C, Transfiguration - 2 Corinthians 3:12,16-18, 4:1-4, 6-7 "Maze of Mirrors"

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see perfection looking back at you? Perhaps you see something you don’t like? Or maybe without your glasses you have trouble even seeing the mirror or anything in it! Is the person you see too tall or too short, too old or not old enough? Maybe you see someone who could be smarter or wiser, or alternatively you see someone who is too smart for their own good! Are you content with what you see? Should your hair be straighter, curlier, darker, lighter, less grey? Or would you just like to have more hair? What about your fitness? Do you see someone who could be stronger, not so bony; or not so broad in the nether regions? Stand in front of the mirror for long enough and study your body, your mind, and your conscience, and more than likely you will see many areas for improvement!

We all have times when we feel, flat, fat, fed up, fragile, flustered, frightful, frustrated, furious, foolish, false, unforgiven, unforgiving, unfaithful, forgetful, and forgotten. This often leads us to think we have been forbidden and forsaken because we see, all too well, the fruits of our fallenness. Mirrors are brutal things, the harder and closer we look into them the more we see what they reflect.

But there are more mirrors in this life than just the glass mirrors in the home or car or shop. Another type of mirror most people fear are the bathroom scales. In fact you might be led to believe that to stand on scales, is to stand on holy ground. For you must take off your shoes, and anything else that weighs you down! Therefore, most don’t stand in this place for fear of condemnation from the scale itself, which might groan because of the weight being placing upon it.

Diaries are also a mirror which might help a person reflect on themselves and their life. But a diary found years later, or in the wrong hands, can be a dangerous instrument.

Then there is the family, with the many mirrors they hold in front of us and we hold in front of them – the genetic mirrors, the disobedient mirrors, the nagging mirrors, and all the other mirrors that show us and them who we are.

Have you ever been tempted to mask these mirrors in you life?

How many of you, as children or parents, have refused to hear the family mirrors and put your fingers in your ears and said, “La, la, la… I can’t hear you”?

Or on starting a diary, who hasn’t given up writing in it after awhile, or on seeing what is written in it become disturbed by your younger thoughts and throw it out?

How many of you have placed the bathroom scales in the cupboard, or under the bed, in a place where this seemingly sacred instrument won’t be found or disturbed?

And when you have a shower, isn’t it nice sometimes for the bathroom mirror to steam up just a little, so when you step out of the shower your reflection doesn’t frighten you quite as badly as if it was easily seen?

These mirrors of image, weight, individuality and family, are mirrors of the flesh. Most of the time they tell us what’s wrong with us! These mirrors examine the person by sight and cast their judgement. We look at our own flesh and person and see what’s wrong with us; we look at others around us and see what’s wrong with them too. Perhaps we see the same things in others that we see in ourselves! Sometimes seeing these things in ourselves hurts, and having them shown to us hurts even more!

On the other hand, sometimes what we perceive in others is only our perception. In the projection of our own short-fallings onto others, we miss the mark and misinterpret the person or family member next to us. We all have the capacity and the ability to do this. Often we get hurt, or we hurt one another.

There is no doubt that we humans are complex creatures. We have mirrors that reflect, but we also have mirrors that deflect too. And most of the time the mirrors in our lives do both at the same time. Like a magic maze of mirrors, the same mirror that tells us to go the right way is also the same mirror that deceives us and veils the truth that lies behind the mirror. As we stand in this house of mirrors the chance of being lost forever in this maze is real. “Which way is out; which way do I go?”

The word of God is a mirror given to every Christian at baptism. And with this mirror comes the Holy Spirit, our counsellor and our guide through the mazes of this life. He calls us to put on God’s word, like x-ray glasses of truth. And with the Word of God faithfully put on, we see through the facade of our veiled fragile flesh, and see Jesus Christ. We see who we really are, despite our fallenness!

However, the Holy Spirit’s job is no easy feat! He discerns each of us — guiding, correcting, and turning the fragile mirrors of our humanity. Within the folds of our sinful nature, the Spirit works. Sometimes this work is painful as he removes the masks, and smashes the mirrors with God’s holy law. But the Holy Spirit does this for our good as he leads us and counsels us to trust him, to trust God’s Word, and to trust that veiled in the ever-present sinful nature is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Holy Spirit turns us to Jesus Christ, to trust his work on the cross, to trust the word of the gospel, despite the swinging mirrors, that deceive us at every turn.

Hear again God’s word that Paul speaks to the Corinthians…

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 16 …whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 3:12, 16–18, 4:1-4, 6-7)

We are jars of clay, we are fragile mirrors. We can destroy ourselves and each other as we walk through the maze of this life. But we have been freed to trust the Holy Spirit, who comes through the Word of God, who turns the mirrors, who lifts the veil, and who destroys that which stops us from seeing who we are in Jesus Christ. This is the all-surpassing power from God and he will lead us to the end of the maze, and once that last mirror is removed we will see Jesus face to face. Amen.

Hear this sermon, click here.

C, Epiphany 6 - Jeremiah 17:9-10 "Death & Life Questions"

Jeremiah 17:9-10

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a person according to one’s conduct, according to what our deeds deserve.”

Sermon

What do your deeds deserve? What reward does your conduct merit? These questions are crucially important. So much so, they are life and death questions. They are not questions of intellectual intrigue or philosophy, to be treated lightly, or to be ignored. Nor are they questions concerning how many good works one has done. Or questions which can be emotionally employed to make us feel good, or manipulated in such a way to stand over others. No! These questions are asked of you, they are asked of all of us, here and now before God by God. What do your deeds deserve? What reward does your conduct merit?

Are you confident enough to stake your life on your answer? What about the life of your family …the life of this congregation …the life of our church and country? How about confidently staking humanity’s hope on your answer? These questions can only be asked of ourselves, we cannot ask them of anyone else, or answer them for anyone else either. They must be asked in our hidden hearts; hidden but unhidden from God. What do your answers tell you about yourself; what do they tell God?

As much as we think we hide our true answers from each other and God, the answers are still exposed in our attitudes to each other. In the way we treat our neighbour. In the way we teach our children. In the way we listen to teaching. In our attitude and conduct towards authority and correction. Also in the way we seek to serve. What do your deeds deserve? What reward does your conduct merit?

The Lord says to you and me through the word written in Jeremiah chapter seventeen, verses nine and ten, that, the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a person according to one’s conduct, according to what our deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Who understands your heart? Who understands my heart? Who can understand the heart and mind? The Lord understands; our Heavenly Father knows you better than you know yourself! So what do you think God will give you for your deeds? How will God, who sees everything, reward your conduct?

These are serious questions in these times where most things are treated trivially, especially God, his word, and the work his church is called to do. We all know how the Aussie thought process goes… No worries mate. If God is a God of love he won’t hurt me, I’ll be right!

But the word of God speaks quite differently! In Paul’s letter to the Romans God makes it quite clear using the image of an olive tree… Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:20b-22)

In Jeremiah seventeen verse five and six, the Lord also says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. They will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.” (Jeremiah 17:5-6)

And Jesus himself says, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s in Matthew chapter five verse twenty. And again in Matthew seven verses twenty-one to twenty-three he says… Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt 7:21-23)

What is the will of our Father who is in heaven? What do you think God will give you for your deeds? How will God, who sees everything, reward your conduct?

We don’t do ourselves or anyone else any favours, by covering up the ugly truth of these answers, or by putting aside God’s written word and the life and death truth it puts in front of us!

We hear the life and death truth direct from Jesus’ lips in the Gospel reading today. This reading from Luke six verses seventeen to twenty-six has two sides; the first part are blessings which in Matthew’s account of the Gospel are known as the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12). Have you ever noticed in these Beatitudes that the blessed are those associated with weakness, failure, unpopularity, and other negative human-centred perceptions? Ask yourself why?

And then in Luke’s account of the gospel, he continues with Jesus’ declaration of woes, or curses, for the wretchedness and the things our flawed human perception takes for granted as strengths. Woe to the rich, woe to the well fed, woe to those who laugh, and woe to you when others speak well of you! Why does Jesus speak like this? He’s not saying this to outsiders, it’s to the disciples and those gathered with them. He says it to you and to me. Again, ask yourself why?

If we allow the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts in all truth and honesty we know why Jesus says this. If we ask of ourselves, “What do my deeds deserve? What reward does my conduct merit?” No matter what we do to hide the truth, deep down God swiftly makes it known to us, we are sinful in nature, and God’s word tells us, the wages of sin is death! (Romans 6:23)

But these questions and the ugly answers before us; put before us by God, are known by God and answered by him too. As much as we must live in the painful reality of our sinful deeds and conduct, so we don’t lose sight of our weakness, and poverty, and unpopularity, and our misguided human perceptions. We are also called to live at the same time trusting that God has answered these very questions. Is it not because of your constant failures, weakness, poverty, and mortality that the Son of God became a mortal and bore all our eternal consequences of guilt?

If this is so, then perhaps in the constant reality of our weakness, hunger, sorrow, and rejection from the world, and in the constant reality that we would rather be seen as rich, well fed, happy, and popular, we can see each other in the light of Christ who has died for us all and answered the questions of death and life, in his death and resurrection, and in ours and other’s baptism into this life-giving death and resurrection.

If we assume that other’s deeds and conduct don’t deserve God’s grace, what are we really saying about our own deeds and conduct which before God are exactly the same as those we might condemn?

The greatest of all deeds, the most honourable conduct, is to believe that Christ has done enough for you, and enough for everyone else who trusts in him. So put your confidence in Christ and the cross as your answer.

What do your deeds deserve? What reward does your conduct merit? The answer is this: Christ’s death on the cross, and your resurrection from eternal death, perfected in your baptism into him, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Hear this sermon at Friar Puk's Sermon Sounds by clicking on this link.

C, Epiphany 3 - Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10 "The Cupbearer of God"

Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the Persian king, Artaxerxes (pron: Arta-zerk-ses). He was a man of honour, in which the king would put his trust, as he tasted all liquids for poison before passing them to the king to drink. His story is one of fascination as he petitions the king and is appointed governor of Jerusalem to rebuild its walls, while contending with detractors who sought to trick and destroy Nehemiah and the work God called him to do.

His name “Nehemiah” is a contraction of two Hebrew words which in English translates as “Yahweh comforts or consoles”. But to give depth to its meaning one must hold with it “the sigh of relief” that one experiences as this comfort comes through earnest repentance and forgiveness.

Nehemiah lived up to his name as God worked through him to comfort and console the people of Israel, who had been exiled under Assyrian and Babylonian rule years earlier. God claimed this cupbearer as his own, using him to hold up the cup of God, calling the returning exiles and remnant Jerusalem Jews to repentance and reassurance, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and restoring the Jewish welfare system. Now God and the covenant law might once again be present and heard in Jerusalem amongst his people.

God encouraged these events some time earlier while Nehemiah was still serving in the Persian palace, when his brother came to him and reported the ruins of Jerusalem. On hearing of the devastation, the humiliation, and the struggle of those who lived in the ruins, Nehemiah sat down and wept and fasted for many days. In this time he turned to the Lord in prayer. And in the tradition of Moses — remembering God’s work through him — Nehemiah the humble cupbearer mediates between God and his people repenting of his sin and interceding on behalf of the Israelites for their sins too. Saying…

…let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. (Nehemiah 1:6-7)

Our God is a God of grace. He heard Nehemiah and granted him a favourable audience before his king, when the king noticed his usually cheerful servant had become deeply saddened by the plight of Jerusalem. So after the king enquired into Nehemiah’s depression, Nehemiah asked Artaxerxes, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2:5) And with that God graciously opened the hand of the Persian king to allow Nehemiah to do what God was calling him to do. Artaxerxes even sent letters and soldiers with Nehemiah to grant him a safe passage and also cooperation from other governors to supply him with timber to rebuild the gates of Jerusalem.

But Nehemiah and Jerusalem had two powerful enemies, Sanballat (pron: San-bal-lat) governor of Samaria and Tobiah (pron: Toe-bee-ah) governor of the Transjordan. These men first made fun of Nehemiah’s plan to rebuild Jerusalem but when the walls started to take shaped their laughter turned to anger and they employed all kinds of tricks to spoil Nehemiah’s work and take his life.

No doubt with Nehemiah’s experiences as a cupbearer, he would have been very aware of the deception men like them were trying to instigate. So he examined the Jerusalem walls at night, without guards, in complete secrecy. The hand of God was upon him, and against his enemies. He enlisted the support of the Jewish priests, nobles, officials, and the faithful Jews, and rebuilt the city walls in fifty-two days — just seven and a half weeks!

While he was rebuilding the walls he had other things to contend with too. He had to use some of his workforce to defend his workers and the city from their enemies who were threatening to attack. So Nehemiah says to the people of Israel, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14) Then Nehemiah goes on to report, “When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.” (Nehemiah 4:14-15)

Nehemiah also had to call his officials and nobles to account when he discovered they were demanding taxes from the poor. Nehemiah put the situation back in order and they gave back what they had wrongly taken.

Furthermore, Nehemiah refused to collect the tax due to him as governor, and his table was always well attended by one hundred and fifty Jews, as well as others from other nations. Nehemiah was generous and had at interest the welfare of the people who had suffered so much. The grace God showered upon Nehemiah, flowed through him onto those God had called him to lead.

After the rebuilding was complete and everyone was settled back into their home towns…

1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10)

So why is Nehemiah’s story and work important to us?

Firstly, it’s good for us to hear and be encouraged by the example of faithful servants such as Nehemiah.

Secondly, and more importantly, Nehemiah foreshadows Jesus’ ministry of restoration. Jesus like Nehemiah was prayerfully dependant on God and God used them both to do his will. Nehemiah was instrumental in the renewal of God’s covenant handed down to Moses many years earlier, and Jesus came to instigate a covenant too. But not just to renew the old covenant! Jesus was sent by God to put a new covenant in place; fulfilling the old covenant, by keeping all its laws. Therefore, like Nehemiah, Jesus brings all the fullness of God and his word in victory over our enemies, sin and death. And he calls us to continual repentance and offers forgiveness to all who heed his call.

Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem in 445 BC, just after this, God’s word falls quiet for four hundred years, until Christ’s advent as a baby and epiphany as the Son of God. Like Nehemiah, the governor of Jerusalem, God sent his one and only Son as the cupbearer; so a new government could be lifted up and built on his shoulders, and through him we have access to this heavenly city.

Jesus our cupbearer drank the full cup of wrath; the cup we should have drunk! He suffered much at the cross for us, and beforehand as he approached the hour of his death prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matt 26:42)

Jesus also said to James and John, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized.” (Mark 10:38-39) And we too drink of the same cup of death. But even greater — we share in the cup of Jesus’ life. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:13) So right now, death has no power over us; and someday we will be raised to life in the New Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus our Lord, on his throne for all to see.

Just as Nehemiah had struggles in his life, we too go about our lives bearing the cup of struggles too. But we look forward in hope to the day when Christ brings us into the fortified walls of his glory where no tears will flow or sorrow will be felt. And the joy of the Lord will be the choice food and sweet drink, flowing from the eternal cup of God’s grace. Amen.

C, Epiphany of our Lord - Ephesians 3:1-12 "Mystery not Magic"

One can only imagine what must have been a sight to be seen, as the caravan of camels departed from downtown Persia or Arabia with the star shining ever so brightly in the night time sky.

We’re not really sure how many Magi saddled their camels for the cavalcade which was to follow the star wherever it went. In fact, we don’t really know anything about these men at all. Tradition has it there were three of them and they were wise — three because of the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh — and wise because Magi were mediums or fortune-tellers using astrology or divination, or some other secret art. The word ‘Magi’ is the plural of the Greek word magos, from where we get the English word magic.

But what we do know from God’s word is a number of these envoys from the East travelling from another place followed the star, which they believed, announced the birth of the King of the Jews. And their divination proved right, finding this King and his parents in Bethlehem, within two years of his birth.

What comes as a complete surprise is the shocked reaction of Herod and all Jerusalem with him. The scribes and the priest had the word of God and yet the birth of the Christ was a complete mystery to them until these Gentiles came with the news revealed to them through magic. Surly Herod must have been completely beside himself to hear a real Jew had been born King of the Jews.

It also comes as a shock to many today that God still seeks to reveal the Messianic King to us in this life — spiritually and physically. Some believe we now only live in the realm of the Holy Spirit, since Jesus has ascended into heaven at the right hand of the Father. And adding to this, some wrongly believe we too must ascend into the heavenly realm, to have an audience with God, through some secretive magical means.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. Just as Jesus was revealed in the word of God to the Magi and the Jews, as the infant King born at Bethlehem, we too are told in his word that Jesus still continues to make his epiphany amongst us. He sends the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to him, his grace, and the administration of his ways, or means, so we might dwell in God the Father’s presence in peace, here on earth and in eternity too.

This is not some magical act or revelation, but as the Magi witnessed, it’s the mystery of God, born in flesh at Bethlehem for you and me. Perhaps the Magi were surprised, even shocked, that the baby Jesus was living with his parents in such humble surrounds. We might be surprised too, that God reveals himself to us, Gentile sinners, through humble but mysterious means.

St Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of the Gentiles, encourages the church in Ephesus not to be discouraged by his humble suffering, but rather hang onto Christ, given in the administration of the mystery, which is God’s grace given to you — to us — by way of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This encouragement is for you and me in today’s Gentile church too! Therefore Paul proclaims to us, This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:6)

However, since the ascension of Christ, we, the church, have grappled with questions like, “How do we receive the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection from a time long past, right here, right now, today? How do we dwell with our hidden Triune God?”

In seeking answers to these questions, some seek to rationalise the mystery, so they might believe by understanding the wisdom of God which can only be believed by God-given faith. Or instead, yearning for spirituality, turn from the life-giving mystery of God, to — pseudo-New Age, Eastern, magical, secretive — emotion-driven hocus pocus! Through their deeds they proclaim a faith that one must be some sort of super-Christian endowed with an individualistic personal higher knowledge of God, above and against what Jesus Christ has given us in his word.

So when the Word of God, over and over again, reveals it is the Triune God who comes down to us and still does even today, it comes as a shock to some — perhaps even disturbing to others too. In fact, we live in the presence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, right here, right now. If this is not the case, then every prayer prayed “Dear Heavenly Father…” is prayed to nothing and a complete deception!

But the mystery of the gospel is anything but deception or disturbing for those who, knowing their sinful nature, trust in the administration of the mystery of a present but hidden God. So their sins are forgiven and they live in peace with God, in times that are anything but peaceful. Paul again in Ephesians 3 says, concerning Jesus Christ and the reception of the mystery, In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. (Ephesians 3:12)

The mystery of Christ, and the administration of this mystery, the way God administers himself, Christ, and the Holy Spirit to us — the means of grace — is revealed through his word and nowhere else. It was revealed to the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit of God, and they wrote it down, and now through these same written words the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us.

Jesus Christ makes his epiphany to us through his word. He is made plain to us, made manifest; through his word the Holy Spirit en-fleshes Christ, in us and with us, spiritually and physically. This is not magic, but done through physical, practical, and spiritual means as men administer God’s way with water, bread, and wine, together with the proclamation of God’s word, both Law and Gospel, and the forgiveness of sins for eternal life. It is hidden in complete mystery and seen only by those who hear and believe his word.

So hot on the heels of Christmas, we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord on January the 6th, where Christ the Messiah, the King of the Jews, is revealed to be born at Bethlehem through the words of Micah 5:2, to all Jerusalem and the Magi, and to us in the gospel as well. In fact, the Sundays after Epiphany continue to reveal Jesus as not just the human Messiah but also the Son of God, first in his baptism and concluding at Transfiguration, where for only a moment God reveals the full extent of his glory veiled in flesh.

Likewise, we have received the mystery through the water, the word, and the Holy Spirit at baptism. We continue to receive the mystery in the preaching of the word, and in Holy Communion too, where together with the angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven we adore and magnify his glorious name, and eat and drink his precious body and blood so that he is veiled in the flesh of those who believe. This is the administration of God’s grace, this is the way we receive the mystery of Christ, his death and resurrection. This is his word and sacraments, the means of his grace. This is the way God chooses to love you and me!

So we, as a church, do well to administer this mystery according to God’s purpose in Christ Jesus; for the sake of our personal welfare, for the sake of the church, and for the sake of our relationship with God and each other in the church community. For this is God’s way, the only way, worked and revealed by God himself. Even greater than this, in Ephesians 3:10 Paul also reveals God’s intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 3:10)

In the mystery of the gospel, and through the mystery of its administration, God promises to come to you in a very real, practical, physical, and spiritual way, and give eternal life through Jesus’ death and resurrection to those who hear him and trust him in his word.

As you believe, let it be done for you! Amen.

Hear it at http://friarpuk.podbean.com/2007/01/07/mystery-not-magic-epiphany-of-our-lord-2007/