Psalm 146 begins and ends with Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah, in Hebrew). It’s a hymn of praise for the God who is faithful, the God who cares about the needy, and the God who sets people free. This psalm, along with all the psalms, would have been well known by Jesus and his first disciples. And this psalm carries a message for us today, as well. I want to look particularly at verses 7-9 of Psalm 146. Here are those verses again:
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
God did these things for Israel in the past. And God did these things through Jesus Christ while he walked the earth. And God’s will is to continue to do these things through all his people, who are the body of Christ.
The acts of God recited in vv 7-9 point to events in the history of Israel. In verse 7: ‘He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free’ – the most obvious event remembered here is the Exodus. In Egypt, the Israelites were oppressed as slaves. Moses led them out into freedom and into the desert, where they became hungry. God heard their cries and sustained them with manna from heaven. Freedom from oppression and the provision of food – this is attributed to God by the Israelites.
In verse 8, the psalmist writes, ‘the LORD gives sight to the blind’. But among the miracles written about in the Old Testament, the recovery of sight is absent. I couldn’t find any examples of the Lord giving sight to the blind in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Lord giving sight to the blind was not a reality, but a promise. And it was associated with the Messiah who was to come. It was prophetic. Isaiah prophesied sight for the blind as did our psalmist here in Psalm 146.
Verse 8 continues: the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous. God loves righteousness because that is one of God’s main attributes. To be righteous is to live your life guided by the qualities of justice, integrity, sincerity and equity. In the Old Testament, Noah, Abraham, and Job were called righteous. In varying situations, ‘righteousness’ means being right, doing right, and putting things right. It includes ‘frustrating the ways of the wicked’ by creating order out of disorder, and unity out of disunity.
Verse 9 says: The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. God's love and concern for people who are disadvantaged is obvious throughout the Old Testament. God’s covenant with Israel included the obligation not to abuse the weak or defenceless, as we see in Exodus 22: "Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry”.
The Law of Moses contained several rules for the fair treatment of orphans, widows and foreigners, for example in Deuteronomy 24: ‘Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. ...When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.’
So we see that this short Psalm touches on several aspects of Jewish history. The ‘God of Jacob’ rescued Israel from oppression, hunger and slavery, and formed a covenant with his people, that they would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. And for us as Christians, if we reframe this psalm and view it in the light of Jesus Christ, we recognise a connection between what God has done for Israel and what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, God came to rescue all people from spiritual oppression, hunger and slavery, when we turn to him. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus stands up in the synagogue in Nazareth and reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah (61):
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Everything Jesus did had both a spiritual dimension and an earthly dimension. When we’re released from spiritual blindness, we see the greater purpose to which our earthly good works contribute. We understand that God’s kingdom is breaking in, and that God wants our lives to be formed into this Kingdom shape, where Jesus reigns.
Today we can have a real impact on people’s lives – by giving our time, our talents, or our money. Through charitable organisations such as Open Doors, Christian Aid, the Barnabas Fund and the Ark, as individual Christians and through the Church, we can uphold the cause of the oppressed and the unfairly imprisoned. We can give food to the hungry and sight to the blind. We can arrange hospitality for refugees and the homeless, and we can care for orphans and for widowed people. Selfless giving of time, talents, and money for the sake of the kingdom of God aligns us with the will of God.
In the short space of Psalm 146, we remember God’s saving grace in the past, and are pointed towards the reign of Christ and our responsibilities as his disciples. Under the New Covenant, we are the body of Christ. We are to seek out the lost and fight the corner for the oppressed. We are to feed the hungry and liberate those enslaved by the things of this world. When this happens through Christ’s church in the world, it’s a sign of his kingdom breaking in on earth, and he is to be praised. Hallelujah! Amen.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
It has been a busy couple of weeks. My training incumbent has been away on holiday. Two funerals, six church services, pastoral visits, a chapter meeting, standing committee, music group, ladies fellowship. And school starting up again for my 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son. My son started high school, which begins at year 7 here. A big change for him, but so far, so good.
With the end of summer, church activities start up again - like the parents/carers & tots groups. I'm looking forward to being involved in those two groups again. I have to finish off my application for the Sea Cadet chaplaincy asap, and start to increase our level of involvement with a local care home and the local primary school. I've also got a paper to write for my master's programme, about the book we curates had to read (Remembering our Future). I need more hours in each day and more days in each week!
I've been reflecting a lot on preaching. I'm not happy with my preaching. I would like to get better at preaching without a written script. It doesn't feel right to read my sermon, no matter how well I do it, and no matter how often I make eye contact (a lot, I think). There isn't enough engagement with the congregation. I need to work on this.
In conversation with a parishioner, I've come to realise that most of our sermons are too long, and people switch off. What good is that? I think I need to make my sermons a lot shorter, and try to learn how to preach it without relying on my manuscript.
With the end of summer, church activities start up again - like the parents/carers & tots groups. I'm looking forward to being involved in those two groups again. I have to finish off my application for the Sea Cadet chaplaincy asap, and start to increase our level of involvement with a local care home and the local primary school. I've also got a paper to write for my master's programme, about the book we curates had to read (Remembering our Future). I need more hours in each day and more days in each week!
I've been reflecting a lot on preaching. I'm not happy with my preaching. I would like to get better at preaching without a written script. It doesn't feel right to read my sermon, no matter how well I do it, and no matter how often I make eye contact (a lot, I think). There isn't enough engagement with the congregation. I need to work on this.
In conversation with a parishioner, I've come to realise that most of our sermons are too long, and people switch off. What good is that? I think I need to make my sermons a lot shorter, and try to learn how to preach it without relying on my manuscript.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Hallel
Psalm 113
1 Praise the LORD.
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
2 Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8 he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.
9 He settles the barren woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD.
Continuing with our sermon series on the Psalms, this morning’s Psalm [113] is known as one of the Hallel Psalms. The Hebrew word Hallel is familiar to us in the word Hallelujah. Hallel means ‘praise’, and Yah is the shortened form of Yahweh, the name of God. So Psalm 113 is a hymn of praise about God. It’s a call to the people of God to remember who God is and what God has done.
All day, every day, and everywhere – as the psalmist says, ‘from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets’, ‘both now and forevermore ...the name of the Lord is to be praised’. Praise shouldn’t be something we only do when we feel like it – praise is supposed to be something that we do at all times – in ordinary and extraordinary times – in good times and in bad times. The method of praise comes down to individual preference, but whatever way we do it, God’s people are called to praise God.
The call to praise God is followed in the psalm by reasons for praise: God’s glory is above the heavens and wide as all space! There is nothing in all creation that can be compared to this God, and yet this God is concerned about people, and the ordinary activities of people. God watches over all his creation. God raises the poor, lifts the broken and oppressed, corrects inequality, and injustice, and provides fruitfulness in otherwise barren conditions. Disparities between wealthy and poor, powerful and powerless, elite and excluded – situations present at the time the psalm was written, and still present today – these do not harmonise with the attributes of God.
What must then be called into question is people’s attitudes towards those who suffer from poverty, inequality, and despair. Those who participate in activities that contribute to the poverty of others; those who isolate people into categories for discrimination; those who exclude the childless from circles of friendship are reminded that these attitudes do not align with God’s care for people.
Instead, the psalmist affirms that those in the ash heaps of life and dust piles of despair will be lifted up. This mighty God helps people find dignity within the community. This God hears the prayers of the discouraged. This God also hears the prayers of the childless couple. Coming out of the Hebrew tradition, the psalm reminds people of God’s answer to the prayers of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, & Hannah who were once barren women. The psalm reminds people that the experience of the desolate will not be forever. There will be a day of justice, a day where the fields are levelled. The people of God will have security, contentment and fruitfulness. Their day of despair will not triumph, and a day of praise shall break forth.
Psalm 113 speaks of a God who is high and exalted, who also ‘stoops down’ to care for people. This is the God who sent Jesus, whose name in Hebrew is Yahshua, which means ‘Yahweh saves’ – Jesus, who came to live among us, and who died and rose again for the world.
At this point our psalm connects with our two other readings. As Jesus says in our Luke passage, we are called to love and to serve others, and to invite those less fortunate than ourselves to our table. As St. Paul says in the Hebrews passage, we’re called to love each other, but we are not to forget to entertain strangers. That’s hospitality in its most God-honouring form.
I have this crazy vision of how exciting it would be if we focussed our energies on inviting strangers to come and eat here with us. Yes, it would be risky, and it might be uncomfortable. But I think it’s what Jesus would do if he were walking around our town today – he would invite everyone to come and eat at his table. Isn’t that what we, as the body of Christ, should also do? Not just our friends, our family and our 'presentable' neighbours; but as Jesus said, ‘...when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed’.
One of the most powerful ways God lifts up the lowly is through other people, so if we claim to be disciples of Jesus, then we will actively seek ways to serve the people who need to experience God’s love. That is praise in action.
We praise God for who God is, we praise God for our ongoing salvation, and we look forward what God has planned for the future when Jesus returns. Every time we sing ‘Hallelujah!’ we can be reminded of what God has already done, and that God will finish the salvation that is still taking place. God’s saving presence was demonstrated in the past, and will be demonstrated again when Jesus Christ, Yahshua Messiah, returns in glory. ‘Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name’. Amen.
1 Praise the LORD.
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
2 Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8 he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.
9 He settles the barren woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD.
Continuing with our sermon series on the Psalms, this morning’s Psalm [113] is known as one of the Hallel Psalms. The Hebrew word Hallel is familiar to us in the word Hallelujah. Hallel means ‘praise’, and Yah is the shortened form of Yahweh, the name of God. So Psalm 113 is a hymn of praise about God. It’s a call to the people of God to remember who God is and what God has done.
All day, every day, and everywhere – as the psalmist says, ‘from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets’, ‘both now and forevermore ...the name of the Lord is to be praised’. Praise shouldn’t be something we only do when we feel like it – praise is supposed to be something that we do at all times – in ordinary and extraordinary times – in good times and in bad times. The method of praise comes down to individual preference, but whatever way we do it, God’s people are called to praise God.
The call to praise God is followed in the psalm by reasons for praise: God’s glory is above the heavens and wide as all space! There is nothing in all creation that can be compared to this God, and yet this God is concerned about people, and the ordinary activities of people. God watches over all his creation. God raises the poor, lifts the broken and oppressed, corrects inequality, and injustice, and provides fruitfulness in otherwise barren conditions. Disparities between wealthy and poor, powerful and powerless, elite and excluded – situations present at the time the psalm was written, and still present today – these do not harmonise with the attributes of God.
What must then be called into question is people’s attitudes towards those who suffer from poverty, inequality, and despair. Those who participate in activities that contribute to the poverty of others; those who isolate people into categories for discrimination; those who exclude the childless from circles of friendship are reminded that these attitudes do not align with God’s care for people.
Instead, the psalmist affirms that those in the ash heaps of life and dust piles of despair will be lifted up. This mighty God helps people find dignity within the community. This God hears the prayers of the discouraged. This God also hears the prayers of the childless couple. Coming out of the Hebrew tradition, the psalm reminds people of God’s answer to the prayers of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, & Hannah who were once barren women. The psalm reminds people that the experience of the desolate will not be forever. There will be a day of justice, a day where the fields are levelled. The people of God will have security, contentment and fruitfulness. Their day of despair will not triumph, and a day of praise shall break forth.
Psalm 113 speaks of a God who is high and exalted, who also ‘stoops down’ to care for people. This is the God who sent Jesus, whose name in Hebrew is Yahshua, which means ‘Yahweh saves’ – Jesus, who came to live among us, and who died and rose again for the world.
At this point our psalm connects with our two other readings. As Jesus says in our Luke passage, we are called to love and to serve others, and to invite those less fortunate than ourselves to our table. As St. Paul says in the Hebrews passage, we’re called to love each other, but we are not to forget to entertain strangers. That’s hospitality in its most God-honouring form.
I have this crazy vision of how exciting it would be if we focussed our energies on inviting strangers to come and eat here with us. Yes, it would be risky, and it might be uncomfortable. But I think it’s what Jesus would do if he were walking around our town today – he would invite everyone to come and eat at his table. Isn’t that what we, as the body of Christ, should also do? Not just our friends, our family and our 'presentable' neighbours; but as Jesus said, ‘...when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed’.
One of the most powerful ways God lifts up the lowly is through other people, so if we claim to be disciples of Jesus, then we will actively seek ways to serve the people who need to experience God’s love. That is praise in action.
We praise God for who God is, we praise God for our ongoing salvation, and we look forward what God has planned for the future when Jesus returns. Every time we sing ‘Hallelujah!’ we can be reminded of what God has already done, and that God will finish the salvation that is still taking place. God’s saving presence was demonstrated in the past, and will be demonstrated again when Jesus Christ, Yahshua Messiah, returns in glory. ‘Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name’. Amen.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Waiting
Sermon for Midweek Holy Communion
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 / Matthew 24:42-51
Many of you know that I used to work in Veterinary Research. In the lab, one event that inevitably caused distress to scientists and supervisors alike was the unannounced health and safety inspection. Lab by lab, mass panic spread through the building as the inspector’s beady eyes darted about, and they scribbled in secret code on their notepads. As my lab was often the last to be visited, we were the lucky ones: usually forewarned by about 30 minutes - so that we could make sure everyone had their lab coats and gloves on; the chemical spills were cleaned up, any dodgy experiments were halted, and toxic substances stored away.
Of course, we all knew we were supposed to conduct our work according to the health and safety guidelines, but with time and experience, things have a tendency to go slack. When we’re first employed, we’re shown the right way to do things, and we conform for a while. But then we work out what we think is the bare minimum required to keep things ticking over. We work out where we can let things slide, so long as we’re not found out. We work out where we can take advantage of the system. It happens in many workplaces all over the country. It happens in the government. And it can happen in the Church, too.
Jesus said, ‘keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ...Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him’. Is the Church still keeping watch? Is the Church ready for what St. Paul calls the revealing of the Lord, which will happen without warning?
Jesus says it will happen quietly, like a thief in the night, and those who are not prepared will be caught unaware. Most of us take care in preparing our homes against thieves by locking up each night. I wonder if we consider meeting with God as likely a prospect as having our house broken into.
I once received a greeting card from a friend. On the front of the card is an illustration of Jesus knocking on a door, kind of like that famous painting by William Holman Hunt called ‘Light of the World’. The caption on the card says, ‘Jesus is Coming. Look Busy’. More than 2000 years have passed since the disciples were assured that Jesus would return one day. We cannot know when exactly Jesus will return. But we CAN think seriously about what we should be doing while we wait for his return.
Jesus says in this morning’s gospel reading that it would be good if upon his return the faithful and wise servant were found to be giving the other servants in the household their ‘food’ at the proper time. The wise servant carries out the master’s instructions, ensuring the welfare of his fellow servants. This sounds like a fairly pleasant way to spend our ‘waiting’ time, by feeding each other. ‘Give us today our daily bread’, we pray, and we do need it. Being ‘fed’ at the proper time suggests to me regular healthy eating, which would promote the strength and well-being of the servants. If you’re healthy and strong, you can do a lot of good work. If you’re unhealthy, it’s more difficult to keep watch and be ready for life’s unexpected events.
Being fed or nourished can also have other meanings, too. I’m thinking here of encouragement – it’s good for the Lord’s servants to encourage each other at the proper time - being sensitive to each other’s needs; helping to build up the faith of others.
But in the illustration of the master who stays away for a long time, nourishment of the servants isn’t the only point. Jesus gives the example of the faithful and wise servant because it’s an example of obedience to the master. Jesus wants his disciples to actively, faithfully and obediently live out his commandments and take on his commission until he returns.
Jesus commanded us to love God and to love one another; and he commissioned us to go and make disciples of all nations. The gospel has been proclaimed around pretty much the whole world, and it’s necessary to continue that proclamation. Professing Christians have been kept busy over the centuries. But the history of Christianity shows that some who profess to act in the name of the Lord have instead acted in the name of corruption and oppression. And if we’re honest, many of us get our priorities wrong as Christians. We get side-tracked and distracted by the complications of life. But alongside that we need to keep a centred core of readiness; and we need to keep short accounts with God - to be prepared to meet with him either upon our own death, or when Jesus returns to the earth, whichever comes first.
Here’s a question for you: what is the Scouting and Guides motto? Be prepared. Robert Baden-Powell explained the meaning of the phrase:
‘To BE PREPARED means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty. ...To be prepared at any moment to face difficulties and even dangers by knowing what to do and how to do it’. This is about being prepared for earthly health and safety. But our readings this morning are concerned with an even more important thing – our eternal health and safety! If at any time the living God might knock at the door, wisdom means endeavouring to be ready at all times.
Back to my research lab and the unannounced visit from the health and safety inspectors, after an inspection, we would receive a detailed report about which areas of the lab were found to be below the required standard and what we must do to improve. Would it help if we Christians could be given such a concise and concrete report from the Lord, with tick boxes and a time schedule for completing the necessary improvements? And I wonder how close God’s inspection report on us would tally with our own self-analysis. (For a glimpse into what God’s report might say about the Church, just read the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation)!
But for ourselves, in the absence of a personalised health and safety report from God, we pin our hopes on the mercy of the Lord, and do the best we can in our circumstances. We have the master’s orders, though, and we should resolve daily to be obedient until his return.
We have big clues on what to do while we wait – and these clues are found in Scripture. St. Paul (1 Cor 1) says we are ‘called to be holy’. ‘Holy’, meaning set apart. Set apart for God, knowing that we belong to God. The call to holiness is the vocation of the Christian believer. And holiness in action increases with an increased focus on our relationship with Christ and his will for our life. This is the life of faith, which according to Martin Luther, is a life in which we recognize that although our sinful nature never leaves us, the grace of God ‘invades’ us and draws us close to Christ. And according to John Calvin, part of holiness is suffering – suffering is not a punishment from God, it is participation with the life of Christ, who suffered for us. The Christian mystics would agree with Calvin on this point.
So what shall we do while we wait for Christ to return? For your consideration I suggest taking up the responsibility to actively be holy. Love is at the core of holiness: Love God and love one another. Actively be faithful and obedient to God; feed and encourage others. Keep watch and be ready, because we do not know on what day our Lord will come. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 / Matthew 24:42-51
Many of you know that I used to work in Veterinary Research. In the lab, one event that inevitably caused distress to scientists and supervisors alike was the unannounced health and safety inspection. Lab by lab, mass panic spread through the building as the inspector’s beady eyes darted about, and they scribbled in secret code on their notepads. As my lab was often the last to be visited, we were the lucky ones: usually forewarned by about 30 minutes - so that we could make sure everyone had their lab coats and gloves on; the chemical spills were cleaned up, any dodgy experiments were halted, and toxic substances stored away.
Of course, we all knew we were supposed to conduct our work according to the health and safety guidelines, but with time and experience, things have a tendency to go slack. When we’re first employed, we’re shown the right way to do things, and we conform for a while. But then we work out what we think is the bare minimum required to keep things ticking over. We work out where we can let things slide, so long as we’re not found out. We work out where we can take advantage of the system. It happens in many workplaces all over the country. It happens in the government. And it can happen in the Church, too.
Jesus said, ‘keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ...Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him’. Is the Church still keeping watch? Is the Church ready for what St. Paul calls the revealing of the Lord, which will happen without warning?
Jesus says it will happen quietly, like a thief in the night, and those who are not prepared will be caught unaware. Most of us take care in preparing our homes against thieves by locking up each night. I wonder if we consider meeting with God as likely a prospect as having our house broken into.
I once received a greeting card from a friend. On the front of the card is an illustration of Jesus knocking on a door, kind of like that famous painting by William Holman Hunt called ‘Light of the World’. The caption on the card says, ‘Jesus is Coming. Look Busy’. More than 2000 years have passed since the disciples were assured that Jesus would return one day. We cannot know when exactly Jesus will return. But we CAN think seriously about what we should be doing while we wait for his return.
Jesus says in this morning’s gospel reading that it would be good if upon his return the faithful and wise servant were found to be giving the other servants in the household their ‘food’ at the proper time. The wise servant carries out the master’s instructions, ensuring the welfare of his fellow servants. This sounds like a fairly pleasant way to spend our ‘waiting’ time, by feeding each other. ‘Give us today our daily bread’, we pray, and we do need it. Being ‘fed’ at the proper time suggests to me regular healthy eating, which would promote the strength and well-being of the servants. If you’re healthy and strong, you can do a lot of good work. If you’re unhealthy, it’s more difficult to keep watch and be ready for life’s unexpected events.
Being fed or nourished can also have other meanings, too. I’m thinking here of encouragement – it’s good for the Lord’s servants to encourage each other at the proper time - being sensitive to each other’s needs; helping to build up the faith of others.
But in the illustration of the master who stays away for a long time, nourishment of the servants isn’t the only point. Jesus gives the example of the faithful and wise servant because it’s an example of obedience to the master. Jesus wants his disciples to actively, faithfully and obediently live out his commandments and take on his commission until he returns.
Jesus commanded us to love God and to love one another; and he commissioned us to go and make disciples of all nations. The gospel has been proclaimed around pretty much the whole world, and it’s necessary to continue that proclamation. Professing Christians have been kept busy over the centuries. But the history of Christianity shows that some who profess to act in the name of the Lord have instead acted in the name of corruption and oppression. And if we’re honest, many of us get our priorities wrong as Christians. We get side-tracked and distracted by the complications of life. But alongside that we need to keep a centred core of readiness; and we need to keep short accounts with God - to be prepared to meet with him either upon our own death, or when Jesus returns to the earth, whichever comes first.
Here’s a question for you: what is the Scouting and Guides motto? Be prepared. Robert Baden-Powell explained the meaning of the phrase:
‘To BE PREPARED means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty. ...To be prepared at any moment to face difficulties and even dangers by knowing what to do and how to do it’. This is about being prepared for earthly health and safety. But our readings this morning are concerned with an even more important thing – our eternal health and safety! If at any time the living God might knock at the door, wisdom means endeavouring to be ready at all times.
Back to my research lab and the unannounced visit from the health and safety inspectors, after an inspection, we would receive a detailed report about which areas of the lab were found to be below the required standard and what we must do to improve. Would it help if we Christians could be given such a concise and concrete report from the Lord, with tick boxes and a time schedule for completing the necessary improvements? And I wonder how close God’s inspection report on us would tally with our own self-analysis. (For a glimpse into what God’s report might say about the Church, just read the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation)!
But for ourselves, in the absence of a personalised health and safety report from God, we pin our hopes on the mercy of the Lord, and do the best we can in our circumstances. We have the master’s orders, though, and we should resolve daily to be obedient until his return.
We have big clues on what to do while we wait – and these clues are found in Scripture. St. Paul (1 Cor 1) says we are ‘called to be holy’. ‘Holy’, meaning set apart. Set apart for God, knowing that we belong to God. The call to holiness is the vocation of the Christian believer. And holiness in action increases with an increased focus on our relationship with Christ and his will for our life. This is the life of faith, which according to Martin Luther, is a life in which we recognize that although our sinful nature never leaves us, the grace of God ‘invades’ us and draws us close to Christ. And according to John Calvin, part of holiness is suffering – suffering is not a punishment from God, it is participation with the life of Christ, who suffered for us. The Christian mystics would agree with Calvin on this point.
So what shall we do while we wait for Christ to return? For your consideration I suggest taking up the responsibility to actively be holy. Love is at the core of holiness: Love God and love one another. Actively be faithful and obedient to God; feed and encourage others. Keep watch and be ready, because we do not know on what day our Lord will come. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.
Monday, 16 August 2010
Psalm 27
I'm back from being away! It was a wonderful long holiday, and I've finally finished washing the piles of laundry that resulted from our travels to France and Germany and having 8 people in the house.
During August and September we are doing a sermon series at church on the Psalms, the collection of Hebrew poems compiled over a period of some 1000 years and written by more than 12 different authors. The following is taken from the sermon I preached yesterday:
Today’s psalm, Psalm 27, is credited to King David, who probably did write the majority of the psalms. Psalm 27 was written against a background of great danger. David may have been writing in response to persecution from Saul or from his son Absalom; he was obviously under the threat of enemies, but they remain unspecified here in this psalm. Whatever it was, it was certainly a nerve-wracking and hostile time.
If you’ve ever been in a situation where you were really afraid – for your job, financial security, your health, your personal safety or the safety of loved ones, for your freedom, or for your life... you will know the debilitating effect of fear. Whatever your present situation, the reality of life is that everyone eventually will experience some kind of trouble and distress. In our Psalm, David meets his fears head on and defies them with the strength of his faith.
In the midst of distress, David begins Psalm 27 with an affirmation of the depth of his faith and his confidence in God:
The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?
David’s courage and assurance comes from his security in the Lord. God was his light – guiding him; God was his salvation – delivering him; God was his stronghold –protecting him. The questions, ‘whom should I fear’ and ‘of whom should I be afraid’ are rhetorical, like the questions posed by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans in chapter 8: ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ ‘Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?’ ‘It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?’ ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
As Christians we strive to adopt Paul’s attitude and David’s attitude - to have confidence in God and not be afraid, and we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit, as we cannot do this in our own strength.
One Christian who was greatly strengthened and consoled by Psalm 27 was James Hannington, the Anglican missionary to Uganda who became bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. In 1885, he was imprisoned and soon after, martyred. Now he’s a Saint with a capital ‘S’, but on the day before he died a martyr’s death under horrible circumstances, in his journal this St. James declared that in the midst of being ‘broken down and brought low’, he was comforted by Psalm 27.
None of us are likely to be in the same position that James Hannington was in when he endured a martyr’s death. But still, God cares for us in our relatively smaller trials of life. Sometimes when we feel like life has become a daily battle, we can forget this truth. We might think that our concerns and suffering isn’t that important in comparison with some of the problems other people have in the world today. But we mustn’t belittle the smaller trials and fears we all encounter in life, because each individual person matters to God – even the very hairs on our heads have been numbered! Our good shepherd seeks out and cares for the one lost sheep. So please don’t ever think that your problems or fears are too small for God to attend to.
These days we have fears of many kinds: for the safety of our children or grandchildren, because of violence and terrorism; or we fear our declining health or our declining wealth, and whether or not this planet can endure all the abuse we are putting it through. In the face of threatening times, David proclaims in Psalm 27 that he wants one thing over all; that is, he wants to stay close to God.
Like the Teacher in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, David has tried everything – work, pleasure, money – and none satisfy. But whereas the Teacher in Ecclesiastes resolves the seeming futility of everything with cynicism, David in Ps. 27 concludes that the only satisfying resolution is communion with God. It is God who makes us safe, and knowing this leads David to confident praise.
Of course, this confidence does not eliminate all trouble from life, and a deep faith should not lead to a denial of reality. This psalm has been set in a context in which troubles are acknowledged. And this leads David into the pleading prayer of verses 7-12: Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful, and answer me... Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger... David knows he is unworthy, but his hope lies in God’s mercy, not on the basis of his own moral behaviour. This gives us all hope, as we all fall short of the glory of God.
David’s heart is soft and his soul is open to transformation by God as he pleads: ‘Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path’. We, too, need to be teachable and open to the leading of God’s Spirit. We, too, can have confidence as we call on God for mercy, for his guidance, and for liberation from that which causes us to be afraid.
The psalm concludes with a return to confidence; David’s complaint was real, but it’s powerfully contained in the trust before and after. The final verse is a deep encouragement: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord. David is fully confident that with the Lord as his light, his salvation, and his stronghold, he will see the goodness of the Lord in the here and now – ‘in the land of the living’.
This psalm has a universal resonance with people, because we all go through tough times. And through this psalm we are reminded of the assurance we have through confidence in God. The great gift of the psalms as a whole is that through various times and seasons of our lives we will be able to identify with at least one (and probably more) of the 150 psalms. And in the case of Psalm 27 and many others, as we seek the face of our Lord in the midst of the fearful trials of life, we can allow the psalmist’s words to console us, to strengthen us, and to lift us up. Amen.
During August and September we are doing a sermon series at church on the Psalms, the collection of Hebrew poems compiled over a period of some 1000 years and written by more than 12 different authors. The following is taken from the sermon I preached yesterday:
Today’s psalm, Psalm 27, is credited to King David, who probably did write the majority of the psalms. Psalm 27 was written against a background of great danger. David may have been writing in response to persecution from Saul or from his son Absalom; he was obviously under the threat of enemies, but they remain unspecified here in this psalm. Whatever it was, it was certainly a nerve-wracking and hostile time.
If you’ve ever been in a situation where you were really afraid – for your job, financial security, your health, your personal safety or the safety of loved ones, for your freedom, or for your life... you will know the debilitating effect of fear. Whatever your present situation, the reality of life is that everyone eventually will experience some kind of trouble and distress. In our Psalm, David meets his fears head on and defies them with the strength of his faith.
In the midst of distress, David begins Psalm 27 with an affirmation of the depth of his faith and his confidence in God:
The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?
David’s courage and assurance comes from his security in the Lord. God was his light – guiding him; God was his salvation – delivering him; God was his stronghold –protecting him. The questions, ‘whom should I fear’ and ‘of whom should I be afraid’ are rhetorical, like the questions posed by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans in chapter 8: ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ ‘Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?’ ‘It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?’ ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
As Christians we strive to adopt Paul’s attitude and David’s attitude - to have confidence in God and not be afraid, and we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit, as we cannot do this in our own strength.
One Christian who was greatly strengthened and consoled by Psalm 27 was James Hannington, the Anglican missionary to Uganda who became bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. In 1885, he was imprisoned and soon after, martyred. Now he’s a Saint with a capital ‘S’, but on the day before he died a martyr’s death under horrible circumstances, in his journal this St. James declared that in the midst of being ‘broken down and brought low’, he was comforted by Psalm 27.
None of us are likely to be in the same position that James Hannington was in when he endured a martyr’s death. But still, God cares for us in our relatively smaller trials of life. Sometimes when we feel like life has become a daily battle, we can forget this truth. We might think that our concerns and suffering isn’t that important in comparison with some of the problems other people have in the world today. But we mustn’t belittle the smaller trials and fears we all encounter in life, because each individual person matters to God – even the very hairs on our heads have been numbered! Our good shepherd seeks out and cares for the one lost sheep. So please don’t ever think that your problems or fears are too small for God to attend to.
These days we have fears of many kinds: for the safety of our children or grandchildren, because of violence and terrorism; or we fear our declining health or our declining wealth, and whether or not this planet can endure all the abuse we are putting it through. In the face of threatening times, David proclaims in Psalm 27 that he wants one thing over all; that is, he wants to stay close to God.
Like the Teacher in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, David has tried everything – work, pleasure, money – and none satisfy. But whereas the Teacher in Ecclesiastes resolves the seeming futility of everything with cynicism, David in Ps. 27 concludes that the only satisfying resolution is communion with God. It is God who makes us safe, and knowing this leads David to confident praise.
Of course, this confidence does not eliminate all trouble from life, and a deep faith should not lead to a denial of reality. This psalm has been set in a context in which troubles are acknowledged. And this leads David into the pleading prayer of verses 7-12: Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful, and answer me... Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger... David knows he is unworthy, but his hope lies in God’s mercy, not on the basis of his own moral behaviour. This gives us all hope, as we all fall short of the glory of God.
David’s heart is soft and his soul is open to transformation by God as he pleads: ‘Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path’. We, too, need to be teachable and open to the leading of God’s Spirit. We, too, can have confidence as we call on God for mercy, for his guidance, and for liberation from that which causes us to be afraid.
The psalm concludes with a return to confidence; David’s complaint was real, but it’s powerfully contained in the trust before and after. The final verse is a deep encouragement: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord. David is fully confident that with the Lord as his light, his salvation, and his stronghold, he will see the goodness of the Lord in the here and now – ‘in the land of the living’.
This psalm has a universal resonance with people, because we all go through tough times. And through this psalm we are reminded of the assurance we have through confidence in God. The great gift of the psalms as a whole is that through various times and seasons of our lives we will be able to identify with at least one (and probably more) of the 150 psalms. And in the case of Psalm 27 and many others, as we seek the face of our Lord in the midst of the fearful trials of life, we can allow the psalmist’s words to console us, to strengthen us, and to lift us up. Amen.
Sunday, 18 July 2010
R & R
On holiday for a bit with family over from the States. Yippee!
Really in need of the break. No posts for a wee while...
Sunday, 4 July 2010
Sowing and reaping
“Peace to this house”! “The kingdom of God is near you”! These are the two simple messages that Jesus sends out the 72 disciples to proclaim (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20). Jesus has ‘set his face to go to Jerusalem,’ and tells his fellow-travellers that the journey requires their single-minded purpose. He sends the 72 ahead of him after preparing them for what lies ahead - the labourers are few and the risks are great. Jesus sends them in pairs with no provisions for the journey. No conversing with those they meet on the road. They will depend on the hospitality of strangers. He tells them to move on if a town does not welcome them, with a sign of judgment against that place. Those who would call themselves disciples of Jesus Christ today do well to consider both the simplicity and the challenge of this mission and message.
Try to envision yourself as one of the 72. What would be the most challenging thing about this journey? Having to ‘Eat whatever is set before you’? Fussy eaters might have difficulty with this. Being told not to take any money even for emergencies; no change of clothes, and no snacks! Those of us who go on holiday packing everything but the kitchen sink might feel a bit anxious about that! How about having to depend on strangers for food and lodging; or not being able to choose your travelling partner; or wiping off the dust and walking away from people who did not accept the message? Simple message, difficult challenges!
If our message could be boiled down to just two things, it would be to proclaim ‘peace’ and ‘the kingdom of God’ that is so very near to us. As God’s people, this peace already resides in our hearts. But we don’t always sense this, because there are elements of our lives that we struggle mightily with; things that keep us from experiencing the peace of Christ. We’re all too familiar with the many forms of gluttony and greed, pride and envy, lust, hatred, and despair. We’re working against the tide of the coming kingdom of God when we nurture these elements. And we don’t fully experience the peace of Christ when we cultivate these sins.
In our first reading from the letter to the Galatians, Paul tells the disciples there, and by extension he is telling us, that when we feed the sinful desires that are ultimately harmful to ourselves and to other people, we are sowing to please our sinful nature. Then, says Paul, we reap destruction in our lives – and in so doing, we reject the peace that God gives to us. But even St. Paul had this inner conflict and struggle which is part of the human condition. He describes this well in Romans 7 where he says: ‘21When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!’
Our strength comes from the Lord, whose Spirit helps us to overcome. And when we ‘sow to please the Spirit’, then from the Spirit we reap eternal life and peace. How are we helped in this? Paul gives us an answer in verse 2 of Galatians 6 when he pleads with us to ‘carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ’.
Similarly, the apostle James says in his letter to the new church in Jerusalem, and by extension he is saying to us, ‘confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed’. God has given to us, his church, ‘the ministry of reconciliation’ and it’s to enable our healing.
I recently went on a day course for curates about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, otherwise known as Confession. Unlike in the Roman Catholic church, the Anglican edict is not that we must formally confess our sins to a priest, but that all may, some should, and none must. On the course, we were shown an example service for the Act of Repentance and Reconciliation which comes out of the Methodist Worship Book, and after the absolution the minister ends the act most powerfully with the words: ‘Go in peace, pray for me, a sinner, and remember the mercy of God. Amen.’ This acknowledges that we are all sinners - it's one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread - it's the bread of life that gives us the hope of peace. That hope of peace rests on the promised mercy of God and our life within the body of Christ – and it is borne out when we experience the ministry of Christ through one another.
It sounds simple, but it isn’t easy. The difficult challenge to each one of us here is to be open with one another, to be humble and to be vulnerable, and to share our lives. This is the counter-cultural way of living that speaks against everything we hold dear; and especially in this age of individualism and when our culture imparts a high value to the superficial image, seeking temporal perfection. But we have the hope of Christ within us, and we must trust that even when we wrestle with God, or are struggling with sin, Jesus is faithful to us.
Being a disciple of Jesus comes with a cost. It’s up to us, as members of his church, to be the disciples that go out and transform the world in the Lord’s name. Jesus wants us to rely on him, and to be faithful to him. It’s only by his Spirit that we’re enabled to do this. As St. Paul says in our Galatians reading, ‘14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...’ We must not boast in our own achievements, we should only boast in the cross of Christ. It’s not for our glory, but for the Glory of God.
The glory of God is a human being fully alive – what counts is a new creation - the reconciled humanity of Jesus Christ and the community of new relationships that is His body.
We are to form a radically different community, living in equality and in loving service in Christ. In Galatians, Paul speaks of following Christ in terms of our relationships with one another: correcting each other and sharing burdens, taking responsibility and doing good for all. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus sends out his disciples to share the message of God’s peace and the nearness of his kingdom. The labourers are few because we are all distracted by other things.
When the disciples return from the mission field boasting that the demons submitted to them, Jesus leads them not to focus on their own achievements, but on the ultimate demon-conquering, peace-giving and love-sharing achievement of his death on the cross. Let us boast in nothing else. And let us rejoice that our names are written in heaven. Glory be to God... and peace be to this house. Amen.
Try to envision yourself as one of the 72. What would be the most challenging thing about this journey? Having to ‘Eat whatever is set before you’? Fussy eaters might have difficulty with this. Being told not to take any money even for emergencies; no change of clothes, and no snacks! Those of us who go on holiday packing everything but the kitchen sink might feel a bit anxious about that! How about having to depend on strangers for food and lodging; or not being able to choose your travelling partner; or wiping off the dust and walking away from people who did not accept the message? Simple message, difficult challenges!
If our message could be boiled down to just two things, it would be to proclaim ‘peace’ and ‘the kingdom of God’ that is so very near to us. As God’s people, this peace already resides in our hearts. But we don’t always sense this, because there are elements of our lives that we struggle mightily with; things that keep us from experiencing the peace of Christ. We’re all too familiar with the many forms of gluttony and greed, pride and envy, lust, hatred, and despair. We’re working against the tide of the coming kingdom of God when we nurture these elements. And we don’t fully experience the peace of Christ when we cultivate these sins.
In our first reading from the letter to the Galatians, Paul tells the disciples there, and by extension he is telling us, that when we feed the sinful desires that are ultimately harmful to ourselves and to other people, we are sowing to please our sinful nature. Then, says Paul, we reap destruction in our lives – and in so doing, we reject the peace that God gives to us. But even St. Paul had this inner conflict and struggle which is part of the human condition. He describes this well in Romans 7 where he says: ‘21When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!’
Our strength comes from the Lord, whose Spirit helps us to overcome. And when we ‘sow to please the Spirit’, then from the Spirit we reap eternal life and peace. How are we helped in this? Paul gives us an answer in verse 2 of Galatians 6 when he pleads with us to ‘carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ’.
Similarly, the apostle James says in his letter to the new church in Jerusalem, and by extension he is saying to us, ‘confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed’. God has given to us, his church, ‘the ministry of reconciliation’ and it’s to enable our healing.
I recently went on a day course for curates about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, otherwise known as Confession. Unlike in the Roman Catholic church, the Anglican edict is not that we must formally confess our sins to a priest, but that all may, some should, and none must. On the course, we were shown an example service for the Act of Repentance and Reconciliation which comes out of the Methodist Worship Book, and after the absolution the minister ends the act most powerfully with the words: ‘Go in peace, pray for me, a sinner, and remember the mercy of God. Amen.’ This acknowledges that we are all sinners - it's one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread - it's the bread of life that gives us the hope of peace. That hope of peace rests on the promised mercy of God and our life within the body of Christ – and it is borne out when we experience the ministry of Christ through one another.
It sounds simple, but it isn’t easy. The difficult challenge to each one of us here is to be open with one another, to be humble and to be vulnerable, and to share our lives. This is the counter-cultural way of living that speaks against everything we hold dear; and especially in this age of individualism and when our culture imparts a high value to the superficial image, seeking temporal perfection. But we have the hope of Christ within us, and we must trust that even when we wrestle with God, or are struggling with sin, Jesus is faithful to us.
Being a disciple of Jesus comes with a cost. It’s up to us, as members of his church, to be the disciples that go out and transform the world in the Lord’s name. Jesus wants us to rely on him, and to be faithful to him. It’s only by his Spirit that we’re enabled to do this. As St. Paul says in our Galatians reading, ‘14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...’ We must not boast in our own achievements, we should only boast in the cross of Christ. It’s not for our glory, but for the Glory of God.
The glory of God is a human being fully alive – what counts is a new creation - the reconciled humanity of Jesus Christ and the community of new relationships that is His body.
We are to form a radically different community, living in equality and in loving service in Christ. In Galatians, Paul speaks of following Christ in terms of our relationships with one another: correcting each other and sharing burdens, taking responsibility and doing good for all. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus sends out his disciples to share the message of God’s peace and the nearness of his kingdom. The labourers are few because we are all distracted by other things.
When the disciples return from the mission field boasting that the demons submitted to them, Jesus leads them not to focus on their own achievements, but on the ultimate demon-conquering, peace-giving and love-sharing achievement of his death on the cross. Let us boast in nothing else. And let us rejoice that our names are written in heaven. Glory be to God... and peace be to this house. Amen.
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