C, The Epiphany of our Lord - Matthew 2:1-12 "Worship God in a Trough?"

Matthew 2:1–12 (ESV) Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,  saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;  and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:  “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”  Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”  After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.  And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Watching kids play when they are little, they so easily roll around on the ground, get up, run around, and in an instant drop back down on the ground with little to no effect. 

As one gets older, the prospect of getting down on the ground is somewhat more troubling.  Getting down is usually okay, but it takes more effort to rise up again, and stand on one’s own feet.  Grandparents trying to keep up with toddler grandchildren, know all too well, it takes them more time to regain vertical stability than it does for their energetic grandchildren.

There is also the very real danger of falling when one gets older.  Both the fall and the inability to get up, can cause physical injury as well as mental trauma if there is no one around to help.  As one gets older, one tries not to overdo things, too much, to lessen the chance of a fall.

However, falling down is exactly the language of paying homage or worshipping.  A number of different words are used to describe what we in English would say is “to worship”.  Here at the start of Matthew’s Gospel, to worship, is a word of submission.  Literally, it paints a picture, of making oneself lower than the person you are worshipping.

Another good picture is that of a dog being submissive to its owner, or the leader of the pack.  In fact, the word for worship here uses the Greek word for dog, kuon (pronounced Koo -ohn).  One who has the picture in their mind of a dog crouching and licking the hand of the person it is trying to please has a good picture of what it is to worship.

Another good picture of worship is that of one who falls down and kisses the feet of those to whom they submit.  When the wise men came to worship the new king to which the star had led them, on seeing Jesus with Mary with the Christ child they fell down and worshipped him.

Herod, on the other hand, said he wished to worship Jesus in the same way.  But proved otherwise, when he sought to kill Jesus, by murdering the baby boys of Bethlehem.  He slaughtered them and cast them down in the dirt, so he would remain top dog, so to speak!

Incidentally, the slaughter of the male infants of Bethlehem is commemorated on December 28 as Holy Innocents Day on the church calendar.  Although it is not a pleasant story, it ties death to the birth of Jesus Christ.  It shows the fallenness and corruption into which the innocent child Jesus was born and struggled.  We are reminded of the innocence by which he was led to the slaughter on the cross because our fallenness, corruption, and experience of sin put him there.

Today we focus on the celebration of the Epiphany.  Epiphany rounds out the twelve days of Christmas and is traditionally celebrated on January 6.  It’s a continuation of the Christmas season but holds at its centre, Jesus being revealed as the Son of God, the King of Kings.  The wise men, traditionally kings and astrologers from the east, seek to fall down before this child as the king of the Jews.

Now that Jesus has been revealed as the baby boy born in Bethlehem, the first and last Sunday after Epiphany are revelations of Jesus being the Son of God.  Literally Epiphany means “to reveal”. And the first Sunday after the Epiphany is Jesus’ baptism where God declares that Jesus is his Son with whom he is well please (Luke 3:22).  

And similarly on the last Sunday of Epiphany, just before Ash Wednesday and Lent, is Transfiguration Sunday, where on the mountain of transfiguration the curtain of invisibility is drawn back.  The three disciples see Jesus in all his heavenly radiant glory, together with Moses and Elijah.  God again says, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35)

In between these two revelations of the Epiphany season, Jesus’ divinity is revealed through the accounts of his miracles, his proclamation as the fulfilment of Old Testament Scripture, the Law, and his rejection by the people of Nazareth.

Incidentally, Matthew uses the same worship language, of bowing down and licking the earth like a dog, when the devil tries to tempt Jesus to worship him, on the false promise of receiving the kingdoms of the earth and all their glory.  To which Jesus says to him, “Be gone, Satan!  For it is written,  ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” (Matthew 4:10 ESV)

As you age and lose the ability to fall on the floor and instantly jump back up as children do.  As the fear of falling down grows, not being able to get up, with the very real possibility of being left for dead.  You are called to ponder the mystery of this child laying in the manger as the one revealed to be the King of Creation, weak and unable to get up.  Who needs to be fed, and have his toileting attended to, as you did in infancy and might again need to have done in all humility as you age!

You are called to ponder the calculating ruthlessness of Herod and his unwillingness to fall down before anyone, remembering how we too sin with calculating ruthlessness.  Especially, as you age and God challenges your pride, seeking to remove all the idols from your life.

Ponder the Son of God lying in a food stall, and your embarrassment if you were the wise ones coming to worship this King of the Jews.  Would you fall down in manure of the cattle and sheep yards to submit to a God in a trough?    

You have all had victories in this life!  Regardless of what they were, even having the smallest triumph taken away by the loss of physical ability or reason, reveals not the starry height of our abilities and successes, but the truth of our inability.  This truth and reality is death!  We have no power to stop it!  It’s the highest hurdle and the greatest cross to bear in this life!

But in our aging and decline, and the growing knowledge and reality of lying down and licking the hand of death.  Ponder Jesus!  

Jesus was born for the single purpose to die!  Who despite being the Son of God, willingly set his face towards Jerusalem, knowing full well he would be laid down in death after being lifted up on the cross, and crowned the King of Kings! 

Why does he do this?  Because he came to right the wrong of humanity’s calculating ruthlessness!

He came and submitted to us in death to save us from death! 

He came to be the King of the Jews and the Gentiles, at his coronation on the cross, lifted up on the throne, as an embarrassment to the Jews, and us Gentiles. 

He came to lie down in death, so that when you fall down in death, he, having also licked the dirt like a dog in death, will pick you up in life forevermore. 

Therefore, worship God in the sweetest submission! 

Submit to him in hope, peace, joy, and love! 

Know God wins in death because he won in Jesus’ death and resurrection!

See Jesus’ submission to God the Father, and to you!  He came down and was born as a baby, he lay down in the manger, he lay down in submission to death for your sin, he descended into hell, so you and I have the right to be the children of God. 

You can worship and praise God with all the energy as that of God’s little child, knowing that you now live in the mystery of eternal life without the consequences of sin and knowing Jesus will lift you up from your manger of death.  Amen.

C, Christmas 1 - Luke 2:41-52 "In the Father's House"

Luke 2:41–52 (ESV) Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.  And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.  And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,  but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances,  and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.  After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”  And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.  And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.  And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man.

Losing a child would have to be one of the scariest things a parent could experience.  Even if a child is lost for a short length of time, it can make a parent fear the worst.  Imagine losing a child for a number of days and how the mind would race over all the evil possibilities.  Think of families who have lost children mysteriously, never to see them again.  And to the relief of those who take their child back into their arms after being missing and feared dead.

Picture Mary and Joseph racing around in confusion after realising they had lost Jesus.  And after returning to Jerusalem, looking for three days before they found him.  They, like any parent, would have been fearing the worst while Jesus was missing.

But Jesus was not missing, and he adds to his parents’ confusion when they find him sitting amongst the teachers in the temple.   For three days they were taunted and tortured, churning in a wish wash of emotions, then they find him completely at peace.  Mary and Joseph were beside themselves in distress and astonishment. 

How would you react having lost your child only to find them completely unconcerned by the three-day separation?

We might try to attribute blame to Mary and Joseph for not providing a safe place for Jesus. Especially, since they had gone a day’s journey and not noticed he was missing.  Despite not knowing exactly what had occurred, it was custom for travellers to move in a group, and somehow Jesus was overlooked amongst their family and friends.  Nevertheless, Jesus was in the safest of places, in his Heavenly Father’s presence. 

Rewind back to the Garden of Eden, where God is walking in the cool of the evening, looking for Adam and Eve.  This is a very different picture; God is neither confused nor distressed.  However, Adam and Eve, unlike Jesus were distressed and afraid and hid themselves from God.

Two very different images; one, of a boy happily at rest in God’s presence, and the other, a couple guiltily hiding and covering themselves in shame.  One, parents frantically looking for a son, and the other, the Father of Creation walking in the cool of the evening looking for his first-created son and daughter.

Jesus Christ is the new Adam, born into humanity as the son of man and as the Son of God.  There was no guilt in him when he was found.  He responds to Mary’s distress and rebuke, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49 ESV)

Literally, Jesus says, why were you seeking me?  Why were you worshipping me with worry?  I was in the things of my Father!  Unlike Adam and Eve acting like two guilty kids caught in the act, Jesus was not into mischief with his Father’s things.  He was not hiding from them, nor was he turning his back on his Father, as did Adam and Eve when tempted by the devil, and left cowering in naked shame when God came looking for them.   

There are two different outcomes from these two events.  Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden and lived under the curse of sin in the productivity of their environment and humanity’s reproduction.  But Jesus went back to the destitute village of Nazareth in full submission to his parents.

We hear, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:52 ESV)

As Jesus grew up, he increased in wisdom and in favour as the Son of God and as the son of man.  He not only grew in favour with God, but he also grew in favour as the Son of God.  Here we can picture Jesus’ submission in a whole different light than that of our human submission.  

We best get an understanding of his submission when we consider how we react when we are treated without respect or if we are treated like children or as inferior.  When we perceive we are being treated with contempt, we want to snap back at the condescender, to regain our position.  Jesus too would have been sinned against as a youth and as a young man by his family and friends.

But, as Jesus grew in wisdom, of humanity’s sin and his divinity, his wisdom grew in levels of generosity and steadfast love towards both God the Father, and compassion and steadfast love towards the sinfulness of his Father Joseph and his family.  And indeed, all of his brothers and sisters in the family of Adam.

This is the man from Nazareth who returned to Jerusalem in full submission to God and man as Son of God and Son of Man.  Jesus’ wisdom and favour seemed to be dashed at Jerusalem when on returning on Palm Sunday in victory riding on a donkey, within the week was cursed by the crowd and hung on the cross.

For Jesus’ wisdom we can be truly thankful.  As God’s children we are called into the wisdom and stature of Jesus Christ.  As we grow, we are called to a deeper understanding of our sin and our need for forgiveness and the need to forgive others.

We are called to be like the growing Jesus of Nazareth as we learn of our Sonship though our adoption as God’s children.  Because Jesus grew in wisdom, we are free to grow in his holy chosen and beloved character. 

Because we are saved sinner we can put on love, that is; put on Christ Jesus.  We are free to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Just as Jesus was all these things in wisdom as he carried your sin to the cross with the sin of the world.

When you struggle to put on Jesus, pray for the Holy Spirit to clothe you in Jesus Christ.  Pray for deliverance into holiness, being led from temptation into God’s Kingdom, and the will to forgive as God has forgiven you.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you Jesus as your daily bread, giving you the hunger to worship in your Father’s house.

We no longer have to hide in fear of God, like Adam and Eve.  Nor, like Joseph and Mary, do we have to go searching for him in great distress.  As forgiven sinners, God now temples in us, now we are free to clothe ourselves in him.  Amen.

Come Lord Jesus and be our guest, you are our holy bread, and we pray that through your Word and your church, the world may be clothed and fed.  Amen.  

C, Christmas Day - The Birth of our Lord - Isaiah 9:2-7 "The Paradox of God"

Isaiah 9:2–7 (ESV) The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.  You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.  For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.  For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

A paradox is a contradiction that is true.  A paradox may seem absurd or silly but beneath the contradiction of terms, a paradox is real and very functional.  Because of the inconsistency, a paradox is cloaked in mystery and it either captures one’s intrigue or it is outrightly rejected as nonsense.

Biblical examples of paradox are —

FINDING and LOSING – Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  (Matthew 10:39 ESV)

LIVING and DYING – Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  (John 12:24 ESV)

GAINING and LOSING – But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ… (Philippians 3:7–8 ESV)

FREEDOM and SLAVERY – …and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.  (Romans 6:18 ESV)

RECEIVING and GIVING – …remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”(Acts 20:35b ESV)

STRENGTH and WEAKNESS – For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV)

EXALTATION and HUMILITY – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.  (James 4:10 ESV)

On the other hand, our generation is teaching the next generation three things that seem good and wholesome but are actually very damaging to our ability to cope and survive in the world.

First, instead of being taught, “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.  What is being taught is, “damage is permanent, and it doesn’t make one stronger”.  By wrapping ourselves and those we love in cotton wool, we are becoming less resilient and durable, mentally, physically, and socially. 

The cliché, “if you don’t use it, you lose it” is especially true of our bones and muscles, and if your immune system is not bashed around and tested it becomes less protected.  That is why getting sick or being immunised against sickness with a safely treated dose of the sickness are two ways of becoming immune against the sickness.

The second damaging truth we are taught is to trust our feelings.  When we do this, we end up trusting our perception of the world and not the reality of the world.  This happens on two levels.  Either, humanly, as a psychological reality, or spiritually, as God sees the world and us.  The more humanity trusts its feelings the more depressed it becomes!  The doctrine to trust one’s feelings is damaging us, and mental health illnesses are skyrocketing, for Christians and non-Christians alike!

The third thing we are taught as truth that isn’t, is there are good people and bad people.  Psychologists, and Christians living under the theology of the cross, agree this is wrong, but for different reasons.  Unbelieving psychologists say we evolved as tribal people to compete for survival, and in a positive way we are drawn to competition in things like sport and fun activities, but negatively humanity seeks to dominate and exterminate those they deem inferior, or unevolved and sub-human.

Unfortunately, the church has been very damaging on furthering “the good people, bad people” myth too.  Either we are indoctrinated with the absurdity that I am good, and they are bad.  Or, I am bad, and they are good.  Or even a third unreality that we are all good. 

The problem here is, “who decides on what the benchmark is for what is good and what is bad?”  The reality of God is he created humanity for holiness, but we all have chosen evil instead.  At the heart of the matter, this evil occurs when we dictate what is good and what is bad, instead of God!

Jesus was born into our “good people, bad people, strength and feelings obsessed” so-called reality!  He gave up his divinity and became enfleshed in the mess of human confusion and chaos.  Jesus Christ is the Paradox of God sent to show what humanity trusts, what you and I trust, to be far from healthy.  He is the goodness and holiness of God born to mop up the mess of our badness and evil that causes death.

Jesus was sent by God to be the way, the truth, and the life for humanity.  For Jesus’ birth and life to make any sense in our lives, his life must be held together with his death, so we can have hope, peace, joy, and to know and receive love, in our life and death. The paradox of God takes death and through Jesus’ death gives believers life.

The church and those who hold onto the teaching of the cross, hold onto the Paradox of God. 

The weakness of the manger used to hold a baby who is God Almighty and the prince of peace. 

The Author of Life is born as the written Word of God in flesh. 

In the darkness of night and before the impossibility of the Shepherds to have an audience with God, God’s heavenly choir sings glory to God in the highest on earth peace amongst those with whom he is please.  And the Shepherds witness the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world, and rise to be the Shepherd of Humanity.

Jesus is the Paradox of God!  And he is the paradoxical God who was born for you!  He was born for those whose way has been twisted by the ways of the world.  His truth is the only truth that’s victorious over the reality of death.  And his life of perfection, is the life of holiness in which you are called to clothe yourself, to cover your sinful nature and the sinful things you do.   

In Isaiah chapter nine we hear, “For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.”  (Isaiah 9:4 ESV)  And yet the yoke of burden was broken by him bearing the yoke of the cross.  Our yoke of burden was broken by him taking our yoke upon himself.

Even the reference to Midian is a reference to paradox.  Gideon who saw himself as weak but through the Lord was a great judge of Israel.  He was a man of doubt testing God not just once but twice through putting out a fleece for God to cover with due when there was not due on the ground and then the next evening to keep it dry when the night air was thick with due.  And Gideon was the Judge who overcame Midian, when God reduced the power of his army to three hundred men who overcame them with trumpets and smashing clay jars.

The throne of David has long ended, the temple in Jerusalem was torn down in 70 AD.  But in this child God is with us, the whole divinity of God dwells and temples in us.  God wins through the Christ child! 

Hear Isaiah’s “victory of God” prophecy, in this child who is Mighty God, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”  (Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV)

Let Jesus Christ, of the manger and the cross, continue winning for you, making you his holy saints, confessing sinners, forgiven humans, being covered with the robes of Jesus righteousness, in his eternal winning kingdom forevermore. 

Let the zeal of God do this for you!  Amen.

C, Advent 4 - Hebrews 10:5-7,10 "God's Mighty Arms"

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”   And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  (Hebrews 10:5–7,10 ESV)

These are the strengths of God in our lives: For Jesus to save us, and the Holy Spirit to help us!

From his mighty arms he gives us all we need in this life.  Salvation and sanctification are two arms of love outstretched toward us, from the Father of light, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  For God to save us and make us holy, is his will for all people on earth.  God’s will is your forgiveness of sin, and his will is for you to believe you are forgiven.

Not only is salvation through Jesus and being made holy by the Holy Spirit, God’s strength in our lives; it also pleases God when we take every opportunity to immerse ourselves in his salvation and holiness. 

When we do this, it’s a “win win” situation for us.  When one is immersed in salvation and holiness, God the Father is justified in his power and plan, and we are forgiven.  This forgiveness comes through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of his Son, Jesus Christ.  And the Holy Spirit continues bringing forgiveness, first at Pentecost, then through the Word of God and through baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection and through his body and blood in the bread and wine.

When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “your will be done”, it pleases God no end, to hinder and defeat every evil scheme and purpose of the world, the devil, and the old Adam within us.  In fact, when God’s will is done in heaven, he forgives us, sin is conquered by Jesus in his death and resurrection. He has victoriously ascended to the right hand of God the Father, finishing our separation from our Father in heaven.  Jesus now stands as the embodiment of the resurrection as the first born from the dead for all people who trust in him.  This includes you and me!

Although God’s will is done in heaven by God forgiving us our sin, and the devil has been conquered and thrown out of God’s presence, the devil still has limited power on earth.  And because of this, God’s will continues to be done on earth.

This makes earth the testing ground for humanity, where within each of us the battle rages between the will of God and the will of fallen humanity.  With his plan and power of salvation and holiness, God seeks to work forgiveness and good will as we live together.  Yet, the old Adam within each of us struggles to dominate with its knowledge of good and evil, driven by the devil.  And the devil is delirious and riddled with rage because he knows he is judged and is heading for eternal destruction with limited time left to deceive the world.

However, the contest between the devil and God is unbalanced.  God is not going to lose.  He is going to win, and it pleases him when we choose to remain with him.  It’s no wonder evil causes so much fury within those who desire to be in control and do not want to be delivered from evil by God into eternal holiness.

Not only is the devil on the losing side and is limited for a brief time in the restricted realm of creation amongst humanity, but he can only be in one place at one time.  On the other hand, God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent.  This means God is present everywhere, he knows all things and he is all-powerful.  And the devil is not, nor is humanity, nor is the old Adam within each of us.

Furthermore, this evil axis of the devil, the world, and our sinful self, is up against the three-fold divinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere in creation and outside of it.

Since God’s will is done in heaven, we know it is done on earth.  Jesus is at the right hand of the Father doing his work of interceding on behalf of you and me.  The Holy Spirit is at the left hand of the Father being our help, giving us the words to pray and leading us into knowledge of our sin and salvation in God’s Word.  The Holy Spirit also brings us into fellowship with the Father through Jesus Christ and with each other.

The good news for you and me is that the Triune God embraces all who trust in him with the steadfast love of salvation, intercession, and holy help.  And this pleases God when we allow him to love us with his Trinitarian holy hug.

Mary says of God, “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.” (Luke 1:49–54 ESV)

Mary declares God’s love as an embrace of mercy.  Mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation… in remembrance of his mercy.  In his mercy, he helps, fills, and exalts those who look to him.  But dismisses those who won’t receive his mercy, but rather, trust in their thoughts, thrones, and treasures.

But, our thoughts, our thrones, and our treasures all come from God in the first place!  It doesn’t please God when we trust in them instead of him.  Nor does it please him if we give him what he first gave us as a sacrifice for our salvation. 

Both trusting, in what God has given us, and, giving it back to him, is a feeble attempt to justify the human spirit, the old Adam within or the collective spirituality of worldly humanity.  And it’s a deception of the devil seeking to have us believe we can deliver ourselves out of evil into the holiness of God by doing such things!

But God has a Mighty Righthand Man praying for us.  Jesus Christ is the almighty power of God’s right hand!  God has fought and won the battle with the strength of Jesus’ love, faithfulness, and submission unto death.  And even despite God giving the knockout punch to sin and death in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Father and the Son to help us, and deal with the human spirit with which the old Adam seeks to control and deliver us into self-destruction and death.

God’s will for you is to give you life, today and into eternity!  Psalm 80 testifies to God’s righthand man, the son of man, Jesus Christ, who is made strong for God’s good pleasure, for our salvation, and for goodwill amongst humanity. 

Yet, in our existence it might not always be apparent that God’s will for you is to give you life.  In fact, most of the time it appears God has delivered us over to death and decay.  

Similarly, when you look at Jesus’ ordinary entrance into the world, his life of struggle and opposition received, it looks like Jesus was not God’s righthand man.  That God had left him to die and decay also. 

Still, as Jesus stared death in the face, as the cross and crucifixion awaited him, he was faithful and steadfast towards God’s will, which is your forgiveness.

You too are called to faithfulness and steadfastness, despite what might appear as if you have been left for dead.  But just as Jesus was raised, you too are called to see your resurrection in Jesus’ resurrection.  It pleases God when you see and hear his plan for your salvation fulfilled in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

For God to give you life, he needs to show you darkness, destruction, and death within yourself, so you might willingly receive his restoration and let his face shine on your darkness so you might be saved. 

Hear Psalm 80… But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!  Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name!  Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!  Let your face shine, that we may be saved!  (Psalm 80:17–19 ESV)

Jesus now shepherds you in his forgiveness.  His face shines on you in his good pleasure.  But it also shines in the darkness to show the way of peace.  Jesus, together with the Father, sends the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you remain within his boundaries and to live, the life he won for you, in peace. 

God promises Jesus will shepherd you in his church.  The prophet Micah declares on God’s behalf, “And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.  And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.  And he shall be their peace.” (Micah 5:4–5a ESV)

In God’s mighty arms there is peace and love, to the ends of the earth.  Amen.

C, Advent 3 - Zephaniah 3:14–20 "On that Day, At that Time"

Zephaniah 3:14–20 (ESV) Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.  On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.  The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.  I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.  Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.  At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

On that day, at that time, God has made a promise to you. 

What is the promise?  What is the time?  What is the day?

Zephaniah announced these things, to Judah and Jerusalem, when the Assyrians had been the dominant force in the world.  The northern kingdom of Israel had long been carried off by the Assyrians into captivity.  Israel and their kings no longer existed. 

Judah and Jerusalem with all other nations were under oppression from their captors.  So powerful were the Assyrians they had captured southern centres far into the interior of Egypt.  Under their influence, King Manasseh, and then his son, King Amon, led Judah in practises of shameful proportions.  Child sacrifice, fortune telling, mediums and talking with the dead were commonplace along with Baal and Asherah worship.

These were the darkest of times for Judah.  The twelve tribes of Israel were all but gone.  God promised to act, on that day, at that time!  On God’s behalf, Zephaniah announces judgement on Judah and the king for what they had done.

And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice — “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire.  On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’  Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” (Zephaniah 1: 8–9, 12–13 ESV)

The people of Judah responded against the violence, blood, and sins of King Manasseh and his succeeding son, King Amon.  King Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed him and place Josiah on the throne of Judah at the tender age of eight.  This boy king reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem in a renaissance of peace, rebuilding the temple and the worship life of Jerusalem.

Zephaniah prophecies not just the restoration of Jerusalem and Judah but he promises the renewal of Israel. He says, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!”(Zephaniah 3:14 ESV)

At that time, God overthrew the Assyrian empire by the hand of the Babylonians.  However, the peace of Judah was not to survive, and the Jews were exiled to Babylon for seventy years.   In Psalm one hundred and thirty-seven we hear of the bitter anguish of God’s people struggling under God’s judgement.

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!  Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!  O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! (Psalm 137:1,4-6, 8-9 ESV)

Zephaniah’s prophecy stood partially fulfilled and stayed that way till the coming of Christ Jesus some five hundred plus years later. On that day, at that time, God fulfilled the prophecy of Zephaniah.

Yet, on this day at this time, we seem to be in the same predicament as that of the Jews.  Apathy and testing on a global scale are fragmenting God’s people into fault and failure.

Many are departing from the faith because God seems to be not conforming to their day, and he seems to have not acted in their time.  Am I guilty, are you guilty, are we culpable for seeking to nail God to our time frame?

Equally, we in the church have forced others out, through our judgement, because they have not conformed in our day, and at the time, of our desires and expectations.  Are you and I called to repentance for not allowing God to work in his day and in his time?

And with our idols of expectation, how are we using ourselves, our times, and our possessions in the service of furthering God’s kingdom as we wait for the return of our Saviour?  I fail dismally, just as the Jews failed, and as we all do in God’s church.

It is the day, and it is the time, to weep and repent because many of God’s baptised children are choosing not to remember Zion!  Are you one of them?  Is God no longer your highest joy?  Would you rather bless and weep over Babylon and her little ones, rather than remember Jerusalem?

In that day, at that time, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9 ESV)

And of the Christ, John the Baptist prophesies, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:17 ESV)

So, what does that mean for us in this day, at this time?  What does this mean for your guilt or for your lack of it?

On that day, at that time, you were baptised into the Holy Spirit and the fire of Jesus’ baptism, perfect life, death, descent into hell, and resurrection from death and the grave. On this day, at this time, believe your guilt is forgiven!

The crowd, the tax collectors, and the soldiers, at the hearing of John the Baptist, were cut by his words and asked, “What then are we to do?”  Your guilt or a disturbing lack of it might make you ask the same. 

The answer is given by Jesus himself, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  Then they (the crowd) said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:27–29 ESV)

And he also says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16 ESV)

On that day, at that time, Jesus has come, and he will come again.  On that day, at that time, he has given you the Holy Spirit in baptism.  On that day, at that time, you were baptised into three pm Good Friday and are baptised into your Easter Sunday resurrection from the dead.  But you also have been baptised into eternal life with Jesus that continues on this day and at this time.

Despite all the difficulties, even though we struggle to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, we wait for the day and the time of Jesus coming to take us home.  On that day, at that time, God’s eternal love will be completely realised.  Let his love of forgiveness, quieten you now on this day, at this time!  

“On this day at this time, the LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.” The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.” (Zephaniah 3:15 ESV)

In confession and absolution, we say or sing, “I will confess my sins to the Lord.  Then he forgave the guilt of my sin.”

So, let us confess! Then, let us believe! God is forgiving our iniquities and will remember our sin no more! (Jeremiah 31:34 ESV)

Let God clear the enemy from within you.  Your old Adam, and his human spirit, your human spirit, is your greatest enemy.  Christ has conquered him though!  And has removed all judgements and blame against you. 

Therefore, as Paul says to the Philippians, I say to you, on this day, at this time, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” That is, let the reflection of Jesus, from within you, be known, to everyone! 

“The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything.” That is, do not be double faced about anything because Jesus is with you! “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

And this is the promise, that, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

Amen.

C, Advent 2 - Luke 1:76-80 "Salvation Through Forgiveness"

Luke 1:76–80 (ESV) And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,  because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

There was silence in the land of Judah for four hundred years.  God was absent since the days of the prophets when Malachi was called to petition problematic priestly practices. Now Zechariah stood in the temple at Jerusalem to fulfil his priestly duties.

The glory days of Israel and its kings were long past.  The Jews, a fragmented dispersed people, after the rule of Alexander the Great and his Greco-Macedonian government,  now were being ruled by Rome and their appointment of Herod as the subordinate King of Judah.  To the displeasure of the Jews, Herod was not a Jew but an Edomite.

Zechariah came about his turn of duty in the temple through being chosen by lot.  Zechariah would have been honoured to have been chosen to perform this task.  His life would have been a quiet existence and this service at the temple would have been a high point even though events at the temple would have been far less grand than during the time of David and Solomon. Little did Zechariah know things were about to change.

And change things did!  Four hundred years of silence from God and then an angelic messenger speaks to him while he is in service to God.  Now having heard the message, Zechariah is struck with silence as a result of not believing he and his barren wife, Elizabeth, were to have a son and name him John. 

The angel says of John, “He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,  and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17 ESV)

Four hundred years beforehand, Malachi had proclaimed similar. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:5–6a ESV)

The silence of God for four hundred years is broken.  Now Zechariah endures nine months of silence, knowing God was to announce the Christ through his son which his wife, Elizabeth, was carrying. 

After John’s birth and at the time of his circumcision, full of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah’s lips are loosed, the silence is broken.  Zechariah praises God for John and what John was born to do. To be the messenger of God preparing the people for the way of the Lord.

Here again, Malachi had announced this, some four hundred years beforehand, saying, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1 ESV)

Even during Jesus’ journey to the cross, he points to what Malachi had prophesied about the witness of John the Baptist. Jesus says, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’  I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:26–28 ESV)

But before Jesus’ ministry began, John had also been silenced.  He grew and became strong in the Holy Spirit, but he was consigned to a place in the wilderness until it was time to fulfil God’s mission to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins… to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:77& 79 ESV)

So, in God’s time, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” (Luke 3: 2b–6 ESV)

When Zechariah’s lips were loosed, he reveals how John was going to prepare people for Jesus. This is by a knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.  Sin was put on the agenda.  John was proclaiming and giving a baptism of repentance to all who heard his call. John the Baptist was showing people that they were in darkness and needed a light.

We too are being prepared for Jesus’ coming!  Advent is a time of light in the darkness.  John the Baptist was called to be a messenger of light in the darkness, today as we travel through Advent towards the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, we too are called to see the shining light in the midst of our darkness.

However, what most of us seek for a saviour is not Jesus.  There are so many other things in the world that promise empowerment, luciferous light, and love.  It seems since we have seen the salvation of God, we struggle to stay in the light, and hinder hearing the Holy Spirit reveal Jesus through his word to us increasing faith.

We live in a dark world.   But we are further deceived when we relegate the darkness as something we are without, as if we are not contributors to the darkness.  We live in a dark world because of the darkness within!  Within each of us burns the light of human desire that seeks to make us shine as lights of the world. 

We all do well to determine what kind of light we are seeking to shine.  Are we reflecting and shining knowledge of salvation?  Or are we shining a knowledge of our good and evil? 

This light of good and evil is a little light of Lucifer.  It is a deception leading one away from the light of God. Many are finding themselves and many more will find themselves in complete darkness and all alone. This light of Lucifer is a temporary temptation to follow a light that’s transitory then terminates. This light does not give us the gift of the knowledge of salvation.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10 ESV)

It’s time for us as the church of God to allow the light to shine on sin. It’s time to practice the truth!  Just as people came to John the Baptist confessing their sin, and received a baptism of repentance, we too are called to return in repentance to our baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Know and believe you have the light of Christ within you, willing you to confess your sin, so you receive the forgiveness of sin.  The Holy Spirit is shining the light of Jesus in the darkness within you, so you can stand before God without the consequences of sin. We have had our darkness demolished and it continues to be destroyed with the love and light of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, when we seek relief from long-felt grief turn us to the light of Jesus. When temptations come alluring, send your Holy Spirit to make us patient and enduring; guide our feet into the way of peace show us that bright shore where we weep no more. Amen.