The Best is Still to Come

Has there been a highpoint in your life these past twelve months? Can you recall any unexpected blessings that came your way? Or was this year marked by personal sorrow and sadness? Whatever has happened in your life this past year, God has continued to bless you with life, grace and mercy, and wants you to experience that “the mercies of the Lord are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22).” It’s also helpful to remember that our “bad days” have no more hours in them than our “good days”.

Today we thank God for every Christian near and dear to us who has died in the Christian Faith. We’re grateful for the blessings brought to us through their prayers while they were still alive, and also for the love we received from them. God has given us two gifts to help us cope with the loss of our loved ones. He has given us our memories of them, and He has given us our sure and certain hope of life with them in heaven forever. God’s Word says “The memory of the righteous is a blessing (Proverbs 10:7).” We honour our deceased family members and friends by thanking God for them. God’s Word comforts us with these words from Scripture, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones (Psalm 111:15).”

As sad as it may be that they’re no longer with us, it would be sadder still if we had never known them and they had not enriched our lives with their presence and love. Good memories can prolong the blessings we feel. With our memory we can bring to mind things we didn’t notice at the time, and yet realise that the best is still to come, a time for which our faith is preparing us, even today.

Death isn’t God’s final word to you about your deceased loved ones. The last Book of the Bible tells us, “Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord (Revelation 14:13).” “To bless” those who have died may sound strange to modern ears. Our modern world prefers to think of blessedness in terms of this life only. It cannot see how death can be a blessing to someone. But for everyone who “believes in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead into life everlasting”, it’s so very different.

For all of us who do, death marks the start of the greatest chapter of our lives. Death doesn’t end our relationships with those who have died in the Faith; rather it raises our relationship with them to a higher level. The Christian Faith we share together transforms the parting of Christians into “the communion of saints”, for in the communion of saints, we have in Christ a link with them that transcends death. Our fellowship with the saints in glory gives us a deeper meaning to our worship in the name of Jesus. We worship God together with all those who worship Him around the throne of God in heaven.

Our Christian community is much larger than all those Christians who are alive on this earth now. In today’s second reading, St. Paul gives us a vision of the Church on this earth and the Church triumphant in heaven, inseparably bound together. Just as a bridegroom is complete with his bride, so Christ feels complete with the members of His Body, His dearly loved Church. Here, as St Paul often does in his letters to churches, Paul addresses the Christians in Ephesus with the title of “saints”.

It is significant that in the Apostles’ Creed, immediately after we confess our faith in the communion of saints, we confess our faith in the forgiveness of sins. Saints are all those Christians who treasure and embrace the forgiveness Jesus Christ has won for them at Easter. Every Christian who clings to Christ as his or her only source of hope, despite the pain and suffering they’ve experienced, is a saint in God’s eyes. We could also refer to this particular Sunday in the Church Year as a Festival of Forgiven Sinners. While many of the saints mentioned in our Bibles performed heroic acts of faith, others could easily identify with the prayer of the tax collector in the temple when he prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

“Saints” are not those who achieve holiness by doing good works, but all those who receive Christ’s own holiness through faith. Wherever there is faith active in love, there is a saint at work. God has chosen some rather odd characters to carry out His mission in our world, because all kinds of Christians matter to Him. His Son Jesus loved the Church, the community of believers, so much that He gave His life for it. St. Paul presents the continued existence of Christ’s Church on earth as proof of the power of our Lord’s resurrection.

Our risen Redeemer is alive and active both within and outside of His Church in unexpected places. Each Sunday Service is a celebration of Easter. Easter is both the promise and the guarantee of your own resurrection. St. Paul uses amazing words to tell you of the far-reaching effects of Easter when he says, “God has made us alive together with Christ … and raised us up with Christ and seated us with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).” Already now, in Holy Communion, we experience “a foretaste of the feast to come”. When we confess that Jesus is risen from the dead, our faith isn’t in a far away event, but rather in an event that transcends time and space, that reaches out to include us. In a mysterious way, our life as our Lord’s saints is already a life beyond death, hidden under this life. St. Paul says to us, “For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).”

The Church is an extension of Christ’s body. We experience even now the countless blessings of His life, death and resurrection. This means we will seek to love each member of His Church just as He loves each one of us. St. Paul bursts into jubilant thanksgiving when he hears of the faith of the Ephesian Church and their love for one another. One of the joys of being a member of Christ’s Church is an awareness that we belong together with all Christians, of every time and place, and can enjoy a feeling of being “at home” when travelling, sharing the same hymns and songs, praying the same prayers and listening to the same Bible readings we have here.

In our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus joins us with the whole communion of saints, here and beyond time and space. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven (Hebrews 12:22-23a).” The words of our Holy Communion liturgy, “therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we adore and magnify your glorious name”, reinforce this message.

You may, therefore, more properly remember your deceased loved ones at the Lord’s Table than at the cemetery. That’s why receiving Holy Communion is such a wonderful experience. In Holy Communion you not only have communion with Christ Jesus and with those who receive Holy Communion with you, but also with those who have died in the Faith. They surround you and support you invisibly, just as all the other Christians do who worship God together with you. They witness your worship and rejoice over it, even as the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents. “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10).”

All of the changes of this life prepare us for the greatest change of all, from this life to the life of the world to come. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope (Jeremiah 29:11).”

Remember, the best is still to come. Amen.

Grace-Inspired Gratitude

Luke 17:11-19

What’s the best feeling you’ve ever experienced?

Could you endorse those Christians who say that feeling grateful for the gift of life is the best?

It’s wonderful to be thanked for what you’ve done for someone else, even though we don’t do it for acknowledgement.

It’s uplifting to be appreciated and not taken for granted.

It’s sad that many people who help us in our daily lives like doctors and teachers often go unthanked because people feel they’re “just doing their job”. It’s expected of them.

When we really understand the cost of God’s grace to us and appreciate the huge impact it has on our lives, our response can only be gratitude, gratitude that we show every day of our lives. The greatest danger we face as Christians is to take God’s grace for granted. The spiritual life of many Christians is impoverished because they give too little place to verbally giving thanks. It’s been said that our eagerness to give thanks is a barometer of our spiritual health. Doubt often begins the first time we think that expressing thanks to God or a family member or friend is superfluous. Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues; it is the parent of every other virtue.

We all have many more things to be thankful for to God than to complain of. Why, then, isn’t gratitude so much more common than complaint? A computer thesaurus lists only seven alternatives for the verb “to thank”, but 19 possibilities for “to complain”! Humans have many ways of showing grumpiness, but aren’t so skilled at expressing appreciation. Today’s Gospel suggests that giving thanks isn’t as common as it ought to be, and we are the poorer for it. This morning’s account of the grateful Samaritan highlights the fact that often the most unlikely people are the most grateful. Often those who have much less reason to be thankful are the ones who show gratitude; they’re thankful just to be alive, to have a caring family and friends, and food on the table, things that we so often take for granted.

We can’t imagine how wonderful it must have been to be cured of the dreaded disease of leprosy. Why, then, did only one of the ten lepers return to thank Jesus for the gift of healing? A Samaritan would have been the last person expected to go out of his way to thank his Jewish healer. But then, there was no one who cared more for people who others avoided, like the Samaritans, than Jesus.

The ten lepers in this morning’s Gospel had no doubt heard how Jesus had compassion on other outcasts and healed them. Stories about how our Lord Jesus cared for those no one else cared for spread like wildfire. So when these lepers see Jesus in the distance, they saw in Him their only hope for a better future. They cry out from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus, in humility, directs the lepers to the health inspectors of the time, the priests. Jesus puts their faith to the test by asking them to act as if they’ve been already cured. Obedience to Jesus precedes their healing

Now that they are healed, nine of them are all too absorbed in their joy at being healthy again to bother going out of their way to thank their Healer. They’d experienced God’s mercy, but failed to see how amazing and astonishing it is. We need to continually seek God’s mercy as long as we live. There’s no better prayer we can pray every day than “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” God’s mercy is something we can never take for granted, but can only be received with lifelong gratitude. For “the mercies of the Lord are new every day (Lamentations 3:22).” “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).”

We can easily think of reasons why these nine lepers fail to thank Jesus for the mercy He has shown to them. By failing to thank our Lord for His grace and mercy, they miss out on an even greater blessing than the Samaritan alone receives, that is, the assurance that his faith has led to his salvation. The ungrateful nine felt they had more urgent things to do, like businesses to return to, and family and friends to see again. They treasured the gift more than the Giver. Failure to show gratitude means “biting the hand that feeds you.” An outsider, a Samaritan, puts God’s people to shame.

This Samaritan leper is also a “good” Samaritan in the deepest sense of the word. He knows that “It is good to give thanks to the Lord (Psalm 92:1).” He shows his gratitude publicly, not in a temple or synagogue, but to God in the person of His Son Jesus. The Samaritan worships and praises God at the feet of our Lord. He sees Jesus as much more than a miracle-worker. He sees Jesus as God in human form, who is worthy of praise of thanksgiving. He is grateful to the Giver, not just for the gift itself. His gratitude brings the wonderful blessing Jesus initiated to a glorious completion.

Unless we show gratitude as soon as possible, we’re unlikely to show it at all. By immediately returning to show our Lord his gratefulness, the Samaritan receives so much more than he originally asked for. He is made whole, that is, he is saved through his faith. Jesus says to him, “Rise and go, your faith has saved you.”

Gratitude is a celebration of the bond that unites giver and receiver. We taste the goodness of God’s gifts to us twice over when we delight in thanking Him for all that He has given us. Thanking God for all good things, great and small, takes the focus from ourselves and puts it onto God. Anything that takes the focus from ourselves is healthy.

Gratitude deepens our sense of dependence on God for life, protection and love. Gratitude dissipates discontent and increases our contentment with all we have already received from God.

As we grow in gratitude, we will discover God’s blessings in the most unexpected places. We may find that some of the things we thought were liabilities and limitations are really blessings in disguise. Grateful people are perhaps more open to recognising and receiving new and deeper blessings.

In one of the classic graces we pray before meals we say “For what we’re about to receive, may the Lord make us truly grateful.” You see, in the New Testament, God is also thanked for future blessings as well as past and present blessings. Week by week, God blesses us in ways we often don’t see at the time.

In retrospect, we might see how tough times we’ve experienced have become blessings in disguise, as they’ve drawn us closer to God. Gratitude is enhanced rather than diminished by lavishing it on everyday blessings.

We can thank God for everything that’s been going right in our lives.

We can express our gratitude for all the parts of our bodies that are healthy and functioning well.

Thank God that your car brought you safely here to worship this morning and has taken you safely to and from home each day this week.

Thank God for everyone worshipping with you here today.

Thank God for every fellow Christian who has enriched your life in one way or another.

Thank God for everyone who has shown you love in one way or another, and for those who have been grateful to you for the love you’ve shown them.

Jesus interprets acts of thanksgiving as expressions of love for Him. Love and thanks are two sides of the one coin.

There was once a grandmother who said “Thank You, God; thank You, God” at least a hundred times a day. God helps us all to grow in gratitude the longer we’re on this earth. The true test of joy is gratitude. It’s not how much you have that brings you happiness, but how much you’re grateful for what you do have. Gratitude is the shortest, surest way to joy. May God’s grace never stop inspiring gratitude in you.

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above:

then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all His love.

Amen.

When Heaven Rejoices Over You

The Text: Luke 15:1-10

Few experiences in life arouse stronger feelings or stir us to action morequickly than when someone or something is lost. Hundreds of people will turn up to help look for a lost child. We can more easily identify with the woman who’s lost her valuable coin than the shepherd in this morning’s Gospel reading. What teenager hasn’t ransacked her or his clothing and bedroom until a lost $20 note is found, followed by a joyful shout, ”Mum, I’ve found it!” Luke 15 with its further parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the best loved chapters of the Bible. It’s considered the greatest chapter in St. Luke’s Gospel, since the Christmas story in chapter two.

Sadness hovers over a family where there’s a member missing. But what joy there is when the missing one returns home! The background to today’s two parables of good news is the eager welcome our Lord gives to despised tax collectors and other outcasts, an action which is strongly criticised by Jesus’ constant critics, the Pharisees. They’re complaining that Jesus invites tax collectors to have meals with Him even before they may have repented. Now if Jesus had announced that tax collectors would be welcome at His table after they’d renounced their evil ways and ‘cleaned up their act’, Jesus’ action would hardly have caused a ripple. But Jesus couldn’t wait for that to happen. He wanted them within His transforming presence as soon as possible. No wonder such folk flocked to Jesus. His critics, on the other hand, thought the worst charge they could level against Jesus was that “He’s the Friend of sinners!!” Jesus turned this criticism into a compliment. That’s why He’s come to our world – to be the Friend of all of us sinners.

So now, to defend His conduct in spending so much time seeking out God’s lost sons and daughters and then making them feel so welcome, our Lord now tells us two parables about searching for what has been so treasured and now becomes lost. Jesus went out of His way to spend the most time possible with those who needed Him the most, regardless of what it might do to His reputation. The new emphasis Jesus brings, as opposed to what the Jewish religious leaders had taught, is this – God actively goes in search for the lost and doesn’t want them to first “clean up their act”. Jesus is saying that because God is like this, seeking us unconditionally, I speak and act as I do. Jesus said that He was sent to seek God’s lost sheep because God misses them so much and treasures them so deeply.

Jesus assumes that His critics, when they lose a valuable animal, will act like the shepherd in today’s first parable. “Which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety nine and go after the one that is lost?” The loss of even one sheep back in those days would have been a great blow to a shepherd struggling to make ends meet. A sheep which had wandered away from the care of its shepherd would be in danger of losing its life. The safety of the ninety nine sheep is no substitute for the loss of one. That’s why this good shepherd, who is a symbol of Christ our Good Shepherd, spares no effort in seeking its recovery.

Our society, our world places a big emphasis on statistics and numbers, which would suggest that we focus on the big numbers instead of only one. Not so with Jesus! Each single person matters more than they could imagine to their Lord and Saviour. Each of you matters immeasurably to your Good Shepherd, who made the ultimate sacrifice of His very life in order to rescue you. That’s how precious and invaluable you are to Jesus. No one else can take your place in Christ’s mission in this church and community. No one else can replace the unique contribution you alone can make to advance Christ’s cause. You’re more than “just another”.

Have you noticed how much more blessed our worship here is when every member attends? Jesus needs your contribution, according to the gifts and talents He’s given you. His work is too important to not give it your all; your contribution can make such a difference to the life of His Church. The Lord’s work cannot be left to a few keen folk. Your presence and participation is an encouragement to everyone else.

A large part of Jesus’ ministry was with individuals on a one to one basis. He spent time with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman by the well, the man born blind, and with Martha at her brother Lazarus’s death. Jesus treasures you more than you feel you could ever deserve. We need to remember that the people we’re tempted to criticize are cherished immensely by our dear Lord.

Helmut Thielicke once wrote, “Though the burden of the whole world lay heavy upon His shoulders, though Corinth and Ephesus and Athens, whole continents, with all their desperate need, were dreadfully near to His heart, though suffering and sinning were going on in chamber, street corner, castle and slums, seen only by the Son of God – though this immeasurable misery and wretchedness cried aloud for a physician, He has time to stop and talk to the individual. He associates with publicans, lonely widows, and despised prostitutes; He moves among the outcasts of society, wrestling for the soul of individuals. He appears not to be bothered at all by the fact that these are not strategically important people, that they have no prominence, that they are not key figures, but only the unfortunate, lost children of the Father in Heaven. He seems to ignore with a sovereign indifference the great so-called “world-historical perspectives” of His mission, when it comes to one insignificant, blind, and smelly beggar, this Mr Nobody, who is nevertheless so dear to the heart of God and must be saved. Because Jesus knows that He must serve His neighbour (literally, those nearest here and now) He can confidently leave to His Father the things farthest away, the great perspectives.”

A farmer was walking down a lane carrying a half grown sheep. “How do they get lost?” he was asked. “They just nibble themselves lost”, he replied. “They just keep their heads down and just wander from one green patch to another. Sometimes they come to a hole in the fence, but they never find the hole to get back in again.” What a lost sheep cannot do for itself, someone else must do for it. It needs a caring shepherd to rescue it.

Now when the shepherd finds his lost sheep, he doesn’t reproach it for causing him so much trouble. Nor does he complain about having to carry it on his shoulders back to his sheepfold. Without his shouldering of this eagerly-sought burden, there can be no joyous restoration to its flock. The joy of finding his treasured possession overshadows everything else. That’s why he urges his friends and neighbours to celebrate with him his glad discovery. Joy has to be shared. It’s too good to keep to oneself. Jesus asks His critics: “Is it wrong for Me to spend so much time and effort over one lost soul as you do for one lost sheep?”

This parable is an invitation to them and to us to repent. “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance (v7).” What better reason can there be to apologise to God for all the times we’ve hurt Him and disobeyed Him? One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received was, “Always say ‘sorry’ more than you think you need to.” We can repent with joy because of the joy our repentance creates in heaven. Repentance need not be gloomy or morbid. Rather, because of the joyous reaction in heaven to our confession of sin, we repent as often as we can, as soon as we can, because our Heavenly Father is eager to welcome us back home again and embrace us with His unconditional love.

At the same time, God’s grief over those who see no need to repent and return to His House is like the grief of the woman who has lost one of her ten coins. This would have amounted to the loss of a tenth of her savings. No wonder she passionately searches for her lost property! As long as the coin is lost, it is of no value to anyone. No wonder she doesn’t stop searching until it’s found. And when it’s found, she invites her girlfriends and neighbours to a joy-filled celebration of thankfulness. She possibly even spends more on the celebration than the coin is worth!

In the same vein, Jesus shares with us the angels’ keen interest in our salvation. The angels can’t wait to joyously celebrate our eager repentance to our forgiving God. Today’s Gospel about Jesus eating with sinners is good news for all of us. His precious Supper is His Feast of forgiveness for us. He invites all of us who need Him so much and who are aware of their unworthiness to receive that life-giving gift. God’s Word says, “Do you not realise that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance (Romans 2:4)?” You can repent with joy because heaven rejoices when you do.

Look around you and rejoice at all those who have responded to the Gospel, and thank God for them all. Jesus wants you to have His permanent joy in you. Finally, thank God for the good news of great joy in today’s sermon text, news that’s a joy to share with others. Take up Jesus’ invitation to “rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20).”

Amen.

All working together.

Text: John 16:12-15.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

Here today in just these few verses we are given an insight into the workings of God and that which is important to him; and this then has an impact on who we are and what we are on about as well.

Now here in this reading we are reminded of how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the three members of the Trinity are at work in our world today. The thing that strikes us very strongly is that they are all working together, from their different positions and roles within the Godhead. That is they are at work making known to us that which is of God and which is important for us: that which is all truth. Very clearly, however the point is made that this knowledge has to do with Jesus and what he has said and done for us as he lived on this earth.

Now here Jesus begins by telling us that The Spirit of truth is come to guide us into the things that are important for us to know: the truth. This Spirit, we are told elsewhere, proceeds from the Father and the Son, and will make known to us only that which he hears from them. His sole purpose is to lead us to faith in Jesus Christ, which in turn brings glory to Jesus. He therefore, is sent to us, to make known to us all that Jesus said and did through his life, death and resurrection. The things yet to come, are a reference to Jesus death and resurrection which was yet to come, and which were of great importance for our salvation.

In that regard the Holy Spirit has often been regarded as the shy member of the Trinity. His focus is not on himself and what he does, but has come simply in order to make salvation through Christ, by grace through faith, known to us: to bring us to this knowledge and to help us to trust in this message, so that glory may in turn go to Jesus Christ and from there to the Father. He does not speak or act on his own behalf; as an independent agent, but only of that which he has received from the Father through the Son.

This then highlights the work of Jesus whilst he was here on this earth. God himself come to us, so that he might save us from the hell we have brought on ourselves through our rejection of God and our failing to live under his authority and Word. He took the punishment we deserve, on himself, so that we in turn might be forgiven and assured of life and salvation. Then he was raised from the dead so that we can be assured that he is for real and that eternal life is now there for all who are in Christ.

All this is from the Father. Everything Jesus had and gave he had in common with his Father. The divine love and power is reflected from the Father through the Son, and then made know by the Holy Spirit. All are working together to bring forgiveness, life and salvation to us all. There we have the greatness of our God, and that which we truly thank and praise him for.

But this work and cooperation has continued on from there. This Good News of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed year after year ever since. It has brought life and salvation down through the ages to many, many people. Through the Word and Sacraments, the Spirit has made known all the truth that surrounds Jesus’ death and resurrection that we need to know. Around the world, people have come to faith in Jesus Christ. And glory is going to the Father for all the goodness that he has extended to us.

This goodness and work even now goes on here. The Spirit of truth is still at work, seeking to guide us into all truth. Salvation by grace through faith is still being proclaimed. The emphasis of Christ alone, grace alone, scripture alone and faith alone are still held up in some quarters as vital. Jesus death and resurrection is still the focus in preaching and teaching. The Triune God is continuing to work together to ensure that this message of Jesus continues to go on.

This is surely then also where we join in this important work of God. As we allow the Spirit of truth to work in our lives we too will be focussing all that we say and do on Jesus Christ and the importance of his death and resurrection for our salvation and life. Like the Spirit, we will not act as independent agents, but will act under the guidance of the Spirit and under the authority of God himself. We too will only speak of what has been passed on from Christ as of first importance. As we do, we can be sure that God’s work will go on and continue to bear fruit.

So today, we are reminded again that God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all working together with one purpose in mind: Each in their different roles and priorities, all with the same end in mind.

The Spirit of truth is sent to lead us into all truth: The truth and importance of Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us through his death and resurrection. In this, the love and power of the Father is extended to all people.

So also then, when we focus on that same message we know that we too are being joined into that work of God himself. We also know that where that message is, and is proclaimed, that it will bring blessing. But more importantly, glory will go to our Lord Jesus Christ. That in turn will bring glory to the Father. Here again as I conclude this message let us remember that to God alone, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, belongs all glory and honour, now and always.

AMEN.

Holy Spirit – remind, teach, comfort.

Pentecost Sunday,
John 14:8-17, 25-27

Grace, peace and mercy to you from God our Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The sermon for this Pentecost Sunday is based on John’s gospel reading.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

It was exciting for me to find out I was preparing a sermon for this Pentecost Sunday. Where we focus on the Holy Spirit. A topic I covered in the Foundation of Christian Beliefs course I did with Pastor Mark. At the same time, when I looked at today’s gospel reading, I thought to myself, this is going to be a challenge. Pastor Mark has just walked us through John’s gospel last year. How could I follow that? How could I find something new and fresh to talk about?

Then I stopped for a moment and prayed. ‘Lord, may my words be pleasing to you, and a message to those who hear.’ This brought me relative calmness and peace. Just like Jesus’ closing words in today’s gospel reading, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid’ (Jn14:27).

The Church calendar covers similar themes year in and year out. Some may see this as boring repetition, others a harmonic rhythm. A sense of familiarity and, dare I say, ‘comfort.’ Pentecost is one such event in the Church year. It is a reminder of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and an opportunity to reflect on its purpose and importance in our lives.

Looking back, we are reminded of the things Jesus did for the believers of Christ and all creation. We are reminded that despite the worry in the world, loneliness, rejection and fear, Jesus will always be with us. Jesus says ‘I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever’ (Jn14:16).

At the same time, we also look forward. We look forward to the hope. A hope that we will rejoin our Heavenly Father. Hope that comes in the form of the Holy Spirit, who comforts in times of need, and guides us in Jesus’ teachings. The Spirit encourages us to lovingly share the good news that “when we call on the name of the Lord, we will be saved” (Acts 2:21).

In the reading for today, John shares Jesus’ final words with his disciples. That he will soon leave them to fulfil his father’s will. With Jesus returning to the Father, he will go ahead and prepare a place for them. But Jesus assures them that they will not be alone. That, despite physical separation, they will not be orphaned. Jesus’ parting gift is one of ‘comfort.’ He will send a comforter, the Holy Spirit, to guide them in truth. To remind them of all that he has said. He said they didn’t need to be afraid or troubled of heart, for he was with them. Jesus’ parting gift is one of ‘comfort.’

I recently visited my parents in Ipswich and was gifted my ‘lambie.’ This used to be my comforter when I was very young (VERY YOUNG). I used to carry it around with me, sleep on it, and sleep next to it. Lambie and I were never far apart. Just ask Mum when she tried to wash it. Now, despite the comfort that Lambie provides, there are a few issues:

Some people are allergic to Lambie. If I gave it to our daughters, they will break out in hives.
I can’t really take Lambie with me wherever I go. Could you imagine a 46-year-old me walking around with Lambie today? No doubt, I would get some looks.
And Lambie is a little small for me to sleep on now. Not very comforting at all.

I suppose you could say Lambie’s ‘comfort’ comes with limitations. There are restrictions. But where Lambie fails, Jesus never does. Jesus gives us himself. That he and the Father are one, inseparable beings. And the same goes for the Spirit and the Son. That despite his departure, he remains with us in Spirit and will return. He offers togetherness. The Spirit is a personal guarantee of Christ’s presence among believers. Unlike Lambie, the Spirit is with us always, always comforting, always teaching and always guiding.

Now, this promise is hard to believe. Hard to believe when we live in a world where seeing is believing. How do we believe in something we cannot see? Something we cannot touch. This is the same thing the disciples struggled with. And they had Jesus under their nose. He was there doing the Father’s work and performing signs. There in the flesh and blood. And yet Phillip asked Jesus to show him the Father. Show me the Father and then I will believe. They were calling for comfort and assurance from Jesus that everything will be ok.

And Jesus gently rebuked them. He said, ‘you already have!’ If you see me, you see the Father (v9). Believe in my word, for my word is truth (v11). And if you don’t believe my word, well, believe my works (v11). That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? That Jesus and the Father are one. That, despite the separation anxiety the disciples faced, their Lord would not orphan them (v18). That the Spirit was to remain with them, to be with them no matter what they faced. Just as the Father and Son are inseparable, so too are the Son and the Spirit.

Jesus promised that He and His Father would come in the Spirit. He would make a home with those who love and keep His Word (v23). This is a profound and incredible promise! A promise of God taking up residence in His faithful people. The Spirit is moving house, and it happens in this Pentecost period. He has his bags packed full of comfort and assurance. No Lambie required. He comes through fire and wind. He comes in his word. The Word made flesh and sent to earth to dwell among us. Who cleared the pathway to the Father through his death and resurrection. The Word, present in the waters of baptism and with us today in the bread and wine. And when we meditate on the scripture, when we pray, we share in the Spirit. He is there interceding for us, translating and guiding us through his teachings.

Yes, there will be tough seasons in our lives. Jesus never promised that life would be easy and free from pain. We will go through seasons of suffering, despair and loneliness. We will feel abandoned. We shout, WHY ME? And it is there that he meets us. Where we least expect him. Where there is no hope, he is the hope. The Spirit nudges our eyes upward to the cross. Where we see death, there is life. Life through the death of the Son who reconciles us to the Father. He paid the price for our salvation, rescuing and reclaiming us from powers we cannot overcome.

And when the darkness lifts and the light shines through, we look back on the scars of life. They serve as a wonderful reminder to us. That despite what happens in our lives, or around us, we are not alone. That there is comfort, mercy and love. Or as John reminds us in the words of Jesus, Peace, not as the world gives (v27). A peace that brings ultimate comfort.

Dear friends, Pentecost serves as a wonderful reminder that we live forever with God. It reminds us of the abiding presence of Christ in those who love and keep His Word. We will never be alone again for we live with the Holy Spirit. So, seek the word and meditate on it. Prey boldly and proclaim the good news. For we draw comfort from an ever-present, indwelling Holy Spirit. A promise that as co-heirs and children of God we will share in His glory (Rom8:17).

“Behold, I am making all things new.…write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”(Rv21:5). These words are true. So “do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (v17), for “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts2:21).
Amen.

Lord Jesus, as you sent your Holy Spirit to the disciples on the day of Pentecost, filling them with boldness to proclaims the good news of your death and resurrection, so send us out in the power of the same Spirit to witness to your truth, so that people everywhere may be drawn to the fire of your love and comfort. Amen.

Prayer from Pastor Mark Worthing.

Jesus is ascended and present

The Text: Luke 24:44-53

Saying farewell to loved ones is never easy. Imagine what it would be like to have some of your family live interstate or overseas. Saying farewell to those family members would be something you unfortunately would have to do often. Saying farewell is like you are being torn apart from those whom you love most. Sure, we trust that we shall see one another again; we just don’t want to be separated. To be apart seems against the nature of what it means to be family.

As Jesus ascends into heaven, He says His farewells to His disciples, He raises His hands in blessing while He disappears into the clouds, but His disciples are delighted. There is no sadness or tears. They don’t know when they would see Him again and that didn’t bother them. The disciples are filled with joy and celebration that Jesus ascended to heaven.

How different this is from when Jesus was last taken from them in the garden. When He was arrested they were more than grief stricken. They were lost. They scattered like sheep without a shepherd.

Why the difference at Bethany? The answer is the power of the resurrection.

After rising from the dead Jesus appeared many times to the apostles and hundreds of His disciples, but He never stayed with them. He always went away. He always came again. Each time the truth of His resurrection from the grave was confirmed in their hearts and minds. Jesus had conquered our greatest enemies for us.

Before ascending at Bethany Jesus opened the Scriptures and they understood that everything written about [Him] in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Jesus’ ascension was part of God’s plan. He had to go to heaven because at the right hand of the Father Jesus can best do His work and rule His kingdom.

Had Jesus remained upon earth in visible form, He would still be in Palestine to this day. We would be able to go on a pilgrimage to see Him and hear Him preach, maybe shake His hand. Then we would return home and Jesus would stay in His place, and we would be apart. We could remember the great time we had with Him and look through the photos of the trip, but we would live separate lives.

But from the right hand of the Father, Jesus rules His kingdom in such a way that He can be with all His disciples and they can be with Him. Through the word we hear Him speak with us. He sent the Holy Spirit to preach truth in our hearts and be our Comforter. Do not think that Jesus has gone and is far away from us. The very opposite is true. While He was on earth, He was far away from us; now He is very near. He is in our hearts. He is in this place.

It is comforting to know that our Lord is near, in our heart and mind. It can also be confronting to know that Jesus is so near that He sees all our sins. We can feel guilty for treating the gift of life so poorly as to sin every day. The flesh thinks Jesus comes near to condemn us. Nothing could be further from the truth. He has done everything to earn our place in heaven and He grants us that inheritance as a gift.

Having gone ahead of us into heaven Jesus stands before the Father as our advocate. He displays the wounds in His hands and side as sufficient payment for our sins. He speaks to the Father on our behalf. His crucified body is the bloody sacrifice that bought us peace and His resurrected and glorified body is our hope of eternal life.

Standing around out at Bethany, the disciples were beginning to understand all this. From the newly opened Scriptures they could see that Jesus, while reigning in heaven, would also be with them in a new and powerful way. He was not in a fixed place, but present in all places that His people gathered. He can be wherever He chooses, but He is always where He promises: in the Word, in the Holy Sacraments, with the baptised children of God. Since Christ’s ascension, God is with His people as He has never been before.

And this is why the disciples were filled with joy and worshipped Jesus as God. Their risen and ascended Lord was with them, and with all believers across time and space. Ruling from heaven He has unlimited power and authority. Jesus rules through His Word. Through the preaching of the Gospel Christ forgives sins and washes away guilt. Jesus expands His kingdom by speaking words of grace and mercy through both pastor and laity, so that the Church is built up in grace and the world comes to know the love of God. Through the Spirit working in our hearts Jesus grows His kingdom.

Speaking His Word, growing His kingdom, saving sinners, that is what Jesus does every Sunday. This is why we have come to worship today. To hear that Jesus died for us, was raised on the third day for us, ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us. His forgiveness and life are ours.

Christ has given us His Word to proclaim it to the world. He gives the Holy Spirit to all believers to make us aware when to speak the Gospel, when to show love in our actions, when to serve silently.

Friends of Jesus, our Lord sends you as He sent the first disciples. He sends you out with power from on high, power to speak His name, power to suffer and endure it. That power is given through Word and Sacrament. That power is received and put in to action by faith.

And you don’t go alone. Jesus has promised to go with you. He sends you and walks the path with you. He sends you to your family and your friends, your neighbours and your enemies. He sends you to love not to fight, to speak not to argue, to suffer not to conquer. He sends you out as His lambs among wolves, but lambs marked with the sign of the Lamb of God and claimed by His love. You are witnesses of His saving love in this world.

At times you will be hated and persecuted. You will struggle in many ways. You will even hurt. But by the Word and the Spirit you have life that cannot be taken away, because Jesus can’t be taken from you. You will live out that Word and speak the Word and the Word will bear fruit. Many will hear and many will believe. We may never see the fruit but we trust Christ at His Word; we faithfully plant and we leave the harvest up to His timing.

Jesus’ ascension to heaven was not His farewell. Ascending on high is how He comes to each one of us. He comes in the hearing of the Gospel. He comes in the water and the Word. He comes in bread and wine at the altar where He promises to meet with you; to forgive you and give you His life. He comes in the spoken absolution. He comes in the sharing of the Good News between believers. Jesus is present with us in a more powerful way than when He rubbed shoulders with the disciples in Palestine.

Jesus comes to us and He has gone before us. He has gone to prepare a place for you, a place of rest and peace away from this valley of tears. He promises, “In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (Jn 14:2)

As we look forward to the day when we enter into our eternal home, we continue loving God by serving our neighbour. We love them with the love of the ascended Christ who is in us and working through us and alongside of us.

He is here, and we are there, because He has said that He is in us and we are in Him, and He is able to keep that promise because He lives and reigns at the right hand of the Almighty.

You can be certain that Jesus walks with you. You are free to live your life and free to share God’s love. Hold fast to the Gospel and let it change you. Keep coming to the Eucharist to receive Jesus into your body for your forgiveness and strength and life. We are not separated from Him, He is very near to us. He is with you now and always. Amen.

Let’s pray. Almighty Father, as Your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended into the heavens to rule over the universe to the benefit of His Church, may He rule our hearts by the Gospel that we may strive to do all things according to Your will. In His name we pray. Amen.

The most perfect city ever.

6 Easter 2025
Revelation 21:10-17; 22-22:5

Last year’s list of the most livable cities in the world put Vienna at the top. It’s a nice city. A bit too spread out for getting around by foot, and a bit prone to flooding when the Danube burst its banks. But a nice place, nonetheless. In second place was Copenhagen. All I can say is that the committee must have visited it in summer. Zurich was third. Not a bad place, and some nice mountain views in the background. The fourth most livable city in the world was deemed to be Melbourne.

The Melbourne city public relations team when into overdrive advertising their ranking as soon as the news came up. They were quick to point out that they were three places above Sydney, which usually is the top city in Australia in these rankings.

The rest of Australia was left scratching our heads. Melbourne? Really. Did the committee try to drive through the city during peak hour? Did they visit during covid, or one of the cities many protest marches? And again, they surely didn’t visit in winter, or on a windy day.

Some years ago the CSIRO did a study of the best and healthiest places to live in Australia looking simply at climate: temperature range, humidity, rainfall, hours of sunshine, etc. They put Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie in first place. Well, that seems more sensible to us. But we might have had a hard time convincing any visitors who were trapped in Port last week when we received 600 millimetres of rain, all access to the city via road, rail and air was blocked, and thousands of residents, including the manse, suddenly had waterfront properties.

So, the perfect city to live in is a matter of taste – and timing!

But in today’s second reading, from the book of Revelation, John tells us he has seen the most perfect city ever, and it is the heavenly city , the new Jerusalem, that God will bring down to earth for all children to live it.

The Book of Revelation, for most of us, seems to be about weird images of a rather frightening future. But that is a misreading of the book. It is about hope in times of great trouble. It is a reminder that in the battle over evil, God wins in the end. And so the book appropriately finishes with a vision of the heavenly city where Jesus will rule and where we will all live with him forever. It is one of the greatest passages of hope in the Bible.

John was shown this city in a vision. A vision is more concrete and real than a dream. In a dream we wake up and remember things vaguely. Visions are very vivid. More like watching a movie. God gave John a vision, and sent an angel to show him the city he has prepared for all of us to live in.

It has a number of striking features. It’s very, very big. About two hundred kilometres from one side to the next. Many of us who have tried to drive through Syndney or Melbourne, and in recent years Brisbane, have wondered if we will ever come to the end of it. Well, the heavenly city will dwarf them. The angel measured it out for John as he watched just to make the point of exactly how big it is. If one edge began in Port Macquarie the opposite side would be several kilometres on the other side of Coffs Harbour. But we imagine without the traffic somehow. The size shows the importance of the city. But it also shows that God is not planning a city for a handful of especially holy people, but for great masses of people.

And the city will be very tall. And the buildings all very bright and beautiful. To John it seems they were all made of gold and jewels. So the city will have an amazing wow factor. We will not tire of looking at it.

And there will be no night there. The city will be lit by the glory of God and the Lamb, that is Jesus. So every day will be a bright and cheerful day.

Another feature that stands out is that there will be a river flowing down the middle of the main street of the city. Now, many of you might say, that’s nothing special. We had rivers flowing down many of our streets here in Port last week.

But this is different. This is a river that is more like a giant median strip. And the river is not muddy flood water filled with debris. It is crystal clear water. For this river is the river of life, and it will flow from the heart of the city, from the throne of God, out through the city and to bring life to the surrounding land.

You might recall those with artistic ability were challenged to portray this theme, using this verse, in last year’s visual art challenge. We got some really beautiful paintings, drawings and photos. But all of them will dim in comparison to the real thing.

And on both sides of this river will be the tree of life. Again, I am not sure how this works, but several of our artists last year showed us some ways we might imagine this. But the important thing about the tree of life is that it is symbolic of the restoration of what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Remember, we ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and as a consequence, access to the tree of life was blocked. But now it will be restored. And it will not just be for the people living on side of the city or the other. It will be on both sides of the river and street. And it will bear fruit all year long. And even its leaves will be for the healing of nations. So life everlasting will be restored to us in this city where there will be no tears and no death, and the river of life and the tree of life will be a continual reminder of this.

And with a city that size, and one built by, powered by and illumined by God, there would certainly be some pretty large and spectacular churches or temples in it. But actually no. Not a single one. Not even a small chapel or prayer room.

What? We might ask. Not a single place of worship in the holy city of New Jerusalem?

How can that be?

Well, there is no need for a church or a temple to worship God because God will be dwelling there with us. Jesus will be enthroned in the city and we will not need to go to some special place to talk about him or worship him or see him. He will be present and available to all.

That’s pretty special.

So apart from some pretty spectacular urban features, this city that will one day be our home has some other special features as well.

As we saw, the presence of Christ will light the city and there will be no need for churches or temples because he will be immediately present to us, living, once again, among us.

And next, the river of life and tree of life will be restored to us and available to all, and at all times. So this a place without sickness and death.

There will be no night. The city has gates, but they are to go in and out of. They will not be shut for there is no need. No night. No crime. No wars.

John finishes his description by recapping what struck him as most important.

‘The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city and his people will worship him and see his face. … And there will be no more night; they will need no lamp or light from the sin, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign with him forever.

In the Old Testament times people believed that one could not look upon God and live. Moses and Elijah saw a glimpse of God. But God came to us in Jesus. We all looked upon him on the cross and have been giving life. And in the heavenly city, we are told that we will see God’s face! And we will have life. And this life will last ‘forever and ever.’

So why does God give John this vision? Why are we given this description in the Book of Revelation?

The vision came to John at a time of great persecution of the church. Many Christians thought surely the end must be near. And much of the book of Revelation reflects these hardships. But the overriding message of the Book of Revelation is one of hope. And that is how the book ends: with this description of the heavenly city.

In times of hardship, pain and suffering, God wants us to know what is coming. What awaits us.

Rember, Jeus told his disciples that they should not be troubled, because he was going to prepare a place for them (John 14). Well, here we are given a vivid picture of what kind of place he has prepared for us.

It is an image to think of in difficult and troubled times. It is a vision of hope, to remind us of who our God is, and of our true home with him forever.

Amen.
Pastor Mark Worthing

Peace I leave with you

Text: John 14:27

Apparently there is an element of truth in this story. A plane landed after a long flight. The flight attendant explained that there was enough time for everyone to get off the aircraft and then reboard in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one gentleman. The pilot had noticed him as he walked by. He could tell that the man was blind because his guide dog lay quietly underneath the seat next to him. “Sir”, the pilot said to the blind man, “we will be here for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?”

The blind man replied, “No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs.”

Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a complete stand still when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a guide dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses.

Fear took control. People scattered and queued at the airline desk trying to change planes!

Fear is a normal human response. It is a part of every person’s life – perhaps more so in some people than others – but still everyone has to deal with fear at some time. There are many things that can cause unexpected fear to grip our hearts.
The latest wave of flu strains makes us worry for our health.
The fear of terrorist attacks permeates public events.
The nuclear build up in North Korea has caused nations to fear the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons.
Mothers, fathers and children in Israel and Palestine live in constant fear of another bomb blast or being caught in crossfire.
Parents fear for the safety of their children with so many reports in the news of people who would want to harm them.
We are afraid to leave our homes unlocked, or to walk in the dark at night.
We fear failure so we scramble to meet our tight schedules, duties and obligations.

And where there is fear, there is no peace. Fear brings with it anxiety, worry, apprehension, dread, restlessness, panic and tension – none of which lead us to feel calm, peaceful, relaxed and stress-free.

One of the best newspaper cartoons is Calvin and Hobbes. One day Calvin comes marching into the living room early one morning. His mother is seated there in her favourite chair. She is sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at young Calvin. She is amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin’s head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a baseball bat.
“What’s up today?” asks his mum.
“Nothing, so far,” answers Calvin.
“So far?” she questions.
“Well, you never know,” Calvin says, “Something could happen today.” Then Calvin marches off, “And if anything does, by golly, I’m going to be ready for it!”

Calvin’s mum looks out at the reading audience and she says, “I need a suit like that!”

That’s the way many of us feel as we see the news and deal with life. Sometimes this world seems too violent and people seem to be at each other’s throats. A suit like that would help, so we can say along with Calvin, “Whatever may come my way, I’m going to be ready for it! Bring it on!”

Well, I don’t have a suit like Calvin’s to give you this morning, but I do have some important words from Jesus this morning to enable us to say, “Whatever may come my way, I’m going to be ready for it! Bring it on!”

It is the night of the Last Supper. Jesus has just spoken of his impending death. He tells the disciples that one of them will betray him and urges Judas to go and do quickly what he has planned to do.
Peter boldly claims that he would rather die than deny his Lord, but Jesus knows that before the rooster crows he will say three times that he does not know the man they are talking about.
Jesus talks about going where they cannot follow and they are confused about this. Haven’t they followed Jesus for the past 3 years? They have watched him heal the sick, they have seen him bring comfort to the afflicted and laughter to the faces of children. Not a day has past where Jesus has not been with them. Their sole thought and attention has been him since the day they were called. And now they are faced with the thought of life without him. Where is he going that they can’t continue to follow him in the future?
Jesus knows that what will happen – his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial and tortuous death the next day – will upset them.

Like a child lost in a department store, these disciples are afraid, uncertain, confused and nervous. And so he continues saying, “Do not be worried and upset. Believe in God and believe also in me …. Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid” (John 14:1, 27).

In the New Testament, the peace Jesus gives is an unconditional, eternal gift to his followers in every time and place. That’s why he does not give peace to us as the world does – for the world, peace is often very conditional, fragile, temporary, and, is frequently reduced to mean only the absence of war and strife.

Worldly peace always has some kind of strings attached, some kind of conditions, and worldly peace lasts only as long as the conditions are kept. Two feuding neighbours can’t agree over the type of fence to be constructed between their properties. They come to an agreement about the cost, type of fence, what kind of materials are to be used and how high it should be but immediately one reneges on what was agreed, the feud starts again.

However, with Christ’s peace there are no strings attached; there is the wonderful promise that it will last forever. Peace, in the New Testament sense means: salvation, forgiveness and reconciliation between God and humanity. The sin that stands between God and us has been done away by the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection. We no longer fear God’s anger because of our rebelliousness. Jesus reconciles us with God – he restores the friendship between God and us.

Peace is also the Holy Spirit in our lives as friend, comforter, counsellor, teacher and healer.
Peace is knowing that no matter what troubles may come our way, God, our heavenly Father, has promised to never forget us and to always be our helper and strength. He sent his Son to go all the way and die for us in order to reclaim us as his own. He won’t give up on us now. We are his special and most loved children.
Peace is the flow on of God’s peace into the rest of our lives as we live and work with the people in our day to day relationships and activities.
This peace has a positive effect on our health and well-being. It is well documented that stress, tension, and fear have negative effects on our body.

What can we do when fear grips our hearts?

Firstly, get to know what kind of God we have. He is gracious, loving and faithful. We don’t deserve it but he loves us and will always stand by us. We see just how powerful his love for us is when we look at the cross and see what Jesus has done for us.
Get to know God as the king and ruler of the universe. There is nothing so great or too difficult for him to handle. Parting the sea to save the Israelites, saving Daniel from the lions or Jonah from the belly of the big fish, springing Peter from jail, or saving Paul from a shipwreck were all a piece of cake for him. Helping us when we are afraid is just as easy.

Secondly, get to know God’s promises and trust that he will stick by what he says. Memorise and trust words like these –
The Lord is my light and my salvation; I will fear no one. The Lord protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid. (Psalm 27:1,2).
God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid… (Psalm 45:1,2).
Or Jesus words of authority and power, “Don’t be afraid! I am the first and the last. I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead.” (Revelation 1:17).
Be assured that God keeps his promises; that he is with us, even in the worst possible situation imaginable on this earth.

Thirdly, realise that there are too many times when our human attempts to be bold are not sufficient. There will be times when even the texts of promise that we have learnt off by heart will do little to ease our anxiety. We may even feel that God has deserted us. It’s then we need the Holy Spirit to help us – to forgive us for our weakness of faith, to enable us to trust that God has not forsaken us, to support us while we tremble in fear and to help us get through. He even takes our cries of fear to God and pleads to him on our behalf (Rom 8:26-27).

Our strength, our mind, our skills are of no particular use. We just have to relax and wait patiently, trusting in the God who knows all of our needs and is willing to use his power to help us. The Holy Spirit reminds us – when fear is near, God is even nearer.

Fourthly, pray. Ask God to intervene in our troubles and the fear they bring. Pray for faith, for boldness and courage when we are afraid. Pray that we are able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit who points us to the love and compassion of God, and pray that in the end God would take us from the troubles of this world into the eternal world where there will be no more fear.

When fears and worries create tension and upset your life, Jesus promises, “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.”

Renovated, rebuilt or transformed

5 Easter 2025

Revelation 21:1-7
As you may have noticed, I like fixing up old things. A have restored a few old cars over the years. But I always tried to use them as my regular vehicle and they proved less than dependable. A fifty-year-old car remains a fifty-year-old car, even after months of work and many replacement parts. My biggest restoration effort was a 130-year-old stone cottage in Hahndorf. Kathy and I spent thirty years fixing and renovating that old cottage. And do you know what we had after thirty years? That’s right. A 160-year -old cottage. For all that work, it remained an old cottage.

Restoring old things is not easy. Some of you may have noticed a few old bicycles around the manse. I enjoy fixing up old bicycles. It is a cheaper hobby than restoring old cars. But when I start a project I have to decide how to proceed. Do I keep the bike looking old and just try to get it in working order? Do I restore it as much as possible to its original condition? Or to I take in down the frame and start all over with modern parts, essentially making it a new or different bicycle? It is not always an easy decision. But at the end of the day, a 100-year-old bike remains a 100-year-old bike, which I was recently reminded of when picking up speed down a steep hill and testing out the 100-year-old braking system!

So as a keen renovator, I was very interested to read today’s text from Revelation 21. God makes the heavens new, and the earth new. He remakes the entire city of Jerusalem. Indeed, Jesus, the lamb seated on the throne that we read about last week in Revelation chapter 7, declares: Behold! I make all things new!’ And that includes us. For we read that there will be no more sadness, pain, tears or death (vs 4). These things will have passed away.

So how does Jesus do it? What is his approach to renovation?

The early rabbis, commenting on similar Old Testament promises that God would make the world new, came up with three options.

First, some thought that God would simply renovate the world. He would restore it the way he had originally made it. Any renovator can relate to that. Our goal is often to get that old car, bicycle, house or whatever we are restoring to look and function as much as possible as it did when new. But is that all God does in making all things new? Does he simply put them back to their original condition?

The second option the rabbis came up with was that God would return the world to its original state, when he first began creating, and rebuild it from scratch. In renovators’ terms, this is equivalent to taking the house down to foundations and frame and rebuilding. Or taking everything off the old bike, sanding down and repainting the frame, and putting on all new parts. The end result, according to the rabbis, was also a world that would resemble what God originally intended. But it would be more of a complete rebuild than a renovation, with little recognisable remaining of the original world.

The third option the rabbis came up with was the most radical. Some thought God would completely destroy the world and start from scratch with an entirely new and different world to the one he had originally created. This would be the equivalent to simply giving up on that old cottage, knocking it down, and building a modern cubist structure in its place. Or melting down the bicycle and making a whole new design, never seen before.

So how does Jesus make all things new. Which of the rabbinic schools of thought that interpreted Old Testament promises that God would make a new heavens and new earth are correct?

Were the renovators right. Were the complete rebuild theorists right? Were those who thought all would be destroyed and God would make something completely different right?

I would suggest that none of them were right.

They were missing an important piece of the puzzle.

They did not understand fully the nature of the God who was making the new heaven and the new earth.

The God who speaks from the throne in John’s vision is none other than Jesus. We see this clearly in several textual clues. We already know from chapter seven that it is the Lamb who sits on the throne. The promise that God will dwell swell with us is reminiscent of John 1:14, ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ And the words ‘It is done’ in verse 6 would have reminded readers of Jesus’ last words from the cross in John 19:30. Jesus is also known as the Alpha and Omega, and the reference to his given us water from the spring of life also has strong connects to John 7:37-38. So in the minds of the readers, there would be no doubt that it is Jesus sitting on the throne.

And when Jesus, from the throne, says he has made all things new, he speaks as if it has already been accomplished because in John’s vision, it has been. And because it is the victorious Lamb, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end who speaks, we can be confident that this restoration of all things is so certain that we can speak of it as more than a prophecy, more than a promise. But as a reality.

Remember, this is the same Jesus who has conquered sin, death and grave through his own death and resurrection. Jesus knows a thing or two about making things new! And he does not simply renovate us and our world. Nor does he sweep us away and start over.

Jesus transforms us. He makes us new people in him.

He transforms the holy city of Jerusalem. He transforms the earth and even the heavens. Yest the heavens and earth remain. And we remain. We will still be us. But we will be transformed. Not destroyed and replaced. And not simply patched up or having a reset button pushed. For our God is a renovator like no other. He doesn’t simply repair us or start over. In Christ, God is in the business of transformation. And we will be transformed into who and what God had always wanted us to be.

We will be God’s children, and the Lamb will be out God (vs 7). And he will wipe away all tears. There will be no more death, no more pain. Jesus will give us the very waters of life. And we and our world will be transformed. Indeed, in Christ, we already have been and are being transformed. The wonderful promise of the future Jesus has in store for us is already a reality for Christ, who is enthroned in heaven, preparing a home for us. And thus it is also already a reality for us. Amen.

Pastor Mark Worthing

Love as I have loved you.

Text: John 13:33-34

It was Sunday morning and the choir was in the sanctuary and had just completed singing an anthem. The pastor was already in the pulpit. As the last notes of the choir faded he opened his mouth to speak, a teenage girl stepped down from the front row of the choir, walked around the choir conductor, down the steps of the sanctuary and with her choir robes gently flowing behind her, continued down the aisle. Everyone, including the pastor stared. They thought she was leaving and were beginning to feel a little awkward that a choir member should walk out straight after the choir had done its bit in the service.

But she wasn’t leaving. She walked half way down the church and slid into a pew and sat next to her friend and put her arm around her. She had seen her friend, Bethany, come in late and was sitting by herself. Twelve hours earlier Bethany’s mother had died after suffering an illness. As the teenager sat next to Bethany and gently hugged her, those in the congregation smiled and shed small tears of joy, of love for the friend who showed Christ’s love through a simple act of companionship. She risked causing a distraction to serve a friend.

Then the pastor broke the silence saying, “I was going to preach on Jesus’ command to love one another as he has loved us, but that sermon has just been delivered in a much more powerful way” and he announced the next hymn.

Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples”. I’m sure you’ve heard dozens of sermons and devotions and Bible studies on these words and yet what Jesus says here remains one of the most difficult things he asks his followers to do.

The English language has either trivialised the word ‘love’ when we say “I love chocolate” or sexualised it in literature and movies.

“Love as I have loved you”, Jesus says. What did Jesus mean by love and how did Jesus love people? It follows that if we can answer this and the better we understand Jesus’ love the more we will know what true love is all about.

We need only look at how Jesus accepted and respected people regardless of their position in the community – whether the person was

a learned scholar and Pharisee like Nicodemus,
a foreign divorcee like the Samaritan woman at the well,
a cheat and a traitor like Zaccheus,
a grotesque and unsightly leper or
those possessed by demons who behaved wildly and dangerously.

It made no difference to Jesus what kind of background the person had, that person was still a person who needed not to be put down, not to be looked down on, not to be ignored but was a unique and precious child of God. No matter what their condition or what their sin, each person was of immeasurable value to their Creator and loved and respected by Jesus.

Jesus’ love for these people was not simply a warm fuzzy feeling but he put himself out there for them. He stood alongside, embraced, and welcomed those who were considered morally corrupt, outsiders and outcasts, those condemned for their shameful lives or for their seeming guilt because of the diseases they carried in their bodies. He stood with these people, healing them and forgiving them.

Jesus didn’t care what others thought because all he could see were people who needed to know that someone cared; that God cared; that they were precious and dearly loved.

The teenager who walked from the choir down to where her friend sat didn’t care that she was holding up the service and that people would glare and disapprove of the disruption. I’m sure it took a great deal of courage but she didn’t care because all she could see at that moment was a person who needed to experience Jesus’ love in her grief and she was going to do something about it.

That leads me to say that the kind of love that Jesus had was sacrificial. Throughout his ministry his own safety and comfort were always last. And then there was the cross – the ultimate symbol of loving sacrifice. He gave all that he had and that included his own life because of his love for all humanity, because of his love for you and me.

That night in the Garden of Gethsemane the thought of the cross did not arouse warm fuzzy feelings of love in Jesus. His love was more than that.
It was a love that valued people more than his own life.
It was a love that was determined to let nothing stand in the way of God’s love bringing salvation to all people.
It was a love that was prepared to give up everything even though it seemed that the recipients of that love didn’t deserve it. Pauls says, “God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.” (Rom 5:8 The Message).

“Love as I have loved you”, Jesus said. We could talk about this a long time. We haven’t even mentioned Jesus’ parables, like the Good Samaritan, that leave no doubt that love knows no boundaries. What about Jesus’ love for his disciples when they tested his patience again and again. His love changed this bunch of slow-minded losers into bold leaders of the church.

So what does it mean to love one another in the same way that Jesus has loved us? Let’s be clear who Jesus is talking to. He is speaking to his disciples, “I give you a new commandment: love one another”. He is saying this to us the people of the church, “Love one another as I have loved you”.

Paul emphasises this in his letter to the Philippian Christians saying, “Sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind … the attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had” (Phil 2:3,5).

In the letters of the New Testament we find the words “one another” again and again. Where we find the words “one another” we find a description of what it means to love as Christ has loved us; what it means to have the same attitude or the same mind as Christ. We are told:

let love make you serve one another (Gal 5:13) ;
accept one another as Christ has accepted you (Rom 15:7);
carry one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2);
be tolerant of one another (Eph 4:2);
be kind and tender-hearted toward one another (Eph 4:32);
forgive one another (Eph 4:32);
be subject to one another (Eph 5:21);
be humble towards one another, always considering others better than yourselves (Phil 2:3);
look out for one another’s interests (Phil 2:4);
encourage one another (1 Thess 4:18);
help one another every day (Heb 3:13);
share your belongings with one another (Acts 2:43);
do good to one another and to all people (1 Thess 5:15);
be at peace with one another (1Thess 5:13);
pray for one another (James 5:16);
open your homes to one another (1 Peter 4:9);
show respect for one another (Rom 12:10);

and the do nots – don’t criticise one another, don’t judge one another, don’t complain against one another and so on.

As you can see the Bible describes love as action. Often it’s an action that is the result of an act of the will because if we relied on the feeling of love we wouldn’t do anything.

Jesus is talking about rolling up our sleeves and doing what is the more difficult.
He is talking about doing good to one another even though that other person is awfully irritating or we just don’t like that person.
It might mean forgiving and making peace even though we feel as though we are the ones who have been wronged and that it’s the other person who should be saying sorry first.
It means going out of our way to give encouragement even though we don’t know the person very well or perhaps don’t particularly get on with them very well or we don’t have a clue what to say.
There may be people who don’t like us, hate us, and who disagree with us – some of them might be in the church and some might be in the community. They may hold us and our faith in contempt, put us down, ignore us, make us feel bad. There may be times when people in the congregation will upset us and our natural reaction would be to return as good as we are given and turn our backs on those we dislike and disagree with.
There may be times when we will want to be selfish and self-centred and say, “I want it my way and to hell with everyone else”. And if we don’t get our own way then it’s easy to walk away.

How does that fit in with Jesus’ words, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” or Paul’s instruction to have the same attitude as Christ. There is no way around it. There is no other alternative. The only response that a Christian can give is to love in the same sacrificial, forgiving, accepting, generous way as Jesus did. There are no exceptions;
there is no room for an eye for an eye;
no argument whatsoever for turning your back on a fellow-Christian;
no room for intolerance, impatience and rudeness;
no reason for walking away because you have been offended.

Love always calls for reconciliation. Love always makes the first move toward breaking down walls regardless of who is right or wrong. The more we know Christ and his love, the more we will reflect that love in our lives, especially in the church.

The kind of love that Jesus is talking about here, especially toward our fellow Christians, is very demanding. As we reflect on our own lives it’s easy to see that it’s hard to love as Christ has loved us. It’s clear that we need a fresh start and a clean page. We go back to the love of Jesus that led him to the cross and seek forgiveness and renewal. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as we walk together as Christ’s Church, that we serve and encourage one another in love.

“If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples”.
Amen.