C, Advent 1 - Psalm 25:1-10 "Good & Upright is the Lord"

There once was a working class man, who became king. He treated his palace staff as though they were royalty; he even refurbished the workers’ living quarters to palace standards. The new king was compassionate and kind; he wanted the best for his servants having been a labourer once too.

But in time his staff became conceited and loathed the king — even his generous rule. They got up to all sorts of revelry in their plush living quarters and after a short time it looked more like a pig sty than the property of the palace. They destroyed their regal residence and the name of the king was slandered inside its wall.

In fact, his servant subjects had completely rejected his rule and they credited themselves with the prosperity which had been bestowed upon them. The king knew about this and was grieved in his heart. But rather than rid himself of these workers, he patiently and continually encouraged them to renew their allegiance to him and his rule so that peace and harmony would return once again to the servants’ living quarters.

In time the king had a son, but the staff had become so rebellious and distracted by their own importance they didn’t even realise the king had borne an heir to the throne. This boy knew nothing of the working class life from which his father had come. All he had ever experienced inside the walls of the palace was his princely life.

So the king lovingly sent his son, to live as a working class servant boy, to experience life outside the palace walls, so he might better understand his father’s kingdom and better lead the country when he became king. The boy went to work and live with the palace staff; no doubt he very quickly got some real life experience.

Picture what this young boy walked from… cleanliness, prestige, excesses, good manners, honour, and respect. Now picture what he walked into… dirtiness, coarseness, hard work, debauchery, drunkenness, disrespect, disunity and fighting. This was hardly an inheritance for a king!

King David was an earthy working class man too. He grew up as a shepherd boy. But God saw that this lowly boy became king.

David seeks God’s mercy in Psalm 25, saying, To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. 4 Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. 8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. (Psalm 25:1-10 NIV)

King David knew where he stood with the Lord; he knew he was a sinner. In the very next verse, after what we have just heard, David pours his heart out to God, saying, For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (Psalm 25:11) David knew the Lord’s way was loving and faithful. However, for a sinner like David to keep the demands of the covenant is impossible, and it brings this cry of contrition from his lips — for the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my sin, though it is great.

For the sake of God’s name, these inspired words from David among others, needed to be fulfilled in the advent of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. So we do well to see this Psalm, and all Psalms—in fact, the complete Old Testament—fulfilled in Christ. Jesus needed to come into the world as a servant; the creator needed to be created, it was advantageous for us that God make his advent amongst us.

We—like King David and the rebellious workers we’ve just heard about—need a Saviour. None of us can keep God’s covenant, and, therefore, receive God’s loving and faithful ways. All of us left to our own devices become treacherous without excuse; before God our best work still brings us shame. We all need Christ’s coming and his supreme sacrifice. In fact, we do receive God’s faithfulness and loving guidance, but only because of Jesus Christ.

In this Advent season as we prepare for Christmas, the coming and birth of God amongst us, let’s focus on two things. Firstly, the heights from which God the Son came to dwell among us. And secondly, the lengths and depths to which he went, so that we his sinful rebellious and treacherous servants might be saved. In clearly hearing and grasping the sanctity and privileged position of Almighty God over against the utter depths to which we and all people have slumped, only then do we even begin to truly appreciate just what the grace of God is and how privileged we are to receive it!

Look at it from the point of view of the son sent to live in the servant’s quarters. How much would the contrast have struck him between princely exuberance in which he had lived and the squalor and filth into which he was delivered? Think of the shame and despair he must have felt! Had he done something wrong, did his father, the king, still love him? Had he been sent to the palace quarters to die with the sacrilegious servants?

Now let’s use Psalm 25 to see Christ’s advent — from his point of view. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Jesus came from heaven to us, he came from timelessness to a point in time, he the creator was created as a weak baby, he came from infinite knowledge and power, to be born by a mother who was pregnant outside wedlock, and grew to be the son of a lowly Nazareth carpenter. He was handed over to treacherous men, and put to shame because of our sinful ways. It looked as though his enemies had triumphed over him. And yet, he still trusted in his Father who sent him into his fallen sinful creation to save us.

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. God taught him his paths and showed him the way that led straight to the cross. Jesus knew the truth, he was innocent and we are guilty. Yet Jesus’ hope remained in God all day long and now we are called to faith in him who was faithful to his Father’s will for our benefit.

Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. Put yourself in Jesus’ place. How great would God’s goodness and mercy and love “seem to be” if it was you he had sent to die. Our sin and rebellious ways have continued from of old, right back to our youth. God remembered them and placed them on his innocent Son. How good was that for Jesus, who is good? How good is this for us, who are not good? Yet we walk in freedom while the Almighty King of the universe, in all goodness and godliness, walked the way of the cross.

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. Christ came as King and humbled himself and became obedient unto death, death on a cursed cross. This is the loving and faithful way the Lord walked even though he kept every demand of the covenant.

As we reflect on Christ’s first coming, and wait for Christ’s second coming, know that all the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for us, because Jesus Christ has kept the demands of the covenant. So be humble, repent, seek what is right, and allow him to teach you his way.

By your Holy Spirit, Lord, give us the power to trust your Word, to watch, and to pray. Amen.

Sermon Audio can be found at http://friarpuk.podbean.com/2006/12/03/“good-upright-is-the-lord”-c-advent-1/

B, Last Sunday of the Church Year, Proper 29 - Psalm 93 "Greater than Water"

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (Rev 1:4b-5a)

There’s no doubt that water is a crucial element. Not enough water and the human body, all living things, and the world — suffer and die. Just ponder the human body and the earth for a moment; water makes up most of a human body and so too water makes up the greatest percentage of the world. We all know the relief a glass of water brings when we are parched and dehydrated; drought-stricken land sighs in relief when rain falls too. Without water we die!

But too much water also kills. On the one hand a glass of water can save a person from death, but then, such is the power of water that it can cut us off from life if overwhelmed by it. Not enough water and we dry out and die, but too much of it and we drown.

So water is not only a crucial element for us and creation, it’s also a powerful agent. In the arid Middle East, those who control the water are those who have the power. We also know of water’s power as we watched the horrible effects of Tsunamis in South East Asia and Papua New Guinea in recent times. Anyone who has lived near creeks and rivers knows of water’s power and damaging effects on fences, especially when one has to constantly rebuild them. And anyone who has been caught unawares and violently tumbled between sand and foam by waves at the beach also knows the power of water.

When near the ocean, one constantly hears the rumble of the waves breaking on the shore. Regardless of the time of day, the weather, or the season, waves one after the other powerfully and continually break against the beach. But still God has been around longer than the waves; he is more constant, more powerful, and more essential than waves or water.

We hear in Psalm 93 that — the Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea—the Lord on high is mighty. Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord.

Water is an almighty force, but God is greater. Before the seas were — God was, and when the waves cease to pound the ocean shores with all their might and power — God will still be! What God put in place, will remain as long as God desires it to remain, but even after God allows these things to go — God will still be here. What God created stands as our witness that God will continue to sustain it and us! And even more so, his Word is our witness that he will sustain his church, his holy house on earth. All who stand firm in his ways are his church and will live in his holy house forever. As the psalmist says, “Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord”.

The power of God, his Word, and water are still essential for the longevity of the church as well as his creation! As God’s witnesses we are called to stand firm trusting in the truth, having been made his children in baptism. God powerfully ordered the chaotic waters into conformity at creation with his Word, and so too with the tranquil waters of baptism God’s power is bestowed upon people as they receive the water and the Word, so they are given access to God and might cling to his gift of holy eternal life.

But these waters of baptism together with God’s Word are not some sort of magical one off stunt, guaranteeing all a get out of jail free card, by being “done”! No! Baptism is God’s way of giving humanity a very practical, physical, and spiritual way of receiving Jesus Christ from two-thousand years ago, who now sits at the right hand of God. That is to say; baptism is God’s way of giving us, what he did through his Son two-thousand years ago — practically, physically, and spiritually. After all we are physical and spiritual beings who receive nearly everything in practical physical ways.

God’s way was to send Jesus, and Jesus’ way was to obediently walk with us as a human. It was God’s good and gracious will that Jesus be baptised by John in the Jordan — baptising him into death so that we might have life, in our baptism. Jesus didn’t choose to do this, it was God’s way, and Jesus followed his will even unto death.

As Jesus walked the lonely road to the cross and death, through his Word he declared and now gives us the way we can receive the benefits of his death, his body, and his blood. He gives us the Holy Spirit who gives us faith; faith to know and trust that Jesus comes to us with outstretched hands in Holy Baptism, Holy Communion, and in the preaching of his Holy Word so we might take hold of these gifts, repent of our continual sinning, and strive to live as his holy people.

It was God’s way that Jesus be pierced for us. It was God’s will that the soldier plunge his sword into Jesus’ side, and blood and water suddenly flowed freely from his broken body. The cross is God’s powerful way of covering over your sins and my sins with his spilt blood. This is God’s almighty way of covering us with the living waters that flow from his side to us continually through baptism, so we might live in resurrection hope.

As we are carried along by Christ in his good ship—the church, the holy house of God—the waters of chaos threaten to crash onto us and finish us. But trust in the tranquil waters of baptism; believe in the life of grace given to us through the water and the Word. Trust God’s way, the only way, given in Christ Jesus who is the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. (Rev 1:8)

Just as water is crucial for our survival here on earth, so too is our trust in the living Word and waters of baptism, a life-giving water which by grace gives the new birth through the Holy Spirit. In these life-giving waters know that you have received him who has been given all authority, glory, and sovereign power by his Almighty Father in heaven. And know that just as all things pass away, he and those who trust in him will never pass away. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:14) Amen.

To our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Rev 1:5b-6)

Hear it at http://friarpuk.podbean.com/2006/11/26/greater-than-water-b-last-sunday-proper-29/

B, Pent 22 Proper 26 - Deuteronomy 6:1-9 "The Way of Life!"

Text: Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Moses said to the Israelites, 1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Sermon

The year is 1462 — “BC” — or roughly thereabouts. The Israelites are free from Pharaoh’s oppression. They have walked out of captivity with minimal bloodshed to themselves. The Israelites didn’t have to rebel by taking arms; there was no war! They walked out as God did the fighting for them. Moses and Aaron just told Pharaoh, God’s ultimatum to let his people go and the Egyptian emperor let all of them go. This is not surprising; God’s word is powerful. It’s not surprising that Pharaoh changed his mind either, and sent his army after the walking workforce of Israelite slaves. But God wasn’t about to forsake those he’d chosen to rescue, and he delivered them safely into the desert of Sinai while drowning Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea.

At Mount Sinai the Israelites were given the Law, including the Ten Commandments, and Moses reinforces the promise he first spoke of, when the Israelites prepared for their escape from Egypt. He said, “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.” (Deut 6:3) This promise was first given to Moses years earlier when he stood before the burning bush on that very same mountain, and even earlier, to Abram as he wandered through Canaan.

Surprisingly for the Israelites the promise didn’t happen as quickly as the recent events which led to their exodus. They arrived at Mount Sinai within three months of leaving Egypt. They were in the desert with the promise of entry into Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.

But for them to inhabit this land, God put requirements in place. These statutes are the Law; the Ten Commandments together with all the other laws Moses received on Sinai and gave to the people in the Torah — the first five books of the Old Testament.

God commanded Moses and Aaron to teach the people, and they their children, and their children’s children. He prescribed a way of righteousness, which, if kept, would go well with them, give them enjoyable long lives, and give them fertile increase through the wombs of their women and through the land’s abundance on the other side of the Jordan River.

God called them to be bound to the Law. Instead of covering themselves with idolatry and its symbols, he says, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deut 6:6-7a, 8-9) One must understand that the wearing of jewellery and the placement of ornaments or statues on gates and doorframes was forbidden, because these were pagan rituals done to ward off evil from the entrances to their bodies and property, and bring good luck.

On the other hand, the prescribed actions of the Law would always put God’s way in front of them, as a reminder that God is One. These Laws were given so the Israelites could live with God without being sucked into the local pagan traditions and philosophies held by those who were far from fearing God. The Law was given so the Israelites could discern right from wrong, as an authoritative directive from God alone, as a pre-judgement for those who crossed the line, as a code of conduct, and as God’s holy wisdom written down for holy living in the land God set aside as holy for his holy people.

Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, was to be paradise on earth given to the people as long as they lived the Law. The Law’s prohibitions, similar to that of not eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was given to cleanse the Israelites, so God could dwell once again with humanity who had separated themselves from him through their sin.

However, we know the Israelites couldn’t even leave Mount Sinai without adorning themselves and their hearts with gold and idolatry and sin, building a golden calf to gain access to what they thought was paradise. For the first of many times they crossed the line and let go of the means God put in place to make them holy, and threatened having themselves cast from God’s presence, just as humanity’s parents, Adam and Eve, had been earlier hurled from God’s presence.

So Moses and most of the Israelites didn’t ever enter a land flowing with milk and honey, but instead were constantly called to faithfulness as they wandered forty years in a triangular Sinai wilderness, just three hundred kilometres (187 ½ miles) by three hundred kilometres by three hundred kilometres. (That’s a triangle from just Chinchilla to Coolangatta to Bundaberg.)

We might think all this hasn’t much to do with us; that it’s just a nice little history lesson. After all we are not under the Law anymore but under Christ and the Gospel, who has passed through the perfect heavenly tabernacle and cleansed us, once and for all, with his blood rather than the blood of animals as required by the Law.

But, much is still the same! God still wants to dwell with us. He still desires to lead us through the wilderness of this life and bring us into a land flowing with milk and honey—the perfect heavenly tabernacle—where Jesus Christ is now at the right hand of God. He still puts in place means through which we are given access into his holy presence. In fact, he still demands that we must be holy to be in his presence. He still requires that we teach our children to cling to his way and his way alone. And he still calls us to wear his clothes of righteousness over our rags of idolatry, self-centredness, and sin.

We have one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God. We do well to listen to God and heed “his ways”. We do well to teach our children to endure in the baptismal faith given by the Holy Spirit, which enables us to trust God as we struggle against the temptation to adorn ourselves with the hoary jewels of sin and idolatry.

We no longer have the Law; we now have the Gospel too. The prohibitions of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the Law given through Moses, have been revised and perfected in Christ. He now has fulfilled all the requirements which Adam and the Israelites failed to accomplish. The commands, “you must not”, have been kept by Jesus who now says you must, “believe in the One the Father has sent!” (John 6:29)

God cares more for a speck of faith—a splinter of trust in Jesus—than a ton of excitement, a lifetime of good works, or a brilliant mind. Although the fruits of faith might be, excitement or stillness, the fruits of faith will be good works of various kinds as we love God and love our neighbour, and the fruits of faith will lead the youngest and the simplest to receive the deepest understanding as they hear God’s word.

As we wander in the wilderness of this life, we already have a window glimpse of paradise. The tree of life, to which we lost access when Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, is the cross, and it’s our window into the heavenly paradise, the eternal land flowing with milk and honey.

Adam and Eve wrongly ate of the tree of good and evil, but now we must eat only of the tree of life, Jesus Christ in the eternal paradise who is also planted in your hearts. You do well to allow the Holy Spirit to continually bind Christ to your heart; only then can you “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)

We are promised all the glory of eternity if we remain in Christ, and if we allow him to remain in us. We do well to believe in the mystery of baptism, the mysteries of Holy Communion, and the mystery of the Holy Spirit coming to us through the written word of God. We do well to impress these things upon the hearts of our children and talk about them in our homes.

We do well to live each day in victory over our sinfulness under the sign of the cross, daily invoking the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, in whose name we are baptised into the eternal kingdom of heaven, a land flowing with milk and honey. Amen.

B, Pent 21 Proper 25 - Mark 10:46-52 "Blind Faith"

Text: Mark 10:46-52

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Sermon

I invite every one of you to close your eyes for a moment, and keep them closed until I ask you to reopen them.

Imagine you are blind. Now that you can’t see, what is more concerning and important for you: What has happened in the past, or what will happen in the future? Could you keep your eyes closed and leave this place blind, doing things you planned for the rest of the day? I suspect even the most determined would have to peak to see what is coming.

Imagine driving home, going for a walk, working, watching television, reading a book, or being involved in any entertaining activity… blind. All you could do is imagine doing these things from times when you could see. Doing these things would be more difficult, if not impossible, now. Therefore, the desire to look forward and somehow see would become far more important than what has happened in the past, even though the chance of seeing in the future probably wouldn’t exist and be just a memory from the past. Now you can open your eyes.

Picture blind Bartimaeus sitting just outside Jericho on the road to Jerusalem; his life is one of listening. Listening to the people walk by. Listening to the sounds of hoof and bustle, and the clatter of carts. Listening to the gossip and chatter of children. Listening to the latest ideas of religion and philosophy as the scribes and rabbis pass by. And listening to himself; hearing over and over again he’s a blind beggar, unable to free himself from his stricken life of the past and present. That’s just the way it is for blind Bartimaeus because that’s the way it’s been.

But then he hears about one who heals; the one who gives access to the kingdom of God; the one whose greatness is kin to that of King David, even more so, who claims he has been sent by God the Father, and who claims of himself that he will be crucified and raised in three days. Suddenly all the listening to what has transpired in the past is forgotten, all the down heartedness of his condition is gone. These new words have given him life; he waits in anticipation, hoping this man of God will walk past him, hoping this healing King will hear his cry for mercy. Faith and hope have become the destitute and hopeless one’s new joy as he anxiously waits to hear from the one walking to Jerusalem.

“Jesus Son of David, have mercy on me!” Bartimaeus shouts. “Be quiet Bartimaeus, you have no right to speak or be heard”, was perhaps the crowd’s response as Jesus fixed his eyes on his royal entry into Jerusalem and coronation at Calvary. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” he cries out even more, there’s no way his hope can be silenced.

Instead of walking by and ignoring Bartimaeus, the King of creation stops and calls this broken piece of creation to come to him. This is a feat in itself for someone blind, but Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and springs to his feet, looking to Jesus with the eyes of hope and faith. And it is this faith—not faith in himself born of the past, but faith found in the future, trusting in only what Christ can do—that raises, heals, and saves blind Bartimaeus.

We are the same as Bartimaeus. We are broken pieces of creation; broken because of sin. Every one of us needs daily reformation by creation’s King. Each of us, like Bartimaeus the blind beggar, is called to faith as we hear the good news of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit gives us faith and hope to sit up knowing Jesus Christ and the salvation he freely gives — first given at baptism when we heard the Good News. Baptism places Jesus in front of us every day, and calls us to come abide in him. “Lamb of God I come!”

Just a week later after Bartimaeus stood and had his eyes opened for the first time; the people of Jerusalem saw Jesus nailed to the cross. Perhaps Bartimaeus saw this too; we’re not told if he did or didn’t. However, it was because of Bartimaeus’ brokenness and the complete corruption of all creation that meant Christ was compelled to be crucified on the cross.

Do you think that after the events of Bartimaeus’ miraculous healing, the death of his Healer on the cross, and his extraordinary resurrection from the grave, that Bartimaeus ever let the cross be put in the past, out of his sight? Or for that matter anyone else who witnessed Jesus’ death and resurrection? Then nor should we who have been baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Nor should we who, at our baptism, have seen and received the same grace witnessed on the cross two-thousand years ago!

You are united to Christ in baptism. You and I can never move past the acts of God given there, or his biblical word he first called us to trust there. Because we live double lives, eternally freed from sin but not free from sinning, we live post-baptism with the cross as our end point, not as merely a start point. Our lives don’t make much sense unless the cross comes at the end too. Life struggles and pressures, drought, disease, and death make no sense unless the cross comes at the end of it all. So as you struggle with your sin in this sinful world, picture your life paralleled under Christ’s life; see his life placed as template over your life, as he lives in you and with you.

See in your baptism, Jesus’ baptism — where the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and the Father says of you, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased!” (Mark 1:11) See in your confirmation and subsequent trips to receive the bread and wine of Christ’s body and blood, Christ standing transfigured — in celebration with the prophets, apostles, and the whole company of heaven. See in your sinfulness, Jesus approach you with his word — willing you to believe you can hand that sin over and have peace, time and time again. See Jesus say to you, “Go and sin no more” — just as he did to the Samaritan adulteress. And see all these things in the context of your death and entry into heaven — with Jesus’ death at Calvary and glorified resurrection and ascension into heaven. Be reformed daily by the cross; seek mercy from the Son of David, asking “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a sinner”. Wait with faith and hope for the glorious day when you will see Jesus face to face — as did Bartimaeus.

This is the grace of God: That he walks with us today, and gives his life in exchange for ours. Through his death on the cross, at your death you will receive his glorious resurrected life.

Sing with Bartimaeus and all believers: I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. This grace has brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home. Christ and the cross will lead you home, even as you still struggle with blindness. This is what makes grace so amazing!

Prayer

I invite you to close your eyes and open the eyes of faith and your heart of hope as we pray: Dear Heavenly Father we believe; save us from our unbelief. Continually send your Holy Spirit to give us faith to live holy lives and trust in the amazing grace Christ won for all people on the cross. Amen.

Post-script

The faith to which we are called is one in Christ; therefore, it is a living faith. This faith is both, corporate and personal, but never individualistic, different, or separate from others in the body of Christ. If Christ lives with us and in us, we can’t help but want to do the right thing, even as we struggle to do so. This faith moves us, to be compassionate to those who like us struggle with sin, and, to be repentant for the many things we get horribly wrong each day. Faith also calls us to actions of sacrifice; sacrifice of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, and also the sacrifice of our selves, our time, and our talents. As we focus on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as the end point we are able to bear our crosses under which we are called to suffer in this world.

Such personal faith also calls us to be accountable to the whole church gathered under Christ, past, present, and future. Faith enables us to abide in Christ and his way in the Word of God. We are accountable to the Word of God and in drawing near to God we freely welcome hearing and reading the Word of God, as well as other literature that points us to the cross. This accountability calls us from individualism and anti-intellectualism into a willing reception of Christ in his word that is neither stagnate, lifeless, nor impersonal. And this faith calls us to be accountable to each other, to bear each other in love. After all, Christ bears each of us in love, even as we continue to sin day after day.

We need Christ’s baptismal reforming every day. Although sin has no power in our lives anymore, the forces of evil never stop trying to place us back under the power of sin. Therefore, we need the cross in front of us, as the finishing point. We can never move past Christ, the cross, or his word, if we are to uphold the faith he personally places in each of us. As God’s children we can never stop praying the beggars’ plea, “Lord Jesus Christ, (Son of David, Son of God, and/or Lamb of God), have mercy on me/us!”

What is a sign of personal faith? When I strive to make the interests of God’s Word the determining factor in my life, and when I continually and repentantly seek forgiveness when this doesn’t happen.