C, Fourth Sunday of Advent - Micah 5:2-5a "Micah's Shepherd Prophecy"

In the days of the split kingdom, Micah was tasked to tell Israel and Judah of their impending destruction.  Both kingdoms had become conceited and presumptuous in their existence, bending God’s Word to suit their disobedient desires and pleasures, refusing to repent, not listening to those God tasked with the call to heed his Word and change their ways.

And why should they listen to Micah?  He was a man from Moresheth, near the former fields of the Philistines.  His imagery speaks of a remnant of the mighty Israel, shepherded again from Bethlehem by a new king who will lead in the strength of the Lord.  This new leader will come after the annihilation of Jerusalem and Samaria.

Although the book of Micah is just seven chapters, we are told the Word of the Lord came to him during the reign of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, before the Samarians were exiled to Assyria and the Judeans were exiled to Babylon.

Israel and Syria joined forces to attack Judah when Ahaz was king.  Before and after him his father Jotham and Hezekiah his son did what was right in God’s sight.  But Ahaz did not, he appealed to the king of Assyria who attacked and conquered Syria.  After this, Ahaz, king of Judah, went to meet the Assyrian king in Damascus, the capital of Syria, he had just won.  While meeting there with the Assyrian King, Ahaz saw the altar used in Damascus and ordered a replica be used in the Jerusalem temple instead of the bronze altar God had consecrated.

To this and other similar behaviours, God says through Micah, “Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?” (Micah 1:2–5 ESV)

God’s justice was not only to descend upon the kings, priests, and prophets of Judah and Samaria, but on all from the greatest to the least.  Therefore, judgement fell on Israel not long after, when Assyria took Israel into exile.

However, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz did what was right and restored Judah and Jerusalem back under the Law of God and God blessed him.  Yet even so, when Hezekiah was ill, envoys from Babylon came to him, and he showed them the treasuries and storehouses of Judah to which the prophet Isaiah prophesied…

“Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” (2 Kings 20:17–18 ESV)

A reprieve occurred for Judah in the face of their Israelite brothers being exiled to Assyria, and Judah under Hezekiah heeded God’s Word spoken through prophets, such as Isaiah and Micah.

When Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh rebuilt the high places that God, foretold of their destruction through Micah, and were physically demolished by King Hezekiah.  Now, this renewed disobedience set Judah up for exile too.  Bringing to fulfilment what Micah and Isaiah had forecast. 

God then stopped speaking to Israel for four hundred years, fulfilling the silence prophesied by Amos, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.”  (Amos 8:11–12 ESV)

God had handed them over to themselves, and it didn’t go well for them.  The land of milk and honey they were given, became desolate.  Those prophets whom they loathed for speaking the Word of God, disappeared.  God left them to themselves even after they returned from exile.  Even more so, the Jewish priests had become use to worshipping their own way without God.  They were smug in their desires and embroiled in political scheming.  Now under the rule of the Romans their way had become so wicked, they bowed to Herod the Great who began building the second temple in Jerusalem in 20 B.C.

Then this happened…  

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.’ ” (Matthew 2:1–6 ESV)

Forced back into the Word of God, Herod and the Jews discovered the prophet Micah and his prophesy from chapter 5:2-5a. 

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labour has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. 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 5:2–5a ESV)

Now that Jesus has been born in Bethlehem, he shepherds his people.  He does this with his Word of Law and Gospel.  We are God’s people now that Jesus has redeemed us through his death and resurrection.  Yet like the Jews and the Israelites, we seek to go the way of the world around us, just as the Jews did and were caught napping at Jesus’ first coming.

He is coming again, yet many even within the church have turned from “the whole council of God’s Word”.  Leaders in the church, proclaim messages of hope, peace, and love, without addressing sin and calling people to repentance.  We have become fixated on our feelings of happiness without allowing the Holy Spirit to finish us in the joy of God’s holiness.  The second coming of Christ is set to catch out many, just as it did the first time.

If God can destroy the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, his very own chosen people, for not adhering to the work of the Law, what will he do to those who call themselves Christian and do not abide in Jesus’ work of the Gospel?  Who grieve the Holy Spirit by not allowing the Spirit to bring them to salvation humility in the Gospel through the humiliation and mortification of the human spirit in the Law.

Although Jesus came as the Shepherd, he came to be the Lamb of God. Like a shepherd who leads his sheep through the gate, in all humility he entered the gates of death as the sacrificial lamb. 

Are you allowing him to humbly shepherd you through death to life eternal?  Are you being shepherded into the holiness of God’s new heaven and earth in which righteousness dwells?  

Or are you shepherding your own righteousness, like those whom God allowed to be humiliated and perish in their sinful refusal to repent at Jesus’ first coming?

The church is proving itself to be no different to the Jews when Christ came the first time.  The way is wide that leads to destruction, even for God’s people when they choose not to hear his Word.  It’s tragic how so much of the mantra coming from our “human high places” proclaims a love that has nothing to do with being prepared by the Holy Spirit for the holiness of God, through the love of Jesus at the cross.  Like the Jews in Jesus first coming, don’t be turned in on yourself, using God and his Word to worship yourself!  Pick up God’s Word, hear and heed the warnings of the Apostles at the end of the New Testament!  Don’t be like the Jews who killed the prophets and were surprised by what was written in the prophets of the Old Testament when Jesus was born!

However, allow the Holy Spirit to humiliate the heights of human haughtiness within you.  To crush the arrogant altars and idiotic idols within.  Allow the Spirit to work you, so you heed the call of Moses, Micah and the prophets, Jesus the Good Shepherd himself, and the Apostles, to be led in humility, just as Jesus Christ was at his first coming. 

The Shepherd now seeks to shepherd you in the strength of the Lord, as members of his holy remnant, so you’re not surprised by his second coming.  

Come Lord Jesus Come! Amen.

C, Epiphany 2 - John 2:9-11 "Change"

John 2:9–11 (ESV)When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”  This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

We’re living in times of change.  Indeed, even days and hours of change!  Things seem to be evolving at such a rapid rate of change. 

Technology has much to do with this, but in recent times our health in the face of the pandemic has heightened such change in such a short time.  Who would have thought we would be into the third year of a global virus with all its restrictions and debilitations?!

In these uncertain times of radical change, one certainly feels bashed and beaten by the unexpected readjustments we are required to make in our day to day lives.  We wonder when or if things will ever return to what we expect as being normal.  Whatever “normal” is now!  We talk of coming to terms with living with Covid.  But what does that really mean for us?

This uncertainty and change affect us!   Are our expectations in life in need of change?  How we live our lives; even our purpose in life is being questioned.  Confidence is being lost in the stability of things we took for granted as being rock solid.

How has this time of accelerated change, affected your hope? 

If we look to the media, it testifies humanity is miserable, getting poorer, afflicted with disease, on the verge of blowing ourselves to smithereens, as well as facing a climate catastrophe.  Humanity’s hope has changed for the worse!  It all sounds dismal, but perhaps it is not as bad as the media is making it out to be.

The loss of hope and confidence in humanity’s progress seems quite alarming, but the reality is our hope and confidence has been a house of cards tottering on the edge of collapse for some time.  Our towers of trust are being torn down revealing we should never have put our trust in them, and our motives for building them in our hearts prove questionable.

At the centre of our loss of hope the Holy Spirit seeks to refocus your confidence and restore hope in Jesus Christ. 

As all the things you love are removed, the Holy Spirit moves you to trust in him who loves you.  The great thing to come out of the uncertainty and change of the last three years is the renewed brightness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

But there is a temptation to be distracted by the arguments of our human spirit and the world, over knowledge of, the good and evil of Covid immunisations, lockdown limitations versus the freedom of choice, health versus wealth, a growing Chinese threat, climate change, and gender rights.  

On the other hand, the change Jesus Christ puts in front of us, now shines ever so much brighter as all worldly temporary hopes in us become exhausted and die.   Ironically, they always were going to die.  But we have breathed so much life into these gods of microchips and memes, the modern-day idols of wood and stone!

Unfortunately, over the last decade, personal electronic devices have become so dominant in our lives, it has distracted and led us into chaotic waters.   And like a covid riddled cruise ship unable to dock, we’re so preoccupied and paralysed from our personal pursuits of pleasure.

In the same way, this mobile phone and app god is dying too, and many will soon need Jesus Christ to board their boat and change their lives as well, lest their paralysation renders them eternally lost.

A French writer of the 19^th century, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, is quoted as saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.  And this is true of humanity as it seeks to make change for what it believes to be “the better”.  But as humanity idolises change for the sake of progress it continues in its hopeless plight contributing to evil.

However, Jesus Christ introduces change that’s contrary to all other human endeavours of change.  Jesus Christ is the only true agent of change.  He makes all things new, eternally new and eternally different! 

We get a picture of this change today as we hear what he does at the wedding at Cana, and who it revealed him to be. 

Jesus takes the water for old covenant purification and changes it into the best wine, eternal pleasing wine!   In the wedding at Cana, a glimpse of his glory is revealed, which would become fully uncovered at his death and resurrection.  He makes change at the wedding, turning water into wine, and it reminds us of the change we have undergone in our baptism into his death and resurrection.

You now carry the knowledge of Jesus Christ as a result of being baptised.  You are forgiven and fed with God’s word and sacraments, the Holy Spirit works Jesus Christ in you every time you hear his word and eat and drink his body and blood.

The wedding water, changed into the best wine, reminds us that there is now no longer need for purification through the Law.  Fulfilling the requirements of the Law are finished in Jesus’ death on the cross.  The ritual to be cleansed and washed, to be purified was put aside after Jesus, the true bridegroom, washed the feet of his disciples and made way for our entry into the wedding feast of the Lamb, through the purification and sacrifice of his death.

In the book of Revelation, we are reminded of the promise given to John when he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and commanded to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb… These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9 ESV)

Weddings are joyful occasions.  How much greater is the joy of the eternal wedding between Jesus and his bride, the church, now that God promises our purification through the death and resurrection of his firstborn Son.  Our hopelessness, and helplessness, is covered with the life-changing robes of Jesus’ righteousness.

There are changes happening all around us. But God calls you away from those distractions to focus on Jesus Christ and the change he has made for us and in us. He sends the Holy Spirit to change us, and this work continues to happen throughout our lives.

In fact, we are engaged to God’s Son in this life.  God has placed his Holy Spirit in us as a very good deposit, sealing us for the day of hope, our resurrection from the dead and marriage with our faithful eternal Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

Let us proclaim the true change Jesus is bring to us at the conclusion of this life here on earth.  As we look forward to Jesus’ return where he will make all things new, let us remind each other and tell others of the unlimited good wine of eternal abundance that awaits all who allow themselves to be changed into the wedding clothes of Jesus’ righteousness. Amen.

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.”  (Revelation 19:6b-7a ESV) The marriage of the Lamb is coming!  Let his Bride be made ready!

Amen.

B, Pentecost 9 Proper 12 - Ephesians 3:14-21 "Rooted and grounded in Love"

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  (Ephesians 3:14–21 ESV)

A lamb is born undersized and it struggles to live not being able to get the colostrums it badly needs to survive.  In fact it will die if left to its own devices.  At this time of year as the frigid air of winter chills our being it’s a simple picture to understand. 

But the farmer and his family step in and adopt this weak undersized lamb.  They faithfully feed it, first by extracting milk from its mother and then continuing with formula that gives the lamb strength to grow. But it is tiny in comparison to where it should be for its age and the family keep it in the warmth of their home for some time.

Similarly Paul tells the Ephesians of their inclusion into the household of God.  They have a home in God’s presence and they are now no longer strangers and aliens.  Just like the pets we adopt into our homes and give names, the Ephesians too are named and linked into the family tree of God the Father.

Think of the names you give your animals. Every year my family get a reminder letter from the veterinary surgery to bring our dog in for a health check. Even on this reminder our black dog is named not just Jett, but Jett Pukallus.  He is a member of our family.  He is included as one of us.

It’s not only the Ephesians that are named; we too are no longer strangers and aliens to God the Father. Paul stresses our oneness with God the Father, the Christ, and the Spirit.  Our heritage is one with God, we are descendants of God; your inheritance is his glory in all its richness.

But it’s the attitude of Paul that needs our focus. His attitude is similar to that of Jesus when he was on his earthly march to the cross.  Paul’s walk from his experience on the road to Damascus is the same as Jesus walking to his death. This is the attitude of humility and trust.

Paul’s life changing experience leads him to bow his knee to God the Father, his Heavenly Father and our Heavenly Father, for a reason.  And here we engage Paul’s reason as our reason as we hear and receive God’s word today.

God’s great pleasure for us is to willing receive and be filled with the fullness of God.  But first we have to be emptied and made nothing so God can love us and make us something.  Just like a lamb on death’s door, God comes and gives us life.

Now I am sure that when the lamb was found abandoned out in the paddock it had no idea what a human was in relation to its survival.  A person could be a saviour as much as a devourer. “Am I going to be fed by this approaching being or am I going to be eaten?”

At first this lamb is not going to have any knowledge of one who comes into its cold environment.  How too are we to have any clue who or what God is, or seek him unless he first comes to us?

Our Heavenly Father has indeed come to us and he roots and grounds us in love.  This is the love of Jesus’ faithful walk to the cross, commanded by God the Father for our forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.  He roots and grounds us by nursing us with this steadfast love, teaching us to receive his goodness and forgiveness as he teaches us how to receive his word.

Paul too had no way of knowing this love of God when he travelled to Damascus to persecute the church.   It was only after being rendered weak through blindness, he became receptive to God’s love and his need for forgiveness.

So he comes to the Ephesians in weakness having been loved by God.  He was rooted and grounded in love. For this reason he bows his knee to God for the Ephesians.  Paul doesn’t make a demand of the Ephesians to fill themselves with knowledge, rather he puts the focus on the work of his Christ and his Spirit. 

By his submission to God, Paul also paints a picture by his example of humility.  He encourages them through his letter to also humbly be rooted, grounded and built up in God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — as opposed to being built up in themselves or in himself.   

So what does this all mean for us in this time of the delta variant, lockdowns and uncertainty?  Since Pastor Mathew was led by the Holy Spirit to the Barossa, Covid-19 has become our reality, and now as I arrive we are still very much in the midst of it. 

It may be hard for us to see the fullness of God and the richness of his love.  In this time of severe social distancing you might be feeling out in the cold, alienated as strangers from others in the kingdom of God. 

But like Paul who couldn’t see for awhile, let God continue to lead you through these days.  Let him feed you his word of life; the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.  This is being rooted and grounded in love.

Just as Jesus put aside his spirit and allowed himself to be led by the Holy Spirit, just as Paul was led and fed by the Holy Spirit, let the Holy Spirit continue leading you in these days.  This is being rooted and grounded in love.

The little weak lamb responds to the faithfulness of the farmer and his family.  He is fed and led and he is strengthened.  The blessings of these days are that we too realise, as individuals and as a community on this earth, we are weak and helpless in ourselves.  This too is being rooted and grounded in love.

When we have been placing our faith in so many other things we suddenly realise how undernourished we become trusting in the weakness of our human spirit.  When we are rooted and grounded in God’s love, God reveals all our false roots of love and we realise the unstable ground on which we stand.

And so we confess our sin to the Lord!  We allow ourselves the posture of submission, and bear our community, our leaders, and community carers before the Lord.  God uses you to root and ground his steadfast eternal love in a self-loving, loveless world.

We allow the light of Christ to shine in us in these days of darkness, by not demanding others to love as we love, but by loving them with the love of God’s forgiveness, so they too might be rooted, grounded and built in the faith and hope in which we live for Christ and die to the self and the world.

Jesus is the Lamb of God.  You and I are Jesus’ little lambs.

I believe it is God’s will for me to serve you on bended knee so we can serve each other and our communities on bended knees.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.