Pentecost 2 – 19 June 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. 

The text for this meditation is written in the 8^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 26 – 39:

²⁶ Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. ³² Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. 

³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

 

Is there a spiritual difference between this demon-possessed man and an unbeliever? Surprisingly, the answer is, “No.” There is no spiritual difference between these two. Both are spiritually dead, blind, and enemies of God. 

Now obviously, one is greatly more visible before one’s eyes than the typical unbeliever, but both are the same. Now wouldn’t it be nice if we could see which ones were unbelievers by their very actions and say, “Ah, now there’s one we need to evangelise. Oh, there’s one we have in our own fold”? But it’s not so easy. 

This is interesting because this historical account is remarkable in many ways. Jesus leaves the fairly Jewish region of Galilee and goes across the Sea of Galilee to an area that was decidedly pagan both in its culture and in its worship. 
Going across the Sea of Galilee to evangelise over there and to proclaim the Good News…we know it is a very pagan region because they kept pigs. That never would have been done in a Jewish region.  

Now note the condition of the man whom Jesus comes upon. First off, he has no clothes. He has no home. He lives among the tombs and is driven into the desert by the demons. And he is not in his right mind because later in the text it refers to his return to a right mind. He is demon-possessed. 

Merely on seeing the Lord Jesus he bows down before Him and cries out both in shame and in fear. Now an interesting aspect of this text…When he bows down and cries out, there ensues a conversation and in fact, of all the situations of demons encountering Jesus, this is the longest conversation by far that’s recorded in Scripture. But after this great, long conversation, Jesus takes these unclean spirits, drives them into unclean animals, and sends them into an unclean death. End of story. 

It is really what happens to the man afterwards. And subsequently it is really what happened to you at the font. For if you are in agreement with the initial statement that spiritually, there is no difference between this demon-possessed man and an unbeliever, then we have a lot in common with this man. Now granted, we were not running around without clothes on, although lots of times, little kids do that a lot around the house. 

But Jesus takes what is unclean and makes it clean. He takes you and me, who have no faith in God, who are not possessed by God, and cleanses us and makes us clean, driving out the unbelief and demon, and instilling Himself in that space and that place of emptiness and makes us clean. 

Having cleansed us, He doesn’t leave us alone and wash His hands of us and say, “Okay, now you’re on your own. Go and do great things.” He brings great protection to you and me, for having cleansed us by making that which was unclean, clean, He clothes us, just as He clothes the man in the great historical account. 

Paul talks in that epistle reading about this clothing or raiment that God alone gives, tells us; 
“For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ [have been clothed with Christ].” And having been clothed as you and I have been, after having been cleansed, we are protected by Christ’s righteousness. 

He does not let us go then. He brings more support. He plants us in the field known as the Church and having planted us in the field known as the Church, He knits us together into a family, whereas Paul says in the epistle reading, “we are all children of God through Christ Jesus”. We are all heirs of the same heavenly Father. We’re not alone in this venture in which God has placed us. He supports us in this that He alone has brought upon us.  

Next, He enables us to speak. The demon-possessed man could not speak and could not receive. After his healing, he is found at the feet of Jesus, just as we are at the feet of Jesus this morning. And each time you are opening that Word of God, you are at the feet of Jesus. He is the instructor. You are the receiver. He is the confirmation instructor. You are the confirmand. He is the catechist. You are the catechumen. And by being in such a position, you are the one who is being enabled to speak and proclaim that which God has done for you. 

But having protected us and supporting us and enabling us, He now commends us as He commended that man. The man wanted to follow Him and go about Galilee with Jesus and the disciples. Jesus says, “No, you stay here. You do the work of My heavenly Father here.” 

And before we think, “Oh, that’s easy. He just went about preaching and proclaiming God”, you have to put yourself in this man’s shoes. He was well known in that region as a demon-possessed man. The people all kept their distance from him and now the very people who have kept their distance from him are hearing from him about this same Lord Jesus Christ who changes this man’s heart, having slaughtered a whole herd of pigs. 

They don’t want Him around. The text says the people of that region say to Jesus, “Get out of here. We don’t want you around.” They’re fearful of it. And that’s the kind of environment in which God has placed this demon-possessed man who now is in his right mind, clothed, clean, and enabled to proclaim. The region in which he has been placed, the people in whose lives he has been placed, and all that has been brought about by this event makes it very difficult for this man to proclaim…which is just like you and me. 

God has placed us in among people who are fearful of the Lord Jesus and what He brings, just as this region was. For most of us who have grown up in the church, this does not cause us fear. This place causes great comfort. Jesus and what He brings to us does not put us at odds. It is embraced and received.  

But for most of the people with whom you interact, who are not believers, one could say it scares and intimidates them and puts them on the defensive. They are the ones who need to hear it the most and they are the ones whom God has given to you to tell what God has done for you. 

When we think of God’s design, how He brought into this man’s life the Light of Life, and how He illumined his darkness…when you and I ponder what God has done for this man and where He placed this man, you and I cannot think that we were haphazardly placed where God has placed us. The people with whom we are interacting have been placed in our lives for our proclamation.  

We are the ones who has been made clean. We are the ones who have been clothed. We are the ones who have been made heir. We are the one who sits at His feet, and we are instructed and are given words to speak. And we are also the ones who have been commended by God to go forth. 

We, like the man who has been healed from the demon, wish to follow in His steps and go elsewhere. Absolutely. You and I know there are those people with whom we have to interact and we’re thinking, “Lord, send somebody else”.  Even family members who are difficult… “Lord, please, somehow bring me a different family”. But they are the very ones whom God has placed in our lives for that reason. It is not haphazard. It is divine in its design. 

The same Jesus about whom we come to worship and sing hymns about, who comes and brings all these gifts with Him…You and I know we’ve received such glorious gifts, and if that’s not enough, you and I know we’ll receive it again when He gathers us around His table to feed His hungry souls, telling us to open wide our mouths that He may fill us with His abundant Grace. But then He commends us to go and proclaim that with which He has filled our mouths, to those hesitant unbelieving people in our lives. No one else has been commended to proclaim to them that He has done for you, but just you. 

But don’t forget. Just as He sent this man into territories unaware and unknown, remember He cleansed him. He protected him. He supported him. He enabled Him and He commended him. So He has done to you. Do not forget that. 

The good news is that the Holy Spirit used this man.  The next time Jesus came to this neighbourhood, the countryside emptied itself to come and sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from Him. Church history tells us that this town became the site of one of the earliest churches among the gentiles and is still revered to this day.  It is even possible that representatives from this church attended the Council of Nicaea that formalised the creed that is a formal confession of our faith.  The Holy Spirit removed the fear of these people and replaced it with faith.

Always keep in mind that is Satan’s desire, for you to forget such glorious things that He has done, and that is your and my own flesh fighting God’s commendations for us. And yet that is where God has placed us, for those people are the ones for whom He has designed your words, out of your mouth, that which has been filled by your God to proclaim. Go and do likewise as a son and daughter of the King. In Jesus name, Amen. 

The love and peace of God which passes all human understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting, Amen. 

Holy Trinity Sunday – 12 June 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 

It is my intention to embrace all the Bible texts for today, (proverbs 8: 1-4 &22-31 – Romans 5: 1-5), but focus primarily on the Gospel reading John 16:12-15:

 

¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

 

In the ‘Athanasian Creed’ we confess “And the catholic faith is this:  That we worship one God in three Persons and three Persons in one God, neither confusing the Persons nor dividing the substance.”

  
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, the last of the festival days.  It’s the day we dust off that esteemed Athanasian Creed, named after St. Athanasius, the great confessor and defender of the Nicene orthodoxy, (Authors of the Nicene Creed) who was banished from his own pulpit five times defending the great truth:  that God is three and one at the same time.  Three distinct persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Yet only one God in essence - and there is no other god than this God.

The Tri-unity of God is a paradox.  A paradox is finding truth in two seemingly contradictory things at once.  The word “triune” itself is paradoxical.  Three - yet one; (or) one - yet three. 

 

At first glance the Holy Scriptures continually present us with seemingly contradictory statements; God is three and one.  Jesus Christ is true God and at the same time true man.  A justified believer is both sinless and sinner.  It’s all paradox (contradictory).  In a world that demands a neat and tidy either/or answer for anything, Christianity comes with a “both/and.”

Three divine Persons, one divine Being called God.  Let’s be honest.  If we were inventing a god and a religion, we wouldn’t go this way.  We’d keep things simple and straightforward.  Religion is hard enough to promote in a secular world.  Why make things more difficult than they have to be?  The trouble with that is we don’t make up our ideas of God.  God tells us who He is.

We must take the tri-unity of God seriously for this one reason:  Jesus revealed it.  He’s the One who died and rose from the dead, and so whatever Jesus says, is gospel truth.  Jesus is the one who prayed to His Father and yet said, “I and the Father are one.”  Jesus claimed to be sent by the Father as the only begotten Son of God, and yet He said that to see and have Him was to see and have the Father.  He promised that He and the Father would send the Holy Spirit who would take what He received from the Father and hand it on to Jesus’ disciples.  He commanded His disciples to make disciples of all the nations by baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them everything He had entrusted to them.  

 

Friends, this is the source of Holy Trinity Sunday and the three creeds we confess.  That’s why we confess the somewhat cumbersome Athanasian Creed with all its eternals, and uncreateds and incomprehensibles and threats of hellfire to all who don’t believe it.  It’s because this is the God that Jesus revealed to the world.  Three distinct Persons and yet only One, undivided God.  A paradox.

If you want to see an artist’s attempt at capturing the paradox, spend a little time on the ‘Net’ and do a Google search for ‘Artists impressions of the Holy Trinity’.  You will see virtually hundreds of expositions of the doctrine of the Trinity by famous artists throughout time. 

 

You see it gets people thinking and talking and discussing.  How do you illustrate this paradox without slipping into the old trap of having three gods or having a god with three faces?  What the creeds try to do with words, the artists try to do with paint and canvas.  It isn’t easy.  In fact, the Eastern Orthodox Church forbids members from even attempting it, though people still do.  There’s a deep drive in us to try to make some visual sense out of it.

This may all seem like so much doctrinal hair-splitting to some.  The Athanasian Creed might seem like an exercise in hair-splitting.  Doesn’t the Bible keep things nice and simple? Is this all really necessary?  Couldn’t we “just believe in Jesus” and let it go at that.  Rational nonconformists claim “Doctrine divides”. 

 

Friends in Christ, it’s never a healthy sign when the church, or baptised believers for that matter, abandon any interest in Christian doctrine and turn to their own spiritual experiences.  It’s a sign of the church grown lazy and distracted.  The creeds didn’t (and don’t), cause divisions; they identified, labelled, and diagnosed the divisions.  Doctrinal indifference weakens and divides Christ’s church on earth.

GK Chesterton, the eminent Christian writer and apologist who died in 1936, said this about his own modern-day disinterest in doctrine: - “In all the mess of modern thoughtlessness, that still calls itself modern thought, there is perhaps nothing so stupendously stupid as the common saying, “Religion can never depend on minute disputes about doctrine.”  It is like saying that life can never depend on minute disputes about medicine.  The man who is content to say, “We do not want theologians splitting hairs,” will doubtless be content to go on and say, “We do not want surgeons splitting filaments more delicate than hairs.”  It is a fact that many a person would be dead today, if their doctors had not debated fine shades about doctoring.  It is also the fact the European civilisation would be dead today, if its doctors of divinity had not debated fine shades about doctrine.” (The Resurrection of Rome, in For All the Saints, II, 27-28)

We might add to Chesterton that our own civilisations are dying and may already be dead, because we no longer take an interest in the fine points of doctrine.  What Chesterton called “the mess of modern thoughtlessness” has become a culture of “dummies.”  There are even books with the titles “Christianity for Dummies” and “The Bible for Dummies.”  When you no longer believe anything faithfully and firmly, the fine points of doctrine are no longer worth fighting for.

So what do we do with this paradox of God’s tri-unity?  What does it mean for us beyond the fact that God can’t easily be pictured, and the best we can do are triangles and St. Patrick’s three leaf clovers?

First, it means that God Himself is never alone, personally speaking.  He is in communion - the Father in communion with the Son in communion with the Holy Spirit.  When God made man in the beginning, He said, “Let us make man in our image.”  You might say that creation is a divine committee job, a collaboration of the Father’s ideas, the Son’s Word, and the Spirit’s breath and life, all working together. 

 

That still doesn’t quite catch the fullness of the paradox, I know.  But at the level of our human language, it’s the best we can do.  It’s one reason, I believe, that it was not good for the man to be alone when he was created, and why God separated male and female and made them two separate beings.  We are made to be in community and in communion as God Himself is in communion.

Secondly; the doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that it is the Wisdom of God, the Word, that orders everything.  In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom takes on a person and speaks (in a female voice, because the word for “wisdom” is feminine).  Wisdom was with God in the beginning, appointed from eternity, from before the creation.  Wisdom was the craftsman at God’s side, His right hand, rejoicing in His whole world, delighting in mankind.

You might say that all of science and mathematics is a celebration of this Wisdom that made all things and gave everything order and place. The laws of science exists because the Wisdom of God brought order out of random chaos.  The whole reason we can even speak of scientific laws and principles is that the universe operates by divine Wisdom.  God is a God of order, and He makes things in order. COVID is a curse, the extremely rapid developments of COVID Vaccines was the wisdom of God in action.

In the New Testament we meet God’s Wisdom face to face in the person of Jesus.  He is the Word Incarnate, the Word made flesh, the Word through whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together and have their being.  He’s called the “first-born” of the creation, the image (icon) of the invisible God, the fullness of God dwelling in human flesh.  To know Jesus is to know the ordering Wisdom of the universe in a personal way.

Imagine seeing a magnificent building, a structure that commands your attention.  It makes you want to know who built it, who designed it.  Take a long, meditative look at your hand. Wiggle each finger.  Flex each joint.  Take note of the muscles and tendons and blood vessels.  Notice the shape and size of each finger.  How do you think that hand came to be?  By accident?  A quirk of nature?  Luck?  Of course not!  It’s the Father’s design, the Son’s execution, the Spirit’s life that made this hand and keeps it going.

Jesus told His disciples, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.”  And those men spent three years of “quality time” with Jesus.  Literally walking and talking and eating with Him, and they still can’t bear all that He has to say.  It’s a nonsense to think that we’ve exhausted everything. We may have read the Bible a dozen times all the way through from Genesis to the Revelation and we still don’t know everything there is to know.  We may have memorised the catechisms, gone to Christian schools, studied under the best teachers, have enough degrees to wallpaper a small room, but we’re still only scratching the surface.  Jesus promises more to come.  There’s always more with Jesus, until our last second is past, when we inherit the fullness of what the Father has given to the Son who gives us by His Spirit.

Thirdly; the doctrine of the Trinity describes our relationship with God.  It’s a triune relationship in union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  That’s how it began at our baptism “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  The apostle Paul says, “Thanks to Jesus and the justification that came through His death and resurrection, we now have peace with God through Christ and access through faith.”

God has made peace with the world, with each and every one of us, in the death of Jesus His Son.  In trusting that peace, we have access to the Father through His Son.  Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me”, and in His death on the cross, He drew all things to Himself and in His resurrection He presented the whole redeemed creation to the Father.  The disaster of human sin, including the contribution each of us makes, has been answered in the blood of Jesus, and now by that blood, we have access to the Father.  We can come to Him as dear children coming to their dear Father, with boldness and confidence.  In Christ, we are part of the family.  Father God has poured out His Spirit on us, in our Baptism and whenever we hear His Word.  The Spirit reveals the love of God to our own hearts, so that we are able to say “our Father.”

Every prayer is about the tri-unity of God.  We pray to the Father.  We pray through the Son, through His priesthood, His sacrificial death, His blood.  We also pray in the Holy Spirit who reveals Jesus Christ to us, who works faith in our hearts, and who delivers our words to the ear of God.

The tri-unity of God is our life with God.  We are children of the heavenly Father.  We are brothers and sisters of God’s only-begotten Son, Jesus, our Saviour.  We have the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, our Advocate, our Guide.  We are always surrounded by the three Persons of our one and only God who made us, who saved us, who restores us and makes us holy in Himself. 

 

This isn’t some theological abstraction in a book. The practical consequences of this are that we can rejoice that we will share in the glory of God, and already do by faith, and we rejoice even in our sufferings.  That’s right, even in suffering, because God is in the middle of all of it.  He made us, He redeemed us, He keeps us going.  He’s not going to abandon us when things get rough.  He will see us through.  Through whatever it is we’re asked to face, whether sickness or persecution or hardship or struggle, the Triune God is at work producing patient endurance, building character, and creating hope in our hearts that will never abandon us
Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the Undivided Unity. Amen

 

The peace and love of our great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

  

Day of Pentecost – 5 June 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 14^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses 23–31:

 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, ³¹ but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

 

 

In a book called God’s Empowering Presence (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), New Testament scholar Gordon Fee shares a remark that one of his students once made to him about the Holy Spirit: “God the Father makes perfectly good sense to me, and God the Son I can quite understand; but the Holy Spirit is a grey, oblong blur.”

 

Why “grey,” I don’t know. Why “oblong,” I don’t know. But that’s what the student said—and to some extent, I think most of us can probably relate to that remark. We believe in the Holy Spirit. We know that he lives in us through faith in Jesus Christ. We confess that he is with us right here, right now, and every time we gather together around Word and Sacrament. But it’s pretty hard to picture or even describe this divine being whom we also sometimes call “the Holy Ghost.” How are we supposed to picture a “ghost,” much less a “Holy Ghost”?

 

I’ve always found it somewhat ironic that the longest season in the Church Year by far is the Pentecost season; for almost thirty straight weeks we focus on various aspects of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. And yet most of us would probably admit that of the three persons of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit remains the fuzziest when it comes to our understanding of who he is and what he does and exactly how he does it.

 

To be honest, the Bible doesn’t give us much help in picturing the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps, in a sense, it gives us too much help: there are so many different and contrasting pictures of the Spirit in the Scriptures. The Spirit appears as a dove; then as tongues of fire; then again, as a loud, rushing wind; in other places as a quiet whisper. It’s enough to make you say: Will the real Holy Spirit please stand up?

 

On the other hand, the Bible does provide some very clear and helpful information—divine teaching—about who the Spirit is and what he does for us as Christians. Over and over again in the Gospel of John, and here in our text from John 14, Jesus uses a very unique word to describe the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word is paraklétos, which literally means “one who is called to and stands by one’s side.” This word is translated in a number of different ways in various versions of the Bible: “Helper,” “Advocate,” “Comforter,” or (my personal favourite) “Counsellor.” ^{(vv 25–26)} “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you,” says Jesus. “But the Helper [the Comforter, the Counsellor], the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”. I am going away, says Jesus, but don’t worry, don’t be afraid; let not your hearts be troubled. I am leaving behind for you and for Christians of all times and in all places a Helper, a Comforter, a full-time, free-of-charge Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, and the holy spirit is “the world’s best Counsellor.”

So, what does a good “counsellor” do? More important, what does this Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, do for us—and how does he do it?

 

According to Jesus in John 16, one of the most important things the Holy Spirit does as our Counsellor is a rather unpleasant thing. He counsels us by convicting us of our sin (Jn 16:8). He uses God’s Word to confront us with those secret or not-so-secret areas of our lives that are not pleasing to our heavenly Father, that are tearing down rather than building up our brothers and sisters in Christ, that are damaging our witness for Christ, and that are also hurting us, preventing us from enjoying the blessings that come through willing and joyful obedience to God’s commandments.

 

Now, this is not an easy job that the Holy Spirit has to do. The hard thing about it is not that he has to keep track of all our sins; that’s relatively simple for the Spirit as the all-seeing, all-knowing God. What’s hard about it is that the Spirit has to deal constantly with hard-headed people like us, who have a very hard time acknowledging our guilt and our sin.

 

Eldon Weisheit was a long-time Theologian and author who wrote some great books for and about kids, including several volumes of children’s sermons. In one of those books, Dr. Weisheit tells the story of one of the first children’s sermons he ever attempted as a pastor. With the children gathered around him, he held up pieces of paper with various words written on them and asked the children to raise their hands if they thought the words applied to them. He held up words like “short,” “tall,” “smart,” “strong,” “popular,” “handsome,” “pretty,” and so on, and each time at least some of the children raised their hands. Then he held up the word “sinner” and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited, until finally one youngster in the front row took hold of his little brother’s hand and lifted it high into the air.

 

We can’t help but laugh at that cute little story, but our laughter probably has—or at least ought to have—a rather “nervous” edge to it, because we know full well that it’s not just children who are anxious to point a finger at somebody else. I read another story recently about a woman who came to her counsellor confessing or complaining that she just didn’t feel she was growing in her spiritual life. When he asked her what she thought the problem might be, she immediately proceeded to tick off about a dozen reasons, all of which put the blame squarely on the shoulders of somebody else. “The pastor’s sermons don’t speak to me; the style of worship isn’t the way I’d like it to be; people at church are so unfriendly; my husband doesn’t support me; my children don’t behave the way they should,” and on and on and on. This counsellor said he took a deep breath, prayed a silent prayer, looked the woman in the eye and said: “Have you ever considered the possibility that the main problem in your spiritual life might not be the pastor, the people at church, your husband, or your children? Have you ever considered the possibility that the problem might have something to do with you?”

 

The best counsellors in my life have been people who’ve cared so much about me that they have dared to speak the truth in love, even when they knew the truth would probably hurt, even when they knew that they might suffer and be hurt as a result of speaking the truth. That’s the kind of Counsellor the Holy Spirit is. Always loving, always compassionate, always looking out for our best interests—but excruciatingly honest, never afraid to tell us the truth, too concerned about our welfare to hide from us the sin that’s harming us.

 

According to the Bible, we can actually help the Holy Spirit with his job as Convicter. Now, let me be clear: we cannot and did not in any way help the Holy Spirit bring us to faith in Christ. Dead people can’t help anyone with anything, and the Bible clearly says that ^{(Eph 2:5)} “we were dead in our trespasses” before the Holy Spirit alone “made us alive” through Word and Sacrament. But now that the Spirit has brought us to life and has come to live in us, we can strive to ^{(Gal 5:16)} “walk by the Spirit”, to keep in step with the Spirit. How? Let me suggest several ways: (1) By seeking to remain open at all times to the Spirit’s loving admonition and exhortation; (2) By opening up the Scriptures regularly (daily!) so that he can speak to us through the Word and show where and how we need to repent and amend our sinful ways; (3) By coming faithfully to God’s house to hear the preaching of God’s holy Word; (4) By refusing to argue with him when he clearly shows us where we need to confess and amend our sinful lives; (5) By remembering that before we can help get the splinter out of somebody else’s eye, we must (as Jesus said) get that log out of our own eye. (Most of us are pretty good at spotting other people’s sins; it’s our own sins we have trouble seeing and confronting.)

 

Fortunately for us, convicting us of our sins is not the Holy Spirit’s only job as our Counsellor. In fact, it’s not even his most important job. After all, even the devil knows how to accuse people of being sinners—the name Satan actually means “The Accuser.” The Spirit’s true or proper work is not to convict us but to comfort us with the Gospel, with the Good News of our forgiveness in Christ—which is something the devil would never do, even if he could.

 

According to Scripture, the Spirit convicts us not just to make us feel guilty but to lead us to true repentance, to prepare our hearts to hear and believe the comforting assurance of our forgiveness because of what our Saviour, Jesus, has done for us. As I mentioned earlier, some versions of the Bible translate this word “Counsellor” as “Comforter.” That’s a good and scripturally meaningful translation as well, because that’s the Holy Spirit’s ultimate mission and goal: to convince us and to keep on reminding us that although we are poor, miserable sinners, God still loves us more than we can possibly imagine and delights to claim us as his dear children in Christ Jesus.

 

The Holy Spirit carries out his role as Comforter in some very simple yet powerful ways. He speaks to us through the Scriptures and tells us that, because of what Jesus has done for us by dying on the cross, our sins have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west, that though our sins are like scarlet, we have been made as white as snow through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also speaks through the words of the Ordained Clergy, who have been called by God to say to those who stand before God with humble and repentant hearts: “I forgive you all your sins,” not by my power, not by my authority, not by any special holiness in me, but in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ whom I serve on your behalf. The Holy Spirit also comforts us daily as we claim the promises God made to us at our Baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and he comforts us by feeding us with the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

 

And there is still another way the Holy Spirit comforts us, and this way should not be overlooked or underestimated. The Spirit also comforts us through one another, as we speak to each other the words of forgiveness that Christ has spoken to us. Paul writes in: ^{(2 Cor 1:3–4)} “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God”. Even with all these other ways of receiving God’s forgiveness, there’s something special (at least to me) about receiving assurance of that forgiveness through the lips of another human being, especially someone close to us: through the lips of a wife or husband, father or mother, son or daughter, brother or sister or Christian friend.

 

So much more could be said about the counselling ministry of the Holy Spirit: we could talk about how he prays for us with groans and sighs too deep for words, and how he teaches us to pray to our dear Father in heaven. We could talk about how he counsels us to know right from wrong and to discern God’s will for our lives; how he helps us to grow up in our faith, so that we can move from the milk to the meat of God’s Word; how he gives us gifts to use in service to others and how he empowers us to be Christ’s witnesses; how he guards and protects us against the evil one and keeps us strong in the faith until the Last Day. One of the reasons that the season after Pentecost is so long is because there’s so much to talk about when it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

 

What I’d like to emphasise this morning, however, is that all of these other works of the Holy Spirit are based on and grow out of the Spirit’s dual work as Convicter and as Comforter. If we ever forget that we are sinners, we might as well forget everything else we’ve learned about God and about the Christian faith, because, as John says in his first letter, ^{(1 Jn 1:8)} “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”.On the other hand, if we poor, miserable sinners ever stop believing that we are forgiven, we might as well stop believing everything else, because if God’s message of forgiveness is a lie, then how can we believe anything else he tells us in his Word? If we can’t be sure that we’re forgiven, what does it matter what we do? Why should we pray? Why should we serve? Why should we witness? What would there be to witness about?

The Holy Spirit’s job is to make sure, first of all, that we never forget that we are sinners, and secondly, to make sure that we never stop believing that we are God’s precious, holy, forgiven children through the life and death and resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Everything else that he does for us and in us and through us depends on his work as Convicter and as Comforter. And as he convicts and comforts us day by day, he promises to work powerfully in our lives in many other ways as well, as we allow him to, as we invite him to, as we work with our divine Counsellor to be and become the holy people that the Holy Spirit calls and empowers us to be. We pray, “Come Holy Spirit come shine upon us, cleanse us, cheer us, dwell within us, and reign supreme in our hearts and lives. Amen.

 

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Easter 7 – 29 May 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 The text for this meditation is written in the 17^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses 20 – 26:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

 

 

Did you know you are mentioned in the Gospel reading for today? You are. Jesus is talking about you–in fact, he is praying for you–in the passage known as his “High Priestly Prayer” in John 17. In the first part of that chapter, Jesus has been praying for his disciples, the ones he would be sending out soon as his apostles. You know, Peter, James, John, Andrew, Matthew etc. – the ones who have been with Him for three years. But then at verse 20 of John 17, Jesus shifts his prayer to include others, as well. He says: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. . . .”

When he says “these only,” he’s referring to the disciples he’s just been praying for, those who would be his apostles. But then he goes on to say: “but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” And here he is talking about you - us. For we are among those who have believed in Jesus through the apostles’ word–the inspired witness of the apostles that we find in the New Testament Scriptures. Through the gospel that has been preached to all Christians through the ages, through the apostles’ teaching, through the Holy Sacraments the apostles were commissioned to pass on to the church from generation to generation–through the apostolic ministry of Word and Sacrament, you and I have come to believe in, trust in, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And so you and I are included in this prayer of Jesus when he prays for “those who will believe in me through their word.” Here in his High Priestly Prayer” …. Jesus Prays for Us.

Now what are the things that our Lord prays for us? What does he want for us, what is his will for us? Several things. The first thing he asks for us is this: “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

This is the unity of the church Jesus is praying for here, a unity not based on warm fuzzy feelings or in holding hands and singing Kumbaya, but more than that, it is a unity created by God’s own work of binding us to himself, giving us the gift of faith, his work of uniting us in the life of the triune God. 

Notice how Jesus describes this unity: “just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us,” and again, “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one.” In theology, this is what we call the “mystical union,” that all believers in Christ are one, incorporated into the life of the one true God, in the one true church. You know how we say in the Nicene Creed, “I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic church”? Well, we believe in it, that is, we believe there to be but one church, because that is what God has created and what Christ here is praying for. This is the “una sancta catholica et apostolica ecclesia,” the “one holy catholic”–“catholic” in the best sense, meaning “universal”– the one “in all times and all places” church, consisting of all believers made holy by the blood of the Lamb and trusting in him, the church built on the foundation of the holy apostles. This is the unity that Jesus is praying for – praying for us – here in his High Priestly Prayer.

This is the ‘Grace of God’, that he has brought us into his one church! The Holy Spirit has given us faith to believe in Christ our Saviour, and now we know the Father’s love. We all believe in one true God, and we all have been baptised in the name of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This is a God - established unity that cannot fail. This unity exists even now, in spite of all the divisions and fractures and errors we see in visible Christendom. And this unity will last forever, when by God’s grace those warts and flaws in the church will no longer be seen, when they will be healed – when Christ will present the church to himself as a bride radiant and beautiful, holy and without blemish.

Jesus prays for us, unworthy sinners. Jesus’ prayers are for unity in spirit and in love. Jesus’ prayers are for a unified kingdom, undivided by human judgements and doctrinal rulings. Jesus’ prayers are that we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in the truth of His Word.  Jesus prays that we will have the faith and will to do everything we can to walk in the oneness God has given his church. To make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Jesus prays that we will speak the truth in love, so that the church will be built up and grow strong, not being blown around by every wind of doctrine, but rather holding to the faith once delivered to the saints. Jesus prays that we will work for concord in the church, seeking consensus in the pure doctrine and striving for a God - pleasing uniformity in church practice. This is a fitting follow-up to what Jesus is praying for us.

And there is an outcome that will follow, as we dwell in God and he in us and we are built up in the one apostolic faith. Our oneness in God results in mission, as Jesus says: “so that the world may believe that you have sent me,” and again, “so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” More and more people will come to faith in Christ as the church lives in, and manifests, and testifies to, the love of God in Christ. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is the love of God we have received and experienced, and that love then shines through us out into a sin-darkened world, drawing more and more people from every nation into the one holy church.

It’s happening all around the world today. What Jesus is praying for in this prayer is coming to pass as the church grows and the gospel goes into every corner of the world. In Africa, In Asia, in South America, the church is growing by leaps and bounds. In Ethiopia, in Kenya, in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore, in Argentina and Peru, we see the church expanding and new beachheads for the kingdom being established on every shore.

This is the same gospel that has saved us, my brothers and sisters. It speaks of God’s own Son coming down from heaven and being made incarnate here on earth. It is the good news of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, bearing the sins of the world in his body on the cross. He is the one and only Saviour God has given for all men everywhere, the only one you need. In him you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Christ won this for us on the cross, purchasing our salvation with his precious blood. And then he rose, victorious in the strife, defeating all our foes for us – death, the devil, the grave, the condemnation that you and I deserve by our sins. These all are overcome by the death and resurrection of God’s Son, Christ our Saviour. Now ascended into heaven, he sits at God’s right hand, ever living to make intercession for us as our own High Priest. And he will come again at the last day, to take us home to be with him forever.

And that then is the other thing Jesus prays for us in this prayer of his in John 17. Jesus prays to his Father as follows: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Jesus prays this as he is about to go to the cross, to complete the saving mission for which he was sent. Then will come his resurrection and, forty days after that, his ascension into heaven. So when Jesus prays that we may be with him where he is, to see his glory, this is talking about our eternal life in heaven in the age to come. There we will see his glory, undimmed and undiminished. There we will be with him, and we will see him face to face. What a glorious day that will be! An endless, joyful eternity with our Lord and with all his people, in a paradise restored and made even better!

It’s what we see described in the reading from Revelation. The new Jerusalem, the holy city. The river of the water of life, flowing through the city, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The tree of life–that tree we were barred from, when we were driven out of the garden after our fall into sin. But when the new day comes, when Christ returns and takes us home to be with him forever, then we will have access to the tree of life, eternal life, ours as a gift. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life.” That’s us. We have had our robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb, our sins washed away in the waters of Holy Baptism. Therefore, in Christ, we will have the right to the tree of life.

Friends, this is paradise restored – creation restored, and made even better. No more sin or sorrow or death. Only life and abundance and joy. The blessed vision of seeing our Lord Jesus in his glory. The joy of worship around the throne with the whole company of heaven. The heavenly banquet feast. This is what we have to look forward to. This is our hope, our lively hope that animates all our days. We look forward to that day with great expectation. “Come, Lord Jesus!” is the church’s fervent cry. And, dear ones, this will be the ultimate fulfillment of Jesus’ own prayer, his High Priestly Prayer, the prayer he prays for us, that we may be with him where he is. God grant it, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen  

Easter 6 – 22 May 2022 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for our meditation is written in the 14^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses 23 – 29:

 

23 Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 ‘All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 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. 27 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.

28 ‘You heard me say, “I am going away and I am coming back to you.” If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe’. 

 

 

In a campaign speech, the famous British statesman Winston Churchill poked fun at the jargon creeping into government. "There is a lovely one about houses and homes," Churchill said. "In the future they are to be called accommodation units. I don't know how we are going to sing the old song ‘Home Sweet Home’. It would go like this, "Accommodation Unit, sweet, Accommodation Unit, there’s no place like our Accommodation Unit."

 

While the statesman was having a bit of fun, there is a certain truth in what he said - there are a lot of homes that are merely accommodation units.

 

We read and hear stories of children who have a home that is sheer hell. For them, home is a place of sorrow, insecurity, hurt, pain and abuse. For some, home is the place where they suffer to the point of death.

 

Home! What is a home? – Ideally …. A home is a place of joy, security, comfort and love.

For a child, home is a safe place; it’s the place where they grow and learn; it’s where they are loved and in return give love. Home is the place we like to be; the place we like to come ‘home’ to. It’s our resting place after a hard day. Home is the place where we live. 

 

How does this relate to our text – Well, Jesus and his disciples are sharing together a meal on the day before Good Friday. Jesus tells them that he will soon go away. In John 13: 33, they ask him if they can go with him, but Jesus replies, "You cannot go where I am going" - "But we will be left alone," the disciples replied. "When I go, you will not be left alone". 

 

And then Jesus goes on to tell the disciples; "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” 

 

These words give all faithful followers of Jesus a wonderful promise. This special home that Jesus is referring to here, provides us with everything we need —everything necessary to be happy and secure, to receive comfort and love.

 

At this point, it is clear Jesus isn’t only talking about being safe and secure in our heavenly home after our death. He is especially talking about the here and now. – John 14 is very much a “Preparation Text” His disciples were afraid of what would happen to them during their life in this world; and their fears were very real. Jesus wanted to prepare His disciples and us for the time He would no longer be physically on earth. You see His disciples sensed then what we now know to be true; and that is that being a disciple after Jesus left was not going to be easy. 

They were living in a world that was hostile to the grace and love of God. All of them would face every kind of hardship and suffering imaginable as they went about telling others about Jesus, their Saviour. Almost all them would face death at the hands of the enemies of Christ.

 

Imagine the fear and confusion that filled their hearts when Jesus was arrested, sentenced and crucified. Jesus knew all this and now reassures them that they can be secure and safe at home with the Father and the Son; to give them heart and to warm their spirits.

 

Home with God is the place of shelter and protection; being nurtured and comforted. Home with God is being able to retreat from the day’s problems and worries; being loved in spite of all our weaknesses. The picture of being at home with God would have been particularly encouraging and strengthening for the disciples when they were anxious and stressed about how they would face so much hostility in the world.

 

Friends, Jesus is also saying to us, "We will come and make our home with you". He is making us a very wonderful promise. He is promising to be present with us; to live with us and provide for our needs, as we journey through this life. As we live in this world, He is dwelling with us; we are able to enjoy His closeness in the same way that He is close to the Father

We get an idea of just how important Jesus being close to us is when He describes His relationship with the Father. In fact, in John 10:30, he says, "The Father and I are one."  In His promise Jesus is bringing us into an intimate relationship with the Holy Trinity - Heaven on earth.

In John 10:14,15, Jesus tells us, "As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me." - Again that tells us something of the intimate way Jesus knows and cares for each and every one of us – He knows us by name – He knows our very nature – He knows our every weakness and failing …...

 

If that worries you and makes you feel ashamed and unworthy, then listen again to Jesus response to us - today we hear Jesus say to us, "We will come and make our home with you". –  Friends, that is a promise that if we, though sinners at birth, open our heart to His grace, the fullness of our great Triune God will make His home there.

 

You know, there is nothing new here; the notion that God makes his home with us is no modern-day revelation. The Old Testament is full of pictures describing God as our dwelling place (our home), or God’s people living in the house of the Lord. 

 

Psalm 27 says, "One thing that I ask of the Lord, … that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. For in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling" (v 4,5).
And Psalm 90, "Lord you have been our dwelling place (our home) through all generations" (v1). 

 

In the midst of our limited, chaotic, challenging lives, in a world where the evil one would have us feeling permanently insecure, Jesus is our one sure source of true security. It can be said that He gives us small portions of eternity right now, as we journey through this life. This happens whenever He gives us the physical as well as the spiritual strength to meet the challenges that confront us.

 

 He gives us rest when we are weary of life so that we can experience the freshness and newness of another day. He is our centre of retreat when the world’s pain, problems and demands are closing in on us. In an often hostile, dangerous world, His hospitality is so wonderful and inviting. What a marvellous promise,  that Jesus and the Father have made their home with us! What a reassurance of peace.

 

Jesus then adds to this picture of the security of home by saying that the Father will send a Helper, a Counsellor, namely the Holy Spirit to teach us to know and understand what Jesus has said; he will nurture our faith and trust; and he will help us remember that we belong to God; we are members of His household and so are protected and cared for. 

Then he goes on, ²⁷Peace 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.”

 

Christ's peace is a settled state of the heart, which is not affected by the outward circumstances, and which outward conflicts cannot destroy. The peace that Christ gives comes from knowing that whatever may happen, you and I have a Saviour who will never forsake us. Even in the face of our worst sin, he will not forsake us. He died for us. Even when our life is in danger, we are at peace, because He has conquered death and He will never leave us.

 

Philosophers often describe peace as the absence of conflict, fear, trouble and suffering. For the Baptised Christian, peace is more than the absence of something. Peace, true peace, is the presence of someone – and that someone is Jesus. He has come to make His home with us and that brings true peace into our lives. 

 

His love, forgiveness, protection, help, comfort – brings the peace we so much need in our troubled life. Peace is knowing that Jesus will stand by us and, to use the words of St Paul, ^{(Romans 8:39.)} that “There is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord” 

 

All this builds up to a wonderful picture of being at home – home with God; secure and safe, nurtured and cared for.  We do not have to be paralysed by our fears and troubles. God makes a home within our lives—a home of love, security, joy, peace, confidence and hope.

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this word from Jesus today is truly a great one, especially when we are being harassed and feel helpless in the face of life’s difficulties. But there is a danger that in this warm cosy state that we become complacent in our faith! Our Biblical command as written in Matthew 28 is to ‘Preach, Teach and Baptise’ and to bring that same peace and love to others. He gives us security in his home so that we can make a difference in the world and in the church, and in the lives of others. Inactivity or apathy is the greatest danger that faces the Christian church today, It significantly contributes to the decline in numbers of practicing Christians, and changes this country from one where Christian values are the norm to where they are now just another marginalised choice.

 

May our prayer be "Lord, forgive us for our cosiness and apathy, and stimulate us that Your will be done on earth". We have a Saviour who has died for us, who gave his life to forgive us, who has claimed us as members of his own family in baptism, and given us incomprehensible peace; but this peace can only be complete in us if it flows through us to our brothers and sisters in Christ

The celebrated Dominican Monk, Damasus Winzen, who had suffered a great deal in his life, and subsequently died in 1971, wrote just before his death, "When I look back upon the 70 years of my life, I see quite clearly that I owe my present inner happiness, my peace, and my joy essentially to one fact: I am certain that I am infinitely loved by God.”

 

May we, like this man, know and share the peace and presence of God in our lives. Let us reassure and be reassured by the words of Jesus, "Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid. … My Father loves you, and we will come to you and make our home with you."  Amen.

 

The peace and love of our great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen