C, Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of our Lord - 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 "Jesus' Fruitful Rs"

1 Corinthians 15:19–26 (ESV) If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

If you were asked, “What are the three Rs?”  What would be your answer?  Once upon a time most would have said, “Reading, Writing, and arithmetic (or reckoning)”.  Even though the words don’t begin with “R” they all have that strong “R” sound in their first syllables.

To ask the question of Google, “What are the three Rs?” There is a surprising number of variations.

Another educationally based three Rs are to Read, Reason, and Recite.  In the economy one might look to financial Relief, economic Recovery, and then economic Reform.  These were the three Rs President Roosevelt sought to implement when he entered office.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are the philosophical three Rs and they’re also the environmental three Rs. These three can be a climate change mantra or even just a commonsense economical use of earthly resources.

Motivationally one might give, Rewards, Recognition, and Reinforcement to move people and productivity in an organisation.

Community orderliness calls for Rhythm, Routines, and Relationships; and those relationships call for Respect, Restraint, and Responsibility.  Marriage calls for Resilience, Respect, and Responsiveness.  In early childhood learning the focus is on Relationships, Repetition, and Routines.

The three R focus for God toward humanity is to Ransom, to Redeem, and to Reconcile. These are the relational three Rs of God to restore the fellowship humanity lost when sin enter the world through Adam and Eve.   Three things led to their sin.  They turned from God’s Reliability, no longer Relishing God, therefore they Required to be like God. God was now less fruitful to them then the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

So, God set about restoring this broken relationship so humanity could come back into fellowship with him.

During the Lenten season we have been called in God’s Word to Reflect, Repent, and be Reconciled.  Lent is a penitential season in the church year.  It is a season of sorrowful reflection, where we’re called to look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word and see our sins.  But not just our sins, but also the fruitfulness of God in his giving of a perfect fruit, the first fruit Jesus Christ, through whom we have freedom to continually have our humanity cleansed. 

The Holy Spirit shows us our sin in God’s Word, or the Holy Spirit causes us to know our sin by sending a servant to show us our error.  Therefore, reflection of the self, directed by the Holy Spirit, sees the call to repentance, as a gift, so a child of God can freely repent.  After reflection and repentance occurs, a repentant person knows they have been reconciled to God, as a child of God.  There repentance is not a work to earn salvation, but rather a willing reception of what God has done, what he continues to do, and what he will continue to do as we live and die in him.

In Jesus’ death, the ransom for your sin has been paid in full.  In his sinless death, he was raised as our Redeemer.  And now we are reconciled to God as his children.

So as a child of God what are your three Rs?   Well, there are not just three Rs, there are many Rs that God gifts us with, now that we’re his children. From Jesus’ resurrection we receive, Rebirth, Renewal, Restoration, Regeneration, Righteousness, Reconciliation, Respite, Relief, Rest, Re-creation and Holy Recreation.

Jesus himself is the new fruit of the resurrection.  The old tree of good and evil no longer grows in God’s Garden.  It has no place next to the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ, the fruitful tree of the Resurrection — the tree of Rebirth, Renewal, and Recreation.  The tree of knowledge of good and evil is dead to you in Jesus’ death and resurrection.  You know it because he shows you how good you must be to overcome your evil, and in that shows you your fruitlessness that leads to death.

In Christ’s resurrection Paul proclaims, “Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:19–26 ESV)

Paul explains we are made alive in Christ; his resurrection is the hope of our resurrection.  We bear the new fruit of the resurrection which is destroying all the fruits of good and evil, every rule, authority, and power, of and in ourselves, the world, and the devil.  Let your faith in good and evil die with the death of death!  True life is living in the fruit of Jesus Christ.

As you tarry between the death of eternal death in baptism and your human nature’s earthly death, the Holy Spirit wills you to live in the three Rs of God’s fruitful righteousness and faith in Jesus Christ – that is Renewal, Repentance, and Rest.  Amen.

A, Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday - Acts 10:34–43 "No Partiality"

Acts 10:34–43 (ESV) So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,  but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.  As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),  you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.  And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,  but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,  not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.  To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

God shows no partiality over humanity.  God shows no partiality over sin.  God shows no partiality over forgiveness.  God shows no partiality over unbelief.  This is the message of the blood stained cross.  This is the message of the empty tomb.  This is the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

In dealing with humanity’s sin and death God showed no partiality, but in his work of salvation he is very bias with whom he chose to work.  This was the work of blessing all humanity through God’s favoured few.  God couldn’t associate with unholiness,  he could not show partiality to sin.  If God did show partiality to sin, or unholiness, the purity of his holiness would be desecrated, and he would prove himself to not be God.

God could have destroyed humanity, but God would have place himself in a dilemma if he did so.  God is a God of faithfulness; faithfulness is the substance of his divinity, he is faithful to himself, in himself, and towards those with whom he exists, in his eternal realm, visible and invisible, as it were.  This faithfulness manifests itself as love.  God is love!  God’s love shows no partiality.  God’s love expects no partiality.  God is a jealous God, a protective God.

God shows no partiality.  God believes in himself, there is nothing in his being he does not know, nothing in what he expects that cannot be done.  He is faithful and generous and shows no partiality in his desire to be faithful and compassionate, jealously expecting all things exist under his protection and love.  

God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He chose Joseph and Moses in Egypt.  He chose Joshua and the Judges, Samuel, and David.  He favoured the tribe of Judah over the other tribes of Israel.  In God’s favouritism towards the Jews and Jerusalem God showed no partiality, for through them God was seeking to bless all nations, to love all people through one  nation.  To favour all people, by favouring his chosen people.  So, through them, all people might come to favour him above all things. 

By reconnection to humanity through the Law, God showed no partiality demanding everyone to: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 ESV, Deuteronomy 6:5)  And: “love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39 ESV, Leviticus 19:18)  But they failed in the Law, and chose to love themselves in the Law, knowing that God shows no partiality.

So, God sent Jesus.  In Jesus Christ the Kingdom of God was near.  Jesus Christ was sent to do what Israel could not do, to do what we could not do, to do what humanity could not do.  In doing what Israel could not do, the Son of God took on the servant role as the Son of Man.  God showed no partiality to his Son, Jesus Christ, Son of Mary, Son of man.

Jesus became the new Israel to save Israel.  God promised to Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)  Now that promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.   Jesus Christ became the new Adam to save all of Adam’s offspring.  Jesus Christ is Lord of all, all Israelites, all Gentiles, all of humanity, all of creation.  Jesus Christ gave us back our connection with God our Father!  In restoring us to God, God the Son showed no partiality!  Not even to his own divinity.

So faithful to the Father of Heaven was Jesus Christ, this Created Creator became so low, being shunned by all humanity as unholy.  He claimed no majesty, he claimed no beauty, through our desire we beat the Servant of Man black and blue.  God the Son showed no partiality, not even to himself, putting aside his divinity, so God the Father could show no partiality to the sins of Israel, and the sin of Adam.  

Jesus Christ, lay aside his divinity, he chose to put off his partiality of being God the Son, and serve as the Son of Man.  In showing no partiality to humanity, our Heavenly Father sent God the Holy Spirit into his Servant, the Son of Man.  The Holy Spirit showed no partiality in his work of helping the Son of Man be the Servant of many.

When Jesus put aside his divinity, his human spirit showed no partiality towards anything or anyone but our Father in Heaven.  He loved our Father above all things and the Holy Spirit rested on the Servant of Man, showing to humanity the source of power to do the good that leads to eternal life.

God shows no partiality.  He believes in you so much he sent his Son to bear the brunt of his impartial hatred against humanity’s sin and your death and placed the Holy Spirit within you so you might have the power to believe and receive his Son.

When you were baptised, God showed no partiality, he did not waver in condemnation of sin, nor the forgiveness of it.  You were baptised into Jesus’ death.  God shows no partiality in sending the Holy Spirit to you in your Holy Baptism.  God the Holy Spirit shows no partiality in filling those who hear the Word of God with faith in the forgiveness of sins.  God shows no partiality over your sin!

God shows favouritism to those who are perfect; those who are holy as he is holy.  Therefore, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, having been the perfect and blameless Servant of Man, but at the same time being the sacrifice to put our sin right. 

God shows no partiality in daily raising sinners from death, when they trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, just as God the Holy Spirit together with God the Father raised the Son of Man from the dead.

God the Father has raised the Son of Man to his right hand, the Son of Man is the Son of God, in all his risen glory.  God the Father and God the Son, show partiality and favouritism towards those who believe that God shows no partiality over condemning sin and his work of forgiveness, when they confess sin and believe they are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.

You are acceptable to God.  He shows no partiality, he shows no partiality towards unbelief in the Son of Man, no belief in the Son of God, in the forgiveness of sin, in the work of the Holy Spirit within you, and in the resurrection to eternal life.

He does not judge you and me with shallow judgement.  He has no part with those who are apart from him!  But he judged Jesus Christ, setting him apart, and shows no partiality to those who are partial towards him and do not believe.

Let us pray.  Lord God, we believe, save us from our unbelief.  We know you show no partiality towards sin, and therefore show no partiality against those who believing in Jesus Christ and  confess their sin.  We believe Lord, save us from our unbelief by sending the Holy Spirit, inspiring faith within to continually confess sin and believe in Jesus Christ throughout all our trials in this life, Amen.

C, Easter 7 - Acts 16:16-34, Revelation 22:10-14 "Actions of Being"

A common misnomer in our thoughts these days is this: If it gets the job done then it’ll do.  This seems to be the bottom line in doing what one must do to survive.  Unfortunately, this type of rationale pays little to no respect for right and wrong.  In fact, one might be tempted to believe, if it gets the job done then it’s justifiable, no matter what the means are of getting there.

As Paul and Silas walked through Philippi on their way to a place of prayer each day, a slave girl possessed by a spirit, repeatedly but rightly points to these men as “servant of the Most High God!”  She was not wrong in what she said even though she was a noisy nuisance and others were making money out of her prophesies.  Surely this might be used as a means of doing God’s work; after all she was proclaiming the Most High God?

Surprisingly though, Paul tired and troubled by her daily ranting, turned and said to the spirit in her, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.  (Acts 16:18)

After Paul took this action, he and Silas were seized, flogged, and thrown into jail.  One would imagine they would have been sorry and sore.  But instead, they sat up singing hymns and praying past midnight.  Suddenly and unexpectedly an earthquake shook the prison, the doors flew open, and the chains came loose.

To the horror of the jailer, he awoke at the commotion, thinking his worst nightmare had come true.  Believing the prisoners had escaped he reached for his sword to end his life, but Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself!  We are all here!” (Acts 16:28)

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. (Acts 16:29-34)

What must I do to be saved?  The question “what one must do?” is perhaps a very natural response for humanity.  The jailer faced death, because the prison had become unsecured under his watch.  He was frightened, humiliated, and his immediate response, before Paul stopped him, was to take his life.

In this account from Acts, we’ve just heard of two responses to two situations.  They seem to be knee jerk sudden responses, with little thought to what one must do.  The response of Paul and the jail keeper were natural responses according to who they were.  They were immediate responses from their beings, they didn’t have to stop and think what to do!

In the core of Paul’s being he was troubled by the spirit filled girl and, in an instant, he turned and cast out the spirit.  The Jailer was troubled in spirit too, and in an instant, he turned to take his life.  Both men acted according to his being, they acted as according to whom they were called to be.  The difference between them is this: Paul’s being was led by something or someone external, whereas the jailer’s being was led by his internal being or will.  And this was leading him to death.

The difference between the prisoners and the jailer doesn’t end there either.  In fact, ironically, the prisoners act as free men, singing hymns and praying, way after midnight; whereas the jailer acts as a prisoner and Paul needs to stops him from killing himself.  Then in desperation the jailer asks, “What must I do to be saved?”

As Christians, we often place ourselves back under bondage, as did the jailer.  Instead of our freedom in Christ allowing us to be who we are called to be, we get caught up worrying what we and others must do to be Christian – what we must do to be saved and save others.  However, “being a Christian” is exactly that, “being” rather than “doing”.  When one faces the question of doing — failure, depression, and death follow hot on the heels of our defective human deeds.  It’s not so much a question of “what I must do to be?” but rather, “my being in Christ allows me to do what he wills for me.”

From Revelation Jesus says to us, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11 Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.”  (Revelation 22:10-11)

Here we are told not to bind up the words of Revelation because the time is near.  In fact, Jesus is near; the Kingdom of God is near.  When Jesus returns to usher in his Kingdom, those who have appeared to be in bondage will be shown to be free while those who seem free, and bind others with their human judgements, will be bound in eternity.  Those whose being is dependent on what they do will reap their wage; their means for getting the job done despite God’s way, will be paid for in full.  Whereas those who allow God’s means to make them holy, so that their being is holy, will also get their reward.

Jesus continues, “12 Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.” (Revelation 22:12-14)

We all must ask ourselves, “What have I done?  Am I doing what God wants me to do, or am I doing something else?  What must I do to be saved?  How do I wash my robes that I might have the right to the tree of life?” 

It’s at this point we must turn away from the deathly deeds of our own rationale and understanding and be continually drawn back into God’s word.  In fact, just like the jailer which Paul saved from death, we must be led away from meditating and trusting in our deeds, and our desire to try and put things right by our own action, lest we too die from our futile and failing deeds.

Paul and Silas acted according to their being.  They were not focused on what they must do.  If they had, they might have moaned and agonised over the actions causing their arrest.  They may have grizzled like victims, “what have we done to deserve this?”  But instead, they worshiped God with joy knowing their fate and suffering, was about who they were called to be in Christ, rather than what they had done.

Likewise, Paul and Silas acted according to their being, when the jailer pleaded, “What must I do to be saved”?  They pointed the man to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking God’s Word of truth and grace, so the Spirit could implant faith in his heart too.  So, in hearing this word, our crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus was planted in the jailer by the power of the Holy Spirit, as he and his family were baptised.  He no longer had to do anything to believe, belief and being were given as a gift, and the work of being a Christian, moved him to immediately cleanse the wounds of Paul and Silas, take them into his home and feed them, and live in joy that he had come to believe in Jesus Christ.

We like the jailer have been captured in baptism, so we might remain in Jesus Christ, receiving all the gifts of his deeds, living as free holy beings of God, who have a right to the tree of life.

The grace of the Lord Jesus is with us because God’s people have received the being of Jesus, through his gracious means of the cross and baptism.  And therefore, the last word in Revelation, the last word of the bible for us — is this:  The grace of the Lord Jesus “be” with God’s people.  Amen.  

C, Easter 5 - John 13:31-35 "Love that Glorifies God"

John 13:31–35 (ESV)  When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.  If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus had just washed the feet of his disciples and revealed Judas as the betrayer.  The text before us today follows these events ending with the statement, “And it was night.” (John 13:30b ESV)

It was as dark as it could be.  Here, Jesus knows all will now take place according to the will of his Father.  He knew exactly what Judas would do.  He knew the mob would come when he was praying.  He knew what the Sanhedrin would accuse him of.  He knew what Pilate and Herod would say.  He knew what the Roman soldiers would do to him at the cross.  He knew Peter and all the disciples would be scattered.  He knew his death and descent into hell was forthcoming.

Knowing all of this he says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.” (John 13:31 ESV)

In the darkest of times, Jesus announces that he and God the Father are glorified.  How are Jesus and the Father glorified?

Firstly, the sheer magnificence of this act of salvation is beginning to unfold.  Every Old Testament event prior to this one and every microbe of creation has been waiting patiently for this salvific event to occur.  This event will far supersede Noah’s salvation through the flood, or Israel’s rescue from the Egyptians through the Red Sea.

From the incarnation of God in the womb of Mary, the Son of God was born in the flesh of sinful humanity, was plunged in the Jordan by John the Baptist to fulfill all righteousness.   From there he walked in human weakness for forty days in the wilderness, tempted, but yet without sin.  Why? Because of the magnificent event that awaited him on the cross.

Secondly, the glory of God, concealed behind the curtain in the Holy of Holies, in the temple, was about to be brought out into the open for all to witness.  After three hours of darkness, all witnessed Jesus yield up his spirit as the curtain ripped in the temple.  After three hours of night in the middle of the day, the glory of God was released, and light shone on one who had kept the law perfectly, innocently, without self-interest, without a hidden agenda.

Knowledge of good and evil, was put right in the goodness of the guiltless Son of God, as he bore the evil of humanity on a tree, which would give humanity back its life.

Not only had all creation been waiting for this glory of God to shine, not only was Jesus born to fulfil the law and die under the law to release us from the law.  But now, thirdly, Jesus, gives us this glory to share with each other.    

However, these days are dark.  In fact, Jesus says many will be deceived in these dark days.  Many people, both pastors and parishioners, will be carried away from God, through doubt and deception as the darkness swirls all around us.

Just as it did in Jesus’ day, as he awaited the return of Judas with his accusers, we are called to trust Jesus in the same way in which he trusted his Father. 

Like Jesus we have knowledge of what will happen.  He tells us beforehand in his Word and sends the Holy Spirit to work endurance and perseverance within us as we share in his suffering.  We now turn our backs on a knowledge of good and evil and look to the knowledge of Jesus Christ found on the tree of life.

As we share Jesus’ weakness of being human, the Holy Spirit will work the faith required to show us evil in this world is sabotaged by the cross, as forecast in the Word of God. 

Because of Jesus’ victory on the cross, we can daily return to our baptism and in repentance wash ourselves of all partial and presumptuous sins, thinking we have to fix, only what God can fix.

It’s quite easy for us to fall into the trap thinking we need to fight God’s battles.  However, the truth is, rather than fight, we are called to stand and suffer as Christ suffered.

We are like, James and John, who after witnessing the rejection of a Samaritan town, were rebuked by Jesus after they asked, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54 ESV) 

Jesus does not need us to be his crusaders.  We have two thousand years of evidence where working for the greater knowledge of good, not only usurps the Holy Spirit, but actually champions the accusatory work of the evil one.

Returning to the text for today, instead of calling together a posse of zealous fighters, as the night darkened at his impending arrest, Jesus teaches, and he prays.  But he begins with a new commandment which is the text before us.

Knowing all that would occur he says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” 

He called them to love as he loved.  To serve as he had just served them in all humility washing their feet, even Judas Iscariot’s feet!

However, like Peter, we are just as lacking in our perception of what truly pleases God.  When push comes to shove, our pious works are short lived and not what God wants.  Our piety leads to cutting off the ears of those who need to hear the Gospel, leaving only Jesus to restore them.  And after we do this, like Peter, all our piety goes out the window as we end up denying Christ and fleeing.

Two thousand years, since Jesus gave this new commandment, Peter flees, and we too with him.  Yet Jesus saw this on the night when he was betrayed and even right now as we realise our own self-righteousness and guilt, Jesus’ words are just as true as they were then, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

God has been calling us to love one another as he has loved us for two-thousand years.  And yet we still struggle to know what love is. 

God struggles with us, to love us.  He also struggles within, so we love others the way Jesus has loved us.  We resist God the Holy Spirit when we exchange the work of the Holy Spirit with the presumptuous work of the human spirit, the old Adam.

Even with the best of intentions, when we desire to do God’s work, it’s not what God desires and he rebukes Satan within us, just as he had to with Peter.  Nevertheless, God is glorified, and so is Jesus, as he does this work of the cross within each of us. 

So how do we glorify God?  Especially when any glimmer of his light in these darkened times will alert the world, and the enforcers of its powers and principals bringing suffering and tribulation down upon us?

We love one another as Jesus has loved us!  We allow the Holy Spirit to work the good confession of Jesus Christ within us.  

This is the confession to the world that we are sinners being forgiven.  Not confessing in pride that we sin!  But that despite our sinful nature and the sin that bleeds from it, we have freedom to confess it.  This is, in fact, the greater works Jesus teaches we will do, in John fourteen verse twelve, which are greater than his works.

As truly confessional people, confessing sin, but also confessing his forgiveness of our sin, and our trust in that forgiveness, the Holy Spirit will bring others to seek that same forgiveness.  As we share the forgiveness with which God has forgiven us, then we will be truly loving others as God loves us.

This justifies Jesus’ death!  This justifies God’s magnificent plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.  This also justifies the work of the Holy Spirit and his being sent to us from the Father and the Son, to bring us in faith to the Father and the Son. 

Loving others as God loves us, we confess our sin to create freedom for others to confess and receive forgiveness.  And as we do, the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.  Amen.

C, Easter 3 - John 21:19 "Summoned to Death"

John 21:19 This he (Jesus) said to show by what kind of death he (Peter) was to glorify God. And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

In the three readings today, Saint Paul, still as the Jewish “Sargent at Arms” Saul, is challenged by Jesus.  Saint John is also challenged as the hidden realm is uncovered to reveal the transcendent dominions of good and evil.  Likewise, Saint Peter too is challenged as Jesus reveals himself a third time to him and the disciples fishing on Lake Galilee.

These three men are challenged to glorify God in their deaths.  However, for us, it is important to know when their deaths occurred, and for what purpose?

We might presume that their deaths came at the end of life.  And in a very narrow context they do.  But death for them, and for us, is the process (or the event) of our existence in this world as we submit to God and his will for us. 

We may call this event, life or living, but the reality is, this existence is one of dying.  But only after our resurrection, or Christ’s return, death will cease to exist and then all will truly live.  That is living with God in glory and victory or living without him in eternal unfulfilled desire and darkness.

So let us hear more about the three examples we have before us in today’s readings.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus is revealed three times after his resurrection.  The first is during the evening after Jesus’ resurrection, Easter Sunday, when the disciples were locked away in hiding, so they wouldn’t be found by the Jews.  The second a week later when Thomas is present.  And in the Gospel reading before us today, while the disciples fished on the Sea of Tiberias or Lake Galilee.

When something happens three times in God’s Word, we are called to stop and pay extra attention to what God is saying to us.  Here at the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus is revealed to the disciples three times.   These are accompanied by three bestowals of peace, together with his breathing the Holy Spirit on them.  Then Peter is summoned three times to feed and tend Jesus’ sheep and lambs, after being asked three times if he loves Jesus.

Peter the archetypal disciple, who denies Jesus three times at his crucifixion is restored with three calls to love. 

Hear Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit and the threefold bestowal of peace he gives the disciples before the crucifixion, so that they might endure all the tribulations of his crucifixion.

Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:25–27 ESV)

“Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.  I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:32–33 ESV)

Now after the resurrection, after he had overcome the world, Jesus reinstates Peter in threefold peace and love.  The archetypal leader and blunderer is restored to be the archetypal administrator of Jesus’ love, and be the prototypical recipient of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.  Peter is called to follow Jesus and pass on the peace of God.

The second of the three men in our readings today is Saul.  He too was challenged in a very physical way on the road to Damascus.  But, within the physical challenge of blindness, Jesus lays upon Saul a greater challenge. 

Saul persecuted the church after approvingly watching Stephen be stoned to death.  After this he went house to house dragging people off to prison.  He was going to Damascus, to do the same there, when Jesus confronted him.  But Jesus doesn’t strike Saul blind for persecuting others, rather Jesus says, “‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’  And Saul said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4–5 ESV)

Jesus challenged Saul’s righteousness and ironically in his blindness revealed to Saul that he was the Son of God at the same time.  In his revelation on the road to Damascus, Jesus killed any faith Saul had in his ravaging assault on the believers of the resurrection.

In his letter to the Philippians, Saul now Paul, speaks of his death, saying, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:  circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.  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 3:4b–8 ESV)

Peter and Paul, both are summoned to die in Jesus’ resurrection and revelation. 

The third person in the text for today is John.  He was the last of the apostolic witnesses left alive.  He survived all the other witnesses of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.  When they were martyred, John had to patiently endure with the knowledge of their deaths, of which his brother James was the first to die at the hand of Herod.

Years after witnessing the resurrection, Peter’s reinstatement, the Ascension, Pentecost, and waiting for Jesus’ return, John endured and led others through tribulations.  Like the last one to be picked on a school sporting team he waited and watched to be chosen next.

But different to Peter and Paul, John is allowed to see the revelation of what is to come, after he has suffered many deaths throughout his life.  Before he finally dies, he is given a glimpse of the heavenly victory to assist us and sustain us as we too are summoned to undergo the many deaths of self we suffer in this life.  And as we do, we glorify God in the many deaths he summons us to endure.

Like Peter, Paul, and John, you and I too are called to glorify God in the many deaths we face. 

Every time we forgive others who sin against us, we die and glorify God.  When we confess our sin, bringing it into the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we die to self and live to righteousness.  Learning about our sin leads to the death of pride, the death of privilege, and the death of vain pleasure.

Added to this, the death of health and self-confidence, are all deaths we endure so God can be glorified and worshiped above all.

From our existence in this world, we only see glimpses of the holy life to come.  We patiently endure tribulation in what we call this life, which is really an event of death. 

But just as the dawn of Jesus’ resurrection followed the darkness of night, we follow Jesus.  The darkness of our existence in this world of death is endured in the joy and hope of waiting to see for real what was revealed to John.  We now live eternally, despite death, knowing we will be raised to eternal life at the dawn of eternity, at the death of death. 

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, may Jesus glorify God the Father in your death and mine, in our baptism, in our existence, and in our resurrection.  Amen.

C, Easter 2 - John 20:19-31 "Peace is with you"

John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week (the day of Jesus’ resurrection), when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Y

On Easter Sunday, Peter and John left the tomb of Jesus confused and bewildered that Jesus’ body was gone.  Now we hear today on that first Easter evening the disciples were huddled together hidden away from sight so the Jews might not find them. 

Imagine the speculation which took place behind those closed doors…  What went down at the tomb?  Did the Jews now take his body too?  What has happened to him?  Was this now going to happen to them?  What was going on?  Could this whole thing be a trick? 

One thing we know is they still didn’t understand from Scripture — from the Old Testament, as we know it — that Jesus had to rise from the dead.  Understanding this in itself would have been confusing enough, but adding the pressure of being wanted themselves, the disciples’ lives were in complete turmoil.  They were powerless without any direction or peace.

It’s a completely different picture to that of the time before Jesus’ crucifixion.  Even in the midst of suffering, beatings, and the piercing pain on his body, Jesus knew who had ultimate power.  He believed and trusted his Father in heaven despite what he was going through.  His humanity cried out for God to take the cup of wrath away, yet he remained obedient to he who had all authority and power.  Jesus suffered horrendously at Calvary, and in his hands, feet, and side bore the marks of his sacrifice and suffering. Jesus endured the disciples’ and our powerlessness over sin and death, which causes the lack of peace, power, and perfection in our earthly life.

Surprisingly, after Jesus’ death and resurrection from the grave, although he was perfect and without sin, he still bore the marks of sin and death.  One might think — being the obedient Son of the Father, God the Son, the Creator of all that lives — these marks would vanish due to his divine perfection.  Yet they don’t, so even in his complete obedience and perfection, what was still visible, were the marks of our imperfection and his passivity as a result of our sin.

These nail marks and spear wound are the source of great joy to the disciples as he appears amongst them and calls them to peace in his power over sin and death.  Right at this moment Jesus re-creates his disciples and breaths new life into their weak, frail bodies. 

This is the day that the Lord has made!  Today is the day of Jesus’ resurrection and he resurrects our lives too, calling us to peace with his word, breathing new life into us with his breath of the Holy Spirit, and killing the power sin and death once had over us.

We like Thomas, who is called Didymus (which means the twin or double), were not there that first day to witness these things and receive Christ as did the other disciples.  We bear in us the double-nature of being Jesus’ followers yet also struggle with doubt and confusion just like Thomas, and the other disciples too, for that matter. 

Perhaps you’re thinking, “I don’t want to believe unless I see the marks of Jesus too.  How do I really know if Jesus is present anyway?  Could this whole thing be some sort of cruel trick?

When you and I enter into thought like this, our peace can be eroded very quickly.  Then you feel the weakness of your true self and see that you’re far from perfect.  One thing I can guarantee with these feelings is this:  The father of lies and trickery is pleased when our old self rises over the Risen Lord of our hearts and causes us this worry and doubt!

So how do we know it’s God calling us to abide and remain in him?  How do we know where Jesus Christ is, especially when we can’t see him like the disciples did?  How do we know we’re receiving all the benefits of Christ and the cross?  How do I abide or remain in him according to his holy and perfect will, so I might rest in assurance and peace? 

Firstly we hear the word of God.  Jesus says to you, “Peace be with you!”  We hear him say this in his word, in fact three times in the Gospel reading today.  His word has power, so listen to him and rest in peace!  See how many times God himself calls you to peace in the liturgy of the Sunday services! 

God then tells you in his word to believe, when the pastor says, “I forgive your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  It’s by Jesus’ command your sins are truly forgiven for his sake.  The pastor is the Lord’s physical mouthpiece announcing God’s forgiveness and peace with you.  The pastor is authorised to stand in the person of Christ (in persona Christi), commanded by Jesus himself to declare God’s forgiveness to all who believe and trust his instruction.

So why does God forgive your sin?  He does so for the same reason you stand in his presence in peace each week, knowing “the church roof won’t fall on you”.   In fact your life continues in him each day — as you believe you’re being recreated by his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave — as you believe you’re daily drowned in your baptism and raised to new life with him.  You live under the power of God’s forgiveness as you live each day in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, each time you come into his presence, God names his forgiveness to you, and on receiving it, you know and trust God forgives your sin, and wants peace with you!

Then you also know God’s peace rests with you, and you can rest in his peace, when you receive his body and blood.  Mysteriously Jesus Christ is physically and spiritually present in the bread and the wine, just as he mysteriously entered the room with the disciples.  Likewise you receive him with joy in knowing he is with us here, right now!  So because of his risen presence, Jesus calls you to rest in his peace and forgiveness.

All these things you receive each Sunday in church.  Each Sunday is an Easter celebration of the Lord’s resurrection and yours too.  Each Sunday you’re recreated in the work of Christ at the cross and his resurrection power over your sin and death.  In fact, each Sunday you and I receive the marks of Christ, which are the reassuring marks of the church, and by these marks, you and I are called to trust we have truly received Christ.  The nail and spear marks that scarred Jesus’ perfect body are the very marks by which Jesus is winning your salvation and healing your wounds.   

Just like Thomas, Jesus calls us all to stop doubting and believe.  And so in chapter twenty verse thirty-one of John’s gospel, hear, “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 

Each time you come here, know you receive the risen Lord.  Rest in Jesus, knowing your past is forgiven; that he is your strength and power in the present; and, in the future he will lead and raise you from death.  The peace of the Lord is with you; rest in his peace too!  Amen. Y

C, Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday - 1 Corinthians 15:22–26 "Nailed to Jesus"

1 Corinthians 15:22–26 (ESV) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The proclamation of Jesus Christ does one of two things!  It causes belief or it causes unbelief!  For the person who believes, knows they are a sinner and freely accepts what Jesus does for them. 

But one who doesn’t believe, rejects his work, for whatever reason, and continues on being his enemy.

The criminals crucified on the cross paint a good picture of humanity and their acceptance or rejection of Jesus.  Jesus as friend or foe!

In the gospels there seems to be a discrepancy over how the two criminals treat Jesus.  In Matthew and Mark’s Gospel accounts, both the criminals revile Jesus, along with everyone else.  These two accounts demonstrate Jesus’ complete humiliation, but in Luke we hear differently. 

Luke’s Gospel says, “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’  But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’  And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:39–43 ESV)

Modern day scholarship, focusing on exact detail, might assume one view to be wrong.  However, the criminals and Jesus hung there for a period of time.  I would expect if I was hanging on a cross, I would say and do anything to get off it and be relieved of pain.  So too the criminals hanging there, hearing the jeers of those standing around making fun would have railed at him too!  Not in disbelief that he would not save himself though!  But they railed him to save himself in the hope they too would be rescued.  But they are not rescued, and nor does Jesus save himself.

Both men crucified beside Jesus are both criminals.  Both are there because they were caught in their crime.  Both do not want to die but live.  But both know they will die.

It’s at this point I get a picture in my head, of the Industry Superannuation advertisement, where one puts their future in the advertised super and holds their hands in that diamond box shape as they ascend up an escalator.  The picture represents their superannuation profits rising faster than the other who doesn’t use the advertised super.

In the same way, the one criminal, who has been invested only in himself, has a lucid moment, and scalds the other crucified criminal still reviling Jesus.  Instead of holding up a shape of a diamond box, he holds up Jesus and puts his death into Jesus hands.  Perhaps instead of making a diamond box with his hands,  in his heart he makes the shape of his Saviour’s cross and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  From little things big things grow, so the jingle in the advert goes.  So, from a glimmer of faith, Jesus causes big things to happen to the guilty criminal, saying, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Imagine here today, that we are there that first Sunday Easter morning.  We see the crosses now empty on Calvary.  The tomb is empty, it’s the first day of the week.  Jesus has died, Jesus has risen.  But what of the two criminals?  How did their investments pay off?

They both now exist outside of time.  One experienced Jesus as he descended into and passed through hell on the Sabbath, knowing forever and smarting that he missed having a Saviour by “that much”.

The other criminal has ascended hand in hand, with his Saviour, the firstfruits of heaven, with Abel, the first human to die, and with everyone since, who trusts in God’s Saviour.

Are you there with them at the ascension?  Or have you seen the backside of Jesus, as he has departed hell forever, and you now live in eternal separation from God?  The itches of pleasure you placed your trust in, now eternally nailed to you as festering forever sores, but still itching without relief.

The two criminals on the cross are a perfect picture for humanity.  Like the criminals we are all eternally guilty as enemies.  Like the criminals we will have our guilt nailed out for all to see as God sees it now.  Like the criminals we can do absolutely nothing to remove the guilt of our sins and the guilt from its reality.  But like the one criminal we can appeal to one who can save us.

This criminal came to know he was nailed beside a king.  He was nailed up beside the King of Kings, the King of Heaven.  He reviled this king yet still entered the Paradise of Heaven.  He was a sinner but was saved by a Saviour.  He turned to Jesus, from being a foe, to being a friend.  He now worships God in heaven for his salvation! 

But in heaven, there is only one who still bears the scars of the cross, and everyone worships him, our Lord and Saviour, who bears these healed wounds.  The criminal no longer bears the scars of his nails, that is, his sin, since he now glorifies God with a risen and glorified body.

You too will have all your scars of sin removed forever.  Like the criminal, you will have the blood of the Lamb wash you clean, and you will enter paradise to worship God the Father, Jesus Christ, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, in all their oneness and glory.

But for now, as we wait in time, you remain nailed on your cross!  So, carry your cross, and like the guilty criminal, look to Jesus on his cross.  Like the criminal, you too are guilty, like the criminal you too will die, but like the criminal you too will receive the sentence of eternal life.  You are in Paradise with him today! 

O the sweet joy this sentence gives, to know my Redeemer lives on this day of sweet, sweet, resurrection victory.  Amen.

C, Palm Passion Sunday - Philippians 2:5-11 "The Tree of Victory"

On the tree of the cross Jesus gave salvation to all, so that, where death began, there life might be restored, and that the enemy, who by a tree once overcame, might by a tree be overcome.

From time to time you may have heard these words in the divine service, especially in Lent and Holy Week. 

This line of liturgy brings together a number of key themes and Scriptures in the story of salvation.  Tree, cross, salvation, death, life, restoration, enemy, to overcome, to be overcome.  But tying them all together is the picture of the tree.

The tree that overcame was the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The tree that overcomes is the tree of the cross.  The tree of knowledge of good and evil is a tree of death.  The tree of the cross is also the tree of death. 

But the cross is a tree of life too!  At the cross life is present as well.  The cross is the place of salvation and restoration; it’s the place where good meets evil and overcomes evil.  And so at Easter the cross used in the Good Friday service is often covered in flowers and colour on Easter Sunday.  

But behind the cross, the cross of Good Friday, the cross of Easter, the cross veiled in black, and the cross covered in flowers, is the reality of good and evil.

Today when we leave church and become absorbed once again in our lives, we may not think about the church service, or the cross, or the themes of restoration and salvation.  However, every one of us weighs up in his or her conscience what is good and what is evil.  It’s what we humans naturally do, every day.   

We gather information around us and make decisions on what is right and wrong.  We learn and live, storing knowledge to make judgements.  Is it good, or is it bad?  Are they doing the right thing or the wrong thing?  Am I good or bad?  When I am overcome by good and evil, what can I do to overcome good and evil?

It’s no different for people in the bible too.  They decided what was good and bad, or good and evil too.  And it’s in these biblical accounts where good and evil is considered we might gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and our relation to the cross.

Let’s look at the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  They were deceived by the snake to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  God had given them every other tree in the garden but their desire was kindled in the tree of knowledge of good and evil; it looked good to eye and desirable for gaining insight.  Notice how the evil part of the tree was forgotten.  Not only was evil forgotten but also everything else that had been given to them, including the tree of life.

They turned their backs on life and chose knowledge.  They chose to be like God judging what was good and what was evil. They lost their holy innocence as creatures created in the image of God. Or put simply, they chose pleasure over peace, and this peace was a life where God served them with the garden and his holy presence.  In their pleasure they chose to ignore the love of God, agape or servanthood, and replaced it with a love turned in on the self.  First given as a temptation they became driven by desire, eros and potency.  And from that time we have found knowledge of good and evil makes us powerful like God. 

But our knowledge of good and evil is not used in loving servanthood as God uses it, but rather for loving ourselves in all manner of pleasures.  And like an itch that feels good scratched until our skin is rubbed raw, broken and infected, our pleasures have unleased suffering and sickness from this original sin in the Garden of Eden.  This is what happens when humanity replaces the great “I AM” of God the Father with the “I am” of our self inflated egos.

Fast forward over a couple thousand years of good and evil interpretation under Old Testament Law!

The Law was designed to cleanse God’s chosen people so once again they could look to God’s goodness and servanthood. But time and time again the Jews practised the Law to justify themselves using God’s Word to gratify their pleasures.

So when the time was right God sends his Son in the greatest act of servanthood agape love.  A gift was given to the world.  The tree of life was replanted in the midst of humanity in the manger.  Some saw it as good but others saw it as bad. 

The Tree of Life is grafted into a human; eternal servanthood was born in flesh by the power of God’s Word.  Born into a world where knowledge meant power and pleasure, they measured Jesus by what pleased and by how the praise of them was affected. So some worshiped God when they encountered him, and some tried to kill him.  Some saw it as opportunity to use him to serve them and their pleasures and some in their knowledge just didn’t care to know him. 

However, this one born of the flesh did not succumb to using his knowledge of good and evil against them.  He put off the desire to be “like God”, even though he was God.  Instead he let himself be creaturely in the way they were originally created to be — like you and I were meant to be. 

He took the Law and followed it, yet his piety was not glorifying himself but God the Father. In doing so he showed the goodness of the Pharisees, the pious ones, to be evil.  And those who were deemed the undesirable ones, the ones afflicted with evil, he poured out love and coved with his holiness. 

The characters around Jesus were defined by his life among them.   There were many but let’s just take two — Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot. These two polarize Jesus Christ from all others at the cross — the Sanhedrin, the soldiers, Pilate, the other disciples, the two criminals on their crosses and the fickle mob.

Peter used his knowledge of good and evil to rebuke Jesus, demanding it ridiculous he would even think of going to a cross, and at Jesus’ trial confessed he would never deny Jesus.  And Judas’ knowledge of good and evil leads him to hand Jesus to the Jews, and then not trust Jesus would forgive him for what he had done.  It appears the two are extremes but both Peter and Judas are the same by putting themselves in the place of God as the knowers of good and evil.

So fast forward yet again, to now, some two thousand years after knowledge of good and evil was nailed to the tree.  We see the only good is the goodness of God in Jesus Christ sacrificed for my evil, your evil, your bad, my bad.   And from it we victoriously now live in the risen life of Jesus’ victory.

Philippians 2:1–11 (ESV) So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,  complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One should expect we live lives of servanthood because of the life Jesus won for us.  But still we struggle to stop eating the apples of good and evil, knowingly nailing each other to the tree and plucking ourselves from the tree on which Jesus died for you and me.

You see even if we seek to move others to Jesus through our desire we once again stand under the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Like Peter what we see as good in ourselves in reality is not, because we put our trust in what we can do rather than on what God has done through the servanthood of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Our desire, our ideologies seek to win out over the servanthood of God the Son.

Or like Judas, our knowledge of good and evil leaves us empty handed, giving up the servanthood of Jesus.  And like Judas we walk away from the death of Jesus, cutting ourselves off from the graciousness of God, and begin committing our lives to a slow painful spiritual suicide.

These are humanity’s stories, these are our stories too.  You and I find ourselves back at the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  It’s a tough tree to poison.  But here’s the problem; while we look to our own good to kill it we actually make it grow all the more. 

Just like those of the Old Testament Law, we of the New Testament Gospel, still take what God has done and use it to justify our knowledge of good and evil.  In other words we use God’s Word as our justification for pleasure.  But this pleasure thinly disguises a whole heap of pain. This is humanity’s story and it’s yours and mine too.

So in our days of trials and tribulation, busy yourself in looking to God.  When you find yourself looking within for the answers, pray to our Father for the Holy Spirit to lead you out of yourself and into the Word of God to Jesus!  Test yourself by seeing where the glory goes in your understanding of the Word of God and the works you do as a result.  And pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to the love of God in Jesus Christ.

You will find the old tree of knowledge of good and evil will keep popping up, but when it does know that the tree of life has been replanted in you.  In other words the servanthood of Jesus lives in you; he serves you!  You have been baptised so you are free to look out of yourself to the tree of life and live in in the promise God has given you in the tree of victory.

On the tree of the cross Jesus gave salvation to you, so that, where death began, there your life might be restored, and the enemy, who by a tree once overcame, might by a tree be overcome.

Amen.