Year B Christmas Eve - Text Luke 2:12 - Our gift wrapped Saviour

Sermon Christmas Eve

Text: Luke 2:12 – Our gift wrapped Saviour

Christmas is a very exciting time, for adults and children – for everyone. 

It’s a highlight of the year and part of the excitement is the giving and receiving of gifts but it’s getting harder and harder to think of gifts to give.

It seems these days that our friends and family have everything they need and so we often take the easy way and buy a gift card and leave the decision to them to what to buy.

The kind of gifts given at Christmas has changed a great deal over the years. 

Gifts were often homemade – maybe some biscuits or jams. 

As children it was the mystery of the gift that brought excitement.

Seeing a few gifts under the tree – wrapped in Christmas paper – trying to work out the present from the shape.

Somehow gifts mysteriously also appeared under the Christmas tree during the Christmas Eve service or while the children were asleep.

It may have been a simple gift – a pair of knitted socks – a small bag of marbles for the boys and doll clothes for the girls. 

Gift giving is a highlight of the Christmas celebrations.

We know that the first visitors who came to visit the new born King of the Jews brought gifts. 

The shepherds who were watching over their flocks were poor but they brought the baby in the manger their love and adoration. 

The wisemen from the east brought expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but the more important gift for this baby was that they knelt before the little child and gave him honour and worship.

Just as we give our gifts wrapped in paper to create a surprise, today God gives us the gift of his son, wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger. 

This child is God’s Christmas gift to us and the world.

Sometimes we focus on the giving and on the gifts so much that we miss the fact that what we are celebrating at this time of the year is God's gift to us. 

Our gift giving is a reflection of the generous gift that God gave to us at the first Christmas – the gift of his Son. 

This gift from God is for all people – no one is excluded.

It is a gift given out of extreme love – a love so immense, so deep, so wonderful and powerful that we struggle to understand what kind of love it is that would cause God – the creator of heaven and earth – to become a vulnerable and helpless baby born to human parents to experience all the hardships of life, including an unjust brutal death. 

God came from heaven to earth; his first bed was a manger; his first visitors strangers.

A new life had entered the world and he was Mary and Joseph’s to care for and to love. 

But he was God's gift not only to them but also to the world and the world would never be the same again. 

This child is a gift for all humankind; he belongs to everyone and he will give everyone the greatest gifts of all – peace, forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And like all gifts, this child in the manger, brings joy.

But unlike other gifts, he never becomes irrelevant or unneeded.

After visiting the stable "the shepherds went back, singing praises to God for all they had heard and seen." 

But it was not only the people on earth who rejoiced but also the angels of heaven rejoiced at this baby's birth.  “A great army of heaven's angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God.” 

The Christmas story is about a gift that brought joy to all people.

This Christmas gift from God has changed everything.

The gift that God gave us at Christmas is our Saviour. 

Christmas is a celebration of God becoming human, being born in a manger, for us. 

There are many traditions and customs associated with Christmas.

Giving and receiving of lots of gifts.  Santa, Christmas parties, and Christmas Day celebrations with friends and relatives but in the end the only thing that really matters and makes a difference is the gift we receive from God. 

The gift of a Saviour - “God with us” in all the sin, the trouble and death of this world.

This is the gift that brings peace.

This is the gift that saves. 

This is the gift that lasts.

In David's town our Saviour was born for you – Christ the Lord.

Year B 2017 - Christmas Carols Service - Text Luke 2:8-12 - Expect the unexpected

Sermon Christmas Carols Evening

Text: Luke 2:8-12 – Expect the unexpected.

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

We all feel quite inadequate at times when it comes to helping people’s problems.

When you walk the city streets and you see the homeless person sleeping on the footpath – or when you’re driving and you see the collectors at the lights and try not to make eye contact – can your donation really help them?

Or maybe you feel guilty because you say you can’t afford to give them anything but you’re on your way out to a restaurant.

Or when you help out a charity by sending a donation and they keep contacting you or pass on your details to other charities who then start to ask you as well.

You feel like not giving anymore because you don’t want to receive all those requests.

When we match all the problems in the world or even the problems in our local area, we can feel as if there’s really not much we can do – and sadly it means we end up doing nothing.

And then we have all the world’s problems and wonder what we can do about it.

Wars – drugs – global warming – to name only a few that are daily in our headlines.

The Christmas story really is a very strange story when you think about it.

It is the announcement of the Prince of Peace coming in the midst of a very violent world.

The announcement of the Prince of Peace however contradicts our assumptions of what would need to happen if someone were to bring peace to our world.

If you were God, would you really have sent the Prince of Peace in the form of a fragile child?

Would you use an unwed young mother to bear this Prince of Peace?

Would you allow this Prince to be born in a barn?

The Shepherds are told by the angels to go and see how God is going to solve all their problems – all the problems of their people – all the problems of the world – how?

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

The Christmas story is full of people who weren’t expecting God to come to earth as a baby. 

Mary wasn’t expecting to have a baby who would be the Son of God

When Joseph was told that Mary was pregnant – he wasn’t expecting that!

No one was expecting God to send a baby.

When King Herod was asked by some passing Wisemen from the East about a new born king – he wasn’t expecting that!

A baby king would have to be born of a King – and he was the reigning King.

The Wisemen came bringing special gifts for a prince – but they didn’t arrive at a palace as they might have expected. 

They knelt before Mary’s baby with all humility and worshipped him – they saw the Prince of Heaven sitting in Mary’s lap – they weren’t expecting that!

The Christmas story really is an unusual story, an unexpected way for God to react to the people and the world. 

Evil is a very powerful existence in the world which goes back to the days of Adam and Eve when they chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

God could send angel warriors to deal with evil, just as Jesus said when he was arrested and Peter want to respond with violence:

Don't you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?

But no, God sent his son – not as a warrior prince but as a baby whose mother will be a peasant girl who will give birth to him in a stable. 

No one was expecting that.

Why did God choose this unexpected plan to save the world? 

God is all wise and all-knowing and he chooses a plan that places the Prince of heaven in the arms of a teenage girl who had no child rearing experience and no family in Bethlehem to help her.

He will be so small, tender, and vulnerable. 

Why did God choose this plan above any other plan?

For God there was only one plan that would work. 

It was a plan that grew out of his love for all people. 

The way God chose to rescue us from our own destruction was to send his son to become human just like us. 

No one expected that!

But that’s how God works.

God of the unexpected.

Jesus’ numbers grew but also opposition to his teaching grew. 

His enemies had him arrested, tortured and he died on a cross. 

And just like before, his disciples didn’t expect that! 

Before he dies he doesn’t curse his enemies but cries out for all to hear, “Father forgive them”. No one expected that!

Women will go to the tomb where Jesus is buried and they are greeted by angels who tell them that Jesus has risen from the dead. 

The disciples didn’t believe them because they weren’t expecting that!

But this is the plan of God to save the world – from Jesus’ birth at Christmas, to his death at Easter and then to the glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday. 

No one expected God to save humanity from the violence and trouble of the world by placing his own Son as a victim of the violence and trouble in the world.

 God’s ways are always unexpected from the moment of Jesus’ birth to his death and resurrection.

The angels who announced the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph and then to the shepherds excitedly told about the good news that brings great joy to all people. 

The Saviour is coming into the world, his name is ‘Jesus’ because he will save people from sin and death and give eternal life to all who trust in him. 

Christmas shows us that God does some very unexpected things and works in some very unexpected ways. 

In the same way, expect God to work in unexpected ways in your life.

Maybe God will challenge you with new directions in your life;

Maybe give you peace and hope in what seems to be a hopeless situation:

Maybe he will challenge you to restore a relationship;

Maybe he will challenge you to reach out to a person you would never have reached out before;

Christmas is a time where the unexpected happens.

It’s where God turns hopelessness into hope.

It’s where God turns despair into Joy.

It’s where God defeats evil with good through the birth of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

May God bless you Christmas time again this year as you celebrate God’s love revealed in a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger.

Year B 2017 - Advent 2 - Text: Mark 1:1-8 – Winners and Losers

Sermon 10^th December 2017 Advent 2

Text: Mark 1:1-8 – Winners and Losers

We live in a society that seems to be more and more categorised into winners and losers.

The recent postal survey on Same Sex Marriage is a classic example.

It didn’t solve the issue or bring about a consensus on the matter – it simply created winners and losers.

And so we keep hearing the reaction – you lost, we won.

That doesn’t bring about harmony but further division.

In the church we sometimes forget what our purpose in the world is and we tend to come off feeling that we are losers because the world seems to be changing around us and we seem to be losing more and more of our authority and presence in the world.

And that’s how the world treats us and speaks about us at times.

It calls us irrelevant – it calls us dinosaurs.

We need to change the way we look at things and realise that it’s not about being a winner but about bringing comfort to a world that is hurting.

In Jesus’ time the world looked at Jesus as a loser.

He was brought before Pilate, judged, humiliated and executed.

The people looked at him even - his own people - and didn’t understand what he came to do.

They looked at him on the cross – shook their heads in derision and said – he saved others, he couldn’t even save himself (Matthew 27:42).

To them, Jesus was a loser.

They were actually correct in their criticism – he did save others by not saving himself from the cruel death he underwent.

But that is what he came to do – he died to save us from our sins and eternal punishment.

And so we need to understand that our purpose is not to be winners in this world but to continue Jesus’ work of bringing comfort to a lost and hurting world.

We hear those words in our Old Testament readings where God is speaking to his people Israel:

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.

But it is so easy to feel that our purpose is to bring the world back to the perfect world God created.

If that were our purpose then Jesus would have lived a very different life.

Instead, God is bringing this world to an end, as Peter points out in our 2nd reading: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire.

God calls us to look at our own lives to ensure that WE are living in a way that pleases God:

“leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God”

As we read Peter further we see that God’s purpose is not about changing the world but about changing people’s hearts:

Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

It can be difficult at times as we watch things in the world go in a different direction to how we would want it to go.

And sometimes we respond by ways that cause more hurt and more antagonism.

Peter calls us to first look at our own lives to ensure that WE are living lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for the day of the Lord to come.

We need to remember that it is God’s day coming and not ours.

God is the one who will bring about the end and when he does, Peter says, everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

Our call is to point people to Jesus Christ, which was John the Baptist’s role too.

Imagine how difficult it must have been for him to have all the power and authority given to him by God but realising it wasn’t about him – it was about Jesus:

He says: one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

And later on John will further declare - He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30).

We would all like to see this world a better place but we mustn’t lose sight that we are waiting for the new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

As Christians, as the Church, we are not about winning but, like Jesus, about saving.

And sometimes, like John the Baptist, we must decrease so Christ can increase.

Like John the Baptist we have been called to prepare the way for the Lord.

But sometimes, by our need to be right, we can in fact create a roadblock for the way of the Lord.

Like God, our desire is not to make THIS world a better place but to bring all to salvation and sometimes we can forget that.

God knows everything that is happening and nothing happens without God allowing it.

Jesus reminded Pilate of that when Pilate said:

“Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.

The power belongs with God – we are sent to prepare the way.

It may look as if nothing is happening but remember that with God a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day.

Year B 2017 - Advent 3 - Text: John 1:6-8,19-28 – Peeling back the layers of Christmas.

Sermon 17^th December 2017 Advent 3

Text: John 1:6-8,19-28 – Peeling back the layers of Christmas.

I was getting my car serviced during the week and I overheard a couple of the staff chatting at the coffee machine.

One said to the other – “so, are you ready for the silly-season”.

You’ve probably heard similar references to Christmas including those such as – I can’t wait for Christmas to be over – or, I really hate Christmas.

Christmas is supposed to be the happiest time of the year – in fact it’s supposed to make us happy all through the year.

Christmas can be a time that doesn’t cause celebration for some.

It might be a time of grief for those who have lost a loved one.

It might be a time of sadness for those who are alone and don’t have anyone to celebrate with.

It might be a time of sadness because you don’t have the money to buy presents for your family.

Perhaps we have made Christmas something that not everyone can celebrate because of expectations that each year we have to spend more than we did last year.

Or we get a card from someone unexpectedly and we feel obligated to add them to our ever growing list of people we have to send cards to.

When we think of the very first Christmas it was nothing like that;

In fact it was very meagre with no room at the inn requiring Jesus to be born in a barn, in a feeding trough for the animals.

Christmas should be a time of rejoicing for everyone as Paul says in our 2nd reading:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

But has Christmas become something that doesn’t give people reason to rejoice and give thanks?

You might wonder – what do I have to give thanks for?

That’s when we need to peel back all the layers we have put onto Christmas and get back to the basics of the message.

John the Baptist had the same concerns.

He had to strip back all the people’s expectations and bring Jesus Christ to the front:

The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” He confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

They had all these layers and John put it in the simplest form:

He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”

The world has put all these layers on Christmas – buying presents, sending cards, Christmas feasts, Christmas holidays.

And please don’t get me wrong – I’m not against those – in fact I really enjoy them.

But it is often those trimmings, as we call them, that causes people to stop rejoicing at Christmas time.

Even some of the traditional layers cause much debate in and outside of the church causing confusion and doubt;

The challenge as to Jesus’ birth and whether it was really on December 25th which was originally a pagan festival date.

It was in the 4th century when this date was declared to be the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth.

The inclusion of the wise men in the nativity.

Santa Claus becoming the symbol of Christmas for many families including Christian families

And this is on top of the debates of whether we should be saying happy holidays instead of merry Christmas so we don’t offend.

Christmas has seemingly become something it was never meant to be.

As we debate these and other things we can actually lose the true message of Christmas which is found, not in the traditional Christmas texts but in a text that we don’t often hear at Christmas or associate with Christmas:

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but receive eternal life.

That’s the Christmas message we should be making a straight path for.

Sometimes I too feel overwhelmed by everything that goes with Christmas; the extra sermons; the expectations of the Christmas Eve service, all the trimmings that you soon hear about if they’re not quite right or different to what we usually have.

And sometimes I too can’t wait for Boxing Day.

And that’s when I need to remind myself and other people about John’s message about himself:

He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

Are our Christmas ways testifying to the light or to ourselves.

Sometime we have pointed people to the wrong light.

Sometimes our Christmas traditions become an end in themselves and we are not hating Christmas but we are hating what we have made Christmas to become.

Christmas is the most beautiful time in the church as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who is the full expression of God’s love for us;

For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son.

It is a time to rejoice – it is a time to give thanks as Paul urges us:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

Year B 2017 - Advent 1 - Text Mark 13:24-37 – Waiting and watching.

Sermon 3^rd December 2017 (Advent 1)

Text: Mark 13:24-37 – Waiting and watching.

We look again to God with anxious eyes this Advent. 

With all the difficulties in the world sometimes we can feel so inadequate in trying to make the world a better place. 

What difference do we make in the world? 

Sometimes the world’s problems seem so big that it’s like “David and Goliath” – but let us remember, David actually defeated Goliath – but not with his own strength or with weapons provided by King Saul – but relying on God’s strength. 

Advent keeps us watching and waiting for Jesus Christ to return and until then we ask ourselves: do we still trust that God is in charge,

Do we really believe that God is faithful to us and working towards bringing us home to be with him? 

Our Advent focus, as always, encourages us to trust in God despite what is happening around us. 

Advent is a time of waiting and watching to keep our hope alive, despite the headlines that continue to bombard our TV screens and newspapers. 

Whether it’s the tensions between the USA and North Korea, the terrorist attacks by ISIS, the drugs crisis or the growing immorality in the world – these all make us fearful.

But there’s another response to these that we continue to see and that is the growing prophesies of the world coming to an end.

I’ve lost count of the number of predictions warning of Armageddon, the Tribulation and the Rapture – and if you’re not familiar with those terms come and have a chat with me.

These can have a negative effect on our faith as we see with the Jehovah’s Witnesses who on several occasions predicted the end of the world – 1914, 1915, 1918 and 1975 which saw many quit their jobs and sell their houses.

That’s not what Jesus has said to do while we watch and wait.

Another response which we continually see is a desire to go back to the good old days.

Advent doesn’t focus on the past, when nostalgically things seemed better. 

Advent looks forward. 

But, one might ask, what do we have to look forward to? 

Despite the concerns we in the church and world have we express our faith that God has not given up on us. 

We reach out for God and discover God has been embracing us with love all along even during those times when we thought we were doing things alone.. 

Christmas decorations have been in the stores for some time already.

Yet, our focus is not there yet – we are still preparing so we can bring that one essential point to the forefront- Jesus’ birth.

And so we are called to “Prepare the way of the Lord” at Advent time.

Advent doesn’t begin with cheery anticipation of the birth of Christ but rather a reminder of why we need Jesus our Saviour. 

We hear Jesus’ warning sounds in our ears, “Be alert!  Stay awake!”

This gospel reading isn’t from the beginning of Mark’s gospel but rather it is near the conclusion;

it has a farewell theme preparing for Jesus’ arrest.

In this section of Mark Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple because that was where his disciples believed their earthly help would come from during their times of difficulty.

So when the temple was destroyed they thought their faith was destroyed.

Jesus taught them to look to him, the true temple.

This section of Mark also speaks of Jesus return in glory as an end to the doom and gloom. 

So Jesus encourages his disciples that we should always be watchful and be full of anticipation for Jesus’ return and be ready. 

We are also reminded that we may have to wait for some time since the “master” of the house may not come until very late into the night hours, perhaps not till dawn.

But Jesus calls us to keep alert, keep awake.

As many people stress over the coming holiday period and the Christmas rush, Advent calls us to prepare for something much bigger than the yearly arrival of Christmas and all the hustle and bustle of buying presents, sending out cards, and getting the Christmas lunch or dinner ready.

Advent calls us to pay attention to the world around us wracked with suffering, violence, and hunger.

The first Sunday of Advent begins with a story of cosmic signs, with the sun being darkened and the stars falling from heaven.

Advent reminds us that, like the people of the Old Testament, we cry out for a Saviour to come and rescue us to give us hope that all is going to be okay.

And that’s what we in the Church are waiting for  - the return of one who promised to save us and bring us to our new home.

We wait, and we hope and we keep watching, and keep awake.

In our world torn by pain and division, we look at the pain all around us and we wonder, “how long?”

How long will people have to live in fear in their communities, in their schools, and in their own homes?

How long will we live at odds with our neighbour?

How long will people have to endure violence and hunger and pain?

We are tempted to wonder if things will be this way forever.

But this season that we begin today — Advent — calls us to look deeper.

It urges us to “Keep awake!”

It is a call of urgency and longing, but also a call of promise: there is hope.

Things will not always be as they are.

Something is coming that is even bigger than our Christmas celebrations.

Or rather – someone is coming.

The world is waiting for justice.

The world is waiting for peace.

The world is waiting for God.

Advent is about preparing ourselves to receive the light of Christ that pierces our dark world.

Jesus does remind us that the world has an end date when he says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31).

The world may crumble but Jesus and his words will last forever.

When that will be, we don’t know so Jesus says to watch and be alert and let the world’s destruction be a sign to keep looking to God and his promise: I am with you always, till the end of the age..

Year A 2017 - Christ the King Sunday - Text Text Matthew 25:31-46 –Love comes to life

Sermon 26^th November 2017 – Christ the King Sunday

Text Matthew 25:31-46 –Love comes to life

Have you ever invited someone to church and they responded that if they ever entered a church the walls would come crashing down?

Usually they say that because they believe that their way of life is more than God or the church can tolerate.

In the world people have often thought the same believing the world is going end because of certain things happening.

I heard more than a few times that if Same Sex Marriage comes in it will be the end of society.

We’ve heard many times in our own church that if the Ordination of Women comes in that our church will end.

When we look at issues in these ways we can begin to believe that the world and the church depends on us rather than God.

That doesn’t mean that things don’t harm the world and the church but we need to remember that God is almighty – and hence, we name today, the last day of the church year, Christ the King Sunday.

The world and the church don’t depend on us – they depend on Christ.

In last week’s Gospel reading we heard about the King’s Servant who thought that it was up to him to preserve his master’s kingdom.

His master was going on a long trip so he entrusted his Kingdom to his servants.

Two of the servants took risks and were rewarded.

The third servant didn’t want to lose his master’s investment so he hid the money and on his master’s return proudly gave him back his property intact which angered his master.

His master could have done that himself before he left on his journey – but that wouldn’t have grown his kingdom.

In fact it diminishes his kingdom if we take into account inflation.

If I put money in the bank at 1% but inflation is 3% I’m actually losing money every day I keep it there.

Our world is a progressive world and things are going to change.

Whether you see that as a good thing or a bad thing we must not lose faith in God and we must not lose focus of what our call and mission is.

To love the Lord our God with all our heart and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

That’s what Jesus said is the greatest commandment and all the laws and prophets hang on these 2.

And following on from the greatest commandment Jesus gave us the great commission:

“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.”

Notice who has the authority – Jesus.

And the commission was not to go and clean up the world but to go and make disciples and teach them.

So we are not to bury our love but keep working it to grow God’s kingdom.

So whether we agree or disagree with how things are going in the world our calling and responsibility is to love and teach – not judge and condemn.

That, as we hear from our Gospel reading belongs to God.

So when the account before God comes on that final day we hear what Jesus says about what our responsibility has been.

“Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

What we see here is love active in the world.

Or as our Church’s theme has been – “Where love comes to life”.

And that love is widespread – to the needy – to the stranger – to the outcast.

One might not agree with same sex relationships but there is the call to love unconditionally.

One might not agree with asylum seekers but that does not give the right to treat them inhumanely.

A person may be deserving of their prison sentence but we should never take joy in their suffering.

A person may be irresponsible in how they live their life contributing to their homelessness or poverty but we cannot ignore them or their needs.

When we look at Jesus’ ministry, he went out to the marginalised and those with whom he disagreed.

The Samaritan woman at the well – the Samaritan leper – both doubly marginalised by their nationality and status.

It was his love for Zacchaeus – another outcast - that saw him turn from his ways more than what any judgment would have achieved.

I can understand those who have conscientious objections to certain things but withholding love is not part of that objection as we remember that for God - God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

What is interesting about the love shown to the marginalised in our bible reading is that those who were showing love had no idea they were doing anything different.

It was so natural for them that they questioned the King - Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?

But sadly those who were not extending love had no idea they were doing anything wrong:

‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’

And that’s the danger we face.

We think we are doing things to uphold God’s kingdom when in fact we are hurting others by the words and actions we do.

It can be a cliché but it is true in how Jesus lived out his ministry - loving the sinner while hating the sin.

To the woman caught in adultery Jesus separated the sin from the sinner – refusing to condemn her like the religious leaders wanted to do but telling her to go and sin no more.

As VCE students are nervously awaiting the results of the exams they have just completed it will be a daunting time for them wondering if they have passed or not.

As Christians we are thankful to God that our final examination is already secured through Jesus’ death for our sins.

But there are so many who have not heard or experienced God’s love.

There are so many who continue to equate God, the church and Christians as condemning and judgmental.

It’s not about accepting sin but it is about leading people to God and allowing God’s Holy Spirit to do his work.

Satan is very good at distracting Christians and the Church from the true mission of God.

We must remember that we are not the ones in control.

As St Paul so majestically put it in our 2nd reading:

God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

It’s okay to be concerned about things happening in the world but let that concern lead us to prayer and to love of our neighbour in need so that the church and us truly become a place where Love Comes to Life.

Year A 2017 - All Saints Day - Text Matthew 22:15-22 – Text: 1 John 3:1-3 – We are family

Sermon 5h November All Saints Day

Text: 1 John 3:1-3 – We are family

There is a saying – blood is thicker than water.

It is said to indicate that when it comes to loyalties family comes first.

Families in the Lutheran Church has always been important too.

You may have one or more family tree books so you can trace your genealogy and work out who that 2nd cousin once removed is.

There is any number of companies offering DNA testing and ancestry research to help you find that family lineage and produce that family tree.

Family is important to us and family is also important to God, and as we see in our bible reading today, we are God’s family – we are God’s children.

St John says: See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.

Notice that John doesn’t put it as some future event.

It’s not what we will be but, as John says, that is what we are.

Sometimes we misunderstand our relationship with God and think that God could not possibly love us because of our sinfulness.

No.

We are children of God NOW.

Maybe it doesn’t look like that at times as we go through times of suffering and times of feeling we are in the wilderness with God but regardless of how we feel, God has declared:

We are God's children now;

John also says, what we will be has not yet been revealed.

And again it’s important to note what John says – what we will be has not yet been “revealed”.

It has been achieved but not yet revealed which is similar to what St Paul said to the Colossians –

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3,4)

On All Saints Day we commemorate the memory of our loved ones who have completed their life here on earth and now wait the great day when we join together in heaven.

It is a day that can reignite our pain through grief and so St Paul says about death - we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

Even Christians, knowing about God’s love and what he has prepared for us in heaven, can sometimes feel anger towards God when death happens.

Even though we know that death is because of our disobedience – the wages of sin is death – nevertheless we can still feel some sort of betrayal by God who is supposed to love us:

Why did God let this happen?

Why did God take away someone I loved?

The reality is that God has not taken our loved ones away from us – sin has taken God’s loved ones away from him.

And because the wages of sin is death, God uses death to bring his children home.

So when Paul talks about death in 1 Corinthians he doesn’t deny death but denies victory to death:

He says: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. (Christ’s victory)” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pauls seems to be saying that the sting of death is still there because of sin, but the victory is not.

The sting of death is  everything that goes with death including suffering.

And so when John sees a vision of heaven he sees:

God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.

They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

We have a wonderful life waiting for us but it is the sting of that doorway that we must all pass through.

But once through we leave the old life behind to live in the presence of our Father in Heaven and everything we read about our life there is just unimaginable.

In fact, St Paul was given a glimpse of what was waiting for him to keep him strong in his faith because of all the suffering he was going through because of his faith in Jesus Christ and he said:

 I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. (2 Corinthians 12:3,4).

So, yes death is difficult and it hurts the grieving.

But what a glorious homecoming is awaiting us as we are reunited with our heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and brother.

This is a family reunion like no other family reunion.

It may be in the future but it is with us now as we are already God’s beloved children through Baptism.

The sting of sin and death is still with us but the victory is long gone as the blood of Jesus Christ has washed us clean.

Death no longer has any power over us even though it looks like death has the final say.

But victory is ours now through Jesus Christ, as we grieve but not as those who have no hope.

Our hope is in Jesus Christ as we wait his return and we remember Paul’s words to the Colossians:

Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

All Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.