Sermon
14th October 2018
Text;
Hebrews 4:12-16 – Our sympathetic God.
With
a state election coming up in a few weeks we are going to see lots of promises
made.
And
in particular we’re going to see a lot of sympathy from the candidates who say
how much they know we are hurting with rising prices, rising crime, and many
other issues in society that make life difficult for so many people.
There
will be the visits to country towns to assure them that the needs of rural folk
are not forgotten.
There
will be visits to work sites and fitting in with the average worker donning the
hard hat and safety vest for photo shoots.
But
it seems that no sooner does a Premier or Prime Minister get into power that
it’s business as usual and the promises and sympathy are just words rather than
actions.
Many
become quite sceptical of their sympathy because they simply don’t seem to
understand the hardships because they arrive in chauffeur driven cars – some
have multiple houses they own – and their salary increase is greater than the
entire benefits of many pensioners and welfare recipients for the year.
In
our 2nd reading today from Hebrews we have a different situation.
The
text is speaking about Jesus and says:
For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without
sin.
Jesus
is not a politician and he is not speaking to get our vote.
Jesus
is letting us know that the pain and suffering and struggles we are going
through - he understands.
In
fact it is more than just understanding.
Jesus
is feeling the pain first hand.
Our
church is hurting at the moment and there is none hurting more than Jesus who
feels every kick in the guts, who sheds every tear, who feels every betrayal.
And
he does so because the church is his body and when the church hurts his body
hurts and feels every pain.
St
Paul reminds us that the church is a body and when one part of the body hurts
the entire body hurts.
The
temptation is to walk away from the body to let God know how much it’s hurting.
But
God knows because the church is his body.
Peter
said to Jesus: “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”
He
said that because Peter felt a little betrayed and let down when Jesus
said: how hard it is to enter the
kingdom of God.
“But
we have left everything and followed you”.
Jesus
reassured Peter and the disciples: Truly I tell you, there is no one who has
left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields,
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold
now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields
with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
Jesus
shares with us that there is suffering for the sake of the Gospel.
In
this life time he calls it persecution.
And
that suffering is being experienced by the entire church at present as we live
in the aftermath of our latest Synod.
I
find it really sad that we vote on such important matters because votes divide.
YES
or NO
In
the secular world we vote.
We
vote for our political party and we have no choice but to live under whoever
wins..
And
when the party we did not vote for wins we are sad but we learn to live under
that political party.
But
the church is not a political party – it is the family of God.
And
in families we don’t vote we talk.
In
families we hurt more than in the secular world because of love:
The
more we love, the more we hurt when we feel betrayed – hence Jesus’ hurt for us
because of his love for us.
When
a work colleague hurts you, you eventually work things out.
But
when a family member hurts you it really hurts and you don’t want to ever talk
to them again.
We’ve
been talking about the ordination of women for decades but the end result is we
end up voting.
There
has to be a better way and we need to recover from this hurt and find that
better way.
But
we can’t find that better way if those who are hurting walk away.
The
man in our Gospel reading wanted to find eternal life.
He
thought it would be easy when Jesus told him the simple path:
Follow
the Ten Commandments.
Teacher,
I have kept all these since my youth.
Jesus
told him what to do; he said:
“Go,
sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure
in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and walked
away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Notice
he went away grieving as if there was a death.
For
many, if not all, we walked away from Synod grieving because it felt like the
pain of death.
Voting
is the simple path – it leaves winners and loser in the secular world.
But
in the church, the body of Christ, it only leaves hurt – because when one part
of the body hurts, the entire body hurts.
Walking
away is the human response to hurt and pain.
Jesus
wanted to walk away from his hurt and pain in the Garden of Gethsemane – take
this cup from me – it’s too much to bear.
But
he knew that he if walked away – if he came down from the cross as the people
urged him too – then the problem of sin and our separation from God would
remain.
If
Jesus walked away then we would be still living with our sin.
But
he didn’t:
We
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but
we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.
And
it’s because Jesus didn’t walk away that we can approach the throne of grace
with boldness, and confidence to receive mercy and find grace to help in time
of need.
And
that time of need is NOW.
But
we need the whole body because the whole body of Christ is hurting.
Jesus
says in our hurting that we can approach the throne of grace with boldness, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
These
are words of confidence.
They
tell us that through Jesus, our gracious God is available to each one of
us.
These
words tell us that God is not out of touch with what is happening right now in
our lives and in the life of the church.
God
knows from firsthand experience.
God
knows our pain, our fears and our hopes.
He
understands.
He
feels.
He
has compassion.
Through
Jesus we have direct fellowship with God, and through Jesus, God has direct
understanding of what it means to endure the joys and hardships of life in this
world.
Our
God understands.
He
understands when we don’t understand and question what is happening.
When
we ask those questions that start with “why” or make statements that start
“it’s not fair”, God knows and understands the pain that cause us to question
his plans for us and his body, the church.
God
says, “Trust my love for you.
There
are many uncertainties in this world but there is one thing that is an absolute
certainty and that is God’s love for you and God will never do anything that
will contradict that love.
It
might look as if God doesn’t care, but trust his love for you.
Jesus
hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be human.
We
are encouraged to trust God in those times when we don’t understand what is
happening in our lives.
When
we are hurting;
When
we are bewildered;
When
we are physically, emotionally and spiritually drained and we have no reserves
left,
We
can be certain our heavenly Father knows exactly how we feel.
And
that’s because Jesus suffers with us.
And
we are invited today to come confidently to God to find healing for our
hurt.
Because
he understands, we will find help.
Healing
can take time and hurt will leave a scar.
But
as we travel through this life, we can be certain that we have the loving arms
of God around us.
They
are there even when we think they aren’t there because we have a God who is
touched by our human weaknesses, who really knows what it is like to be you.
You
may not be ready to heal just yet because the pain is raw.
But
remember when Jesus came to Thomas AFTER his resurrection.
He
still bore the scars of his sacrifice.
Jesus
still bears those scars and sympathises with you and your scars and invites you
to come boldly and confidently to his throne of grace to find healing and comfort.
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