Can't make it to church - Sunday, 8 March 2020

Well things are moving up a notch and so, instead of just written words you now have the opportunity to listen to the sermon (and the readings) this week.

Genesis 12.1–4a 
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Romans 4.1–5, 13–17 

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

John 3.1–17
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Click on the image above to hear the sermon

The Collect
Almighty God, 
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth, 
that they may return to the way of righteousness: 
grant to all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, 
that they may reject those things that are contrary to their profession, 
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; 
through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who is alive and reigns with you, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Post Communion Prayer

Almighty God, by the prayer and discipline of Lent may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings, and by following in his Way come to share in his glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Can't make it to church - Sunday, 24 November 2019

So here we are at the end of the church's liturgical year C (and weekday lectionary 1 - next week Year A and weekday lectionary 2 begins).

The feast of Christ the King (CTK) came into being in 1925 to remind us that our allegiance to other kings and Kaisers),  political leaders (Lenin) brought war, overthrew royal households and Governments.

What was needed was for the world to turn and look to Christ, the King, and following Him bring about a new revolution where the world bowed its knee to Him and worked for peace and unity.  For Pope Pius the eleventh, whose idea CTK was, it was a response against all that brought about war and civil unrest as witnessed in the carnage of the 244 weeks that were WW1 and the October 1917 uprising of the Russian Revolution which had reshaped the world.

Christ the King was a call to reject the emerging secular state, fascism and the communism of Marx and Lenin (and Engels too) which opposed Christian faith and the Church as it sought to dethrone Jesus.

The irony here is that the Church (RC, C of E, Orthodox and others) was perhaps no different a political body than those this feast sought to bring new thinking against! Perhaps if the Church had heeded the cry to take up its cross, deny itself and follow Jesus, the world and the Church might look very different today.

Like the Russian October rising – this feast also appeared in October (later, in 1970, moving to the last Sunday before Advent where it is now) and has become one of the major feasts of the Church where we reflect upon the service, sacrifice and the glory of Jesus, our Lord and our King.

So today we reflect upon those ‘shepherds, who are destroying and scattering the sheep’ and think of the judgement and justice that is to come when Jesus, the Christ, The King returns. We reflect upon those faithful believers throughout the world as again we look at our Old testament reading and reflect upon ‘the remnant of God’s  flock’ and think of what following the Christ really means.

As this last Sunday of the liturgical year arrives we think of Jeremiah’s words:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Saviour.”

Here, at the edge of Advent, that path that leads us to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus becomes once more real for us, we look back on a year of selfish ambition, lies, deceit and division; of conflicts and awful happenings and rather than utter the words ‘Never Again’ – we commit ourselves to follow Jesus and His teachings and the message of love made real in our flesh just as it was made real in His!

We celebrate the invisible God taking on flesh and coming among us and embrace Him for all that He is. Remembering that just a the Father did not spare His Son, so too are we called to face opposition, lies, and strife – perhaps even to death as the saints we remembered and reflected on in our season of Remembrancetide. “Jesus is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy over all things.’

Today the world stands as condemned as those men either side of the cross of Christ.

The men represent those who mock and those who believe.

Which side do you find yourself on today?

Do you ‘fear God’ (which doesn’t mean ‘fear’ in the common sense but means ‘respect, submission, honour, and the same reverence many still exhibit for a monarch such as our own Queen Elizabeth’)?

Where are you today?

Where is the world?

Where is the Church?

Pray for them and for yourselves and those you love – and more importantly, those you hate!

The Collect
God the Father, help us to hear the call of Christ the King and to follow in his service, whose kingdom has no end; for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, one glory. Amen.



Jeremiah 23:1-6
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.

Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord.

“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Saviour.

Colossians 1:11-20
[We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,] being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Luke 23:33-43
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”



Post Communion Prayer
Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Can't make it to church? Sunday, 18 August 2019

What an odd truth It Is that Jesus, ‘the prince of peace', is the source of conflict is for many just a little confusing. But being a believer means we live according to God’s word (written and living) and preach (and live) a Gospel of grace, mercy and forgiveness - to all people. We live as examples In our own lives and In our dealings with others (whoops!) for our King looks nothing like the powerful people in the world around us.

Being a believer means we do not rub out the hard lines between right and wrong in the mistaken belief that this Is kindness and mercy made real In the lives around us? It is not, it is condemnation and spiritual death to those we treat so wrongly.

To live like Jesus is to invite conflict from within the family, the wider group of friends and the society around us and even the Church (universal). The most obvious place of conflict is among those we spend time with and are closest to, and so the ‘family’ and the households within it are a logical place to focus the divisions and conflicts within.

Being a disciple is a commitment to ‘living differently’ not some flaky ‘pie In the sky’ promise of an eternity which escapes judgement. We have conned people for too long that Jesus is a ‘get out of hell free ticket’.

Now I know this won’t be popular because that’s how so many of us probably came to faith in the good old ‘turn or burn’ Christian evangelism methodology but what we need to be giving away Is the call to look and live and be like Jesus (and you know what happened to Him, don’t you?).

So you know what rain clouds look like, don’t you?

But what about the end times? Wars, rumours of wars, deceitful politicians and leaders, nationalism, the rise of selfish ambition In Individual, people groups, nations and the like.

Let’s not seek to escape the fires of hell but Instead welcome the fire of the Spirit

Let’s live as witness not as those waiting to receive the prize won for us by Jesus, the Christ’s, death on the cross. And stop living dodgy lives.

Speaking of ‘dodgy’, our Jeremiah passage sees God dealing with a bunch of dodgy prophets as then, and throughout the history of people’s dealings with God,  there were a bunch of influential people  with influence but little integrity, godly character and anointed leadership. They challenge wrong living (we call that sin) and seek to correct it. Like politicians (and some with dogcollars today) they preached security, prosperity and peace. They told the people, “Relax, all is well.” But of course it wasn’t!

This is, I fear a passage for today as some called to lead the people of God behave in a similar fashion. One of the big things about gods in the Old Testament is that they are ‘little gods’ who are tied to one place. But when YHWH, the God we serve, came on the scene those who took on the people who followed Him found that this God was powerful everywhere. Much as the words of psalm 139 tell us, there was nowhere that God wasn’t and nowhere that His power or influence was limited or restricted. As David proclaimed before Goliath and Solomon did again before the temple.- our God is everywhere!

The false teachers have created for themselves a small and ineffective god and preach from the ‘delusions of their own minds’. Many are as guilty today as the prophets were in Jehoiakim’s reign (609–598) in the way we mislead the people before us. Perhaps we think we are safe from God’s anger or perhaps have created our little god in honest attempts to win favour and bring people to God.
But be assured that without the consuming fire and brick-breaking word of God, everything we have is misleading, impotent and useless. So how does this passage help us with today’s other reading?

Turning to our  Hebrews (11.2. 9-12.2.) passage  as it continues to hold up the mirror of faith to help see if we have any breath in us. The examples of salvation, victory and winning through – all fuelled by faith and obedience – all draw us in to an understanding of God and the way relationship with Him works.

Being obedient to God’s call and keeping faith in God and His promises, even though the reality of them may not be seen in this life, is essential if we are to continue to run the race until we reach eternity with our one true and living God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

Unless we have a real relationship with God we will not have real revelation from Him, and this means that people will merely utter words from, “the delusions of their own minds!”

Is the promise faulty or our God fallible and flawed?

The writer of Hebrews tells us that this is all occurring in such a manner to ensure that it all comes together at the right time – and that time is the Coming of Jesus as the Christ (aka the second coming). So we persevere and 'keep the faith' and looking at the example of those who have gone before (that great cloud of witnesses) and distrusting and 'throwing off all that hinders' let us run the race of faith until the day dawns and the Christ returns.

Jeremiah 23.23-29
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.

“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Psalm 82
God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”:
“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
 They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”

Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.


Hebrews 11.29 - 12.2
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Luke 12.49-56
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

Post Communion Prayer
Holy Father, who gathered us here around the table of your Son to share this meal with the whole  household of God: in that new world where you reveal the fullness of your peace, gather people of every race and language to share in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Can't make it to church? Sunday, 11 August 2019

Last week’s Gospel reading ended with a rich man who planned to stop work and, “Eat, drink and be merry,” but died and left it to others before he could enjoy it! In the final verses in the chapter before today’s reading we read:

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

It is important to consider these words as we begin to unpack today’s Gospel reading for in it we find support for the claim that the Father, “Has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” The problem is that today’s Church (I fear) reads the Bible all wrong because we read it with the eyes of power and possession: The idols of the age.

Not only that but I think the Church is ‘living it wrong’ too, and has been since it got itself organised and started having leaders who were no longer priests (which would surely have been enough) but political leaders playing power-broking games and demanding to be worshipped and feted by the plebeian classes (or in today’s language – Bums on Pews (BoPs)).

Church leaders should be (and should have been) the servants of all and the shepherds of the shepherds – but read your history and you’ll find political figures who schemed, plotted, covered up wrongs and acted contrary to the word of God. Recent Church history confirms the ‘falleness’ of the human race and its impact on the Church and its reputation and its effectiveness in the the society around us as those in authority stumble and fall.

Some, looking at other faiths (and those of no faith), seek to find comfort in the fact that they too have in their histories abuse of power, trust and integrity; but that should only make us more sad shouldn’t it? We live in a fallen world and without the renewal and the life-changing presence of the one true and living God made open to us by the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Christ – the taking of our place on the cross – the power-seeking, self-pleasing, self-satisfied fallen humanity persists and corrupts.

But here’s the good news (and that’s the Gospel!):
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”

You have been given the kingdom – what on earth does that mean?

Someone I knew won the Lottery. It was a big win totalling a few million pounds. The first thing they did was take a few days off from their job to get over the shock and try to make sense of it all whilst catching their breath. Monday came and there they were back at their desk as usual. Come tea break time I passed them and they asked if we could have a chat – which being me was readily accepted as I LOVE to chat – and it was fascinating. They’d decided to continue with their job until their scheduled retirement arrived. The reason for this was that having worked to reach the top of their ladder, to bin it and walk away would have diminished the value of their whole working life. The had pretty much everything a person could want and yet they did not sell out or become focussed on themselves but sought to live out a higher truth.

Now we, as Christians, have everything too and the question is who you going to serve and how are you going to do it? Do you believe that Jesus’ dying for you has given you the kingdom? If the answer is ‘Yes’ then are you living by faith in that kingdom now? Are you storing up your treasures in heaven, after all what does the Gospel reading tell us to do?

“ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Where is your heart I wonder? What is your expectation and reality?  Are you living as a citizen of the kingdom of God and seeking the things of the kingdom or living as one of this world and playing at being a believer?

Are you prepared and ready for the Lord to return or is it merely a nice idea, a dream which you hope will be fulfilled? Are you watching and waiting, ready for His return or are you thinking, "My master is taking a long time in coming," and because of this are living as one of the world in the world rather than as one of the kingdom in the world? "It’s been so long, what if He never returns?" But we should be assured that He will and so it’s a question of ‘who do you believe?’ And ‘who do you trust?’

Do you have faith? A faith that gives you confidence in what we hope for even though we do not see it? Like those we read of in the Hebrews passage, do we have a faith which sees past the now and lives fulfilled in the ’yet to come’. Aren’t we like every other unbelieving generation in that we are looking for signs and assurances? The whole point of having 'faith' is that we believe and trust that the hope we have, which is made real for us by the sacrifice of love that is Jesus, will come to pass. We may not see it in the 'now' but it will be ours in the eternity with Him.

Trust in God and believe in Him and the promises made to us – have a faith that denies the wisdom of this world and reside in the wholeness and health won for us by Jesus, the great physician.

Who do you say you believe?

Is this the reality those around you see you living in, or do we look like the rest of the world?

Who are you going to serve?
 

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and he shall comfort your heart; wait patiently for the Lord. 

(Psalm 27)

The Collect
Lord God, your Son left the riches of heaven and became poor for our sake: when we prosper save us from pride, when we are needy save us from despair, that we may trust in you alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Luke 12:32-48

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Hebrews 11:1-16
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Genesis 15:1-18
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,  your very great reward.”

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—

Post Communion Prayer
Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands that have taken holy things; may the ears which have heard your word be deaf to clamour and dispute; may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit; may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love shine with the light of hope; and may the bodies which have been fed with your body be refreshed with the fullness of your life; glory to you for ever. Amen.

Idol Christians? (Can’t make it to church? - Sunday, 4 August 2019)

Today’s readings provide more than a little challenge to those listening to the sermon and to those delivering it too. It's not an easy read :-)

The Old Testament writer proclaims that, “Everything is meaningless - it's all nothing but vanity and so is worthless!“ We spend our time, “Chasing after the wind!” These are views that I reckon resonate with many (if not all) of us as we pass through this life of ours.

The reading continues with: ”I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun. For a person may labour with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labour under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.“

We struggle to master ‘wisdom, knowledge and skill’ and then we leave this life and another gains what we leave behind, and though they might act wisely with it, then again they might not!

A rich man I knew built his company from nothing and toiled hard to ‘make it’. He became a multimillionaire and as he aged he realised his children were (in his own words), “Worthless, spoilt wasters, who would spend and enjoy rather than continue the firm.” Everything he had worked for would be thrown to the ground making his life’s work ‘worthless’

The Bible tells us not to store our treasures here on earth where they rust, break and get stolen but to store them up in heaven where they will be safe for ever - and where the things we value (treasure) are, that's where our hearts will be found (Matt 6.19-20)

So often we can let the things we possess possess us. We put so much store in things that we lose sight of people and relationships. We make the pursuit of knowledge so all-encompassing that we never learn what is important. We store our treasures up and in doing so live like paupers.We develop skills that can create amazing things and then hide or ‘protect’ them from others.

The reality is that life is about love and living to the fullest extent not filling our homes with treasures which we will lave behind. Don’t struggle to have lots to leave but work hard to put the things that matter into heavenly places. And if we are looking at heaven then we are looking at where God is - and if we are not, then who are we serving? Could it be that our labours and legacies can deny God? If this is true the ‘Protestant work ethic’ sets our face against God and becomes something hat diminishes our relationship with Him! What a thought that is :-(

In the Gospel reading brings a rich man into a conversation with someone who wants his brother to share an inheritance. Jesus tells the man to be careful: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” I’m glad He does this because it fits in with what I’m thinking and supports the words of Ecclesiastes too.

So we hear a story of a man and a huge harvest and the man’s plans to build even bigger barns to accommodate them and have even more than I have now so I can ‘take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’. But God says to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Who will get what you leave - and what will it be that you have left?

The Bible tells us that, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim 6.10). Money can be a great tool but it can also, like all possessions, turn our hearts from God and from the things that matter. If we make idols than we deny the one true and living God. Are we making idols that deny God and our relationship with Him?

I know clergy whose idols are to be found in the size of their church congregation or their giving - I know this is true because they so crave this ‘success’ and the approval of ‘senior clergy’.

My own idols can be found in the pursuit of knowledge - a noble cause which all approve of - but what does being an ‘academic’ or a ‘theologian’ bring us if we know everything about God except who He is? What is of more value, knowledge of something or someone or the knowing someone as Saviour and friend?

For some of us our idols are found in things: Cars, houses, holidays and the like - but when they make enough noise that we no longer hear God, they have become idols. But we, as Christians, having died to sin and the things of this world need to look to Jesus, the Christ, and life with Him and for Him. We are call to put off the old things and become something new: And this means looking to the heavenly things and making them real in the here and now and sharing, and storing, the treasures in those around us with storehouses filled in heaven.

It’s not wrong to leave things for those who follow us, but it is wrong to avoid heavenly things stored up because of our pursuit fr the physical, earthly things.

“Woe unto you when people speak well of you!” (Lk 6.26) Isn’t this a nod toward the realities of life? Don’t we all like to be ‘buttered up’ and approved of? Bu what if our good works are merely ploys to be approved of by man? Shouldn’t we be seeking God’s approval.

Bottom line: Don’t be idle and don’t have idols!

Our final reading from Colossians leads us in the right direction as it shows us the way to live:
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Put away the idols and look to the things that bring peace so that the fruit of God’s Spirit might be seen in us (these are found in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”)

The Colossians passage continues:
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

The problem with being a Christian is that it is so easy to understand what we need to do to store up treasure in heaven - just love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, strength and possessions - and so blinking difficult to do.

The Collect
Generous God, you give us gifts and make them grow: though our faith is small as mustard seed, make it grow to your glory and the flourishing of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord help me to see the things that get in the way of You and me. Lead me into that place where contentment is found in being one with you and showing your love to those I meet change my heart and the things I treasure. Take away the idols I have and consume me with love for You. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 1.2,12-14; 2.18-23
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun. For a person may labour with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labour under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

Colossians 3:1-11
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Post Communion Prayer
Lord God, whose Son is the true vine and the source of life, ever giving himself that the world may live: may we so receive within ourselves the power of his death and passion that, in his saving cup, we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love; for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen.

Can't make it to church - Sunday, 25th November 2018

Where I am, we are at the start of a two-year journey with something called ‘Holy Habits’ – ten areas of encouragement and lifestyle which conspire to bring about a well-formed disciplined disciple. Our first ‘habit’ is that of ‘Gladness and Generosity’ and what better day to begin this than the feast of ‘Christ the King’?

Revelation – ‘unveiling, uncovering, drawing back the veil’ – gives us the word ‘apocalypse’.

Today's popular culture takes the word 'apocalypse' to mean chaos, disaster, or catastrophe, but it isn’t that at all.!Apocalypse is merely giving us a glimpse into the ‘end times’ – more accurately, ‘the end of time’ as we will see as we see Daniel and John 'draw back the veil' in their writings today.

In Revelation (and Daniel too) we see how the end is going to be, and because the fine details are not explicitly given, people struggle with it - as they also do with the book of Daniel - another apocalyptic book (the most referred to book in the New Testament too).

Daniel was taught to me as a ‘closed book’ for he was told (25th November 2018Daniel 12.4) to shut up the words, and ‘seal the book’ – it’s a tough book filled with things that are, at first (and second) glance confusing in its imagery and language. With Revelation, John was told ‘not to seal the book’ (Revelation 22:10). Take a look at Danial and Revelation side by side and you’ll see this is the case.

Revelation shows us Jesus, the Christ, in all His glory at the end of time – it is the revelation of Jesus, not a chronicle of the events of the end times. People get so bound up with wanting to know that the miss the fact that we should wanting to know Jesus.

Daniel is also an apocalyptic book – from the Old Testament – he is one of the four major prophets (the others being Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) – and some six hundred years before Jesus appears, he opens the curtains to reveal the ‘end times’ (albeit in this closed way).

The books are full of symbolism. Some consistent and some open to conjecture, which means it is easy to assume or interpret them wrongly. Remember, it is all about Jesus, some of the things the words after hung on are quite possibly not what we (or those claiming to be much cleverer that what we is) think they are!

So what do we have before us?

Daniel brings us into the very throne room of God the Father (‘the ancient of Days’) – and He is described just as you’d expect with a flaming throne, white hair, white robes and all that ‘God’ stuff. There’s a river of fire which flows from His throne. Fire speaks of splendour, majesty, might, and (a bit worryingly) justice: Which means judgement! Which fits the bill nicely as ‘court’ is the word that features here. Just as I experienced last week when accompanying someone to Court, for the Court sits and the books are opened – the trial is about to begin. But it’s not just satan in the dock because here ‘the guilty’ are also to be judged and dealt with.

Then (verses thirteen and fourteen) in enters one like ‘The Son of Man’ – the glorified Jesus, the Christ, who approaches the Ancient of Days. “Jesus is given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

Here we see the fulfilment of the acts of a Generous and kind God who gives all humanity Jesus, truly God, truly man, to take upon Himself flesh and die on our behalf – each and every created person – as an atonement for our sins. Here we have in a nutshell the marriage of the two words ‘gladness and generosity’ for here love, sacrifice, redemption and reconciliation come down into one. And that unity of the Godhead is Jesus!

This sixth Century BC Prophet has ‘revealed’ to us the glory of Christ, the King, for us here today.
Just as Revelation was sent to seven real churches so too can we learn from the words (there’s parallels here as Paul sent letters to seven churches—Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica: and seven beatitudes [blessings] too – seven signifies fullness and completeness) – Once again it’s all about Jesus.

We begin with an affirmation of the Godhead as the Trinity, the ‘three in one’:
The greeting (grace and peace):
From Him who is, and who was, and who is to come – God the Father
From the seven Spirits before His throne – God the Holy Spirit
From Jesus, the Christ – God the Son

Jesus is:       The faithful witness                  The firstborn from the dead  
                    The ruler of the kings of the earth ('The King of kings)

Three: is the number of perfection: Seven: is the number of fullness and completeness.
There are things at work in the apocalyptic writings that we can see and understand if we would but stop and look and think!

By the shedding of His blood Jesus has made us to be a ‘kingdom’. As we find in 1 peter, we are a people who once had no name now have a name – beloved – and a kingdom we together minister as priests before the throne of God. The use of the word ‘king’ is not about power or rank or privilege, that’s earthly thinking, but about His all-encompassing role and service to all humanity. A true king is a servant not power-grabbing or self-serving and flawed person.

And John, in writing Revelation draw back the curtain on the second coming of the Christ:
Look, He is coming (returning) and all creation will see Him – redeemed and far off – with the clouds (from the heavens) and people with grieve over their wrongdoings. Is it any wonder the only response is, “AMEN”? Meaning: “Let it be as you have said.”

Two images of a returning and triumphant Christ – the King.

In our Gospel reading Pilate asks Jesus whether he is the ‘King of the Jews’, a question perhaps provoked by the man before him who was obviously neither an agitator, madman, or a deluded person. Jesus asks Pilate where he got that idea. Had he been listening to the high priests and others or was that his own thought? As to be expected, Pilate gets a bit irate, after all he’s a Roman not a Jew. But Jesus tells him that His kingdom is ‘of another place’ – the place that Daniel and John have affirmed in our previous readings.

Pilate exclaims, “You are a king, then!” Jesus replies, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

So here we are with glimpses of the end times – the apocalyptic is brought before us. Are you glad that you can look to the bloody awfulness of a beaten, kicked, spat on and crucified man and from that rejoice in the hope of eternity with god made real for us; realised in the resurrection?

Are you grateful that the generosity of a God who takes on flesh and becomes man – the sacrificial gift of the Father made once and for all for us?

If we are then how can we not live out this gladness and generosity in the way that we treat others?

If we are then how can we not live, think and act differently to those who do not know the love of the Godhead made real for us in Jesus?

Hard questions indeed.

As we begin our two months of ‘Gladness and Generosity’ and travel through Advent to Christmas to celebrate with gladness with the Magi at Epiphany, how are you going to hone these two Christian traits in your life each and every day of the two months and beyond?

The Collect
God the Father, help us to hear the call of Christ the King and to follow in his service, whose kingdom has no end; for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, one glory. Amen.

Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated, and the books were opened.

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Revelation 1:4-8
John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”;
  and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John 18:33-37
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Post Communion Prayer

Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Can't make it to church - Sunday, 21 October 2018

A few years back I was privileged to hear a sermon on the Gospel where the preacher spoke of James and John and their request of Jesus in the light of being the parent of five children under the age of twelve. The five children would come up to them and ask for things which would exclude, or at least demote down the ranking, the other children. They would often be heard proclaiming the word, "Shotgun (or Dibs," along with whatever it was they wanted.

James and John are doing that today. They are shouting, "Dibs on the thrones either side of you. We want to sit on the thrones!"  Jesus responds by telling them that they don't know what they are asking for and asks them a question: "Can you drink the cup and be baptised with the baptism I have?"

Now they don't understand and so they say, "Of course we can. Bring it on!" But to understand what it is that He is speaking of, we need to look at the Isaiah passage on the suffering servant and consider the resonances and parallels with Jesus' final days:

He took upon Himself the pain and suffering and the eventual death upon the cross. The pain that was the penalty our sins demanded. Those who stood watch Jesus with the Sanhedrin and during the final trial before Pilate considered Him to be a blasphemer and so the death sentence was, for them, punishment from God.

He was pierced by the nails and hanged upon a cross (a death disfavoured by God which meant separation from God) and yet this death reconciled all creation to God and so, 'by His wounds, we are healed'.

He died with the wicked and yet was placed in a rich man's tomb (as the passage says) and rose again (He saw the light of life) and will see many offspring (the believers).

We could go on with Isaiah but instead let us look to Hebrews and see how not only is the Isaiah passage is referred to again but Jesus is proclaimed as our great High Priest. One who offers Himself as an atonement for sin and in His groaning and pain offers up for us prayers of reconciliation to the Godhead. The interesting thing about being a High Priest like Melchizedek is the fact that all the priest came from the Levitical line - that is they were all from Levi's family - But Melchizedek was not part of Levi's family tree, but was appointed by God Himself. Just as Jesus (who is God) was appointed by God to be our High Priest. Melchizedek was the first priest we read of - Jesus is the last and the only priest that we will ever need.

Cool innit?

But back to James and John were sinful people (just like us) and could not have fulfilled the role that Jesus, the Christ, came to fulfil. They were not spotless (that is, without sin) as Jesus was. They could not have made that atonement for the whole of creation. Truly, they did not know what they were asking for! How true this is of us too as we make claims, utter promises and take positions which prove that sometimes we just don't get it!

James and John wanted a place of honour whilst Jesus came to occupy a place of true servanthood and sacrifice. What about us?

Isaiah 53:4-12

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgement he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Hebrews 5:1-10

Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”

And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learnt obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Mark 10:35-45

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Collect

Almighty God, in whose service lies perfect freedom: teach us to obey you with loving hearts and steadfast wills; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Post Communion Prayer

Father of light, in whom is no change or shadow of turning, you give us every good and perfect gift and have brought us to birth by your word of truth: may we be a living sign of that kingdom where your whole creation will be made perfect in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus and Divorce

(Can't make it to church - Sunday, 7 October 2018)

So here we are again and it's another Sunday where we find the Pharisees trying to trip Jesus up with a question about divorce – as much of a prickly issue theological argument then as it is a sensitive issue now. This was (and still is) one ‘the’ big sex-related controversies: and it was no different in Jesus time thanks to a division between supporters of the two differing rabbinic camps led by rabbis Hillel and Shammai (who we will meet shortly).

I don’t think we can look at the Mark passage without consulting Matthew, for together they form a key to Jesus’ words. Not only that but we need to consider divorce in Deuteronomy 24.1-4 to get an understanding of the context of divorce.

In our Gospel reading Mark reports the Pharisees as asking: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”  Matthew reports the same encounter with the Pharisees with them posing the question as, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?

Now it’s important that when we look to the Bible for answers we look for consensus and consistency, this way we don’t cherry pick the words we want to have that support our views (we call this ‘proof texting’).

A bill of divorce doesn’t end a marriage but permits remarriage. If a couple who were married dissolved that marriage then neither would be able to remarry because to do so would mean that they were in (as an Elim colleague used to say) ‘a perpetual state of adultery’. Marriage was supposed to be for life, but as Jesus is reported as saying in both the Matthew and Mark readings, “Moses gave a bill of divorce because people’s hearts were hard.”

An engagement ring doesn’t make a couple, but recognises that there is a couple. It is something that follows the act of relationship. A marriage doesn’t just happen – you can’t just walk up to a stranger and marry them – the marriage is a recognition that the relationship is already there: It affirms what already is. So too with a bill of divorce. It doesn’t end a marriage but recognises that the marriage has ended and spiritually and legally (but rarely emotionally) severs the ties and permits remarriage. It’s like resetting the odometer on a car!

But of course resetting the odometer changes the mileage but the age and condition and other factors regarding it are still in existence.

So the first point to make a note of is: Divorce doesn’t end a marriage but recognises that the marriage is ended and removing the impediment to remarriage that is adultery, permits remarriage.

In Deuteronomy 24.1-4, we find that a man who marries a woman who ‘becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her’, can give her a certificate of divorce and send her away! A practical solution from Moses for a contentious and divisive situation. For if a man sent his wife away then she could not return to her family and she could not enter into a relationship that God would bless as the relationship would be adulterous. The bill of divorce removed the religious objections and ensured that her living by immoral means, or dying through neglect and starvation, were removed at a stroke. Harmony (of sorts) in the community.

Then in walk two rabbis with their interpretations of the whole issue. Shammai held that divorce was only permitted for serious breaches of the marital relationship (like adulterous) whilst Hillel was a little more liberal and said that there had to be a reason, any reason – like they were old, ugly, fat, could cook, and the like – and these two views divided the population into two distinct camps.

This is the context in which Jesus is being tested on by the Pharisees question. Which camp will he offend? Obviously, within the context of Moses and the lawful side, it is ‘lawful’ to divorce and yet Jesus wants to deal with the heart rather than the law for this is what the real issue is. He’s not looking to support one camp or the other but to get to the universal issue regarding divorce.

Marriage was for life, but this changed because of the hardness of our hearts. Because people separated, Moses had to find a way of maintaining the community and keep the people right before God.without finding a religious way of permitting remarriage then those who did it would be religiously unclean and face being stoned too! This is where our Genesis passage comes in with the making of a companion for Adam and the two becoming one flesh. The beginning of a life-long commitment. The way it should be and yet in today’s society, the way it is no longer. This is a reality in and amongst our fallen and self-governing world.

The reason for divorce under Moses’ authorship is adultery. But Jesus is pointing at the people before Him with the law to support Him and make them uncomfortable.divorce recognises the breach that has occurred and responds to permit remarriage. But for those who divorced to marry another, then adultery was not the cause but the result!

There was a practice amongst some where they divorced and remarried and then divorcing the new wife would simply remarry the former wife. This meant they could play away from home without the sin of adultery being a reality thanks to clever use of the legal. But reading the Deuteronomy passage below you’ll see that remarriage to a previously divorced partner is not permitted! How uncomfortable must Jesus has made this Pharisees!!!

Jesus goes on to make sure that no one is left in any doubt that the regulations regarding divorce and remarriage apply equally to men and women. Divorce is there to permit serious reasons for the marriage to permit remarriage, nothing else.

Now some say that divorce must result in a single (and therefore celibate) life because they take the Gospel readings out of context and quite often ignore completely the Deuteronomy reading altogether. To this I can but point to Deuteronomy four and our Genesis passage and make the observation that it is not good for us to be alone! And add the cherry: “Those whom God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Today’s issue is so big that whilst the Genesis passage underpins the divorce discussion it would be easy to miss the Hebrews passage and yet there is an important point to be taken from it as we consider divorce in the context of being right with, and before, God. The same Jesus who speaks to the Pharisees, who sees past the law into the heart, is that same person spoken of in the Hebrews passage. Let us never lose sight of who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross and does in us by His Holy Spirit in our daily lives.

Let us keep the laws and walk to His heartbeat in love, fidelity, compassion and forgiveness.

Genesis 2.18-24
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said,  “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.


Hebrews 1.1-4; 2.5-12
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honour and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

Mark 10.2-16
Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

“What did Moses command you?” he replied.

They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Post Communion Prayer
Holy and blessed God, you have fed us with the body and blood of your Son and filled us with your Holy Spirit: may we honour you, not only with our lips but in lives dedicated to the service of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect
Faithful Lord, whose steadfast love never ceases and whose mercies never come to an end: grant us the grace to trust you and to receive the gifts of your love, new every morning, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Matthew 19
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”


Deuteronomy 24.1-4
If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled.

Can't make it to church - Sunday, 14 October 2018

For many there are some very familiar passages today - sadly I'm going to shoot an old favourite sermon illustration and bury it and ask the question, "What did the rich man do in the end?"

But let's start with our reading from Amos, a man who lived in the eight century (750 BC) in one of the most happy and prosperous times Israel had under King Jeroboam. Jeroboam regained all the territories his predecessors had lost, subdued Moab and much of Aram, taking Damascus) and even made peace with Judah (he did hold them hostage first but that's families for you).

The passage finds Amos speaking to a nation that seem to have it all. Money, power and might. The problem was that the King was a bit like many of the clergy in that he favoured those who had money, status and power. God, seeing past the prosperity and possession only saw death, unless they turned things around: "Seek the LORD and live," he cries out.

Deuteronomy 10 tells us that God cannot be bought. He cannot be bribed. He brings justice to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger in the land. He is just. His word is ever sure. Live for Him and live like Him. Hate that which is evil and the destruction that corruption surely brings and perhaps God will turn his judgement from the people.

Seek Good – seek God –And live!      Can the message be any simpler?

The answer to this must be, “No!” Looking at our Hebrews passage we find the reminder that God’s word is like a scalpel: It cuts through and cuts out. Have you ever thought about scalpels? They are an instrument of judgement. The person wielding it looks at the object before them, makes a judgement (is this good or bad) and acts accordingly. This is what the word of God (the written word and Jesus, the living word) does: Informs, challenges and acts.

But if we leave the wrong parts to flourish the local area becomes tainted and this causes, in the extreme cases, for the body to die. Jesus, as our High Priest. As one who wields the scalpel and shows love, brings Grace, and is mercy – he is the one Amos calls the fallen people of Israel to turn to then (for Jesus, the Christ, is also the Godhead).

Do you have something wrong in you today? 
The answer is simple: “Cut it out! – throw it away – stop it!

With these thoughts and examples in mind we find ourselves encountering Jesus and someone with power, possessions, a proclaimed faith, and eternal life. 

The man comes up to Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus responds with, “Why do you call me good No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’”

Jesus, fully man, hits the first ball by pointing out that He is there to point to God and doesn’t want to be put on the throne of empty praise. He wants true love of God not the praise of humans. Isn’t this what Amos called for in the people of Israel? That they hate evil and seek Good – “Only God is good.,” says Jesus. Isn’t this what the scalpel that is the word of God does> Cutting out what is wrong and keeping what is good that there might be life in all the fullness there can be?

So the man tells Jesus that he’s kept the commandments since he was a boy. But Jesus, scalpel-like, acts by telling the man that keeping the commandments is great, but without love of the author of them, they merely regulate what we do. What God wants is our hearts also and so the answer is simple: 

The first part is “To ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second part is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 respectively)

Now many sermons have been given about the man sadly walking off because he can’t give up everything. They tell us how the man forfeited eternal life and kept loving money and possessions. The reality is that we just don’t know what he did. We know he was challenged and went off to think, moan, reject, accept – or at least respond in some way – but we won’t know until the Christ returns. (One of my first questions will be, “Lord, where’s the rich bloke from Mark ten? Did he give away the money and choose you? – assuming I’m there that is ;-) ).

Jesus tells the disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

And preachers across the world seize the opportunity to talk about camels and holes in the walls of Jerusalem and greedy merchants dragging the camels through it to avoid taxation. But the sadness is that there I can find no such hole – it’s another Biblical urban myth (like Mary Magdalene being a hooker).

The Jews had a theology that said those who had wealth, possessions, were healthy we blessed by God and those who weren’t were under a curse because they had something wrong in their lives. This caused them to ask: “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus answers, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” How were true and what a clean cut the scalpel makes. We can’t do it, we need God to do it in us and with us. Rather than ask (or tell) God what we need and what He needs to do to make it happen, the reality is that we have a God who will strengthen us and stand with us in our dark and distressing moments. Our prayer should be, “God give me strength,” rather than “God, give me this, that and that too!”

Peter says to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you.” He’s wondering what that means in the light of Jesus’ words – perhaps he’s hoping to hear the words, “Relax mate, you’re all in!” 

 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The problem with this last quote is that we think of it in terms of money, power, possessions – have we heard nothing. It’s the things of the heart, not the pocket or the blind obedience that bring eternal life. I have seen people give up all and be richer than the richest people I know. We don’t have a prosperity ministry – we have a love of God ministry!

And the first last and last first? The Gentiles came into the kingdom after the Jews. Perhaps this tells us something about following God rather than keeping the law. But Jew and Gentile make it don’t they? Regarding the ‘eye of the needle’, the gate many point to was created in the 16^thcentury! 

A common expression in the ancient near east, when wanting to convey how difficult something was, pointed to how hard it was for an elephant or camel to pass through a needle’s eye. We find it in the teachings of the rabbis (In the Talmud) and other places. We don’t swing cats to check out room size either!

The Collect

God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Amos 5.6-7,10-15

Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,  you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offences and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Psalm 90.12-17

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.

May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendour to their children.

May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.

Hebrews 4.12-16

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Mark 10.17-31

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’”

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Post Communion Prayer

God our Father, whose Son, the light unfailing, has come from heaven to deliver the world from the darkness of ignorance: let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the way of life, and walk in it without stumbling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.