Category Archives: Aligning ourselves with God

by

Adversities & Adversaries

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 15-minute message, which was delivered on 23 June 2024. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 27 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Our readings today (23 June 2024) point to and illustrate the adversities and adversaries that we encounter in like. Adversities are difficult situations and adversaries are difficult people – often these collide. Here is a summary of these challenges in the readings:

  • Mark 4:35-51 has the disciples and Jesus in a boat in a wild storm on the lake. This is an adversity – a situation. Many of the disciples were fishermen and familiar with storms at sea, so this must have been an exceptional storm to stir up such terror.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 has Paul recounting many of the challenges he has faced in life: troubles, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, riots, hard work, sleepless nights, hunger, dishonour, bad reports, impostors, unknown, dying, beaten, having nothing. It’s quite a list!
  • 1 Samuel 17:32-49 presents young David going up against the tremendous Goliath in single-handed combat. He didn’t stand a chance against such a formidable adversary!
  • Psalm 9 describes the Psalmist’s enemies and wicked people – many adversaries!

We may resonate with these challenges and adversaries. We often face challenging situations and difficult people. And sometimes that overwhelms us, as we wonder where God is in this.

But despite the challenges, scripture presents God as more powerful the any adversary we may face, and on our side when we face adverse situations. We are encouraged and urged to put our faith and trust in him:

  • Mark 4:35-51 describes Jesus standing up in the boat and commanding the storm: “Quiet! Be still!” and it was so – the storm dissipated. The disciples found themselves being more terrified by Jesus’ power over the elements than they had been by the storm itself! A real turnabout.
  • 2 Cor 6:1-13 has Paul affirming that despite the litany of adversities, he remains always rejoicing and possessing everything. All of these adversities are, for him, ‘nothing’ compared to the blessing of being God’s child.
  • 1 Samuel 17:32-49 recounts David’s plucky engagement with Goliath – he has bested bears and other wild animals – surely he can best this giant. And with a flick of his wrist and little catty, a stone embeds itself in Goliath’s head and he falls down dead and David decapitates him. God is on his side.
  • Psalm 9 intersperses its complaints about wicked enemies with affirmations of God’s allegiance: The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble … Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you … he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted … The Lord is known by his acts of justice … But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

Let us take heart in these affirmations. Let us strengthen our resolve in times of adversity. Let us not be cowed by adversaries. Let us trust in the Lord’s strength and love to take care of his own.

But there is a warning here also: let us not be the adversary to someone else and let us not cause adversity for others. God is on the side of his children, but he will not stand by us when we harm his other children. God expects us to emulate him, by standing up for people and by not being an adversary. The warnings are severe in Psalm 9 for those who make themselves enemies of God: “The wicked ensnared by the world of their hands. The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the people that forget God. … Let the nations know they are only mortal.” We do not want to become enemies of God! We want to keep on God’s right hand – his hand of power and protection – we do not want to fall under God’s wrath.

Instead, walk in God’s ways – the way of love, of justice and mercy.

Featured image from https://i.swncdn.com/media/980w/via/11268-woman-tucked-inside-bible-at-night-with-flash.jpg

by

Sabbath church

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 25-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 22 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Genesis 2:2-3 institutes the Sabbath (or Shabbat or Shabbos). Most Christians celebrate this on Sunday, while Jews and some Christians (e.g., Seventh Day Adventists) observe it on Saturday (or from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday). Muslims have a holy day on Friday, called Jumu’ah, and will pray at noon at the mosque (or wherever they are, if there is no accessible mosque), though it is not a day of rest. For Christians, then, the Sabbath is intended to be a day of rest. And it is traditionally when we spend time in God’s house with God’s people.

In the evangelical Bible church where I came to faith in my teens, the Sabbath was a very holy day. We were expected to come to both the morning and evening services (which I routinely did), and also the early morning Bible study (which I did). And we were not allowed to work (no home work or office work, no shopping, no parties, etc.), which I also conformed to. In my family, Sunday was also the day we all relaxed. Dad would do a braai (barbecue), always burning the outside of the meat to charcoal! We’d have ice cream for pudding, play in the pool, watch Dad watching motor racing on the TV, reading the Sunday paper, sleeping. Although I am not fixed on Sabbath prohibitions anymore, I still feel guilty stopping at the shops on the way home from church – sometimes I’ll take off my dog collar and put on a t-shirt, to go incognito – a guilty remnant of my rule-based Christian formation.

In today’s Gospel reading (Mark 2:23-3:6), Jesus flaunts the strict Jewish Sabbath laws of his time: he and his disciples (1) travel, (2) harvest, and (3) eat, and in the following passage, Jesus (4) heals a man with a shrivelled hand. This behaviour of Jesus – to flaunt Jewish laws in favour of human relationships and well-being – is typical of Jesus’ ministry, and contributed to his murder.

Jesus, however, challenges the Sabbath laws. He draws on a story from Samuel (not actually about the Sabbath) to argue that Jesus, like David, broke rules about giving food to his companions. It is as if Jesus is saying, “Chill! It’s not that important. Relax. My disciples were hungry, so I’m fine with them reaping and eating some grain.” He says to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Jesus always prioritises people over rules, even when this is deeply offensive to other people who prioritise rules over people.

Jesus does the same in the following healing story. Here he juxtaposes goodness with evil, and saving life with murder – which is lawful on the Sabbath? Perhaps the correct answer was that none of these were lawful, but the Pharisees remain silent. They were not willing to recognise that there is a continuum between evil to good, between dying and healing. They applied their rules rigidly. This angers Jesus: “He looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts” (Mark 3:5).

This wordless response of Jesus is vital to our faith – Jesus always prioritises people over rules. Rules are important for civilisation and harmony, but when rules dehumanise people, they must be challenged. And so Jesus provocatively and flagrantly heals the man in front of the Pharisees, who immediately start plotting his death.

The Sabbath, then, is God’s gift to humankind. In the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11, God says via Moses:

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

God knows us. God created us. God knows what we need. God knows we need down-time. Psalm 139 reveals this intimate knowledge that God has for each of us:

1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. … 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

2 Corinthians 4:7 also has important insight for us: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” We are the jars of clay – fragile vessels, easily shattered. God is the treasure, the surpassing power, the light, the life, the potential, the very Spirit of God. God chooses to dwell in these fragile vessels that we are.

All of this brings us back to the Sabbath. Without getting legalistic about Sabbath rules, can we agree that spending time with God is good for us? Can we agree that prayer, both personal and collective, is good for us? That singing together is good for us? That hearing the Word of God read in public is good for us? Can we agree that hearing the Word of God explained and applied to our lives is good for us? That spending a little time chatting with other Christians over a cup of tea of coffee is good for us? That leaving the dishes in the sink for another 15 minutes to spend time in fellowship is good for us? Can we agree that being at church as a family is good for us? That participating in the Eucharist – receiving the signs of Christ’s exceptional love for us – is good for us? That being reminded every week that Christ dwells within us and wants us to walk in step with him is good for us?

Surely the answer to all these questions must be YES?!

Come to church! Even if you are tired. Even if you don’t like your minister. Even if you don’t like some people at church. Even if there are things you disagree with. Even if you have other work that needs to be done. Even if you come without your family because they are not interested.

Put yourself into a place where God can bless you. Come with an expectant heart. Open your heart to God’s Spirit. Look for the good in your church. Forgive your church for its lacks and failures. Come to church!

Featured image from https://img.freepik.com/premium-photo/church-congregation-christian-gospel-singers-raising-praise-lord-jesus-christ_829699-356.jpg

by

Thinking Trinity

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 22-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 24 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

The Trinity (the three-in-one God) is a central belief for Christians, even though the term is not in the Bible and there are few explicit statements about a three-in-one God in the Bible. But there are hints and clues all over the place, e.g., in today’s readings with have:

  • God referring to God’s self as “us” in Isaiah 6:8,
  • Paul referring to God the Father, the Spirit and Christ as three distinct divine persons in Romans 8:12-17; and
  • Jesus speaking about the Spirit and God as two distinct divine persons in John 3:1-17.

Jews and Muslims share with us Christians the First Testament, and so it can be argued (though not all will agree) that we all worship the same God, whether by the name of Jehovah, Allah or God our Father. And all recognise Jesus as a significant person, though Jews see him as a Rabbi and Muslims as a Prophet, while we see him as God the Son. They do not recognise God as three-in-one; indeed, it sounds to them like we have three Gods. For Jews and Muslims, God is a single, male ruler – a King. They follow a pattern of a single line of authority, similar to how the military is structured. There is only One God.

For Christians, by contrast, God is plural, diverse and relational. But this plurality in the Godhead, however we might understand it, is characterised by harmony and concord. There is no conflict, competition or divergence in the triune Godhead. This is a very different conception of God.

Do we understand God’s three-in-oneness? Can we rationalise it and explain it? No, not really. It is hard enough to understand a single human being; how much harder is it to explain God, let alone a triune God! We can, should and do think about the Trinity – we theologise and theorise how God be both three and one. But ultimately, we do not find fully satisfying explanations and understandings. We often come up with analogies to explain God’s three-in-oneness: states of water, an egg, a clover, family, etc. But all of these lead us into one or other heresy about the nature of God.

We are well advised to discard all these analogies and simply gaze upon the mystery of the Godhead. We should apprehend God, not analyse or dissect God. All we can really conclude with any confidence is that God is inherently relational – there are relationships within the centre of the Godhead; relationships characterised by immense, enduring and steadfast love. Let us hold to this beautiful mystery.

So, God is not a monarch, but a cooperative, and that leads me to think about words starting with co- and com-

  • Collaborate, co-operate, co-lead, co-ordinate, collective, correlate, coincide, colleague, collegial, co-worker
  • Community, communal, in common, companion, compassion, comradery

These co-/com- words emphasise the relational quality that is central to the being of God. And because these are central to who God is, they are central to the world that God has created. And they are central to how we live our lives. Everything that God does is relational and we are part of this relational mix. Our readings today provide important examples of this:

  • In Isaiah 6, God is surrounded by seraphim – heavenly beings, keeping God company. And God send Isaiah to go out as God’s spokesperson – God collaborates with Isaiah, as partners.
  • In Romans 8, we learn that we are adopted by God, heirs and sons of God, co-heirs (siblings) with Christ, and that we share in Christ’s suffering and also in Christ’s glory – there is a close sibling-like relationship between us and the Son of God.
  • In John 3, we learn that the Son came to save not just individuals, but indeed the whole world – God is interested in the human collective, not only in human individuals.

The key implication for us worshiping a triune, collective God is to develop collective thinking and behaving. Relationships are primary to God and primary to us.

Featured image from https://www.stpaulscalgary.ca/podcasts/media/2020-06-07-trinity-sunday

by

Jesus’ economy of love

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 10-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 20 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below. And you can download the PowerPoint presentation I used here.

John 15: 9-17 presents us with a powerful summary of Jesus’ economy of love. Here’s a summary of the promises that Jesus makes about his love for us:

  • 9. Jesus loves us as the Father loves him
  • 11. Jesus’ joy is in us > our joy is complete
  • 12. Jesus loves us
  • 13. Jesus lays down his life for us
  • 14. We are Jesus’ friends
  • 15. We are Jesus’ friends (not his servants)
  • 16. Jesus chooses us (not us him)
  • 16. Jesus appoints us
  • 16. Jesus enables us to be fruitful
  • 16. God gives us whatever we ask in Jesus’ name

Part of what is beautiful about this passage is the generous and unconditional outpouring of love, care and enabling of us by Christ.

However, there are some aspects of this passage that are conditional – there are some IFs

  • 11. We remain in Jesus’ love IF we keep his commands
  • 14. We are Jesus’ friends IF we do what he commands

It is true that Jesus’ love has conditions – it is not utterly unconditional. He has expectations and makes demands of us. It is not a free-for-all. But before we get worked up about being held hostage to God’s expectations, let’s look at what those conditions are:

  • 12. My command is this: love each other as I have loved you
  • 17. This is my command: love each other

That’s it. Just two commands. Actually, just ONE command, because they are the same command: Love each other. That’s the only condition that Jesus places on us: Leave each other.

And let’s look at the ratio of unconditional and conditional promises in this passage:

That’s a pretty good economy! 83% of Jesus’ promises in today’s reading are unconditional. And the 17% that are conditional are conditional on something that is surely good for everyone – us and everyone else! To love one another.

Loving one another surely in our own interests – if we love others and all the others are loving us, that’s a good deal!

Hence John writes in his first letter (1 John 5:3), “God’s commands are not burdensome”. I’m not sure I fully agree with John here, because loving others is sometimes not easy. We have to love difficult people, people who don’t love or respect us, people who do bad things, and so on. It is not always easy to love others. But we are talking about just ONE command, not 613 commands, not 10 commands, not even 2 commands: JUST ONE!

Love each other.

Surely this is something we can do?

Featured image from: https://www.sobig.org/uploads/9/1/5/4/91543778/love-like-jesus_orig.jpg

by

Pruning

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 13-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 27 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Cutting in the Christian faith is inevitable. In John 15:1-8 Jesus makes it clear that we will be cut as part of our faith journey. If we bear no fruit, we will be cut off; and if we do bear fruit, we will be pruned. When we are cut off, we will not produce any further fruit, but when we are pruned, we will produce even more fruit. So, what Jesus says in John 15 is that we will experience cutting in our faith journey. This cutting will be either a whole branch that is cut off, or bits of a branch that will be pruned off. The purpose of this cutting and pruning is to make us even more fruitful. Jesus’ teaching here in John 15 is indeed sobering. No-one wants to be cut.

In this same passage Jesus also speaks about the importance of remaining in him. And when we remain in him, he remains in us, just as he remains in his father and his father remains in him. In this passage today of eight versus, Jesus uses the word remain eight times. It is a central theme for the message today. So how do we not remain in Christ? We do not remain in Christ when we do not invest in our relationship with Christ. And we do not remain in Christ when we are fruitless, because we will either wither will be cut off.

So then how do we remain in Christ? John’s first letter, chapter 4, provides us with some answers to this question. In verses 8 and 9, John says, “God is love. This is how we how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.” So, we remain in God’s love first because God comes to us and loves us. All remaining in Christ is always a response to Christ’s coming to us. In verse 16, John continues saying, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them.” This sounds very much like remaining in Christ and Christ remaining in us. It is a reciprocal action of remaining. And further on, in verses 20 and 21, John emphasises that our love for God must manifest in our love for one another. He writes, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” Central to us remaining in Christ is God’s love for us, is our love for God and is our love for one another.

Therefore, let us remain grafted into Christ. We must accept that they will be cutting and pruning in our Christian journey. And yes, this is painful and uncomfortable. And sometimes it may make us question God’s love for us. But I am reminded of Peter’s response to Jesus in John 6: 67-69. Jesus had provided a difficult teaching and many of his followers turn away. And then Jesus asks his disciples, “You do not want to leave too do you?” And Simon Peter answers Jesus, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the holy one of God.” There is no better alternative then remaining in Christ.

And so, I encourage us today to take seriously our faith in Christ: to remain in him, to be grafted into him, to accept God’s pruning, and to be fruitful in our love for God and one another.

Featured image from https://moowy.co.uk/pruning-apple-trees/
by

Inclusive shepherd

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 12-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 26 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

In John 10:11-18, Jesus strives to convey to us the depth of his love for and connection with us, and his desire and expectation that we should love one another. This passage is part of a larger set of “I am” statements related to Jesus being a shepherd – the good shepherd. Central to this message is this:

Jesus knows you. Jesus loves you.

I encourage you to hear these words and to take them to heart. In our service, I gave each person a paperclip, and asked them hold and fiddle with it during the sermon. A paperclip is used to hold things together, and today’s message is about Jesus holding us to himself and to each other.

  • Twice, Jesus says that he is the good shepherd – not just a shepherd, but the good shepherd (vv 11 & 14)
  • Jesus emphasises, “I know my sheep”. We are not merely a mass of sheep in a large flock. He knows each one of us. Indeed, Jesus says that he knows us and we know him “just as the Father knows me and I know the Father” (vv 14-15).
  • Four times, Jesus says that he lays down his life for his sheep – for you (vv 11, 15, 17 & 18). This points to the extravagance and not-withholding nature of Jesus love. Indeed John says (in 1 John 3:16): “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.”

It is hard to ignore these words of affirmation and extravagant love from Jesus. His love for you is immeasurable.

In the middle of this passage, Jesus says something a little different (v16):

I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

Outside of this verse, there is a sense that Jesus loves only me. But v16 suggests not only that Jesus loves you, but also that he loves completely different groups from you. And the words, “I must bring them also”, are extremely strong in the Greek, conveying the sense that, “I absolutely have to bring them also”.

We should also note the sequence that Jesus presents: [In the present] I have other sheep [and now] I must bring them [and then in the future] they too will listen to my voice [and then after that] there shall be one flock with one shepherd. While these sheep do not yet know Jesus’ voice, Jesus still regards them as “his sheep” (“I have other sheep…”), and he loves them.

Who might these ‘other sheep’ be? The possibility that Jesus engages other groups outside of our group, outside of our congregation, outside of our denomination and even outside of the Christian faith, is tantalizing. But even if we do not go that far, think of those in your group, in your flock, that you dislike, those you think are not living an adequate Christian life, those you think are not adequately committed, those you think don’t believe correctly, those you think should rather leave your group.

Perhaps these people are sheep in Jesus’ other sheepfold. If so, Jesus loves them just as he loves you. And who are we not to love them, since Jesus loves them? Every sheep is loved by Jesus. And he is the Good Shepherd, who brings them into his fold. And so should we.

Featured image from https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1331924301/photo/stack-of-colorful-paper-clips.jpg

by

Second-hand Faith

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 16-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 24 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Today’s message is about second-hand faith, meaning faith that rests on other people’s experiences of God, rather than on our own. 1 John 1: 1-4 presents such a faith. John emphasises his and the other disciples’ first-hand experience of Jesus, using words like see, looked, appeared, heard and touched a total of nine times in just a few verses. And he concludes by saying that we must believe him, and through believing him, who knows God, we get close to God. We are given a second-hand faith. Most of us don’t want a second-hand faith! We want our own, first-hand faith!

John 20:19-25 has a similar narrative. The disciples – minus Judas, who was not there – have a first-hand encounter with the risen Christ, who shows them his hands and his side. When Thomas joins them later, they say, “We have seen the Lord!” and expect that Thomas will be satisfied with this second-hand account. But Thomas says, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Thomas wants simply what everyone wants – he wants to know first-hand that Jesus is risen. He wants to see and to touch. And Jesus meets this need.

We also want a first-hand faith. We want to know for sure and for ourselves that Jesus exists. We want to see him. We want to touch him. Where can we get such first-hand experiences? Three places: (1) We get them from the Scripture, where we read first-hand accounts of others and have confidence that their testimony is true. We can tag these accounts for future reference. (2) We rely on what others in our community tell us about God’s grace and working, and have confidence that their testimony is true. We can tag these accounts also for future reference.

(3) And we rely on our own experiences of God working in our own lives. We may not have many such experiences of our own, and they may not be particularly spectacular. But they are first-hand – they are OUR experiences and we KNOW them. These are the experiences we need to recover and treasure. We can tag them, because they are our first-hand encounters with God. They are the touchstones or reference points that we turn to when our faith gets shaky.

Featured image from https://ericclapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/doubting-thomas-by-julia-ward.jpg

by

Decalogue

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 16-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 24 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Today, we focus on the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, from Exodus 20:1-17. In the church where I became a Christian, a reformed evangelical church, we had the Decalogue up on the walls at the front of the church – they were presented as the most important verses of Scripture and central to our faith.

Four of the commands are about our relationship with God – essentially, it is supposed to be an exclusive relationship (“no other Gods but me”) – a 100% commitment to God, to Yahweh. And six of the commands are about our relationships with people – essentially, they are supposed to be ethical relationships – we are to treat people well.

In the First Testament, the Decalogue was written on stone tablets, but the very finger of God. But the later prophets, Ezekiel (11:19 & 36:26) and Jeremiah (31:33), wrote about having hearts of flesh instead of hearts of stone, and of God writing God’s law on our hearts.

We see this fleshy version of the Decalogue most powerfully in Christ’s incarnation – God come to dwell among us in human form. And Jesus, when asked about the Decalogue, distills them into just two: Love God and love your neighbour. These align well with what I wrote about – to be exclusive with God and ethical with people. But what is particularly emphasised in Jesus’ summary, and not obvious from the Decalogue, is love. (In Exodus 20, love appears only in verse 6, as an explanation of God’s jealous love for God’s people.)

If I were still at the church where I became a Christian, I’d be advocating for removing the Decalogue – the First Covenant Law – and replacing it with Jesus’ Great Commandment – the distillation of the Second Covenant, which is rooted in freedom and love.

That brings us to our gospel reading for today (John 2:13-22), where Jesus clears out the template. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, this story is narrated during Holy Week, on or after Palm Sunday, and as being the trigger for Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. It is the culmination of Jesus’ offensiveness to the Jewish priests and leaders. But in John’s gospel, it comes as Jesus’ second act, right at the start of his ministry – following immediately on the wedding at Cana. The wedding story, with its extravagant and exceptional wine, is a story of freedom, generosity and abundance – the abundant life that John writes about so much. While the clearing of the template story is about God’s demand for our exclusivity and ethics.

Here, at the start of his ministry, Jesus acts out the requirements of the Great Commandment. Firstly, God’s house is being used in unholy ways. The things of God (the animal sacrifices) are being sold and bought. There is no place for such unGodly things in the very house of God. The exclusive relationship with God that is required by the Decalogue and by the Great Commandment, is being violated. And in addition, the people – the worshippers – are being exploited, having to pay to exchange currencies, to purchase animals for sacrifice. This is not ethical, not loving.

Jesus clears the template as a demonstration of the Great Commandment – Love God, Love your neighbour!

These standards that Jesus sets for us are impossibly high. I, certainly, fail again and again at these two seemingly simple commands. I stray from my exclusive relationship with God, and I fail to love others as myself.

Thanks be to God, Jesus bridges the gap between the high ideals and our broken efforts. He connects us to God, and his faithfulness transcends our fickleness. He strength transcends our frailty. He maintains the bond of fellowship between us and God and each other, even when we inevitably fail.

And so, as we continue our pilgrimage through Lent, let us continue to turn back to Jesus, and recommit ourselves to the Great Commandment: love God, love others or be exclusive with God and ethical with others.

Picture downloaded from https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ten-commandments.jpg

by

Transfiguration – a moment of light

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 22-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 23 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

The transfiguration of Christ, which is reported in Mark 9 (our reading for today), Matthew 17 and Luke 9 (all with very similar content), is a remarkable story. I wish I had been there with Peter, James and John, to see this for myself! What a beautiful and transcendent experience. And also how terrifying and mind bending. No wonder the disciples were rendered virtually unconscious. We read this passage every year and get a sermon on it every year. What more can be said?

This year, I spent time reading the texts on either side of the transfiguration narrative, and found that these passages also were congruent across the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). What struck me the most was how difficult and dark these passages were. The transfiguration is just a brief moment of light – brilliant, blinding, cosmic light – within a much darker narrative.

Before the transfiguration, we read about Peter declaring Jesus to be the Messiah (v29), Jesus telling the disciples that he will soon be killed (v31), Peter rebuking Jesus for saying this (v32), Jesus rebuking Peter and uttering these dreadful words – “Get behind me Satan!” (v33, reported also in Matthew, but not Luke) and Jesus explaining the cost of discipleship and the way of the cross (v34). Wow, dark material indeed!

After the transfiguration, the dark material continues. Jesus and the three disciples find a major argument going on among the people because the disciples were unable to cast out a demon (v18), Jesus gets angry asking, “You unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you?” (v19) (or “how long must I put up with you?” in Matthew). And then Jesus repeats his message that he will soon be killed (v31).

These passages before and after the transfiguration are in such stark contrast with the transfiguration itself. In the midst of dark, difficult, conflictual narrative is this brief blinding moment of Christ’s glory as God the Son. But it is so short lived – the three disciples come crashing back into a challenging world.

This contrast reminds me of our Palm Sunday services in our (Anglican) tradition. We start our service outside in red, with crosses and candles and incense and palm branches, shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”, processing around the church and into the road singing “All glory, laud and honour!” Such an exciting and happy time. And then our reading for the day is the whole of the passion narrative (from the last supper to Jesus’ burial). This contrast in tone (from joy to despair) is stark and shocking.

We ought not to think that we are promised a happy joyful, prosperous, wealthy, healthy life, even though some churches do teach this. We do not find it in the scriptures – it is not in the life of Jesus, it is not in Jesus’ teachings and it is not in the transfiguration narrative. Instead, we are invited to grapple with faith, discipleship, health, death, effectiveness and power. And within this real but difficult life, there are moments of light, joy and peace.

This is not to say that we should wallow in depression or succumb to despair and hopelessness. No! Certainly not! Rather, we need to face and confront depression, despair, hopelessness and all the other challenges we face in life. We walk in faith, trusting in God’s abiding presence, even in the darkness. We call on him for life, for salvation, and to offer thanks. We journey through the challenges of life, knowing that God is on our side.

To help us with this, I encourage you to read Psalm 116. And if life is sitting heavily on you, I encourage you read it multiple times each day, as a prayer for protection and God’s sustaining presence. Here it is:


1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “Lord, save me!”

5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
    our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.

7 Return to your rest, my soul,
    for the Lord has been good to you.

8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.

10 I trusted in the Lord when I said,
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 in my alarm I said,
    “Everyone is a liar.”

12 What shall I return to the Lord
    for all his goodness to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
    and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his faithful servants.
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;
    I serve you just as my mother did;
    you have freed me from my chains.

17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
    and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord—
    in your midst, Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord.

Image from http://livingwordrec.ca/archive/the-transfiguration-who-do-you-say-that-i-am/

by

Healthy church

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 30-minute message (yes, again a bit longer than usual). Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 24 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

This sermon (preached a week ago on 4 February 2024) is about a healthy parish – what makes for healthy parish life. It emerges, in part, in light of various churches failing to uphold core values around clergy integrity and sexual relations. A model for a healthy church is presented, based on the readings that were set for today in the Revised Common Lectionary, viz. Isaiah 40:21-31, Psalm 147:1-11, 1 Corinthians 9:6-23 and Mark 1:29-39.

Jesus is always our model for everything to do with Christian living, including corporate or collective Christian living – the church. This model is influenced by the readings above and also by how Jesus lived his life, related to God and people, and exercised his ministry.

1. Personal relationship with God

The foundation of a healthy church – and the foundation the triangle above – is each member’s personal relationship with God. Our collective well-being rests on the aggregate of each individual person’s health relationship with God. In Mark 1:35, Jesus leaves his ministry to spend time in his personal relationship with God – he does so repeatedly, even though there are so many people waiting for his healing ministry and teaching. If a personal relationship with God is important to Jesus – who is God, the second person of the Holy Trinity – how much more important should it be to each of us.

When you fly on an airplane, you will be told that, in the event of cabin decompression, oxygen masks will drop down from above your seat. And you will be told to put your OWN mask on FIRST, before helping others (including your children). This is an apt illustration of the need for each of us to see to our personal relationship with God. I, as priest, must ensure the robustness and depth of my relationship with God.

2. Preach words

In 1 Cor 9:16-18, Paul refers to his preaching as central and as God-given. In Mark 1:38-39, Jesus says he needs to go to other villages to “preach there also”. He goes on to say, “That is why I have come”. Preaching words is important to build people’s faith.

But for a health church, I suggest we translate preaching as our words. Too often our words are harsh, judgmental, critical and gossipy. Such words break down, alienate, diminish and harm. There is no place for such words in a healthy church.

Our words should heal and create. Psalm 147:4 says, God “determines the number of stars and calls them each by name”, while Isaiah 40:26 reiterates, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. … not one of them is missing”. These verses indicate how the words of God bring stars into being, as he names and calls them. Similarly, our words – whether good or bad – can call things into being.

Therefore, our words should be deliberately encouraging, edifying, building up, loving. Last year, we spent the whole of Lent reflecting on Jesus’ command to “love one another”, where we teased this out in detail.

3. Heal through actions

Mark 1:29-34 and 39 say, “…[Jesus] went to her, took her hand and helped her us. The fever left her … Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons … So he travelled throughout Galilee … driving out demons.” Isaiah 40:29-31 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Psalm 147: 2-3, 8-9, says, “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; the gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. … He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.”

These words are all of healing actions. How we behave impacts the health of a church. When we exclude, abandon or just do nothing, we harm the church. We break it down and weaken it. Rather, we should engage in actions that build up a health community. We can do this by simply showing up, instead of being absent. And through simple acts, like cooking a family a meal when they’re going through a hard time, giving someone a call or sending them a message, helping to clean up. In our tradition, we share the peace during the service – we can make sure we greet all the people around us, instead of rushing off to chat with our friends and ignoring a visitor.

4. Empathy

I have placed ’empathy’ at the centre of the graphic of a healthy church, even though the word ’empathy’ does not appear in the Bible. But the concept is there, for example in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul writes:

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Here Paul steps into the shoes of others, in order to understand them from inside, in order to share the Gospel in a way that makes sense to them. This effort to feel with others is core to empathy.

We see this profoundly in Jesus. Until Jesus was conceived, God had no first-hand understanding of what being human was like. God was not a man, and didn’t have personal experience of being human. But when Jesus incarnated in Mary’s womb and was born like any other human, God got a first-hand experience of being human – God discovered empathy for the human condition.

Too often, however, we jump to negative conclusions, without first exercising empathy. We assume the worst of people, rather than considering other less judgmental reasons for their behaviour. For example, if we don’t see someone for a few weeks we assume they have lost their faith or reneged on their responsibilities, when in fact they might be ill. Instead, let us rather assume the best – if we’re going to make an factless assumption, let’s make a positive one rather than a negative one, until the facts suggest otherwise.

A church that is grounded in personal relationships with God, that speak and act in ways that build up and encourage, and that chooses to empathise with each other, is likely to be a healthy community. This is the kind of community or body that God desires for us. It takes some effort on each person’s part. Working together, we can build a healthy church centred on God.