All Saints' Day – 1 November 2019 – 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 6^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 20 – 31:

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
    for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.

²² “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have received your consolation.
²⁵ “Woe to you who are full now,
    for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
    for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶ “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

²⁷ “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹ If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰ Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.

I often think on All Saints’ Day and the Sunday that follows when we typically celebrate All Saints’ of a story about a friend who when, as a child, asked her mother what a saint of God is, or who a saint of God is.  Her mother went on to describe a saint as one who lives their faith and love of God in heroic ways.  She said something like, “A saint is someone who gives everything they got to God, their whole lives, sometimes literally losing their lives, becoming martyrs for the faith.  Saints are people who endure suffering, share and live their faith boldly, and give everything they have for people in need.”  Wow! this is a tall order, or certainly sounds like one…in my opinion. So my little friend said to her mum, “Well if this is who a saint is, I don’t want to be one, no way!”  And, I get her point, sharing everything we have, especially for children; is indeed hard, and if we are honest with ourselves, for adults as well. And of course the idea of martyrdom, losing one’s life for their faith, sounds, at least, slightly unappealing and perhaps entirely unattainable

Our gospel reading from Luke, assigned for All Saints’ Day, what we call Jesus’ ‘Sermon on the Plains’, emphasises this deeply sacrificial and heavily burden filled idea of sainthood.  Jesus says; blessed are the poor…blessed are those who are hungry…blessed are those who weep…blessed are you when people hate you. Well none of this sounds much like a blessing to me.  Jesus then takes this a step further.  Unlike in Matthew’s version of this sermon, which is entirely focused on those who are blessed, in Luke Jesus adds a whole bunch of woes. Woe to those who are rich…woe to those who are full…who to those who laugh…who to you when all speak well of you.  

Now speaking only for myself, I like having a roof over my head, food on the table, laughter all around, and generally speaking like it when people like me; even speak well of me.  The “woe list” as it is, seems to be what most of us are after in life, and generally describes the life that most of us, or at least many of us, actually live in the Western world today.  So, what are we to do with this teaching, and how might it help us understand and further live the life of one who is indeed a saint of God; for indeed we are all saints of God.

So, let me begin with the good news. Our sainthood is bestowed on us by grace; and grace alone.  We are saints…by grace.  As John Newton writes, “Amazing grace…how sweet the sound…that saved a wretch like me.”  In other words, though wretch may seem a strong word. we, though saints by grace, are indeed broken, imperfect, we live in ways that run contrary to the image in which we have been created ; God’s own image; the image of love perfected.  

The result of this is that the choices we make, some of the time, don’t always, and I want to emphasise some of the time, don’t always look very saintly.  The ways we react to difficult situations and challenging people; the way we spend our money; the way we treat family and co-workers; the way we spend our spare time and the places, people and entertainment to which we give our focus don’t always, again at least some of the time, look like walking in the path and way of Jesus; like the saints of God.  But you see our sainthood lives underneath all of this. It transcends individual moments and choices.  It is not defined only by what we do, but perhaps primarily by who we are.  

Like at Jesus’ own baptism; when each and every one of us was marked as Christ’s own forever; as the waters of baptism were parted over our own heads; God claimed us by grace, for his love’s sake, a saint. And God does so with the most wonderful words of blessing, showered on Jesus at his own baptism, and us at our own baptism. You are my child; I love you; I am pleased with you.  These are the words of institution, the words of commissioning, the words that both name and make us the saints of God.  Therefore, I am confident in making the claim that we are saints; made such by the love of God; through God’s forgiveness and grace; in spite of all the imperfections and poor choices I have already mentioned; and even before all the good choices we have made and all the loving wonders we have worked. For surely there are as many or even many more of those, for we are indeed capable of tremendous love and courage, all for good and for God.

I think this is the connecting point to which we can apply Jesus’ teaching today in the sermon on the plain to our lives, specifically to our lives as the saints of God.  Jesus, as a human himself, who likely struggled with his own choices, even if his track record might have been a whole lot better than ours, certainly knows and even experienced the paradox of human life, that is our brokenness and blessedness.  

Besides, he loved and lived with real humans, the first saints of God in the life of the Church; Peter, James, and John, Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene, and all the rest, he knew and experienced intimately their own struggles; the demons and angels that struggled for a foothold in their own lives.  Accordingly, the blessings and the woes are not directed at different sorts of people, some applying to one sort of person and others applying to other sorts of people, for instance the woes are all directed at one group and the blessings all directed at another.  Instead, both blessing and woes are directed at each and every person…individually, personally, and intimately.  

You see a woe is more of a warning sign than a condemnation. It is like the shofar, the rams horn, blown in synagogues or temples at the Jewish New Year. This is a call to wake up; it’s time to wake up and be aware of the life you are living and the choices you are making, so that who we are, and the actions that then flow from who we are, birth into our world and the lives of others, God’s great and immeasurable love in beautiful and life-affirming ways; indeed lives that look like something of what we might describe as saintly.

Subsequently I hear Jesus say to us even now: Blessed are you when you are poor, when you are in want or need, feeling isolated or cut off, when the budget is tight, the job is lost, the debt collector is calling, I and those you love are with you, you are not alone, this is not the end, I am with you always so there is always hope.  And blessed are you when you weep, when you are grieving, when you have been passed over, torn down rather than built up, when you feel like you have lost someone you can’t live without. The sadness won’t be forever, your tears will turn to joy, for life and love have won and are made eternal in my resurrection. You will see those you love again for death has been defeated.  

In the same way, blessed are those who are hungry, when there is literally not enough to eat, when your spiritual life feels barren and empty, when there is no one to break bread with, when the food you have is tasteless because of depression or sadness. Remember that people do not live on bread alone and that I am the bread of life. I want to fill your whole life all the way up with some left over; let me in; let me fill you.  Blessed are you when people revile you for my sake, remember there is a great multitude of witnesses; the communion of saints that stand with you, who cheer you on and promise to pick you up and remind you who you are and to whom you belong. Bringing an expression of love and standing up for those without a voice is always worth the cost; indeed, you are a blessing to me, my kingdom and those I love.  These are the words of blessing I hear Jesus so powerfully speak to all the saints of God, even you, even me, wherever you find yourself in any particular moment. Jesus says you have my blessing, my love, my presence.  I love you; you are my child; I am pleased with you.

And I also hear Jesus saying to us even now: Wake up, be aware, if you are rich that comes with real responsibility. Many have little to nothing and that should weigh on you, it should motivate you to share, to share generously of your abundance. And I say this to you that you may be a blessing to those in need and also because I love you. If you aren’t careful your wealth will eat you alive, it can be a root of great evil and I don’t want this for you.  And wake up, be aware, I revel in the joy in your life, laughter is a great gift; but please don’t forget that there are those suffering even as you are filled with joy. Naming this does not have to rob you of your joy, instead it becomes richer, more real, more honest; for you will be sad one day also, and then it will be good if someone whose life is going very well and stops and notices you and cares for you and helps you find your own joy again.  And wake up, be aware, your plate and belly may indeed be full, but others are not. Remember that food always tastes better when you share it. Sharing reminds us of what is indeed enough, so that you might avoid gluttony and revel in simplicity. Remember that the material things in your own life requires the toil of others. Be food for those who are hungry in body and spirit.  And wake up, be aware when people flatter you and speak well of you that being appreciated is good, but your worth and value are rooted in my love, being created in my image and not the estimation of others, for humans will let you down, they have to let you down, their good graces are so often about getting what they want. Often the unpopular thing to say is the right thing to say; particularly on behalf of those without a voice; even if the consequences are real, your reward is living in the deep stream of God’s love and truth.  By my grace, I have made you my saints, so indeed may your life reflect such a gift.

So these are the words I hear Jesus speaking to the saints of God gathered here today. Remember you are blessed, always and everywhere; but also wake up and remember, as a saint I have called you to a particular sort of life that reflects my love in my world.  

So back to the story with which I began. The life of a saint is indeed not always easy; my little friend was right to be wary; it requires diligence, sacrifice, courage; and lots and lots of love; and lots and lots of forgiveness; of others; of ourselves. But I think embracing our sainthood is so very worth it; worth giving thanks for; never rejecting.  For I believe as the lives of the saints who have gone before profess and witness to us that this is very much a life worth living, saying yes to and embracing.  This is a life long walk with our Great triune God experienced in grace and fulfillment. 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

Pentecost 20 – 27 October 2019 – 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 4^th Chapter of St Paul’s 2^nd letter to Timothy: Verses 6 – 8 & 16 – 18.  (2 Timothy 4:6 - 8, 16-18)

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing …. At my first defence no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them!  But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen

It is interesting to note here, that Paul’s second letter to Timothy is the last letter that Paul writes in his life--at least as recorded in the Bible. Paul is writing from his prison cell in Rome, during his persecution under Emperor Nero, and he is awaiting execution. Paul writes to his loyal assistant Timothy, and as he comes to the end of this letter - and to the end of his life – He is looking back on his life; reflecting on the experiences and events that led up to this time. In addition to this, Paul is also looking forward, to what awaits him beyond this life.

This passage can be quite challenging, because as we read what Paul writes, we could be left wondering, “Is Paul” - the former Pharisee - having a Pharisee Relapse?” 

If we cast our mind back to the Gospel reading for last week especially where Jesus told the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, you will see that Jesus was speaking about ^{Luke 18: 9} “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt” ^{Luke 18: 10-12} “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’

One could be forgiven for comparing that to what Paul says here in our text: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.   Sounds somewhat similar, doesn’t it? Here is Paul quoting a string of his own good works. Could it even be that Paul is citing his works as a basis for his salvation, because Paul does go on to say: “From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day.

So is Paul having a Pharisee relapse? You know, Paul was a Pharisee as a young man and a very brilliant and zealous one, at that. Saul of Tarsus, top of his class, a Pharisee of Pharisees! Now, as an old man, is he reverting to his former ways, putting confidence in his own works? “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

How should we regard this for our own lives? Is the little bit of self-righteous pride in all the good things we have done in God’s sight all right to throw into the mix? Are we not entitled to take some credit for our good works? Surely they will have some influence at the end times when God sits on His judgment throne?

Paul answers this question Romans ^{3: 27 – 28} “Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law”.

In regard to his own works, Paul is adamant ^{Gal 6: 14} “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” 

In the light of this, what then of Paul’s apparent Pharisaic self-righteous opening statements in our text?  As in all cases, passages taken from the Holy Bible must be contextually complete; a few words or a passage taken in isolation can create a false illusion or even confusion. This is a ploy used my those who would lead us away from the true meaning of God’s Word in favour of their own personal agendas. 

In the context of the whole reading, Paul is saying that he was able to achieve many things because ^{2 Tim17-18} “the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.” You see, it was the Lord who gave Paul the strength to do all that he did, and Paul rightly gives all glory to God.

And when Paul says, “From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day” he is saying nothing more than what is the hope of every Christian: that we have waiting for us the victor’s crown of life that Christ won for us by his bloody crown of thorns. The righteousness of Christ, his perfect righteousness, given to us as a gift--this is our only hope on the Day of Judgment.

Listen, Paul says this very plainly. He says, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” 

This is a message of a man who knows that death is very near. Paul is in prison. He’s about to be executed, martyred for the faith. But he wants Timothy to know that there is no need to fear such things. Don’t let fear stop you from fighting the good fight. Don’t let danger stop you from finishing the race. Don’t let persecution shake your grip on keeping the faith. That’s why Paul is writing these words to Timothy - and to us - to encourage us, to give us courage to carry on, in spite of whatever difficulties or persecution might lie ahead.

In his words, Paul is reassuring us that the Lord will stand by us and strengthen us to carry out our calling. The Lord will rescue us from every evil deed and bring us safely into His heavenly kingdom. The Lord will award to us the crown of righteousness he has laid up for us. All that the Lord has done, is doing, and will do for us far outweighs our own feeble efforts and the empty hopes and promises the glittering gods of this world offers.

Do we believe this? Yes. If there was any doubt, just look at what Christ Jesus did for us when he went to the cross, willingly suffering and dying in our place, to take away our sins. God loves us beyond all human understanding; He has promised that He will be with us always ^{Matt 28}. He will see us through the hard times, the trials and afflictions we will face. He will give us the strength and the endurance we need in this life and into eternity.

That’s what Paul is saying here. He’s saying: What the Lord has done for me, he will do for you too. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns, he will award that crown of righteousness to me, but “not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

So we see that Paul is by no means having a Pharisaic flashback. Far from trusting in his own righteousness, Paul would be the first to confess his utter unworthiness.  He tell us ^{Rom 7:18} “For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh.” and in 1 Timothy, Paul calls himself the “chief of sinners.” When it comes to salvation, righteousness, justification, Paul would beat his breast and say nothing more than the tax collector in the parable, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

There is no self-righteousness from Paul here only an example on how we should all appraise ourselves as Christians in our Triune God’s kingdom on earth. Knowing we are sinners, saved only by the Grace of God, we should never give up hope or be deterred by life’s challenges. In saying that, like Paul, our Lord calls us to take strength in His Grace and through faith work to serve all people in His name so that at the end of our time we can boast with Paul ^{Phil 3:14} “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

We Christians take hope because we know that the righteousness of Christ will cover all our sins and carry us through in times of trial, strengthen us in our calling and bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom, and award to us the crown of righteousness. “To him be the glory forever and ever. 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

Pentecost 19 – 20 October 2019 – 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 18^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 9–14:

 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Our Gospel reading tells us of a parable that Jesus told ^{(Luke 18:9)} “to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt”. We call this story “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector.”  We may know the story very well, but do we really know the meaning?  Maybe another question we need to ask ourselves is, “How well do I apply the meaning of this parable to myself?”

The parable itself is simple enough to tell.  A Pharisee and a tax collector went to the temple to pray.  The Pharisee spent his whole prayer bragging about himself.  The tax collector confessed his sin and begged for mercy.  Both men get exactly what they want.  The Pharisee received the admiration of the people around him.  The tax collector received God’s mercy.  The tax collector was justified.  The Pharisee was not.  Even though the tax collector sinned greatly, God declared him to be righteous.  Even though the Pharisee’s life looked very good to the public, he was still damned in his sin.

Jesus could not have chosen two people of greater contrast than a Pharisee and a tax collector.  People looked up to Pharisees with a great deal of admiration.  People looked down on tax collectors as the scum of the earth.

People hated tax collectors because they worked for the Romans who currently occupied the land of Israel.  Tax collectors basically had a franchise relationship with the Roman occupation.  It was a based on a ‘Tender’ process.  Tax collectors would bid for the rights to a certain territory.  Rome would give the right to collect taxes to the highest bidder.  Any taxes that the tax collector could get over and above the bid was his to keep.  In return, Rome would back up the tax collector with the law enforcement arm of the Roman army.  It is amazing how many taxes you can collect when you have a few Roman soldiers with you when you collect them.

Rome did not care how many taxes were collected.  There was no maximum, they just wanted their contracted amount.  As long as Rome got its money, it didn’t really care if the tax collectors got insanely rich.  From the point of view of the tax payer, it was a lot like a protection racket except it was legal because Rome didn’t care.  It should not surprise anyone that most of the population hated the tax collectors.

Then there were the Pharisees.  Pharisees worked hard at their public relations.  It was very important to them that they looked good.  Most people thought the Pharisees were the best examples of righteous living in the culture.  You could expect a Pharisee to be obsessive about living according to the law.

The problem that a Pharisee had was in his motivation for keeping the law.  Yes, he lived according to the law so that he looked good to his neighbours, but he also lived according to the law so that he looked good to God.  That is a big problem. 

When “The Law” is mentioned in the Bible, it refers back to the Old Testament. There are hundreds of commands given to the Israelites, but the phrase “the law” refers specifically to the compilation of decrees found in the first five books of the Bible. This whole body of law was given the name “Torah”

You see, it is impossible to keep the Law in the way that God intended it.  If you are going to deceive yourself into thinking that you can keep the law, you must whittle away at it until it becomes doable.  That is what the Pharisees did.  The Pharisees developed over six hundred guidelines for living … guidelines that they called laws.  If you knew those laws really well, you would discover that they all had loopholes in them … ways to get around them without sinning.  If you knew these laws well and used them skilfully, you could deceive yourself into thinking that you were living the righteous life.

The Pharisees taught that salvation only began with God’s mercy, but then each person had to contribute to their own salvation with a righteous life.  Those who teach rules for living and preach how-to sermons are doing nothing new.  The Pharisees were doing it a long time ago.

So when the Pharisee prayed, he bragged with a long list of all his good deeds.  The fact of the matter is that he probably did everything that he mentioned in the prayer … according to the law that he learned in Pharisee school.  He probably really did keep the law … as he knew it.  What a tragedy it is that, in spite of his best effort, he was totally lost.

On the other hand, the tax collector is a living image of repentance.  He knows that he is saturated in sin.  He was aware that he deserved punishment every day of his life and forever in hell.  He knew that he had earned the entire weight of God’s wrath with his sin.  Regardless of this, in faith, he looked to God for mercy. He believed God was his only hope.  He did not depend on himself, but entirely on God. ^{(Luke 18:14)} This man went down to his house justified. 

In this parable, Jesus gives us a picture of the two main classes of religion throughout the world.  While there are thousands of religions in the world, they all break down into two categories.  In one category are all the religions that ask you to do some work to earn your own salvation.  In the other category is Christianity, the one and only religion that asks nothing of you for salvation.  Christianity, (taught in the truth and purity of the Gospel), is about God doing all the work of saving us.

The world is full of demanding religions, each structured to suit every whim of the heart, many generally evolving from long standing cultural beliefs and customs.  The prophets of Baal in the Old Testament were trying to earn Baal’s favour when ^{(1 Kings 18:28)} “they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them”. I these more modern times, we have witnessed mankind form frightening new religious cults or conversely radicalise long standing cultural religions. If self interest is involved, religions can be anything that you want them to be but generally they will all be about youmaking yourself worthy of your own salvation.  

Christianity, in accordance with the truth of the Holy Bible, on the other hand, recognises one simple fact: I cannot save myself.  No one can.  Instead Christianity proclaims a salvation where God does all the work of salvation.  He even sends the Holy Spirit to establish faith in me because I can’t even believe in Him. Our own human frailty dictates that we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, or come to Him.  Christianity proclaims a salvation that is a free gift from God.  I do nothing for my salvation.  You do nothing for your salvation.  God does it all.  It is by the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith that that tax collector can enter the temple and pray, saying, ^{(Luke 18:13)} ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ Because God does all the work of salvation and He is faithful, true, almighty, and all-knowing, Christianity gives us one hundred per cent certainty of our salvation.  We can be one hundred per cent certain of our salvation because we do nothing.  God does it all.  He earned our salvation for us and He delivers that salvation to us.  He takes the dead soul and brings it to life.

The Bible clearly sets forth the work of God in earning our salvation.  ^{(Galatians 4:4–5)} “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons”. First of all, the Son of God took on our human flesh in order to take our place.  He took our place under the law and lived the perfect life that is impossible for us; as Scripture says: ^{(Romans 5:19}) “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”. Then God laid the sin of the entire world on Him so that He became a great sinner in God’s eyes as the Bible says: ^{(2 Corinthians 5:21)”}For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”. Then He surrendered His body to men who nailed it to a cross.  ^{(Philippians 2:6–8)} “[Christ Jesus,] though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”. By His perfect life and His death on the cross, He has reconciled us to God and earned salvation for all people.  ^{(Colossians 1:21–22)} “You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²²he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him”. ^{(1 John 2:2)} “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world”.

So Jesus, the Son of God, has earned salvation for us, but that salvation would be useless if God did not also deliver that salvation to us.  For the Bible says, ^{(Romans 8:7)} “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” It also says, ^{(Ephesians 2:1)} “You were dead in the trespasses and sins”. The Bible makes it clear that by nature we are spiritually dead and enemies of God.  In our foolish arrogance, we believe that we can earn our own salvation.  All of us are born with an inclination to be Pharisees.

God overcomes our hostility and brings us to life by the power of the Holy Spirit for ^{(1 Corinthians 12:3)} “No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit does this through the Gospel ^{(Romans 1:16)} “for [the gospel] is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. and ^{(Romans 10:17)} “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”. So it is that the Holy Spirit produces and maintains faith through the Gospel and so delivers the saving work of Jesus Christ to us.  

The Pharisee judged himself by comparing himself to other people: ^{(Luke 18:11)} “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector”. How often have we heard this very story and thought, “God, I thank you that I am not like this self-righteous Pharisee?”  As soon as we start judging our own righteousness by comparison to other people, we begin to become like the Pharisee.  As soon as we say that we are in any way responsible for our salvation, we join the Pharisee in bragging on our greatness.  We draw attention away from God and toward ourselves.  As soon as phrases like “I did, I always, I should, I must, I have to, I ought to, etc.” enter our thoughts or words about salvation, we are in danger of taking on the responsibility for our salvation and losing it.  This is a constant temptation.

Thank God that from the time we received the gracious gift of Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit has called us by the Gospel, enlightened us with His gifts, and sanctified and kept us in the true faith.  For it is God the Holy Spirit who delivers the salvation earned for us on the cross by Jesus Christ.  He gives it to us by His gift of faith, and it is only by the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith that we can join the tax collector in the parable and say, ^{(Luke 18:13)} “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” It is only by the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith that we can go home justified.  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

Pentecost 18 - 13 October 2019 – Year C

Grace and peace to you 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 Luke: Verses 11 – 19:

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" ¹⁹ Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." 

This is a familiar story. Jesus rids ten men of their leprosy. Leprosy was a very deadly disease. Those who had it were basically exiled to live outside of the population centres and considered to be already dead. Leprosy was, to those people in a time of the medicinal ‘dark ages’ always fatal. The diagnosis was a death sentence. 

It is a fairly common outcome, when a study is done on this Biblical passage, that the general consensus is on how ten lepers were rid of their leprosy, while only one of them comes back to thank Jesus. This usually results in parallel being drawn between us and the nine lepers, with the premise being that we are often not so thankful for God’s love and grace, when we should be. Whilst we can find no fault with the premise that we are often lacking in our thanks and praise to our Triune God; it seems that there is more to this biblical passage than the obvious conclusion.  

  

In Luke 17: 17 Jesus asked the question “Were not ten cleansed?” The original Greek word for ‘cleansed’ is actually "katharizo", which is where we get the English word "Catheter". You know what a catheter does, don’t you? It removes things from the body; When we go through a "catharsis", it is getting rid of the bad, or to be more precise the body is being ‘purged’ of impurities. That’s what Jesus did for the Lepers. There was a "catharsis" or purging of the disease from the lepers, and they no longer had leprosy. We could also say they were cured of their leprosy. 

Another word that is important to note appears in verse 15, "One of them, when he saw he was healed...". I think there is an intentional distinction made between ridding the lepers of their disease and claiming that they were healed. The Greek word translated here as "healing" (iaomai) means: ^Quote: “healing, particularly as supernatural and bringing attention to the Lord Himself as the Great Physician”. ^Unquote 

This ‘healing’ revelation experienced by the Samaritan was that not only was he free of disease, but also implies of him being at peace with himself and his God. This points to the very heart of this text, something important. It is possible to be cured (rid of the disease) without being healed. Ten lepers were cured. Only one was healed. The healed leper was the one who came to give thanks to God, because he had come to a point of recognising the true value of the miracle.

The third word in this story relating to what happens to the lepers is found at the very end, verse 19 “Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." That’s the NIV. Literally, the word is "saved". One translation says, "your faith has saved you." Another says, "your faith has made you whole." This puts the purpose of Jesus’ miracles into perspective. Was the leper glad to be cured? Yes. But what happened to him went far beyond cure. It went to being healed, being made whole, being saved. Miracles were certainly God’s way of doing good. But they had a far grander purpose. That’s why the Bible actually calls them miraculous signs, which mean that they point to something greater. In this case, they are pointing to Christ and His work, that Jesus is the long-promised Messiah Who has come from God to bear the world’s sin on the cross of crucifixion and take take the full punishment for them in our stead. 

The bottom line to this is, being "saved" or being "whole" or being "healed" is not the same as being cured. Being cured is to be rid of a disease. Being made whole or healed, yes, being saved, involved more than just curing the body of an ailment. It means that a person is trusting confidently in God’s care, and that can happen regardless the person’s health. That’s what the preaching and teaching of God’s Word in truth and purity is all about. Avid prayer and biblical teaching so often does not provide a cure for a person’s diseases. Quite often this generates disappointment and anger with God. Take heart!! God saving Word accepted in the faith of its’ purity and truth, truly heals; It makes us aware of the whole nature of our being in unity with our Triune God. Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, it gives us a peace that is beyond all human understanding, regardless of our circumstances, and reassurance that we will dwell with Him beyond the bonds of this earth into eternity. 

In the light of Jesus’ message to us in this text, we can understand that there are a lot of people who walk away from medical treatment cured but they are not whole. Conversely, there are a lot of people undergoing medical treatment who are healed or whole, who still have terrible diseases that will never be cured. 

Often, I run into people who can talk about their situation as being "bad". These are people with cancer or a loved one with cancer. These are people who have all kinds of health problems. They are people who have family troubles. They are people who have lost their jobs. They are people who have any number of reasons to be disappointed in life. I will meet with them and we will talk some about their situation and then they will say, "But I am very thankful." Now, how could that be? How could someone with terminal cancer be thankful? 

How could Pastor Martin Rinckert in Germany write the Thanksgiving hymn, "Now Thank We All Our God"? Between the Thirty-Years War and the Black Death in the 1600's, he was conducting over 30 funerals a day. The story goes that he wrote the hymn in 1636 about being thankful after he buried his own wife one day as one of the Thirty funerals.

The most complete answer that I can supply to that question is written by St. Paul who tells us ^{(Romans 8: 28 -39)}“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The returning Leper gave thanks because he had faith. We can conquer all things because of the One Who came to conquer sin for us. We can defeat all things because of the One Who defeated sin for us. Jesus has won the victory. That victory is ours as we trust in Him. We can be thankful no matter what we experience in this life because of the wonderful love that is a free gift from Jesus Christ. No matter what sorts of diseases come; no matter what sort of bad things happen to us, God is with us! God lives in us; He will take care of us. We are His people. 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

Pentecost 17 - 6 October 2019 – Year C

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

^{The text for this meditation is written in the 17th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 5 - 10:}

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷ “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸ Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

“If I just had more faith….” I think most of us have struggled with that at some point in our lives. If I just had more faith, I wouldn’t have so many questions or doubts. If I just had more faith God would answer my prayers. If I just had more faith he wouldn’t have died; she would have recovered. If I just had more faith, I would be more involved in the church. If I just had more faith, I would be a better person, a better parent, a better spouse. If I just had more faith, I would know what to do, I would handle things better.  If I just had more faith life would be different.

This is an approach to faith at least as old as the apostles’ own faith. It is the approach they have taken in today’s gospel. “Increase our faith,” they ask Jesus. Jesus has just warned them not to become stumbling blocks to others and instructed them to forgive as often as an offender repents, even if it is seven times in one day. That is so difficult!! It is a challenge to live that way. “Increase our faith,” is their response. It seems like a reasonable request. If a little is good a lot must be better. If McDonald’s can supersize our fries and drink surely Jesus can supersize our faith.

The request to increase our faith, the belief that if I had more faith things would be different, reveals, at best, a misunderstanding of faith itself and, at worst, demonstrates our own unfaithfulness. Jesus is very clear that faithfulness is not about size or quantity. “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,” he says, “you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Faith is not given to us in a packet to be spent as currency in our dealings with God. Faith is not measured out according to the degree of difficulty of the task or work before us. Faith is not a thing we have or get. Faith is a relationship of trust and love. It means opening ourselves to receive another’s life and giving our life to another. That other one is Jesus the Christ. That one faith-relationship determines who we are and how we live.

Faith is not about giving intellectual agreement to a particular doctrine or idea. Faith is not about how much or how strongly we believe Jesus’s words or actions. When we speak about a married couple’s faithfulness, we do not mean they believe or agree with each other’s ideas or even a particular understanding of marriage. They are faithful because they have committed themselves to each other in love and trust. They are faithful because they continually give their life to the other and receive the other’s life as their own. They are faithful because they carry with them that one relationship wherever they go, in all that they are and all that they do. So it is in our faith-relationship with Jesus.

Faith will not, however, change the circumstances of our lives. Instead, it changes us. Living in faith does not shield us from the pain and difficulties of life, it does not undo the past, and it will not guarantee a particular future. Rather, faith is the means by which we face and deal with the circumstances of life – the difficulties and losses, the joys and successes, the opportunities and possibilities.

Faith does not get us a pat on the back, a reward, or a promotion in God’s eyes. It is simply the way in which we live and move and have our being so that, at the end of the day, the faithful ones can say, without pride or shame, “We have done only what we ought to have done!” Nothing more and nothing less. We have lived in openness to, trust in, and love for Christ. We have allowed him to guide our decisions, our words, and our actions. We have been sustained by him in both life and death.

Faith, however, is not lived out in the abstract. It is practiced day after day in the ordinary everyday circumstances of our lives. Some days when the pain and heaviness of life seem more than we can carry, it is by our faith relationship with Jesus, that we get up each morning and face the reality of life. Other days present other circumstances. When we feel the pain of the world and respond with compassion by feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, speaking for justice; when we experience the brokenness of a relationship and offer forgiveness and mercy; when we see the downtrodden and offer our presence and prayers — in all those we have lived, seen, and acted by faith. Then there are days when we feel powerless, lost, and do not know the way forward. By faith we sit in silence and wait.

Faith, then, is how we live; the lens through which we see ourselves, others, and the world; the standard by which we act and speak. Faithfulness means that no matter where we go, no matter what circumstances we face, we do so in relationship with the One who created, loves, sustains, and redeems us, the One who ^{(2 Timothy 1:10)} “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. 

Jesus does not supersize our faith. It is not necessary. We live by faith not because we have enough faith but because we have faith, any faith, even mustard seed sized faith. That is all we need. Jesus believes that. So should we.

The question is not how much faith we have but, rather, how are we living the faith we do have. How is our faith, our relationship with Jesus, changing our lives, our relationships, the lives of others? If it is not, more of the same will surely make no difference. The mustard seed of faith is already planted within us. That happened in the miracle of our Holy baptism, through the conduit of the Holy Spirit, Christ himself dwells within us.  He has withheld nothing from us. We already have enough. We already are enough. We do not need more faith. We need only to respond to the faith, the Christ, the mustard seed, the relationship we already have.

Do we need an example? I can’t think of a better one than the story of Abraham. He was sent by God to become the father of a great nation, and when that did not happen soon enough, he decided to speed up the process by having a child with Sarah’s servant Hagar. After all he did need an heir. God paid Abraham and Sarah a visit, and told them His plan: The 99-year-old Abraham and his wife, also in her 90s would conceive a child, Isaac, who would go on to become a crucial character in the biblical narrative, fathering Jacob the eventual Patriarch of the Israelites. Sarah laughed at the very idea, but we are told in ^{(Romans 4:18-20)} “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God”.

There are many such faith narratives in the Holy Bible; miracles through faith; and whilst it is unlikely that any of us here will be called by God to replicate the Abraham and Sarah faith journey, we will be called to use our God given skills, in faith, according to God’s gracious will. Are we able? Do we need more? At the completion of this address, I will ask everyone to rise and confess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. The question we have for ourselves is ‘do we do this willingly and knowingly?’ – If the answer is yes of course, then take heart in the words of St Paul as written in  ^{(Romans 10: 8-10)} “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved”. 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