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.

Pentecost 4
John 4:43-54

John is very sparse in his miracle stories. He includes only seven of them. And unlike the other Gospel writers, he does not call them miracles, but signs. What is important, for John, is what they point to.

You will remember the first of the seven ‘signs’ that John recorded was the turning of water to wine at the wedding in Cana. It was, and remains, in the view of many, a rather odd miracle for Jesus to begin his ministry with. But remember, the point is that it was chiefly meant to be a sign. And while many have wondered over the years what was really the point of rescuing a poorly planned wedding celebration, the sign performed was no ordinary miracle. Many prophets and others, through the power of God, had performed miracle of provision of food or water, great acts of healing, even reviving the dead. But the Jewish understanding of miracle also included a category of the miracle of creation. Of making something that did not exist before. This was a miracle that in the biblical record, only God could do. So when Jesus begins his ministry with turning water into wine, instead of healing a blind person or raising someone from the dead, it might seem rather understated to us. But for those who understood the symbolism, it was a clear message. This was no ordinary miracle worker. This was God himself. No one else could create wine when there was nothing but water to begin with.

And now John comes to what he indicates is Jesus’ second sign. But, of course, we know it is not. John himself makes a point of telling us that Jesus had performed many signs, or miracles, in Jerusalem.  What John means is that this is the second sign that he wants to tell us about. Like the first one he relates, it is symbolically important. And once again, it takes place in the little Galilean village of Cana, not far from Nazareth where Jesus grew up.

So here is the background to the second miracle or sign in Cana.

John begins by telling us that Jesus is heading back to Galilee from Jerusalem. He has just passed through Samaria where he encountered the woman at the well. He was delayed there two days teaching the people of the woman’s village. This gives time for other pilgrims from Galilee to return home, and also for news of what he did in Jerusalem (cleansing the temple, teaching with authority, performing many signs) to make it back to Galilee – including to the court of King Herod Antipas, the man who had imprisoned and then executed John the Baptist, and whose father had sought the death of Jesus as an infant.

A second point to note is that before John begins the account of this second miracle in Cana he relates that after two days in the village of Sychar in Samaria Jesus continued on from Jerusalem on his way to Galilee. Then John adds this comment, ‘because as Jesus himself had said, a prophet has no honour in his home country’ (v. 44). Now this is interesting because the other three gospels have this same saying. But in each of them it takes place when Jesus is being rejected either in Nazareth or in Galilee more generally. But John turns this around.

In John’s account Jesus is leaving Jerusalem where he had taught and done wonders, and has been rejected. He has just been accepted by a town of Samaritans, and now he is on his way to Galilee where the text says ‘the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they too had gone to the festival’ (v. 45). And, of course, the story of the sign that comes is further evidence of his being accepted, not rejected, in Galilee.

Many have wondered whether John has made a mistake here and somehow misplaced this saying of Jesus. The explanation is rather to be sought in the emphasis John puts on Jerusalem and the temple throughout his Gospel. As the Messiah, the descendent and heir to David, Jerusalem is Jesus’ true home and country. And it is in Jerusalem, John wants to point out, and not in Galilee, where Jesus was not accepted. So what takes place next is also part of the case against Jerusalem and the authorities there.

Then John tells us that Jesus comes to Galilee. And he goes to Cana. To get there he would have had to travel past the Sea of Galilee and several major towns. And John points out that it was in Cana where Jesus had turned water into wine. So this is an indication that we might expect something to happen again here. And it does.

And now the miracle story.

There was an important official in the court of King Herod who was based in the administrative centre of Capernaum, about 30 kms away from Cana. The name used in the Greek to describe the man is basilikos, which literally means ‘little king’ and was often used of a prince or an important court official. Whether the man was a Jew or Gentile we do not know. Herod would have had both in his court. While some think him to be the same man described as a centurion, or Roman officer, in the synoptics who was also from Capernaum and had a servant who was ill, it is more likely that John is describing an entirely different incident.

The man’s son is very sick and is near death. If any of you have ever had a child who is seriously ill, then you can relate to the desperation of this man. With his influence he would have had access to the best physicians connected to the king’s court. But they could do nothing. His son was dying and there was nothing he could do about it.

When our youngest child was born he was born with two-thirds of his diaphragm missing and only one semi-functioning, undersized and partially collapsed lung. Surgery was done the next day to rebuild the diaphragm. But there was nothing they could do to restore the lungs. We were told he would likely not survive more than a few days before his lung wore out from being on the highest level of the ventilator.

We were desperate. We asked every question. Explored every option. We arranged for him to be baptized before his surgery. My wife thought if the bishop did the baptism that might help. So she called him and insisted he come immediately. And he did. Like the father in today’s story, she was a very desperate and very insistent parent. Our son clung on for two weeks before his lung function began to deteriorate. I was home minding out other children and Kathy was keeping vigil when the call came. I dropped the children off at the home of friends who lived near the hospital, and hurried in to say my goodbyes to our son.

We waited with him all through the night and the next day. He did not improve, but he also has stopped deteriorating. And then his lung began slowly to strengthen and the ventilator was turned down ever so slightly. Against all odds he turned a corner. He was going to make it. But it was a horrible and frightening time in which we felt both desperate and helpless. And that is how the father in today’s story is feeling.

He is so desperate, in fact, that when he hears Jesus is in Cana, he gets some men together, and sets out immediately to find Jesus.

Now there are a couple of points that we should take note of. Firstly, how does the man know about Jesus? Jesus had just begun his ministry and the only thing he had done in Galilee before heading to Jerusalem was the turning of water to wine in Cana. It is not the sort of occurrence that would likely have been taken note of in King Herod’s court. What is more likely is that reports had preceded Jesus’ return to Galilee. During the two days Jesus lingered in Samaria, messengers surely would have come to King Herod’s court to report that a Galilean preacher had made a big scene in the temple, casting out all the money changers, and had performed many miracles. This would have been of special interest to Herod and his officials who had only recently dealt with the last troublesome Galilean preacher, John the Baptist. So this court official likely had only in the past few days, that is, after the onset of his son’s serious illness, heard of Jesus of Nazareth.

The second thing to note is the risk the man was taking in going to Jesus. His boss, King Herod, had arrested and then executed John. The same John who had pointed to Jesus as his ‘successor’. Now Jesus, who many were saying was John the Baptist come back to life, perhaps to see justice and vengeance against Herod, was seemingly picking up where John had left off. It is unlikely that Herod would have been pleased for one of his high officials to go to Jesus for help. And it is very unlikely that the man had sought Herod’s approval. His son’s life hung in the balance. He was willing to deal with the consequences of his going to Jesus later.

When the man finds Jesus, he does not ask him to come and help his son. He begs him.

Jesus responds to the man using the plural for ‘you’, hence speaking to the entire crowd, including his disciples. ‘’Unless you see sings and wonders you will not believe.” This is not a promising response for the desperate father, but he persists.

‘Sir, come down to Capernaum before my little boy dies!’

Then Jesus says, ‘Go. Your son will live.’

And the man believe the words Jesus spoke to him and starts for home.

And this is interesting. The father did not ask for proof. He did not ask how Jesus knew his son would live. But he believed Jesus was telling the truth and started straight for home, so eager was he to return to the side of his son. But it was already afternoon and he would not make it back that night. So he camps with his men along the way and gets up to continue the journey early the next morning.

At the same time, back in Capernaum, something both remarkable and unexpected has happened. The fever left the boy who was near death. And some of the man’s servants were so keen to tell him the good news that they left immediately to head for Cana, for they knew where their master had gone and why.  They likely would have met up along the narrow, rocky path through the hill country of Galilea sometime just before noon the next day. The man’s servants share with him the good news and he rejoices. Then he asks the question, ‘When did the fever break?’ And they tell him that is was about 1 p.m. the previous day, the very hour in which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’

Now this is the key point to this miracle story and the one we often overlook. It is why the man went from believing the words Jesus said to him about his son, to he and his whole family believing in Jesus himself.

A prophet or soothsayer could perhaps predict that someone might recover from a serious illness. And as Jesus was clearly something along those lines from all reports the man had heard, and he said with such confidence that his son would live, the man believed his words.

But when he learned that his son suddenly recovered at the very time that Jesus had said he would, it was immediately apparent that Jesus and not successfully predicted his son’s recovery. Jesus had caused it. He had healed him. This was a whole other level from simple prediction. Not only that, but he had done so from a distance. There was no precedent for this.

And this is the point John wants to make. It is why this is one of only seven miracles of Jesus he chooses to tell us about. Like the changing of water to wine, it is not a spectacular miracle. There was nothing for the crowd present to see. But it is a sign of who Jesus is. In all the biblical miracle accounts, healings and other miracles only take place when the one God is working through is immediately present. There are no healings or miracles at a distance. But Jesus heals this boy from thirty kilometres away. In this second sign we see once more that in Jesus we are not simply dealing with a miracle worker or a prophet, even a very great one. Something much bigger is happening here. God himself is living and acting among us.

And so the man goes from believing the words Jesus has spoken to believing in Jesus.

And that is the challenge still for us today. Jesus speaks wise and good words. We have many of them recorded in the Gospels. We can easily believe Jesus is the speaker of truth, without really believing in Jesus himself. It is the difference between knowledge and faith. The desperate father understood that his son would live. He understood that Jesus spoke the truth. The next day he came to have faith that Jesus was God in flesh, and he and his whole family became followers of Jesus, despite the risks.

And the challenge and call is that we too move from simply believing what Jesus says to believing in who Jesus is for us. May we move from a knowledge about Jesus to faith in Jesus – as faith so strong, that like the father in the story we cannot help but to tell our family and friends about Jesus.

May we go from looking for a miracle, like the father in the story, to understanding that Jesus is the miracle. God in human flesh, come to dwell among us.

Amen.

Pastor Mark Worthing.

 

John 3:1-21

As soon as the today’s text begins with, ‘There was a Pharisee …’ we know where this is going. The Pharisees, a group of very devout and quite legalistic experts in the Hebrew scriptures, are regular foils for Jesus in the Gospels. They always come to him with some sort of flattery, then try to lay a trap for him. We have no reason to expect anything different here. But this Pharisee is different. He really does want an answer to his questions – for personal reasons.

His name is Nicodemus. And he was not just any Pharisee. He was a wealthy and influential man, a highly regarded teacher, and one of the few Pharisees who served on the Jewish ruling council in Jerusalem known as the Sanhedrin.

And he comes to Jesus as night. For this act he is forever known. When John introduces Nicodemus twice more later in his Gospel he is always referred to as the one who came to Jesus at night.

Most of us think we know why he came at night. At night, of course, it is harder to recognise people on the street. There is less chance that Nicodemus’ visit to Jesus will be noted and reported to any of his Pharisee friends or his students. And perhaps this was, in fact, the reason he came by night, or at least part of the reason. But if Nicodemus really wanted to have a serious conversation with Jesus, the evening is when he would have come. Firstly, the crowds would have gone and it would be easier to have a private conversation. And secondly, the Pharisees taught that the evenings were the most appropriate time to have serious conversations about theology when the business of life had dissipated and there was time and space to think. So there might have been a very practical reason for Nicodemus to come at night, to find Jesus at home and away from the crowds. He may also have wanted to indicate to Jesus that this was not a set up or shame discussion to try to trap him, but that he really did want to have a serious conversation with Jesus.

Nicodemus would have come to Jesus at some personal risk to his own reputation. So it would have been more than mere curiosity that brought him to Jesus that night, early in Jesus’ ministry.

It seems clear that Nicodemus had a question. And it was a big one. One that kept him up nights. One that he came to suspect that Jesus might be able to answer.

But what was that question?  Ironically, Nicodemus never gets to ask it. Jesus ‘answers’ him immediately after Nicodemus’ polite greeting and his recognition that Jesus must have come from God because of the many ‘signs’ he was able to perform.

But perhaps Jesus’ answer to Nicodemus, which has become both very famous and also much misunderstood in the history of the Christian Church, suggests what Nicodemus’ question was. Perhaps it was Jesus’ way of showing Nicodemus that he knew already exactly what was on his mind, and in his heart.  We read in Luke 17:20 that the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘When is the kingdom of God coming?’  They expected, as did most Jews of the day, the coming of a literal, physical kingdom. But this coming had seemed very long delayed. And the Pharisees had come to believe that God would not bring the kingdom until the people all did the right thing – or at least enough of them did the right kind of things. So as a man who had committed his life to teaching about the kingdom of God, and who very much desired to see it come, Nicodemus wanted to know from Jesus – from this man who clearly had been sent by God, just what needed to be done to see the kingdom established. That is most likely the question Nicodemus came to ask Jesus.

But as Jesus often does, he anticipates the question, and takes Nicodemus very quickly beyond it to something deeper and more personal.

Jesus answers Nicodemus: ‘Truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being reborn from above.’ (v. 3).

Jesus has now set the tone of the conversation. Nicodemus most likely wanted to know what the people as a whole needed to do to see the kingdom established. Jesus makes the question very personal. He tells Nicodemus what he (or any other individual) must do if they wish to see the Kingdom of God. And it is not what Nicodemus was expecting. It was not any level of good works, or enough people keeping the law, or even the people taking matters into their own hands and beginning an uprising against Rome – for all of these were common ideas at the time for how to hasten the coming of God’s promised Kingdom and the promised Messiah who would usher in the kingdom.

Jesus instead tells Nicodemus that he must be born again, or reborn from above. The language used is deliberately open to more than one interpretation. The Greek word an-o-then that John uses here could mean ‘born again’ as it came to be initially translated into English. But it could also mean ‘born from above’ which makes good sense in light of the many references to ‘above’ in this text. Or Jesus may well have meant both at the same time, hence the translation I prefer: ‘reborn from above’.

In any event, Nicodemus takes the literal meaning and ends up an impossible image. And this is far from surprising if he has come to Jesus with a question about how to see a literal, physical kingdom of God established on earth. That is where his mind and thinking is at. So taking the more literal option, he ends up with a rather ridiculous image in his mind and asks Jesus how it can be possible that he or any other grown person could enter back into their mother’s womb and be born once more. His almost comical misunderstanding then becomes the foil for Jesus to explain what he means in more detail.

So what do we and Nicodemus learn about what it means to be reborn from above in order to see God’s Kingdom? I think there are three main points to be gleaned from Jesus’ words to Nicodemus about being reborn from above.

First, the experience of rebirth from above is a personal one. It is not about what the whole population must do for God’s kingdom to come, it is about what we must experience in order to be a part of God’s kingdom. In Nicodemus’ age there was a tendency to think more communally. So this may have been a difficult concept for Nicodemus to understand. But for us in the modern world, with our emphasis on individualism, this aspect of Jesus’ teaching on what it means to be reborn from above is easier to understand. Jesus is talking here about a personal and transforming experience of God.

Second, it is a rebirth of both water and spirit. ‘No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of the Spirit is spirit (vv 5-6). There are two meanings here: First, there is physical birth and spiritual rebirth. We do not need only to be physical beings, born and living in the world. We must also be reborn spiritually. But there is also unmistakable baptismal imagery here. While these story pre-dates Christian baptism, we must remember that John is writing for an audience steeped in the practice and symbolism of baptism, in which baptism with both water and the Spirit is one divine action (from above). Jesus is probably, once more, referring to both, indicating two different levels of meaning here.

Finally, the rebirth Jesus is speaking of is ‘from above’. This means it is something that God does, that God initiates. It is not our work. Jesus seeks to explain this to Nicodemus in his illustration of wind (or Spirit of God) blowing where it choses and in ways we cannot predict. This is the point we have most understood. In the recent history of the church the movement of ‘born again-ism’ has arisen based on this text. And it’s emphasis has been on what human beings must do. It has been used to press people to make a decision. But ironically, the text is making the exact opposite point. Not that there is no personal component of a human decision. There clearly is. But the point here is that the experience of being reborn is something that originates from above, that comes through the free and unpredictable movement of God’s Spirit. Being reborn from above is a profoundly human experience. But it is not a human work.

The dialogue with Nicodemus ends and the voice of John the Evangelist comes through, explaining further point being made. And it what would seem clearly to be the voice of the narrator explaining the significance of these words, we find the famous John 3:16, in which John reiterates that the whole action begins with God’s love for the world. We do not hear anything further about Nicodemus in this story.

So what happens to Nicodemus? Does he finally get it?

Well, yes he did. John mentions him again in 7:45-52 when there is plotting again Jesus by the chief priests and Pharisees (apparently at a meeting of the Sandhedrin), and the question is asked if any Pharisee has ever believed in Jesus. Nicodemus cannot remain silent but is not yet able to commit. He argues instead for a ‘fair hearing’ for Jesus, and is intimidated into silence when asked if he too is one of Jesus’ followers. So at that stage, Nicodemus is not yet there.

But then Nicodemus appears again in John 19:39, together with a man named Joseph of Arimathea. They come forward publicly to Pilate to claim Jesus’ body, and to do the anointing rituals and place him in a tomb. With the disciples in hiding, the masses having abandoned him, and everyone assuming his cause is lost with his death, Nicodemus comes forward publicly as a follower of Jesus.

Why then?

Well, I think it had something to do with the famous conversation with Jesus that occurred almost three years earlier. When Nicodemus asks, ‘how can this be?’ or ‘how can this come about?’ referring to being reborn from above through the power of the Spirit, Jesus reminds him of the story of Moses and the bronze serpent in the wilderness. In the same way, Jesus says, when the Son of man is lifted up, whoever believes in him will have eternal life. I think that when Nicodemus saw Jesus lifted up on the cross, he remembered these words – words he had been pondering ever since Jesus had spoken them. He understood at that point exactly what Jesus had been referring to and all doubt in his mind about who Jesus was disappeared. It didn’t matter that Jesus was now dead. Nicodemus came forward publicly as one of his followers.

In the same way, Jesus calls each of us to follow the Spirit’s call upon us, to allow God, from above, to make us new, to be reborn through the waters of baptism. The process might be complex and far from straight-forward, as was the case with Nicodemus. But process and time frames are not important. What is important is whether we, like Nicodemus, in the end open our eyes to the Kingdom of God through the work of God’s free Spirit working in us ‘from above’ to make us his children.

Amen.

Pastor mark Worthing.

Pentecost Sunday, 2024
John 14:15-18,25-26; 15:26; 16:5-15

Today is Pentecost Sunday. It is the third biggest day on the Christian calendar after Easter and Christmas. But it doesn’t get anywhere near the attention as those two celebrations do. How often, for instance, are you asked if you are going anywhere for Pentecost this year? Or, what you are having for Pentecost dinner?  Doing anything special for Pentecost this next week? 

For one of the big three major Christian festivals, it seems to come in a rather distant third. Perhaps it is because we have always been a bit perplexed about just who the Holy Spirit is and what the Spirit does. The birth of Jesus and his resurrection of the dead are concrete events that we can imagine. But what is the coming of the Spirit? The word ‘spirit’ means breath or wind, and it is God’s breath coming upon us. But how do we portray that? The Spriit of God is referred to early in John’s Gospel by John the Baptist as ‘descending upon Jesus like a dove.’  And so we often use the image of a dove to portray the Spirit. And in Acts 2 the Spirit is said to have descended on the followers of Jesus like tongues of fire. So we sometimes use the image of a flame to portray the Holy Spirit.  But while images of doves and flames give us some useful symbols, they do not tell us much about what the Spirit does. When asked that question, we have to think hard. It is not an easy question for us. And perhaps that is why this important celebration seems a bit subdued compared to Easter and Christmas. How do you celebrate that which cannot be seen – that which cannot be easily understood?

Jesus knew that his disciples would find the coming of the Holy Spirit not just overwhelming, but difficult to understand. We have read the account to that day in Jerusalem, just 10 days after Jesus ascended to the Father, that the Spirit came upon them. It was quite an event. It was a day that none of the disciples could have imagined. And it was a day never to be repeated. Though its impact would echo through the centuries. They disciples were all proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus to the crowds in the city that had gathered from all over the world. And in a literal reversal of the story of the Tower of Babel, everyone suddenly understood them and were convinced they were speaking their own language. It was like something out of science-fiction. Like the Babel fish of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, or the Universal Translator of the Star Trek series. Except there was no science fiction back then. So even in their wildest imaginations the disciples could not conceive just what was happening.

That is why Jesus tells them about the Holy Spirit before he leaves them. They are the words John records in the today’s Gospel reading. So when on the day of Pentecost the Spirit came upon the disciples in great force, like tongues of fires, they were able to comprehend the gift that Jesus had given them. They would have recalled and begun to understand what Jesus had told them when he was still physically present with them.

Jesus had not left them.  Jesus was their friend and advocate. The one who was on their side. And now the Holy Spirit would be fulfilling that role on his behalf. The Holy Spirit had come upon them at Jesus’ request and would guide them. He would lead them into truth, remind them of the words of Jesus, would open the hearts and minds of all those whom God would have follow him.

And so they understood that the true power of the Spirit is not the spectacular display on the day of Pentecost. That never happened to the disciples again. That was a miracle of confirmation, to show everyone gathered in the city that the message of Jesus was one of power and truth. The true power of the Spirit is to be found in the simplicity of the Spirit’s task: to remind us of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us. To remain with and in us and to lead us continually to the truth. And what is this truth? For those who have been following John’s Gospel we know the answer already. Jesus is the truth. The Spirit tells us about Jesus, reminds of what Jesus taught, dwells in us as Jesus himself dwells in us, helps us to understand who Jesus is, and helps us to tell the world about Jesus.

When I was going this text in John’s Gospel in preparation for today’s sermon I was struggling to find a good summary of who the Holy Spirit is and what the Holy Spirit is all about. So my wife read the text and said, ‘It seems to be all about Jesus.’ And then I realised that that was, of course, the point. I was trying to find something new and remarkable about the Holy Spirit from these words, but they simply keep coming back to Jesus. And that is exactly what this text is telling us. That is the true power and the true focus of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not about himself. The Holy Spirit is all about Jesus.

The Holy Spirit comes to point us to Jesus. And perhaps that is why we find it hard to describe just who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does. Because the Holy Spirit doesn’t come to tell us all about who he is and what he is like. The Spirit instead comes to point us to Jesus. If we try to make the Holy Spirit about something other than Jesus, we have missed the point. If we try to make the Holy Spirit into some kind of supreme show master, performing great miracles and signs on demand, we miss the point. If we think the Holy Spirit is all about us, about making us special through some spectacular gift or gifts understood apart from Jesus, we have again missed the point.

We have missed the point because the core of what the Spirit does is greater and more important than any of these things. The main task of the Spirit is more powerful than any of these things. The Spirits lead us continually to Jesus. Look closely at the words Jesus spoke to his disciples about the Spirit. ‘When the Spirit comes he will not speak on his own, but will speak what he hears. He will speak on my behalf,’ and again, ‘the Spirit will glorify me,’ and again, ‘The Spirit will take what is mine and give it to you.’

In fact, Jesus says of the coming of the Spirit that he will not leave us orphaned, but will send us another Advocate. Jesus says that with the coming of the Spirit he himself is coming to us.

So when we think of the Holy Spirit and what the Spirit does and our thoughts should return again and again to Jesus and the power of his message, to the comfort of his presence, to the victory of his death and resurrection. When this happens we are beginning to understand the true power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did not come to us to gain his own following. He is not in competition with the Father and the Son for ‘likes’. He did not come to give us gifts to be used to impress our friends or so we could feel important. The Spirit came to point us to Jesus. He came to give us gifts that would help us to proclaim and serve Jesus.

And that’s why the Holy Spirit is important. That’s why the coming of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of the Christian Church. That’s why we celebrate the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. That’s why we recognise the Holy Spirit as the third member of the Trinity, together with eh Father and the Son (more on that next week!).

On the day of Pentecost the Spirit came in spectacular tongues of fire. The Spirit allowed everyone to hear the message about Jesus in their own language. That was the start. But just because we do not see visible tongues of fire today, just because you are not hearing this sermon in your native language, if that is different than English, that does not mean the Spirit is any less active. The Spirt was never about putting on a big show, but simply about helping us to see Jesus.

If you want to know if the Spirit is still active today. If you want to know if the Spirit still works in you today, then think about those times when you have been nudged toward faith when you couldn’t explain why. That’s the Holy Spirit at work.

Think about those times when you have been drawn to the message of Jesus when you weren’t even looking for Jesus. That’s the Holy Spirit at work.

Think about those times you have been led to be in the right place, or to say the right thing, to help someone else understand Jesus. That’s the Holy Spirit at work.

Think about those times when against all natural and more selfish motivations, God has led you down a different path than the one you had wanted to follow. That’s the Holy Spirit at work.

So do not worry if you have trouble explaining exactly what or who the Holy Spirit is. If you understand who Jesus is for you, then the Spirit has already been at work in you and continues to be at work in you.

And may God’s Spirit go with you and continue to comfort you in your faith in Jesus. May God’s Spirit continue to confirm in you the truth of Christ. May God’s Spirit continue to give you the words and courage to tell others about Jesus.

Amen.

Pastor Mark Worthing.

The Text: Matthew 10:24-39

 A minister in the US, who served a very wealthy congregation, was once invited by one of his parishioners to spend a week on their yacht in the Bahamas. They just gave him the keys. His response when asked if that was hard to take was “Well, someone has to minister to the souls of the wealthy, and you can’t do that if you don’t accept their invitations!” Hmm? Not exactly, “Take up your cross and follow me!” (Matthew 16:24b) is it?

In the Gospel for today, Jesus appoints twelve of His disciples to take His mission and message to God’s people, Israel. So, what does it mean to be a disciple? What does it mean to follow Christ? Are there perks? What are the benefits?

Some church leaders today teach that people who believe in, and follow Jesus should expect to be healthy, wealthy and – above all – happy. They say that if you believe strongly enough you can have that yacht in the Bahamas, you can bypass sickness and disease, you can have a happy, fulfilling life, and you can have that perfect marriage with perfect children. It has been said that you can have all these things because of your obedience. There is a whole industry out there of Christian ‘self-help’ books and products promising success in almost everything, if you will follow Jesus (and, of course, buy the books, CD’s, DVD’s and online courses).

This “happy, fulfilling life” is not the message of today’s Gospel lesson and neither is it the message of Jesus in the Scriptures. Jesus does indeed bring true happiness (what the Bible calls ‘joy’) to His followers. We can take our trials and troubles to God and He does hear and answer us.   We pray for our children when they are sick or in trouble and we turn to God when there is more fortnight left at the end of our pay than there is pay left at the end of the fortnight. Christianity is not an invitation to doom and gloom because Jesus says, …whoever loses is life for My sake will find it.  In Christ, we find life revealed to us by God’s Holy Spirit.

People who study things like church growth tell us that the church today faces a ‘consumerist’ culture, which (we’re told) must shape our outreach with the Gospel or we miss the boat. People are looking for services from the church, rather than a community to serve. Given a choice between wearing a gold cross or bearing a wooden cross – most people these days will take the gold!

Today’s Gospel challenges our perceptions and perspectives. What does it mean to follow Christ? And more than that – what does it take to serve Christ (to be a disciple)? Perhaps the best way to look at this is to ask the question, “What are our expectations in being followers of Christ?” What is it that we want from Him, and from His church? In spite of anything we might have heard to the contrary, Christianity is a religion where God does all the giving and we do all the hearing, believing and responding with acts of love and kindness which are only possible because of God’s grace and blessing.

When Jesus sends out His chosen Twelve, He tells them, and us, in very clear terms what to expect. Expect persecution and expect conflict – even within our own family. Expect to make a “no holds barred” commitment. However – in the end, also expect to receive the true meaning of life and living. There are three themes in Jesus’ words to us today: Persecution, Presence, and Promise.

1. Persecution

   When Jesus sent His chosen twelve out, He made it clear to them that they would receive the same treatment He received. They would face rejection, hostility and harassment. This may seem almost ‘other worldly’ to many of us. Some of us may not take much heat for our faith. But there are those like Michael Job, a twenty one year old college student, who was killed in India by fanatical Hindus in 1999 for his and his father’s faith. His father, Dr Job, was a well-known evangelist and Christian worker.

The fanatics did not like Dr. Job or his Christian message, so they killed his son. Dr. Job was devastated­, but not broken. He responded to the hatred by starting an orphanage unlike any other in India. This orphanage is only for girls (strange enough in a culture that doesn’t value girls); but even more unusual,­ is that this orphanage is only for girls of persecuted and martyred Christians. Today the Michael Job Centre for Orphan Girls is an invaluable refuge for hundreds of girls of persecuted families from all over the Indian sub-continent. Each child who comes to the centre is a vision of hope for the future – a hope that is born out of the sorrow of the cross and strengthened by the love of God.

You and I may not face that kind of danger for our faith and trust in Christ, yet there may be times when our Christian values challenge the values of the world around us. Remember that a strong commitment to Jesus Christ will bring a crunch somewhere, sometime, to all of us. And when that happens – how will we respond?

2. Presence

   The second theme of today’s Gospel is presence. Two things help when Christians face a world which is hostile to Jesus and our commitment to Him: God knows and God cares! In other words, God is present with us in every circumstance of life. It is God’s presence which gives us strength and courage to openly affirm “Jesus is Lord” and our deepest values, our commitment to our Lord! God gives us His Holy Spirit, who helps us in our weakness, to say with St Paul, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10).

Jesus did warn that if we deny Him before others (either in word or deed) He would deny us before God. Thus we are to stand firm, all the more, because we have the knowledge of God’s care in the midst of our trials. And if our strength fades or our commitment wavers, we are blessed with the knowledge that the One who bought our souls with His life will heal our failures through His love (as He did with Peter when he denied Jesus prior to Jesus’ death).

3. Promise

   The third, and most important, theme of today’s Gospel is promise. One of the amazing and wonderful things about our faith is that in the midst of the most difficult test of all – when the worst which can happen to us has happened or is happening to us – the promises of God come through to bring, hope, joy and new life!

Jesus said, “…whoever loses his life for My sake will find it”. Here Jesus takes the values and presuppositions of this world and turns them upside down and inside out. The way up with God is down. The first will be last and the last, first. The world says that the one who has lots of servants is great, while Jesus says that the one who serves a lot is truly great. The world says that the one who saves and invests a lot in the markets of this world will be secure, while Jesus says the one who gives up the treasures of this world will have the ultimate security – namely “treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:20 ESV) An old seminary professor used to quip that the holy ministry may not pay very much but the retirement benefits are out of this world.

Whether we like it or not, our Christian faith is based on the way of the Cross. In Jesus’ cross, death has been defeated and the way is opened to life and immortality. Now it is our turn. Jesus invites all of us to take up our cross and follow Him. In other words, take the crosses off our churches, our altars and from around our necks, and take them out into the world and through our love and service, put them into the hearts of people as Jesus has done for us.

For the cross is not merely a symbol, but a way of life, the way of authentic love, the way of God. It is not merely an ornament, but our hope, our only hope (and indeed, everyone’s only hope) for true health, wealth, and happiness. In the name of Jesus.
Amen.

The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Let’s join in a word of prayer: Loving God, we ask that your presence and strength be felt in the lives of all who are worshipping here this morning.  May we show your compassion and kindness to the world around us, as You invite us to continue our journey to eternity, as You lead us to keep our destiny in view, and as You call us to invite others to join us in the journey.  May your love be a constant source of guidance and comfort.  Gracious heavenly Father, hear our prayer for the sake of our risen Lord,  Amen.

Some time ago I attended a ‘Get Real’ conference held in Sydney, where I was confronted with a new definition of mission.  Well, at least a definition I had not considered before.   As Christians we have a common destiny – a common destination.

Eternity with our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Where our names are recorded in the book of life.  And right beside each of our names, I visualise a gold star, with faith written in the heart of it.  A golden star placed there beside our name when we were baptised.

Life for a Christian is a journey together with others, keeping the destination in view.    In all that we do, we keep heading toward this common destination.   Mission is simply inviting others to join the journey.   Mission is simple, when we have our destination clearly in view, and we have the support of others who are with us on the journey.  Mission becomes impossible drudgery when we feel alone, and our vision becomes confused by all that happens around us in this broken world.

Today’s Gospel is a vivid portrayal of the essential pattern of God’s relationship to people.  First we are loved.  Through God’s love, we are gifted and blessed.  Then we are invited to respond to that love.  To enter into that loving relationship where even more blessings are promised.   And finally, we are called to offer that love to others.  By showing our love for others, we show to them that God loves each of us and want’s to bless our lives.

God entered humanity in Christ Jesus – and he died for us upon the cross so that we might be set right with Him.   Jesus invites us to follow in his path, assisted by his presence – so that we might indeed be made whole – and others with us. And we respond by placing our trust in him.

Gift, blessing, call, response.   It is circular, and it is constant, but notice the order of things.  Freely says Jesus you have received.  Freely give.

Gift, blessing, call, response.

We are loved – first and foremost we are loved

There is nothing that we have to do to earn it.

There are no conditions made before God promises to make us his children.  Before God blesses us with the presence of his Holy Spirit to encourage and uplift our spirits with his word and his sacrament.

Only after we have received his love is there any hint of a demand .  We are invited after the love is shown – to love in return, to love and be loved.  Obedience is our joyful response to God’s gracious gift of his love.

When Jesus journeyed through his life in humanity, ‘he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’ as Matthew records.  No one can say that God does not know what we go through in our journey through this life.  And ‘Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness’.

Jesus blessed many with a gift of healing, of learning, of wholeness.  The only response to such a blessing is to trust in the giver of the gift.  God the Son, Jesus Christ.

Only after blessing those who followed with the gift of wholeness, did  Jesus call a few to action.  His disciples.  “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

We are often called to pray for special things.  We are given a strong intuition to pray, and we are given a desire to take these things to God in prayer.  But we are also prepared to respond to God’s answer in prayer.  Given the will to join in, to participate in the solution, and sometimes to lead.  God gives us this gift by his Holy Spirit.  He blesses us with the ability to respond, and then He calls us to put our response into action.

When Jesus asked the Disciples to pray, He already knew what the response to this prayer would be.  He had been preparing the disciples to respond to God’s answer to the call for workers in the harvest.

He taught them first, He showed them his own example, He gave them the will to respond, and He empowered them with spiritual authority.  Jesus gave them some final instructions, and sent them on  their way.  Fully prepared to respond to God’s call.

Gift, blessing, call, response.  As Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give”.

This call to the Disciples was both a call to action and a prophecy.  A prophecy relating to every Christian, of every time and place.  A call to pray for God to send workers into the harvest.  A call to be ready to be sent as workers into the harvest. 

A call to keep our destination firmly in our mind, to journey together through life, and to invite others to join us in the journey. 

We are called to be disciples.  And disciples have met opposition while responding to the call to mission in every age.  Some with open hostility, some with subtle condemnation, and still others with indifference.  But the good news of Jesus Christ has not been silenced in 2000 years, and will be heard above the commotion around us in our broken world. 

As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans: 

‘we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.’ 

Gift, blessing, call, response.   As we consider these, may the grace and peace of our Triune God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.   AMEN.

The Text: Matthew 9:9-13

No one likes to be an outsider.  To be excluded.  To be told “you don’t belong.” To have the door shut in your face or simply to be shunned, left alone, isolated.  Have you ever been on the outside?  Perhaps wanting to enter but being afraid you wouldn’t be accepted so you didn’t even try? Do you realise that there are people who are honestly afraid to walk into a church on a Sunday morning? They are afraid of being recognized as “outsiders,” as people who don’t belong in a place like this.  “Unreligious people.”

I recall one man saying to me, “the church roof would cave in if I showed up here on a Sunday morning”.  He was joking, but completely serious.  He was convinced he didn’t belong in religious circles.  There’s a famous picture of two cowboys on horseback peering through the window of a crowded church.  Inside the people are singing a hymn. One of the men on the outside is singing too, while the other is leaning forward, listening attentively.

I wonder – what keeps them on the outside?  Why don’t they get off their horses and join the people inside the church?  Perhaps they aren’t dressed properly, or they haven’t had a bath in a while.  More likely they aren’t comfortable in the polite society of the church and are much more comfortable worshipping on horseback. They are outsiders.

Matthew the tax-collector was an outsider to his own people.  We tend not to love the tax collectors of our day, but it’s nothing like it was in Matthew’s day.  Tax collectors were considered traitors of Israel, lackies of the Roman government, opportunist crooks and scoundrels of the worst sort.  The Roman system of taxation was ingenious.   A tax collector like Matthew would pay a fee to the government in exchange for a license to open a tax office, permitting him to collect all the taxes he could.  Needless to say, tax collectors were unwelcome in polite society, much less in religious circles.

It comes as a bit of a surprise that Jesus should walk up to Matthew at his tax collector’s office and say to him what He said to the fishermen: “Follow me.”  Discipling words.  Words that invite Matthew to join Jesus’ rank of followers; words that empower him to arise, leave his tax office, and follow Jesus.  An outsider, a tax collector, had just become, by the undeserved kindness of God, an insider, one of Jesus inner circle, the chosen, apostolic Twelve.  I’m sure that raised a rabbinic eyebrow or two, don’t you think?

What on earth was Jesus doing, calling a tax-collector to be one of HIs closest disciples?  Is this any way to start a messianic movement?  You could understand the four fishermen – strong, hard-working.  You could even understand Simon the Zealot – he hated the Roman government and was itching for revolt.  But a tax collector?  You’ve got to be kidding!

To make matters even more outrageous, Matthew invites Jesus over to his house for a little party to celebrate his new calling and his group of new friends.  The Pharisees looked in on all this with disapproval.  They were predisposed to disapproval when it came to Jesus, looking for some way to discredit him.  Dinner was an open affair; people on the street could peer in and see the kind of company you kept.  They asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with this rabble – tax collector and sinners?”  They wouldn’t go near such people. No respectable rabbi would. Why was Jesus hanging out with the losers when He should have been keeping company with the winners?

Jesus heard their question and turned the tables on them.  “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”  When you’re well, or at least you think you are well, you have no need or interest in a doctor.  But if you suspect something is wrong, if the symptoms are lining up poorly, grab the phone and call for an appointment.  You want to see the doctor right away.

Imagine a doctor who didn’t want to be around sick people, who comes into the waiting room and looks at all those runny noses and itchy eyes and hears all the coughing and sneezing and covers his mouth and nose and runs out of the room as fast as he can.  Not much of a doctor is he?  Nor would Jesus be much of a Saviour if He didn’t care for the company of sinners.

That was Jesus’ mission, his purpose for coming into the world, to seek and to save the lost, to become “lost” in our death in order that we might be found in Him. He came in solidarity with sinners, baptized with sinners in John’s baptism of repentance, crucified as a sinner, bearing the guilt of the world on His own shoulders. He became our sin; He embodied our sin in His body. Jesus became the outsider, forsaken, alone, isolated so that in Him we might become “insiders,” the children of God, disciples, baptized into his death and life.

Think again about that picture of the cowboys on horseback.  Now think about the Pharisees looking in on Matthew’s party with Jesus and all of his tax collector friends.  There’s an irony here – the insiders are outside, and the outsiders are inside.  The Pharisees, who imagined themselves to be God’s insiders by virtue of their commandment keeping, are sitting on the outside looking in on a party of tax collectors and sinners surrounding Jesus, the friend of sinners. Where’s the church?  Outside with the Pharisees or inside with Jesus?

And yet, the gracious light of that party with Jesus shines out even to the Pharisee. There is mercy even for the religious. Jesus gives them a little take home assignment – Go and learn what this means (quoting from Hosea) – “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Go to Hosea and learn what that passage means. Hosea, the prophet who taught that those who were “not my people” would be called the people of God. The outsider would become the insider by grace through faith, just as Abraham became an insider by God’s grace and calling through faith which God credited to Abraham as righteousness.

Go and learn what it means – I desire mercy, not sacrifice; the knowledge of God and not burnt offerings. Not religious rituals, that’s not the way to the heart of God. “I came not to call the righteous but sinners.” That’s the company that Jesus keeps at his table.  Sinners who are justified for his sake, by his blood. Make no mistake, the Pharisees are welcome at Jesus’ party. But they are welcome as sinners, not as the righteous ones they thought they were.

The sin of the church people, the people in the pews singing the hymns, is that we have turned this banquet of sinners into a country club of the religious elite.  We have all too often by our words, our actions, our attitudes looked down on the sinners of our day, those people who just don’t seem to get it, and we forget that we are, in ourselves, no better, no more “righteous” no less sinful, than those outside these walls.  There are people who are listening in to the church, like those two men on horseback, straining to hear that this good news applies to them too, that they are accepted by God in Jesus.

None of us deserves to be here. We don’t deserve to be baptized, to hear the Word, to receive the Body and Blood. We haven’t earned our way here by our right choices and decisions. We are here because of God’s undeserved kindness in Jesus, the same grace that called Abraham to be the father of nations, that calls a tax collector to be a disciple, that breaks bread with the sinner, that declares the outsider to be the insider.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  Welcome.

In the name of Jesus,

Amen