B, Midweek Lent 1 - Mark 14:1-21 "Not Passed Over"

Mark 14:1–21 (ESV)  It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,  for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”  And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.  There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?  For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.  But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.  She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.  And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”  

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.  And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”  And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him,  and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”  And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.  And when it was evening, he came with the twelve.  And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”  They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”  He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.  For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

Coming up to the Passover, Jesus was not passed over!  The chief priests and the scribes, not usually conversant with each other, have joined forces plotting to kill Jesus.  The two parts of the Mark narrative we have heard tonight, begin and end with the coming reality of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas, and death at the hands of the Jewish leaders.

Housed within the desires of the Jewish leaders and Jesus’ proclamation of his betrayal, are two very different pictures of belief and unbelief. 

First, Jesus and his apostles are in the home of Simon the Leper at Bethany.  A woman presents herself with expensive oil and proceeds to pour it on Jesus’ head.  The oil was pure nard, from the spikenard plant, and most likely came from traders to the east.  Nard grows in the Himalayan region, so this oil was not common or cheap. 

Those present who witness the event, literally snort with anger at the woman, claiming the ointment could have been sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor.  With no understanding, Jesus’ apostles seek to shame the woman for doing what she had done.

Three hundred denarii are three hundred days wages, almost an annual income.  Would you tip your yearly wage on someone’s head?  At face value it makes no sense to pour out all this perfume on someone’s head.

That is not unless you knew why you were pouring the perfumed oil on the person, who that person is,  and what they were about to do! 

Today, knowing that Jesus is our Saviour, most of us would still consider passing over Jesus, believing pouring a year’s wage over his head, a waste!

Arguably, this woman is demonstrating the greatest faith of anyone Jesus ever met, in his ministry or march to the cross.   It might seem one would have to be ludicrous to do such a thing with such reckless abandon.  Waste not want not, seems to have given way to wanting to waste!  But there was no waste here!

This woman believed what Jesus had said about himself, that he was the Messiah, but that he was also going to die to be the Messiah.  Her seemingly wasteful actions, reveals a faith, second to none.  The Holy Spirit has taken a hold of this woman to value Jesus’ life and death, more valuable than the expensive nard, with which she honours him and pours on his head.  Jesus affirms her Holy Spirited faith and action, saying to those who snort in anger, “she is working a good work on me”.

The woman did not pass over Jesus.  What is Jesus, worth to you?  Is he worth passing over, in a bid to waste not, want not!  We, like this woman, are called to see the worth of what Jesus has done for us.  To not pass over Jesus.  To allow the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds.  So, looking into the core of our being, we hand over to Jesus what is wasting us away.  Like the woman, we pour all our sin on Jesus with reckless abandon, giving him the full debt of our sin!

To God the Father, Jesus Christ his Son, and the Holy Spirit, this is the sweetest most fragrant offering we can pour onto our Saviour, justifying God the Father working a good work through Jesus Christ, having been led to the cross by the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit working a good work in us as we pour our sin in confession on the Son of our salvation.

In having Jesus in this way, in pouring our sin on him, in emptying ourselves of the idols of our hearts, allows us to truly serve the poor.  Having seen the poverty of our hearts through trusting in these idol (idle) riches, allows God to use us in seeing and serving the poor, as Jesus serves us, in his death and resurrection.  In not passing over Jesus, the Holy Spirit will work a good work in us, allowing us to pour Jesus on the poor with the reckless abandon of God’s love!

The second picture,  is that of Judas Iscariot, selling Jesus for thirty shekels of silver.   We find out the amount from Matthew’s Gospel account in chapter twenty-six.  A shekel is two denarii, two days wages.  So, Judas betrays Jesus for sixty days wages.  

In contradiction to the apostles snorting with anger over the woman’s costly faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the chief priests are glad to pour riches on Judas.  But these riches, are a loss of faith in Jesus as the Messiah.  Judas, one of the twelve, having been sent as an apostle, no longer trusts Jesus. 

We see the depth of Judas’ poverty here!  We do not know the reason for Judas betrayal, but we know he passes over Jesus, no longer pouring his trust on him.  What Judas “expected” was something far different to what the woman hoped in Jesus.  She trusted Jesus unto death, but Judas handed him over to death, no longer having faith in him as the Messiah.  If Judas had believed Jesus’ word of promised resurrection, he would not have solved a short-term problem with the eternal remedy of the hopelessness of his human spirit.

The story of Judas’ poverty stands as a warning to us, to not pass over Jesus!  We are called to put our expectations of Jesus under the magnification of God’s Word, leading us to repentance.  In this Lenten season the exposure of (idle) idol expectations of Jesus, can occur within.  Not to pass over Jesus, but to pass onto Jesus our confession of sin.

Two pictures of faith!  Faith in Jesus, and unbelief in Jesus.  Human spirited faith in the self, and Holy Spirited faith in someone greater than the self.  The woman did not pass over Jesus, but Judas passed over Jesus!  The woman poured her trust onto Jesus with reckless abandon, but Judas poured his trust onto other things and abandoned Jesus as his Messiah.

In this Lenten season, it’s an easy temptation to pass over what Jesus did for us, and why he did it.  It’s easy to forget about Lent and go straight to the sweetness of the Easter eggs that have been furnishing the shelves of shops for about the past sixty days. 

But the forty days of Lent give us time to stop, reflect in God’s Word, the work of God, the work done for you and me, where God did not pass over Jesus, but stopped with him,  causing him to be our Passover Lamb, who covers the poverty of our hearts with his holy and most precious blood.  Amen.

C, Transfiguration - Luke 9:28–43 & 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 "Cross-figuration"

Luke 9:28–43 (ESV) Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.  And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,  who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.  And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.  As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”  And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.  On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.  And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him.  And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”  Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”  While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (ESV)  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

From the mountain of Transfiguration to the mountain of disfiguration,  Golgotha, the place of the skull, Calvary, Jesus walks for our reconfiguration!

When Jesus was transfigured, Peter wanted to build three shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  He did not know what he was saying.  For if he did, he would have known if this happened, the unveiled glory and perfection of the Law, would kill him, James, and John.

However, Jesus was not to bask in this glory!  His face was not to shine like Moses’ face did!   He would resolutely set his face towards Jerusalem, and take the road to the city named “flowing peace”, where his blood would flow from the cross of Calvary for true peace.

Rather, in his transfigured state, we see the curtain of Jesus’ flesh pulled back, to see the holiness of his Spirit within.  But only for a brief moment.   Here he talks, with two great men of the Law, about his exodus from Jerusalem.   This is the holy eternal exodus to which Moses and Elijah faithfully looked forward with hope.  This was during the days when Moses and Elijah repeatedly led Israel out of sin, into peace with God the Father.

Jesus must come down from the glory of Transfiguration into the presence of the sinful crowd and disciples.  Jesus, who was glorifying the Law in his flesh, meets a father concerned for his son.   In the Spirit of his Gospel walk he hears the father’s plea…

 “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out.  It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him.  And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”  (Luke 9:38–40 ESV)

The disciples could not cast it out.  How could they have done so?  They were infant hearers and witnesses; only learners of Jesus and yet to receive the forgiveness of sins at the cross and the sweet breath of the Holy Spirit, who would reconfigure their hearts through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Still reeling from the transfiguration, Peter, James and John with the other disciples continued to stumble, unable to help when confronted with the unclean spirit’s disfiguration of the child.  They had not learnt from their helplessness to pray in humility like Jesus.  But that would come once the Holy Spirit revealed the depth of their helplessness, so they would trust in their resurrected Lord Jesus Christ like he trusted and prayed to his Father.

On the mountain God declared, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35 ESV)  Now God’s Son, Jesus, answers the convulsing child’s father; and the disciples, and crowd, listen and learn…

 “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here.”  While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him.  But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.  And all were astonished at the majesty of God.  (Luke 9:41–43 ESV)

How faithless and twisted we are too, because of our flesh!  How long is Jesus to be with us and bear us by his Word? 

Thanks be to God Jesus comes down.  He comes down from heaven, he comes down into flesh at the manger, he comes down into the Jordan and is baptised into his ministry of death and resurrection.  Jesus does this and it pleases our Heavenly Father, and down in the depths of human sin and death, he bears us up from sin and death. 

He cleanses the boy of uncleanness and gives him back to his father clean.  The Holy Son of God, transfigured in glory, leaves the mountain, and descends into the darkness of our sin and knowledge, to cleanse us and give us back to our Heavenly Father. 

Even his chosen twelve did not know or understand.   Having seen the healing, having been with Jesus they still did not take hold of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Peter, James, and John saw the unveiled glory of God in Jesus but the veil of darkness still covered them so they could not understand.

After Jesus’ transfiguration and cleansing of the boy, he says to the disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”  But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. (Luke 9:44–45 ESV)

Jesus comes from the mountain of transfigured glory, from the mountain of Holiness and Law, but the listening and learning does not finish here for the disciples, nor does it for us. 

We must now walk with Jesus from the mountain of glory to the mountain of disfiguration and goriness.  But it’s at gory Golgotha, the mountain of Calvary that we receive the Gospel of glory. 

It’s at the mountain of disfiguration, we learn of our faithlessness and twistedness.  It’s where Jesus bears us up in glory under the weight of our gory sinful being and sinfulness.

It’s at the place of the Skull where our Head was hung.  And we his body receive his Spirit of freedom. 

We hang our heads in sinful shame, we feel the sting of death, and know we are a sinful and twisted generation.  Left to our own devices we throw ourselves down and convulse in our old Adam.

But look and see that this Transfigured One, who came down from heaven, down from the mountain and was lifted up disfigured on the cross, is now refigured in eternal resurrection glory and is reconfiguring us in the good news of his resurrection.

Today we walk from the celebration of Transfiguration Sunday and on Wednesday we will remember, we are dust and to dust we shall return.  We will be marked with an ash cross on the forehead.  We will begin the walk of remembrance through Lent to the mountain of gory Golgotha, the mountain of reconfiguration, the mountain of Gospel glory.

But as we walk the walk of remembrance, we also continue our walk to the cross of our earthly death.  But as we do, we walk with the knowledge of Jesus Christ, raise from the dead.  We continue to walk and learn from life, just what a sacrifice it was for Jesus to make his walk to the mountain of Cross-figuration, for our transformation, and our eternal transfiguration.  Amen. 

C, Epiphany 7 - Luke 6:27–38 "On Being Merciful, Perfect, & Holy"

Luke 6:27–38 (ESV) “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.  “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.  “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;  give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

There are a lot of commands laid out here by Jesus in the Gospel reading before us.  Love your enemies, do good, bless, pray for those who abuse you.  Offer the cheek to those who strike you, do not withhold your tunic.  Give, do not demand back.  Love, do good, lend, and expect nothing.  Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.  Judge not, condemn not, forgive, and give.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  Jesus makes seventeen demands in this text. 

He goes on to say, “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,  for each tree is known by its own fruit.  For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.  The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks”.  (Luke 6:43–45 ESV)

Sitting down to write this sermon proved interesting as there was commotion going on in the manse yard.  Our dog was excited by all the noise as chaps from the church assisted a fellow removing trees from the gardens.  And there I sat trying to write a sermon on mercy, while outside no mercy was being shown to the pencil pine that had to go because it had outgrown its position and was lifting the paths and fence around it.  And out back trees were being removed so fruit trees can be planted with the hope of getting a sweet crop.

A member who will remain unnamed, but use to be an accountant, asked me if the activity around the manse was inspiring me with my sermon writing.  I told him it’s hard to write a sermon on mercy when trees were mercilessly being chopped down.  To which, with a cheeky grin, he replied, “it’s for the greater good of the pastor.”

This made me ponder why Jesus has given us these seventeen rules!  Has he done so for the “greater good” or is there another point being made?  What fruit is being produced by doing these seventeen demands?  If it is for some greater good, what is this greater good? 

Thinking about trees, now chopped down and cleared away, I know I didn’t hate those trees.  In fact, they looked quite good.  But I know the pine out the front was going to cause ongoing problems that the parish would not love addressing.  And as for the trees on the back fence having to go, I love the pleasure of growing and picking one’s own produce more.

Jesus’ first command is to love your enemies.  But what if they bear bad fruit as the text says?  Am I to somehow love them, for the greater good?  Anyway, what is the greater good, the summum bonum, the ultimate of all goodness?  What would my motives be for doing so, and what measure would I use to determine how to love them.

It’s here I realise loving my enemy is difficult, to say the least.  I am unsettled by the fact that perfectly good trees are cut down for reasons that might be based more on my desire being deemed “the greater good’ or the desire of the parish to not have the “greater evil” by getting rid of the pencil pine now.  And these are non-issues, compared to my desire to have little to nothing to do with one that might be considered as an enemy.

If my thought process is so fickle,  and I can deem my enemy as a bad tree, what is to stop them from considering me the same?  Perhaps I’m a tree that’s lost its purpose and needs to be chopped down in the scheme of someone else’s greater good!   Whose greater good is more important?  World Wars have started over thinking like this!

Our motives are exposed like raw nerves by Jesus in this text.  He shows us we are constantly investing ourselves, our time, and our possessions in schemes that will benefit ourselves.  It may be for financial gain, acceptance of others, a selfish desire to smooth things over, creating a pseudo-peace, because we don’t want to give the time or effort to open and heal wounds in need of healing.  Our motives seem to follow the path of least resistance to pleasure within.

This being the case, then, how do I love my enemies?  How do we as a community under Christ, love our enemies?

Jesus says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36 ESV)

In Matthew’s account Jesus says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 ESV)

Jesus here points us to the Law.  Jesus’ call, to be merciful and perfect, is the same as God’s call to be holy. 

Jesus is reflecting what God said through Moses to the people of Israel.  “For I am the LORD your God.  Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44 ESV)

Jesus calls us to cleanse ourselves of anything that defiles his holiness.

Why does God the Father and Jesus demand holiness?  The short answer is because he loves us and wants to preserve life?  This is the life he has given to us in love, and he wills us to have for each other. 

This love is not love for myself or my motives.  But it’s a love that brings a community together in God’s presence, where there is perfect peace, where God gives, where we receive together with joy, and where we worship him with fervent love for loving us.

Jesus reinforces God’s call to be holy, through being perfect and merciful, to reveal the lies of our love, no matter how great we think our good is, or how bad our evil actually is.  There are no lies in God’s love and holiness.  All is brought out into the light by Jesus.

As much as we, who are in Christ, have been given the holy will to be merciful, perfect, and holy to please the Father, we cannot be this by our own effort.  Jesus was incarnate in our human flesh, he lived a perfect and merciful life, and died in all holiness, because through our love, we cannot do it.

So, should we give up striving?  Well, yes and no!  Yes!  Because we will condemn ourselves if we believe we can be holy by our own efforts?  And no!  Because when we give up, we demonstrate faithlessness in he who is working salvation within us?

God’s holy plan for us is to show us we are as far away from perfection as ice is from steam, as white is from black, as sour is from sweet.

But God bridges the divide between holiness and evil; God’s good and our good intentions; his perfection and mercy and our motivations; his love, and our love.

Jesus is the good tree bearing good fruit, but he bore it on the terrible tree of the cross.  He takes that terrible tree, your terrible tree and makes it his.

Jesus’ love for you is a perfect and merciful love.  His love is compassionate towards all who call upon his name, for the forgiveness of sin. 

Jesus’ love for you is so great he sends the Holy Spirit to do the work of germinating and growing faith and love within you.  Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to mature us into healthy trees producing good fruit, the fruit of faith and love. 

This fruit of love for God, is confession of sin, allowing God to prune us of the dead wood within.  The fruit of love is faith, allowing the daily death of self, the carrying of our crosses, and the bearing of our neighbours’ crosses in prayer and works that spur them onto salvation. 

This fruit of love leads us to see the cross as the place showing us our blessed helplessness.  But it also shows us Jesus is our blessed help at that very same cross.  The cross is the good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, and put into your lap. 

On the cross, Jesus was measured, and shown to be the only one, who has the only good and holy motives, the only perfect love, and the most merciful compassion.

He is the Son of the Most High, higher than the highest good.  He is the Holy One of God, sending the Holy Spirit to help us in his Holy Word. 

We are being made holy because he is holy, we are being made perfect because his love is perfect, and we can give and forgive because of his mercy. Amen.

B, 2nd Last Sunday of Church Year, Proper 28 - Mark 13:1-2, Hebrews 10:11-28 "The Temple Body"

Mark 13:1-2 (ESV) And as Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”  And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. 

The temple in Jerusalem no longer exists.  In 70 AD the Romans levelled the place, due to a revolt by the Jews that began in 66 AD.

When Jesus was crucified, the curtain in the temple separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two (Mark 15:38).  Christians recognise this as the time when the Old Covenant ceased to function along with the sacrificial requirements of the Law.  And along with the end of the sacrificial requirements was Jesus Christ’s one time victory over death and the devil; sin and Satan.

As we are told in the book of Hebrews, “‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’  Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:17-18 ESV)

What the disciples didn’t know, Jesus was the new temple, replacing the temple at which they marvelled.  These mega stones and structures would be wrecked and razed in a mega-destruction.

So, here we have a picture of Jesus turning the attention of the disciples, from the temple, to him and his word of promise.

But it is interesting that this happens, since Jesus had overturned tables of trade in the temple (Mark 11:15-19). Through the parable of the Tenants, he revealed he was the stone the builders rejected (Mark 12:1-12)

He told the Pharisees and Herodians to render to Caesar what bears the image of Caesar and to God what bears the image of God (Mark 12:13-17). 

He told one of the Scribes, “love the Lord your God with all your soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:28-34).  

He taught in the temple, that the Christ was the Lord of David, even though he was the son of David (Mark 12:35-37). 

And just prior to the disciples being impressed by the size of the temple, Jesus highlights the wealth of the poverty struck widow, who put all she owned into the temple treasury, against the perception of the scribes’ greatness and the greater condemnation they would receive (Mark 12:38-44).  

All along Jesus was painting a picture of himself as the temple but despite this, they didn’t get it.  When Jesus told the Scribe in the temple, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34), no one realised he was speaking about himself. He was not talking about the temple, nor an abstract understanding of the kingdom of God.

Jesus is the temple of God.  He is the Curtain of Creation through which we enter the presence of God, encouraged by the Holy Spirit to receive his blessing. 

“We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,  by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,  and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:19-23) 

Jesus paints this picture.  The disciples don’t get it. It is interesting but we shouldn’t be surprised!  Why?  Because we too struggle to see Jesus as the singular curtain through which we are led into eternal life!  And we have a much better understanding of this picture because Jesus has completed the picture. Jesus waits for our response, now that he has been raised and ascended into heaven; the Holy Spirit has been sent; and the temple now no longer stands in Jerusalem.

Yet we find the confession of our hope in the church is being sorely tested at the moment.  As a community of faith and as individuals, hope appears to be suffering. Because our hope suffers, confession of our hope is next to non-existent.  But where a confession of hope does exist, it’s a wavering hope, darkened with deadly doubt and blended beliefs.

Rather than a confidence in Jesus’ return and restoration, one hopelessly doubts saying, “I hope Jesus returns!” 

What is going on in the core of our being when this happens?

Like the disciples invested interest in the wonderful temple, we too have invested in many other temples.  Like the temple in Jerusalem all these other temples will end in decay and be devoted to destruction.  Although our temples of worship, unlike the temple in Jerusalem, have never served any function in the salvation of humanity.  Rather, they do quite the opposite, and erode faith, hope, and love, breeding self-righteousness and arrogance, hopelessness and despair, looseness and unappeasable desires.

Social media, advertising, individualism and the pursuit of pleasure have had a subtle effect on us all.  But there is nothing subtle about what our indoctrination in these things is doing to us as a society.  The temples are taking our time and they are taking our souls.  Such are the temple towns in which our hearts are deceptively drawn to in wonder, but end in disappointment, dissolution and destruction.

Unlike the temples that licence us for licentiousness, misery, and deathly desire, Jesus is the temple of truth, and he is faithful in his deliverance from death.

Unlike the temple in Jerusalem and the temples of our heart that end in death, he is the temple that begins in death and ends in life.  Where disfunction caused the death of the temple in Jerusalem and where the decay of our bodies will end in death, Jesus is the temple that begins in death that restores faith to live, hope to die, and love to forgive. 

One might ask why God would have Moses receive and institute the Law, with the temple  requirements, that would become dysfunctional?  All the Law seemed to do was breed works righteousness rather than love and faith in God who made the temple his footstool on earth!

And despite Jesus being the new temple that was destroyed and raised in three days (John 2:19), we still struggle with unbelief, despair, and our desires to be divine in our temples of goodness. And so one might also ask, “Has Christianity become just as dysfunctional as the temple at Jerusalem?”

What is God doing?

He is waiting!

When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,  waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.  For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:12-14 ESV)

Jesus is waiting for that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet!  In other words, he is teaching us and testing us.  Our Heavenly Father is teaching us, Jesus is the only Curtain through which we have access to him, and through testing us, his desire is that we learn from our weakness and failures and seek him, rather than rejecting his help and becoming his enemies.

Saint Paul puts it best, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,  if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.  For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” (2 Corinthians 5:1–5 ESV)

It is God’s will that the temple of our body will be swallowed up by life, the temple of Jesus, where faith, hope and love dwell.

In addition to this we can marvel at the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit who comes to us in baptism and brings us into Jesus as a community, by planting Jesus in each of us individually at baptism. This is God’s guarantee!

John realised the greatness of this guarantee and records it in his Gospel, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 ESV)

His dwelling among us, is Jesus making us his temple community in which he tents or tabernacles. This is where our Immanuel indwells. Doesn’t Jesus say, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20 ESV)

So, since we have God’s promise, his faithfulness, the certainty of hope of life through death, and Jesus’ love from the cross through our baptism.  “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love (to forgive) and good works (confessing God’s good works of forgiveness and our good confession of sins),  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, by confessing your sins to one another, and praying for one another, that all of you may be healed, and all the more as all of you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24–25, James 5:16)

Amen.

B, Reformation Sunday - Psalm 46 & John 8: 31-36 "Fear and Love God"

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”  Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.  The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  (John 8:31-36 ESV)

How is it that we who are slaves of sin, find ourselves in the house of God, knowing and trusting we are free?

Is it because we have proven ourselves to have satisfactorily loved God?  No, not at all!

Is it because there is a divine spark within us that is capable of making a decision for Christ?  No, it’s not!

Is it because we have always been free and are not really slaves? Nope!

Is it because it is done by someone else who knows we are slaves of sin, who knows the divine spark was put out by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and who knows the freedoms we look to would cause us shame if they were unhidden? Yes, it is!

We are free because of Jesus, the Son of God, and God alone.  If the Son sets us free, we are free indeed.

Freedom for Christians allows us to have fear in God.  Having fear in God can be understood in a positive and negative sense.  As Christians, we fear God knowing our sin does not please him, and because of our sin, all of us deserve his wrath.

As we are told in Hebrews, “‘The Lord will judge his people.’  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:30b–31 ESV)

And Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.  But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12:4–5 ESV)

Paradoxically, we also have a fear that fills us with awe! So much so, we are willing to throw ourselves down before him, seeking his mercy in spite of the reality we deserve his condemnation.

“Then turning toward the woman Jesus said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”  And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:44–48 ESV)

We can turn our back on God and disregard him with disrespect.  When one does this, one places both negative and positive fear in something other than God. One neither heeds God’s warning nor deems him good enough to lead us.

What we fear is what we face. 

In addition to this, what we love is what we face.

Love too has its positive and negative sense. But it’s slightly different to fear.  We always face what we love, but the motives for facing reveal the positive or negative of love. Love is about what we want, what we desire or seek, or what we worship.  The negative and positive of love can be uncovered only when we ask, “Why we want or worship that which we love!”

When we enter turbulent times temptation to fear and love other things than God also becomes murky and more difficult to discern and recognise. As the ship becomes unsettled, like the disciples, we are tempted to forget Jesus is with us in the boat.  He is still and resting as we’re tempted into panic. (See Mark 4:35-41)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,  though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. [Selah] (Psalm 46:1–3 ESV)

There is much civil unrest in the world at the moment.  Many hearts are in the mouth threatening to vomit up things that the turbulence tempts us to fear.  Adding to the foaming mess already swirling around us.

Fear of vaccination and fear of un-vaccination are making the sea of society roar and foam, making the mountains of our idols tremble at its swelling. 

Who can make sense in the midst of this mess in which we find ourselves?  There’s  so much venom and violence bubbling away in the hearts of humanity in the majorities and minorities.

When I am confronted with such fear it is easy to be swept up in the surging swell of it all.  I am tempted to add my sin to the sin of others adding mass to the mountains of majorities or minorities.

What mountain of fear are you facing at the moment?

What is your fear causing you to want?

Whatever it is, this is what you love!  This is what you are worshipping.

Like those who sought to silence blind Bartimaeus, as we heard in last week’s Gospel reading, are we not blinded by our superiority of our perception of other’s seemingly inferior fears?  (Mark 10:46-52) 

Yes!  I am just spewing into a sea of churning and foaming chaos.

Now we move onto a new picture painted by the psalmist in Psalm 46

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.  The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. [Selah] (Psalm 46:4–7 ESV)

Here we have a picture of tranquillity. It is the same picture of peace amongst the chaos, as Jesus sleeps in the boat while the disciples face their fears in the death and destruction of the churning storm on lake Galilee.

Jesus is with us in his church.  He is with us in his word, and he is bodily with us in the sacrament.  Fear him, not the unvaccinated! Fear him, not the mandate to vaccinate.  The kingdom of God is not concerned about being vaccinated or un-vaccinated. 

The morning will dawn, and God’s hand will be revealed in all of this.  He may choose to reveal what that is in our life, or we might have to wait until the resurrection to know exactly what that is.

But for now, in these days of darkness what is God’s will for us?  What is Jesus’ will for you, in his boat?  To where is the Holy Spirit leading us?

Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth.  He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.  “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. [Selah] (Psalm 46:8–11 ESV)

We are called to fear and love God?  We are called to behold the works of the Lord!

But what are the works and will of God?  We are called to be a community gathered under Christ’s love.  By this love the Holy Spirit gathers us in forgiveness. By this love we know we need forgiveness for our faithlessness. By his love we know we are forgiven.

Through his love and faithfulness, we know others need the same forgiveness. And by his love we petition God to help us forgive them as the Father has faithfully forgiven each of us and seeks to still the churning storm within you and me.

Our loving Heavenly Father wants to dissipate your venom, and clean up each person’s vomit, swirling the seas of spewing churning darkness.  He does this by the power of the Holy Spirit calling us to the stillness of Jesus on the cross.  This is the reformation into which God calls you and me daily. 

As we all face the cross, he calls us to know that he is God!  He will be exalted by all people when the curtain of chaos is finally torn in two.  It will reveal the hidden presence of the God of peace. The whole of creation will exalt him for the peace he returns to it, when he finally restores it to its former glory, which he created for us.

He promises us in his Word, he will usher in the eternal era of sabbath rest. This is where all who abide in the work of God’s forgiveness will stand face to face, fear and love God, the Lord of Hosts forever. Amen.

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for evermore. Amen.

B, Pentecost 22 Proper 25 - Mark 10:46-52 "Superior Sight with Inferior Blindness"

Mark 10:46–48 (ESV) And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”  And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”  And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

As human beings we are always learning about inferiority and superiority, and how they affect our relationships with other people.

If we feel inferior around others, we tend to typecast ourselves as not being good enough or not worthy of being in certain company.  A person who sees themselves as inferior, pictures themselves as having little to no value in the presence of a person of great honour.

This produces one of two things.  Either, the inferior will have a sense of awe, and treat the other person with honour, showing them deep reverence and respect. Or, on sensing inferiority, instead of awe, will consider honour awful, and show contempt.  Like a tall poppy, we desire and devise ways to chop down superiority in a demonstration of disrespect.

The opposite of inferiority is superiority.  Where one is present the other is usually not far away.  They are like opposite sides of the same coin.  They have a relationship like rise and fall, up and down, in and out. Even if the relationship is chalk and cheese, there is still an association with each other, despite the difference.

When we feel inferior, our perception of the other person’s superiority causes reverence or irreverence, respect or disrespect.

A person who feels or sees themselves as superior, like the inferior, will have something being produced in them too.  Superiority wants to be honoured!  When we feel superior, we want to be lifted up, noticed, and appreciated.  There’s an expectation that all must fall down at one’s feet and pay homage. 

Alternatively, we might want to use the honoured position on someone, in some way.  From a perceived height, we might put down those who appear to be on the rise.  Or, we might have a desire to use our honour to help the inferior, either condescendingly or humbly. 

Inferiority and superiority!  Such is the pecking order in the chook pen of community, living in the hen house of humanity!

This same inferiority-superiority dynamic is at work when Jesus heals Bartimaeus.

Jesus is passing through Jericho, travelling to Jerusalem.  He is about to travel the road to his triumphal entry and death at the cross.  This is the road on which the parable of the Good Samaritan is set.  As Jesus passes through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, he nears Bartimaeus, a blind beggar.

Bartimaeus, literally, son of Timaeus, hears the Son of Man, Jesus of Nazareth is going to Jerusalem. He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

It is easy to overlook what is occurring here, but the same inferiority-superiority subtleties are playing out as the account unfolds!

It’s obvious that Bartimaeus is the inferior.  We might assume Jesus is the superior, and he is, in so many ways!  But, here in this narrative, in Mark, the superior are those who rebuke the blind beggar for crying out to Jesus, Son of David, for mercy.

In Mark’s Gospel account, his central theme is housed between two accounts of healing.  In Mark 8 Jesus heals a blind man at Bethsaida (8:22-26), then Peter confesses him as the Christ (8:29). Jesus begins the first of three revelations that he is going to suffer, die, and be raised (8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34) and tell Satan to “get behind” (8:33).  And coupled with this prophetic triptych of his death and resurrection is the theme of Jesus’ value as the Son of Man, the Suffering Servant of humankind.

So, we arrive here on the road to Jerusalem with those who have struggle to see Jesus as the Servant king, soon to be coronated on the cross, but with blind beggar Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, who only had eyes of faith for Jesus, Son of David.

The superiority of those travelling with Jesus and probably others who begged or traded on the same stretch of road as Bartimaeus, sought to rebuke the son of Timaeus for calling out to Jesus.

There is an irony here in the text that cannot go unmentioned.  The name Timaeus, has as its root, the meaning of honour. The word rebuke and the name Timaeus carry the same root word meaning of honour or value. Bartimaeus a blind beggar, the lowest of the low has the name “son of honour”.  Yet those who rebuke him are taxing or robbing him of his honour for calling out to Jesus.  Rebuking, literally in the Greek, means to devalue and discredit. And this is what the superior seek to do to the little honour they believe Bartimaeus holds. 

The irony continues as the superior seek to censure the inferior.  But Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, continues calling out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” This is the beggars cry to have his honour restored.  In fact, of all the parties in this passage of Scripture, Bartimaeus reveals himself as the one who has the best view of Jesus, despite being blind.

And so, the relationship between the two unfolds!

Jesus doesn’t patronise Bartimaeus with condescension nor does Bartimaeus bestow any fake reverence or contempt.  Jesus honours Bartimaeus as equal.  Bartimaeus pleads for Jesus’ mercy  who is on his way to be anointed as the Christ on the cross.  Crowned on the cross as the King of Righteousness!

 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”  And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”  And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Mark 10:49–52 (ESV)

Notice how Jesus doesn’t call Bartimaeus!  Instead. he tells those around him to call the beggar.  So, they do! The superior ones tell him to take courage, “Jesus is calling you.”

Yet again, here there is more irony. Bartimaeus was already showing great courage!  Rather, Jesus was calling the superior ones around him to, “Take heart, open your eyes, have faith in the Son of Man, who seeks to serve you and save you from the slavery of your superiority.”

Jesus honours Bartimaeus with sight, and having restored his sight, Bartimaeus follows Jesus.

That’s all we hear about Bartimaeus.  One could arguably assume he saw and participated in Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday because we are told, “he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.” 

Bartimaeus possibly would have seen his sight restorer, Jesus, the Son of David, ride a colt into Jerusalem  to shouts of, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9–10 ESV)

Who are you in this passage of Scripture?  What part do you play?  Are you one who honours Jesus by letting him remove your blindness?  Like Bartimaeus, Jesus calls you and honours you through his servanthood, his death and resurrection. He is walking with you, right now, on your road through death to eternity with him.  Amen.

Let us lay aside our inferiority and our superiority. Let us honour Jesus as he serves us with forgiveness, through his Word, his sacraments, and through others who also share in his forgiveness. Amen.