I am trying to bring love back to New York, he said. “I believe it’s the only thing that can save the city.”

“How can one man save New York?” Art asked.

“It’s not one man. I believe I have made the taxi driver’s day. Suppose he has twenty fares. He’s going to be nice to those twenty fares because someone was nice to him. Those fares in turn will be kinder to their employees or shopkeepers or waiters or even their own families. Eventually the goodwill could spread to at least 1,000 people. Now that isn’t bad, is it?”

May God bless our church and community with more men and women like Art Buckwald’s friend. Love puts the best construction on the actions of those we’re tempted to criticise. Instead of criticising others, love loves to say positive things to others. What prayer is to God, so criticism is to Satan. We need more encouragers in our state. There are already too many discouragers! Tell as many of your friends and relatives as soon as you can, and as often as you can, that you love them.

“Live in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).” Amen.

Scripture: Luke 14:1-14 

“Jesus is coming to dinner, and you’re all invited!”

We have to use our imaginations a bit about just how this invitation got passed around because there are precious few details given. We know Jesus is coming to dinner. We also know that there was growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. The dinner gathering was made up of a leader of the Pharisees, a few of his fellow Pharisees and some local bible experts. (Called the “scribes” or “lawyers” in the bible)

We can safely assume then, that the invitation was somewhat disingenuous. Listen once again to these words in the beginning of our scripture. “… Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a mean on the sabbath, {and} they were watching him closely.”

There are two key ingredients that make up the charged atmosphere of this meal time. The scribes and Pharisees watching like a hawk, hoping to get something on Jesus that will enhance their case against him. Jesus, on the other hand, is focusing in on the radical disconnect between the desires of God and the practice of their religion. The passage points to, but can not fully show the tremendous passion that underlies this meal.

As the passage progresses, Jesus by his actions and his words addresses the issues of healing, humility and hospitality. It is perhaps no accident that the healing comes first. It is the healing ministry of Jesus that ignites much of the protest against his ministry. Not so much because of the fact that he heals, but because of the time that he heals. Amazingly, the joy of the healing presence of God in the lives of hurting people is lost to Jesus’ nay sayers. While the crowds of common people are recognizing and rejoicing at the work of God, the because they get all worked up about the legality of whether healing on the sabbath is against the prohibition of working on the sabbath.

Let’s look more closely at how this meal time goes as Jesus addresses:

[1] Healing

As the Pharisees are “watching him closely,” Jesus encounters a man with dropsy. The term dropsy is no longer used in medical literature. The condition is swelling caused by edema or water. One modern version of the bible translates this incident by describing the man as having, “swollen arms and legs.” In any case, the man is there before the meal actually gets started.

The language of the text suggests that the man with dropsy may have been a plant for this occasion. It was not long before this event that Jesus had been teaching in a synagogues. A woman who apparently suffered from severe osteoporosis was present for his teaching. [Luke 13:10-17] Jesus healed her and the ruler of the synagogue lodged a bitter complaint that the woman could be healed on any other day. This healing, he reasoned, was not legitimate because it was done on the sabbath.

The guy totally misses the point. Jesus tells the whole gathered crowd that these religious leaders would not hesitate to walk one of their thirsty donkeys to a place where they could drink on the sabbath – but they would deny this woman (a member of their own faith to be sure) an opportunity for healing. The crowd, however, understands. They break into joyous celebration. What better day to see this woman of faith released from her long burden? How wonderful that she should be healed on God’s day of rest which should be honored by all God’s children!

All of us know people like these Pharisees – don’t we? You know – the person who never sees the positive and can always pick out the negative. There are those folks who can walk into a room with 99 good things to make a positive comment about and perhaps one thing that deserves a bit of criticism – and what do they see first? Right! They can spot the flaw in a microsecond and miss the good things entirely.

Jesus addresses the lawyers and Pharisees before he begins to deal with the sick man who stands before him. He is way ahead of them. They are not interested in the health or illness of the man who stands before Jesus. Talk about manipulation!

He asks them a question. “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” They don’t answer a word. Of course this is a setup. No words are exchanged between the man who is ill and Jesus — at least Luke does not record any conversation. The man is healed and sent on his way. What a great day it was for him. Especially if he expected no more than to assist the religious bureaucrats in trapping Jesus. He goes back to family and home a new man having experience something of the coming of God’s reign.

Now Jesus turns back to his host and his entourage. “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” This time there is more than silence. They, “Could not reply to this.” The disconnect between the desires of God for the children of God and the devotion of the lawyers and Pharisees to the letter of the law brings shame to his adversaries — to say nothing of increased anger and opposition.

The essential point of this lesson is that Jesus brings hope and healing while his detractors bring rules and regulations to those who are seeking the presence of God in their lives.

[2] Humility

Now the meal begins to get underway and Jesus observes how the invited guests begin to head for the head table. In Jesus’ day, tables were closer to the floor than we are used to and guests would recline at couches round the table. The honored guests would be closest to the host. The tables at a larger gathering would be in the shape of a U with the host and most honored guests at the head table.

In the event a honored guest would show up a bit late, someone who had taken a position near the host might be asked to find another spot so that the more important guest might be seated near the host.

Jesus tells a parable which is central to the way God’s kingdom works. If the guests take the lowest position possible at the meal, chances are the host will ask them to move up in position. On the other hand if they come to the meal assuming that they would surely have a seat at the head table, it would be terribly embarrassing to be asked to move to a less favorable seat.

Humility is one of the hallmarks of a person of authentic faith and a central principle in the kingdom of God. Luke 18:14 details the story of how a Pharisee and a sinner went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee suggests to God that he is so thrilled he is not a wretch like the man who prays beside him. On the other hand, the sinner can do nothing but hang his head and beg for God’s mercy. Jesus responds, “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

James spells out how it is that humility is the way of advancement with God. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” [4:10]

[3] Hospitality

Now Jesus turns to the host of the meal and talks about hospitality. “Don’t give a dinner for your friends or family and rich neighbors. Rather invite people who have no possible way of paying you back. Invite the poor and dispossessed and you will be blessed by God in the end.”

Throughout his gospel, Luke has focused on Jesus’ heart for the poor and socially unacceptable people of his day. In fact, the sure sign of the presence of God was to be, “good news” for the poor. Messiah’s mission was to bring healing to the sick, sight to the blind and freedom for the oppressed.

Hospitality is one of the marks of the faithful community. “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers,” Paul wrote to the church at Rome. [Rom. 12:13] The writer of the letter to the Hebrews enjoined his readers, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” [Heb. 13:2]

Those who sought to entrap Jesus in the breaking of sabbath laws missed the point of his healing ministry, failed the test of humility and were self serving in their hospitality.

And so let us be aware that, “Jesus is coming to dinner!” Whenever we reach out to bring hope and healing to others, or open our hearts to those who others reject, Jesus comes to dinner. We are called as people of faith to become a community of hope and healing — a place of hospitality where humility is the mark of greatness.

The Text: Jeremiah 1:4-8

“I chose you”

 

About 30 years ago, a high school student receiving some advice from a careers counsellor about what possible career path he might take. He had an interest in art, especially fantasy art, and science and his mother was a very good landscape painter and so the counsellor advised him to take up computer art.  Now remember this was 30 years ago.  The once student recalls, “I just laughed in his face and said, ‘I can’t do that.  That’s crazy!’”  He knew that computer graphics were so primitive and in no way compared to the great works of fantasy art that he admired. The only real way to get anywhere was with a pencil and sketch book or paints and an easel, neither of which he felt comfortable with.  He walked out of the counsellor’s office in disbelief that a career advisor could give such bad advice.

It was only a few years later that computers and programs were developed to enable images to be edited on a computer.  And then the flood gates opened and computer generated images (CGI) were born.  Images were not only able to be created but also to be animated within a virtual space and even integrated into images from real life.  So these days a whole raft of movies are made with computer generated images.  Movies like Lord of the Ring, The Hobbit, and whole lot of futuristic movies.  They are now even able to make them in 3D.

The young man who said laughingly “I can’t do that” has had to eat his words. What he thought he would never be able to do in just a short while has become possible.  He had the skills; he just needed the support in the form of the right technology to be able to fulfil his calling.

Today’s Old Testament reading tells us about another young man, Jeremiah.  He said, “I can’t do that”.  He had the skills and all he needed was the right support to fulfil his calling.

Jeremiah grew up in a small town near Jerusalem.  I’m sure he was a typical teenage lad.  Everyone knew Jeremiah simply as Hilkiah’s lad.  He was just another kid from the village, but God had other plans for Jeremiah. 

God said to Jeremiah, “Before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.”  We know from his writings that Jeremiah knew his scriptures very well.  He would have known how God called Moses who was much wiser and older than he was when God called him to be a prophet and look how difficult it was for Moses.  To be called and sent like Moses – that’s crazy. 

Jeremiah’s response was, “Thank you God but I can’t.  I’m just a kid, who would listen to me?  I wouldn’t know what to say and how to say it.  You’d better pick someone else for a job like that”.

When we say, “No thanks, I can’t” we may use other words that are gentler and perhaps less direct, but mean the same when we are called on to do something that is right outside of our comfort zone? 
We think that we don’t have the right skills to do something like that. 
We can’t imagine ourselves doing something like that. 
It’s never crossed our mind that to do anything like that. 
We can’t see how we can fit that into our already busy lives.
There are other people far better able to do something like that.

But God isn’t giving Jeremiah a choice here.  He doesn’t say, “Hey Jeremiah, how would like to be a prophet and tell my people some stuff they won’t want to hear”?  God doesn’t back down on what he wanted Jeremiah to do.  He says to Jeremiah, “Don’t call yourself a lad, you are my prophet. Go to my people”.

You see what has happened here.  God doesn’t see Jeremiah as a boy from some obscure little village.  He gives him a new identity – not a lad but a prophet.

God has given us a new identity.  He views us in a special way and urges us to see ourselves not just as some insignificant person but as ‘royal priests and a holy nation’, ‘God’s chosen and special people’ ‘chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God’ to use the words of Peter’s first letter. 

Jesus claimed us as his special people at our baptism.  He called us to be chosen people through the Bible.  He has involved in his saving plan. He has given us a new identity, as well as a new responsibility. And so just as Jeremiah was called to be his prophet, he calls us to be his disciples in the world and among the people we have daily contact.  God is serious when he calls anyone to do something for him – Moses, Gideon, Amos, Isaiah and the 12 disciples found this out.  I think Jeremiah had good grounds on which to back out of God’s plan for him – after all who would ask a boy to do a man’s job – but God saw things differently.

So far, so good.  Talking about Jeremiah having a new identity when he was called to be a prophet and the new responsibilities that went along with it, and noticing the parallel that exists with our call as baptised members of God’s family and the new identity and new responsibility that it entails, all sounds very nice, but let’s get real. 
When that phone rings, and we hear of someone in distress, or grief, or pain, we’re faced with the question of whether we can or cannot bring a word of grace and healing, and comfort to that person. 
When we are challenged to consider being involved in some kind of service to other people and it doesn’t suit us (so we think), that’s when all this gets just a bit too hard.

And like Jeremiah we find ourselves backing off. That’s normal. When the going gets tough, who doesn’t want to find the easy way out?  In fact, some of the times when God would have us speak are often some of the most difficult situations, those are the circumstances that we could possibly lose sleep over. It really is safer and easier to do nothing.

Again and again in the Bible we find people who were hesitant to take up God’s challenges to speak out when they were given the opportunity.  Each time we hear Moses, or Jeremiah, or Jonah try to back out of God’s plan for them we realise that our fears are no different to these famous people. Our feelings of inadequacy of not knowing what to do what to say, how we will cope in the situation, the fear of failure, of wanting to run and leave it to someone else are the same feelings that Jonah or Jeremiah or Moses experienced.

God knows our fears and why we are hesitant just as he knew what was going on in Jeremiah’s heart when God called him to speak his Word to the people. God said to him, “Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”  Not only that, Jeremiah had the added sensation of God touching his lips, placing into them the very words he was to speak, the words of judgement and grace. God said, “Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak.”

God makes the same promises to those whom he calls in the 21^st century.  We too are part of his saving plan.
We have been brought into his church,
we have been made Jesus’ disciples,
we have been baptised and been made a part of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection,
that means we are part of his saving plan for the world,
and he will help us in our times of hesitancy. Like Jeremiah we can be full of excuses and objections and ask ‘why me’.

God’s words to Jeremiah ring in our ears, “Do not be afraid…. I will be with you…”  Reassured with those words we can take the risk and step out in reaching to that neighbour in pain, that friend who would appreciate some guidance and help.  Why should we feel paralyzed by what we perceive as a lack of competence, our not knowing just the right words?  Who are we to judge the effect that the Word of God has in the lives of other people even when it comes from our own lips?

And remember we’re assured that his grace will multiply our efforts when all we can offer is an embrace, a halting prayer, a few simple words in the Lord’s name.  It may seem that what we have to offer is so plain, simple and even inadequate, but be assured God has a marvellous way of using our seemingly inadequate efforts to bring about good.

It’s good to remember that the disciples Jesus chose were ordinary people like Jeremiah – they didn’t have any special qualifications of holiness, or wisdom, or training, or potential. They were just ordinary men, who went about ordinary jobs.  It is the grace of God that makes a person a follower of Jesus.  They didn’t rely on their own abilities.  They trusted simply in the power of Jesus’ word. They had been called and so they acted and spoke God’s Word to the best of their ability and trusted the Holy Spirit would somehow use their efforts to bless others.

I read an interesting article about the words “I can’t”.  It said something like this.  We often use these words as an excuse but if we say them enough times we begin to send messages to our subconscious about what we can and can’t do. Telling yourselves repeatedly that you can’t do this, and can’t do that, will have you believing that you can’t do much of anything after a while.  If you say enough times, “I can’t forgive that person”, “I can’t visit the dying”, I’m no good with kids” you will eventually believe it.

To 60 year old Joe, teenagers were a complete mystery to him and so he labelled them a bunch of ratbags.  One Sunday a new kid came to church.  He was by himself and Joe was standing by himself and so the pastor introduced them to each other and walked away.  There were a few awkward moments and then the two started talking and the 60 year old and 16 year old connected.  Joe, who had no time for teenagers, found that he really did have a heart for those who were struggling and losing their way.  In his later years God called him and teenagers weren’t such a mystery after all.  The impact that Joe had on many young lives from then on was attested to at his funeral some years later.

How are we to apply this to our lives?  Regardless of our age God calls us to do his work and regardless of our age our first thought is to object and say, “I can’t”. That doesn’t let us off the hook.  God in his grace reassures us that what we do will bring blessing to others.  In his eyes we are the best person for the job.

By the way, if by chance, you think this story about Jeremiah has nothing to say to you, just wait.  It will.  At some time, God will call you.

Text: Hebrews 12:1-2

Running the race

 

Recently, there was a marathon held in Brisbane.  The length of the race was 42.2kms and the first runner crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 31 minutes.  Many of us have watched marathon races on TV held at either the Olympic or Commonwealth Games and listened to commentators tell us of the feats of the runners as they appear on the screen.  They describe the pain they are feeling, what their bodies are going through at each stage of this endurance race.  They talk about the conditions of the race – how hot the weather is, whether the wind is helping or hindering the runners, whether the road is flat or hilly. The marathon is always a spectacular event as the runners try to match their skill and endurance against the record of those runners who have gone before them as well as overcome the difficulties the hills and the other runners present. For many of the runners it’s not a matter of coming in the first three places but simply of completing the course.  After all running 42kms is no small achievement in itself.

Here’s a little trivia about the marathon. In the year 490BC there was a Greek soldier by the name of Pheidippides.  He had taken part in a battle against the Persians on a plain about 40kms from Athens.  The name of the plain was Marathon.  Pheidippides was wounded, battered, fatigued from fighting in the battle but he knew the people back in Athens were waiting to hear whether they would continue to be free or become a part of the Persian Empire so he ran the 40 kms and stumbled into Athens shouting ‘We have won’ – and then collapsed and died.  Because of that run from the Battle of Marathon, long distance or endurance runs are called marathons.

In the letter to the Hebrews we are told of a marathon.  We are told about the champions of the past, the people who have won this race and have achieved the champions’ prize for their effort.  “We have this large crowd of witnesses around us,” the writer says, “who are examples for us that we may follow in their steps of faith.”  The eleventh chapter of Hebrews points out how the Bible is full of people who lived by their faith and trust in God.  One who features in this list at length is Abraham. 
Even though God asked him to uproot his family and go to a far-distant foreign land, with every confidence Abraham trusted God. 
Even though God made promises to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation when he didn’t have any children and he and his wife were way too old to be parents, he still trusted God that this would happen.  And when he finally did have a son he was commanded to go and sacrifice him on Mt. Moriah.  As ridiculous and insane as this was, he continued to have faith in God’s wisdom.

Such witnesses of faith not only exist in the Bible.  I’m sure we can all think of men and women in our own lives who have had a powerful Christian influence on our life journey and encouraged us to trust God and grow in our faith.  They modelled to us what it meant to trust in Jesus and they spoke words that encouraged us to make the most of the gifts and opportunities we have and helped us when things were hard.  They were living examples of Christian love, joy and hope.  In fact they have been a real inspiration to our own faith and Christian life.

The writer to the Hebrews refers to Jesus as a marathon runner and the endurance and perseverance that was demonstrated as he ran toward the finishing line – the cross.  Going toward the cross and all that it meant was tough going, not just physically but there was also the mental and emotional anguish that came with it as well – just like a marathon.  He could have pulled out at any time, in fact, he was tempted to do that on several occasions including his 40 days in the wilderness when he was tempted by Satan and then much later in the Garden of Gethsemane or anywhere in between.  Jesus without question trusted his heavenly Father and the plan that God had to save humanity. 

It was sheer faith in God that carried him through the mockery, the beatings, the whipping, the crucifying, the rejection and the disbelief of even those closest to him.  The reactions of people including his own closest friends to his love and message about God’s Kingdom must have left Jesus disillusioned and wondering how God could continue to strive to redeem such stubborn people and yet he didn’t give up.  We read in Hebrews, “He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne” (Hebrews 12:2).

But the writer of Hebrews is not content to dwell on other marathon runners and brings it right down to us, saying, “Let us run with determination the race that lies before us”.  It is now our turn to run the marathon race of a lifetime.  It’s not easy.  It’s requires endurance and perseverance.  There are all kinds of obstacles and difficulties that hinder our progress.  We are runners running a race of faith and there is one goal – to reach the finishing line.  We don’t have to be first – just finish and the prize is ours.

Each of us has been given a race to run as we climb each hill and round each bend along the course toward the finishing line.  Each person’s race has its own difficulties and problems like any marathon, only in our race these difficulties come in the form of sicknesses and setbacks, worries and upsets.  For some, it seems that the race is harder than it is for others.

Hebrews reminds us to “rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way” of successfully running the race.   
You wouldn’t run a race in a dinner suit or a ball gown. 
You wouldn’t carry a shopping bag of treats to eat along the way. 
Neither would you start with the idea that every 2 minutes you would stop and have a 10 minute break because you want to look your best when you get to the finish line.  To run successfully there are some things that you have to give up to focus on winning the race.

Running the race of life in Christ is losing some of the weighty things we carry around. 
It’s losing the weight of self-indulgence and the selfish material centred way of life.
It’s losing all that pride, self-importance, the focus on our own achievements and our own goodness. 
There is the weight of guilt over something we have said and done that has affected relationships with others.
There is the weight of ruthlessness that leads us to trample on others to get ahead or to make our point.
There is the weight of worry and anxiety about what tomorrow will bring.
The weights of jealousy, hatred, lies, unkind words that burden us right down, making our race toward the finishing line so much more difficult. Like an athlete we would collapse along the way.

Just as a marathon runner must shed all extra weight in his/her body as well as wear the lightest possible clothing and footwear, likewise those running the race of the life of Christ need to shed everything that will prevent them from reaching their goal. 

Giving up all that is sinful and getting our lives on the right track is hard stuff; it’s a tough call to give it all up and give ourselves over to the race ahead sticking to the straight and narrow way that leads to eternal life.   In fact, no matter how many times we determine to turn our lives around and decide to get back into the race, we find that we’re really not very good runners at all.  It’s easy to think, “I’m not one for running marathons, my persistence is very low, my ability to stick with Jesus, to follow him, to do what is pleasing to him is pretty lousy. I spend more time on the ground in sin, than I do on my feet running toward the finishing line”.

The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that this race is a tough one and will challenge us all the way, but he says the race is winnable – Jesus has made sure of that.  He has run the race ahead of us and made it possible for every runner to win the prize.  He has knocked down every obstacle and smoothed every bump and lowered every hill.  Trusting Jesus, all things are possible and nothing can prevent us from winning the prize.  “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end”.

When things are tough, when everything goes against you, when you might feel like quitting and hanging up your running shoes, keep your eyes on Jesus, he will see you through. 
When you believe that you aren’t going to make it; you are too stressed, too worried, too depressed, too sad, too sick, keep your eyes on Jesus, he will see you through.
When you begin to believe that it’s too hard, you doubt or you fall, Jesus picks you up, dusts you off, lovingly pats you on the back and points you to the finishing line.
His love will not give up.  His forgiveness is never ending.  His joy is to see us all arrive at the finishing line and receive the prize of eternal life.  There is a medal there for you too. 

FAITH-WHAT IS FAITH? Hebrews 11:8-9.

Faith is a key word in the Bible- a key principle. But what is faith? Faith is a Collingwood supporter who believes that Collingwood will win another Grand Final in their lifetime. School boy definition: “ Faith is believing something you know isn’t true”. Rather a cynical definition-his father must have been a politician. Faith has two aspects: 1. Believing something to be true. Eg the sun is 93 million miles from the earth.+The earth travels 584 million miles a year in its orbit of the sun. + Jesus was born in Bethlehem-lives in Israel-died on a cross-rose again was the Son of God. Faith means accepting  these statements as true.
2. TRUST:a deeper meaning-“ taking God at his Word”. Trusting in the promises  of God.   Biblical definition: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see´ . Hebrews 11:1. Note the strong words- “ sure” certain“. This is very different from the school boys definition. It is not a vague  hope like saying “I hope it rains”. It is not a pious wish.  So faith doesn’t just say that Jesus died on a cross-but that he died for ME. Hebrews 11 is the great chapter on faith. It is a Whose-Who of people who have demonstrated faith- trust in God. It mentions people like Abel-Enoch Noah-Moses-Gideon-Samuel-David etc. Today I want to focus on Abraham. He is seen as the great example of faith. Today we will learn what faith is from the example of Abraham. The key word here is obviously OBEY. By Faith Abraham  obeyed. He went in obedience to God’s call-not because he had itchy feet- desire to travel- a political refugee- npr was he running away from home. He went simply because God called him. God called so Abraham obeyed. It was as simple as that. Put yourself in Abraham’s position. You live in the city of Haran-comfortable-civilized life- active and involved in the community –family nearby-aged 75-happy to spend the rest of your life there in familiar surroundings-you have no desire to move. It’s the last thing on your mind. It would be a big enough shock to be told to leave everything familiar with. That would be a big enough shock. But to be told to leave all that and go to an unknown country-a place you have never hear of-a place you didn’t know existed. That was a real test of faith. He didn’t even know where he was supposed to be going. Yet he went. He obeyed God. And he obeyed because he had faith/trust in God. Even though he had no idea where he was to go. He knew Who was going with him. He didn’t know the way. But he knew the guide. That was all that mattered. SO what do we learn from this. We learn that faith/Obedience go hand in hand. We learn that a true faith is an obedient faith. As the Bible says, “We walk by faith, not by sight”. After all if you had sight, you wouldn’t need faith. And what God required of Abraham, he also requires of us-an obedient faith.  Dietrich Bonhoffer a Lutheran pastor and theologian executed by the Nazis in 1944 studied the relationship between faith/obedience in his book on Discipleship; He saw that the two were intricately connected. Two statements-2 side of the coin “ONLY THOSE WHO BELEIVE CAN OBEY” and “ONLY THOSE WHO OBEY CAN BELEIVE”.  Faith gives the motivation-power to enab tle a person to obey, eg Peter walking on the water. His trust in Jesus enabled him to step out in faith. Only when you step out in obedience will you discover that God keeps his promises.

2.ENDURANCE—PATIENCE      Abraham set out for the promised land. It was a long-slow-tedious journey. Even when he arrived his faith was tested further

  He was not able to take possession of the land God had promised him. He had travelled so far- he had left behind the comfort-security-convenience of his former home. Yet when he arrived at his destination he can’t take possession of the land because other people were already living there. He had to life the life of a Nomad. Putting up and pulling down his tents. Then moving on again. He was not able to settle down-establish a permanent home. He was a wanderer-nomad in the land God had promised him. He did not even own a square metre of land. In fact the first piece of land he bought was a burial plot on which to bury his wife Sarah when she died. Yet despite the fact that God’s promise had not been fulfilled, Abraham did not give up his faith. He still trusted the Word/promise of God. God had spoken-He had made a promise and that was good enough for Abraham. He had a patient-enduring faith.    

A faith that is the kind that we all need-an enduring patient faith.  Even if our prayers are not immediately answered. A faith that continues to trust despite what may happen. Eg Job.    After all it is fairly easy to believe when your prayers are being answered in the way you want them to be. When everything is going well for you. It doesn’t take much faith to believe in those circumstances.
What kind of faith do you have? Is it a living-genuine faith? A faith that is strong enough to trust-obey even when you are not sure what is going to happen. Even if things don’t turn out the way you wanted them to. Even though others may make fun of your faith-ridicule you

“Faith is believing what God says simply because it is God who says it”.  So the real test of your faith is whether or not you are prepared to trust and obey. “Obedience is the outward sign of an inner faith”.  “Faith doesn’t make things easier but it enables you

To cope.   “If your face is wrinkled with cares and worries, try a faith lift.” LH 321. “Faith is a living power from heaven; that grasps the promise God has given. A trust that cannot be o’thrown, fixed heartily on Christ alone.”

Pastor Hayden Blaess.

The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Let’s join in a word of prayer: Loving God we are together this morning to worship You.  To give thanks to you for all that you are to us.  To praise You for salvation and life everlasting that you promise to us.  And to celebrate the gift of your Son, our wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ, who captivates our attention and imagination.   By your Holy Spirit, may we receive Your message with confidence to strengthen and uphold us.    We ask this in the name of Jesus, our risen Lord, Amen.

 “Woe is me, gee ain’t it awful!”  These days, in the news, on television, and over the internet, I sense this mournful cry more than most other attitudes.  Not just in Australia, but in the world.  Violence, hatred, distrust, blind ambition, striving after the illusion of pleasure.  It’s almost as though the reading from King David’s son, Solomon, is being used as a script for the background of life today.  “Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.”

Solomon got to the point of his rule that he saw all his effort, all his wisdom, all his knowledge as dust blown in the wind. 

Toward the end of his life, Solomon realised that all he had done was for his own benefit and amusement.  And that it would have been a more fulfilling life to have lived simply: eating, drinking, and finding enjoyment in his toil.  If that was the extent of life, I can understand how Solomon would have come to that conclusion. 

But in his introspection, Solomon missed some of his important contributions to the life of Israel.  As King, keeping his heart and mind on things of God, he further consolidated the kingdom, and strengthened it against the surrounding enemies.  He built the Lord’s Temple that his father desperately wanted to leave as a legacy.   

But after losing his focus on things of God, and his self-control, Solomon also welcomed many pagan wives into his family, and through these alliances many false gods into the culture of Israel.  I suspect that this was much to the disappointment of God our Father: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The first love of Solomon’s father, David.

We can find this sad pattern of losing focus on things of God in every culture, every dynasty, every age.

In the United States, a life-long study was embarked in the 1930’s that followed more than 280 individuals over 72 years of their life.  The study examined and documented significant factors of human well-being in the lives of those being studied.  From health, physical condition, marital status, life-style decisions, psychological factors, and personal satisfaction.  At the conclusion of this study, in 2008, Dr George Vaillant was asked about the results of the study.  His reply was simple, but startling, “The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships with other people.” …  I would add an important other thing that really matters in life.  Our relationship with God our Father, with Jesus Christ our Lord, and with the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus Christ set the proper priority, that Solomon lost sight of, and most people in society today are blinded to.  “Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.  For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.  But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

Paul paraphrased this better than I ever could, in his letter to the Christians in Colossae.  ‘Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your  minds on things above, not on earthy things.’ 

At the conclusion of our time in this broken world, whatever we accomplish or fail to accomplish, will be ‘vanity of vanities’ for those things we do, think or say, where Christ Jesus is not at the centre.

Whatever in our life is not hidden with Christ in God, will eventually stand out like a flashing red and blue light in our rear view mirror.  Paul tells us to put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature.  Now, I must confess that I have not yet found the magic formula that can totally severe me from my earthly nature.  But what I have learned to do, is follow the intuition of the Holy Spirit.  To stop, look and listen.
>To pause, when my body tells my soul that my human nature is sticking out again; with that edgy feeling that something isn’t right. 

>To look at my attitudes and be alert to the harsh words I say to those whom I love, and to the silence I use to hurt others. 

>To listen for the still small voice of conscience that can guide me back to love stream of my Saviour. 

As Paul writes, to persistently ‘put on the new self, which is being renewed in the image of its creator’.          

Vice Admiral, Sir Frances Drake, was quoted: “Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, as our dreams come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”

When any of us lose focus on Jesus Christ, and his provision for lives of meaning and purpose, truly everything is vanity.  And everything becomes pretty scary – filled with uncertainty, and a source of constant worry. 

So, Christ Jesus poses the question, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”  It is God our Father who adds the hours to our days, and the days to our lives.  Who gives us the key to his kingdom in the faith we have in his son our Lord Jesus Christ.  Who gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us to the best decisions to fill our hours and days with love for one another.  Who gives us the courage to confront our daunting earthly nature, and the freedom to allow our spiritual nature to prevail in our broken world.  

As the Psalmist writes, “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD  all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.’ ^{(Psalm 27:4 NIV)}

Even in these days, together as a worshipping community, we can give the Holy Spirit permission to work among us and in us to make a difference. To set our hearts and lives on fire for Christ Jesus to the glory of God our Father.  So that, after all is said and done, we can raise our faces to Christ Jesus and declare that all is not vanity, but Christ is all in all. 

We can trust that our Lord Jesus will strengthen our faith in every time of uncertainty, as we gather around the Word and the Sacraments.   That He will make his presence felt in our hearts and spirits as we remain united to him and seek his will in our lives.  That He will give us the courage to be good stewards of the precious Gospel message we express in our caring, sharing, loving, and helping.

The grace and peace of God keep our hearts and minds in the calm assurance of salvation in our living Lord, Christ Jesus. Amen.

:Children’s Talk

God cares about what you think! Did you know that? God cares about the things that interest you. He knows it’s very easy to think all day about what you’re gonna eat, what you’re gonna wear, what games you’re gonna play, what TV you’re gonna watch. He knows it’s easy to think about the new toy you want or the next holiday you’re gonna have.

The Bible says God wants you to be happy, and to care about other things too. To think about some of the things that are important to God.  Like your mom and dad, your sister and brother, your nana and poppy.  God wants you to think about Him once in a while too.
So, the next time when you’re thinking about things, find some time for Jesus too.  And talk to him in prayer.

Let’s pray:   Dear Jesus, my friend and my God:  remind us all to think about you once in a while and to find time to think about the good things you bring into our life.  We pray in your name.  Amen.