Pentecost 10 - 2 August 2015 Year B

Sermon – Pent 10 – Year B – 2 August 2015

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

The text for this meditation is written in the 4^th Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: Verses 1 - 6

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 In my experience, the best job you ever had, didn’t come with the best pay packet.  Also the best church experience you ever had didn’t have the best music.  Most likely your best relationship experience wasn’t necessarily with the most visually attractive person.  Think about it; what makes a job great and a particular church great and a relationship great? It’s not just the pay or the presentation; it’s the people.  To be more precise, it is the harmony between you and the people involved, that makes the acquaintance develop into something special, something enjoyable and bonding.  Such a relationship is priceless. 

On the other hand, division is devastating.  Did you ever enjoy school, but feared attending because of the kids in your class?  Has the joy of celebrating Christmas with your family been diminished because of senseless tensions between members of the family?  Did you ever choose to work overtime because you get along better with a laptop than with your spouse?  Friends, have you ever left a gathering of Christians, a gathering of worship and prayer, with a knot in your belly because of how those Christians made you feel?  I can attest you can be in a Bible study with other Christians, regardless of denomination, and be miserable if there is a lack of unity.  Division poisons our best experiences and robs us of so many blessings.

God wants more than that for us.  Our Heavenly Father knows us well, He knows our failings, and He is passionate that this gift of unity that originates from Him is embraced by us that our life may be full.  God compels us with words like Romans 12, “As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everybody,” and Matthew 5, “If your brother has something against you, go and reconcile,” and Psalm 133, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.”  God knows how good and pleasant church and school and marriage and family and work and life are when we deal with our divisions and pursue unity.  In our text for this meditation, our Triune God offers us a guide to unity.

In St. Paul’s words in Ephesians 4, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”  He is calling for a shift in our thinking.  Through Paul, God is about to lay out the pattern for the Christian life.  However, before God calls us to live, He reminds us exactly of what we’ve received.  A calling; and what a big and beautiful calling that is.  In Christ, every Christian is more blessed and chosen by God, blameless in His sight, forgiven of sin, and heirs of heaven’s riches.  In Christ, every Christian has the Father advocating for their eternal good with our problems under the feet of King Jesus.  In Christ, we are spiritually alive and saved by grace through faith.  In Christ, we are God’s masterpieces, created to do good works.  In Christ, we are united with God because Jesus’ death and resurrection tore down the barrier between the Father and us.  In Christ, we know God’s love is wide and high and long and deep.  He loves us this much!  This is not who we will be if we keep these commands.  This is what we are now because of Jesus.  So, in this text, we are called to be what we are.  We are loved, so we love.  We are forgiven, so we forgive.  God pursued unity with us, so we pursue unity with each other.  That’s a life worthy of our calling.

How does the Holy Scriptures lead us in pursuing unity?  Verse 2, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  Make every effort; every last thing we could possibly do to be united with him, her, and them; do it.  Every conversation we could start, every phone call we could make, every apology we could offer, every opinion we could try to understand, every sin we could forgive, every everything humanly possible, do it.  God through Paul compels us to make every effort to “keep the unity of the Spirit” because unity needs to be kept, guarded, protected, like a priceless jewel that the Evil One’s thieves are trying to snatch, destroy, replace with division.  Satan’s thieves are named indifference, insensitivity, contempt, opinionated, selfishness, stubbornness, prejudice, disrespect.  Every day, they plan to undermine our unity and rob us of God’s priceless gift. 

Our Creator and Commander orders us to  “guard the unity,” When I was a Combat Soldier on Guard Duty, I had to know what I was guarding, just where to look! As Christians, our area of responsibility is deep within us.  We must watch for tension, patrol for cold shoulders, fake smiles, mock hugs and mumbled words.  We shine the flashlight into our hearts and check for bitterness or resentment.  Unity is too valuable to take for granted.  We must guard and keep it.

If someone shouted, “Hey! That man is taking your child!” what would we do? Say “Hang on I’m on Facebook right now!”  Or “I cant run, I have heels on.”?  No!  We would drop everything at any time and sprint to save our child, so precious and valuable.  God holds something ‘precious and valuable’ as well - it is unity and it is precious.  It is worth sprinting and sweating and tearing hamstrings to save. God says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.”  Drop everything right now and do it.  Jesus even taught that if you are in church and remember your brother is not united with you, walk out and make every effort.  Unity is too valuable to do anything less.

 So, why is unity is so scarce?  If God is so passionate and clear about this, why are our families and classrooms and churches sometimes filled with division?  Why don’t we just deal with the disunity in accordance with the Holy Scriptures?  The answer is simple:  Humility hurts.

I am a veteran of obstacle courses – Most of the courses I have endured are designed by merciless people who enjoy making people suffer. They usually start with walls and ropes and mud, but end up leading you down to ground level where you crawl on your belly and on to sub terrain tunnels that are almost too small to crawl through. You lose skin, become bruised and bent, and although you are hurting beyond all imagination you keep going because you can see the other side and the chance to rest and recuperate.

Unity is an obstacle course.  To get from the tension here to the unity there, hurts.  Starting conversations with people who’ve hurt you will knot your stomach.  Just looking them in the eye will rip open old wounds.  Apologising for the 2% that was your fault won’t feel right, since 98% was theirs.  Suppressing the feeling that they need to say sorry first will kill you inside.  There is no way around it.  Humility hurts.  Perhaps the only thing that hurts worse is spending years without peace.

Humility is painful, but it is our calling:  “Be completely humble.”  Not just mildly humble.  Completely!  When there’s tension, this means assuming maybe we don’t understand the whole story, assuming maybe we are part of the problem and aren’t aware of it, assuming maybe our opinion might not be right.  To be completely humble means starting the conversation and then spending more time listening to their points than pounding home ours.  To be “gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love.”  Be patient, (which the proud never are), not expecting others to grovel and beg for your forgiveness.  Don’t expect others to react perfectly.  Bear with their human nature (possibly their selfishness and faulty memory of their sins).  We humble ourselves, own up to what we did wrong, ask for forgiveness, and make every effort to reconcile. 

  Sin always pushes us apart and the obstacles of pride keep us there.  The only way to be united is to bow down in humility, to get on your hands and knees, to crawl through the dirt, and come to the only place where unity is possible.  Like an obstacle course, this will not be easy, but it is necessary.  Without this approach there can be no reconciliation.  You see, your antagonist will have to humble themselves as well, either in forgiving you or in confessing their own sin. If there is mutual humility, unity is reborn.  Mutual humility always precedes unity.  There is no unity without mutual humility. 

 The cross towering above Christian Churches and Christian Alters are no coincidence.  You see, the calling we have received comes from a Saviour who defined humility.  Jesus humbled himself.  To unite God with sinners, Jesus had to endure his own obstacle course…and He did.  The Son of God took on human flesh and crawled down into a backwoods village called Bethlehem.  Jesus became a man, a breakable, scratchable, bruisable, man.  He got hurt.  Up the skull-shaped hill to his cross, Jesus crawled.  But Jesus crawled.  The Son of God stooped down and scraped his way up to unite himself with us.  Our pride separated us from God, so God himself got down.  God crawled in the dirt not once but twice, at his birth and at his death, not just to meet us in the middle but also to embrace us in our pride.  God humbled himself to be united with us!  God made every effort that we may always be reconciled with Him.

                This is the calling we have received.  And now we live worthy of that calling this is a true story (name changed) – I wish it were mine:

“…I felt sick as I stared at her number.  It had been years since our final conversation, which was filled with bitterness, hurt, and misunderstanding.  To be honest, I thought it was her fault.  She thought it was mine.  But Thursday, God shouted into my conscience, “Who cares about right?  Be righteous.  Be reconciled.”  So I called.  Of course, she wasn’t home, so I had to call twice.  “Hey, this is Michael.  I know we haven’t talked in a long time.  But I wanted to tell you I’m sorry.  I wasn’t gentle with you or patient or humble.  Although we have different opinions about things, that’s no excuse for what I did.  I’m sorry.”  She forgave me.  I hung up the phone, feeling so…different.  And then I stared at the next number…and felt sick…and prayed as the phone rang.  Humility is hard…but it leads to something beautiful.”

Friends in Christ, we don’t have to make the same mistake, spending years living with that anxiety and tension and pride.  By God’s grace and calling, we can embrace humility today, we can achieve our Calling of unity and reconciliation!  Can we?  Can we talk to our wife?  Can we call our brother?  Can we apologise for broken relationships?  Can we address the awkwardness with our classmate?  We may not be best friends again.  We may not get back together, but maybe we’ll live at peace.  Our Father in Heaven compels us to make every effort.  The joy of unity is too beautiful not to.  “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”  Amen.

The grace and love of God that is beyond all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Merv James

Pentecost 9 - 26 July 2015 - Year B

Pentecost 9 – B – 26th July 2015

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

The text for our meditation is written in the 3rd Chapter of St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: Verses 14 – 21: 

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Every mother is a motivational speaker.  Just think of all the ways your mum tried to motivate you.  She used praise (“Well done”), punishment (“No ice cream for you.”), rewards (“If you’re really good, mummy will…”), guilt (“That makes me so sad…”), sympathy (“Darling mum had a long day…”), and threats (“Wait ‘til your father gets home!”).  One day my little mate opened the car door when his mum was driving 60 kph over a bridge.  His sweet mum's motivation to close it was a loud “Colin close that door now or you will feel my anger!”  Anger, another motivational favourite!  Every parent and every psychologist debates the best way to motivate our children into obedience.

Today, we’re wrestling with that same question because God is  asking us to obey him…and it won’t be easy.  You know, It really is worth doing a study of Ephesians, as in it you will see that God, through Paul, is commanding us to, “Be completely humble and patient…Don’t let the sun go down while you’re angry…Forgive as the Lord forgave you…Only say what is helpful for building others up…Let there not be a hint of sexual immorality among you…Wives, submit to your husbands…Husbands, love your wives like Christ loved…Be imitators of God.”  That type of obedience won’t be easy, not for any of us.

Thankfully, God does not just command us, he also motivates us through the presence of His Holy Spirit, gifted to us at our Baptism, to want to obey these commands.  So, in this text, as the Apostle Paul moves into the second half of his letter to the Ephesians, he wants to teach us the most powerful motivation for the Christian life.

Check out Ephesians 3 where Paul writes, “14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”  Paul is rubbing his knees raw in prayer, begging God to strengthen these Christians, all Christians.  He’s asking the Father for their strength, (our strength), strong hearts and mature minds.  He wants Jesus to dwell in their hearts, that is, to permanently reside in the Ephesians so he can influence every choice they make, every word they speak, and every thought they think.

He continues, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love…”  Two more pictures of spiritual strength.  Paul prays for roots like an old Gum tree, roots that reach down so we aren’t carried like a plastic bag on a windy day, blown here and there by every trend and every godless friend.  And Paul prays we are established like a cement foundation, dug down deep so the monsoon rains of our toughest days don’t sweep away our faith.  Again and again, Paul asks the Father for our spiritual strength, the ability to obey the commands that are to come.

And then Paul gets to the motivation.  This is what every therapist is searching for, what every mother hopes to discover.  This is the dynamite force that will stir us, compel us, move us, inspire us, motivate us to obey God with all our heart, all our minds, all our strength.  Here it is, verse 18, “I pray that you…18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  What is Paul kneeling down and begging God for?  What is Paul hoping and praying his people grasp?  What does Paul know will motivate them to obey?  The love of Christ.  The enormous, immeasurable, perfect love of Jesus Christ for us.

So, Paul pulls out his Stanley tape measure and asks us to hold one end as he tries to mark off the dimensions of Christ’s love.  “It’s wide!” he shouts, wider than a newborn babe's eyes at 3:00 am;  wider than the Pacific Ocean in a 10 ft rowing boat“ And it’s long!” he calls, longer than an uphill marathon on a hot day, longer than a trip to Adelaide with three kids and a broken air conditioner.  “And it’s high,” he adds, taller than your 15 year-old nephew, taller than the stories your grandfather told  “And it’s deep,” he concludes, deeper than a  professor's thoughts, deeper than the Federal Treasurer's pockets, deeper than the deep blue sea.  The tape measure stops, unable to measure the dimensions of Jesus’ love for us.  Paul knows that.  He admits this love “surpasses knowledge,” but he still wants us to know it in part because even a piece of that love will change us forever.

Ever asked a child how much they love mum or dad, or both?Their eyes light up and their arms stretch out and they answer " I love you this much.  That's a WOW moment  because that's a lot of love!

Friends that’s nothing compared to God’s answer to that question.  Think of what we are, what we were, and how much God loves us.  In Ephesians 2, Paul wrote, “All of us followed the ways of the world…gratifying the desires of our sinful nature… following its desires and thoughts.  We were by nature objects of wrath.”  All of us have been there.  Some are still there,  doing what they want,  pursuing what they desire.  Not thinking much about what God wants.  Too busy thinking about what they want.  God’s will?  God’s glory?  That's not even on their minds. Yet, and yet, even in that moment, even today, if they asked God that question, “How much do you love me?” God would say, “This much!”  Enough to not give up on you.  Enough to help you before you helped yourself.  Enough to love you before you even loved me.  Enough to forgive you, not in part, but the whole.  How do you measure the distance from heaven to earth?  Between Heaven's throne of glory and the agonising throne of the cross at Calvary,?  You can’t, but that is the distance Jesus traveled to demonstrate his love.  There is no tape measure to mark the distance of that kind of love.  Ask Jesus how much he loves you and he will stretch out his pierced hands and smile, “This much!”

Can we grasp that?  Can we believe it?  Do we know this love that surpasses knowledge?  Let’s see…How much does Jesus love the depressed teenager who is convinced she’s worthless?  This much (stretch)!  “You have been redeemed, not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ!”  How much does Jesus love the college graduate who can’t get a second interview?  This much!  “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you a future!”  How much does he love the unloved wife, the suffering family, the struggling addict, the atheist?  This much!  “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  How much does Jesus love the person who today received a lengthy prison sentence?  This much!  “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies!”  How much does Jesus love us right here right now?  That much!  “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”  It doesn't  matter what we've done, what we've said, what we've thought.  I don’t care how hard life is or how much is wrong with our world.  That doesn’t change the measurements of Jesus’ love for us.

Do you know what that love will do to you?  In the 17th century, pastor John Bunyan was imprisoned for preaching the Word of God.  During his years in jail, his fellow prisoners debated with him about his continued focus on grace, the unconditional love of God.  They objected, “John, you must not keep assuring people of God’s grace because they will do whatever they want.”  Bunyan’s answer?  “Actually, if you keep assuring people of God’s grace, they will do whatever He wants.”  Bunyan knew that love is the greatest motivator of all.

Paul said it this way, “Christ’s love compels us.”  The Apostle John agreed, “We love because he first loved us.” 

If there is a secret to the Christian life, it’s that.  Love moves us.  Does God encourage us in his Word?  Yes.  Does he threaten us if we are living in rebellion against him?  Yes.  Does he promise rewards and blessings to us if we obey?  Yes.  But his greatest way to motivate us is through His immeasurable, incomprehensible, deep rooted, solid foundation of love.

The human problem in this equation? We destroy our inner peace by setting conditions and expectations when we enter into a relationship

 The acclaimed author Eckart Tolle once wrote:

“If you cannot be at ease with yourself when alone, you will seek a relationship to cover up your unease.  You can be sure that the unease will then reappear in some other form within the relationship, and you will probably hold your partner responsible for it.” – And the equally acclaimed author Kim Eng wrote: “How we relate, or rather how well we love, depends on how empty we are of ideas, concepts, and expectations.” 

God's love is totally unconditional, Jesus' sacrifice on a cross was an unconditional gift of love to us and His resurrection was the absolute assurance that we are a forgiven people with the promise of eternal life with our Triune God in heaven.

Now you can confidently proclaim to your husband, wife, children, family, and all people on earth, “I don’t love you because I have to or I’ll go to hell.  I love you because the love God expresses for me in Jesus motivates my will to do so”

My friends, remember God’s love.  When our Father challenges us in our life's journey, remember the width and length and hight and depth of the love of Christ.  That's the firm ground and steadying hand we need.  God loves us this much!  Amen!

                “20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

Pentecost 8 - 19 July 2015 - Year B

Pent 8 – B - 19 July 2015

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

The text for our meditation is written in the 6^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark; Verses, 30-31:

“The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest'."

Let us pray: Father, guide the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, that your word of truth will fill our hearts and minds and guide us to the true rest that only you can give. In Jesus name we pray. Amen

During our lives, each one of us receive invitations; Invitations to anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, etc. Mostly when we receive an invitation we’re flattered that someone would remember us and value us enough to invite us to their special occasion. Today, in our Text, the Lord reminds us of His invitation, that each and every day He invites us to find rest - rest for our bodies and rest for our souls. This is an invitation that we often overlook in the hustle and bustle of our lives – In our ego-centric need to ‘be involved’ – in our humanness to set values by our achievements and position in life. Friends, in our text our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is inviting us to take a deep breath and be still and listen to Him, as He invites us as He did His disciples with His words “Come with Me to a quiet place…  and get some rest” - rest for our bodies physically, and rest for our souls spiritually.

Just prior to our text, in Verse 8, Jesus sent out His disciples two by two on a faith journey taking only what they were wearing, to heal and preach repentance. In our text we are told of their return, only now they are described as Apostles, or one who has been sent.  The Apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. They were excited that as they had gone out and preached the word of God, it was just as Jesus said – many believed - many were healed – demons were cast out.  This had really got people interested, Jesus and His Apostles were in demand. - The kingdom of God was beginning to flourish. So many people were coming and going, they did not even have a chance to eat. … I often wonder what would we do if we were the Apostles at that time? – Probably what we tend to do today – push on – set up discipleship committees – have seminars – busy ourselves with saving souls – come on Jesus, let’s go! We sure have some work to do if we are going to grow this church! This is exciting stuff, winning people for the Lord!

But Jesus did not seem all that excited by their enthusiasm. He quietly said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” – That’s a bit deflating, especially when you are on a roll – They were all fired up!

How often does that happen to us? How often do we get fired up and burn up our energy in trying to save the world from itself? Jesus reminds us and the Apostles of the words of Psalm 46:10; “Be still, and know that I am God” They needed to take a break from the daily rush of activity. This is reflective of Mark 1:35 when Jesus was in great demand “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”  Even the Son of God realised that He needed rest from the day-to-day activities.

Friends, here we see what one might describe as ‘the rhythm of the Christian life’. The Christian life is a continuous going into the presence our great Triune God away from the presence of people, and then coming out into the presence of people from the presence of God.  How can we do God’s will for us in the world if we do not spend time with him in meditation and prayer? As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 2: 9-13; “However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived  what God has prepared for those who love him" — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”

To give you a tangible example of what I am saying – A very large fuel company placed magnificent float in a parade in Adelaide some years ago. The fuel company poured many dollars and numerous resources into making it’s float the most magnificent in the parade, but the one thing they forgot to do was fuel up the truck under the float, and right in the middle of the parade, the fuel company float ran out of petrol.

Friends, what Jesus is saying to his Apostles and to us is that we may have the best spiritual programme in the whole church; we might be the most enthusiastic Christian evangelist or teacher or visitor that anyone could possibly be; but unless we take time out to rest and meditate in His presence and soak in his inerrant and guiding Word, then like the fuel company float, we are just going to run out of petrol, and run the risk of all our work being in vain.   

There are probably some of you who are presently wondering what relevance this has to you; you’re probably thinking that it would be great if you could just get some time to become involved in the outreach programme of the church. For some, job and family commitments consume all your waking moments – rest is just a vision of retirement some years down the track when the children are self supporting and there is enough money to retire into a life of relative comfort. Many in that category do find time to get to church occasionally, but there are many who continually assure me that when things ease off a bit they will return to church; Friends, let me tell you as one in the latter hours of life’s work day; it just isn’t that cut and dried – for many there is just never enough money, and for the majority of those who try to go it alone, there is certainly very little rest.

Perhaps we can view this text and our Gospel reading for today in another light – could I suggest that instead of just relating to the Apostles who were sent by Jesus, let us draw a parallel to this reading by looking at Matthew 28:18-20; “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." This is commonly known as the great commission and friends, most assuredly it was not just directed at the Apostles, but to the whole fellowship of believers, and that is you and I and every baptised Christian on this earth. As Jesus sent his Apostles in the text, so to, each and every one of us has been sent by Jesus with the reassurance that he would be with us to the very end of the age.

Following on from this then, I can safely announce to you that by virtue of Matthew 28, each and every one of us are ‘Apostles of Christ’, and as such it is impossible for any of us to function independent of Christ. There is still the common belief that most of God’s work is up to the Priest; friends let me assure you that we are all in the same boat; we live and serve in a Christian calling or ‘Vocation’, which is theologically described as the ‘Masks of God’:

Allow me to read a quote from the Swedish Theologian, Gustaf Wingren “In his vocation man does works which effect the well‑being of others; for so God has made all offices. Through this work in man's offices, God's creative work goes forward, and that creative work is love, a profusion of good gifts. With persons as his "hands"' or "co-workers," God gives his gifts through the earthly vocations, toward man's life on earth (food through farmers, fishermen and hunters; external peace through princes, judges, and orderly powers; knowledge and education through teachers and parents, etc., etc.). Through the preacher's vocation, God gives the forgiveness of sins. Thus love comes from God, flowing down to human beings on earth through all vocations, through both spiritual and earthly governments”.

In summary, we are all both recipients and instruments of our great Triune God’s grace, we pray in the Lord’s Prayer ‘Give us today our daily bread’ and it is so done, as is all our needs by God through us daily.

            When in our text, Jesus calls His Apostles to rest, he is not just addressing the 12, but the whole fellowship of believers, Christ’s church on earth, and we can only find that rest in the here and now in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ – not in what we own – not in our position – not in ambition – not in our human plans – but only in the grace of Jesus. 1 Timothy 6:6-7 tells us “There is great gain in godliness with contentment: for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world”

            Fellow Apostles in Christ, there can be no rest for those who wish distance themselves from Jesus commission to us to serve each other, by serving their own personal ambitions. Like the Apostles in the text we are called to serve Christ, and we have the promise in Matthew 28 that if we serve Christ as he commissions us to, then he will be with us always until the very end of the age. What a comfort, to belong to the fellowship of believers; to be given the love and purpose to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ and be served responsively in the same way. Who else but our Lord and Saviour can make the promise as written in John 15:7 “If you abide in me, and my word abides in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” – and when the days come, and they will,  when we do tire from the burdens of the world, from the barrages of Satan and the weakness of our own human nature, Jesus will always be there calling to us who serve him in faith “: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – and in keeping with Jesus assurance that he will be with us till the end of the age, that is a promise of rest in the anxieties and challenges of life, rest in illness, and most importantly, rest into eternity in the fellowship of our great Triune God and the company of angels and saints who have gone before us.  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

Merv James

Pentecost 7 – 12 July 2015 - Year B

Pentecost 7 – B – 11 – 12 July 2015

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

The text for our meditation is our Epistle reading; the 1^st Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: Verses 3 – 14.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

Let us pray: Father, guide the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, that we may hear your word of truth to us and so be reassured in the knowledge that you have already chosen us for eternal salvation. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

When tragic things happen to people or people suddenly become the survivors of a loved one's unexpected death and they look back over the circumstances involved with those events, there inevitably comes the regretful thoughts, “If only I would have done this or that differently, maybe things would have turned out differently.” “If only I had called the doctor a little sooner.” “If only I had waited just a few more seconds, I could have avoided that traffic accident.” “If only I had told that person that I loved him or her before it was too late.”

Often, we see our actions, or failure to act, as having been the deciding factor in a variety of circumstances. As a result we often can carry a great deal of guilt over what we perceive to have done or have failed to do.

For this, there will always be God's gift of forgiveness—granted to us unconditionally by the grace of the heavenly Father, through His Son Jesus. The only remedy for the pains of conscience which we carry around with us is the assurance that there is not one single sin that we have ever committed—even those sins that have impacted other people's lives in a significant way—there is not one single sin that was left unpunished when Jesus died on the cross for us. For only by His complete remission of every one of our sins are any of us assured of everlasting life.

So, it can never be a case where one particular, haunting offence is going to be the one that prevents us from entering heaven. If you believe that Jesus is your Saviour, then you must believe, on the basis of His Word, that He is our Saviour from all sins. As far as God is concerned, there is no such thing as partial forgiveness. For the repentant sinner, all sins are daily wiped from our record.

Yes, it is true, God knows what we did yesterday—everything we did; and He has forgiven us. God knows what we did five, ten, twenty, or fifty years ago; and He has forgiven us. God knew us, before we were even born, and sent His Son Jesus into this world to die on the cross for us. In fact, even before this world and the universe were created, God already knew us and decided to make us His very own.

Listen to the words of our text: “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”

What today's text shows us is that the matter of our salvation all rests upon God, and not upon us. That's precisely what Paul means when he states that we were "predestined". It's the Biblical teaching which asserts that, from beginning to end, God does it all. In other words, before this world even existed, God decided that we were going to spend eternity with Him in heaven. The creation account, as written in Genesis, does not relate a whim or hobby of God; no, God created a world and environment to abundantly support human life and then went on to create the first human beings in order that we in turn, could come along one day. God gave this gift of life to us, through our parents, so that we might be born into this world. Following on in His abundant grace, God gave us the gift of spiritual life in the waters of Baptism, so that our sins could be washed away and so that He could place His name upon us. In His abundant grace God instructs us in the knowledge of our salvation through His Holy Word; and He feeds and nourishes our faith through the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Throughout the Holy Scriptures, our Triune God promises that He will continue to do all of that for us so that, when that moment comes when we breathe our last, He will graciously bring us into heaven to live with Him forever.

God brought humans into a perfect world to live a perfect life as perfect human beings – How miserably we failed our God - in the midst of this perfect grace and perfect environment, mankind was seduced by the prince of darkness, and the first human beings, Adam and Eve, fell into sin—a prison from which they could not set themselves free; not to this day; in fact, not ever; left to our own devices, we are nothing but sinful beggars. It could have ended there; we deserved no better; but in turning to the Gospel of John 3: 16: we are told that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son to live and die for us. So that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Why did He do that? Because He loves us more than we can understand and in our baptism through His grace He gave us the Holy Spirit, in order that we could believe in Him: Despite our sinful nature God gave us the gift of faith.

From beginning to end, God does it all. We were "predestined" by God. In love He predestined us. He certainly didn't do it out of a sense of obligation. We did nothing to deserve this salvation. Rather, in love—out of His underserved compassion and mercy—He chose us to live with Him forever.

Sadly it is here, at this point, where this predestination comes under fire by our own sceptical human reason. For, reason tells us that if God chose some to be saved, then that must also mean that God chose others to be damned! Or, if God does it all, well then we can just live our lives however we choose because the outcome has already been determined. Or, in the same vein, if God has predestined some to be saved, then what difference does it make whether or not we engage in the work of evangelism? They will be saved anyway.

Friends in Christ, at the time of the fall was it not our human reason, which thought it was so clever, that caused our first parents to be persuaded by Satan. Is it not also true that to this very day our sinful reasoning seeks to question God’s gracious will with these tricky questions? Human reason is the enemy of God-given faith. Human reason says, “Unless it makes sense to me , I will not believe it;” just like Thomas who wanted to see the nail prints in the hands of Jesus and thrust his own hand into the wound of the spear in Jesus' side, or else he would not believe.

I ask the question, who among us, by using human reason, could ever explain the deepest mystery of all; namely, why should God have had mercy upon rebellious, unworthy creatures such as we are? There is no such reasoning.

Only God's Word offers the sufficient and true explanation—that it is all by grace, by that love which is underserved. As written in Romans 11:33: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

Is God really indifferent about who is saved and who isn't? The Scriptures in 1 Tim. 2:4 tells us, “[He] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel tells us in 33:11 “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live,”

Are we free to live our lives as we choose, as though it would have no effect upon our outcome? Just as God appointed us from eternity for salvation, so also, the Bible tells us in Eph. 2:10, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Friends, for the necessity of evangelism—the simple fact is that you and I don't know who has been predestined for eternal life. It might just be that God will use you to bring that individual, whom He has chosen for eternal life, to faith through His Word. So, as the Scripture says in 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

All too often, we look at our lives as being too insignificant to have any real impact or purpose in this world. The Holy Scriptures encourages us to look at the bigger picture, from God's perspective, from His view from eternity to eternity: When we read Matthew 22:14, it is an overwhelming thought to know that, “Many are called, but few are chosen," and that God has picked each one of us, by grace through faith, to be one of those chosen few.

How do we know for certain we are one of those chosen? The answer is quite simple. Listen again to the text: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places^. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world … in love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ … In him we have redemption through his blood… In him we have obtained an inheritance… In him we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” - “In Him… in Him… in Him!”

The assurance is found in our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus Who has accomplished everything that has ever been required of us in order that we might be saved. God has seen our life from beginning to end—in fact, He has seen our life before its beginning and after its end, when our glorious life will start. As Psalm 139:16 expresses: “your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  And with Christ Jesus as the guarantee of our eternal life, God will see us faithfully through to the end, until we take possession of our heavenly inheritance. Praise God, our salvation is out of our hands and totally in His! Amen.

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