Category Archives: Church

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Christ, our centre

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 21-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 35 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Today is the fifth and last Sunday that we spend in John chapter 6. It has been a long and challenging 5 weeks. Next week, we go back to our journey through Mark’s gospel.

The setting of much of John 6, from after the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on the water, is in a synagogue in Capernaum. In v59 we read, “Jesus said this while teaching the synagogue of Capernaum.” So, where did this teaching start? It started in v26, where, in the two verses before we read, that the crowds “got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake [in Capernaum], they asked him ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?'” and so the long teaching on the bread of life starts. John 6:25-71 all takes place in the synagogue at Capernaum.

This is not coincidental. While we can find Christ anywhere, he chooses to meet us in synagogues, in churches, in the midst of the people of God. We read this in John 18:20, where, before the high priest, Jesus says, “I always taught in the synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.” Here is Jesus affirming that he consistently taught in the centre of the synagogues, in the midst of God’s people. And in Matthew 18:20, Jesus says, “For when two or three gather in my name, there I am with them” or ‘in the midst of them’. (I have to smile at the similarity between John 18:20 and Matthew 18:20!) And in most Anglican churches, we read the Gospel in the centre of the church, not from the front, because Christ, the Word, is central to the people of God. The Word is in the midst of us.

Christ is our centre, and we congregate around him.

But, Jesus’ word is hard. Last week, we chewed through a difficult passage about eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. His teaching is challenging and hard to understand. As a result, MANY of his disciples or followers fell away and left. They could not swallow his message. It was easier – so they thought – to move on and find an easier teaching elsewhere.

Jesus seems disappointed and sad at their leaving, because he turns to his 12 disciples, and says to them, rather than asking them, “You don’t want to leave too, do you.” He hopes and trusts that his people will remain with him.

Jesus’ himself says in v63, “The words I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and and of life!” One thinks of God’s Word ringing out in Genesis 1, calling the universe into being through his word. And we think of John 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Christ does not merely speak words; he IS The Word!

And the 12 disciples know and understand this, because they have spent so much time sitting with Christ in their midst. And so Peter says, “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.” Jesus, as the Word of God that creates the world and as the Bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world, we feast on his word and bread. We hear the Gospel preached and we participate in the Eucharist. It is here, in this church community, that we find divine food, life and hope.

We must remain clustered around the centre, where Christ is. Let us not drift away to the edges, and then slip out into the darkness. We need to remain in the centre, where Christ, our light and life is. We need to remain in the centre and our church friends need to remain in the centre. Let us not drift away. And let us call back those who have. For Jesus has Spirit and Life – away from the centre, we are cold and lost.

https://i0.wp.com/www.shawnthebaptist.org/images/2018/01/JesusTeaching.jpg
It is significant that in many synagogues, the ‘pulpit’ from where the Torah is read, sung and preached and from where prayers are led, is in the centre of the synagogue, not in the front. https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-ea0d9bbe25c33626ee12b4dc33db5383-lq

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Be grateful, be kind

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 16-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 27 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Our readings today urge us to be mindful – to think about what we think about, and about what we feel, say and do. We are invited to not simply react instinctively, but to consider how we react. Our thoughts and reactions impact ourselves and others, whether we are mindful or thoughtless, whether we are grateful or thankless, whether we are kind or harmful. We are urged to be grateful and kind.

In John 6:41-51, the people who had just had the blessing of being part of the Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 (men, plus women and children) with fish and bread. You’d think they’d be grateful, but no, they were not. And then Jesus counsels them to not settle for bread that goes stale and moldy, but rather to seek after the Bread from heaven, that never spoils, but endures to eternal life (6:27). He even shares with them that God has sent him as the true bread from heaven and that he gives life to the world.

Still, they grumble and mutter. They remember him growing up in his family and cannot imagine that he could be the bread from heaven. “How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven?'” Thankless they are! And Jesus chastises them: “Stop grumbling among yourselves!” One senses Jesus’ growing frustration, not only with how earth-bound they are (bread is more valuable to them than God the Son), but also with their unwillingness to see him for who he is.

And so he repeats “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.” And, “I am the bread of life.” And, “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.” And, “But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.” How much clearer can he be! You can hear his exasperation with these ungrateful and close-minded people. And so he repeats, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” And in case they still don’t get it (which they don’t!), he concludes, “This bread is my flesh! I will give it for the life of the world!”

And how do they respond? They “began to argue sharply among themselves.” Eish, the frustration of Jesus that we should be so mindless and so thankless. Here he is, offering us eternal life, right in our midst, and all we do is grumble, moan and argue.

Jesus calls us to a spirit of gratitude – to be grateful that the bread from heaven has come down into our midst, and to cast aside regular bread and instead feast on this heavenly bread that leads us to eternal life.

Paul, in the closing verses of Ephesians 4, similarly calls the Ephesians (whom he profoundly blessed in Ephesians 1 – you can catch my sermon on that here) to be kind to one another. Having been blessed with God’s greatest and most enduring and satisfying gifts (much as Jesus does in John 6), Paul calls us to be kind and considerate to each other. He calls us to set aside falsehood, anger, theft, laziness, unwholesome talk, grieving the Holy Spirit, bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice. It’s quite a list!

And instead, Paul calls us to speak truthfully, not to let the sun go down without resolving our anger, to work, to do something useful, to share with those in need, to speak helpful words, to build other up according to their needs, to be kind, to be compassionate, to forgive others, to live a life of love, to follow God’s example.

Paul calls us to be kind – to be considerate, thoughtful, sensitive and helpful to other people, in just the same way that Jesus is with us – since Jesus loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

This message – be grateful, be kind – may seem twee and insincere and lefty. But it is core to Jesus’ message, and therefore core to the message of apostles, like Paul, and therefore core to my message as a pastor today, and should therefore be core to how you live your own life.

Of course, we fail. Some of you will have experience me being ungrateful and unkind. I and we can do better. Thankfully, though, we have a God who knows that we fail, and who has already been kind, loving and forgiving of us. We simply come back to him, say we’re sorry, ask for forgiveness, and pray for strength and grace to do better: to be grateful and to be kind. Amen.

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St Stephen

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 20-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 25 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Today we celebrate St Stephen, after whom our church is named. It is our church’s patronal festival, our birthday.

Stephen was a young man, appointed a deacon in the early church. He appears only in Acts 6 and 7, but in those few pages, he makes a remarkable impression and impact. He is the first Christian martyr – stoned to death because he challenged the Jew people’s lack of faith in Jesus Christ.

While we walk primarily in the footsteps of Jesus Christ – he is God incarnate, our teacher and our Lord and saviour – we give heed also to the example of Stephen, and seek to continue his legacy in our parish community today.

Our readings centre on Acts, omitting Stephen’s long, but very impressive and persuasive sermon. This are supported by a reading from 2 Chronicles, where Zechariah (an earlier Zechariah – not the father of John the Baptist) is stoned to death for speaking God’s Word. Psalm 31, which includes the words that both Jesus and Stephen speak as they died. And John 6, which is the ordinary reading for today, from Jesus’ long sermon on the Bread of Life. I have tabulated these three people, because there are significant and meaningful similarities between them, that speak to all Christians, and especially those who are members of a church named after St Stephen:

TopicZechariahJesusStephen
Reading2 Chronicles 24:17-22John 6:24-35Acts 6:8-10 & 7:54-60
Holy SpiritSpirit of God came on himBaptised by John and the Holy Spirit descended on himFull of Holy Spirit, faith, grace and power
Care for the poor–Fed 5000 men (plus women and children) with bread and fishOversaw the daily distribution of food
Challenges with the peopleThey were chasing after other GodsThey just wanted food and miraclesWanted quiet conformity with the past
Challenging the peopleWhy do you disobey the Lord’s commands?Do not work for food that spoilsYou stiff necked people! Your hearts are uncircumcised! You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?
Consequences for God’s messengersStoned to deathCrucifiedStoned to death
Their final wordsMay the Lord see this and call you to account.Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.Lord, do not hold this sin against them.
Final prayer–Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit (in Luke)Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (Psalm 31:5)

So, what do we take from this, and particularly from Stephen, into our daily lives?

  1. We must take our faith seriously – it is costly, important and even worth dying for.
  2. We must care for the poor, hungry and marginalised.
  3. We must seek the infilling of Holy Spirit, who equips us for life and ministry.
  4. We must seek after the things of God, and not after the things of this world.
  5. We must forgive those who hurt even, even to death.
  6. We must entrust ourselves to God – He has got us!

St Stephen the protomartyr. Icon by Theophili

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Food and faith

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 22-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 31 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee and then ascends the mountainside (v. 3) and sits down – it is on mountains that God often appears to people. Think of Moses and the burning bush, Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, Jesus transfigured before Peter, James and John. His ascent cues us that something important is going to happen – some revelation of the being or character of God.

John then tells us (v. 4) – seemingly for no reason – that the Jewish Passover Festival was near. Another translation (Bruner) has, “Now, the Passover, the festival of the Jewish people, was coming up.” The Passover, which takes place when the Jews are slaves in Egypt, includes the passing over of the Jewish households and their fleeing Egypt across the Red Sea. It is THE central narrative of the Jewish religion, in the same way that Christ’s death and resurrection are THE central narrative of the Christian religion. It speaks of deliverance, freedom, salvation, relief and hope. It speaks of God coming near to God’s people and answering the deep cries. So John mentions this to raise up in us a hopeful expectation of what God might do for us.

There are two layers to this story of the feeding of the five thousand: food and faith

First, there is a practical layer – food. There are 5000 men there, presumably together with women and children. They are hungry and there is no place to get food. So Jesus creates enough food out of five small barley loaves and two small fish to feed them all, and to have 12 baskets of leftovers. This miracle, which may remind us of Jesus turning water into excellent wine at a wedding, a few chapters earlier, speaks to God’s concern for the basic needs of humanity. God desires us to have what we need to live. Basic needs for shelter, food, warmth, healthcare, education and safety are important to God. And Jesus provides for them. This is the first part of God’s revelation of himself in this story – God is concerned for your everyday needs and is willing and able to help you meet those needs, just as he helped free the Jews in slavery in Egypt.

Second, there is a spiritual layer – faith. Looking at the large crowds, the disciples are overwhelmed, and their mustard seeds of faith flee. Jesus knows that their faith is feeble, and so he asks Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” His question leaves no wriggle room for Philip to say they must sort themselves out – it is clear that bread must be provided. The only question is where they will buy it. Philip’s faith collapses, as he says, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Philip is unable to imagine that Jesus can do more than what is humanly possible. His feet are deeply embedded in the ground.

But then Andrew brings along a little boy who has five small barley loaves and two small fish and presents him to Jesus. It feels as if Andrew has some spark of faith that maybe something could be done with this little bit of padkos. But almost immediately, his faith also collapses, as he says, “but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus takes control of the situation and issues instructions. The disciples trust and obey, and everyone ate as much as they wanted. Although Jesus will come to criticize the people for chasing after food, in this moment, they recognise him: “Surely this the Prophet who is to come into the world!” They want him to be king, but he just wants to reveal God to them.

And today’s reading ends with Jesus walking across the surface of the lake in a storm, several kilometers from the shore, and reminding them of who he is: “It is I. I am. Don’t be afraid.”

Featured image from https://www.tallengestore.com/cdn/shop/products/Jesus_Feeds_5000_-_Christian_Art_Painting_587f4577-c1f0-48ea-a738-38da1dc7cd19.jpg?v=1575281602

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Chosen

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 16-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 32 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Our First Testament readings today (2 Samuel 7 and Psalm 89) speak of the chosenness of King David and by extension of the Jewish people, the people of Israel. God affirms that he gives a place of safety to the people of Israel and that David’s throne and kingdom are forever.

Two days ago (19 July 2024), the UN’s International Court of Justice, declared Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip as illegal and called on Israel it withdraw its occupation and all settlers living there and to pay reparations for the harm done to Palestinian people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded: “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land — not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, not in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria. No false decision in The Hague will distort this historical truth, just as the legality of Israeli settlement in all the territories of our homeland cannot be contested.”

Netanyahu’s response harks back to these First Testament promises, though neglects several other important First Testament principles. First, a crucial First Testament theology and principle is hospitality. God is hospitable – inviting humanity to share in God’s work in the world and coming to meet with God’s people and journey with them. God expects Israel to be hospitable to other peoples. Deuteronomy is explicit that foreigners should be treated as if they were Israel’s own. There should be no discrimination.

Second, God uses other nations to discipline Israel through the First Testament. The people Israel turn away from God towards other gods; God sends enemy forces to disrupt Israel; Israel repents and turns back to God; peace between God and Israel is restored. This is a pattern repeated over and over in the historical books of the First Testament.

If Israel’s First Testament status as ‘chosen’ is still valid, surely all the other aspects of its relationship with God should be valid also.

Of course, there are many different views on Israel and Palestine. The situation is complex and feelings are hot!

And then, as we move into the Second Testament, there is a shift again. There is Jesus’ radical inclusivity, which I’ve spoken about frequently. Paul, in Ephesians 2, writes about the exclusion from Gentiles from Israel, but how Christ has destroyed the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, and made us one person, through Christ’s body on the cross. There is now peace for us all. And in Galatians 3, Paul says that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female. For we are all one in Christ Jesus. God’s desire is for a united humanity, centred on Christ.

But the world is a messed-up place. Such conflicts all over – not just in the Middle East, but between Democrats and Republicans in the USA, ethnic groups in many countries in Africa, Muslims and Hindus in India, Europeans and refugees in Europe, and the list goes on. We are a fractured race, seriously out of step with God’s desire for humanity.

We can probably do little to nothing to solve the challenges in the Middle East and elsewhere, but there are some things we can do to contribute to a shift in the world. First, we can ensure that we are inclusive and diverse, that we treat every person as God’s creation, much loved and blessed, and ensure that racism, sexism and other -isms are wiped out of our interactions. Second, we can pray, and pray some more, because prayers for unity and harmony and mutual respect and love are fully aligned with God’s vision for humanity and so this surely must be a prayer that God will answer.

King David Playing the Harp (1622) by Gerard van Honthorst

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The Grace of Giving

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 25-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 28 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Today, I’d like us to reflect on giving – financial giving. Before you run for the doors, give me a chance to put giving into context.

Our Old Testament reading today (2 Samuel 1:17-27) tells of the great love between David and Jonathan. It is a very tender reading, reminding us of our loving relationships with others, with family and with God. This theme of relationship runs through all our readings today.

Psalm 130 is an intimate song of love for and trust in God. “Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord” and “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope” and “with the Lord is unfailing love”. This beautiful Psalm emphasises the deep loving relationship between us and God.

And Mark 5:21-43 tells of the woman who suffered from bleeding and had all but given up hope of healing. But she hears that Jesus is in the area and so she comes towards him, hiding from the people who would judge her, trusting and having faith that he can heal her, even if she touches just the hem of his robe. And as she is healed, Jesus lifts her up and honours her.

And Jesus does the same later in the same passage with the little girl who had died, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” And she is brought back to health and life.

All of these readings emphasise the relationship of love, faith and trust between us and God and between us and each other.

It is in this context or relationship and faith that we come to 2 Corinthians 8:7-15, where Paul speaks about giving financially:

  • v7 – Paul writes about the “grace of giving” – grace meaning a gift (charis in the Greek, from which we get charismatic – spiritual gifts)
  • v8 – He emphasises that this is not a command to give – rather it is a grace to give
  • v8 – He uses words like sincerity and earnestness in relation to giving, to emphasise how personal giving is
  • v9 – Paul compares this with Jesus’ giving of himself for us – though he was rich, for our sake he became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich – such a great act of generosity from Christ
  • v10 – He affirms the Corinthians not just for being the first to give, but particularly for being the first to have the desire to give – this desire or willingness or wanting to give is more important to him than the actual giving
  • v11 – He emphasises that we should give “according to our means” – the quantity of giving de-emphasised in favour of the “eager willingness” with which we give
  • v12 – Again, Paul emphasises our “willingness” to give – and again he emphasises giving “according to what one has, not according to what one does not have”
  • vv13-15 – And in the following passage he speaks at length about equality. He is interested in a redistribution of wealth – that those have more give to those who have less, so that everyone has enough. “The goal is equality” he says. Perhaps the modern word ‘equity’ is more appropriate – that each person has enough according to their needs, rather than that each person has the same. This is a foundation of Christian socialism, which brings us back to the focus on relationships – we live in fellowship with each other, connected to each other, and so if we have more than we need and someone else has less than they need, our inclination should be give some of what we have to them.
  • And Paul concludes, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little”, quoting from the Israelites gathering manna in the desert in Exodus 16:18, which also says, “Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed”.

Giving financially may not come naturally to most of us – we want to hold on to, protect, save or spend what money we have. But the scriptures call us to be both sensible and generous, based on our relationships with God, the church and each other – relationships of love, faith and trust. I encourage you to reflect on this and consider whether you should revise your giving to God’s work.

Featured image from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnjennings/2022/04/30/top-tips-for-effective-charitable-giving/

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Seeds of faith

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 15-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 32 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

Today we get two of Jesus’ parables: the parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed. These follow the parable of the sower (the one who sowed seeds in different kinds of ground) and the lesson about putting our lamp on a stand.

First, in the parable of the seed, the sower scatters the seed and then does nothing more. That’s his only role – to scatter seed. Then, spontaneously or (in the Greek) automatically the seeds grow. It is in their nature to grow, once they have been scattered. So the man goes to sleep and gets up and the seeds are doing their thing. “All by itself, the soil produces corn.” And the seed knows the steps of growth – they are programmed into the seed: “first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” And when it is ripe and ready, the man comes to harvest the result.

This parable suggests that our role and responsibility as followers of Christ is to scatter seed. Presumably, this is good seed – seed that produces a crop: wheat, maize, barley. Our job is to scatter the seed. God’s job is to make that seed grow. The ‘automatic’ growth of the seed in this parable is the code that God has embedded into the DNA of the seed. (Apologies if my scientific understanding of seeds is incorrect!) For example, we may speak to someone about our faith (scattering seed), but we cannot force them to believe or come to faith (that is God’s work). We may encourage parishioners to attend church (scattering seed), but we cannot compel them to come (that is God’s work). We are encouraged by this parable to do our part and trust God to do his.

This resonates with 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, where Paul writes,

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”

This gives us perspective on what is our role, and what is not.

Second, in the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus contrasts the size of the mustard seed (which he says is the smallest of all seeds on the earth) and the resultant mustard plant (which he says is the largest of all garden plants or shrubs, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade).

This parable suggests that the scattering of even a tiny seed – even a very small act in the world – could produce a very large tree – a substantial change. Much like a lever, where a small amount of strength and effort can move a large heavy object, the tiny mustard seed, when scattered, can produce a large bush.

This resonates with Matthew 13:33, where Jesus says,

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 23kg of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

A tiny amount of yeast can spread through a large amount of flour and rise to produce a massive number of loaves of bread. Small efforts can have large results.

These parables suggest that we ought to be scattering seed into the world, and that these seeds need not necessarily be big, dramatic, sophisticated or demanding. They might be small, understated comments or actions that go a long way. The key is to scatter these seeds – to be mindful and intentional about scattering them. And then to leave them to God to grow.

Third, although Jesus does not say this in Mark 4, this reading also evokes a warning: to be careful about what kind of seeds we sow. The seeds Jesus refers to are corn and mustard. It is hard to believe Jesus would support the scattering of weed seeds – indeed, he spoke out against weeds or thorns in the parable of the sower (Mark 4:18-19).

When we scatter bad seed, these too may grow fast and spread, just like the good seed, but with potentially terrible consequences. This resonates with James’ teaching about the tongue:

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (1:26). “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. … With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ” (3:5-6, 9-10)

Just as we cannot make seeds grow into bushes, we cannot stop harmful words from causing damage. We are called to sow seeds, but only good seed; bad seed should not be scattered – it should be eliminated from our minds and tongues.

Featured image from https://www.algiersumc.com/woman-scattering-seeds/

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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!

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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

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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?

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