B, Pentecost 19 Proper 22 - Mark 10:11-12, 14-15 "Jesus on Divorce and Children"

God gave humanity co-creative power when he created Adam and then Eve from Adam and gave her to him in the Garden of Eden.  And in cleaving to one another they produced children.

One might say, “But the animals do the same, they have co-creative power too!”  And they do but only to a certain extent. 

God brought forth animals from the earth, whereas humans were created from the earth but are also created in his image, and in his likeness.

A male and a female human being have the co-creative power to make images of God in the likeness of God.  And further to that God has given humanity dominion over all he has created from the earth.

The blessing of God fell on Adam and Eve after he created them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 ESV)

Jesus was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit, without her cleaving to a man, without the effort of a man.  Jesus was both the Son of Man but also the Son of God in the one person.

Jesus is tested twice in the Gospel reading for today.  First by the Pharisees when they tested him on divorce and then by the disciples when they incensed him by rebuking those bringing children to him.

Jesus teaches his disciples from these two testing events.  First, he says in response to the Pharisees, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10:11–12 ESV)

Second, when he saw the disciples rebuking those who were bringing children to him said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:14–15 ESV)

Divorce, adultery, and hindering children; things have obviously changed somewhat since God placed Adam and Eve together to be fruitful and multiply.  Yet Jesus is placed right in the thick of humanity’s destructive ways. And in doing so brings the kingdom of God into the presence of these difficult situations.

Anyone who has had anything to do with divorce or relationship breakdown knows just how complex the issues are that feed the collapse.  At the heart of a separation one deals with guilt, fear, grief, anger, betrayal, role responsibilities, loss of trust, and insecurity. 

When Jesus is tested by the Pharisees, he tells the Pharisees it is because the hardness of heart that Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written.  He then takes his hearers back to the beginning of creation, to the foundational function of being male and female.

When we are in a relationship with another person, regardless of the type of relationship, we are in a relationship with someone who bears the image of God.  

We can ask God, “How am I honouring you in my dealing with the other person who bears your image?” Then we can think about our relationships with our spouse or our partner, and then our children or our parents, and then our neighbours, who all bear the image of God.  But as you do, ask yourself, “What is it that I want or need from that relationship?”

Now ask yourself, “What does Jesus want or need from his relationship with me?  Are my wants and needs from my relationships the same as his wants and needs with me?  What were Jesus’ wants and needs from his disciples and the Pharisees?”

Divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children quickly bring to the fore all the messes in our families, the church and society today, and with that judgementalism and egalitarianism issues. 

So determined has our society become to provide a safe place for children and to stop gender discrimination that in our zealousness we have forgotten we are blessed as men by God and blessed as women by God, both being created in his image.  And the children we’ve created in his image have been indoctrinated and confused by the judgementalism of gender rights, identity, and equality.  And with that comes the suppression of the blessedness of serving each other as men and women, and as children and adults.

Through this self-centred mentality of seeking our rights in sexuality, in gender equality, as autonomous children, and as individualistic adults; divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children, seems to be accepted as normal.  As divorce, adultery and the hindering of children becomes the norm we continue to lose the blessedness of being fruitful and multiplying on this earth.

But Jesus comes to us right in the heart of divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children.  He shows us what it is to be blessed and fruitful without being the son of a human father, without ever being married, without having children and without hindering children.

How does he do it?

He comes as the Son of Man and the Son of God.  Jesus was sent as the new Adam.

In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  (Hebrews 1:1b–3 ESV)

Jesus came to be the Saviour of us and our fallen relationships.  He does this through the forgiveness of sins.  He can do this because he comes in the image of God, without sin, but bearing all sin for the forgiveness of all sin.

He brings forgiveness within marriages, he brings forgiveness where marriages have ended in divorce, and he brings forgiveness in adultery.  Jesus also serves children who are caught up in divorces and relationship breakdowns, and he seeks to reconnect with children who have been hindered from coming to him.

God has put all things in our messy world under his control.

Now in putting everything in subjection to him [Jesus], he [God] left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.  But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.  For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:8–11)

We might not see that God is in control of our broken families, church, and community, but we are called to trust his word.  God conquers all broken marriages, all adultery, and all hinderances of his children created in his image.  He does it by teaching us in his word how we get it wrong, by showing us the righteousness of Jesus’ life, but gives us forgiveness and salvation through his death.

God calls us not to divorce ourselves from him or his church by seeing and hearing he is making all things new as he showed John, recorded in Revelation chapter twenty-one, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:2–3 ESV)

Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and from it came divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children.

You and I are called to eat from the tree of knowledge of sin and salvation, that is the cross, so you and I are forgiven and saved from this adulterous and Fatherless generation. 

Receive God’s invitation of blessing and fruitfulness, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb… These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9 ESV)

And, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter 1:2 ESV)

Amen. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Listen to the language of Saint Paul in these verses… 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

B, Pentecost 2 Proper 5 Mark 3:20-35 “The Unforgiveable Sin”

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The unforgiveable sin! The thought of this has terrified many a Christian needlessly over the years. Yet those who give away any thought of sin and repentance are perhaps nearer to blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

The thought of committing the unforgiveable sin is something the devil uses against God's children, so they inevitably despair of God's grace. Once Satan has our ear, he accuses and leads us to turn to sin away from God, deceived believers God's love is not for us. Then the evil one has got us where he wants us leading us to spiritually murder ourselves and opening the door to a plethora of shameful deeds.

When one hears of the sin against the Holy Spirit there is the temptation to quickly imagine some extraordinary sinful act, like suicide, paedophilia, or genocide. Although the sin against the Holy Spirit might lead a person into these acts, it might lead a person to just be apathetic towards what God is seeking to do in their day to day lives.

The sin against the Holy Spirit is the sin against the work of the Holy Spirit, and put most simply is the rejection what he seeks to give, which is faith! And where there is no faith, there can be no hope nor can there be any real love – for or from the self, for others, for God, or love received from others or from God.

While on holidays over summer, my family and I saw a sight I just had to go back and photograph. Let me paint this picture as an example of what happens to us when we sin against the Holy Spirit.

There was a windmill, built up strong and rugged. Next to it a tank was placed and a trough from which live stock could drink. This place was an oasis, a place where thirst was quenched, and life was restored. But the windmill had a mind of its own.

The windmill spun away pumping water quite happily with ease. After all the wind did all the work! But when the owner came to maintain the windmill he couldn't work the wind vane to turn the blades out of wind. And so there was no way to give it the much needed maintenance that every windmill needs.

After time the salt air from the ocean started to rust the blades of the mill! One worked free and came off in a storm. The mill still spun and pumped water but now it was out of balance. And without being fixed terrible stresses were placed on the windmill's structure and moving parts. The vibration was horrendous.

Rust and vibration continued for years and eventually all the blades came off and it couldn't pump water anymore. The wind still blew, the work was still being done, but there was now nothing to move the parts of the windmill and sitting motionless in the salt air the cogs and bearings soon became overrun by rust and the mill ceased up.

After time the whole site became run down, the tank fell to bits and the trough was broken. The paddock became dysfunctional and the animals broke free to find water elsewhere. The wind still blew and the well still had water, but what once supported life, had died.

One who sins against the Holy Spirit is like this dead windmill. The wind first blew on us in baptism, spinning us doing the work it needed to do on us, and making us produce a stream of living water. This water was not made by the windmill, rather the wind was sent to raise the water of life within us, in the spot where we were placed, right where our owner needed us.

Now unlike the earthly windmill that needs maintenance, we are maintained by the very act of working. The wind and the water lubricate us and make us function for the very purpose we were put here. Our function as windmills is pleasing to the owner and God the Father is our owner.

However Satan has taken the wind out of humanity's sails, so to speak! He disengaged Adam and Eve from facing into wind and he caused them to stop functioning as they should. Now the owner needed to send One to fix we who at best spin out of balance.

One who sins against the Holy Spirit is one who rejects the work of the Spirit, the wind on the blades! One who no longer has the waters of life moving within, and who rejects any maintenance from the owner. What a sad and sorry sight is a windmill that no longer pumps water. It's a picture of hopelessness and despair.

Unfortunately, many are tricked into believing it is all hopeless. And once there, despair and hopelessness become a self fulfilling prophecy of doom in one's life. We end up shedding the very thing that make us spin freely as Christians, receiving and pumping forgiveness, namely, faith from the winds of the Holy Spirit.

And the gift of faith that makes us work, wells up grace within to overflow from us. This grace is Jesus' life-giving death and resurrection for me, for you — for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So we might continue being the pleasing person God has re-created, re-erected, or resurrected us to be in this life.

We have heard how Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and then hid from God behind other trees in the garden. They became like windmills spinning in the wind without pumping any water, they hid themselves, while still appearing to be properly functioning. Just like a mill that turns and looks like it's alright, further inspection by the owner soon discovers it's just spin and is dead even when it appears to be alive.

Adam and Eve chose to do the wrong thing and tried to spin God on who was really to blame. They threw away their means of life, and sought to hide behind a load of their own hot air and spin.

You and I do the same. For example, have you ever been walking down the street or doing something in a place when you see someone coming that you really don't wish to speak to at that moment? Have you every pretended not to see them, perhaps snob them, cross to the other side of the road to avoid contact? Adam and Eve sought to do the same with God. But God still sought them because he made us to have a relationship with us.

What happens when we do avoid contact with this person? We might get away without talking to them but often what is left is some bad blood between you, and if continued on, unresolved, the relationship breaks down. If you are lucky the person whom you seek to avoid will still bound up to you and say, "hi". And the lie continues as we say, "Oh, I didn't see you there!"

This person does what God does with Adam and Eve, and what he does with us. He comes to us seeking to restore the relationship with Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. He sends the Holy Spirit to blow on us and swing us back into wind so we once again are what he has created us to be, doing what he intended our being would naturally do.

The unforgivable sin is the sin of being, or rather not being what we were re-created to be. If I sin against the Holy Spirit I am like one who avoids a relationship with God, I cross to the other side of the road so I don't have to meet him. Or, I apathetically walk right past him without even acknowledging his presence. I reject faith from the Holy Spirit, which will severe me from grace, cut me from the cross and the forgiveness won by Jesus Christ, and a relationship with the Father. Remaining like that and I'm like the windmill still standing but dead to self and God. Not pleasing in any way!

The good news for us is when we are confronted by the Word of God and we sit up, provoked in conscience, that's the Holy Spirit spinning the bladed of the windmill. He is working in you turning you towards Christ so you willing receive the waters of forgives, that are pleasing to God.

Don't let the devil deceive you into believing that this is what you're not meant to be doing. It may appear you're not pumping life giving waters but rather sinful sludge. But this is good because God is preparing you to be his eternal well of life and he is removing the sluggish muck and welling up in you the waters of eternal life.

Just as Jesus was attacked for having an unclean spirit, you too will be attacked for the same thing since you are bound to Christ. But know if you're tempted to think you're of the devil why then would the devil be trying to deceive you? He will not fight himself? You're of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, so don't let Satan accuse you anymore, because he's the one who is blaspheming the Holy Spirit and he wants you to turn from God and bind yourself to him. Don't join him in the unforgiveable sin!

Finally listen to these wise words from the Word of God written in Hebrews chapter 6…

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And 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 6:1–12 ESV)

Amen.

B, Lent 1 – Genesis 9:8-17 “With or Without Water”

Where would you be without water? Without food you might last some time; perhaps three weeks! But without water you're dead in just three days. 

The majority of your body is made up of water. Each healthy cell is about 70% water. Water is also everywhere around us. It's in the air we breathe, it's in the soil, it falls from the sky as rain, or one can sink a well and hopefully find water. It's everywhere and it's an ingredient of life.

Controlled water gives life. For water to work well for us it needs boundaries. Without boundaries water is unpredictable or if one does something to break or trespass the boundaries of water, water can take on a whole new nature. It can turn from peacefully tranquil into a terrifying torrent in no time at all.

Examples of water's terror are not hard to find. Think back to the recent Tsunami in Japan, the floods in Queensland, or more recently cyclones and floods here in Western Australia. Then there are the shattering events of drowning deaths, stopping life when it stops air from entering the lungs. Despite us being majorly made of water, too much is not good for us either.

Noah lived in a time when there was chaos on an unimaginable scale. The blessings and boundaries of creation had been badly broken by those who no longer cared for the order of God's creation. Nor did they see God as worthy of giving thanks for what he had created. God was grieved he had given the earth to humanity.

So God opened the boundaries of the heavens, and the earth. Water gushed forth from above and below, leaving only one thing left on the water – an ark. This boat now sustained life above the chaos of drowned and decaying animals, people, and plants below.

What God had done, was allow the chaos of pre-created order to return. God rebirths the earth, and gives a new creation to Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark.

After the ark settles on dry ground, Noah gives thanks to God by building an altar and sacrifices some of the clean animals and birds on the altar. Noah sees that creation is given to humanity so he might rest with God. And then God makes a covenant with Noah.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth." (Genesis 9:8–17 ESV)

God cuts the covenant with Noah and sets the rainbow as sign for us and as a cause to remind God of the covenant he made. This is not because God is forgetful! It is so when we see the rainbow we know God is always thinking of us and the life he gives to the world, despite the chaos we create and sustain in this world.

Amazingly, the rainbow that reminds us of God's love and covenant with us is made by two primary elements of life. Water again is used and controlled together with sunlight.

But a brighter light shines from God; shining brighter than a beautiful rainbow. There is One greater than water and light that gives light and life. He is the Son of God, the Light of Life, and he shines brighter than all the stars in the sky. He is greater than all the boundaries and elements of creation, yet he came down into what he created, born into this world, so we might be reborn and daily raised to life from the waters of baptism into the light of eternal life and hope!

Not unlike Noah, right now we have been gathered into God's presence, into the moving vessel of his church. Saved from eternal chaos and death, afloat on the water and the word, we now can give thanks to God, for the life he gives in his Son Jesus Christ.

We may still struggle with droughts and localised floods, but despite this we have been drowned in the tranquil waters of baptism, and God promises these waters drown us in Jesus' death so the Holy Spirit might raise us and float us in faith. God will give us our daily bread despite famine or flood. God loves you too much to let you sink and die alone.

This is why he has given us an ark even today. His church where his word is given, allows us to enter in and receive the Holy Spirit through the word, so we might receive faith, and trust the far from perfect ship of God's human church. But this church has a risen Saviour within, at the helm, sleeping in the hull, calling us to trust him, despite the rough seas around.

We've been though rough weather, but we're still here! Let's trust God and give him thanks as he carries us home. And when he's had enough, he will take us out of the ark, out of this life, and give us a new creation, one that is eternally washed clean of chaos and corruption.

In this world water can give or take life. With the water and the word, our sinful lives are drowned and God rebirths us through his Son, our Saviour. So let us give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever, Amen.

B, Epiphany 2 - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 "Girls, Gold, Glory"

“Each age has its own peculiar temptations!  Young fellows are tempted by girls, men who are thirty years old are tempted by gold, when they are forty years old they are tempted by honour and glory, and those who are sixty years old say to themselves, ‘What a pious man I have become!’” (LW 54 #1601)

This is a quote of Luther’s from the end of May 1532.  Notice here Luther says nothing about those who are fifty years old — humorous since Luther was just shy of turning fifty at the time.   One wonders what was tempting him at the age of fifty!  Perhaps not telling the whole story!  Or Wittenberg Bitter!

Nevertheless, he makes a good point.  There is something that tempts everyone, the young and the old, male or female, well off and the not so well off!

What temps you?  We all have our weaknesses.  As Christians we are forgiven, we are being healed, but still the sore of sin oozes and festers.  When we think sin is under control it soon breaks out again in another way.

When I was a young man this Corinthians text troubled me deeply.  Perhaps it still should raise concerns in me today!  Growing up as a Christian in a post-Christian culture, sex was everywhere.  It was in the media, in music and their videos, on television, in ads... you couldn’t get away from it.  Unfortunately, I failed to flee from it too.  I failed in thought, word, and deed! 

You see temptation is a sneaky thing.  It comes about and succeeds because human nature always seeks to find fulfilment in the wrong thing.  I thought if I could deliver myself from this sin, I would be a better person.  And when I couldn’t I thought I was not good enough for God!  But I also knew giving in to the lure of licentiousness and lust would also be disastrous and deadly. It seemed I was trapped. 

As I grew older I soon realised the same sin raised its head again, not through girls, but through gold, and then glory.  I see today I fall into the same trap thinking I am over sexual sins, because there is a foundational sin behind sexual sin, working me to want wealth, and harassing me to hunger for honour. 

My sin is no better, if I begin to believe, I’ve conquered sin on my own and moved on from the days of my hot blooded youth, or the go-get-em working days for wealth and the weekend.  

Yes! This text should still concern me today!  Not because of sins of the past!  No! They have been nailed to the cross and forgiven!  But rather, because of the sins of the present!  And no, not the sexual sins of today’s youth, but my sin, my temptation, and my failures before God today!

I am throwing stones in glass houses if I think this text is just about someone else’s sexual sin rather than the cause of it, and the true cause of all the various age specific sins.

You see there is just as much thought around that sex is bad.  This is just as big a sin as sexual promiscuity and perhaps partly the cause of it in our society today.

Yet we hear right at the beginning of creation, after the fall, a recount of the conception and birth of Adam and Eve’s first son.  In Genesis four we hear, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” (Genesis 4:1 ESV)

Therefore it’s good to know your husband or wife sexually.  For sure it’s private, but God is glorified in right sexual conduct.  And may I say, right sexual conduct between a husband and a wife, in the sight of God, with his blessing, is the most joyful, satisfying, exciting sex there is to be had.  Contrary to popular thought that fulfilment comes through what one might do with their own bodies.

And here is where we begin to uncover the cause of sexual sin and why Paul calls us and the Corinthians to flee from sexual immorality.  When we think of ourselves and our own sexual temptations, they occurred most likely when we were younger.  Teenagers of every generation have been the same.  Pimples and body odour occur because of what’s happening in the body; it is sexually developing.  Stopping sexual development in the body is about as futile as stopping pimples and BO! 

But learning what is happening in us while we develop as teens and young adults is crucial for fleeing from immorality when we’re young; as is fleeing from greed or self-glorification when we’re old.  In fact, many struggle just as much with their senior’s sin, because the sins of their youth haven’t been dealt with appropriately.  Rather than flee from the sins of youth, sexuality was suppressed and secretive.

But why and how does one flee from the sins of sexuality?  Not only are we developing physically when we are teens, but also socially, emotionally and mentally.  It’s at this age when the ego really begins to kick against authority.  Mum and dad no longer know anything, it becomes about personal experience and excitement.  Teenagers believe they should be bullet proof; they should know, and have everything!

Unfortunately we’re all taught to believe we must do stuff to find fulfilment.  For a teenager sexual gratification is number one for fulfilment.  Whether they do it or not is beside the point, it’s the belief of what fulfils the ego that drives the temptation.  And it’s the thought process and belief of what one must do to find fulfilment that sets up a person’s life for temptation, failure, and seeking things that never fulfil anything.

The first thing we must ask ourselves, “What is the purpose of a person?  What is my purpose?”  What will give the sum total of my being fulfilment; physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally?  Without this sorted out one will roll from various sexual sins, into greed for acquiring stuff, or seeking satisfaction in status, family, fortune, or fame.  All falling short of the very thing we seek in these things; namely, fulfilment.

“What is my purpose?” may be the first thing we need to ask ourselves. But knowing what our purpose is takes a life time to really get.  Nor do we fully get it until we’re raised to eternal rest with our Father in Heaven.

We need to see in this text that fleeing from sexual immorality, is the need to flee from the self, the ego, the need to self appease that takes our focus from God and glorifies myself.  The rights of “I” need to be shifted from idolatry back to the righteousness of the great I AM!

Augustine of Hippo, a father in the church, back in the fourth and fifth century in his writing, The Confessions, said,

“Great are you, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; your power is immense, and your wisdom beyond reckoning. And so we, who are a due part of your creation, long to praise you – we also carry our mortality about with us, carry the evidence of our sin and with it the proof that you thwart the proud. You arouse us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”

Augustine was no stranger to the ways of the world.  He was raised a Christian but strayed for some years, in search of pleasure.  Also in his confessions he said of his youth,

“But I, wretched, most wretched, in the very commencement of my early youth, had begged chastity of the Lord, and said, 'Grant me chastity and continence (self-control), only not yet.”

 So Augustine like so many of us are restless.  Looking for fulfilment in all the wrong things.  But bitter experience taught Augustine, Luther, and many others who have gone before us that allowing sexuality, status, wealth, reason and pride to enslave us will only leave us yearning for something more, unfulfilled and unable to raise us up on the last day.

Saint Paul says, “All things are lawful for me but I will not be enslaved by anything!” (1 Cor 6:12)  In other words he’s saying he has freedom to do whatever he pleases but in exercising his freedom he must be careful not to become overpowered by the very acts of his freedom. 

He continues, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!  Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”  But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.  Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:13–18 ESV)

Humanity was made to glorify God, to praise God, to be empowered by God.  Until we rest in God’s power, trusting in him, we have no rest. 

There are many things we can prostitute ourselves to in the name of bringing fulfilment to ourselves.  These are idols and they have no power.  God has power, it is the power of his love, in Jesus Christ crucified and raised, so he might raise us up daily to glorify him and eternally where we will be glorified with him forever.

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God! You are not your own.  You were bought with a price. We were created to glorify God in our bodies.

How do you do this?  Trust not yourself but the power of the Holy Spirit who continually works to place you under the forgiveness of our risen Lord Jesus Christ and into the loving presence of your Heavenly Father.

The kingdom the power and the glory are his.  Amen.

A, Pentecost 13 Proper 19 – Genesis 50:15-21 “Not Just 9-11 but 24-7”

Not Just 9-11 But 24-7
In these hours ten years ago, chaos on an unimaginable scale brought us to a standstill as two buildings came tumbling down in New York. Two planes flew into the Twin Towers, another into the Pentagon in Washington, while the attempts of another failed despite all on board being killed too. Just over three thousand victims and hijackers were killed in these acts of terror. Citizens of ninety nationalities died at the World Trading Centre together with those who died at the Pentagon and in a field in Pennsylvania.

You will most likely remember where you were when the news came flooding through. Our TV screens and radios were filled with the images and the sounds of this unimaginable chaos, leaving nothing to our imaginations.

In his address to the US nation on September 11 2001, the US President George W. Bush, said…

A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.

America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.

Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America — with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbours who came to give blood and help in any way they could. (11/9/2001)

In the years leading up to this day, many had succumb to the post-modern mantra that what was good for you was good for you and what was good for me was good for me! Therefore what was being said was there was no wrong.

But despite how sympathetic one might be towards people resisting the economic oppression of Western greed, the terror of 9-11 was just plain wrong. And perhaps George Bush's remake, "Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature" will be remembered as a marker for change in human thought.

Up unto this point, apparently there was no such evil! Well, so we were told! Yet within each of us who live in reality, we know not only that evil exists, but that all of us are capable of it.

In fact the reason why there was, and perhaps still is, in some, a push to exclude evil in favour of everyone having their own good, is so the conscience doesn't have to deal with the holy. Because when one is confronted by the holy, our true reality is illuminated by what is truly good, showing our goodness, no matter how good, as not good enough, as not being holy.

And this unholiness breaches us into the area of judgement and death. And this sits uncomfortably with all who live in denial of their mortal reality. But those who face the reality of their helplessness, having their sinful nature and deeds continually dealt with, have a completely different view of judgement and death.

So if we've learnt anything from 9-11, it's that there is evil in the world. But the greater lesson is not only is there evil but really we're helpless in fighting it, and in fighting it the chances of propagating further acts of evil are just as likely. The war on terror has freed the world of terror just as much as World War One was the war to end all wars.

Terror had overcome the brothers of Joseph after their father Jacob had died. The evil within led these brothers to envy Joseph, leading them to sell him as a slave, wishing he was dead, and telling their father than in fact he had been savaged to death by an animal.

Now they stood without the protection of their father before he who was second in command of Egypt; second only to Pharaoh, and the very brother they had despised as nothing and lorded him over into slavery.

Hear the evil they pre-empt from their brother whom they thought would now seek his revenge.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him." So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this command before he died, 'Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. (Genesis 50:15–17 ESV)

We are not much different than the brothers of Joseph. We too pre-empt judgement from others, and from God. Yet because our consciences are pricked by judgement we're quick to say others cannot judge.

Just like Joseph's brothers, we know we're guilty of many different things, thinking we're going to get it for what we've done. But still we seek to defend ourselves by demanding no one has the right to judge us, even though it's our judgement of others and God, that has put us in the situation in the first place. And the primary offence we make is we judge ourselves better than others and therefore seek to be god of our own lives and other's as well. Our helplessness is hidden while deploring the helplessness of others.

But what does Joseph do when his brothers seek to defend themselves behind the words of their dead father Jacob? He weeps! We hear…

Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants." But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones." Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:17–21 ESV)

Joseph's brothers pre-empted an evil response to their evil actions; they expected judgement. And there was judgement, but not as they thought! His judgement neither dismissed what they had wrongly done, nor did it involve retribution. Joseph made his judgement as one who stands under judgement from God. He named their actions against him as evil, yet he viewed it in the context of God's will.

But we hear in Romans 14 not to pass judgement and again in the Gospel in Matthew 18, through the judgement of the unforgiving servant. So should we or shouldn't we judge? What is meant here when we're told not to judge?

Surely a world without judgement is a world in chaos at such a level, it makes the terrors of the World Trade centre, and the recent natural disasters in Japan and Queensland pail into insignificance, next to the evil of a world without judgement!

Joseph had every right to reign down terror upon his brothers, yet he wept over them. He was handed over to death, judged as unworthy, and despised. He could have returned the evil but God meant it for good. Through many evil events Joseph was anointed as a son of Pharaoh, so he could be a saviour to those who sold him out. Therefore Joseph stood as a Christ-like figure pointing to the coming of the Messiah some two thousand years before the fact.

We stand two thousand years after the fact. But for us it's not just a historical standing. We stand judged and the cross is our judgement. We welcome the judgement so we might stand in the justification and righteousness of his resurrection for our justification, righteousness and resurrection. We live knowing it's not just the evil of 9-11 from which we need salvation but the internal evil within that terrorises us 24-7. Not only do we welcome the judgement, but in fact we need the judgement that recognises us as helpless.

And so we're called to live in the hope of our adoption as sons of God through the death and resurrection of God the Son. With each other we're called to also bear and share Christ's work of judgement so we might met out the same forgiveness on others who are as blessedly helpless as we are.

Today see the very worst of human nature; see your potential for evil in those who've nailed Jesus to the cross. But also see the life he gives to those who trust their baptism is the judgement which immerses the judged into his death and into a continuing existence of being daily raised to a life of faith, hope, and love in the name of Jesus Christ and for his sake. Not just on 9-11, but 24-7! Amen.

A, Lent 4 - John 9:1-6, 35-41 "Blinded by my Sight"

BLINDED BY MY SIGHT
A sermon on John 9: 1-6, 35-41
THE FORTH SUNDAY IN LENT (Year A) 3/04/11
Pastor Heath Pukallus Katanning-Narrogin Lutheran Parish

Is it possible that human beings are blinded by their sight? I'm reminded of a song written by Bruce Springsteen, which was made a hit in the seventies by a group called Manfred Mann's Earth Band. This song has the title: Blinded by the light. And it is a line that's sung over and over again during the course of the song.

In comparison to the texts we've heard today, being blinded by the light, or by one's own sight, seems to be a contradiction. And it is when we speak of our Lord being the light of the world.

In John nine we hear: As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. (John 9:1-6)

This blind man was not blinded by the light, for he was blind from birth. This man was not blinded by anything he did wrong, nor was it as a result of something his parents did wrong either. But Jesus came into this man's life and gave him sight.

However, later on in John nine, after the blind man has received his sight and after being ridiculed by the Pharisees as being a sinner from birth, Jesus asks him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. (John 9:35-38)

Isn't it interesting that having been given sight by God's own Son, the man who now sees still didn't have the ability to know just who the Son of Man was, who had come to be the light of the word! It's only after Jesus names himself with his spoken word that the fellow falls down and worships him.

Then in the hearing of the man, and the Pharisees, Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (John 9:39-41)

A couple of things are happening here which we have to be careful not to overlook. The blind man is given physical sight, yet didn't spiritually see and worship until hearing the spoken word from Jesus. Jesus also pointed out that because of his blindness he has no way of missing the mark so he might be guilty of committing sin. Yet at the same time he can't see that Jesus is the Son of Man because of the human sinful nature's inability to see, regardless of him performing a sin or not.

The other thing we must observe is the deeper reality of the Pharisees' jeer at Jesus, "What? Are we blind too?" Earlier they hurled insults about the man who had received his sight, claiming, "We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from." The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes." (John 9:28b-30) They were blinded by their sight, and when the light of God came along they were so blind they refused to see the truth.

Like the blind man they too didn't have the power in themselves to see. But in placing faith in themselves, claiming they could see, they rejected he who had the power to give the fulfilling sight of salvation.

What happened here is what still happens today! We are called to see the Son of God, yet we are tempted to place our faith in those things on which the sun in the sky shines. Humanity has been deceived by its own tainted sight, refracted by the darkness of sin, ever since Adam and Eve laid sight on the sun-ripened apple at Eden. And up until Christ's cross and resurrection there was no way we could regain sight of the other tree without the apple, the tree of life. We were completely unable to see the tree of life or find it because we were blinded by the cherubim with the flashing sword guarding any way back into God's paradise of peace and the eternal tree of life in it. (Genesis 3:24)

We are blinded by the light from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and we need Jesus' spit in our eyes to clean out the mortal mud, that always seems to stick to us. We are blinded by our sight, or rather the short-sightedness of human nakedness, reason, and understanding.

St Paul states to the Corinthians …we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10)

So while the sun shines on us here we are away from the Son of God, but even so we look to the eternal Son who is not seen by human sight, but rather by the sight of faith given by the Holy Spirit.

Even when we appear to do every humanly good thing under the sun, these are not the good things that will win us favourable judgement under the Son of God. But rather when God sees us faithfully looking toward the unseen Son of Man, by the power of the Spirit, then the Son's salvation truly warms the hearer's heart, and God sees us as his children.

The blind man in this text was rather quiet, Jesus came to he who was silenced in complete darkness and gave him sight. But at other times as Jesus moved around the place during his earthly ministry the blind sung out to him, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us! (Matthew 20: 30) These men knew they were blind, they were not deceived by their sight, or any other ability they thought they had. They were powerless to see. Yet as Jesus approached them they received the warmth of his word in their hearts. God's 'Word Made Flesh' healed them and gave them better sight than they could have ever imagined.

We are called to look to the Son of God for our salvation too. Looking at the sun in the sky, or trusting anything on which the sun might shine, both make us blind. However, the Son of God will not blind us. He will shine in our darkened hearts as we walk in this world blind with darkness. When we look at this Son, the one and only Son of God, we will be boldly led through the darkness, walking with infallible accuracy.

We can all picture the pirate who sails the high seas with a patch over his eye. We Christians are like that pirate. He wears the patch not because he's had an eye gouged out as many think. He wears it so when he goes from darkness to light, from below deck to above and vice versa, he swaps the patch over so his darkened eye sees perfectly in the darkness and the uncovered eye sees without being blinded by the light.

Similarly we Christians are called to trust the patch that God places over us, giving us the ability to see, regardless of being blinded by the light or the darkness. This patch is his word and because of it we can see the Son of God who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. This eye patch is the patch of faith allowing us to fear no evil whenever it attacks us, day or night. With it on we wear the Son of God with his flashing rod of protection and his staff of salvation. With this patch of faith covering our human short-sightedness, we can see the light of our salvation, and the tree of life. Amen.