C, Advent 2 - Luke 1:76-80 "Salvation Through Forgiveness"

Luke 1:76–80 (ESV) And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,  because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

There was silence in the land of Judah for four hundred years.  God was absent since the days of the prophets when Malachi was called to petition problematic priestly practices. Now Zechariah stood in the temple at Jerusalem to fulfil his priestly duties.

The glory days of Israel and its kings were long past.  The Jews, a fragmented dispersed people, after the rule of Alexander the Great and his Greco-Macedonian government,  now were being ruled by Rome and their appointment of Herod as the subordinate King of Judah.  To the displeasure of the Jews, Herod was not a Jew but an Edomite.

Zechariah came about his turn of duty in the temple through being chosen by lot.  Zechariah would have been honoured to have been chosen to perform this task.  His life would have been a quiet existence and this service at the temple would have been a high point even though events at the temple would have been far less grand than during the time of David and Solomon. Little did Zechariah know things were about to change.

And change things did!  Four hundred years of silence from God and then an angelic messenger speaks to him while he is in service to God.  Now having heard the message, Zechariah is struck with silence as a result of not believing he and his barren wife, Elizabeth, were to have a son and name him John. 

The angel says of John, “He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,  and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17 ESV)

Four hundred years beforehand, Malachi had proclaimed similar. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:5–6a ESV)

The silence of God for four hundred years is broken.  Now Zechariah endures nine months of silence, knowing God was to announce the Christ through his son which his wife, Elizabeth, was carrying. 

After John’s birth and at the time of his circumcision, full of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah’s lips are loosed, the silence is broken.  Zechariah praises God for John and what John was born to do. To be the messenger of God preparing the people for the way of the Lord.

Here again, Malachi had announced this, some four hundred years beforehand, saying, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1 ESV)

Even during Jesus’ journey to the cross, he points to what Malachi had prophesied about the witness of John the Baptist. Jesus says, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’  I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:26–28 ESV)

But before Jesus’ ministry began, John had also been silenced.  He grew and became strong in the Holy Spirit, but he was consigned to a place in the wilderness until it was time to fulfil God’s mission to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins… to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:77& 79 ESV)

So, in God’s time, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” (Luke 3: 2b–6 ESV)

When Zechariah’s lips were loosed, he reveals how John was going to prepare people for Jesus. This is by a knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.  Sin was put on the agenda.  John was proclaiming and giving a baptism of repentance to all who heard his call. John the Baptist was showing people that they were in darkness and needed a light.

We too are being prepared for Jesus’ coming!  Advent is a time of light in the darkness.  John the Baptist was called to be a messenger of light in the darkness, today as we travel through Advent towards the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, we too are called to see the shining light in the midst of our darkness.

However, what most of us seek for a saviour is not Jesus.  There are so many other things in the world that promise empowerment, luciferous light, and love.  It seems since we have seen the salvation of God, we struggle to stay in the light, and hinder hearing the Holy Spirit reveal Jesus through his word to us increasing faith.

We live in a dark world.   But we are further deceived when we relegate the darkness as something we are without, as if we are not contributors to the darkness.  We live in a dark world because of the darkness within!  Within each of us burns the light of human desire that seeks to make us shine as lights of the world. 

We all do well to determine what kind of light we are seeking to shine.  Are we reflecting and shining knowledge of salvation?  Or are we shining a knowledge of our good and evil? 

This light of good and evil is a little light of Lucifer.  It is a deception leading one away from the light of God. Many are finding themselves and many more will find themselves in complete darkness and all alone. This light of Lucifer is a temporary temptation to follow a light that’s transitory then terminates. This light does not give us the gift of the knowledge of salvation.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10 ESV)

It’s time for us as the church of God to allow the light to shine on sin. It’s time to practice the truth!  Just as people came to John the Baptist confessing their sin, and received a baptism of repentance, we too are called to return in repentance to our baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Know and believe you have the light of Christ within you, willing you to confess your sin, so you receive the forgiveness of sin.  The Holy Spirit is shining the light of Jesus in the darkness within you, so you can stand before God without the consequences of sin. We have had our darkness demolished and it continues to be destroyed with the love and light of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, when we seek relief from long-felt grief turn us to the light of Jesus. When temptations come alluring, send your Holy Spirit to make us patient and enduring; guide our feet into the way of peace show us that bright shore where we weep no more. Amen.

B, Easter 4 - 1 John 3:16-24 "Pleasure and Peace"

In the hymn “Lead us Heavenly Father lead us” by James Edmeston, there are three verses based on the Trinity.  The third verse focuses on the Holy Spirit and it reads...

Spirit of our God, descending, 
Fill our hearts with heavenly joy,
Love, all other love transcending,
Pleasure that can never cloy:
Thus provided, Pardoned, guided,
Nothing can our peace destroy.

The line “Pleasure that can never cloy” has always stood out, probably because of the word “cloy”.  It’s a word that isn’t familiar in our language today.  However, it means to be become sickly sweet, over the top, nauseating, disgusting, or tire from excess.  So the line says “Pleasures that can never become sickly sweet and disgusting.” 

This line addresses the line before, “Love, all other love transcending, Pleasures that can never cloy.  It seems there is plenty of love out there today that is nauseating and over the top but before us here in the text is love that transcends all love that is fake and fleeting. 

In 1 John 3:16 we hear, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

Let’s take an audit of your love life in comparison to this verse.  What do you love?  What is your pleasure?  Jesus laid down his life and now we OUGHT to do it for others.  Ought is another word that stands out.  One would expect it to read, we should or must do the same.  Ought here comes from the Greek word ophelos from where we get the name Ophelia.  It means “to help” but not from a sentimental or feel good motive but as an obligation as what one owes.  So again, what do you love?  What is your pleasure?  What do you owe to the Lord for all his steadfast love toward you?

Saint Paul tells the church in Romans... Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8–10 ESV)

Do I love God in the way that God loves me? How do I get that desire to lay down my life for others when every waking fibre in my body wants nothing of laying down my life for anyone or anything?  What pleases God and what pleases me are two different things.  Maybe it’s okay to lay down my life for others, but only if there’s a benefit for me, my family, my community or even my country!

Love, all other loves transcending, pleasure that can never cloy.   It seems our pleasures are not just cloy, but they have completely clogged us up!  Therefore, the love God wants is not love as our society would have us believe today.

But let’s not focus on others but on ourselves, myself and yourself.  How do my pleasures and fears shape me?  What truths do they reveal about you and me before God?  What do you owe God for the removal of your debt of sin?

The text continues, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”  (1 John 3:17 ESV)

Notice how all our daily bread, given to us by God; our food, our shelter, our time and our possessions are called goods.  However, these goods stop being good when our pleasure in them make us lose sight of what pleases God.  The question is asked, “How does God’s love abide in you?”

Then follows, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 ESV)

Our words and what we say stands and falls before God’s word.  As we have heard Paul has reminded us of the commandments in our debt to love.  God’s love in Jesus’ death has fulfilled the law yet the law still stands to show us why we need continuing steadfast love because we constantly turn to what pleases us rather than what pleases God.

Take for instance the two commandments, you shall not murder and you shall not commit adultery.  These two commandments on the surface are quite literal and we all know what they tell us. 

But we gain a deeper understanding of our feelings where murder is the ultimate bad feeling and sexual desire and its fulfilment is the supreme good feeling. Any feelings coming from within, from any bad feeling through to murder, from the simplest of good feelings through to sexual climax can be condemning cloy or perverse pleasure built on a love that serves and pleases us rather than God.

Jesus takes the ultimates of our feelings and condemns all degrees, from the least to the greatest, as he speaks to the people at the Sermon on the Mount.

We hear, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21–22 ESV)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27–28 ESV)

Our pleasures, both what we believe to be good or bad, condemn us when we take the goods of God and make ourselves gods of all good and evil. 

What is the truth of our motives?  Are we motivated by a fear that is based on love and reverence for our Father who is in heaven or on a fear that is frightened of death?  On the other end of the scale, is our hope of heaven based on a love and desire to be with God forever or is heaven a place of more selfish pleasure for you? 

I hope you can see the greatness of your ongoing debt because of your dubious motives, but also the pleasure of God to clear the debt in Jesus Christ.  

So what deeds do we need to perform here when our hearts condemn us?  To what truth do we need to turn so we might not be “liable to the hell of fire” as Jesus so bluntly puts it!  And how do we actually turn to this truth?

The pleasure of God is a pleasure that brings peace and this peace comes through true love.  This is not love that self serves and looks within.  This is not a love that serves the feelings as the ultimate but a love that can shape feelings so you can look out of yourself, love God and serve your neighbour.  It’s the love I desire every day but one which I struggle to keep hold of too.

I encourage you to keep on in the struggle by not looking into yourself for answers, rather because you don’t find answers in yourself look into the truth of God’s word so you might do the deeds that truly please God.

So let’s return to the text again, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;  and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”  (1 John 3:19–22 ESV)

God is greater than our heart.  He is greater than our feelings and our thoughts and our words.  And so feeling condemned or not we are the beloved of God.  God loves you, and me, and he gives us freedom to ask and receive from him. 

So what do you think we should ask him that should please him?  One hundred million dollars!  An endless packet of lollies, block of chocolate or sexual potency! 

No! Rather we can ask for a deepening understanding of God’s word and a desire to immerse ourselves in it as our daily bread!  A willingness to share our goods rather than hoard them as evils!  Forgiveness of our sins and a willingness to forgive others as God has forgiven us. To be led towards God’s kingdom rather than our fickle kingdoms of feelings that at best become cloy and at worst lead us away from God!  And deliverance from evil, especially from the evil within to the holiness and joy found in God.

But the question remains, “How do I get the will or the power to ask?”  To find out we go back to the only source of truth, God’s word because we do what pleases God.

And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.  Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.  (1 John 3:23–24 ESV)

What is God’s pleasure is that we recognise what we owe, or what we ought to do, and confess our sin.  The focus here is not on you or me but on Jesus and how he has cancelled our debt at the cross.  The recognition of our cancelled debt brings praise and thankfulness.  Praise is practically telling others about your debt and how God has cancelled it in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

And how do we do this?  Well it’s actually not us; our human spirit, our heartfelt desire, or our feelings.  Rather it’s that God abides in us because he has given us his Holy Spirit as we are told in God’s word. 

This is the point of the last verse of the hymn “Lead us Heavenly Father lead us”

The Holy Spirit descends to us and brings us hearts of joy, and love, love that transcends, giving us pleasures that never cloy.  Our Heavenly Father provides, Jesus pardons, and the Holy Spirit guides.  He guides us to Jesus, he guides us in our confession of sin, he guides us in our confession of God’s forgiveness, and he guides us in our forgiveness of others, so we can love and lay down our lives for others.

It all comes down to the Holy Spirit awakening in us our need for salvation, forgiveness, and our need to forgive.  We cannot love God unless we receive the forgiveness of sins.  You cannot love God unless you receive the forgiveness of sins.  I cannot love God unless I receive the forgiveness of sins.  Amen.

A, Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Titus 2:11-14 "SOS: Message of the Bible"

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11–14, ESV)

Grace mercy and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ, who has appeared and will appear again at the time our Father in heaven has designated. Amen.

It’s no easy thing for us to wait. Waiting for Christmas to come, waiting for it to go, perhaps? Waiting for the glory of God to appear once again as it did some two thousand years ago! Waiting for the salvation of God to be finished, fulfilled, taking all our fears and tears away once and for all.

What kind of Christmas have we made for ourselves? One might ask, “What kind of salvation are we really looking for? What are we actually waiting for? Is Jesus really the reason for the season of Christmas 2016?”

One thing for sure, our whole world, our local community is tired. Tired of what we have made Christmas as we wait for it to come. And wait for it to leave as the hangover of Boxing Day sets in amongst the flotsam and jetsam of gifts that continue us in the tiredness of this age, with all the wrapping and rubbish in which we garb ourselves for a bit of self serve salvation.

Like me; you, your family, your friends, the community, and the world is tired. This tiredness is the result of a world sailing further and further away from that which promises to give us true rest. Not just from waiting, but from having waited for, and received, what we’ve wanted.

And so desire has given us its gift and now we’re tired; tired of living with what we truly love. But perhaps to those whom God has appeared this tiredness is not such a bad thing. Our tiredness has made us aware of our sin! We’ve been awakened! The gifts we seek no longer satisfy. We’ve come to realise the worldly self help we’ve sought to enlist is really dragging us under.

It’s right here in our tiredness and in the realisation of failed worldly salvation that the all-encompassing graciousness and faithfulness of our Heavenly Father comes to the fore, and shines, despite our continual faithlessness. For those who have been baptised into Christ Jesus, the message of Christmas, and the whole message of Jesus Christ, is still alive and well, despite our human desires, good and bad!

In amongst the noise and distraction of today, just as in the days the star shone over Bethlehem, God appears. Humbly, quietly, lowly, and graciously God was with humanity; and is still with humanity today! In amongst all the things we want, but tires us to despair, God sends salvation. Even today in our tired world and our tired hearts he sends salvation.

But we are called to hear something very unexpected in the Christmas message, and the whole gospel message. Something subtle and counter cultural which is often over looked or taken for granted!

The unexpected is this: God himself saves.

When we realise we’re castaways, that there’s no more life in us; not even enough energy, or sense, to send a message in a bottle that may never be found, God himself sends the SOS. Waiting till we can wait no longer wait, tired beyond exhaustion, swamped in the self and shipwrecked; we no long have to worry, “Will God get my SOS; will someone get my message in a bottle?”

Human nature thinks it has to save itself, like a castaway putting a message in a bottle, or scratching out an SOS on the beach. But good news for those who are tired and exhausted on brink of despair; God sends the SOS, God is the SOS.

But when God sending us his SOS, our human natures respond in a very strange way! This is you and I still try to live like we’re on a deserted island, keep our wrecked reality hidden and therefore alive, not realising we all struggle with the same sin of separation as every other person God rescues. Yes! For whatever reason human nature seeks to hang onto the sin that keeps us in separation from each other and eventually leads back into separation from God. Even within each of us who know of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ, there’s the temptation to fight the SOS of God.

Now we add to our tiredness more tiredness by hiding our sin like it’s a treasure buried in the sand. But it’s a vulgar treasure we return to when we think no one’s watch, like a dog that returns to its vomit. We become tired from redigesting the very thing that made us tired in the first place.

And if we’re not exhausted enough already, we make ourselves even more tired with the charade of keeping up appearances, pretending not to be toters and touters of the very treasures that tire.

So that’s a trilogy of tiredness: Tired from sin, tired from trying to keep our sins hidden, and tired from pretending that sin doesn’t exist in our lives.

But let the reality be clear. See what the singer sees...

Walked out this morning

Don't believe what I saw

A hundred billion bottles

Washed up on the shore

Seems I'm not alone at being alone

A hundred billion castaways

Looking for a home

And we continue to send and seek our own SOS, as Sting from the Police once sung...

I'll send an SOS to the world

I'll send an SOS to the world

I hope that someone gets my

I hope that someone gets my

I hope that someone gets my

Message in a bottle

However, the gift of the Immanuel infant, the SOS Christ child, gives us a new home. He’s given to fight the very cause of our tiredness and trouble, he is given training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. He is given to gather us for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Good Works when where tired! So what are these good works? Well the good work that precedes all good works is that of believing. In Jesus ministry he was asked...

“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28–29, ESV)

In fact when we work at believing, by hearing God’s word, studying it, allowing ourselves to be immersed in it we are allowing the Holy Spirit to bring to fruition all the good works God has prepared for us in advance to do.

Right here the SOS is continued, not by us, but in the same way God the Father sent Jesus to be our SOS. Both God the Father and the risen Jesus send the Holy Spirit to continue the work of salvation. The SOS continues! Not from what we do! But because we allow God access into ourselves; into the castaway!

And so the Holy Spirit brings us to the Father and the Son as a people, his people, gathered and redeemed from all lawlessness, and is actively purifying us as his own eternal possession. Our gift of salvation, God’s SOS, becomes one of life welling up in us to eternal life, even in the weariness of our age and the struggles of our day to day lives.

This leads us to the second work of God, the work of confessing our sin. We now no longer have to weary ourselves keeping up false impressions. Rather we can confess that which tires.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8–10, ESV)

See how the cycle of God works? Grace leads to grace, God’s good work leads to God’s good work in us, and through us. We are a bunch of castaways in communion, in community, and in fellowship tired from the same sinful natures, tired from the same sin in the world. Tired from the trilogy of sin that drags us under!

We believe we are sinners, we believe we are sinners being saved. It is peculiar to the human nature that God brings us into fellowship with each other, and does not separate us because of our sin. Yet even more than being brought into fellowship with each other, we are brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ, son of Mary, but also Son of God. A fellowship not born out of a baby’s cuteness but born for the fellowship of rescued sinners borne on the cross!

So the third good work is the Holy Spirit’s work of fellowship, allowing us to serve each other. Jesus Christ extends his great work through us to each other, so we might shine Christ to each other; hearing confession, praying and bearing the weakness and tiredness which Jesus bore as well.

The power of our fellowship is not us appearing powerful, but in allowing God to be powerful in his continual conquering of our weakness as a fellowship, and as individual sinners too. Hear the word of God from James 5...

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:13–16, 19-20, ESV)

So in summary, we all suffer at the hand of our own sin. The noise of it makes us tired. However, Jesus is sent from God the Father to be our SOS, and the Holy Spirit continues the SOS by gathering us together with each other with Jesus Christ.

This SOS is not something we throw out as a message in a bottle with the hope of maybe being rescued. No! This SOS comes as the message of the bible, pointing us to God and what he does and continues to do.

Calling us out of doubt and the tiredness of our lives into the living promises of true salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection!

The beginning of the story is wonderful and greatBut it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate
It's about the cross it's about my sinIt's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It's about God's love nailed to a treeIt's about every drop of blood that flowed from
Him when it should have been me
It's about the stone That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life somedayIt's about the cross (Ball Brothers, It’s about the cross)

B, Easter 3 – 1 John 3:1-3,7 “One Hundred Years”

One hundred years ago Robert Scott set out for the South Pole and arrived there on the 17^th of January 1912. Just over two months later he and his team of four perished trying to return from their feat. One member of his party's last words were recorded leaving the tent as, "I am just going outside and may be some time" deliberately doing so to die. The last member dying on the 29^th of March!

One hundred years ago on March the 1^st Albert Berry nervously jumped from an aircraft to see if his invention would actually work. It did! He was the first person to parachute from a plane. Later in the year in October the first bomb was dropped from a plane. I'm guessing it made a bigger bang than Albert's first parachute jump. The women are not left out either. On April the 16^th Harriet Quimby was the first woman to fly across the English Channel.

However, just two days earlier, in the opposite direction the Titanic ploughed along the side of an Iceberg and in the early hours the next morning it sunk into the Atlantic Ocean. Of the two thousand two hundred and twenty-three souls on board only seven hundred and nine survive. But little do we hear that in May of 1912 the SS Imperator slid down the slipway into the sea at Hamburg. It was the largest ship built in its day.

Back in Australia Andrew Fisher was Australia's Prime Minister under Governor-General Thomas Denman, and King George the fifth. And here in the West John Scaddan was the Premier and Sir Gerald Strickland, the Governor.

Off the coast of WA a tragedy on the water yet again but this time a cyclone sinks a ship; the SS Koombana, killing around 150 people. And Australia has its first aircraft accident between Mount Druitt and Rooty Hill in Sydney. But back on dry ground Francis Birtles becomes the first person to cross the Nullarbor Plain in a car on the 13^th of April 1912.

On the 10^th of October the Maternity Allowance Act 1912 is passed, granting a "Baby Bonus" of five pounds to the mother of every child born in Australia. Now this must have come as quite disturbing news to the Kowald clan as born on the 19^th of March, Ruby Kowald was the 13^th child to Frederick Wilhelm Kowald and second last to him and his second wife Johanne Susanna Kowald (nee Zadow). Now I believe five pounds was quite a sum in 1912, perhaps this is why Frederick and Johanne fronted up again to have child number fourteen, Ella.

However, searching through public records on 1912 there is no mention of Ruby Kowald. In fact she shares her birth year with two WW2 fighter aces, one a German ace, shares her birthday of the 19^th of March. His name was Adolf Galland who went on to become a general and friend of many whom he would have fought against over the English Channel. Ruby also shares her birth year with Gregory "Pappy" Boyington a US Marine ace who served in the Pacific and won the Purple Heart. Perhaps Ruby might have been the first female fighter ace if she had taken to the air with her 1912 colleagues.

But seriously, Ruby as most of us, will not be remembered by the annuals of popular human achievement, or tragedy, or by some other extraordinary event. Nevertheless, there is an extraordinary event that occurred in 1912, one which has not been recorded in popular history, but which exceeds in greatness over all other feats recorded.

This occurred yesterday one hundred years ago and like the Titanic it involved a drowning death in water. But it also includes a resurrection from the dead, and a rebirth more memorable than Ruby's earthly birthday on the 19^th of March. One hundred years ago yesterday God took Ruby and made her his own, his child.

Ruby was drowned in the waters of baptism where she was united with Jesus Christ in his death on the cross. But for the last one hundred years God has been also daily raise her to life, calling her to daily drown the sinful human nature through repentance. One hundred years ago our Lord then sent the Holy Spirit into her heart to move and will her so she might have enduring peace and hope. And I pray as your pastor but also as a young brother in Christ that you Ruby have allowed Jesus to do his justifying work in you to the glory of God the Father.

But it's not just for Ruby! It's for all of us who have been baptised into him. We all yearly celebrate a birthday greater than our earthly birthday. All who are baptised are called to believe they are now yearly celebrating an eternal birthday, one that will go on being celebrated long after our earthly birthday is forgotten.

However, this day is not written down in the chronicles of history. In fact most in the world pay no attention to this wonderful eternal life changing event which when trusted gives us more than any feat we might accomplish here on earth. Nevertheless, we are called to see, hear, believe, and trust what has been freely given to us, but given at great cost to Jesus Christ, nailed to the cross for all and raised to new life for all who trust in him. Therefore…

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practises righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. (1 John 3:1-3,7 ESV) Amen.

B, Easter 2 – 1 John 1:5-2:2 “Living vs. Lying”

Light and darkness, black and white, night and day. When the sun rises the darkness disappears, and when it sets darkness envelops what was once seen in the light.

When we walk in the light of Christ, we walk out of the darkness, and expose what the darkness once hid. At this point in time we have two options available to us. One is to rid ourselves of the thing revealed by the light, or we can return to the darkness so we once again cannot see what was revealed by the light.

This is why the devil hates the word of God so much. When he hears the truth it reveals he is the chief of liars; that he never tells the truth; that he lies even to himself. Jesus, the Light of God reveals what the devil hides in darkness!

I imagine when Jesus descended into hell after being crucified on the cross, the devil was infuriated the light of God was not extinguished, but faithfully even there the light showed exactly what the darkness of hell was hiding. From that moment to now and unto all eternity the knowledge of their evil and the absence of God to forgive will be the sword in the sides of those whose phony faith once deceived them on earth.

In St John's first epistle, he writes what might be hard for our ears to hear. He speaks frankly about light and darkness, sin and truth, those who repent and those who are liars, those who know him and those who don't, the fellowship of the forgiven and the futility of the faithless. But John and the Apostles are writing these things so that their joy, your joy, and the joy of the one Christian church on earth might be complete. (1 John 1:4)

You see, now that the eternal battle has been won on the cross, the devil has only limited power. Yet this power works on all of us individually, internally, seeking to turn us from the eternal fellowship of the eternal kingdom with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and all the saints. Seeking to return those of the oneness of Christendom back to the oneness of self and sin! To turn us from the New Adam who resisted temptation and won forgiveness for us on the cross back to the old Adam and his original sin.

So serious is this that in the first days of the church, not even what might seem to be a little white lie was tolerated. In fact it still isn't! We have heard in the book of Acts the oneness and common holiness of the early church. But immediately after this account we can hear the consequences of a lie.

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God." When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." And she said, "Yes, for so much." But Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. (Acts 5:1–11 ESV)

What was the root of sin here; a lack of trust, greed, popularity, approval, a piece of glory perhaps? One will never really know! But we know they weren't selling the property to glorify God as they wanted it to appear. The oneness was for themselves rather than the one Christian and Apostolic church. And what's for sure here is this couple was made an example of for the sin they sought to cover with a lie.

The easy thing to do here is to quickly overlook this piece of scripture. But we do so to our detriment! In fact, overlooking any piece of scripture is not a wise course of action! Rather we do better to heed the warning and examine ourselves in the light of this text and John's words in his first epistle.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (1 John 1:8–2:1 ESV)

If you are one with Christ; if you allow him to lead you from darkness into light, sin no longer separates you from God, but retreating back into the darkness and hiding the sin, perhaps pretending it doesn't exist, is a deathly exercise indeed.

Hiding the sin or returning to the darkness shows a lack of trust in Jesus. In fact, this action makes him out to be a liar, and it makes the power of the cross impotent. And if you relegate the cross as incapable of atoning for your sin, then in the darkness of your sin you remain.

The healthiest course of action for us who wish not to be swallowed by darkness is to acknowledge our sin before God, trusting Jesus' death and resurrection has indeed the power to cleanse us from sin. That by the atonement of Christ on the cross the Holy Spirit is cleaning us from our sin, and will continue to clean us from sin every day of our lives until we are called into the eternal oneness of God's holiness and peace.

…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 ESV) He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 ESV)

Let us come clean to our sin, so the Son of Righteousness can shine the light of his forgiveness on us, cleansing us of all our sin. Then we can let this light shine from our forgiven hearts into a world that desperately needs the same resurrecting forgiveness and the eternal peace that comes from it. Amen.

B, Lent 4 – Numbers 21:4-9 & John 3:14-21 “Too Good Not To Be True”

All they had to do was look at the bronze serpent and live. It sounds like a hoax. The venom of a deadly desert snake kills a person in minutes. A snake's neurotoxin floods the body's lymphatic system causing bodily organs to fail. A pressure bandage and medical attention needs to come quickly to stop the deadly effects from the snake's bite.

Therefore, look at a bronze snake and live! Sound fair enough? I don't think so! How can looking at bronze pole stop the lymphatic system from pumping the venom around the body? It sounds too good to be true!

After the resurrection Jesus said to the eleven Apostles…

"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:15–18 ESV)

Therefore, we should go out looking for tiger snakes, brown snakes, cobras, and vipers to see if we're made of the right stuff? Ah no! Not a good idea! God may call for this to happen but only when he desires it, when it serves him to his ends, and when he calls an individual or a group of people into this situation to glorify him alone!

Nevertheless, he did call the Israelites in the Sinai wilderness to look and live. They were being bitten and many were dying. So they came to Moses and pleaded he pray to God to take away the snakes. So Moses prayed on behalf of the people, and God didn't take the snakes away. Instead, he commanded Moses to add a bronze snake to the equation.

All they had to do was believe, and healing they would receive. It was no different to the food and the water God had been supplying. If they trusted him, looked to him, he would continue to sustain them. But despite God being with them they saw their situation as being in greater peril of perishing than when they were slaves in Egypt.

Jesus names this event when he speaks to Nicodemus, who had come to him at night. He introduces Nicodemus to the idea of being born again through water and the Spirit, and ties it to his being lifted up just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.

In the same way Jesus connects baptism and belief, unbelief and condemnation in the hearing of the disciples after the resurrection, as he had done so here with Nicodemus too.

John 3:16 are Jesus' words to Nicodemus, but we do well to hold the text of Moses and the bronze serpent with this well know verse, so we might get the full volume of what Jesus is saying here. If we don't then we're in danger of turning John 3:16 or for that matter the gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for us, into a cheesy feel good cliché.

Yes it should make us feel good, but in a way that leads us to glorify God for the eternal salvation he gives to us through his Son. In the next verse, verse seventeen Jesus says…

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17 ESV)

And lets couple this verse with what we have heard from Numbers twenty-one…

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." (Numbers 21:6–8 ESV)

What did God want with the Israelites in the wilderness; to starve them, to have them die of thirst, or to poison them with snakes? No! Why then would he have bothered to save them in the first place! Rather he sought to save them because he loved them and wanted to take them from the land of slavery and oppression into the land of milk and honey.

Similarly we are called to see Jesus lifted up alone on the cross, as the one who exposes and lifts up our sin. We first have to believe we are bitten with sin, to believe the being of sin is within, in order for us to look to him on the cross in faith to have our sin forgiven so we may not eternally perish.

If we choose to shun the seriousness of our sin, we become like one in the wilderness bitten by a fiery serpent; thinking it's only a scratch, it's not that bad, refusing to stop, look and live. Sin is serious and like the bronze serpent, Jesus lifted up on the cross is too good not to be true.

When someone makes the fatal mistake of thinking it's too good to be true the person fulfils what Jesus tells Nicodemus in verse eighteen…

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18 ESV)

If the Israelites didn't believe they were bitten, if they didn't believe the brass serpent to have any power, they too were condemned to death even before their death inevitably came.

So how does one believe, and what does believing do? Surely we first must be brought to an understanding of our need. This is not a mental or cognitive understanding; rather it's the deeper yearning of our inner being for what life was originally created to be, before the fall.

Jesus tells Nicodemus what believing does in John 3:21…

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." (John 3:21 ESV)

Those who do what is true allow themselves to be brought into the light so they might have sin exposed and expunged, to have sin revealed and its power removed! Therefore, it is clearly seen that a person's works have been carried out in God. This means, that everything that's done is shown as being done by God himself. But how does he do it?

We find this answer in Ephesians 2:8…

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8 ESV)

It is faith that enables a person to believe, and this faith is not of us it is the gift of God. Unfortunately, many today are deceived into a faith that is of themselves and not a gift of God at all. But for those being saved Christ dwells within, because having heard his word, we stop, look and live.

So to keep it concise, I pray we might continue to stop, look, and live. Let the light shine on us to expose and extinguish sin. To let the light shine on us disempowering sin and empowering the Holy Spirit who works through hearing the word, to give us the ability to believe and receive, Jesus' death and resurrection for you, for me, for all who stop, look, and live.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14–16 ESV)

Surely this is too good not to be true! 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.

B, Epiphany 5 – 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 “Breathe in Breathe out: This is the Law of Christ

Key text: 1 Cor 9:20b-21, 23

To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Sermon

In recent weeks we have heard that Jesus of Nazareth is God the Son; the second member of the Trinity. We have heard he has come preaching, "the kingdom of God is near"; he proclaims, "repent and believe the good news". We have heard the power of his word in calling the disciples. "Come follow me", is all he said, and they followed!

Last week and today we heard (Mark 1:21-39) how the demon possessed testified to his presence, naming Jesus as the Son of God, as if in a contest of one-upmanship. As if the demons would have had power over Jesus and not be exorcised, if they could name their exorcist before he identified them and threw them out. But the demons' words against God's word amounted to absolutely nothing. In fact their ploy to identify him first and have power over him, only reveals the very source of his power and authority over them. Jesus is the Son of God; he has the power of God, because he is God. Jesus of Nazareth is revealed as the Son of God.

Those around Jesus didn't get it; they didn't understand what he was saying or doing. The disciples, those in the synagogues, the crowd, and the sick, all saw Jesus as a quick fix to their problems. He could heal their diseases now, and make everything alright. But Jesus came not to heal sickness and throw out demons—he wasn't one who bore a bandaid solution—but rather he came to heal people of sin on the cross. He came to heal the source of all sickness and death. The demons knew why he was there, but he didn't allow them to speak. They got it, they knew, but they had no power to stop him.

Saint Paul an apostle of Christ proclaims, 19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

How do you picture Christ in your life? Are you one who seeks quick fixes? Are you one in the crowd looking to feel good; to use Jesus as emotional balm. Or to apply him as a bandaid; to hid the reality of sin oozing out from under it. What is the reality of Christ in your life, do you allow his word access into your heart? Do you allow the fruits of the Spirit planted in you, to heal and to grow?

It might seem that Paul is contradicting himself, going back on the "Justified by grace through faith" catch cry to which we Lutherans cling. Paul now seems to advocate law once again saying, "…I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law". Jesus himself says, "…if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8: 36) And Paul says to the Romans, "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes". (Romans 10:4) So are we under law or under gospel? What is Paul talking about when he says he is under Christ's law?

The truth is that the gospel is not a quick fix, feel good, solution? It does fix; but its healing qualities are received eternally. Jesus' call to follow—given to us in baptism—is not a once off remedy, done and forgotten. That's not how it works! Rather Jesus' call to follow is a daily struggle against all those things that would stop us from repenting and believing that Jesus is with us. It's a call which continually immerses us in the forgiveness and life of our baptism so we might trust Jesus, and trust the things he has put in place, so we can receive all the benefits of his grace physically and spiritually. And having trusted in these things—including the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to lead us to him through these means he puts in place—he calls us to be Christians in the situations in which we are placed in this world.

When we are Christians we do good works. Not because we have to. Rather they become an automatic response of our being in Christ and he in us. It's just like being a human—a human being––we breathe, our heart pumps, our minds work, all without our willing them to do so. We're humans being, humans existing. So too we are Christians being, Christians existing. The things we do as Christians should be as automatic as a human breath.

However, humans do stop breathing or find ways to stop their breathing, having a detrimental effect on their being or existence. There are also other things which might stop us from being, breathing, living, existing – from being a partaker of life. So in this situation one who is on the edge of life might receive a quick remedy to make them breathe or start their heart pumping, but to partake in the blessings of life, air must constantly and automatically flow into the lungs and blood stream, and the heart must automatically move that blood around the body.

If we treat God's grace as a once off quick fix, not hanging onto the means and ways of receiving God's grace; not trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us in God's word, not trusting the Spirit to lead us to the Son of God in the sacrament; not trusting in the sacraments as Jesus way of giving us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation; by closing up our ears to God's word; then we become like a human being who says after they have been given life, they no longer need to breathe to survive.

So one must conclude that a Christian who treats God and his grace cheaply, balances on the edge of life too. Without trust in God, without faith in Jesus' way of repentance and belief, with the word of God being suffocated and stifled within, how then can the exhale of good works occur in our automated Christian lives? How can the love breathed into us, flow through us, out of us, and into the lives of others who have not yet received the life-giving breath of the gospel, or who are suffocating under the weight of their sins?

We now live under Christ's law, this law is about life, and this law is about allowing the Holy Spirit to put our breathing back into time with the breath of God first breathed into Adam in the beginning. We are called to follow Christ; not to follow under our own steam and become exhausted, or to think once we have him we can leave him and run ahead. But we are called to follow and breathe Christ in our lives everyday. He calls us to stay with him, and trust in his life giving means.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

We are God's "continual" workmanship, a work in motion, living beings; living in the love of God's grace as an example for our lives. But also living in the love of this grace to forgive and restore us when we choke, when our heart misses a beat, or when we cause ourselves or are caused to stop breathing the living air of the gospel. He continually works to bring us back from dying in our sinfulness to serve him and share in the blessings of his death for our sins and his resurrection for our eternal life.

Jesus cast out demons, healed Simon's mother-in-law, and that night he healed many others too. He took on himself all impurities that lead to death, and early in the morning after the Sabbath he went out to pray. He took the burdens of their sicknesses to his Father in prayer. And afterwards he bore on himself the cause of all these sicknesses on the cross. We too can bring all our sins and those of others to the Lord in prayer because we have the living risen Son of God in us. Breathing in the forgiveness of our sins on the cross and exhaling that love onto other people too.

This is Christ's law, it's the law of love; this is who we are. This is our nature in Christ; this is a Christian being! Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe Christ in, breathe Christ out. Repent and believe the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe the God of forgiveness lives and breathes in you. Amen.