Sermon, Commitment Sunday, 25 April 2010, John 10:22-30, Bruce

The big question: are you the Christ?

· Takes placed at the Feast of Dedication, Hannukah, when we remember deliverance from the oppressors

· Jesus faces opposition, not from all Jews, but from the leaders and rulers, both Roman and Jewish

· We pray ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’; this was the job of the Christ, the Messiah.

· How can any man make this claim without revealing himself as a blasphemer or charlatan?

The big answer: my sheep listen to my voice

· Jesus does not answer directly (as usual) but reflects the question back

· All of the miracles (signs), and the teachings have been pointing to him; have they not been listening?

· The major theological point is in verse 27 “my sheep hear my voice”.

· To be a Christian, a “Christ In One”, is to know him, to recognise him, to react to him.

· “The challenge for most mainline Christians is not following Jesus. We've been taught pretty well about that. The challenge for us is recognizing Jesus' voice.” (David Ewart)

· How can we learn to listen?

o Scripture

o Prayer

o Silence

o Fellowship

o Experience

The big promise: doubly safe!

· Sheep were in constant danger of being rustled, ‘snatched’

· What are the ‘snatchers’ in our lives?

o Christianity as a lifestyle choice?

o Discouragement?

o Tiredness?

o Busyness?

o Persecution?

o Feelings of unworthiness?

· Jesus is our Good Shepherd, he will protect us with his rod and his staff

· We recognise him as the one who gives us eternal life: we ‘hear his voice’

· We recognise him as being ‘one with the Father’, who hold us in his hand

· One God, we are doubly safe

Commitment Sunday

· Not because we are worthy or good enough , but because the Shepherd has called us and we have heard him

· We are members of the family, fellow learners, and sharers in service

· If we are all sheep, then we also all share in the shepherding. What does this mean to you? How can we help you with this?

Questions for Discussion Starters

1. What does it mean to you, to speak of listening to the voice of Jesus? What help would you like with this?

2. If we use the image of a flock of sheep, where are you? (At the foot of the shepherd? Against the wall of the fold? At the door looking out? At the door looking in? Lost, out on the moor? Something else?)

3. Are you in danger of being snatched? What would you like prayer for?

4. If we are all sheep, we share in shepherding each other. What does this mean to you? How can we help you with this?

5.

(The fifth question is for you to ask. Please come back to me if you wish! Bruce)

Sermon for Sunday 18 April 2010 – John 21: 1-19, Kim

Our readings today are very much about vision, of seeing the Lord. Saul sees Jesus on the Damascus road, and in Damascus, Ananias also sees the Lord, and the Gospel turns to seven of the disciples seeing the risen Lord. It is wonderful to have a vision but with all visions comes responsibility; at the very least vision needs our attention and usually obedience to the call. See how both Saul and Ananias are asked to do something. Like Isaiah (Isaiah 6) Ananias says ‘Here I am.’ The Lord says to Ananias, ‘Get up and go.’ But It is also very much about Jesus as a friend – a friend of sinners.

Life has a habit of repeating itself. Things that we thought had passed have a habit of returning. We think we are making progress then, suddenly we find ourselves back where we started. A bit like a game of snakes and ladders: sometimes you are climbing ahead and suddenly you drop back almost to the beginning.

It was like this for the disciples. They had left all to follow Jesus: they left fishing, the tax office and the field to share with him. Then it came to a sudden end with the crucifixion. They were knocked right back. The risen Lord made their spirits soar and they were full of new hope. But how would they make their living now? Perhaps it was due to boredom that Peter led the fishermen went back to Galilee. Peter and six others decided to go fishing. They toiled all night and caught nothing. They may as well have stayed at home. As in all of life, when things go wrong, they go wrong in all sorts of directions. They could not even catch fish. There was a feeling that they had been here before.

Just as the new day dawned, Jesus stood on the shore. They did not recognise him at first. He directed their net throwing and they caught so many fish that they could not haul them all in. It was then that John realised who it was and said to Peter, ‘it is the Lord.’ Peter’s reaction was instantaneous. ‘Splash!’ Peter who had only been wearing a loincloth as he fished, put on his tunic before he jumped into the sea – odd to put clothes on to jump into the water. Perhaps it can only be understood if you know that the Jews said a man had to be properly dressed to come and worship.

Jesus is not a ghost, not just a vision; he is real and he is solid. He has lit a fire and prepared food for them. He shared bread and fish with them. Now, come the challenges of the story. ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ We do not know if Jesus was talking about the catch of fish or about the other disciples. More likely it was about the promise that Peter did not keep, for three times Peter had denied knowing Jesus. Now three times Jesus asks Peter about loving him. Each time when Peter says, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you’, Jesus asks him to care for his lambs and sheep. Peter was given his task, his mission to be a pastor, to be a co-shepherd with the Good Shepherd. Here we see someone who boasted he would never forsake the Lord, who flees after Jesus’ arrest as did the others, takes the low road and denies he even knowing the Lord Jesus, being given the call to be a responsible Shepherd. True friend of sinner/the fallen.

Peter backslid and we do from time to time. Instead of staying close to the Lord as we should, we begin to follow Him from far off. It may begin as simply missing a few services here and there. Or we stop praying like we should, the Bible isn’t opened and read as frequently as it ought to be. Wherever and however it begins, it will lead as to the same backslidden and cold place. We will find ourselves as Peter did in the wrong place, and this is dangerous. (Just ask David – 2 Sam 11:1-17).The Bible tells us that Peter went out and ‘wept bitterly’. Peter was miserable. He had wronged the Lord, he had violated something very precious and sacred. And the same happens to us when we decide to walk away from the will of God. We will soon realise that sin brings with it pain, suffering and misery. Gone will be the peace of God and the sense of his presence, His power, fellowship, peace and joy in the soul that is worth more than anything is robbed from us and we are left utterly miserable.

Peter failed big! But we are guilty of denying the Lord also. We have, and will continue to make wrong choices; it’s in our nature too. We can guard against it by putting ourselves right with God and being obedient to his will. But Jesus is a Friend of the (sinner) fallen and this is a side of Jesus I have become very familiar with over the last thirty years. There have been many occasions when I had to come to the Lord confessing my sins, failures and asking for forgiveness and restoration and each time I have found him to be a faithful friend to me and all those who have fallen by the wayside. Jesus welcomes, forgave, forgives and will continue too and restores. But in the forgiveness comes humility and obedience not just to return to old ways but a surrendered life, an obedience to do God’s will- whatever that might be.

After the resurrection, Peter must have assumed that his ministry was over. He had denied the Lord and so he decided to return to the old way of life, to fish. But the Lord, Friend to the Fallen, had forgiven Peter and called him to come and be a fisher of men!

After the resurrection of past mistakes we may have assumed that our work is over. BUT The Risen Lord brings forgiveness; love restores broken relationships. Peter is affirmed and then is able to affirm his task. If we are to be disciples, we have to listen to, receive forgiveness and restoration and follow the Master. (John 21:19).

Questions

• Life can be like a game of snakes and ladders. Be willing to share any times when you have been up the ladder or down the snake. How did it feel? What did you do?
• What does the future hold for you? Does it hold misery and difficulty or does it hold joy, peace, blessing?
• Do you feel stuck – can’t move forwards or sideways? Do you know why you are stuck? (i.e. Sin, past reaction by someone/something that has put you off all together). If you are stuck, do you want to move? If yes, will you do something about it? If able to, be willing to share with others and ask them to pray with and for you.
• Sometimes we find it hard to let go of the past, or a person or an event. It has been with us for a long time, it’s like having a ball and chain. We can’t get very far dragging or carrying burdens or heavy loads. Why not take the weigh off now? Why not allow the Lord to use His keys and open the lock of the chain and set you on your way?
• Has the Lord called you to something specific? Are you doing it? Not sure how to go about it? Share your thoughts and allow others to help you.

ST MICHAEL’S 11 APRIL 2010 THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION Acts 5 : 27 – 32 John 20 : 19 – 31 ROBERT

Myles Herbert, whose passing we mourn today, always sat immediately behind us in church. And one of the things Barbara and I will miss is the way we heard him significantly raise his voice in the Creed as he said: “On the third day he rose again from the dead.” He was someone who had absolutely no doubts whatsoever that Jesus had conquered death, and done so his behalf and on behalf of us all.

This Gospel passage from John 20 is very well known to all of us. Jesus appears to his disciples who have locked themselves into a room in case of arrest or mob violence. The mood is fearful and extremely tense. And suddenly the Jesus they thought never to see again, appears in their midst, totally unexpectedly, and says those crucial words: “Peace be with you” and of course, they were overjoyed.

There are at least three principal things that John wants us to learn from this passage. The first is that Jesus really has conquered death. This is not a resuscitation. This is not a ghost. This is not hallucination – not a dream. This is real. There is eye witness testimony to the fact that Jesus conquered death and showed himself to his disciples to prove it. He showed them his hands and his feet.

Second, John wants to tell us that doubt is normal, and not to be despised. Poor Thomas has for ever been given the rather disparaging nickname ‘Doubting Thomas’, but his doubts surely encourage us when we find parts of our faith hard to believe. He was human, and we are human. Doubts are often brought upon us because of events or circumstances. Someone we love has died, as Myles has. In our shock and grief, we suddenly begin to think ‘Can the resurrection really be true?’ Or we go through a time of depression or events go against us. Doubts creep in. Of course they do. Jesus meets us (as he met those fearful disciples, and then his meeting with Thomas) just at our particular point of need. And at the right time and place, he will bring conviction again to our minds as we wait on him in prayer. When they met the risen Lord, the disciples were no longer fearful, and Thomas no longer doubted.

And the third thing John explicitly wants us to learn from this passage, is that he is not simply recording these events for their own sake. He has an evangelistic aim. He wants to persuade us to come ourselves to that point of personal belief and trust in Jesus Christ as our own Lord and Saviour. Verse 31: “These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.”

When the Gospel writers record the resurrection itself and the appearances that followed, they clearly had obvious difficulties. They were attempting to describe something which had never, ever happened before. I wonder if you have ever seen or heard something totally extraordinary, and then tried to tell other people what it was? If you have, you will know the difficulty of putting it into words which make any sense at all. And you will know the looks of incredulity on people’s faces, and the response you get. Are you sure you weren’t dreaming? How much had you had to drink? And this is particularly frustrating when you have seen perhaps a miracle of healing with your own eyes. People will not want to believe it, because it upsets their world-view, their understanding of what normally happens in this world.

And so the Gospel writers go out of their way to show us that this was the same Jesus who had gone through the total experience of death, and had – as it were – come out the other side very much alive. He showed them his hands and his side. With Thomas, he actually made him touch his wounds.

And yet they had also to explain that Jesus was also different. He now had a resurrection body which was not confined to the ordinary bounds of mortality. It was not a body that was ever going to be subject to death again, or decay or corruption. He was the first of God’s new order of creation. He had broken the bounds of the old order, ushered in God’s new kingdom, and from that moment on, God’s plan for the whole of creation was to enter an entirely new era
- - - - - - - - - - - - .

What does this mean for us? The first step is for us to embrace that new creation ourselves, if we have not already done so. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone; the new has come.’ So as you and I place our faith and trust in Jesus, we become part of that resurrection that we celebrate at Easter. And as we come to communion, we take to ourselves the new life and the new creation which Christ has won for us. He has the victory over sin and death, and we are now participants in that victory.

So we can be absolutely confident that anyone who dies with their faith in Christ, will be raised at the last day and given a resurrection body like that of Jesus as we see him portrayed here. He is the pioneer who has blazed the trail through the valley of the shadow of death, made it safe, and now escorts us through to join him in God’s wonderful new creation, where sin and death have, for ever, been defeated. Here is our first reason for joyful celebration this Easter. Death for the Christian is not the end. Nor is it simply a matter of slipping quietly into some kind of parallel spiritual world. It is entering into our inheritance. Paul writes in Romans 6: 5 “If we have been united with him in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” Or again in Romans 8: 17 “If we are God’s children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..” So today is a celebration of the fact that one of our brothers, Myles, is entering into his inheritance in God’s new creation, inaugurated by Jesus. Our loss is his gain.

But individual resurrection is actually only part of a bigger picture. In his letter to the Romans chapter 8: 22, Paul tells us that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time”. It has been (verse 20) “subject to frustration” and (verse 21) “creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God”.

So Jesus’ triumph in resurrection, which we celebrate during these weeks of Easter, brings not only individual triumph and hope for each of us, but it causes the whole of creation to celebrate, because its liberty from sin, conflict, decay and death is now assured.

We go out from here today in celebration, therefore, not only because we (through faith) are joint heirs of this kingdom through the victory of Jesus; but (like Peter) to proclaim to the whole world that they can join in too! And not only people. The whole created order will one day be made new. And as we work together for peace on earth, and for a happier, healthier, greener world, we are working for that day when God will make all things new, because God’s victory that began that first Easter morning, will one day come to complete fulfilment.

In Revelation 21: 1 – 7, the prophet John hears God proclaim “I am making everything new!” And when that day comes, we read: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Write this down, he says to John, “for these words are trustworthy and true.”








Questions for discussion:
1. What do you think is the most significant piece of evidence that helps us to be certain that Jesus really did conquer death?

2. Discuss the significance of Jesus’ resurrection as you understand it, and how you think it applies (a) to you personally and (b) to our world in general

3. Have you have ever tried to tell people about an extraordinary event you have witnessed? How did you try to explain what happened? And what was the reaction?

SUNDAY 31 JANUARY 2010. THE PRESENTATION. ROBERT

Hebrews 2: 14 – 18 Luke 2: 21 – 40

Luke is the only Gospel writer who tells us anything about the childhood of Jesus. Either the other three didn’t know anything about his childhood, or thought that their readers wouldn’t be interested. It’s a generalisation, of course, but in the Roman world, unless you were a boy born into a princely family, babies and children were not considered important. Few people took any interest at all in children. Unwanted babies were left exposed to die. You were expected to grow up just as fast as possible and become a useful man or woman.

So if you were writing to tell the story of an important man – let alone a divine one – it would really not occur to you to write about his childhood. Of course, In the case of Jesus - his conception, yes – because that had to do with his divine status. His birth, yes – because that could be said to fulfil prophecy. But it would almost certainly not cross your mind that anyone would care about his childhood. Except Luke. Luke the Greek doctor, Luke the natural historical writer who picks out details from a story that brings individuals vividly to life, and whose Gospel reaches human places the others don’t touch.

This story has a fascinating cast of human characters. Firstly, proud parents carrying their first-born son in much the same way – and indeed in the same spirit – as we bring our baby into church for baptism; to commend him to God, and to pray that he or she may grow up to be godly and true, and men and women of integrity and faith. So Mary and Joseph bring Jesus into the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate him to God..

And there they meet, apparently by complete chance, two totally fascinating people, Simeon and Anna, who spring off the page as totally true to life. And, because through prayer and spiritual alertness they were inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, each in turn recognises in a baby no-one else would pay any attention to, a very special human whom they will never forget. And what they say as they take the child in their arms sears itself into Mary’s memory for ever.

This Sunday marks an important point in the church’s year. It is the Sunday when we stop looking back to Christmas, and begin to look forward to Lent, Good Friday and eventually Easter Day. That’s because, as we rejoice with Mary and Joseph at the birth of Jesus, we begin to understand something of what his future life will hold. “This child is destined to cause the rising and falling of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce you own soul also.” How true that prophecy was to prove.

Now today we are told to read it in conjunction with Hebrews chapter 2. It’s always interesting to ask why these passages are chosen. And in this case, it’s quite clear. We are being firmly steered in a certain direction. Today we are to take careful note of the fact that Jesus is in every respect a fully human child, who goes through all the experiences of childhood that we share, and grows up in a human family just as we did. Jesus is, in every respect, fully and totally human.

In my experience, most church-going Christians are very clear in their minds that Jesus was God who had taken on the form of a human man. But they find it much more difficult to square that with the fact that Jesus was 100% human through and through.

The Christians to whom the author of the letter to the Hebrews was writing have a similar difficulty, but for different reasons. They are Jewish, and everything in their belief and tradition emphasises a totally exalted view of God. God is so great and holy and powerful that they could not even take his name on their lips. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. How could such a holy God become a mere human being? That was for many too big a jump, and they settled for a sort of half-way house. Jesus had come from among the angels. He could be described as semi-divine, which sounded perhaps a reasonable compromise, until you realise that that makes Jesus neither fully human, nor fully God – and that was a hopeless solution which the writer of this letter is determined to rule out of court.

That’s not usually our problem but we have other difficulties. We have to manage to hold squarely in our minds that fact that Jesus was fully, and in every respect, human like us. And that he was also fully God. How those two natures could exist in one person was going to stretch the best minds of the ancient world, and cause much debate over the next centuries, but we had better not go there this morning or you won’t get any lunch – indeed you could still be here tomorrow.

But there’s much to ponder from thinking more deeply about what it means to us when we understand that Jesus really was in every respect a human being just like us – so that the writer to the Hebrews can say that we are his brothers and sisters, and that we belong to the same family.

First of all, this means that there is absolutely nothing that you and I experience as human beings that He does not totally understand from the inside out. Jesus was in every respect tempted as we are – and tempted to the uttermost, because he did not give way and fall into sin. There is no temptation and no suffering – physical, mental, spiritual – which we shall ever experience with which he does not truly empathise, because he has been there too. God is not above, aloof or remote from our experiences as human beings. The child who was brought into the Temple was to share our human life in all its joys and sorrows, all its excitements and hardships, and he was to face both the fear and the fact of death just as we shall. We express this in many of the hymns we sing:

Saviour, breathe forgiveness us o’er us / All our weakness thou dost know;
Thou didst tread this earth before us / Thou didst feel its keenest woe.
Lone and dreary, faint and weary, / Through the desert thou didst go. OR

For he is our childhood’s pattern / Day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak and helpless / Tears and smiles like us he knew;
And he feeleth for our sadness /And he shareth in our gladness. OR

Have we trials and temptations / Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged / Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful / Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness / Take it to the Lord in prayer.

As today we contemplate Mary and Joseph proudly carrying their first-born son into the Temple to dedicate him to God, and then allow our minds to carry forward to everything he was going to experience. We can let it sink deep into our consciousness that whatever joys and sorrows, fears, temptations and pains we have carried into church this morning, we can with confidence take them to the Lord in prayer. If you can really and truly grasp that, it actually changes everything, down to the very deepest level of consciousness. Many of our burdens are buried somewhere – often quite deep down - so take a few moments to try and bring them to the surface. And then take them to the Lord in prayer – the Lord who knows all too well what it means to be human, and who is willing to meet us exactly where we are to minister his healing, forgiveness and grace.

Secondly, we can allow this child to be our inspiration – our role model - as well our deepest source of strength and comfort. Each day Jesus would place his life into the hands of God, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And with that limitless resource of love and power, he would go out in faith to face whatever came his way, and in the end not even death could defeat him. If we allow him day by day to walk alongside us, it is truly amazing how our strength and confidence grows, how our faith can blossom, how our attitudes and reactions can change.

The child in Mary’s arms can make many very practical changes to our daily lives. If Jesus is really the brother of every other human being, as the writer to the Hebrews says, then how must we react when we see one of those brothers or sisters in distress or practical need? How must we react when in dispute, or tempted to anger, impatience, gossip, slander, malice?

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul brings this to its logical conclusion. We are all one in Christ Jesus - all brothers and sisters in his family. Ponder the implications of that. As Paul urges, how we must cultivate the fruit that the Spirit gives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

So, as we share the peace, and come to communion this morning, I would like to suggest that we focus our minds and prayers on one aspect of our lives where there is pain or suffering, and where Christ can meet us today just where we are, to bring his strength and guidance into that situation and bring about change. And then, one aspect of our lives, where he wants to challenge our attitude to others – near or far - and prompt a particular change – a particular action.

If we listen to him carefully, I believe he has a special word for each one of us this morning. Do listen and do what the Lord says. It could really change your life.

Life in the Jubilee Year - Sunday 24 January 2010 – Luke 4:14-21, Kim

The writer of this Gospel Luke, has gone to great lengths and detail in the first three chapters to inform the reader of the exact identity of Jesus. He begins with the story of the birth of Jesus and shows his genealogy through the ages to Adam, the son of God. Chapter three concludes with the baptism of Jesus in which a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke’s endeavour is to persuade the reader that Jesus is the Son of God in order to prepare us for the coming ‘punch line’ that is, the good news that Jesus is about to proclaim.

Luke says that Jesus was about thirty years old when he started his public ministry, and Jesus begins his ministry with preaching and teaching of the Good News in the synagogue as was his custom on the Sabbath day and they gave him the book of Isaiah to read. Although they gave him the book, it was Jesus who sought out the text to read. The text would have been the one was most appropriate for the day. With that in mind, the Isaiah text would have been most appropriately read on the Day of Atonement announcing the Jubilee year, and that was the day of the reading. Jesus does two things with this Isaiah text. He uses it to make his official public proclamation of his coming ministry. And he fulfils the scripture in their hearing. But it is much more than that; Jesus is doing something special. And as Luke points out in great detail, Jesus is the Son of God, who is reading the Isaiah text and responding to it. The simple reading has become a divine action and fulfilment of a promise, for when Jesus speaks things happen. The stunning reply that Jesus gave to the Isaiah reading affects us all and therefore calls for a better understanding of the Isaiah text to find out how it affects us today. Only from studying the text can one see and feel the impact of Jesus’ action upon all of us, especially when one considers Jesus as the Son of God with all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus reads, “to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour,” to proclaim the Jubilee year with all its intentions. A Jubilee year is a year of celebration. It is a year to celebrate Israel’s entry into the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. To celebrate Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. And above all, to celebrate God’s goodness towards his called people, Israel.

The Jubilee year is the year that follows seven Sabbath years. The celebration of a Sabbatical year included such things as allowing the land to lie fallow, to give rest to people from much of their ordinary work, a time to be taught and trained in God's law. Luke mentions that the beginning of Jesus’ ministry began with preaching and teaching God's Word. He shows how Jesus was indeed honouring God and celebrating the Sabbatical year. Furthermore, it is in this year that debts are cleared: a time when mortgaged land is returned to its owners and Hebrew slaves are freed, it is a time of restoration and fulfilled hope. It did not matter whether a person’s debt was large or small; it was cleared in a Jubilee year.

Both the Sabbatical and Jubilee year have themes of forgiveness and restoration. These celebrative events remind us and continue to declare the nature of God and his will towards all people. God’s will is to forgive and restore all people no matter what their sin, whether large or small. As Jesus was already honouring and celebrating the Sabbatical year by preaching and teaching, then one can assume that Jesus will also continue to honour and celebrate the Jubilee year according to the will of God. Unfortunately, the practice in the Jubilee year, the year of forgiveness and restoration was mostly ignored and remained unfulfilled. People continued to ignore and sin against God by going their own way. The Jubilee year was meant to be a means to set people free from poverty and slavery, and to remind people that the land and all that is on it belongs to God. Fortunately, God’s plan for enduring salvation is not dependant upon a sinful people. Sin, self-centred human nature, is the cause that has prevented the celebration and fulfilment of the Jubilee year. People have failed to care for each other and above all failed to honour God in all things. And so the people continued to live with all forms of suffering, living only for a hope that one day a saviour would come for them.

Today, you and I are no different to the people at the time of Jesus. There is suffering of all kinds around us. Sin, guilt, fear, and self-centredness continue to rob people of life. We can be guilty of actions that have caused someone's misfortune, and guilty for failing to take action where we have sat back and did nothing to help someone in trouble. Guilt, fear, and self centeredness take us as prisoners, robbing us of life and alienating us from family, friends and our neighbours. Only forgiveness can break the shackles and chains of our imprisonment that has come through sin of all kinds. Forgiveness restores relationships and gives back life.

We know that difficult stuff, accidents, misfortune happen, simply because we are not perfect; we are subject to error and making mistakes. It is disturbing to hear news reports of loved ones killed in road accidents or people killed by a member of their own family. What is also disturbing is to hear others wanting to tear out the heart of the person that had caused that unfortunate death. They themselves behave like murderers and are guilty before God. The thing that is missing from this scene of terror is under-standing, forgiveness, and care for each other. Whenever people do not care for each other and do not forgive one another, anger and hatred prevails. As a result, people become isolated, families can be torn apart, boundaries and walls are created, and congregations disappear. Forgiveness and humility is needed to bring about freedom from anger, hatred, guilt, fear, and through forgiveness there is restoration of life.

In the reading from Isaiah, Jesus is reminding us about the Jubilee Year. He is reminding us of our responsibilities to care for each other, and by those words he is also reminding us of our sin and failures to each other. It is an uncomfortable reminder for many that our sin is especially a debt before God.

The Jubilee Year had been impossible to keep for the Israelites. For the same reasons it is impossible for all of us to live a life acceptable to God in every way. Jesus who is reading this text is more than the son of Joseph, a carpenter's son; he is God in the flesh. Jesus as God is speaking these words anew. And God concludes and says, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." What does this mean for us?

Today, God fulfils what is impossible for us to achieve.

Today, God fulfils the Jubilee year on our behalf.

Today, God has cancelled our debt to Him.

Today, God has forgiven us our sins.

Today, God has set us free to live.

Today, God has set us free to enter the promised land of heaven.

Today, God gives us renewed life through his presence with us.

Since we have been set free through the love of God, we can live again. Not only have the words of God set us free but they also call us to give life to others because of the goodness he has first given us. The list of things to help others, so that they too can have life, is endless. The short list to take where ever you go and what ever you to do is to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?”

Would Jesus help in the home? Yes.

Would Jesus treat everyone with respect? Yes. Help the sick? Yes.

Would Jesus help the unemployed? Yes.

Would Jesus help the homeless? Yes.

Help the poor? Yes.

Would Jesus help the refugees? Yes.

Would Jesus care for human rights? Yes.

Care for all creation? Yes.

Would Jesus be our Good Shepherd? Yes.

With the presence of Jesus in our life all of us can continue in the spirit of the Jubilee year as we ask daily for forgiveness and renewed life. The Jubilee year has no end since forgiveness and renewed life continue to be freely given by Jesus. Jesus started his public ministry by forgiving us our debts so that we may have life and be free to follow him into abundant life, into his public ministry. So let us start this year, start today, by forgiving each other and thereby giving back life. Jesus said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Therefore let us go out with the peace of God and celebrate the Jubilee year with others. Amen.

Sunday 17 January 2010 Luke 2:1-11 Melanie (There was no post last week due to snow!)

We pray that God would meet us where we are and move us on to where he would have us be
Amen

The gospel reading today of turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana is often described as the first of Jesus’ signs.
We all know the story well – of the wedding feast where the wine ran out, and Jesus told the servants to fill the barrels with water, and the master when tasting it, said it was the finest wine.
But I wonder what we mean when we describe the story as a sign?
The nearest equivalent for us today when we think of a sign is a road sign.
But this might not be a bad analogy.
Most road signs are clear, marked out. They stand by the side of the road as an indication of a different direction.
Turning water into wine was definitely a clear signal. It pointed the way to a new kingdom – the kingdom of God.
A kingdom that would come in the future, but that also was here with Christ in his ministry on earth.
It was a sign of the mystery of God, revealed in one person.
Road signs also offer a choice.
We can follow them, or not.
Just as the servants at the wedding feast had a choice about filling the barrels with water.
I often think that the real miracle here is that they did fill those barrels – I’m not sure that I would have done the same thing.
Road signs command our attention.
In the same way Jesus arrives at the wedding feast and immediately people respond to his request.
There must have been something about him that made people stop and want to obey.
Finally road signs point beyond ourselves to a different place – to a place that is new, and that demands exploration.
Just as Jesus used that miracle to point away from himself toward the kingdom of heaven –
as if saying to those around,
look at what is to come, and the new age that has dawned.
Today though, what signs are there around us that do the same things?
That are clear
Point the way
Offer choice
Command attention
Point beyond ourselves to a different place.

Increasingly I find that signs for me come not through words, but through simple actions.
I remember once at theological college, sitting in the chapel, waiting for a service to begin.
A young lecturer came in, and immediately bent her head in prayer.
There was something about that simple action that touched me – and I still look back on it as a key moment.
Perhaps it was the passion, or perhaps it was an acknowledgement that we are nothing without God – whatever it was, that one moment had an impact on me.
I’m sure that she would never have seen herself as a sign – and she almost certainly has no idea of the impact of her action – but it was nevertheless a sign for me.
Then there was the lady at the cross – I was so touched by this that I wrote a poem about the scene :

The woman and the cross

She placed the flowers so carefully
I saw and felt the love
that she felt within her heart
as she knelt in silence there.

The London streets were busy
Traffic everywhere.
People hurrying to beat the rush
of the Friday commuter train.

No one stopped to look
or wonder at the woman knelt there.
No one bothered to pause
or take the time to care.

She didn’t seem to worry
or be distracted by those around.
Her thoughts were firmly focussed
on those flowers on the ground.

They lay there on the steps
surrounded by a blaze of red.
The poppies seemed to hold the hands
of the flowers in their midst.

She only stopped a minute
but it seemed to me an age.
As I watched her from the window
- the sadness in her face.

I wondered who they were for,
the flowers that she laid.
Perhaps a long lost son
or a husband long since dead.

And then I began to envy
the woman in her grief.
At least she had time to stop and mourn
to be still in a London street.

I envied her the time she spent
engaging with her thoughts.
I even envied her sadness
as she stopped there to pause.

But her stillness made me think
I too needed time to stop.
To dwell on what was happening
to kneel before my God.

I slowly came to realise
that I spent my time in rush.
Answering so many questions,
working for my crust.

Work had kept me going
Please don’t get me wrong
I wouldn’t be without it
or the love of everyone.

But somehow the balance had shifted
I no longer made the time
to stop, be still, reflect
on things within my life.

I know that looking back
Each day had brought fresh trials.
That living alongside cancer
had been hard at times.

Four long rounds of chemo,
three more major ops.
Endless hospital visits
would leave anyone bruised.

But up till now I’d barely stopped
and taken time to rest.
All the time my motto
had been to do my best.

I’d forgotten that at times
my best was not enough.
I needed times of stillness
when things were especially tough

I knew the God I believed in
would forgive my human ways.
I hoped I’d now find time
for stillness and for space.

The woman with the flowers
had taught me much that day
I’d seen that precious moment
when she too had stopped to pray.

I wish I could remind others
how important it is to stop.
To find a place of stillness ;
to be alone with God.

But it seems to be a message
that no one wants to hear.
Least of all myself
or anyone struggling with prayer.

Perhaps we all need flowers
to lay down at the cross.
Allow ourselves some stillness,
time and space to stop.


Yes, turning the water into wine at Cana was a miracle, but it was also a sign of things to come.
New directions, new horizons, as we turn away from Bethlehem and move on to Jerusalem.
Our challenge today is to find those signs in our own lives that point towards new horizons,
and to see God at work in them.


Questions
Are there people/places that are signs for you of God at work today

How would you have responded to Jesus request to fill the barrels with water?

The Epiphany

ST MICHAEL’S. 3rd JANUARY 2010. EPIPHANY. ROBERT.

Ephesians 3: 1 – 12 Matthew 2: 1 – 12

Today we celebrate Epiphany – a Greek term which has at its heart the word LIGHT. It was the light of a star which guided the wise men to the newly born Jesus, and Jesus was to be himself a ‘light to lighten the Gentiles’ as Simeon discerned when – in the temple – he took this baby into his arms. The magi represent any wise person, of any race, from any part of the world, who perceives a light that they believe may lead them to the ultimate truth of God, and then has the persistence to follow it by whatever route and through whatever hardship, until it leads them to find its source in Jesus.

When Paul had seen that great light on the Damascus Road and understood that it was Jesus himself who was the true light, he made it his lifelong mission to tell the whole world that the light they were seeking (consciously or not) was to be found in Jesus – the light of the world. Hence our first reading this morning from Ephesians chapter 3.

It is the light of truth – emanating from Jesus - which is revealed firstly in a helpless baby; then in words of wisdom and acts of mercy and healing; then in sacrifice; and finally in victory over the power of sin and death. It is the light that comes, not from books (ancient or modern) or some vast store of human wisdom, but from a person, Jesus, who is ‘the way, the truth and the life’.

In the wonderful prologue in John’s Gospel chapter one, we read (1:4,5) that Jesus was the true light who was coming into the world. John writes: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not ‘overcome’ it – or in most modern translations – ‘understood’ it.”

It’s worth just pausing a moment to consider why there are two different words in English in that verse, which seem at first glance to mean rather different things. Does John mean that the darkness has never conquered the light that comes from Jesus, or that the darkness has never understood it?

The Greek word essentially means to seize, take hold of, or take possession of something or someone. So if I were to march down the aisle and take you by the scruff of the neck and throw you out, that word would fit. I would have seized control of you.

But if it is the case that you are sitting in your pews, not understanding a word I am talking about, that word would fit there too. You have not ‘taken hold’ of my meaning.

But we have the very convenient word in English to ‘grasp’ which I think fits very well in this context. You can grasp a person (as in a wrestling match), but you can also grasp (or fail to grasp) the meaning of what someone is saying. So my personal attempt at a translation of this verse in John 1:5 would be: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not grasped it.”

If you go into a dark room and switch on the light, the darkness cannot take control of the light, it has to give way. But it is also true to say that the darkness cannot understand what light is, because they occupy different realms, always in opposition.

As we enter a new year, it seems to me that we are surrounded by much darkness which seems to have no grasp on any true light. Our world is threatened with the lethal effects of climate change which threatens not only our children and grandchildren, but our brothers and sisters across the globe. But Copenhagen produced very little light which neither truly grappled with, nor even really understood the darkness.

Christmas Day nearly witnessed catastrophic death through terrorism, as well as divine birth. More and more safety measures will never secure a more peaceful world. The darkness in the heart of a suicide bomber cannot begin to comprehend even ordinary daylight.

We face economic darkness, because the blind greed of the world of finance cannot begin to comprehend poverty, or the everyday needs of ordinary people, or the concept of a lifetime’s hard work to secure a modest pension. Again, darkness cannot grasp what light means.

And below the radar of newspaper headlines lie huge dark clouds of anxiety for countless people, who await hospital consultations, face family breakdown, debts beyond their ability to pay, threats to job and livelihood, and those for whom a new year heralds all the problems of age, health and indeed life itself.

Where is the Epiphany light which all the surrounding darkness can neither conquer nor understand? Perhaps it’s significant that the wise men did not find some great solution to our economic woes, nor a winning lottery ticket to mask our true needs. Instead they found a baby. Small and very vulnerable, but a bringer of joy and hope.

We receive many circular letters at Christmas-time, many now with photographs. And it seems to me that this year more and more of them have joyful pictures of babies, smiling at the camera, or being proudly held up by parents or grand-parents so that we may all share their happiness and hope for the future. The baby is the most important gift they are taking into 2010.

It is usually in the small things that the light shines through the darkness. I am a great admirer of the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, and he wrote an article in the Saturday Times on 19th December, part of which I want to share with you. He writes:

“As the new year approaches, with the recession still in force, I find myself giving thanks to God for all the things that cost nothing and are worth everything. I thank him for the love that has filled our home for so many years. Life is never easy. We’ve had our share of pain, but through it all we discovered the love that brings new life into the world, allowing us to share in the miracle of birth and the joy of seeing children grow....

“I thank him for those rare souls who lift us when we are laid low by the sheer envy and malice by which some people poison their lives and the lives of others. I thank him for the fragments of light he has scattered in so many lives, in the kindness of strangers and the unexpected touch of souls across the boundaries that once divided people and made them fearful of one another....

“I thank him for the atheists and agnostics who keep believers from believing the unbelievable, forcing us to prove our faith by the beauty and grace we bring into the world. I thank him for all the defeats and failures that make leadership so difficult, because the hard things are the only ones worth doing, and because all genuine achievement involves taking risks, making mistakes, and never giving up.

“I thank him for the gift of faith, which taught me to see the dazzling goodness and grace that surround us if only we open our eyes and minds. I thank him for helping me to understand that faith is not certainty, but the courage to live with uncertainty; not a destination but the journey itself. I thank him for allowing me to thank him, for without gratitude there is no happiness, only the fleeting distraction of passing pleasures that grow ever less consequential with the passing years.

“Oscar Wilde was right when he defined a cynic as one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. The richer Britain became, the more cynical it grew. It put its faith in a financial house of cards. It looked at house prices and thought itself rich. It created the religion of shopping, whose original sin was not having this year’s model or must-have, and whose salvation lay in spending money you don’t have, to buy things you don’t need, for the sake of a happiness that doesn’t last.

“Rarely was a faith more seductive or addictive. The wake-up call, which is what the recession is, came just in time. So next year, let’s enjoy joy itself, which – unlike its gift-wrapped, instantly obsolete substitutes, is given freely to all those who bid it welcome.”

Thank you, Jonathan Sacks – you’ve got it exactly right! Those are wonderful examples of the light we can give the world this year and which the darkness all around cannot grasp. But we have one vital thing to add to make our light shine even more brightly this year. In Bach’s wonderful Christmas Oratorio, in the section for Epiphany, there comes the visit of the wise men. And the chorus sing their insistent question as those wise men come to Jerusalem: “Where, where, where, where is the new born king?” And the alto soloist simply answers the question with the words: “Seek him within my heart, for in me he consents to dwell!”

No matter how dark the future may appear, with that affirmation we can venture forth into this new year with a joy in our hearts that no darkness can quench.

DISCUSSION

1. Describe your feelings as you begin another year. Use as many descriptive words as you can. What do you fear? What do you hope for?
2. In what ways does your Christian faith help you to face the future?
3. What do you think the priorities for St Michael’s should be in the coming year? How can we make them happen? Do you feel hopeful and optimistic about our Church in 2010 or.....what?