A, Post-Pentecost 10 Proper 13 - Psalm 136, Matthew 14:13-21 The Cause and Effect of God's Steadfast Love

God’s love is unrivalled by any other kind of love. It is a love that gives, and continues to give, without exception. Love is the very being of God. In His love, God created all things and continues to sustain all things. Unlike human love, which fluctuates or ceases when situations change, God’s love is steadfast. God’s love is unwavering. It is not dependent on the situation; His love remains the same. It remains loyal, constant, and firm, and in His love, God keeps His promises. Therefore, God’s enduring love is steadfast.

In Psalm one hundred and thirty-six, the phrase “for his steadfast love endures forever” is the response in all twenty-six verses. To our modern ears, it might seem painfully repetitive. But in its repetitiveness, we’re called to ponder why the psalmist would have us repeat it over and over again. What is the cause and effect of repeating the phrase that God’s steadfast love endures forever?

The different types of human love all have their origin in God’s love. Yet our love has become fickle, turned in on the self. Instead of the selfless giving love that God gives, we preface it with the motive, “What’s in it for me?” Our benevolence and charity can run out quickly when we are put under pressure, when we are suffering, and when there is little promise of receiving back even some of the gratitude we have given.

Jesus had just heard about the beheading of John the Baptist. He needed to be alone to absorb John’s senseless death. Herod had ordered John beheaded after making a foolish promise to his niece, and prompted by her mother, she requested John’s head on a platter. Before this, Jesus had been to His hometown, Nazareth, where He was rejected through unbelief.

So, you might understand if Jesus had not reacted with joy when He was confronted by the crowds as He got out of the boat, seeking rest and space to grieve John’s death in a desolate place. Yet we hear, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:14 ESV)

Jesus had compassion on them. This was a deep, gut-wrenching feeling toward them and their need. Earlier in Matthew, we hear that when Jesus travelled through the villages and synagogues to teach and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, He healed the people because, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36 ESV)

But on this occasion, knowing Jesus’ situation, you might excuse Him if He said, “Friends, I am not in the mood. My friend has died, and My hometown has rejected Me!” But Jesus does not do that. In the spirit of giving, shepherding the sheep, and sending out labourers into the harvest, He says to the disciples, who want to send everyone home from the desolate location, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16 ESV)

The disciples knew both Jesus’ situation and the desolation of the place where the five thousand had gathered. But in this desolate place, His call for the disciples to give to the crowd, rather than get rid of the crowd, reveals the impossibility of human love. That is, except for Jesus’ love!

Jesus provides out of His compassion. This is the same giving compassion that Psalm one hundred and thirty-six announces twenty-six times: God’s steadfast love endures forever! Where all else fails, Jesus’ love is not turned in on Himself, nor does it seek to make a comfortable situation to accommodate the faithlessness of humanity in its desolation.

So, Jesus commands that the five loaves and two fish be brought to Him. He blesses them and distributes them in what can only be described as miraculous. Yet, surprisingly, there is no marvelling over what Jesus has done. Instead, Jesus makes the disciples get into a boat and leave while He dismisses the crowd.

This is not the first feeding of a great crowd. Later, we hear Jesus feeds the four thousand, and His disciples are still none the wiser about how to feed such a gathering.

The impossibility of this situation, the distribution of food to five thousand men, and more when one counts women and children, points to the steadfast love of God in Jesus Christ, His one and only Son.

Although Jesus is God the Son, and although He displays the miraculous distribution of food in a desolate place where the disciples cannot provide, Jesus does provide. We might think He does this out of His divinity as the Son of God, but no. Otherwise, His call for the disciples to give the crowd something to eat would have only dishearten and discourage them. And that would be out of character for Jesus’ compassion to extend only to the crowd and not also to His disciples.

Jesus’ compassion as the Son of God saw Him act in His humanity, with complete faith in the Father, trusting Him to work His will through the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ compassion and power here come from the purity of His humanity, in that He set aside trusting in His own divinity as the Son of God and trusted the work of the Holy Spirit, sent to rest on Him by God the Father at His baptism by John the Baptist, to fulfil all righteousness—for the crowd, for the disciples, for the apostles, and for you and me.

The problem for us, and for the disciples, is that we have too much faith in ourselves: too much faith in what we can and cannot do, too much faith in our misjudgement and misunderstanding, and too much compassion for our own comfort over against comforting and showing compassion toward others.

The disciples could have fed the five thousand. Jesus knew they could; that is why He asked them to do so. Only after His resurrection and ascension did the apostles perform similar miraculous deeds, once they had lost all faith in themselves and trusted as Jesus trusted—not in Himself, but in the Father who sent Him and in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father to work His will.

This is why the psalmist calls us to look so repetitively to the steadfast love of God. We are no different from the Israelites, who lamented so often despite the steadfast love of God. They were given the psalm to remind them that it is God who provides, spiritually and physically, despite what might seem to be a desolate situation. In the desolateness of human flesh, Jesus looked to the steadfast love of God and shared that love with the crowd, the disciples, and continues to share that love of God amongst us.

When Jesus gave a blessing over the bread and fish, He gave thanks to the Lord, for God is the only true and holy good, because our Father is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. Jesus knew and lived in the twenty-six repetitions of God’s steadfast love. In fact, He is the personification of God’s twenty-sixfold steadfast love, whose cause and effect make the compassion of God’s love work its cause and effect in us.

Jesus’ compassion finds its fulfilment in His passion, in the giving of Himself for us, having been given to us by God the Father, whose love for humanity is jealous and just. We can say this repetitive psalm with joy, knowing that its repetition works the cause of God within us, as the Holy Spirit causes God’s Word within us to have its effect. The compassion of Christ is carried by all who remain in the passion of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which is the unwavering, faithful, enduring love of God that keeps us from the desolation of death and the devil.

Let the effects of God the Father’s steadfast love in Jesus Christ cause you to give Him thanks. Let your being be moved and motivated by the Holy Spirit in God’s compassion, God’s power, and God’s mercy, to know God’s steadfast love, share it, and endure in it unto eternity. Amen.

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Sermon Summary - The Cause and Effect of God's Steadfast Love 

The sermon centres on the unchanging, steadfast love of God, revealed most fully in Jesus Christ. Unlike human love, which often depends on circumstances, emotions, or personal benefit, God's love is constant, faithful, and enduring. It is God's very nature to love, to give, and to sustain His creation.

Psalm 136 repeatedly declares, "His steadfast love endures forever," reminding God's people that His faithfulness never changes despite changing circumstances. This repetition is intentional, teaching us to remember God's faithfulness when we are tempted to rely on ourselves or despair in difficult situations.

This truth is vividly demonstrated in Jesus' feeding of the five thousand. Although Jesus had just experienced profound grief following the death of John the Baptist and rejection in His hometown, He did not withdraw into Himself. Instead, He was moved with deep compassion for the crowds, healing the sick and providing food for them in a desolate place.

When Jesus told His disciples, "You give them something to eat," He exposed the limits of human thinking. The disciples saw only scarcity and impossibility, while Jesus trusted completely in the Father's provision through the work of the Holy Spirit. His compassion was not merely an emotional response but active, self-giving love that reflected the steadfast love of God.

The sermon challenges us to recognise that our greatest obstacle is often our confidence in ourselves. Like the disciples, we measure our resources and conclude that God's calling is impossible. Jesus instead calls His followers to trust God's provision rather than their own abilities.

Ultimately, Jesus' compassion reaches its fulfilment in His Passion. His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection are the supreme demonstration of God's steadfast love, rescuing humanity from sin, death, and the devil. As we receive this enduring love, the Holy Spirit transforms us to reflect Christ's compassion, trusting God in every circumstance and sharing His steadfast love with others.

Reflection

God's steadfast love is not simply an attribute of God; it is the foundation of the Christian life. In a world where love is often conditional and temporary, God remains faithful even when we are weak, fearful, or uncertain.

Jesus' response to the crowds is particularly challenging. At a time when He had every reason to seek solitude and comfort, He chose compassion. His example reminds us that genuine Christian love is not determined by convenience but by God's grace working within us.

The disciples' struggle also reflects our own. We often focus on what we lack instead of trusting the God who provides abundantly. We calculate our limitations, while God invites us to participate in His work through faith. The miracle of the feeding teaches us that God's provision begins when we place what little we have into Christ's hands.

The repeated refrain of Psalm 136—"His steadfast love endures forever"—calls us to continually remember God's faithfulness. As we remember His love shown most perfectly in Jesus' death and resurrection, we are strengthened to trust Him in our own "desolate places" and to extend His compassion to those around us.

Questions for Personal Reflection

Where am I relying on my own strength rather than trusting God's provision?

How has God shown His steadfast love to me during difficult seasons?

Who is God calling me to serve with Christ-like compassion, even when it is inconvenient?

How can I intentionally remind myself each day that God's steadfast love endures forever?

C, Lent 4 - 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, "Ambassadors for Christ"

 2 Corinthians 5:16-21   From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When the prodigal son returned home the father runs out to receive him.  The younger wayward son who formerly treated his father as dead, comes home, and the father celebrates saying to the older son, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

In Saint Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he says we are, “Ambassadors for Christ”.  He also says because we no longer regard Christ in the flesh, we are to regard anyone in Christ as a new creation.  He says,  “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

However, being honest with myself here in this text, I struggle!  I see many of my Christian brothers and sisters, and behold, I fail to see the newness of Christ in them.  I don’t see them as new creations, but as the same old, same old, as my inner being grates against the grain of their personality. 

I might tolerate them trying not to be rude to them, but in God’s word I am called to be reconciled to them, as Christ has been reconciled to them.  How can I be reconciled to them when all I want to do is distance myself from them?  The longer I stand in their presence the greater the risk is of me opening my mouth and causing greater separation.

How am I to be an ambassador for Christ, when within the depts of my being, I seek to rid myself of those I really do not want to be around?

Alternatively, there are those with whom I really love sharing my time!  I welcome the opportunity to have experiences with them, sitting around, chewing the fat in friendly fellowship.  I yearn for a repeat of good times with them, as I have had with them in the past.

But even here, if I am honest, has nothing to do with being an ambassador for Christ.  I don’t want change according to Jesus Christ, for the benefit of Jesus Christ!  I want sameness for myself!  I would rather be one of those proverbial birds of a feather, flocking together.  Perhaps I believe there is safety in numbers, or in familiar surrounds, company, or like-mindedness.

So, what is it that I actually want?   What is it that I’m seeking?  What is it that I really want to worship?

What I do find is a fundamental, deep desire to trust only in myself.  I assess things by way of my reason or thoughts.  My feelings fill me with a spirit of what I believe to be good or bad.  So, I look at the deeds of others and measure them according to what I think best for me.

Like the older brother in the parable, so often I do not act as a true ambassador.  I don’t see anything new with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  I see the same old garbage, I hear the same old, I, I, I, prattle, and “I” feel the self-serving desire to distance myself.

So, the question I ask myself, what actually is an ambassador?  I need to look more into what reconciliation is, or how being reconciled works.  I realise I am so weak!  I need the Holy Spirit to open God’s word in my heart!  I need a new spirit because my human spirit wants nothing more than to silence that which I find annoying, it wants my word to be the last word.

The first thing we can examine is, our Heavenly Father’s love.  Like the father’s love in the parable of the prodigal son, God’s love has nothing to do with any one’s ability to love him back.  God’s love is not conditional on what we do or do not do.  

God’s love “is”, it just is!  It exists and streams from his being to all without prejudice or favour.  Our Father in heaven’s love is impartial and it flows to all people through Jesus Christ, regardless of their faithfulness to him or their rejection of him.

My love, however, struggles with partiality and prejudice.  My love is given conditionally to those to whom I know will return it to me in kind. 

As a Christian, as one who is freely given God’s love of forgiveness, God expects me to learn through lived experience, the reason I receive his love has nothing whatsoever to do with my performance.  I am a being created by God, to be loved by God, despite what “I am and do” as a child of fallen humanity.

This puts me in the same position as those who had knowledge of God through his Word, in Jesus’ day.  I am the same as those who had access to God through the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament.  The teachers of the law, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the militant Zealots, and the everyday faithful Jewish mothers and fathers are the same as you and me. 

They are the elders of Judaism and the Law.  We, are the elders or seniors of Christianity.  Therefore, we are ambassadors of forgiveness and renewal through Jesus keeping the Law.  We are ambassadors of Christianity because we continually receive the reconciling work of the Holy Spirit. 

The word ambassador in the Greek is presbuteros, and means elder or a representative, and it’s from where we get the word presbyter or presbyterian.

The elder brother in the parable should have stepped in to stop his brother leaving and functioned as mediator between his father and the younger son.  Similarly, we, as elder brothers in the Christian faith, who’ve knowledge of Jesus Christ and experience the forgiveness of our sinful nature and deeds, should likewise, be merciful ambassadors or presbyters.

However, it’s easier for us to be more like the elder brother in the parable.  We grumble against our brother receiving love and mercy from the father, rather than celebrate the new life and sonship the father has lavished on his child who has been redressed and recovered by his love.

There are a number of issues needing to be addressed with us, as the elder brothers.  My sin separates me in just the same way as my wayward brother.  I have received the same reconciliation as my brother because of my Heavenly Father’s love.  And I do not determine the time frame or parameters for forgiveness, lest I exclude myself from being redressed or recovered by my own deluded decisions.

The sins one does, are not a sign that one has become a sinner, but that one always was a corrupt sinner, and all people need to be recovered by God’s love and forgiveness.  Therefore, the covering of sinfulness begins in baptism and is an ongoing event, worked by the Holy Spirit every day of one’s life.

Apples fall from apple trees, and oranges from orange trees!  The fruit that falls from the tree does not make the tree!  Fruit can identify what the tree is, but the tree is, what it is, regardless of it producing fruit or not.  Similarly, sinners produce sin.  The being of a sinner is their being, irrespective of them sinning or not.  You are a human being, being human, regardless of what you do!

However, this does not justify us, doing despicable human things!  This is not permission to keep sinning, but instead it’s a lesson in God’s compassion, forgiveness, and love.  It’s here we have an opportunity to look intently at Jesus Christ and see our sin, what it did to him, and learn from it.  We also look at Jesus Christ and see his righteousness, what it has done for us, and learn from this as well.  We see the being of Jesus, as a human being, being and doing what we were originally created to  be and do.

This is a crucial lesson learnt as ambassadors for Christ.  If each of us don’t learn from our sins and experience of God’s mercy and forgiveness, we end up being ambassadors against Christ.  You and I become ambassadors for ourselves.   Our hair might go grey, and age might set in on our faces, but an ambassador of oneself, will remain a spiritual baby having not learnt a thing from life in Christ’s forgiveness.

This is why Saint Paul implores and pleads for the Corinthians to be reconciled to Jesus Christ.  To stop being infants of the faith, continuing in sin, without learning about themselves from it, and its forgiveness, to trust and follow Jesus. 

We are people who know our human nature and spirit and rely on the covering of Christ with his Holy Spirited nature.  Paul pleads and prays, “be forgiven, forgiving, sinners!”

Yet here I am, day in day out, still struggling to let the Holy Spirit, to see my brothers and sisters in Christ as new creations.   When I fail to see them as new creations, I fail to see myself as a sinner needing daily forgiveness!

However, the Holy Spirit works in us the ability to see we need a Saviour.  We need a big brother who is the true Ambassador, and this Ambassador is Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the Ambassador!  The Ambassador of all true ambassadors, the Reconciler of all faithful reconcilers!  The Holy Spirit brings us to the Ambassador’s embassy, the tent embassy, the temple embassy of his body on the cross.

Jesus Christ is a true elder brother!   Not me, not you, the pharisees, nor anyone else can be this elder brother as Jesus is.  He is the perfect reflection of our heavenly Father’s love. He is the Mediator, and he is the Reconciler.

So, we see in ourselves traits of the prodigal son and the pharisaic older brother, what can we do?  We run to the true elder brother to cover and reconcile us to our Father.   

We hear the Word of God in Psalm thirty-two and see the wisdom of the Father’s love, Jesus’ faithfulness, and the Holy Spirit’s work in our continual reconciliation and forgiveness. We pray to our Father, knowing from the bitter experiences of our sin that we are surrounded by his steadfast love!

I uncover my guilt and acknowledge my sin.  The Holy Spirit leads me to say, “I will confess my sins to the Lord”.  And I know that he promises to forgive the iniquity of my sin!  I hear the promise of Jesus’ presence so the rush of great waters, my great sin, will not overcome me. I know I am blessed, my transgressions are forgiven, and the sins I cannot cover, are covered by Jesus!  

You and I are delivered, forgiven, and covered.   The Holy Spirit is our counsellor, teacher, and instructor.  He reconciles us into Jesus Christ and enables us to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ.  Amen.