Sermon 7th April 2019 - 5th Sunday in Lent – Text John 12:1-8 – Feeding the poor

Sermon 7^th April 2019

Text: John 12:1-8 – Feeding the poor

Something that really struck me when l listened to the presentation by Vicki Gollasch from ALWS last week was her question – what if today you only had what you thanked God for yesterday.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I would have a lot today.

To remind myself of what I should be thankful for I went back to Luther’s explanation of the Apostles’ Creed first article.

Let me read that:

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, even though I do not deserve it. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.

I think I would be quite bare and lonely today if I only had what I thanked him for yesterday.

In our gospel reading today we have an interesting exchange between Jesus, Mary and Judas.

Mary has an expensive bottle of perfume – John says it was worth a year’s salary.

Would you be surprised to know that the latest average annual salary in Australia is $82,436 a year.

That’s one expensive bottle of perfume.

Judas was furious at the waste saying it could have been used to feed the poor.

We know from John’s commentary on the text that Judas’ had ulterior motives.

But the interchange in this morning’s gospel comes down to thankfulness.

Mary was thankful for all that Jesus had done for her – raising her brother Lazarus from the dead in particular, and so her response was to use what she valued to show her thanks.

She didn’t care about the cost.

Yes it could have fed the poor but once the money was gone it was gone.

As the old saying goes – you can only sell the farm once.

But what Mary did was put her treasure where her heart was which would provide a lot more for the poor in years to come when the money would be gone.

It’s like the story Jesus told about the widow who put in 2 small copper coins into the treasury which Jesus said was of greater value than the thousands that the rich people had put in because God could use her heart more than he could use the dollars.

I think what we can get from this interchange is that sometimes we are so worried about the future and what is going to happen that we fail to recognise the present and what God is doing.

That’s why Jesus said to Judas to leave Mary alone.

You’ll always have the poor and opportunity to look after them – but what is it that will keep you passionate about helping them.

When the money is all gone, if you don’t have the passion to help them then you will stop helping them.

And how often doesn’t that happen when we see the poor around us and we throw our hands in the air and look for reasons to not help them.

I’ve barely got enough to pay my own bills.

Surely they could find a job if they were really that desperate.

What did they spend their benefits on – cigarettes and alcohol I bet.

But if we can start at a different position and look at the abundance of blessings with which God has blessed us and is blessing us with then we don’t look for a reason to avoid helping but we look for an opportunity to help.

Rather than protecting the little we have we start to help from the abundance we have.

The Red Cross once produced a comparison of what truly makes up riches in the world:

WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES

You can read…you are luckier than over one billion people who cannot read at all.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness … then you are luckier than the million who will not survive this week and even luckier because you have medicare that guarantees you will have healthcare in case of illness.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...then you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend any meeting you want—political, religious, social…… then you are luckier than 3 billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep… … then you are richer than 75 per cent of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace…then you are among the top eight per cent of the world’s wealthy.

If you can read a list like this, then you don’t belong to the 1 billion people who CANNOT read...

Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us – but for how long will we be passionate about helping them before we burn out and say “let someone else feed them”.

But when our first love is Christ then helping the poor and loving our neighbour never becomes tiresome as St Paul reminds us:

Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

Regardless of Judas’s motives for Mary’s use of the perfume, Jesus’ criticism remains relevant.

Jesus criticism of Judas was not because he felt he had more right to Mary’s treasured perfume than the poor.

His concern was that his care for the poor was not motivated by his love of God.

Remember when Jesus was asked – what is the greatest commandment.

He said – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

And the 2nd is like it – love your neighbour as yourself.

Our love for our neighbour, rich or poor, comes from our love for God – which Mary was showing.

As Jesus says – seek first the Kingdom of God and all these will be added onto you.

Or when Solomon chose wisdom over riches and success but God rewarded him with those very riches and success because he didn’t seek after them.

Likewise if our heart is first for God then our heart for the poor and all humankind will multiply many times more than if our focus is on what we can afford.

So many times our mission has been driven by what we can afford.

If our heart is for mission then what we can afford won’t be the indicator of what we do or don’t do.

With a year’s salary we could feed the poor for a long time, but with Jesus we can feed the world for eternity with his body and blood which never runs out and frees all people, rich and poor unto eternity in heaven.

Sermon 24th March 2019 - 3rd Sunday in Lent – Text Luke 13:1-9 – No blaming, just repenting

Sermon 24^th March 2019 - 3^rd Sunday in Lent –

Text Luke 13:1-9 – No blaming, just repenting

Last week saw an horrific act of violence against humanity when a gunman entered 2 mosques and killed 50 and injured around the same.

Again we are seeing what has dominated just about everything in Western society in recent times.

The left versus the right.

Each side pointing out how the other is to blame for the state of the world today.

The left blame the right for hate speech – homophobia, islamophobia, transphobia, misogyny,

The left blame the right for climate change.

The right blame the left for our moral decay through liberalism and closing down free speech and using children as political weapons with the most recent children’s rally against climate change.

Even in this shooting in New Zealand the left are blaming the right for their bigotry and the right are blaming the left from their policies on immigration.

What happened last week and what is happening with the state of our world is shocking but blaming one another, as we see, simply divides us even further.

Blaming others and pointing the finger stems from the beginning of creation when Adam blamed Eve and God.

The woman YOU gave me – SHE made me eat.

Eve blamed the serpent – he tricked me.

Jesus, in our Gospel reading, points the people away from blaming one another and urges them to look at themselves.

"Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless YOU repent, YOU will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless YOU repent, YOU will all perish just as they did."

Jesus does not apportion blame to anyone.

He doesn’t blame the sinfulness of the Galileans for what happened to them or those on whom the tower of Siloam fell as if tragedies are a cause an effect type of things.

Jesus doesn’t blame God for causing that tragedy.

What Jesus does is that he redirects their attention back onto themselves: unless YOU repent.

Why is Jesus so determined to have them look at themselves?

It’s because he wants them to experience a renewed relationship with God who doesn’t look to see who’s to blame or who to punish.

As Jesus says in John’s gospel – God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him.

If we’re busy blaming others and pointing out their faults then we don’t get to experience the amazing grace that God has to offer us.

Sometimes we blame others or point out their faults because we’re afraid of what God or others will think of us.

That’s what Jesus is addressing when the people come up to him to tell him about the plight of the Galileans.

But God is a gracious God;

A God who when describing himself says:

The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.

We don’t have a God who is looking for people to punish when they do wrong

This is our Lord about whom St Paul says:

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

God is not looking for a way to punish us but for a way to lead us out of our waywardness and back to his grace.

Jesus is wanting us to find the gracious God who loves us so much that he sent his one and only son to die for us – while we were yet sinners.

There is a hostile world out there – a hostile world that rejects and hates anything to do with God, Jesus and the church.

But  he doesn’t need us defending him and attacking others because of him because that is not in God’s nature to do so.

God is a God who is always seeking to bring people back to him and not for us to attack the so called infidels.

Remember that we too were infidels before Jesus dealt with our sinfulness.

The difference is that we know that Jesus is defending us from God’s judgment and we should be wanting all people to know that same compassion through repentance.

Repentance is returning to our Father who has been waiting for us to come home to forgive us and not punish us – like the return of the Prodigal Son.

Like the fig tree we are given second chances, third chances and more and it is thanks to God's grace that we can feel safe and secure in the arms of Jesus when the day comes when all people will be judged.

Thank God for the patience and grace of God the gardener.

Thank God that he is the one who is tending the garden and not us.

Jesus gives himself for us.

He becomes the manure, the fertiliser for us as he is rejected, laughed at, crucified as a criminal.

On the cross he waters the ground with his own blood.

He does everything.

We do nothing.

We simply trust in his grace.

In the parable of the unfruitful fig tree we see Jesus at work for us.

What is interesting in this parable is that Jesus doesn’t finish it.

We’re not told what happens a year later.

We’re not told whether the fig tree produced fruit.

Because that’s not what Jesus wants us to focus on.

He wants us to focus on his work of grace.

And so too, in our world, he wants us to focus on his work of grace.

We’re going to continue to see atrocities like we saw in New Zealand.

As Christians our call is not to join in with the world to apportion blame.

Our call is to offer hope to the world.

Hope to the world of God’s love for the victims.

And also to offer God’s forgiveness for those who commit such atrocities.

That’s what is radical and also hard to accept – that God could even forgive them.

But we must believe that because if there is a cut off of what and who God will forgive then we would never know if that included us.

God assures us that we are forgiven as he calls us to repent and experience his grace and mercy again and again.

It is human nature to try and apportion blame as if somehow we are innocent of everything.

Just as the people asked about the man born blind: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents?”

It is impossible to offer a solution to end human suffering;

What we see in our parable is a word of grace;

A word of hope:

God is still tending the garden.

God is still working in and through his people to bring light and life, love and peace to a broken and sinful world.

And in that, there is indeed hope for all.

Sermon 17th March 2019 – 2nd Sunday in Lent Text: Luke 13:31-35 – Under the wings of God’s care

Sermon 17th March 2019

Text Luke 13:31-35 – Under the wings of God’s care

If you’re a cyclist or walker, magpie swooping season which always hits around September, just when the weather is starting to fine up.

It’s a horrible sensation as you’re riding and you see the dark shadow of a magpie with its wings outstretched and you brace yourself for that nip around your ears.

The reason they swoop is to protect their little chicks in the nest being cared for by their mother.

It’s no wonder that Jesus uses the example of a mother hen with outstretched wings protecting her children as a symbol for how God cares and protects us.

At some point those little chicks will need to learn to defend themselves but until they’re ready they are under the protection of their loving parents.

Those who are parents know that you never stop caring for your children even after they have left school, started work, gotten married and had children for themselves.

It’s part of our built in instinct to care for our children.

That’s the nature of God also.

Even those who reject God or who don’t believe in him are loved and cared for by God as Jesus says:

He gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the believer and unbeliever alike. (Matthew 5:45)

Not everybody sees God that way.

Some see God in a very different way  – with Judge probably being one of the ones that a lot of people associate with God.

He’s up there making sure we don’t do the wrong thing otherwise he’ll punish us.

They don’t see God as loving and protective but as authoritative and harsh.

But that’s not the image that Jesus reveals in our bible reading.

He shows us an image of a loving and emotional God – weeping over his children who have turned away from him rather than being angry at them.

Not wanting to judge or punish them but to embrace them under his loving, caring and protective arms.

Sometimes God’s care for us seems harsh, just as a parent’s care of her children sometimes requires discipline that seems harsh an unfair – we may see it has being “hen-pecked” rather than nurturing.

But we can understand why some people struggle with the image of a loving and caring God.

They look at the world and see a world full of trouble, war, sickness and disease.

They ask questions like, if God is all powerful and all loving then why does he allow evil things to happen, even in the church, as we are seeing with the outcomes of the Royal Commission into sexual abuse of children.

Anyone who has lost a loved one can reasonably question how a loving God allowed them to die.

But that’s not to do with God.

No, that’s to do with us.

We are the ones who chose to separate ourselves from God and fly the coup.

But God has never stopped loving us, just as a parent continues to love their child even when they disobey or move away.

But sometimes it looks as if God has forgotten us.

Abraham certainly felt that way.

God had promised him a child.

And now, in his 90s, Abraham is questioning God because he seems to have forgotten his promise.

Maybe it seems that God has forgotten you at times.

What we see in Abraham is the need to keep trusting God.

We too need to keep trusting God even if it seems that God has completely forgotten about us.

He never does.

Maybe we have hoped things would be better in our life.

Maybe we have asked over and over again for something in our prayers.

Abraham trusted God and was blessed by his trust.

Paul calls on us to have patience too.

He says to stand firm in the Lord.

And what we need to remember was that when Paul wrote that he was actually in jail because of his belief in Jesus.

Believing in Jesus doesn’t always mean that our life is rosy but we know that it will end up being truly blessed.

Paul encourages us to remember that this world is not always going to deliver everything we hope for.

And even if we do everything right and according to the book, it doesn’t mean that it is going to turn out alright.

That’s why people keep asking – why do bad things happen to good people.

In life there are no guarantees.

But through faith in Jesus there is a guarantee – the guarantee of life in heaven when we die.

Although Abraham is a spirit filled man who is devoted to God, his vision is focused on what is immediately in front of him which leads him to focus on the fact that he is childless.

God’s promise of a child for Abraham is beyond his human understanding.

Abraham is still walking by sight and not by faith and sometimes that’s the habit we fall into.

So Paul reminds us: our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We can look all we want in the world but we won’t find true answers there.

Citizenship is a hot topic at present.

We have thousands that are wanting to take up citizenship in Australia as asylum seekers.

They see the blessings and opportunities that our country offers and want to have citizenship here to enjoy all the benefits.

They are prepared to risk their lives and the lives of their families to get here.

As citizens we sometimes take for granted what we have and it’s only when someone else comes in and wants to take it that we become possessive of it.

Like a child that doesn’t want their toy until another child is interested in it and it starts a massive fight.

Likewise we should cherish our citizenship in heaven.

As citizens of Australia we have all the rights and blessings afforded to citizens.

We have access to healthcare – to government benefits – we can vote.

As citizens of heaven we have something even better.

We have rights to eternal life in heaven where there is no more suffering or death.

And we should cherish that rather than grumbling if things are not quite right in this life.

Life will never be perfect in this life.

There will always be something that is not quite right – or someone that has something a little bit better than we do – or a new gadget that makes us hate the gadget we have even though it works just fine.

That’s human nature – that what Paul meant when he said:

Their god is the belly; … ; their minds are set on earthly things.(Philippians 3:19).

But keeping our eyes on what God has promised us in heaven helps to keep our minds focused on what we have in heaven rather than what we don’t have here on earth.

As Paul once said: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us [in heaven]. (Romans 8:18).

So, as citizens of heaven, stand firm in the Lord and keep your minds set on heavenly things and until we are safe in heaven we remain safe under the protective wings of our Lord as Jesus promised in our Baptism – I am with you always till the end of the age. Amen.

Sermon 10th March 2019 – 1st Sunday in Lent Text: Luke 4:1-13 – Overcoming temptation

Sermon 10^th March 2019 – 1^st Sunday in Lent

Text: Luke 4:1-13 – Overcoming temptation

One of my favourite Bible Readings is in St Paul’s letter to the Romans.

You possibly know it well, and if you’ve ever been a bible reader in church with this reading you’ve probably gotten a bit tongue tied.

It reads, from Romans 7 - I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does.

Why do we do what we do not want to do – and why don’t we do what we want to do when it comes to do with what God wants?

It’s been a problem right from the beginning of creation with Adam and Eve.

They had the world at their feet.

They had not a care in the world as long as they did what God wanted and not eat from the one tree in the Garden of Eden.

They were free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except one.

It was their one weakness – their Achilles heel – their weakest link – or whatever other metaphor you wish to use – and Satan knew it.

And that’s the pivotal point – Satan knew it.

He began by creating doubt – and then he wrapped that temptation so enticing that despite knowing what she had to do and what she should not do – Eve gave in to the temptation:

When we read Genesis 3 we see 3 things at play that led to Eve, and then Adam’s downfall:

First - the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

Secondly – the use of doubt – did God really say?

And thirdly - the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.

Satan’s craftiness and knowing our weakness – and the enticing nature of temptation – it’s the perfect storm.

And we see in today’s Gospel reading the same 3 power plays by Satan:

His craftiness knowing Jesus’ likely weakness – 40 days without food – you must be hungry – turn these rocks into bread.

The use of doubt – if you are the Son of God – “IF” – Satan knows very well that Jesus is the Son of God – otherwise why would he be trying to cause his downfall.

And further doubt – throw yourself down and see if God really loves you enough to catch you like he promised.

Thirdly – enticement –

Worship me and I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world.

And this is where Satan now works in your life.

He knows your weakness and will use his craftiness to wrap that temptation in glitter to entice you and create just enough doubt to make you ask “why not”.

Are you surprised when you hear of devout TV evangelists who are caught having an affair with one of their parishioners – Satan’s not – because he knew their weakness.

Are you surprised when you hear of a devout Christian who has been caught stealing from the church – Satan’s not – after all, Judas was very easy to tempt with 30 pieces of silver to betray his Lord Jesus.

Are you surprised when a person who has been a Christian all their life suddenly stops coming to church and says they no longer believe – Satan’s not.

It’s what he does best and is constantly looking for his next victim, as St Peter says: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Peter got that warning from Jesus himself when he said to him - “Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

So how do we overcome the temptation of this crafty serpent whose desire is only to “kill, steal and destroy”?

St Paul gives us a clue when he says – the good I want to do – and the evil I do not want to do.

We know what God wants and that’s why Jesus in his temptation always resisted the devil by saying – It is written.

The Bible is not a book – it is God’s living word to us.

And when we are tempted that’s where we go.

Satan may know your weaknesses but God knows your strengths and he who is faithful will present you blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus, as St Paul assured the Thessalonians.

And so when Satan tempts us and says – did God really say – we can respond – yes he did – because it is written.

Jesus also gives us a clue in his warning to Peter when he says – when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

Jesus is acknowledging that Peter is going to fall to temptation but there is restoration by God.

And when he is restored he asks Peter to strengthen his brothers.

God always forgives when we repent – he always restores – so we constantly need to return to God and receive his grace.

And we need to strengthen one another as Jesus did when he said he was praying for him and the other disciples against Satan.

Encourage one another to seek God’s forgiveness.

Satan’s greatest weapon is our guilt.

That’s why he tempts us.

Not so we do wrong to upset God – but so he can accuse and convict us and break our relationship with God through guilt.

Look what it did to Adam and Eve as they hid in the garden from God.

And then they blamed each other  and God – the woman YOU gave me.

Look what it did to Judas as in his guilt he threw the money back at those who gave it to him and then took his own life.

Jesus says – come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest – rest for your souls.

As St Paul assures us in today’s 2nd reading - if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Satan is cunning and can hit us with precision for which we are urged to take up the armour of God and to take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Satan is not a cute little fellow in a red suit who comes out on Valentines Day.

He is the thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

But Jesus has come that we may have life, and have it to the full.

For these 40 days of Lent may we walk ever more closely with our Lord Jesus and call on him in that we may not be led into temptation and to be delivered from evil and the evil one and to be assured that "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved – because it is written."

Sermon - Ash Wednesday - Text: Luke 22:1-6 Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Luke 22:1-6 Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,  and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.  Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.  And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money.  He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

Betrayal is the theme of tonight’s Gospel reading and it also seems to be the theme of society today.

The two major stories in the media last week were all about betrayals at different levels.

The guilty conviction and jailing of Cardinal George Pell was steeped in betrayal.

The parents who felt betrayal of their children by the church.

But it’s not just the church – many institutions were named in the Royal Commission as having betrayed the trust of parents and the innocence of children placed in their trust – sporting institutions, religious institutions, educational institutions, service institutions like the scouts and YMCA – all betrayed the trust given to them.

And then there was the article about Lawyer X – Nicola Gobbo who betrayed various levels of trust.

She betrayed her clients who thought they could trust her to fairly represent them under the trust of attorney/client privilege.

Irrespective of what your views on these matters are there was a betrayal of trust.

It’s a horrible feeling being betrayed especially by a person you trusted.

In fact Jesus says that this type of close betrayal is a sign of the decay of our world and the sign of end times - “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child.

Betrayal by friends and loved ones is at the highest level of hurt and in many cases hard to forgive.

Whether it be in a professional relationship, a church relationship, a family relationship or a marriage.

One betrayal is often enough to destroy the relationship and any hope of reconciliation.

In today’s reading we hear of the ultimate of betrayals – that of Judas betraying Jesus.

Judas was the treasurer for the group of disciples and Satan tempts him where he knows he has a weak spot – with money.

The temptation of money was far too great for Judas to ignore and Satan knew it.

We know what happens because of that betrayal to Jesus but what does that betrayal do to Judas.

We will discover that the betrayal was so filled with guilt that Judas could not deal with it.

Even returning the money didn’t undo the guilt he felt for betraying Jesus.

And as a result Judas takes his own life.

This is the work Satan does.

He looks for an opportunity to use our guilt to break down our faith and our relationship with God.

This Sunday, the First Sunday in Lent, we will hear Satan tempt Jesus 3 times – 3 times that will fail each time.

At the conclusion of the 3rd temptation it says: he departed from him until an opportune time.

And that’s how Satan works – he looks for opportune moments to convict us of our sin to create guilt in us and our relationship with God because of our betrayal of God.

Judas’ guilt weighed heavily on him that he could not come before God to seek his forgiveness.

Compare the difference to Peter who denied Jesus 3 times but repented of his sin and was reinstated.

Jesus used Judas’s betrayal against Satan as we hear again tonight – our Lord Jesus Christ on the night he was betrayed took bread – take and eat this is my body – he took the cup – take and drink, this is my blood – shed for the forgiveness of your sins.

God does not want us to be weighed down by the guilt of our sin because that gives Satan that opportune time to burden our conscience and believe that God could not possible love and forgive me – not this time – not again.

But he does – it was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us.

Satan waited patiently for that opportune time –

If you are the Son of God turn these rocks into bread.

If you are the Son of God throw yourself down and let God catch you.

If you are the Son of God worship me and I’ll give you all the Kingdoms of the world.

And that 4th time – if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and we’ll believe in you.

But Jesus resisted that 4th temptation too.

And because he did he took all our guilt and burdens upon himself so when we are burdened by the betrayal of our sin we can look to the cross again and again and let Jesus take that burden upon himself as he says – come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest – rest for your souls.

The weight and burden of our betrayal against God is too much for us to bear on our own as King David discovered when he wrote Psalm 32:

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Note how David starts that Psalm – blessed is the one whose sins are forgiven.

Not blessed are those who do not sin.

We all sin and fall short of the glory of God but Jesus takes that burden and guilt upon himself to the cross.

And we need never lack trust in what God has promised when he promises to forgive us as we will be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As St Paul affirms: The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

May God bless your Lenten journey as you journey to the cross with Jesus and lay your sin and guilt – all your betrayals at his feet.

Sermon 3rd March 2019 Transfiguration Sunday Text: Luke 9:28-36 – Jesus’ glory revealed

Sermon 3^rd March 2019 Transfiguration Sunday

Text: Luke 9:28-36 – Jesus’ glory revealed

In our Gospel reading we have the account of what is known as the Transfiguration.

The account of Jesus’ appearance changing before his disciples, Peter, James and John while Moses and Elijah appear talking to Jesus.

Peter is struck with amazement and doesn’t want the experience to end so he offers to build 3 dwellings – one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah.

But God rejects Peter’s offer and tells him to listen to Jesus.

Peter, it would seem, wanted to keep that experience of God alive so he could return there whenever he needed strengthening of his faith.

But what Peter didn’t understand is that God is not a God who stands still.

When King David wanted to build a temple for God it sounds like God was rather disappointed in David despite his noble gesture:

the Lord spoke his word to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Will you build a house for me to live in? From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until now I have not lived in a house. I have been moving around all this time with a tent as my home.

As I have moved with the Israelites, I have never said “Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?”

in the Transfiguration we hear God say to Peter, James and John the same words that were spoken at Jesus baptism - "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"

At the Transfiguration the disciples are given a glimpse of Jesus true glory.

For a brief moment the human flesh of Jesus is drawn back and they are able to see behind the human flesh the true power of Jesus as God’s beloved Son.

This is important because they are about to witness Jesus undergo humiliation, suffering and death and he will seem powerless.

But despite what their eyes will see, Jesus is wanting them to remember that experience to strengthen their faith and know that whatever they are going to experience in the future after his death and resurrection that the same glorious experience is waiting them in Heaven.

And that is also the purpose for us, that in times of doubt – times of suffering – times of difficulty – our baptism becomes a source of strength that points us to the future glory that awaits us to pull us forward through those times.

There are difficult times we go through – dark times –as Peter, James and John experienced even on that mountaintop despite that glorious experience:

It says -  a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.

Sometimes it can be terrifying following God’s will.

As we journey through life we will find that the times ahead can be quite difficult and uncertain - terrifying.

Even if the road has been clear for years and years there is no guarantee that just around the bend there is not a road block that is going to grind us to a halt.

A death, a sickness, a conflict.

Sometimes we don’t want to go forward but wish things could stay the way they are, like Peter did, or even pondering about going back to the good old days.

In the church it is no different.

We often ponder about the good old days.

Remember when Sunday Schools were packed to the rafters.

Remember when our church was full.

Remember when we only had the organ and page 6 or page 23.

It was much simpler.

No doubt, for Jesus, the way forward was quite frightening also.

Maybe Jesus pondered back to the good old days while he was still in heaven.

Perhaps Jesus even wondered why he couldn’t stay on earth as the popular Rabbi that drew massive crowds and healed many sick people.

But that’s when Moses and Elijah appeared speaking of his departure.

It’s interesting that the word “departure” is the same word used in the Old Testament for Exodus.

The exodus was when Israel left Egypt for the Promised Land.

And even though that journey to the Promised Land was led by God, it became terrifying and uncertain at times.

And all along the way they pondered about the comfort of their home back in Egypt – the food we ate – even though it was mingled with hard slavery.

The uncertainty of what lay ahead frightened them more than slave labour that would await them back in Egypt if they returned.

The beauty of our Baptism is that it comes with a promise that we are never alone in our journeys.

As he was departing from this earth at his ascension Jesus commissions his disciples to take Baptism into the world and along with it the promise: I am with you always till the end of the age.

That’s why Jesus didn’t want Peter or anyone to build a dwelling for him because he had already made his dwelling in us.

Likewise for David building a temple for God was not what God asked for.

God would make his temple in us as St Paul affirms in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 - Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

We are about to embark on our annual Lenten journey.

It’s going to be a tough journey as we relive the aspects of Jesus’ passion.

It will begin with Judas agreeing to betray Jesus.

Maybe you’ve been betrayed by someone close to you.

Maybe you’ve been betrayed by the church.

How betrayed do Roman Catholics feel today by their church after what happened during the week?

Even the one that Jesus felt was his closest companion-Peter – whom he took onto that mountain top and revealed his glory – he too will deny him along the journey, not once but 3 times.

Maybe you’ve been denied by a friend when you’ve needed them most.

Maybe you’ve felt denied by the church when you needed it most.

Jesus will be abandoned by every one of his disciples the moment he is arrested.

Maybe you’ve felt all alone in your time of trouble – abandoned by your friends – abandoned by your family – abandoned by your church – abandoned by your faith.

Jesus knows all about that feeling when he cried out – My God, why have you abandoned me.

And finally Jesus will be handed over by his own people to be mocked and ridiculed before being put to death.

Betrayed by his own people.

And when Pilate – not a Jew – wants to release him – it is his own people who abandon him and demand his death.

Many of us experienced that same death last year at Synod regardless of which side of the debate you were on.

We felt abandoned, denied, mocked, ridiculed by our own people.

Sadly until we arrive in glory we are going to experience that.

But we take heart because we have a high priest in Jesus who has experienced this and more and can empathise with us in our suffering.

And again today he gives us a brief glimpse of his Transfiguration begging us to trust him and not give up hope as we take him into the world with us.

We will experience that in a moment as we gather at the mountaintop around the one bread and the one cup to strengthen and affirm our baptismal unity as children of God whom God loves.

Here God will draw back the earthly flesh of Jesus and reveal his glorified body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

What we will experience here at this mountaintop of Holy Communion is the glory of God that comes through Jesus suffering and death as we receive his body and blood in Holy Communion – put to death for us.

As we leave from here, we will enter the cloud as Peter, James and John did which at times seems very fearful.

(a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud)

We will enter the cloud as Moses did in the Exodus which says - The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was (Exodus 20:21).

Sometimes the way ahead seems dark and uncertain.

But with the glory and promise of our baptism we have received the light of Christ and we can confidently enter that darkness and uncertainty knowing that we are not entering it alone but with God who is right in the midst of that darkness to strengthen us.

He is Immanuel – God with us to transform our lives.