A, The Third Sunday of Advent - Isaiah 35:8 "Way of Holiness"

“What then did you go out into the wilderness to see?  What then did you go out to see?  What then did you go out to see?”

Three times Jesus asks the crowd, “What did you go out to see?”  Was it a reed swaying in the wind of the wilderness?  No!  Was it a man in fine clothing?  No, you only find them in king’s houses!  Was it a prophet?  Yes, John the Baptist, dressed in camel’s hair clothing, living off wild honey and locusts!  What a strange, peculiar fellow!

Jesus asks the crowd these questions after John’s disciples take news back to John in prison.

They return after, “Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.’”  (Matthew 11:4–6 ESV)

In seeing and hearing Jesus, they heard and saw what was prophesied many years before.  Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.  Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;  then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy”  (Isaiah 35:2c–6a ESV)

People had gone out into the wilderness to see, hear, and be baptised by John in preparation for Jesus’ coming.  Jesus points out that this event had been previously forecast and quotes from Malachi three verse one.  He says, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.” (Matthew 11:10 ESV) 

Not only does he proclaim John as messenger, but also that John is preparing the way for him, not only as Christ, as God’s Anointed, but that he actually is God, the Son of God.

Now hear the exact words from Malachi chapter three to see how Jesus reveals himself as one with the Lord God who is speaking through the prophet Malachi, “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)

God was sending a messenger to prepare the way of God, for God’s coming, and here Jesus says to the crowd, the way is now prepared for you, for my coming!  John the Baptist came proclaiming and preparing the way of God, God was now with them, both God and person in Jesus Christ.

This event, however, had come about through John sending his disciples to ask Jesus,  “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  (Matthew 11:3 ESV)

It sounds like John had doubts.  John was languishing in prison.  After John baptised Jesus, John’s ministry of preparation was complete.  Jesus had come and was now baptised into his ministry of death and resurrection. 

Jesus declares, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. ” (Matthew 11:11a ESV)  But now John was free to be less than the least in the kingdom.

If we think of John the Baptist as the greatest, born of women, it is quite amazing that he needs to ask if Jesus is the one who is to come.  After all, he is the most privileged among prophets.  He not only proclaimed Christ’s coming, but unlike all other prophets physically witnessed him.  And after refusing to baptise Jesus, arguing, “I need to be baptised by you”, John agrees to baptise him, fulfilling all righteousness.

But Jesus says, “ Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11b ESV)  What is this riddle that Jesus says?  John the Baptist, the greatest of all and most privileged of all prophets is less than the least in the kingdom of heaven!

What Jesus does in front of the crowd with John’s disciples is fascinating, he takes these men and sends them back to John with his word.  John’s disciples are now Jesus’ disciples witnessing to John the least in the kingdom of heaven.  And this needs to be so!  Jesus has to be the Saviour of all called into the kingdom of heaven!

One might think John was being foolish, enquiring if Jesus was the one or should they look for another!  Perhaps the crowd thought this too when John’s disciples came asking if Jesus was the one.  But what Jesus says and does is good news for the crowd and for us.

Why?  Because those in the crowd are the blind, the lepers, the dead, and the poor.  They are the least in the kingdom of heaven.  But they are greater than he whom they went out into the wilderness to see!

Why are they greater and what’s this to do with us?  And with you confirmees too, about to affirm what Jesus has done for you in baptism, and continues to do in you, through the Holy Spirit? 

And not just the confirmees, but all you who are least in the kingdom of heaven.  Who continue in the faith, daily returning to your baptism into Jesus’ righteousness!  Seeing and hearing the Word of God!  Seeing, hearing, eating and drinking Jesus’ body and blood!  Hearing and receiving the forgiveness of sin!

Like the crowd, Jesus asks you, “What then did you come to church to see?  What then did you come to see?  What then do you see?”

Like John the Baptist suffering in prison, we will leave this place to go out and see many turmoils and tribulations in this life.  What seems to be a foolish question by John the Baptist, we realise is the same folly that assails all of us.  All humanity from the greatest to the least are tempted to lose hope in Jesus Christ, from the wearing effects of sin within, and a world without hope.

But like John, when we’re tempted to question if Jesus is really the Christ, if he is really the Son of God, if he really died for my sins, if my sins are really that offensive to God, or if my sin really can be forgiven, we are called to look out of ourselves and see Jesus Christ! 

We are called to see him born in the wilderness of our world.  We are called to see him on the cross.  We are called to see him resurrected in glory at the right hand of the Father.  We are called to see him daily drowning the darkness within, with the light of his holiness shining the way so you and I do not go astray.

As you leave here and walk through the darkness of these days, follow Jesus on his road of righteousness.  The prophet Isaiah says, “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.” (Isaiah 35:8 ESV)

Many have departed this way and entered back into despair.  How can that be so,  if this way belongs to you and me?  Isaiah tells us, even if we’re fools, we cannot go astray from this Way of Holiness?

These are those who are rejecting the Holy Spirit.   The Holy Spirit keeps human beings from foolishly walking from the way of Holiness, the way of forgiveness, the way of salvation.  These are they who toss away God’s robes of righteousness in knowing Jesus, for robes of good and evil that make them once again unclean in spirit and in life.

But not you, when you patiently endure having your foolishness cleansed daily in the Way of Holiness, the Way of Jesus Christ, the way of perfect complete forgiveness!

Therefore, God’s call for all of us, recorded in the book of James, is one of perseverance and patience, “until the coming of the Lord.  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:7–8 ESV)

Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28–29 ESV)

In these weary times the temptation is to go astray.  But let the Holy Spirit keep your eyes open, to see the right way!  The Way of Holiness, Jesus’ Holy Way!  Amen.

A, The Second Sunday of Advent - Romans 15:1-7,13 "Advent Pleasure"

God has placed you and me, on this earth, at this time, and in this place, we know as Australia.  Living in Australia, along with the rest of the western world, we are privileged to experience a lifestyle that many in the world don’t get to experience.  We have been blessed with prosperity that gives way to pleasures, people in other parts of the world would not even be able to begin to imagine.

At this time and in this place, with this privileged prosperity and its pleasure, people are experiencing suffering at a level never experienced before.  The pleasure, privilege and prosperity that is our expectation from life, takes the prosperity, the privilege, and the pleasure for granted, rather than receiving these things as a gift with thanksgiving to God. 

At this time and place we find our pleasure no longer gives pleasure, our privilege reveals selfish partiality, and our prosperity exposes our poverty.  We suffer at the hands of our pleasures to such a degree, people in other parts of the world would not even be able to begin to imagine.

Advent is the season for hope and peace, joy and love.  A season for waiting.  A season of patience.  A season to depart from the darkness and be delivered into the light of new life.  And a season of expectation to receive and pass on the gift of forgiveness.

John the Baptist came baptising with a baptism for repentance.  There was expectation the Messiah, was coming.  Israel and the Jews had not experienced any revelation from God, for approximately four hundred years.

There was hope, and where there’s hope one prepares oneself for what one is waiting.  Expectation of the Messiah meant many were flocking to the Jordan River, where John was baptising with a baptism of repentance. 

Over the course of one thousand years, the Israelites lived in prosperity, privilege, and pleasure, given by God through King David and others.  But in the time and place of John the Baptist this was all just a distant memory.

The pleasures of Israel no longer gave them pleasure.  The privilege given to the people of God was lost.  And the prosperity of God’s chosen nation, was taken and tossed about between the powers that overran them.

In this time and in this place, you and I suffer at the hand of pleasures that no longer please, you and I suffer at the hands of prosperity that no longer prospers, and you and I suffer at the hands of privileges that enslave.

Perhaps like the Israelites it’s time to turn from what’s within to that which we have been without!  What is it that you have been without?  Hope?  Peace?  Joy?  Love?

Instead of hope, our society today promotes, wanting without the waiting.   Patient expectation through endurance and encouragement, waiting for the fullness of time, where a community wills one in its group to grow and mature, is impatiently shoved out of the way.  Growth and development are trampled, along with fellowship and community building, in favour of instant gratification. 

The problem being since what is wanted is easily gotten, easy come - easy go, the mirage of desire moves and something else is wanted.  Impatience prematurely gets what it wants and wastes unripe fruit.  Without waiting, one does not learn to be satisfied with what one has been given, by God.

Instead of peace, our society today promotes a peace that builds walls.  When these walls are built by us in the name of peace, fellowship is broken, and individualism ends up oppressing us.  One ends up locking oneself in on oneself.   We become slaves to the darkness within, and stuck there, find a whole bunch of loneliness and despair. 

Instead of joy, our society today promotes, sickly sweet happiness.  In one’s impatience we can’t wait for the fullness of time.  We eat unripe fruit, and it sours the second it hits our palette.  So, we go looking for artificial happiness.

Happiness is different to joy.  Joy is built by people in community creating fellowship, while happiness can be celebrated by an individual without any outside influence.  Artificial happiness is saccharine and extreme and it’s usually found to be a cover for loneliness and despair.

Instead of love, our society today promotes unleashed desire.  Rights revealing what is wrong with us and our society, while our wrongs are recognised as right.   Love is no longer about sacrificed and service, but rather about satisfaction of feelings. 

However, two things are experienced when love is centred on the self.  First, confusion and chaos rules as each person’s love competes for supremacy.  Second, people seek satisfaction that’s never fulfilled.   The more one desires this kind of love, the more allusive love proves to be!

In the season of Advent, in this time and place in history, we find ourselves between two competing realities.  The hope, peace, joy and love of Christ’s coming has been departed from and  forgotten in favour of the advent of new and renewed human ideals. 

So, what have we found there?  The advent of new and renewed ways of suffering!         

Now we might think this is a terrible thing.  It might be, if it continues to deliver us into the darkness of ourselves.  However, this is also the time and place of great opportunity for true hope, peace, joy, and love, in its advent through Jesus Christ.   Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”  (Revelation 3:20a ESV)

Every day and in every place, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, meets you in the suffering of those in our society.  Jesus makes his Advent to them through you, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring sufferers to the Advent of Jesus’ suffering and death for true hope, peace, joy, and love!

Saint Paul describes Jesus’ Advent of knocking and waiting in this way, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let each of us please his neighbour for his good, to build him up.  For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me’”.  (Romans 15:1–3 ESV)

While we please ourselves, we follow the ways of the world, in the same way as did the Israelites.  One’s suffering at the hands of seeking these pleasures, is a reminder Jesus continually sends the Holy Spirit knocking on our doors.  To enter and forgive.  To restore and return us through Jesus’ suffering and victory on the cross.  To see in our forgiveness, the pleasure of God to forgive those who have not the will nor the way to turn to the Saviour who suffered for humanity.

Just as those waited for the coming of a messiah in the time and place of John the Baptist, we continually wait for the final Advent of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  As we wait for this final most glorious and treasured advent, like those in John’s day, we allow ourselves to be prepared for Jesus’ final victorious Advent.  

The Holy Spirit prepares us by leading us from our sinful suffering into the Word of God, where we endure and are encouraged.  This is also the place and the time in which Jesus makes his Advent through us.  He returns us to his first Advent where he saved us through our baptism into his death and resurrection.   

As we rightly suffer reproaches for being in Christ, know the reproaches of those who reproach you fall on Jesus.  Paul points us to God and his word, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.  May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (Romans 15:4–7 ESV)

The strange thing that occurs when God leads us from our suffering as a result of seeking our pleasures to suffering for the things that please God, we find ourselves waiting in hope, living in peace with joy and love, for those who suffer at the hands of seeking their pleasure, as well as with those who suffer seeking to please God.

As puzzling and paradoxical as it might seem in this Advent, this is the profound prosperity, privilege, and pleasure God seeks for all who suffer within, without him!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  (Romans 15:13 ESV)

Amen.

C, The Last Sunday of the Church Year Proper 29 - Luke 23:33-43 "Jesus Remember Me"

Luke 23:33–43 (ESV)  And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.  And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.  And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”  The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine  and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”  There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”  One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”  But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

At the place called the Skull, or in Aramaic, Golgotha, everything in creation came to a head.  The Head of our faith, the Head of the body of Christendom, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, finished everything and brought a new beginning through his resurrection.

Here, life dealt with death, holiness overcame evil, hidden love was uncovered, true love was unhidden.  The Son of God was revealed and lifted up on the cross having been concealed in the flesh of humanity.  

Saint Paul uses the word “preeminent” in his creedal statement to the Colossians.  We hear of Jesus, “He is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (Colossians 1:18 ESV)

In Greek, preeminent is “protos”.  Jesus is the first, the prototype, the one through whom all receive their identity and image. 

First, we receive our identity as human flesh.  Like Adam we are terrified by our sin, suffering, dying and death.  

Then, we get our identity as human flesh, forgiven by Jesus Christ, born in the flesh of Adam, but not prone to sin as are we.  

You do well to live with this remembrance as Jesus Christ, the Preeminent First One, remembers you!  

Speaking of remembrance, cemeteries are often referred to as remembrance parks.  On seeing or visiting a cemetery, what are you reminded of?  

When you look at the grave of a loved one, what do you remember?  Do you see their descent into the ground and remember loss?  Or do you look past the grave and funeral, seeing crosses that mark most graves and remember the resurrection?

When you remember, does the Prototype, the Risen Head of the church come to mind, welling up peace, purpose, and pleasure within?  Does the Head, fill you with delight and hope?

For those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, cemeteries are places of death, loss, and inconsolable grief and hopelessness.  The cemetery, for those who do not believe, is a place of remembering “what was – but is no more”.  In despair one might hopelessly think, “God did not save Jesus from death, nor has he saved this person in the grave.”

On the other hand, those who believe in Jesus Christ, cemeteries are places of sadness too!  But it is a sadness being overcome with hope and joy.  The graves of those who have died believing in Jesus Christ, have been made holy by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

We remember this of those who have died in faith and now rest from the troubles we still endure.  We remember Jesus’ death.  We also welcome our rest in the grave, glorious resurrection, a perfected creation, and worship face to face before Jesus Christ.  In cemetery remembrance gardens we look forward to, and remember Jesus’ promised garden of, paradise.

We also remember the Head of the Church has crushed the head of the evil one at the place of the Skull, Golgotha, and through death brings life. 

St Paul encourages the Colossians to remember in the Holy Spirit that our Heavenly Father, “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13 ESV).  

So too, we are called to remember the work of God, by the Holy Spirit.  We are continually being transferred from kingdoms of darkness and hopelessness to his kingdom of light and eternal love.

However, in our weakness, we humans struggle with the reality of death.  The human spirit wants to avoid death.  The Old Adam does not want to trust what he cannot see and experience for himself.  He wants to continue taking and re-taking control.  He wants to double back on himself, like a deceptive fox, avoiding the revealing light and love of God’s work of forgiveness and love.

Like the first thief on the cross, your Old Adam, our sinful human spirit, wants the Son of God to sin by saving himself from death and then free us from impending suffering and death as well.  But cheating death like this, like criminals on the run, we would always have one eye over our shoulders knowing we cannot hide from God.  Death will return to enslave if Jesus didn’t die to pay our debt.

Like the other thief, we do well to remember our sin and guilt.  To know that God cannot be mocked, or shamed, into dismissing our sin.  If he did, he would no longer be God, my sin would desecrate his holiness, my debt would go unpaid, and knowledge of eternal destruction would make living seem like being on death row.

This thief knew his debt would bring him to his death.  Unlike the other criminal, he knew a last expenditure of power taunting Jesus to save himself from death, would not save Jesus, him, or the other criminal from death.

Something in this second criminal, made him believe that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, the King of the Jews, and that through death, Jesus would overcome death.  

Did he hear the blasphemous taunts of the soldiers, Jews, and other criminal and believe the truth hidden in their taunts?  Did he read the inscription above Jesus that he was the King of the Jews?  Did he hear Jesus’ word somewhere else in his ministry before the crucifixion? 

We don’t know!  But we do know, he remembered his sin, he remembered Jesus had done nothing wrong, and he also looked forward in hope to Jesus coming into his kingdom!

In faith and hope he said, “‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  And he [Jesus] said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”

What a wonderful promise!  Today you will finish up with me, out of pain and suffering, past death in paradise!  Jesus then gave up his spirit and died on the cross.  Death was finished, full atonement was made, all righteousness was fulfilled.

Earlier before Jesus died, he said, “For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:31 ESV)

But when he was crucified and as they cast lots to divide his garments, “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 23:34a ESV)

Today the wood is very dry.  There seems to be not much greenness in the cross, devoid of power, little hope is seen in the future of the church; dissolution and death of denominations within Christendom looks real.

We might want to cry out to God in disbelief, “If Jesus is the Son of God, let him save us and our church!”

But Jesus has saved the church, he is saving the church, and he will save those who are his church.  Those who are his church remember their sin, know Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Chosen One, to die in payment for sin.  

The wood of the cross has long dried.  But the power of the cross is still green.   Like Aaron’s staff in Moses’ hand covered in blossoms, Jesus’ death still oozes resurrection life.   

Jesus Christ is the evergreen verdant “Tree of Life” in the centre of Paradise.  The Holy Spirit wills you with the sword of God’s word to remember and trust in Jesus, to death, and through death.  He wills you to hope in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  He is the Head of your salvation, the Chosen one!  He is the King of kings, and Lord of Lords!

Know and remember that God is with you through death.  That to death and through death, we believe, therefore confess, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, remember me.”  Amen. 

C, Commemoration of All Saints - Rev 14:12-13, Lk 6:20-26, Eph 1:11-14 "When Death Looms Large"

During times like today, the celebration of All Saints, or when attending a funeral, one’s thinking about life and death is heightened.

At this time all peripheral issues are moved off the table.  We think about our loss, and we ask ourselves, “What has become of our dearly departed loved one?”

This can be a time of great grief and great joy, all mixed together into one.  Sadness and loss blended with remembrance and joy! 

Amongst the confusion of emotion, questions of, “Why?  How?  Where?  What?” all sit unanswered as the reality of life and death looms large, pushing all other things off the agenda.

At some point during our search for answers to questions about life and death we ponder our own mortal reality, the hidden reality of the future.  What will happen to me?  What will my death look like?

This reality bears too much for some to consider.  The inability to control one’s future reality, sends them scurrying back into their peripheral world, away from what they cannot control. 

Are you one of those who hides in the busyness of day-to-day distractions, controlling things and others, working so you don’t think about your mortality?  Busying yourself, trying to forget you’re just a mere blip in a sea of eternal something?  

When life and death issues loom large in the face of one’s transience, one’s transitory human state, some are led to ponder things transcendent, spiritual, and the like.  Knowing control is not an option once death arrives, some turn to the greatness of someone or something else. 

Within Christendom, that someone or something else is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Sent by God the Father, he entered humanity’s culture of death—your blip, your reality, your uncontrollable deadly state—to bring an eternity of light and life.   

Have you ever found yourself asking, “Will I go to heaven?  Is there really a heaven and a hell?  Is God real?  Is Jesus the Son of God or is he just a person who claimed to be ‘the Son of God’?  Should I take back control and turn away from God’s promises?  That is, if God is real, and, if his promises are really true?”

For some, the transcendence of God’s love, seems too much for them, since the mere blip of their transient reality seems too small, unimportant, or dark, for God to shine the greatness of his love on them.

All at some time struggle with some sort of thoughts and feelings like these. 

As God’s children we should expect this kind of testing.   Why?  Because we are told to expect all sorts of trials and tribulations that tempt us as they did Jesus.

In fact, Jesus told his disciples, and he says to you,   “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.  “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.  “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”   (Luke 6:20–23 ESV)

But with this Jesus also warns his disciples and us who chase after peripheral things and not the kingdom of God, saying, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”  (Luke 6:24–26 ESV)

So, hearing the blessings and woes, one is tempted to use their own knowledge to decide where they stand, “blessed or cursed”.  But Jesus spoke the beatitudes and the woes for a greater purpose.  He seeks to propel you to the cross, to his cross, to your cross of death, to not only seek his kingdom and his righteousness, but to believe it and receive it too.

In seeing one’s good name, laughter, fullness, and richness, one will also see the reality of one’s poverty, hunger, tears, and rejection.   A knowledge of one’s blessings and curses, goods and evil, must give way to seeking a knowledge of Jesus Christ, if we are to have any hope of going to heaven. 

With his word, Jesus leads us from a knowledge of ourselves to a knowledge of himself, exchanging our cross of death and destruction, with his cross of death and resurrection.

As we ponder our brief transient life here on earth, in the reality of God’s transcendence over all things, God calls us to endure.  But not to endure in the temporary peripheral things of death.  Rather, he sends the Holy Spirit to lead us to his eternal word and revive us in what he promises us in it. 

John relates to us in Revelation what God’s will is for us, saying, “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.  And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:12–13 ESV alt) 

Here there is a “yes” from the Holy Spirit who concurs, that dying to the self, and resting in Jesus’ faithfulness, is the best good work which he produces within.

Paul also calls the Ephesians, and us, to see that our destination is a preordained inheritance sealed by the Holy Spirit, who leads us to hope in Jesus.  Saying… 

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,  so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.  (Ephesians 1:11–23 ESV)

At times when death looms large, let the Holy Spirit lead you to hear the word of truth.  Let the Holy Spirit clear all the peripheral issues off the table and impress on you the guarantee of your inheritance with all who have been hallowed, with all the saints.  Amen. 

C, Post-Pentecost 14 Proper 19 - 1 Timothy 1:15-16 "Jesus' Perfect Patience"

1 Timothy 1:15–16 (ESV) The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Saint Paul’s ministry was one of patience!  Jesus had to be perfectly patient with Paul as an example to those who were to believe Jesus for eternal life.

We might think the patience needed, is what was required of Paul to perform his ministry.  He definitely was taught to be patient, but this was only secondary to Jesus’ perfect patience with him. 

After his conversion on the road to Damascus, you might expect, there was preaching to do, and people to seek, now that Saul the persecutor of Christ and his church had become Paul the proselyte of this fledgeling movement centred on Jesus’ life and death, resurrection and ascension.

However, if Saint Paul’s ministry, or any ministry is to be effective in the Lord, God’s patience needs to be demonstrated with us who share the gospel, whether we are pastors, lay leaders in congregations, youth leaders, parents and grandparents praying for their prodigals to return, or young kids telling their friends about Jesus in the playground.

When God was handing out patience, I reckon I must have been away that day!  I, like so many in our society today, desire immediate results, or I get impatient.

As I get older the need to –go, go, go– is slowing, physically!  But mentally and emotionally my patience is slowing too.  Or my impatience is growing proportionally to the years I live or the hairs that are getting greyer.  The slower I go, the slower I am at being patient.  Or the quicker I run out of puff, the quicker I expect others to pick up their act and get going.

The old Adam in us, our human spirit, turns its expectation into a god.  Unfortunately, sin has rewired our brains and hearts this way.  But the Holy Spirit leads us back to Christ’s overflowing love. 

When the god of our expectations is not met, we get frustrated and impassioned with each other.  In our minds we become impatient and secretly judge, “I expected so much more from you!  Or, I didn’t expect you to do something like that!”  Our expectations can be idols in our lives that cause us to sin against others and God.

After Saint Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, at the least, he spent fourteen years away from Jerusalem in Arabia, Syria, and Cilicia.  God was patiently preparing Paul for his ministry, and no doubt Paul too was learning patience having been shown patience.  It’s believed during these fourteen years; God was patiently preparing him as an apostle.  Saul the Pharisee who knew the Law was being patiently revealed by the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is the only fulfiller of the Law.

Sometime later Paul confesses to young pastor Timothy, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

What a way to start off!  Confession that he is not just a sinner but the prototype of sinners!  Only through Jesus’ perfect patience does someone learn this, and, have the willingness to confess it.

Paul prefaces his confession as the prototype sinner stating, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15 ESV)

He confesses to Timothy that Jesus Christ, this Saviour of sinners, and his sinfulness, is proclaimed in faith and this deserves Timothy’s full reception.  Paul wants Timothy to perfectly understand what he is saying here! 

In naming himself a sinner, Paul does a number of things.  He’s no longer ignorant in his unbelief.  He now has faith that he’s a sinner.  His sinful being is now covered by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  His former sinful deeds are also covered by Jesus’ forgiveness.  He’s no longer a servant of his sinfulness, but rather a servant of sinners needing the same forgiveness as him.

Paul places himself under the authority of God’s word.  One might think that he was already doing this since he was a Pharisee.  However, Paul was using the Law of God to justify himself and his position.  This made him guilty of blasphemy and idolatry.   As a ruthless Pharisee he was worshipping a graven image, not made with his hands, but with his mind.  And in breathing murderous threats against the followers of Christ, he was blaspheming God the Son.  

From Pauls legal background as an Old Testament Lawyer, he knew very well that God is impartial.  And so, with sound teaching in the Law and knowledge of Jesus’ overflowing grace he knew God had to continue being patient with him because his human nature would still strive to be partial to wrongly justify or condemn those with whom God is perfectly patient. 

It was no longer about his Law or justification, but about Jesus’ fulfilment of the Law through his righteousness and our justification through his sacrificial death on the cross.  And this wasn’t done to Paul’s timeframe but in the fullness of God’s time it was finished by Jesus Christ.   This perfection continues to be finished by the power of the Holy Spirit, who seeks to bring the human spirit to the fullness of Jesus’ perfect patience.

Paul goes out of his way to embellish just who he is to Timothy, so Timothy does not place an expectation on Paul that makes Paul a god in Timothy’s eyes.  And so, Timothy does not make himself an impatient presumptuous super apostle to those to whom God calls him.

Patience goes hand in hand with forgiveness!  So too, impatience and frustration go hand in hand with unforgiveness.  Patience grows out of our judgement!  Judge one way and we forgive, judge the other way we don’t forgive.   However, Jesus’ perfect patience with Paul is an enduring lesson in love.

In his letter to the Romans Paul speaks of Jesus’ all-encompassing love.  But before he does, he speaks about the all-encompassing debased love of each human for themselves.  (Romans 1:21-32)

He says, “For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 3:22–24 ESV)

Impatience goes hand in hand with presumption.  Paul knew this too well when he acted with zealous fervour in ignorance under the Law.  He says, “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”  (Romans 2:3–4 ESV)

Paul was acutely aware of Jesus’ perfect patience of him in his ministry.  There was no presumption he was any better than those he taught regardless of them being Jew or Greek, young or old, pastor or parishioner.  They all needed Jesus’ perfect patience, as did he!

Jesus’ perfect patience not only manifested itself in love at the cross.  But also, in his sending of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the helper of sinners who trust in Jesus Christ.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, “we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11–12 ESV)

The writer goes on to cite Abraham as one who inherits through patience.  Abraham was patient but the greater weight of patience was from God who not only witnessed Abraham and Sarah’s disastrous affairs with Hagar and Ishmael, but also the nation that grew out of him all the way down to Paul.

Peter says in his second Epistle, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

Jesus’ perfect patience is also a perfect faithfulness too.  Not only does he send the Holy Spirit to give us faith, but he also remains faithful to us as well.  Rather than expectation, he serves with example and is patient with us.

He gives us the fullness of time as he peels back the layers of our sinfulness while bringing this sinfulness into the light of his revelation and his forgiveness of our sin. 

We’re all on different parts of God’s road to salvation.  Some are more mature in the faith.  Like Saint Paul, we are called to recognise with ever increasing clarity the weakness in which we walk.  But at the same time learn with increasing knowledge the overflowing grace that shows its perfection in Jesus’ patience. 

The fullness of time will come for us all.  Only then will we know who has believed they’re sinners and who trusted Jesus’ perfect patience.  Till then let us, in the complete knowledge and acceptance of our weakness, walk together sharing with each other the perfect patience of Jesus Christ, who walks in our midst as our forgiving Saviour God, and gathers us together in him with the Holy Spirit.

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever.  Amen.  (1 Timothy 1:17 ESV)

C, Post-Pentecost 13 Proper 18 - Luke 14:25-35 "Counting the Cost"

Jesus had gained a following.  A great crowd of disciples and people were following him.  To where were they following him?  But could they follow him?  Or was he really following them?

The Gospel text before us today has a threefold warning written into it.  Three times Jesus says, “If you do x, y, or z, you cannot be my disciple”.  Let’s examine the X, Y, and Z of why he says one cannot be his disciple.

The first “cannot” word Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26 ESV)

Luke records the harshness of Jesus’ words with the call to hate.  How can this be?  Mathew’s Gospel softens this harshness by replacing  whoever “hates” with whoever “loves (x) more than me”.  So, Jesus’ first call to discipleship is not to love one’s family and life more than Jesus. 

It seems Jesus seeks to scatter us from our relationships.  But Jesus walked towards Jerusalem to do something so much greater than this.  He needs to take us from our family heritage, our culture, and our identity.  Then he can awaken us with his life, in the Holy Spirit, in our eternal heritage with the Father, and in our adopted identity through his suffering and death.  After this he gives us back to our families, our nation, and our society as agents of his supreme love.

In our age of individualism and our regression into social tribalism, Jesus is exposing our idols of pride built on one’s identity; be it race, class, family.  Or, even today as some think we have freewill to choose what we identify ourselves as!  Also, Jesus is laying bare, the shame that comes from our fallen identity’s narrowness and individuality.

Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, just after Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, he also spoke about taking up the cross and following him.  Jesus then says, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels”.  (Luke 9:26 ESV)

God’s intention for us is that being firstly a member of his heavenly family, like Paul, we confess to the Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16 ESV)

And as Paul says to young Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth”.  (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV)

And the writer of Hebrews says of Jesus and us who allow him to make us holy, “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.  That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.” (Hebrews 2:11 ESV)

Peter in his epistle to the persecuted church says, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” (1 Peter 4:16 ESV)

With the weight of God’s word just heard, are you more ashamed of the gospel or your family?  Is honour before the world more important than honour before God in his church,  including those in this church our shame and pride would naturally exclude.

Like Paul who formerly prided himself, as a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees blameless under the law, confesses to the Philippians, that hanging onto his former identity is as shameful as keeping and showing your poo[1]. 

Jesus calls you to hate your own life like your manure or that which is cast aside as waste.  And he is not just talking about the things you consider as evil or shameful.  But also, the things in which you seek honour, and deem as good, shaming God to second place.

His call to hate others or love him the most, then flows into his second impediment statement for discipleship, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 27 ESV)

Earlier in Luke’s Gospel when Jesus speaks to his disciples about those ashamed of him and his words, the Son of Man will be ashamed on his return.  Just before saying this, he invites them to take up their cross (Luke 9:23).  But here in the second of his “cannot” discipleship statements his call is not just to “take up” one’s cross but “to carry” or “bear it”. 

This is stronger language again.  The disciples knew to carry a cross was the Roman way of making one carry one’s instrument of death to the place of their crucifixion and death.  Jesus makes it clear, if you are going to walk with me, death will occur! 

Hate your family, now make a faithful stand which will lead to death!  What?

It’s here Jesus takes a break before pointing out the third reason why one cannot be his disciple, his learner, or one who truly understands, to do the will of the Father.

Jesus says, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,  saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.”  (Luke 14:28–30 ESV)

Counting the cost of loving Jesus more than anyone or anything!  Hating my life so much I would forsake it and follow Jesus to death!  It makes you wonder, “How on earth can I do this?  How can I make this work?”

The picture of building a tower and being humiliated by not being able to finish its city, immediately makes us think of the Tower of Babel.  The spirit of humanity collectively sought to work their way up to God, but God confused their language and dispersed them before they could build themselves up as a collective human god.

As the Babel event rings in our ears, know that just as Jesus says, those who cannot “finish their towers will be humiliated”, they too will be shamed like those of Babel whom God mocks.   After they built their tower “up to heaven”, God still has to “come down” to see what they were doing.  They are humiliated and dispersed!  

Surely before you or I work to love Jesus more than our family, social status, or state, before we seek to die for our sin, we might sit down and count the cost. 

Jesus then paints another picture for us saying, “what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.” (Luke 14:31–32 ESV)

We might regard King David as the greatest king of the Old Testament who battled and overcame hundreds of thousands in battle.  Yet before God he cries out, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:2, 7 ESV)

Here is God’s chosen King of Israel, trembling and found short before God!  Crying out for peace before God!  No sacrifice could please God, no offering could cleanse, nothing he did could recoup the cost!  And David knew it!

What is the cost of our unfinished work?  Can I pay to have peace within?  How can I have terms of peace without God?

This brings us to Jesus’ last hindrance on being his disciple.  Counting the cost and seeking terms of peace, Jesus says, “therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”  (Luke 14:33 ESV)

The deeds, intellect, and the life one lives, will only bring shame if we try to use them as a bargaining chip at the table of life and death.

This is well and truly proven by the Israelites, who, on entering the promised land, heard Moses say, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.” (Deuteronomy 30:15 ESV)  But they lost their land of milk and honey, first to the Assyrians and Babylonians, and finally to the Romans. 

God set before them life and death, living a life of good over evil under the Law.  Yet the good they lived was for themselves, and they lost their land, the paradise of God being with them in the temple in Jerusalem and received payment for their sin.  God’s wages for sin, is always death!

Jesus then says, “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile.  It is thrown away.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  (Luke 14:34–35 ESV)

If Israel’s good was not good enough, and our good, is not good enough either, if our lack of saltiness is too shameful to put on the dung heap, consider the cost, seek terms of true peace!

Those who have ears let them hear!  Taste and see it is the Lord who is good!  No one could follow Jesus to the cross, just as none of us can make salt, salty again if it loses it saltiness.  We lose favour and flavour with God, when we seek the poopy pleasures of good and evil. 

God gives our flavour back, in a cleansing bath in baptism, rejuvenating saltiness, preserved “with and in” his word.  He flavours you once again and delights in you as his own, with the work of the Holy Spirit and our risen ascended Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus counted the cost and paid the price. He was cast out of the city like poo and nailed to the cross, clean and innocent, in the place of uncleanness and shame.

Now the shame of our sin is not confessing it and repenting.  True discipleship relies on the Holy Spirit to honour God through our confession as sinners being daily forgiven!

As King David said, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”  (Psalm 32:1–5 ESV)

In Jesus Christ, the guilt and shame of your sin is taken away.  By allowing the Holy Spirit to bring you daily to Jesus, in confession and repentance, making him your Messiah, is the highest form of worshipping and following God.  Amen.

___________________________________________________________

[1] Philippians 3:8 “rubbish” here in the Greek is vulgar meaning “excrement/filth”. 

C, Post-Pentecost 12 Proper 17 - Psalm 112 "Blessed"

Psalm 112:1–10 (ESV) Praise the LORD!  Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!  His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.  Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.  It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.  For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.  He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.  His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.  He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honour.  The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

The readings for this Sunday all dwell on the biblical theme of blessedness; that is, to be blessed as a state of being, to be blessed by someone, or to bless.  What does it mean to bless someone, to be blessed by someone, and the state of blessedness?

To be blessed in its simplest form is to be happy or fortunate.  But if a person seeks to bless themselves or deem themselves as blessed, it’s actually one of the quickest ways to become angry with everyone around them as well as themselves.  So, to be blessed and to bless is much more than being happy, being fortunate, being pleased or pleasing someone else.

At the end of the gospel reading today, when dining in the house of a Pharisee ruler, Jesus says, “when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,  and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. ” (Luke 14:13-14a)

Straight away in this text, we see being blessed when one gives a feast to those who cannot repay, is not about being happy.  One may be happy to do this but more is going on.

The biblical definition of “blessedness” has a much deeper function than just happiness and being fortunate.  In Psalm 112 we hear, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” (Psalm 112:1 ESV)

The person who is blessed here can be happy or pleased.  But the question one must ask, “Is why can they be pleased or happy?” 

The Hebrew word for blessed has at its root the meaning to be straight or level.  When one is on the straight and narrow, they move forward with confidence, with honesty, in the right way, on a level path.  Or, if one is “on the level” they are honest and are being truthful. 

When a person is level or blessed, they are balanced.   A good way of understanding blessed as balanced is like that of a level set of scales.  Neither leaning to the left nor the right, but evenly balanced.

The straightness of being blessed also means, straight up and down too.  That is to be upright.  It is no accident therefore, in Psalm 112 that after it says, “Blessed the man who fears the Lord”, it continues in verse two, “His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.  Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.”  (Psalm 112:2–4 ESV)

Twice the Psalmist says “upright” in these verses.  So, one who is blessed, balanced, level or upright, can endure forever in righteousness.  This person can move forward on a level plain in the face of the ups and downs of trials and tribulations.

In these verses it says, “the generation of the upright will be blessed.”  The Hebrew literally says, “the blessed will be blessed”, when it says “the upright will be blessed.”  But these two Hebrew words have different meanings.

Whereas the first “blessed” we’ve looked at, means “upright or balanced”.  Here the second “blessed” means, “to kneel or bend oneself in adoration or to curse”.  This adoration or cursing is what one does in worship when they’re in awe of someone, or if they hate and curse them because they’re believed to be awful. 

Blessing here is about praise and its opposite; what one says about someone else.  So when it says, “The blessed will be blessed” it means, “the upright or the balanced will be bowed down to, praised and spoken well of”!

Notice these two forms of blessedness are pictures of body language.  One is straight up and down, or balanced and level, while the other is bent bowing, honouring, and saying good to others about them.  This is not surprising as the Hebrew language was originally a spoken language of oral tradition, an unwritten picture language, whereas the Greek of the New Testament is an academic written language.

In the New Testament, the most well-known verses on blessings are the Beatitudes where Jesus teaches the crowd and the disciples at the Sermon on the Mount.

The other word for bless in the New Testament is a Greek word familiar to us in English, eulogy, which means to speak good words about someone.

The readings today all deal with the theme of “blessedness”.  If one seeks to be blessed in one’s own sight and takes the seat of honour, the writer of Proverbs tells us, this can lead to being humiliated.

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great,  for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”   (Proverbs 25:6–7 ESV)

Jesus heals a man at the house of a Pharisee ruler.  His fellow diners could not answer Jesus’ logic for healing this fellow on the Sabbath.  Jesus then tells a parable about those who took the honoured positions at a wedding feast. 

Put yourselves in the place of the guest?  What happens when you take the positions of honour?  Will you bless the host, or expect to be blessed?  How level-headed or balanced are you if you take the honoured position, especially when someone of greater honour arrives?  Not only is blessedness about body language.   It’s also about one’s prominence, status, or social standing in society. 

Blessedness not only deals with body language but also reputation.  What is your reputation like with God?  Are you blessed by God?  What does that actually mean?  It means, when Jesus returns in his glory to separate the sheep from the goats, will you be one of the goats who have blessed oneself or one of the sheep blessed by God?  What type of reputation do you have with God?

Jesus says, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (Luke 14:11 ESV)

I cannot imagine a worse thought than the humiliation of being labelled by God “a goat” or a person of ill-repute on judgement day.   Do you want to be treated by the Eternal Host of heaven the same way you have hosted those God puts before you here on earth? 

What makes us good blokes, good sheilas, good people in God’s eyes?

Let Psalm 112 be the text that judges you.  It starts out with the command to “Praise the Lord!”  Do you praise God as Lord all the time or do you Lord it over others, or do you busy yourself, so others praise you?

Do you fear the Lord, do you delight in his commandments.  What makes your offspring mighty?  When others bless you does it turn people to God or away from God?  Does your wealth and riches fuel righteousness that endures… forever!  Are you gracious, merciful, and righteous?  By whose justice do you conduct your affairs?  Will you be remembered forever?  Is your heart firm in the face of death, or even as you hear these questions?  Are you considering the poor when you leave here today?  Or perhaps, this line of questioning irks you and makes you get angry?

We realise very quickly that our blessedness, when built on ourselves, makes us no better than a ruling Pharisee or his guests, angry because we’re not getting the honour, we believe we deserve.

Yet we praise the Lord!  How can that be, since God clearly shows us through Jesus’ parable, we present ourselves as honoured guests but are quickly humiliated by the Word of God? 

It’s here we’re called to see that God is the one who is inviting us to his banquet.   He invites us, his church, as the bride of the Bridegroom.  You and I are the poor, crippled, the lame, and the blind.  Now married to Jesus Christ the Head of the heavenly house, we can be compassionate to those who like us are poor, crippled, lame, and blind.  Like us who have been made friends in the wedding feast of the Lamb, we can befriend our enemies, just as Jesus has done with us.

So, praise the LORD, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Why? 

Because Jesus is the man who fears the LORD, and delights in his commandments.  We are his offspring, mighty in the land, we are the generation of the balanced, blessedly helpless forgiven sinners to whom God bows and blesses, because we confess our sin and forgive those who sin against us!  The light of God has dawned in the darkness of our hearts, showing us sin to confess. 

Why do we do this?  Because God deals generously with you.  He lends you his Son and the Holy Spirit.  He is justifying you with the justice of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  You won’t be moved while you allow the Holy Spirit to remain.  You are not afraid of bad news; you are firm, trusting in the Good News.  God has won the victory over your sinful self!  You can now distribute freely; Christ has exalted you and in him your righteousness endures forever.

Your old Adam will be angry!  But that is a good sign of your salvation too.  He is angry because he is dying, he might gnash his teeth, but he is melting away, he and all his desires are dying, leaving Jesus the Bridegroom of heaven to take you as his bride, the church.  He forgives and feeds you and me, in his eternal wedding feast! 

Praise the LORD!  Jesus has balanced your scales!  God blesses you; you are blessed!  Amen.