B, Ash Wednesday - Genesis 3:14-19 "You are Dust, and to Dust you shall Return"

Genesis 3:14–19 (ESV) “The LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’  To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.’  And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’”

Air, water, and fire, return all things back to natural elements.  From the moment we create things on this earth, they are returning to what they once were.  The houses people have built since time began have returned, and are returning, to the earth, through exposure to air, water, or fire. 

The goods we place in our homes will also return to primary elements.  Some quickly, some slowly, but nevertheless they are returning.  Even plastics, glass, and porcelain return having been produced with fire, return with the help of fire and pressure over time!

All metals eventually revert to their mineral compounds through the process of corrosion and rust, so that they become dust once again.  Having this in mind we travel in vehicles not putting too much trust in our means of transport.  A very sobering thought to contemplate when we’re at thirty-eight thousand feet, looking at a metal wing, slowly returning to the ore of the earth, keeping us aloft.   Or, sailing on a metal ship, in a salty brine knowing that eventually rust, must make metal, into mush!

It’s not just things we create, that are reduced to rust, dust, a mushy mash, or blackened ash.  All things given to us in this creation will die and return to he who created it with his Word.  

Following a garden and kitchen waste recycling truck yesterday, it became obvious to the nose that air and water were working on returning things, we live on in creation, back into compost and dirt.  Another sobering thought occurred to me, as I drove behind that truck, that I too, in the fullness of God’s time, will be returned from flesh, blood, and bone, back into air, water, and dust.

In a short time, you will receive the mark of the cross on the forehead with ash and hear the words, “you are dust and to dust you shall return.” 

These words are the words of God to Adam, who having listened to Eve and Satan disguised as a serpent, did not heed God’s call not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

As a result, not only does Adam return to dust; Eve does too!   All animals that carry the breath of life from God, return to the earth.  All of creation groans as a result of humanity’s pleasure.  And so, all the things in which we seek pleasure, are being tested by air, water, and fire.

The ash we receive on the forehead reminds us of this!  The ash used is the ash of palm fronds.  Traditionally the palm branches used on Palm Sunday, are returned to ash with air and fire, to use on Ash Wednesday.  The Ash adheres to the moisture on the skin of the forehead.  Moisture that is continually leaving the body, which one day will work with air to make us compostable material in the earth.  If not, some will return to ash and dust through cremation’s fire.  Either way, “you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week.  The ash of the Sunday palm branch not only leads us to remember our mortality, but that of the man Jesus Christ.  He is the New Adam!  The immortal Son of God born into his own creation as a mortal, the Son of Man. 

From Ash Wednesday we look forward to Holy Week, to see what Jesus put aside as the Son of God, and what he endured as the Son of Man.  We see our pleasures, in the face of Adam and Eve’s pleasure, in gaining a knowledge of good and evil.  And we realise the suffering we endure as a result of treasuring the pleasures of what we seek and know, more than the pleasure of knowing God and being known by God.

But we also look to Holy Week and see Jesus’ good pleasure in being led to the cross amid the pain and suffering promised to Adam and Eve from their original sin, and all the sins that followed.  Right the way to today to the deceptions of your pleasures within, and all those around you tempting you because you are without!

We look to Jesus’ death, burial, and descent into hell.  Where, having been pierced by the sword on the cross, water and blood flowed from his flesh!  Where, in the grave, air did not take effect on Jesus’ flesh.   And, where in hell, fire was not fatal for the Son of Man, the Son of God.

We look to Easter Sunday, to the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, trusting that it is the Father’s, the Son’s, and the Holy Spirit’s good pleasure, to work their holiness for you in the events of Holy Week, and Easter.

We also look forward from Ash Wednesday to the day of our death, to our burial or cremation.  Hearing the fulfilment of God’s word, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return”!   And we remember our sin!  The sins we have done, and the sins from which we struggle to be undone.  We see our being, in need of renewal and resurrection, our mortality in need of immortality!

God calls us to look beneath the temporary decaying clothing God gave Adam and Eve to cover their sinfulness, saying, “‘Yet even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;  and rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”  (Joel 2:12–13 ESV)

During Lent some find it healthy to forgo some of the pleasures of this life to focus on the pleasures of God and what was done to save us from the decay caused by our pleasures.  This is a rendering of one’s heart, through fasting, hearing God’s word, and meditating on it. 

Going without in the forty days of Lent, leads one to be tested, and having been tested, produces repentance, as one quickly sees in our failures, Jesus’ being tested for forty days without sin.

Ash Wednesday calls us to see Jesus raised from the dead, victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  In Jesus we see flesh without failure, without fatigue, and our flesh in the future.  We see our mortality made immortal through Jesus’ pleasure to fulfil our Father’s will!

On Ash Wednesday we see the only way is Jesus’ way.  In him the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to pleasure’s temptation of good and evil.   This leads us to turn back to God our Father in repentance and thanksgiving. 

Ash Wednesday helps us to remember and return to the Lord our God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

In Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, our Father in heaven promises to relent and repent over all your evils!  Amen.

A, Palm/Passion- Isaiah 50:4–9a "That Sinking Feeling"

We’ve all experienced that terrible sinking feeling somewhere and at some time in our lives. 

It may have been only for the briefest of moments.  It may have lasted for a considerable amount of time.  That terrible sinking feeling may have occurred in public before many people; it could have happened when you were alone or with one other person.  You might be feeling it right now!  In any situation, this feeling gives a sense of ugliness, feeling dis-easy, your skin and mood descends into clamminess and coldness.

Impending doom, loss of control, something gone horribly wrong gives one this feeling.  The moment before impact, the moment after the doctor gives the diagnosis, so much pain you think you’re going to die, so much pain you worry you’re not going to die, watching someone suffering.  Am I God forsaken?  Are we forsaken!  That sinking feeling.

The pain of grief and loss, tears so bitter they hurt.  The loneliness after the loss, that sinking feeling.

Being caught out, publicly humiliated, guilty facing your accuser, that sinking feeling.

The calm suddenly becomes chaos, conflict with others, anger, confrontation, harsh words spoken, accusations flying, going past the point of no return, regret, that terrible sinking feeling.

The injustice of the situation, falsely accused, no one believes the truth, helplessly unable to stop the inevitable, depression, anxiety, despair, hopelessness, that sinking feeling.

Promises broken, expectations shattered, the height of joyful excitement stopped with fright and fear, desire unfulfilled, frustration, that sinking feeling.

We’ve all experienced that terrible sinking feeling somewhere and at some time in our lives.  All these contributors, from whatever it was, that’s caused that terrible sinking feeling, is a sense of death that causes the fight or flight instinct to kick in. 

When that sinking feeling occurs, do you run to God or run away from him?  Do you struggle with God, or do you give up on him?  Do you seek a knowledge of good and evil, or a knowledge of Jesus Christ, trusting in yourself, or trusting in what Jesus promises in his Word?  When that terrible sinking feeling of death touches you, how do you respond?

Feelings were running high when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  But the tone changed, the crowd turned, victorious excitement turned into vicious incitement.  Sunday saw Jesus ride into Jerusalem in majesty, not to overthrow the Romans as expected, but to overturn the tables of the traders in the temple. 

The Jewish leaders felt fury when Jesus taught crowds, while confronting, confounding, and silencing them with the very words in which they sought to trap him.

The feelings of the disciples were sorely tested, when Jesus told them the temple would be torn down, and the coming of the kingdom of heaven will be proceeded by chaos and tribulation.  Judas feeling his way as he betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, feelings running so deep one of the captor’s ears is cut off.

That sinking feeling was present everywhere, in so many ways!  The disciples scatter, Judas regrets what he does, he changes his mind, he loses his mind, he hangs himself.  Peter too promises much, but three times fails, outside he wept so bitterly. That sinking feeling was everywhere!

The rage of the chief priests and the elders,  Pilate’s wife sends word, “have nothing to do with this man”, the crowd cries, “crucify him”, Pilate feels trapped, that sinking feeling.  He washes his hands, injustice, and Barabbas is released.  The women of Galilee watch on from a distance, they see the unfairness, they see the wrong.  O can anyone stop that sinking feeling?

See him nailed to the cross.  Six hours of suffering till he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  He breathes his last, he hangs his head, it is finished!

Much happened in Holy Week!  High emotion, feelings flying to-and-fro!  Just like us when we have those negative sinking feelings, so too did those in Jerusalem.

These feelings led folk to fight or flee.  Even once Jesus was dead and the graves opened, and the dead came out of their tombs, and when the soldier realised Jesus was the Son of God.  That sinking feeling! 

When the temple curtain tore from top to bottom, and the Jews suspected Jesus would be stolen from the tomb, placing a guard to protect their image, rather than protect the glory of God.  That sinking feeling.

These sinking feelings are all feelings of death.  Everyone was feeling a sense of death.  People scrambling left, right, and centre, to preserve their position, their ideals, their futures, their advantage from death.  When that sinking feeling of death approached, everyone sought to protect their knowledge of good and evil!

What was Jesus feeling during Holy Week when the crowds joyously welcomed him on a donkey?  When he taught and tested in the temple?  What was Jesus feeling when he celebrated his last supper, sharing his bread with Judas Iscariot, who would betray him, and not be around to see his resurrection, believe and receive forgiveness?  With Peter, who was promising so much but would deny him, not just once, but three times?

Of Jesus we hear in Isaiah, “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.  The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.  I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.  But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.  He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.  Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who will declare me guilty?”  (Isaiah 50:4–9a ESV)

Jesus was sent into this sinking world with our sinking feelings of death.  The stink of death was constantly before him.  Unlike us, he never put it aside, tried to forget about it, while secretly worrying about it.  He never fought or fled from the situation before him, even when everyone else did. 

Jesus felt that sinking feeling.  He wept over death, he lamented over Jerusalem, he suffered under sin.  He became estranged from his Father, abandoned on the cross.  Yes, Jesus felt that sinking feeling, your sinking feeling that gives you a taste of death, and died for you.  Your sinking feeling led him to sink into death, for you to feel forgiveness, receive forgiveness, hear, and taste forgiveness, so you  believe his forgiveness!

When you were baptised into Jesus’ death and resurrection, he was baptised into your terrible sinking feelings of death!  Jesus was baptised into your guilt, your conflict with your work colleagues, your estranged family, your shame and embarrassment, your failures, the unfairness you bear, the prejudices you produce, the injustice you induce. All that causes that sinking feeling in you, Jesus was born into, was baptised into, die for, and has risen over.

When he was incarnated in Mary, he saw your mess.  When he rode into Jerusalem, he carried all your cares.  When he healed, he took on your illnesses.  When he confronted the proud and arrogant, he called out your vanity and selfish ways.  When tempted by the devil with sinking feelings, know he overcame your temptation before the devil.  Know, when the Holy Spirit allows a sense of death, in that sinking feeling, he is leading you from death to life in Jesus Christ!

Whatever it is, causing that sinking feeling of death, fall into the arms of Jesus.  Let Jesus carry you to the cross.  He is the only one who can carry us through death and into life as it should be. 

When that sinking feeling is forced upon you, at the moment you realise your good and evil is incapacitated by death, let Jesus Christ love you with his flint-like face!  Let his good over evil be your only good!  Let your death be his death!  Let his victory be your victory! Amen.

B, Palm/Passion Sunday - Philippians 2:5-11 "Seven Days of Holy Week"

On Palm Sunday Jesus was glorified by the crowd but just five days later they screamed for his crucifixion.  What happened in this week changed the course of humanity forever. 

On the surface it looks like chaos and a complete miscarriage of justice, but those who received the Holy Spirit and believed the resurrection testify to the crowd,

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:22–24 ESV)

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”  Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart. (Acts 2:36–37a ESV)

Now we who have been baptised and received the Holy Spirit submit to God’s Word, dwelling on it as we carry our crosses on the road to eternity with Jesus.  But what can we take away from this Lenten season, from this Palm Passion Sunday and our Saviour’s death on Good Friday?

Yes we know the eighth day is coming! The day of Jesus’ resurrection!  And we know in trusting God and his word we will be raised too.  But how can we reflect on these seven days of Holy Week, and every seven day week in which we live until our final week here is replaced and we’re resurrected into the eternal eighth day of God’s heavenly reality?

It is very easy for us to hear of the events of Jesus’ passion and ponder that we are people like the Palm Sunday crowd, and that maybe so!  But what was the motive of the crowd on Palm Sunday, especially after Jesus enters the temple and upturns the tables when they hoped for him to overturn the Roman government and throw them out of Jerusalem.  Had Jesus wronged them? 

Maybe Jesus is not living up to your expectations!  Perhaps he is not giving you what you want, seemingly wronging you, letting you suffer like a slave rather than letting you kickback like a king.

Saint Paul tells us, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5–11ESV)

Here we are told we’re given the gift of this mind amongst ourselves from Jesus himself.  Jesus did not see himself as God.  He emptied himself!  He became a servant!  A slave! He was truly they Son of Man, the servant of man!  Even though Jesus is not only the Messiah, the Anointed King, he is the Son of God.  But he humbled himself to be the Servant Son or Slave of Man.  In short he became nothing.

But in the horror of being made nothing he has made us something.  He has made us someone before God!  Unfortunately, more often than not, we take this someone to be something other than the humble creature servant kings and children of God, and once again take our being liked by God, recreated in the likeness of God, and seek to usurp him by being like God.

Jesus knew we would continue to struggle in this old creation of seven days.  This is why he lay down his life for us, and why he sent the Holy Spirit to guide us in his Word through this life until he ends the old seven day creation once and for all and carries us into the eighth day of his eternal kingdom at our resurrection.

So Jesus gave us a prayer in which the Holy Spirit helps us to pray and we can use its petitions this week to reflect on our sinful condition and why Jesus had to die for me, you and all people.  This prayer is the Lord’s Prayer and it can help those who believe to look deeply into the loving heart of God and our hearts that need this steadfast, constant, merciful and generous love.

In fact this pray and its seven petitions is a perfect mirror of reflection on the seven days of Holy Week, and for that matter any seven day week made holy for those who believe as they wait for the kingdom, power and glory to be made manifest for them at their resurrection.  Ironically, each petition reflects the actions of the crowd as they descend from Palm Sunday’s “Hosanna” to “Crucify him” on Good Friday.

In Luther’s explanation of the introduction of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father in heaven”, he writes, “Here God encourages us to believe that he is truly our Father and we are his children”.  In other words, this prayer is a recognisation of our restored creatureliness in the presence of God.  We receive the gift of Jesus’ kingship and it’s a kingship of servanthood.  We live in a relationship with God similar to that of God and Adam before the fall, but now after the fall we live it in the reality of sin, death, and evil.  We pray to our Father in heaven, in the hope of our restoration through the perfect creaturely New Adam, Jesus Christ.

Let’s now look at the seven days of Holy Week and see how they sit with the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

Sunday’s petition, Hallowed by your name.  It appears the crowd were hallowing God’s name with shouts of Hosanna!  But were they hallowing it to glorify God or were they worshipping what they wanted Jesus to be for them.  Here we can reflect on our motivation and confess that we so often seek to use God for our own benefit.  This is using God to justify our own godliness.  A godliness that is not sacrificial like Jesus. A godliness that sits in judgement over God and his Word rather than one that sits in submission and servanthood!  

Monday, Your kingdom come.  As we go off and pick up the regular beat of the week, have you taken God with you?  In other words, are you still the creaturely servant God has called you to be?  Or have you put God back in his Sunday box and picked up pursuing your kingdom?  Are you 100% for God as Jesus was?  Are you carrying your cross or are you tempted to put off the cross to keep face with the world?  God’s kingdom comes when we allow the Holy Spirit to turn over the tables of our human spirit so we believe that God’s kingdom has come in baptism, is coming despite the crosses we bear, and will come at the resurrection.  Let us confess Jesus in the kingdom of this world through our confession of sin and Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins.

Tuesday, Your will be done on earth as in heaven.  What is God’s will for you?  Firstly, it is his will to forgive us our sins, for we know not what we do.  He doesn’t just forgive us for what we do, he forgives us for who we are.  In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 ESV)  God’s will is to forgive sin.  This is the steadfast love of God for we who struggle with a steadfast natures of sin. 

And God’s will for us on earth is to be the new Adams and the new Eves as fulfilled in Jesus.  As kings and servants in the kingdom of God on earth we forgive as God has forgiven us.

Wednesday, Give us this day our daily bread.  Hear God gives us a petition of prayer showing us the reality of our need.  As creatures we ask for all we need.  The going is tough so we are reminded to turn to God just as Jesus did.  We pray, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let this food to us be blessed.”  But there is a second more important part that points us to Maundy Thursday which the church can pray, “blessed be God who is our bread may the world be clothed and fed!” 

Thursday, Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  The first three petitions encourage us to look to God in his holiness and love, now after the fourth, we can reflect on why he has to be gracious with us. 

Our creatureliness is fallen but our sin is covered by Jesus’ body and blood, given and she for forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.  If we change this petition to first person it reads, “forgive me my sin as I forgive those who sin against me.”  This is the only active part of the Lord’s Prayer attributed to us, to me, all other actions are attributed to God. 

Our lives in Christ are a calling to forgive others as Jesus forgives us.  But notice how the petition is worded in reverse. We ask God to forgive us the same way we forgive others.  How do you forgive others?  If you are anything like me you will be made humble by just how gracious God is despite our ongoing struggle to forgive others.  The cross we bear in forgiving others requires the death of our pride and all that our human nature and spirit trusts other than God.

Friday, Lead us not into temptation.  Good Friday is the day of the great exchange.  Crucify him, Crucify him. God crucifies your kingdom and gives you his when you were baptised into his death and resurrection.  When you are tempted to not believe God’s work in your baptism, see that God did not send his only Son to his cross for nothing.  His blood covers you sin, don’t be tempted you are now no longer in need of forgiveness as if you now no longer need his crucifixion. 

Our temptation is also to crucify others with our accusations. This is a temptation back into the kingdom of darkness.  We now live in the kingdom of light and it’s a kingdom of forgiveness. Do not be tempted to toss away and crucify God’s eternal kingdom.

Saturday, But deliver us from evil.  This is the final and seventh petition.  On Holy Saturday Jesus showed his sinlessness to those in hell.  Now that Jesus has been crucified his death crucifies all unholiness. You are delivered from evil into holiness. 

But just as Jesus remembered the Sabbath and made it holy with his perfect sinless rest in the grave and descent into hell we are called to ponder the holiness we have received in baptism. No longer are we commanded "be holy for the Lord is holy" as a work with which to busy ourselves. Rather our being is holy because the Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus. 

We can now do the work of bringing our evil into the light through confession of sin, which might seem to be the wrong thing to do but it pleases God because it shows trust in the good work Jesus did at the cross and the good work the Holy Spirit continues us to do by bring us to Jesus every day in repentance.

As you go from here into this week walk the Holy Week with Jesus. Walk with Jesus to the cross and in carrying your cross know it is Jesus who truly bears your load of sin and death, and it is he who carries you through to the resurrection.

Our Father in heaven, the kingdom, and the power and the glory are yours, now and forever, Amen. 

C, Palm Passion Sunday - Philippians 2:5-11 "The Tree of Victory"

On the tree of the cross Jesus gave salvation to all, so that, where death began, there life might be restored, and that the enemy, who by a tree once overcame, might by a tree be overcome.

From time to time you may have heard these words in the divine service, especially in Lent and Holy Week. 

This line of liturgy brings together a number of key themes and Scriptures in the story of salvation.  Tree, cross, salvation, death, life, restoration, enemy, to overcome, to be overcome.  But tying them all together is the picture of the tree.

The tree that overcame was the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The tree that overcomes is the tree of the cross.  The tree of knowledge of good and evil is a tree of death.  The tree of the cross is also the tree of death. 

But the cross is a tree of life too!  At the cross life is present as well.  The cross is the place of salvation and restoration; it’s the place where good meets evil and overcomes evil.  And so at Easter the cross used in the Good Friday service is often covered in flowers and colour on Easter Sunday.  

But behind the cross, the cross of Good Friday, the cross of Easter, the cross veiled in black, and the cross covered in flowers, is the reality of good and evil.

Today when we leave church and become absorbed once again in our lives, we may not think about the church service, or the cross, or the themes of restoration and salvation.  However, every one of us weighs up in his or her conscience what is good and what is evil.  It’s what we humans naturally do, every day.   

We gather information around us and make decisions on what is right and wrong.  We learn and live, storing knowledge to make judgements.  Is it good, or is it bad?  Are they doing the right thing or the wrong thing?  Am I good or bad?  When I am overcome by good and evil, what can I do to overcome good and evil?

It’s no different for people in the bible too.  They decided what was good and bad, or good and evil too.  And it’s in these biblical accounts where good and evil is considered we might gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and our relation to the cross.

Let’s look at the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  They were deceived by the snake to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  God had given them every other tree in the garden but their desire was kindled in the tree of knowledge of good and evil; it looked good to eye and desirable for gaining insight.  Notice how the evil part of the tree was forgotten.  Not only was evil forgotten but also everything else that had been given to them, including the tree of life.

They turned their backs on life and chose knowledge.  They chose to be like God judging what was good and what was evil. They lost their holy innocence as creatures created in the image of God. Or put simply, they chose pleasure over peace, and this peace was a life where God served them with the garden and his holy presence.  In their pleasure they chose to ignore the love of God, agape or servanthood, and replaced it with a love turned in on the self.  First given as a temptation they became driven by desire, eros and potency.  And from that time we have found knowledge of good and evil makes us powerful like God. 

But our knowledge of good and evil is not used in loving servanthood as God uses it, but rather for loving ourselves in all manner of pleasures.  And like an itch that feels good scratched until our skin is rubbed raw, broken and infected, our pleasures have unleased suffering and sickness from this original sin in the Garden of Eden.  This is what happens when humanity replaces the great “I AM” of God the Father with the “I am” of our self inflated egos.

Fast forward over a couple thousand years of good and evil interpretation under Old Testament Law!

The Law was designed to cleanse God’s chosen people so once again they could look to God’s goodness and servanthood. But time and time again the Jews practised the Law to justify themselves using God’s Word to gratify their pleasures.

So when the time was right God sends his Son in the greatest act of servanthood agape love.  A gift was given to the world.  The tree of life was replanted in the midst of humanity in the manger.  Some saw it as good but others saw it as bad. 

The Tree of Life is grafted into a human; eternal servanthood was born in flesh by the power of God’s Word.  Born into a world where knowledge meant power and pleasure, they measured Jesus by what pleased and by how the praise of them was affected. So some worshiped God when they encountered him, and some tried to kill him.  Some saw it as opportunity to use him to serve them and their pleasures and some in their knowledge just didn’t care to know him. 

However, this one born of the flesh did not succumb to using his knowledge of good and evil against them.  He put off the desire to be “like God”, even though he was God.  Instead he let himself be creaturely in the way they were originally created to be — like you and I were meant to be. 

He took the Law and followed it, yet his piety was not glorifying himself but God the Father. In doing so he showed the goodness of the Pharisees, the pious ones, to be evil.  And those who were deemed the undesirable ones, the ones afflicted with evil, he poured out love and coved with his holiness. 

The characters around Jesus were defined by his life among them.   There were many but let’s just take two — Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot. These two polarize Jesus Christ from all others at the cross — the Sanhedrin, the soldiers, Pilate, the other disciples, the two criminals on their crosses and the fickle mob.

Peter used his knowledge of good and evil to rebuke Jesus, demanding it ridiculous he would even think of going to a cross, and at Jesus’ trial confessed he would never deny Jesus.  And Judas’ knowledge of good and evil leads him to hand Jesus to the Jews, and then not trust Jesus would forgive him for what he had done.  It appears the two are extremes but both Peter and Judas are the same by putting themselves in the place of God as the knowers of good and evil.

So fast forward yet again, to now, some two thousand years after knowledge of good and evil was nailed to the tree.  We see the only good is the goodness of God in Jesus Christ sacrificed for my evil, your evil, your bad, my bad.   And from it we victoriously now live in the risen life of Jesus’ victory.

Philippians 2:1–11 (ESV) So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,  complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One should expect we live lives of servanthood because of the life Jesus won for us.  But still we struggle to stop eating the apples of good and evil, knowingly nailing each other to the tree and plucking ourselves from the tree on which Jesus died for you and me.

You see even if we seek to move others to Jesus through our desire we once again stand under the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Like Peter what we see as good in ourselves in reality is not, because we put our trust in what we can do rather than on what God has done through the servanthood of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Our desire, our ideologies seek to win out over the servanthood of God the Son.

Or like Judas, our knowledge of good and evil leaves us empty handed, giving up the servanthood of Jesus.  And like Judas we walk away from the death of Jesus, cutting ourselves off from the graciousness of God, and begin committing our lives to a slow painful spiritual suicide.

These are humanity’s stories, these are our stories too.  You and I find ourselves back at the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  It’s a tough tree to poison.  But here’s the problem; while we look to our own good to kill it we actually make it grow all the more. 

Just like those of the Old Testament Law, we of the New Testament Gospel, still take what God has done and use it to justify our knowledge of good and evil.  In other words we use God’s Word as our justification for pleasure.  But this pleasure thinly disguises a whole heap of pain. This is humanity’s story and it’s yours and mine too.

So in our days of trials and tribulation, busy yourself in looking to God.  When you find yourself looking within for the answers, pray to our Father for the Holy Spirit to lead you out of yourself and into the Word of God to Jesus!  Test yourself by seeing where the glory goes in your understanding of the Word of God and the works you do as a result.  And pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to the love of God in Jesus Christ.

You will find the old tree of knowledge of good and evil will keep popping up, but when it does know that the tree of life has been replanted in you.  In other words the servanthood of Jesus lives in you; he serves you!  You have been baptised so you are free to look out of yourself to the tree of life and live in in the promise God has given you in the tree of victory.

On the tree of the cross Jesus gave salvation to you, so that, where death began, there your life might be restored, and the enemy, who by a tree once overcame, might by a tree be overcome.

Amen.

C, Maundy Thursday - John 13:1-38 "It's Faith at the Foot that Counts"

Jesus, Judas, Peter — even Pilate, St Paul, and Pharaoh; these men enter the stage as we look at the events surrounding Jesus’ — Last Supper, foot washing of the disciples, crucifixion as his exodus, and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in the Christian Church since his resurrection from the dead, and exodus from our eyes into faith and eternity. And if Jesus takes centre stage with these other men then love and faith, are the pivotal two points around which hope, salvation, sin, unbelief, betrayal, and damnation swing.

In the three bible readings for Maundy Thursday we hear of the Passover in Egypt, written in Exodus 12; Saint Paul passing on what Christ gave to him, the Lord’s Supper with its call to discern Christ’s body and blood in bread and wine, in 1 Corinthians 11; and in John 13 we hear the Word incarnate knowing he would be lifted up in glorified brilliant light, when Judas goes out and it becomes the darkest night.

Each year as Holy Week arrives and we hear the passion narratives, we don’t just hear the story of Jesus’ death but also the stories of Judas, Peter, and Pilate. It seems Judas and Pilate, get a bad wrap, whereas Peter escapes the inevitable scorn poured out upon Judas and Pilate. One might be tempted to think the eternal fate of these three was preordained a long time before these events ever happened. But if we believe this to be the case, then for whom did Jesus die? All people or just some? And if for just a few, what makes you think you’re included too?

On the night when Jesus was betrayed — Judas deceived with a kiss, Peter denied with lies, and Pilate decided to overlook the truth of Jesus’ innocence, in favour of winning the crowd’s approval. These three men all sinned, so what is it that separates Peter from the other two?

We hear in John 13… It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:1-5)

It’s interesting to note Jesus knows it’s time to leave this world. The word “leave” comes for the Greek word meaning — to be debased, or pass over from one place to another, or to completely change state, and this word is related to the words “base or foot”. Here Jesus is about to be walked out of this life through death on the cross, and yet he gets down to wash his disciples’ feet. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Yet Jesus takes their burden on himself, washing their feet so they might be clean, and then gets up and steps foot on the cross.

This was the full extent of his love, and he showed it to all at the meal, even he who was about to betray him, Judas. Judas was prompted here by the devil, but then again didn’t Jesus also rebuke Peter saying, “Get behind me, satan. You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mark 8:33) So here we see neither Peter nor Judas, are any different to each other, both are susceptible to their sinful human nature and the devil’s distractions.

This sin comes to the fore again, when Peter’s pride and lack of understanding, or perhaps guilt, seeks to have Jesus not wash his feet. But then again who of us would feel right about letting God wash our unclean bodies? Judas, however, is silent with the other disciples and does not protest against Jesus washing his feet. But then again if you didn’t believe he was the Son of God, who was to take away the sin of the world, you’d probably let the one you were about to betray wash your feet too. Imagine how Judas must have felt while Jesus stooped to wash his feet. Perhaps he felt powerful as he kept his churning conscience hidden.

However, Jesus knew exactly what was going on, and in fact it was he who held all the power as he knelt and washed the disciples’ feet. He knew he was going to be lifted up so all people might be drawn to him, and he also knew the betrayer had lifted up his heel or foot against him. As he calls Peter to allow him to wash his feet he says, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. (John 13:10-11) Later on a second time Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.” (John 13:21)

And then the third time we’re left with no doubt as to who is going to betray him, As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. “What you are about to do, do quickly,” Jesus told him, but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. (John 13:27-30)

This is the hour of darkness, “it was night”. And when the darkest hour had begun, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. (John 13:31-32)

Here Jesus speaks of his exodus. Just as all those years earlier when Moses ate the Passover and the destroyer passed over them, so they could walk out of Pharaoh’s slavery, Jesus prepares to be walked out too, but innocently into the most unimaginable bondage anyone could face. The eternal Son of God, was bound to the cross and his feet were nailed to one place and point in time; he died for the sins of all people. Knowing this exodus must come first, he says, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” (John 13:33)

With absolutely no understanding as to what was going on, Peter foolishly says, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” To which Jesus answers, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! (John 13: 37-38)

In fact, later on Peter does exactly what Jesus said he would do. This happens after Jesus’ betrayal by Judas, and just before Jesus is led into Pilate’s presence. So Peter is the sinful fool sandwiched between the betrayer Judas who sinned against Jesus and was later filled with hopeless remorse, so much so, he hung himself because of his sin; and between Pilate’s pride, who despite knowing Jesus was completely innocent, sinfully trivialized the truth in order to be Mr. Popularity!

But earlier after Jesus had washed the disciple’s feet, Jesus reveals just what it is that separates Peter from Pilate and Judas as he announces the betrayal that’s about to take place. He says, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. 20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” (John 13:19-20)

When Jesus says “you will believe that I am He”, he is saying, “I AM the betrayed, I AM the one who will be walked to the cross, and crucified. I AM who I AM, I AM God the Son, hear my word — believe me!”

And with this belief comes a trust in God’s complete love. In hearing the Word Made Flesh, we too are called to know — God is love, the beginning and the end, all-powerful in complete control of every situation — and we are called to know and believe that because he die for our sin, all people’s sin, we must live in hope of eternal life, despite knowing we are completely sinful in nature.

Therefore, Jesus said to the disciples, and he says to you his disciple too, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) But at the same time he also says of his disciple Simon Peter, and knows we too are same, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)

We now know from what we’ve heard it’s not the sin or the sinful nature that separates. If this was the case, Peter or the other disciples would have no chance, and nor would we! But rather we are required to have faith in God the Son, the one who shows the full extent of his love, who washes feet, and then steps foot on the cross.

Also the good news is he doesn’t leave us alone to believe, he has sent the Holy Spirit to plant faith in us and strengthen us as we hear his word. The Spirit gives us faith to believe and love, so we might be strengthened and live in hope.

Notice in all the Maundy Thursday bible readings, it’s not sin that separates. Rather it was unbelief that killed Egypt’s and Pharaoh’s first born, while those who believed God’s way walked out. It is not sin which separates us from God and brings judgement, as we drink from the cup and eat the bread. Rather it’s when we fail to believe, recognize, or know the truth of Christ’s body and blood in the cup and the bread; we trivialize the truth, and bring damnation on ourselves if we approach him without faith.

If it was sin that separated — Saul, the most hideous of sinners, might not have been visited by Jesus on the road to Damascus, and called to be the Apostle Paul where he passes on what Jesus gave to him and the church. And so too with Judas, his sin was forgivable, he only needed to believe Jesus’ word and sacrifice, rather than sacrifice himself in self-centred hopeless pity.

It’s the loss of faith, hope, and love in unbelief which separates and gives sin back its power. So during Lent we have examined the depths of our sin which led our Lord towards his innocent suffering and death, and tomorrow (Good Friday) we will do the same. But as we do also know the full extent of God’s love for you — how perfect it is, how complete it is, how forgiving it is, and how victorious it is over your sin and the sin of all who believe in him. Amen.