A, Pentecost 10 Proper 14 - Matthew 14:22–33 "Comply and/or Die"

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.  And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,  but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.  And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”  And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22–33 ESV)

Sit up children of God and know that the day of salvation is drawing near despite satan raging against the church in these days. Interpret the times to the glory of God and proclaim life in the midst of pandemic death.

These are testing times.  There is no doubt our world is straining under the pressure of affliction at the moment. However in humanity’s struggle what is overlooked is, “why this has come upon us?”

There has been much busyness by governments around the world to stop the virus; to stop the deathly march of covid-19 and to bolster the economies of countries’ financial hopes.  These are testing times.

But why are we being tested?  Who is testing us?  What in each of us is being tested?

You and I are being tested, the children of God are being tested.  The denominations of Christendom are being tested as the turbid waters of these days churn in waves of pandemic flooding the planet.

Peter and the disciples were being tested too.

Why would Jesus force us to get into a boat and sail to “the other side”?

We are told Jesus set them in the boat and then sent them ahead across the lake while he dismissed the crowd.

You must go, it’s time to leave, the five thousand have been fed, and it’s time to be alone in social isolation.

It’s what one does in isolation that tells what one is really like!  What I do when I am alone, what I think about privately and what I desire in secret reveal what a person “is” in the presence of God.   And this is where the testing reveals the result.

In the last couple of weeks as the threat of a second wave of covid-19 threatens to sweep over us and border restrictions are being strengthened with more police and military personnel I thought to myself the military should have guns and enforce the closures with their weapons.  “Comply or die” I mused in the confusion of fear and self glorification lurking within my human spirit.

Contrary to this Jesus seems to force the disciples to cross the border from stability and food and fellowship with the five thousand into the darkness of isolation and waves of death that well up without notice on the Sea of Galilee.

Galilee was known as Galilee of the nations. Likewise the nations of our planet have suddenly been gathered into its own swirling whirlpool of suffering and testing.  And here Jesus tests by sending his disciples into what appears to be satanic seas and a hellish death.  Rather than “comply or die”, it would have seemed that they must “comply and die”.

In their exhaustion after hours of rowing against the wind and the waves, blisters on their hands, the feed of fish and bread long burnt away in their bellies and aching muscles tired beyond sleep, they believed Jesus had left them in social isolation.

You and I along with the rest of humanity always become zealous in socially isolating ourselves from God.  As individuals, as families, as church, as society and country, a human’s greatest desire is to be free from being the reliant creatures God has made us to be.  Yet now we find ourselves in social isolation; we wanted to be all alone and now we’ve got it! 

What St Paul tells the Corinthians, God calls us to hear!  

God chose things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are. (1 Corinthians 1:28 ESV)

Paul also says to the Romans, (God) gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:17 ESV)

Covid-19 has come from nowhere to everywhere in the blink of an eye.  Covid was nothing to us a year ago and a year later it’s bringing much of our existence to nothing!  On its arrival every god we sought to sustain us is being rendered completely useless and impotent. The human spirit is shaken to its core and it sees itself in the reality of a satanic sea without a saviour.

Then Jesus approaches us in our isolation.  Our reaction is fear.  The “comply or die” judgement we have wished upon others seems to have ensnared us.  We have become slaves to the oars of our own efforts; enslaved to the gods of our social loneliness.  Has our kingdom come?  Are we receiving the wages for what we’ve done?  What will this phantom do who approaches us through the winds and the waves?  We know we have never fully complied.  In our selfish isolation will he make us now die? 

Jesus speaks to us in his Word?  “Sit up child of God!  Take courage children of God. I speak from my Word!  Have I got your attention?  I am your Saviour, do not fear.”  Return! Listen to God’s Word.  Pray for the Holy Spirit; don’t trust your human spirit! 

It’s right here Jesus takes the “comply or die” of the human spirit and turns it on its head.  It’s no longer the snare trapping us in our kingdom of social isolation and fear which waves and churns within.  God is calling from without saying, “Come!”  Step out from your human spirited kingdom into mine.

Jesus’ invitation to Peter was a call to “Comply AND die”.  So Peter steps out of the boat but as soon as he does his human spirit doesn’t want to die and he doubts; he two faces himself!  Trusting not in the face of Jesus rather he once again sees his reflection in his sea of social isolation from Jesus and begins to sink.

The more Peter tries to save himself the more he falls into the deadliness of his situation.  The more I try to comply with my own desires, the more it kills! This not only affects me but all others I have been called to serve.  Not only do I fall into a sea of suffering I pull everyone else in around me too.

But Jesus’ call to “comply and die” is not compliance with the self!  It’s compliance with him and his Word.  Having been tested we realise we’re nothing without him, and the hope we place in ourselves is a dead hope.  But in complying with Jesus we’re called to die and as we do we cry out to our only true hope, “Lord save me!”

Jesus reached out his hand and saved Peter and those within the boat.  They worshipped him as the Son of God.  Jesus was opening their eyes to his kingdom.  Not a kingdom of laws and compliance from death, but rather a kingdom which called them to put to death faith in themselves and trust in the King who saves from death through death.

Our human spirit, governments all around the word, and satan call for compliance OR die.  Fear is not far from us in these times of turbulence on this pandemic planet.  But Jesus has complied and in doing so he also died.  He calls us to comply and die.  Comply with him which frees us to die to self.

Despite our social isolation, when we die to self, when we allow the Holy Spirit to daily drown the human spirit Jesus brings you into compliance with his kingdom.  And this is a good kingdom with a good end.

Just as Jesus said to Peter in the boat, “Take courage, it is I! Come!” Jesus says to you “Behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”(Revelation 22:7 ESV)

As we in the world are tested for Covid-19, God tests his children with his Word saying, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.  Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”  “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. (Revelation 22:10–14 ESV)

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17 ESV)

Jesus says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. (Revelation 22:20–21 ESV) 

C, Epiphany 7 - 1 Corinthians 15:49-50 Psalm 37:4 "Birth, Death and Resurrection"

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:49-50)

We are being saved by the Gospel.  The Gospel is Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection over sin and eternal death. This is the purpose of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Gospel books of the bible.  The other New Testament writings also point us back to Jesus’ work in the Gospel books, as do the Old Testament writings point forward to Jesus.

So you turn up here week after week to hear about Jesus, to sing about him and what he has done, in the hope you will not have to experience eternal death.  That’s what religion is all about; avoiding death and eternal suffering.

Looking into yourself, what do you see?  Perhaps you don’t like looking in there very often. Maybe it’s bad enough looking in the mirror!  Possibly you don’t have to look within because what’s in there keeps bubbling out, like indigestion tries to gas its way up and out!

So we turn up here, hiding the reality of ourselves or denying it and putting on a good show.  Yet the Holy Spirit continues nibbling away at us, not to look into ourselves, but, to look out of ourselves.

He wants you to know your reality but he doesn’t want you to try to figure it out for yourself.  He wants to lead you to Jesus.  He wants you to know, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  He wants you and me to be Christians.  He doesn’t want us to be religious at all.

Being religious focuses us on what we have to do, must do, should do, or haven’t done.  Being a Christian focuses us on what we cannot do, and instead on he who does it.  That’s Jesus, the New Adam!  But being active always sounds better to us than being passive.  Being active usually makes us feel good about ourselves… most of the time.  I suspect like me many of you like to be active so there is not time to stop and reflect on what’s really going on within.

Looking out of ourselves to Jesus, and his word, actually helps us to get a better grip on what’s going on within ourselves.  It enables us to understand how we tick; what we do and why we do it!  Jesus and the word of God enables you not to be afraid of who you are or your sin.  It destroys fear of eternal death and it keeps us focused on Jesus’ promise to us in the face of dying and death.

God’s callings have a birth, a death, and then a resurrection. ^[1]  Our day to day living in Jesus Christ is as much about daily death and resurrection as is our last day.  Daily drowning the old nature to have Christ put on.  Taking up the cross and following Jesus.  Trust not in yourself.  Rather make the sacrifice to trust what the Holy Spirit places on your heart as you hear, read and reread God’s word.  Search and pray for the truth of the situation from God’s point of view.

In Psalm 37 we hear, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4 ESV)  What are the delights and desires of your heart?  If you are like me there will be many.  And if you are like me it takes God to come and sort them out.  

I end up not sorting out any of my delights or desires because I get caught up in myself.  Just like a child sent to clean its room ends us playing in the mess rather than cleaning it up. In the same way like a parent who has to then clean the child’s bedroom, God has to come and clean up my delights and desires.  God removes the rubbish of our religion to reveal the cleanliness of Christianity. What do I mean?

Christianity deals with death first and life then comes after resurrection.  It’s been that way since your baptism.  Dying to sin and being raised to life.  Our lives from then on look towards life as a Christian.  The Holy Spirit is the active one who moves us to Christ and keeps us in Christ.  And he’s the one who makes you feel guilty when you seek to ignore hearing and reading God’s Word, and gives you the yearning for forgiveness and peace.  In this life God is making us holy for heaven.

But the Old Adam within looks back to the self for justification, pleasure, delight and the deeds it thinks it needs to perform to be a self inflated hero.  Yep, the Old Adam is a narcissist. He or she within thinks he or she is the best person to deal with the self and having done so is then better than anyone else.  But this self-appeasing Adam within is a worrier, and warlord against anyone who seems better.

The Old Adam is a deceiver. He or she says, “You can’t really die, that’s only for the “old” or for the “bad people.”    And, “Why do I have to suffer, if God really loves me, my senses should not have to suffer anything?   Since the fall he or she says, “I’m like God I know good and evil, I decide what is good and what is evil, and pronounce judgement.”  The Old Adam loves the dos and don’ts of religion.  Jesus’ holiness has no eternal home in this haughty hero!

All through life, though, God seeks to free us of the Old Adam.  The reality of this is pain and suffering and perhaps even shame, but thankfully resurrection.  Our callings are various and many, from position in community, to family, to work career, to church, to God.  For the Christian all of these involve dying and death so resurrection can take place.

I am a son, a father, a husband, a citizen, an employee, a leader, a church member, a pastor, a child of God.  Death and dying is a normal part all of these.  As my kids grow things about them and my fatherhood die and are resurrected as something else, a career dies and is resurrected.  As a pastor I come and go and congregations receive and lose pastors.  Our congregations die, and God raises up his church.  The body wearies and we retire.  The aches and pains of ageing take the place of our active lives and new ways of living seem to come about.

But more specifically as I get older, closer to the day of my final earthly death, I learn from all the other deaths and resurrections in my callings that they are pointing me and teaching me the reality of who I am and what I am really capable of, or rightly, what I am not capable of.  The Old Adam wants to get angry at the corruption in the world and blame everyone else.  But this does not bring any sort of peace that lasts. If I am honest I have exploited just as much as the next person because of the narcissistic Old Adam within. 

I challenge you to ask God to give you a desire to hear and read his word.  To ponder what God has done for you.  You will be delighted when you realise God has placed many “Joseph situations” in your life.  Where God has used, what you have deemed, evil for his good and your salvation.  You will find the more you read and hear his word the more you will want to hear and read it.  When you sin, you will understand why you do, and you won’t explain it away, but rather confess it and thank God for the forgiveness he won on the cross for you. 

When you delight yourself in the Lord you will find the desires you once had will become less desirable.  Delighting in the Lord will aid in the death of self and the resurrection of something better; delight in the Lord.  The gods your Old Adam seek to serve will eventually seem less important and there will be a greater yearning within for more and more cleansing.  And the Holy Spirit will oblige and keep bringing you to the Word of God, both the Written Word and The Word made flesh.

However, the Old Adam within won’t like it one bit.  He or she will kick up a big stink. And you will find yourself being led back to the old self, to the old way of thinking.   A war will ensue within. The Old Adam will seek to restore your hero status.  You will be tempted and taunted, and sin will occur.

But do not fear, do not let the evil one trick you and lead you away from God’s word and God’s work.  He will tell you you’re too bad, you’ve been away from the word of God too long, you’re better off trusting in yourself once again, you can work off your sins! God doesn’t want to know you anymore!  I am sure you know what I’m saying, we’ve all been fooled before.  But even when we are fooled, let the Holy Spirit lead you back to the source of eternal life and the forgiveness won there for you.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.  (Psalm 37:3–7a ESV)

What is the good we are to trust doing in the Lord if the Old Adam can deceive within?  Doing good is looking out of ourselves to Jesus, being still and letting the Holy Spirit lead us to him, our risen Saviour.  Befriending faithfulness, does not trust our faithfulness which often wanders, but, trusts and befriends God’s faithfulness towards us, which is promised in his word.

At the birth of a sin it’s time for another death and resurrection, one of the many we undergo as a Christian.  Trust God has got you covered with the blood of Jesus and believe the Holy Spirit busies himself calling, gathering and enlightening you together with all Christians in repentance.   Don’t be deceived or afraid!  Jesus died for sinners, so let Jesus save you from your sin.

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.  The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.  (Psalm 37:39–40 ESV)

The Lord saves us from the wicked, that is the wicked without AND the wicked within.  That is his promise to you; he will save you from the Old Adam within, so take refuge in him.  Amen.

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[1] “Ed Amies, one of my oldest and closest friends, told my simply that: “So often, God’s callings have a birth, a death, and then a resurrection.” Bear Grylls (page 216) Mud, Sweat and Tears

B, Pentecost 18 Proper 20 - James 4:1-4 "Love when it comes from God"

“Love is Love”, so they say.  This is the mantra we’ve been fed in recent times. But anyone who questions this is made to feel guilty by the political forces of correctness.  However, it is far from correct and those who defend the “Love is love” ideology display anything but love for those who differ in opinion.

But there are many different types of love.  The bible speaks of four variations of love, and in ancient Greece there are eight variants.

Briefly they are:

Eros or erotic love; in short is sexual passion and desire. 

Philia or philos is affectionate love, mateship or friendship.  In Philos there is no sexual passion.  From this root word we get words like Philadelphia (brotherly love) and philosophy (love of wisdom).

Storge is family love or kinship, it is the love that flows within families, between parents and children. 

Ludus is a playful love and is somewhat related to eros.  Ludus is the fluttering heart, the flirting, teasing love and it gives one the feeling of euphoria.

Mania is obsessive love that is jealous and possessive.  And it is from where we get the word maniac.

Pragma or enduring love and is found in couples who have been together for a long time in a relationship that is mature and willing to make compromises.  It is sensible and realistic love and it is the root of the word pragmatic.

Philautia or love of self is love turned in on one’s self.  Narcissists, those who seek their own glory, fame, fortune and are self-obsessed are caught up in philautia.

And the eighth is Agape. It is a selfless love, it is unconditional love and as such it is used of God towards humanity.  It is steadfast, enduring, accepting, generous and forgiving love.

So love is not love.  There is more to love than some would have us believe.  In fact the “love is love” mantra is built more on deception and self-justification than on human, historical, and literary reality.

As we heard these eight different variants of love, we might have distinguished some which are common to scripture.  Three are common and they are eros, philos and agape. The fourth is storge but it is only used once in conjunction with Philia in Romans 12:10.

The Word of God brings to the fore these three as the battle ground on which our Lord fights for us.  We might think of eros as erotic love but at its core is desire the struggle to force one’s will on someone else.  It begins in the child way before anything sexual begins when they take their stand against mum and dad in a defiant “NO” said to get their own way.

James speaks of this desire as passions or pleasures.  He doesn’t use eros here but rather a synonym from where we get the word hedonistic, which means self-indulgent, riotous, wild, or self-gratifying.

He says, ...if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. (James 3:14–15 ESV)

James continues, What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:1–3 ESV)

And in the very next verse we hear the use of philia, brotherly love or friendship.  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  (James 4:4 ESV)

Here he uses it negatively when we make friendship with the world and not with God.

Agape love appears time and time again throughout the bible.  It’s the love Jesus was pointing to when he taught the disciples over and over again he was going to be the messiah or the anointed one by being crucified on the cross.  To which last week we heard Peter attempt to rebuke Jesus for saying such, and Jesus in turn said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Mark 8:33 ESV)

Today we heard again, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”  But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. (Mark 9:31–32 ESV)

We struggle to understand this after the fact.  How much harder would it have been for the disciples before Jesus went to his death and resurrection? Jesus then confounds their understanding even further by saying, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”(Mark 9:35 ESV)  A point Jesus has to stress even stronger later on by replacing servant with slave stating, “...whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43–45 ESV)

This is the very heart of the gospel, this is the love of God, the agape love we struggle to understand let alone fulfil.  In fact God is the only one who can fulfil this love. Why is this so?

One has to rewind back to the Garden of Eden where humanity, created in the image of God though that not good enough, and, was tempted and chose to seek to be like God by eating from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.  And so they became like God and we too being God-like in ourselves seek this love of good and evil, or what we desire as good and evil rather than the love of servanthood and submission to God, the agape love, in which we were created to love God, in which Jesus came to put right by loving God whole-heartedly, what Adam and Eve got wrong and we continue to get wrong.

It becomes pretty clear that the “love is love” mantra of our day and age is far from the centrality of God’s love won for us on the cross.  In fact we are told quite clearly that anyone who wishes to be friends with the world makes himself an enemy with God. 

A spiritual reality came into being when humanity sought to be like God.  We became enemies with God. But God still did not reject us.  First, he removed himself from humanity and lets us be the gods of good and evil.  Once there we quickly realised that being the one god of ourselves is lonely and void of the love that truly sustains us. 

Being alone, being like God is the result of the fall.  And being alone is the great disease running rampant in our society today.  Whether you’re a teenager obsessing over your friend status on your iphone or smartphone (or as I call them ego phones)!  Or you’re in the latter years of life lonely and losing the independence you had once upon a time.  Plus, everyone in between who puts their hope in their farms, their families, their fortunes, or their fame.

James points out our jealousy and self-ambition is a result of our loneliness and godlikeness saying, “This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” (James 3:15 ESV)

In Paul’s struggle with the “infants” in the Corinthian church he says similar, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.  And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.  The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.  The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.  “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”  (1 Corinthians 2:12–16 ESV)

We have the mind of Christ.  He gave his life as a ransomed for you, for me, and for all people who believe he took our sin on himself on the cross.  He takes the natural person, the old Adam within, Peter and the disciples, you and me, the godlike man and woman naturally alone in the loneliness of our judgment of good and evil, and makes each of us spiritual people, with the mind of Christ.

He loves you and forgives you and gives you access into his presence forever, where there is not loneliness or need to be a god, rather you can be the creature he created you to be.   Love can only be love when God is love.

Like the Psalmist we can praise God saying, “Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.  He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.” (Psalm 54:4–5 ESV)

God is Love and anything we put before God is our enemy.  Our greatest enemy is our lonely godlike self, or anyone who tells us that there is a greater god than our Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  

So rest in God!  Put off the godlike loneliness that causes so much strife and take hold of the love that is of God and eternal, and gives us the peace that surpasses all understanding which keeps our hearts and minds in the love of Christ Jesus, Amen.

B, Resurrection of our Lord - 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 "Holy Saturday"

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 (ESV) Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

In our culture most refer to the period of Good Friday to Easter Monday as the Easter weekend. However, Easter began today and continues for seven weeks right through to Pentecost Sunday.

But because most of us get caught up in the idea of Easter being a four day weekend there is one day¬—a very important day—that seems to be lost on us.

Ask most what the day is called between Good Friday and Easter Sunday and without hesitation most call it Easter Saturday. But in fact it is Holy Saturday, whereas Easter Saturday is to fall in six days time.

Although this needs to be mentioned here it is not the focus. We need not be too concerned about the right title for certain days. Instead we do well to visit Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and see the happenings of this day and how it affects us in our Christian walk.

After all, Jesus walked the way of the cross, for us. And now this walk, we walk hand in hand with Jesus through every part of our lives. Well, this is at least what Jesus wishes to do with us.

In First Corinthians we have heard Saint Paul was a hard worker for the Jewish cause, persecuting Christians and the new church. And after his conversion just as hard a worker for the church! But the language Paul uses in his letter to the Corinthians makes Jesus stand out in a most peculiar way. In fact, in completely the opposite way than that of Paul!

The saying is true for Paul, “when the going gets tough the tough get going.” But surprisingly it’s not for Jesus, who rather than being active was passive and on Holy Saturday, stopped in grave for the Sabbath of all Sabbath resting in death and, at the same time, descending into hell.

Listen to the language of Saint Paul in these verses… 

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

The repetition is a little lost on us in the English, but Paul pushes the passivity of Jesus in his death and resurrection in the text. That, Jesus was buried, he was raised, and (in the Greek text) he was caused to be seen by all from Peter(Cephas) to finally himself.

Jesus fulfilled his mission of salvation in the stillness of the cross, he fulfils the Old Testament law by his stillness in the grave on Holy Saturday, and he fulfilled the will of God, restoring the relationship between God and humanity to what it once was in the Garden of Eden.

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:2–3 ESV)

On the cross and in the grave, Jesus puts a stop to earning our salvation through works or self-righteousness. In the stillness of his death and in the grave Jesus fulfils the Sabbath and the Jewish Law; he was still and knew that the Father was God, even though he was God too. And in this stillness of death and descent into hell, without any help, from any of us, he took the Old Adam on himself and gave us himself, atoning for our sin, making us holy and giving back our relationship with God the Father.

So how are we to reflect on Holy Saturday; the passivity of Christ on the cross, his stillness in the grave, the true unity his holiness gives us when we rest in him verses the activity of the sinful nature within, and God’s desire to rest—to rest with us?

As restless as we are, how do we rest in these days that are far from passive, while our secret thoughts and actions are anything but holy, in our constant desire to do what we want rather than be in God’s presence? How often do we seek to add our deeds to Jesus stopping on the cross and his Sabbath rest in the grave?

Take care, brothers (and sisters), lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (Hebrews 3:12–14 ESV)

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. (Hebrews 4:1–2 ESV)

Satan, the sinful nature within, and sins committed take their toll on us.

It so easy to fall into unbelief, to stumble into thinking I haven’t done enough and therefore actively seek to add to what Jesus has done. Or, to be deceived into running from God and your sin believing that you’re no longer worthy.

Then there are many when tested by the trials and tribulations of this life lose faith in Jesus’ trials and tribulations on the cross for them and their loved ones and the power of his taking sin on himself to the grave and hell.

On the other hand, in trying to unburden one’s self, many trivialise sin, believing what we are or what we have done is of no consequence. Or at least as bad as what someone else has done or is doing. In this way many make God out to be a liar; cheapening his death for sin and the sinful nature.

It seems each of us is dammed if we do or dammed if we don’t! The old Adam within sins when we try to do almost anything, and the old Adam is right there again when we try to hid or divert guilt away from the sneakiness of our human nature.

This is where we as Christians are called to let the passivity of Jesus’ death on the cross, stillness in the grave, and descent into hell, work our salvation.

We can be still in Christ; in his passivity we receive his complete belief and trust in our heavenly Father. His stillness now resides in you and me. That which is completely contradictory to our human nature; Jesus’ stillness works "fulfilled Son of God'' activity within us. The Holy Spirit grows faith, and enables us to stop and rest in God’s word, and rest in the work Jesus did on the cross by being completely still.

For us sharing in Christ is now believing to the point where we can stop in him, enter his holy rest, and let the word and work of God, work in us. With the eyes of faith we are caused to see in his word our story, our life, as one with each other and God in the garden of eternal paradise. This only happens when we, like Jesus in the grave, remain passive and still, and he having been raised now powerfully works within the stillness of our trust in him together with the Holy Spirit to bring us into true refreshing rest not found anywhere else in this life.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10 ESV)

And we know… the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 12–13 ESV)

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11 ESV)

As Jesus Sabbathed in the grave, pray to the Lord for the grace to stop, enter his rest and Sabbath in him, Amen.

A, Epiphany 4 - Matthew 5:6 "Hunger & Thirst"

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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6 ESV)

When a person is blessed, they’re set apart, they’re privileged, and they’re given more.  Some translations use the word “happy” but being blessed is happier than happy, rather one is holy when one is blessed.  Jesus declares this blessedness comes as a result of what?  Being poor in spirit, meek; or those who mourn, or are reviled and persecuted!

In the midst of these beatitudes, or these “attitudes of being holy” we hear those are blessed who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and yet only a few words later Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10 (ESV)

Now we must understand that righteousness here is not anything we can do for ourselves. For if one could obtain righteousness for and by themselves, then there would be no hunger or thirsting for it.  I’d just fill myself with righteousness.  But the appetite for righteousness is fulfilled when one is fed by someone else.

So we are blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness.  What is this hunger and thirst?  It is the desire, the passion, the yearning, and the craving.  It is the intense need for that which one hasn’t got, and so desperately needs or wants.  One might even say blessed are those who covet righteousness.  How can one covet righteousness and receive the kingdom of heaven? 

It’s an interesting question to ponder.  One that King David considered too!

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbour, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honours those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. Psalm 15 (ESV)

He asks the Lord, “Who can stop with you?  Who can hang out in your holy presence?  And then he worships God saying, he who walks perfectly without blame, does right, speaks the truth in and from his heart,  and conducts himself or herself in such a way, even if they suffer hurt from it they stick to their guns.

It’s at this point I begin to realise that the righteousness required to receive the kingdom of heaven is one that’s going to hurt; for righteousness’ sake I’m going to be landing smack bang in the middle of persecution.

Now I suspect you like me don’t like the idea of suffering and pain.  So then how am I to crave or covet God, his kingdom, and his righteousness?  Reality tells me it’s easier to seek first everything else rather than the kingdom of God, and it’s a lot less painful for my every day existence.

It seems to me I’m in trouble.  The word of God makes it quite clear, any showy self-righteous acts are just a complete waste of time.  Oh yes, they might make me feel good about myself but they’re not going to advance my cause before God.  I will be held high in the eyes of others but this is just vain glory, and if I believe my own popularity, I’m playing a game of deadly deception with myself.  Yes it appears any of my righteous deeds are about as popular with God, as one of my dogs coming to me for praise after it’s been rolling in its own filth!

You and I are in big trouble!  Left to ourselves and our own devices we neither have a hunger nor a thirst for righteousness, so therefore we won’t be satisfied, blessed, or made holy.  How can one desire something when one doesn’t even know what it is lest have the hunger or thirst for it anyway?

On the other hand, having been made known about the righteousness of God, I still don’t seek it, if I am honest with myself.  Time and time again I try to do the right thing but fail.  Over and over and over I act more like my foul smelling dog returning to its filth.  I try to be mission minded, I try to be forgiving, I try to be accepting of others, but deep within me rages my desire to throttle all the tall poppies around me so I’m the only one left standing proud and tall. 

The righteousness that I so often seek is one that persecutes all others so I can build my own kingdom where I can have my own way!

Yet God still comes to me in this condition.  This is truly surprising to me!  Why should I deserve such graciousness?  After all I know I am in trouble, I see in all my actions, a seeking of self righteousness.  Either I hold up my thin veil of pride to hide reality, or the veil falls away and I see the shame of one who cannot save myself from death.  But he still comes!

He sent his only Son to fulfil all righteousness!  The Son of God arrived at the Jordan, John baptised him into my life and I have been baptised into his.  And now Jesus fulfils all righteousness in me, and he does for you too!  He walks with me through life, taking what is mine and giving me what is his.  He takes my wretched cross and gives me his glorified crown!

… you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31 ESV)

He has places in you and me, even while we still struggle with the old sinful self, forgiveness and faith, blessedness and salvation, despite what we see in ourselves.  He makes us holy and happier knowing we have been freed from trouble even as we struggle with all the troubles in the world. 

And even as we struggle with the cravings and desires that lead us to covet all the unrighteous stuff around us I can say …The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1 ESV)

So whom shall you fear or be afraid?  Certainly not yourself, definitely not the devil, and you needn’t worry about the world either.  But in the reality of all this trouble we can constantly ask the Lord as King David asks of him…

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:4–5 (ESV) 

In the midst of tribulation troubles and toils, you can boast in the Lord and receive his blessings.  Therefore you can pursue God in prayer.  You can ask him to change your attitudes of being.  You can call on Jesus to fulfil all righteousness within you, and to lead you into his word so you can bear the wisdom of Christ.  And in doing so you will find yourself desiring and craving the temple of the Lord, seeking the beauty of the Lord and see him living this beauty in you as you are constantly immersed in and sprinkled with his word.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6 (ESV)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6 ESV)

Amen.

C, Pentecost 11 Proper 13 - Luke 12:13-15 "What's the deal with coveting?"

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Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”  And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  (Luke 12:13–15 ESV)

Jesus said to the fellow in the crowd, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” after this man had summoned Jesus to tell someone to divide an inheritance with him.  But we never hear the answer.  Interesting! 

Here Jesus dives under the surface to meet what’s really going on within this man, but also within you and me! Who is my judge and arbitrator?  Who is your judge and arbitrator?

The very fact this man asked the question of Jesus to do his bidding reveals two things.  The first is he was acting as his own judge and arbitrator who had decided in his own mind he deserved his share of the inheritance.  And secondly, he seeks to enlist Jesus’ power because, although he seeks to be his own judge, he hasn’t the power over the mind of someone else.

What’s going on in his mind is the very thing that goes on in the hearts and minds of us all.  When confronted by the mind of God what goes through your mind?  When Jesus asks you, “Who made me a judge and arbitrator over you?” what is your answer?  Your answer will quickly reveal how you understand yourself in relation to coveting and Jesus’ next comment where he says, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

I use to wonder why God gave us the commandments on coveting!  “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.” (Exodus 20:17 ESV)  I know he gave them to us because we are covetous; that we struggle with greed and desire, known as avarice or cupidity, but I didn’t understand why God would have them after the other commandments.

You see, when I want someone else’s stuff the commandment on stealing would surely stop me from taking someone else’s possessions.  And, when the eye starts to look around in lust, I hear within “you shall not commit adultery” ring warning bells in my mind and heart turning me towards repentance and then peaceful living with God and my neighbours.

And so I pondered the Ten Commandments, knowing the first three are about my relationship with God and the second table, the other seven commandments, are about my relationship with people.  So why the commandments on coveting?

Surely bad actions against parents and authority are defended by the command to honour one’s father and mother!  Killing, boundary crossing sexual activity, stealing, and actions of the tongue cover the rest of the commandments so we are protected in community!  So why the commandments on coveting?

More than ever, the importance of the commandments on coveting needs to be understood by us today.  Firstly, so we might know what’s going on within us, and then, so we might be able to serve our neighbour as they struggle to work out what’s going on in them.

You see, the second table of the Ten Commandments deals with sins against people.  And while these commandments deal with this, the last of the commandments on coveting someone else’s stuff and living things, deals not with sin against other people, but rather sinning against the person of ourself.

Put most simply it’s the body waging war with itself.  Everyone who’s broken a diet, a personal new year’s resolution or sort to stop smoking knows what is going on here.  When your mind is tough it makes a decision, no more!  But then by evening it seems the cravings in every cell of the body demands you light up, or slip down to the shop for that block of chocolate!  Who here has sinned against themselves in this way?

But let’s not get into a game of dissection and blame, “My stomach, made me do it!  My hand made me do!  You and I are whole people, mind, body, and spirit!  Each of us needs to ponder our relationship with ourselves.  Taking time out to do this in God’s presence is vitally important for the mental and spiritual wellbeing of every person who walks the planet. 

However, as easy as it may be to take the speck out of someone’s eye, it sure is had to acknowledge the log in our own.  Nevertheless, as tough as it is to take a good hard look at ourself, if we don’t, then we’re no different to a fool coveting earthly riches in the face of death.

So what is your wealth?  What are the riches of this congregation?  How are you arbitrating and judging your earthly reality?  Now we get to the heart of the commandments on coveting.  Now we begin to see and expose why we and the rest of the western world are so plagued with spiritual oppression and depression in all its various forms. 

It seems covetous behaviour leaves us not even being able to live with ourselves let alone care for our neighbour in the face of our perfect inheritance, eternal life!  Our yearning for things in this world leaves us with aching desires!  Sexual desire burns us up with cupidity.  And even when the we get what we covet, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow moves so we never really get what we chase after.

In his first letter to the Corinthians St Paul tells those who struggle with this in Corinth, as he does also with you, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.  The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.” (1 Corinthians 2:14–15 ESV)

Who is judge and arbitrator over you?  Are you about pleasing God or man; be it someone else or yourself?  What do you covet, what do you honestly want more of...?

The easy thing here is to do what many do today in a world that is so bound up with individualism.  And it’s also thinking we’ve adopted in the church where we seek to block being exposed, by demanding faith as an unaccountable personal thing of the heart.  But Jesus himself tells us, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:20–23 ESV)

The thing here is blocking being exposed, also blocks being forgiven.  Faith is a personal thing of the heart.  It comes from the personal heart of Christ crucified on the cross, so we might live out our God given faith very publically, because we want to, we love to, and because a covetous world needs us Christians to personally bear Jesus’ death and resurrection before the world for its sake, Jesus’ sake, and for the glory of God our Father.

We have heard in Colossians “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1–2 ESV)

You and I have a very clear and concise call to courageously and boldly proclaim, and yes even covet, our treasures in heaven.  Therefore, boldly pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the desire to be in God’s word, to be in his presence, to bring the kingdom of God near those who are your neighbours.  The more you seek the things of God the more you will desire the things of God.  The Spirit will see to it when you allow him to immerse you in the Word of God.

Do not let your coveting separate you from God’s forgiveness.  Jesus says to everyone in this congregation, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:32–34 ESV)  Amen.

B, Epiphany 6 – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “A One Horse Race”

If I was to gamble on a horse race, I imagine the most perfect race to bet on would be one in which I had "million to one" odds on the nag in chute number one. This horse would not need to be anything special, only alive and able to trek the distance around the race track. The perfect race would have me gaze across in confidence at chutes two to twenty with glee knowing my horse was going to turn one dollar into a million. It wouldn't be a million to one change, rather a sure thing; the prize would be as good as in the bank.

I also imagine there would be others there, with me, with their money on the nag on the nose. In fact, everyone at the race would have their hopes on this old Pal pony doing the lap and coming first. They would only need bet on one race and one horse to all take home one prize. Would it be a gamble? Not in the slightest!

Saint Paul says to the church in Corinth…

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24–27 ESV)

There can be only one! How can you be sure which one? Paul seems to suggest it's not a horse or someone else running the race, but you running for the million to one chance. He says, "run that you may obtain it." The question is, "How?"

Each of us knows deep within ourselves there can only be one winner. We all imagine there are others around who run much more fluently than we do. Me! Run? That's like flogging a dead horse! Or as Paul puts it, running aimlessly or punching the air. Running the race would surly see me miss the mark and forfeit the prize. I would perish running after the perishable wreath! How much more would I perish running to win the eternal infinite imperishable prize?

Paul goes on to speak about discipline and control. After all he is the coach, preaching Corinth and us into the winning position. But if there can only be one, does he coach so he comes second, does he preach so he might perish? There can only be one; only one receives the prize! What is this discipline and control that allows one to run focused, that lets one hit the mark and beat the boxer?

What's needed here is the discipline and control for "One for all" to be "All for One". That is Jesus for all so all might win the one prize. Running the race of life by one's self is running aimlessly or beating the air! Perishable people need one who is imperishable to win the imperishable crown of life.

The discipline needed to win the prize is faith! Belief in our Triune One God! After all do we not believe in ONE God the Father Almighty? One Lord Jesus Christ! The only One of the Father, being one substance with the Father!

Are we not continually gathered by the Holy Spirit who speaks through the one substance of the Father and the Son, who binds us together as one holy church, catholic and apostolic, that is eternally gathered around Christ; gathered by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the apostles' witness to Jesus' life, death, resurrection and ascension!

We hear Jesus' high priestly prayer from John 17…

I do not ask for these only (that is, the apostolic witnesses and believers God gave to him during his walk to the cross), but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20–23 ESV)

Paul then writing to the church in Ephesus says…

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. (Ephesians 4:4–7 ESV)

It appears to be a "One" horse race! This One was left for dead on a cross outside Jerusalem. It seemed he couldn't even run the race in which we constantly struggle and lose; failing to win the perishable prizes let alone the imperishable one we're called to pursue!

But there are other horses in the stalls vying for us to gamble our lives! Horses that promise to make us winners but rather are beasts of burden, and imaginable apparitions of our undisciplined and out of control hearts and minds! These horses flanked with glitz and colour promise much but will break those who place their trust in them.

On the other hand the good old horse called Grace, is winning us the race. She has won us the prize, and that's Jesus Christ's race to the cross and risen life. It is Jesus who measures us the discipline and self-control (through the Holy Spirit) to wager our lives on him and his death and his resurrection – all for One, One for all! Jesus Christ is no gamble; his grace is sufficient for you!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV)

Amen.