Sermon 11 August 2013. The Journey of Faith and Hope. Robert Hebrews 11: 1 – 3 & 11 – 16 Luke 12: 32 – 40

More or less every day when I pick up the post from the door-mat, there’s one thing I can be quite sure of – there will be at least one and probably more than one expensively produced brochure inviting me to sign up for a cruise or other kind of holiday to some exotic locations, beautifully illustrated with pictures of a dream world of luxury. There is obviously a huge market for travel abroad, while the traditional holiday locations which served Britons for generations – Blackpool, and Margate for instance – now languish unloved and unvisited. Many of us have developed an insatiable appetite for stretching our horizons.

This is not a new phenomenon, although Abraham would not have been acquainted with a cruise liner. Very roughly 4000 years ago when Abraham was 75 years old, he and his family were living in what the Old Testament calls Ur of the Chaldees (you need to have Genesis chapters 11 and especially 12 to hand to understand what is happening here). Ur is in what was then called Mesopotamia, now Iraq, and part of the ‘Fertile Crescent’ where the great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, flow down towards their confluence.

Abraham was called by God to leave his home and settled agricultural way of life, and become a traveller -  a nomad - seeking a new home to which God was calling him. And in order to get there he had to become a more or less permanent ‘camper’ – living in tents. They made their way up river north-west for a distance of some 500 miles – as the crow flies, considerably more if he you are following a river on foot.

Later they travelled south down the Jordan valley for another 500/600 miles as the crow flies, until they reached Canaan, which was to become God’s promised land for Abraham’s descendants.  God had promised Abraham a son and heir even though he and his wife Sarah were, in human terms, beyond child-bearing age. Abraham obeyed God’s call and went on this extra-ordinary journey because he had complete trust that God would fulfil his promise, and that Abraham would found a great nation.

So this was not only a huge exotic adventure in terms of travel, but it was a spiritual journey of trust and promise as well. It was undertaken in faith and in hope that God had a purpose for their lives, a spiritual destination, as well as a geographical one. Indeed, the writer of this letter to the Hebrews wants to emphasise that journey’s end for Abraham – because of his faith – was not an earthly place. His true home was going to be in heaven. It’s important to remember for every Christian that when we talk about ‘home’ it’s not just some place in the UK. We are travelling towards our true home which is in heaven, where God has prepared a place for us.

When I read this passage, my mind travels straight to John Bunyan’s classic ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’. Our spiritual adventurous travel journey is not over until we have crossed that final river, and been welcomed home on the other side. It’s a vital help to put these enticing travel brochures that come through the letter box into a better perspective. It also draws us to our Gospel reading this morning, where Jesus tells us to build our treasure, not in earthly coin, but to concentrate on building treasure in heaven, our true home. And where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.

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So we need a very different kind of travel brochure. No matter how young or old we may be, we are on a spiritual journey. And God’s Holy Spirit gives us strength every day for that journey. We can’t say ‘We’re too old to change’ because Paul rightly tells us in 2 Corinthians 4: 16 that “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day,” as the Holy Spirit gives us strength to grow in faith, in Christian knowledge, in character, and in lives that shine with the light of Christ.

This Christian travel brochure tells us not to be too settled where we are; not to become stale and too content with the familiar routine. We have so much yet to learn; so much to grow; so ambitious to travel spiritually closer to God in our relationship through prayer, through study of God’s Word, through worship and sacrament; through experience and character building. We still have far to go..

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All this sense of moving forward and adventure in faith and hope can be applied to our church just as much as to our individual spiritual lives. Some of the brochures and reports recently about the renewal project refer back to what was called my ‘challenge to the church in 2006’. I’ll tell you what I had in mind. It seemed to me that the interior of our lovely church was becoming just a bit shabby and showing its age. If you were going to a hotel, for example, you might look at it and say ‘It needs a make-over – it needs freshening up.’ And I had a picture in my mind of this building re-decorated, with new comfortable seats, with a lovely new floor, and with new lighting which would not only help us see better, but which would highlight the most beautiful features – the roundels, the roof and so on instead of just pointing downwards.

And I thought that we would be so proud of the beautiful church we have, that it would rejuvenate us all spiritually, and draw us all together, and bring in new members. The building can go on a spiritual journey as well as the individual, and the one can inspire the other. I still like to think that this is possible.

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So August is the month for holiday travel. But we need a spiritual travel catalogue as well with dreams to be fulfilled. If Abraham can start at 75, we can hardly say we are too old and set in our ways! That’s why, for the writer to the Hebrews, he is a role model, a hero to be followed, not literally, but in his spiritual openness, and total trust in God, believing that what he had begun, God would bring to fulfilment beyond his dreams. And our Gospel for today ends with a vital call to be alert, and never fall back into just going through the old routine. Not only is that the road to spiritual deadness and decay – (there is a true saying that you can’t stand still as a Christian, you either move forward, or you fall back) – but we must remain alert because we know neither the day nor the hour of the Lord’s return, and who would want to be found spiritually sleeping? Don’t go to sleep spiritually in August – make preparations for a new spiritual travel adventure. Last Tuesday was the Feast of the Transfiguration – one of the very greatest spiritual experiences Jesus ever had. With God, spiritual adventures lead to wonderful new blessings and experiences. Get the new spiritual travel brochure – and sign up immediately!  Don’t miss out!

Discussion

1.  Do you sometimes feel that your spiritual journey has come to a standstill and that you are still at the same place as you were, say, a year ago? If so, discuss how you might get moving again.

2.  What might your spiritual travel brochure contain to entice you to travel?

3.  Do you think the church building needs to make a spiritual journey too? In what ways? How might this help you and others on your journey?

Sunday 4 August 2013, Colossians 3:1-11, Luke 12:13-21, Bruce

Who would like the secret of being rich?  How many of us have received a letter or an email from a wealthy resident of an African country who has money in a sealed account that they want to get out of the country?  If you give them your bank details they promise to send you a large amount of money, some of which you can keep?  Years ago there was a spate of round robin letters; send the letter to ten friends, £10 to the name at the top of a long list and in a month or so thousands of pounds will be sent to you.

When a voice in the crowd calls out to Jesus to help him in a family dispute about an inheritance, we are treading on familiar ground.  The closest of families can be divided by fallings out over money.  The reality is probably that there was distrust there before, and our attitudes are revealed – brought to the surface – by how we respond to material things.

So Jesus tells a story.  The rich man obviously feels he is giving himself good advice.  He seems to have large estates and he is maximising his potential for earnings, savings and growth.  He is future proofing himself.  Or so he thinks.  He makes no reference to God or the needs of others; it is all about him.  He thinks that life – true life – consists of an abundance of possessions, and he is wrong.  He thinks that he is rich, but he turns out to be poor.

Jesus is not against eating, drinking and being merry; in fact he is frequently criticised for enjoying food drink and company.  He is concerned that we encounter God and grow in him.

Paul takes up this theme in his letter to the Christians living in Colossae.  Where is Jesus?  He is seated at the right hand of God (3:1).  He is also in us, the settled promise of glory to come (1:27).  Paul follows on from Jesus’ story about a man who set his heart only on earthly things with the advice that we set our hearts on “things above”.

What does this mean?

I do not think it means that we should be “so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good”.   “Above” does not mean vertically higher.  The same word is used by Jesus when he says that we should be “born from above”; it is a struggle to translate and is often rendered as “born again”.  I suspect that the meaning is something like be “born from the other”.  And here in Colossians Paul is telling us to live our lives with reference to “the other”.

The other?  We live in two overlapping worlds.  How can we explain this?  On 1 September 2006 I set off on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostellar.  But the truth is that the pilgrimage really started the year before, when the decision was made to go.  For months I carried on everyday life, but part of me was researching, planning, preparing.  I was rubbing cream on my feet, buying maps, calculating distances.  I was thinking and praying like a pilgrim.

I suspect something similar happens when a wedding is announced.  The bride seems to enter a dual universe where life continues as normal, but at the same time every decision is made with reference to the approaching nuptials.

Much more significantly, when we were baptised, each of us entered into a new world where Christ reigns supreme but where we also live amongst those who do not acknowledge this.  There is a temptation to go with the rich farmer and live only on an earthly plane, laughing off any concept of the spiritual having any effect on the way that we live or make decisions.

There is an equal temptation to retreat into a spurious spirituality, a parallel world that has no contact with or relevance to “real life”.  Put bluntly, our worshipping life here can be separated from what we do at home, at school or at work.

However, we are servants of Jesus.   ^“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”  (1:16)  God “has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death”. (1:22)  We are to celebrate “the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (1:27)  Again and again we see this apparent paradox of Jesus bridging any gap between heaven and earth; simultaneously he is Lord of all.

If Jesus unites heaven and earth, then so do his followers.  We are called to walk with him and in him, open for all that he has for us.  We are learning fresh ways to think and plan and evaluate.  Suppose you are given a luxury world cruise to look forward to.  But you have already made a reservation at digs somewhere cheap.  Is it not time to cancel that reservation? 

There are those who contend that we are merely highly evolved animals.  If that were true, then our chief preoccupations would properly be procreation and nutrition.  In fact we are more caught up in the corruption of the world as we carry our interest in money, sex and power to ever greater heights, or depths.  Our task is to live in this creation, revelling in it and enjoying it as a gift from our Father God, giving him thanks and praising him for it.  This is to honour the first commandment, to have no other Gods before him. 

Our temptation is to find ourselves taking some aspect of the creation and placing it at the centre of our thoughts and desires, so that our whole being revolves around it.  This is to break the second commandment and to become idolaters.

How can we become rich towards God?  Open your eyes to all that he has given you.  Receive gladly forgiveness, a home in glory, and the freedom to choose now the life of the kingdom.  Paul says that he continually asks “God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (1:9,10).  That is something that God does in us and for us.

Later he says “ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (3:15,16)  That is something we can do, choosing to school ourselves to follow him in a daily, hourly pattern of praise and thanksgiving and openness to his word.

Liquid Family Communion 21st July 2013 - Sermon for the Word Zone Genesis 18.1 - 10a & Luke 10.38 - 42

Trees have taken on a new level of importance over the last couple of weeks.  Have you noticed how they’ve come into their own?  I overheard a conversation in Camberley between two mums, “I’m helping on a school trip.  We’re going to a farm,” said the first one, “are there any shady trees?” asked the second.  And then again the next day, trees came into a conversation I had with a teacher.  “We've got sports day tomorrow” he said, “It’s gonna be unbearable… there’s no trees out on the field”!  It’s strange how we can shift our focus so easily from the big event – from the day out, from the sports day, to the trees!

Abraham knew a thing or two about trees and big events.  In the Middle East you watch out for the trees.  They signal that water might be nearby, they act as a reference point on the horizon, but mostly they provide shade from the relentless sun.  Abraham made his home near some big oak trees.  In the account in Genesis the writer gives us details so that we can almost picture and feel the place, especially given the weather here over the last few weeks; Abraham’s sitting at the entrance to his tent, near the oak trees, in the heat of the day.  

Now Abraham’s, well to put it bluntly, no ‘spring chicken’.  He’s been a wanderer but at 99 years old, as you might expect, he’s more settled now.  He’s done well since God told him to leave his country, his people and his father’s household; God’s blessed him and made him promises; he’s made a special kind of agreement or covenant with him.  God’s promised him descendants (as many as there are stars in the sky) and he’s promised that his descendants will be a great nation, and he’s promised land to him and his descendants for ever.  But Abraham’s still waiting … waiting for the big event; to be a great nation, to colonise land, you need descendants. To have descendants, you need a son, and they are still waiting for theirs.

Maybe that’s what he was pondering as he sat in the heat of the day – who knows,  

but as he’s sitting, he looks up and sees three strangers standing nearby and as soon as he sees them he hurries to meet them.  Can you imagine hurrying in the midday sun?  He gives them all his attention and bows low to the ground to honour them as if they were of a higher rank.  “If I have found favour in your eyes”, he says, “Do not pass me by”.   What he means is, “if it’s ok with you to accept my invitation, then I would be honoured to serve you.”  He offers the usual desert hospitality for travellers, a little water so they can wash their tired, dirty feet, a chance to rest in the shade of a tree and something to eat.  Then in a whirlwind of frenzied activity, he hurries to his wife Sarah, tells her to quickly make a large amount of bread with the best flour, then he runs to the herd of cattle to choose the best calf, so that the servant can hurriedly prepare the food.  The food is more than just ‘something to eat’, it’s the best he has - and this 99 year old man, who has been relaxing in the heat of the day, hurries, runs, and moves quickly to provide for his guests!

Martha would understand Abraham’s actions.  She too offers hospitality to her guest;

she opens her house to Jesus.  And she too is busy in the preparations.  But Abraham does something else; he does something Martha doesn’t do … as the strangers accept his hospitality, as the meal is set before them, he stands nearby under a tree.  Not sitting, not in the tent with his wife Sarah, not clearing away or fussing or worrying, but standing.  It would be easier for an old man to sit.  It would be easier to get a servant to watch the guests, but no, he stands attentively, ready to respond.  And as he stands attentively, the strangers ask him a question, “Where is your wife Sarah?” they ask.  And he replies immediately and without hesitation “there in the tent”.  Then all is revealed – one of the strangers is the Lord God.  And he announces the big event,  “I will return next year” he says, “and your wife will have a son”.  

If Abraham had been distracted like Martha, been worried about what the servants were doing, been upset about many things like she was, he might have missed it – the one piece of news he needed to hear – the announcement of the fulfilment of the promise – the announcement they were expecting a son. 

In providing attentive hospitality to his guests, Abraham encounters the Lord God and hears what God has to say to him.  Abraham doesn’t give hospitality in order to get a son back in return; God has already promised him and Sarah a son before they even entertain the strangers.  No, this is about responsiveness, paying attention, encountering God in offering hospitality to strangers.  And in the encounter, the roles are reversed -  Abraham and Sarah the hosts become Abraham and Sarah the guests because God welcomes them into the joy of the special (covenant) relationship he has with them; the announcement of a son welcomes them into the future events when the promises he has made to them will be fulfilled.  The hospitality of welcoming strangers is not a social event, but a holy event. 

But who are the ‘strangers’ in our society?  We don’t normally have people wandering by in the heat of the day.  Who do we welcome?  Hospitality is at the centre of Jesus’ ministry.  He of course eats with friends like Mary and Martha and the disciples, but he also eats with strangers.  He has conversations with those no one else will and he gets close to people everyone else is trying to avoid.  He welcomes those without a voice in society, those with no social standing, the outcasts.  One writer describes how this translates into modern day living, she says as Christians we are called to welcome and offer hospitality to “the materially disadvantaged or spiritually starved in a world hungry for success at any price…to those seeking for the elusive ‘something more’ that often they themselves cannot name.” (Verna Holyhead – The Gift of St Benedict).  As a church community, how do we do that? 

Like Abraham, we can honour strangers with friendly, inviting words; we can welcome with food and provisions; we can offer a relaxing, healing space where people can pause and take shelter from the busyness and pressures of the day and we can offer an attentive listening ear, ready to respond to the needs of our guests. 

And as we offer attentive hospitality – as we listen and respond to the needs of others – we too participate in a holy event – one where we might hear what God is saying to us – one where God opens his arms wide to us, where we become his guests.  A holy event where maybe we can ‘Encounter God and grow in him’ .

Questions For Discussion

1)   How does our understanding of ‘hospitality’ today differ from Abraham’s or Jesus’?

2)   Can you think of an example where you or someone you know offered hospitality to a   

      stranger?  In Camberley, who might the ‘strangers’ be?  What are the challenges and ‘risks’

      of offering hospitality to these ‘strangers’? 

3)   Have a look at the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14:15 – 24.  What does the

      Parable tell us about the Kingdom of God?  About hospitality?  (You might want to look at    

      the few verses before as well.)

4)   As individuals and a church community, how can we be more open to “the materially

      disadvantaged or spiritually starved in a world hungry for success at any price…to those

      seeking for the elusive ‘something more’ that often they themselves cannot name”? 

5)   What does it mean to you to be “welcomed by God”. 

Sermon for Sunday 14th July 2013 - Deuteronomy 30:9-14 and Luke 10:25-37

 Who is my neighbour or not?

The nature of teachers and students of the law is to question what they are told and to seek clarification from others.  This is as true today as it was in the time of Jesus. The lawyer asks, ‘What should I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus asks a question in return: ‘What is written in the law?’ The fact that it is a lawyer of Israel asking the question is evidence for the true statements that we all teach what we need to learn. Moses, the lawgiver himself, had said back in Deuteronomy that the law was all about life: "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess" (Deut. 30:15-18).

It is clear that we are to make choices – to obey God and walk his ways or not.  One leads to life and the other to death. A bit grim! But God is also a restorer. When the exiles return to Yahweh in faith and obedience, he will turn to them and ‘return’ them to their previous state.  When Israel turns back to God, he will turn back to them. SO does this mean that the threat of punishment is undermined? Will it make them say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t really matter? We can always repent and be restored’? Hardly! The historical books paint a gloomy picture of both northern Israel and southern Judah: apostasy and decline, invasion and conquest, death and exile. Those who lived through those tragic years would definitely not have said, ‘It doesn’t matter’. And those who survived into exile ended up dispirited and depressed (see Ezekiel 18:2). The punishment was real and painful.

But when we turn to God, there is Restoration – I like that word. Rest and be restored. When the people turn back to God, he will turn back to them, turn their fortunes around. Further, he will then give them all the blessings and prosperity promised in the first place, and experienced in the early years. And as always, God will be emotionally involved: it stems from his compassion and results in his delight. It will also lead to ‘circumcision of the heart’. For those used to physical circumcision, this is a rich metaphor of personal commitment and heartfelt obedience, in internal attitude as well as external form. Earlier, God commanded it (10:16) now he promises that he himself will affect it.

This passage show God’s knowledge of humanity, his foresight of events, and his provision for restoration. The warning is real: no wonder this is the synagogue reading for the Jewish equivalent of Lent, the ten days of repentance between New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). But so is the promise: the ‘even if’ shows that no situation is irretrievable if there is a change of heart. This does not instantly resolve the painful issues that rear up at the start, but it does give us a pointer for reflection.

So ‘What should I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘What is written in the law?’  The reply of the man is part of what is written in Deuteronomy 6:5 which says, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.’ To this the Scribes added Leviticus 19:18 which bids a person to love his neighbour as himself. The Rabbis sought to define who was a neighbour and at their worst limited this to fellow Jews; Gentiles were not counted as neighbours no matter how closely they lived to Jews. The parable of the Good Samaritan is a challenge to our limited care.

So who is my neighbour?"

What Jesus offers is not far away. It is the common event of a mugging and the also common events of indifference to suffering on the one hand and mercy in response to need on the other. The story is as close as the fear we feel when someone approaches us on a dark pavement at night, as near to us as the people we can walk past without noticing, as familiar as the smell and feel of a plaster on a cut finger.

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"Who is my neighbour?" the lawyer wants to know, and so do I. I also want to know, how do I love my neighbour as myself? What about fostering dependency in the neighbour, or wearing myself out or just putting plasters on wounds that need so much more?

The story begins with a man on the downhill road from Jerusalem to Jericho. With his back to the Holy City, he is making his way towards a place that was known for its vice, robbers and corruption. The man is alone. Now this road was notorious for robbers, and it is foolish to travel alone, especially if you have anything precious. Is not life precious? The man is mugged by a bands or robbers, stripped of his possession, his dignity and his health. He is left half-dead and if he doesn’t get help soon he will be dead.

Lucky man: he come a priest. Help is at hand. But when he sees the man, the priest passes on by. Well, if the pries had gone over and touched the man and the man was dead, it would make him unclean and he would not be able to perform his duties for seven days(Numbers 19:11) it would seem the priest was more concerned with ceremony rather than charity. You could hear the common cry: ‘It’s more than my job’s worth.’

The next person to come along is a good churchman, a Levite. Surely there is hope there. The Levite perhaps is frightened that the robbers are still near and the man on the ground is just a decoy. He could use the same excuse of the priest for not making contact. The law was more important than love.

Then came along the Samaritan – a non-Jew. Surely he would not bother. But he does because he is moved with pity for a fellow human being. He goes over to the man and pours oil and wine on the wounds – normal usage for both, though also symbols of peace and joy. He then lifts the injured man up and puts him on his own animal, brings him to an inn and takes care of him. The next day the Samaritan pays the innkeeper and says, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

Jesus then asked which proved to be a neighbour. When the lawyer replied, ‘He that showed mercy’, Jesus said, ‘Go and so likewise.’

We are challenged to accept all as our neighbour and to show concern for those we try to avoid; those who get into trouble through their own fault; those who are racially or religiously different, all who are in need or in trouble.

In John 8:48 the Jews called Jesus a Samaritan. Maybe we should heed the words of the Good Samaritan and interpret them as Jesus speaking to us: ‘Take care of him, and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

Questions:

1.      Look at Deuteronomy 30:1-20.

What would the Lord do for them (v3-5, 6, 7, 8-9) and why (v1-2, 10)?

What were their options (v15, 16-17, 18) and why was choosing life the way to go (v11-14, 19-20)?

2.      Who are your neighbours? How well do you know them?

3.      Who are the neighbours you would not necessarily become involved with? Do you have a fear, real or misguided regarding these neighbours?

Sermon for Sunday 7 July 2013 – Isaiah 66:10-14

There are many joys in being a parent, and one is the privilege of being able to comfort a child in distress. It is amazing how a sobbing, hysterical child can, in just a few moments, be laughing and smiling once more, simply through the reassuring warmth of a mother or father’s embrace, and words of reassurance. ‘Let’s kiss it better,’ we say, and, although it’s nonsense, it works! The pain doesn’t necessarily go away, but the child knows that he or she is loved. If we can do that for our children, how much more can God do it for us, as we see time and time again in the scriptures, not least in the words of prophet Isaiah.

Have you ever had one of those days? Days where the weather outside is raining and you have a load of washing to dry, the computer was running slow, the battery on your mobile phone is dead and you need to make an important call!  You know these days!

We all have those uncomfortable days, when it is best to stay inside, not make any rash decisions and not talk to anyone because you may just say something you’ll regret. We all have those days, as did our parents, as did all the people who came before us, such as those mentioned in the Isaiah reading.

Isaiah is writing to the people around him who are living during uncomfortable times. Not only were they having one of those days, they were having one of those centuries. They were dealing with the after effects of the exile, a period in history in which they were attacked and the enemy took a portion of the population into captivity. It was many years before they were set free and allowed to go back home. But what they discovered wasn’t pleasant. Their land, their businesses, the place they worshiped was destroyed. They tried to rebuild everything, but it just didn't feel the same.

The land didn’t fully recover from the abuse it underwent, the economy had gone bust and the country was torn in political turmoil. People were stressed out dealing with the economy and everyone felt as though things weren’t improving fast enough. Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? Our world today!

Isaiah was aware of everyone’s low spirits. He also knew that people have a tendency to only see what is currently happening, reducing all expectations to the present moment. So the he relays to the people a message from God, a message that reaffirms to everyone that God has a goal and will not rest until the world is restored to its rightful state.

In chapter 65 the prophet gives the people something to look forward to: a vision of a new heaven and new earth, in which there will be rejoicing, where weeping will no longer exist, and they will all have a place to call home. And then God, through the prophet, offers an image of comfort. Jerusalem, the city that they love, that has suffered politically, economically and environmentally, shall become like a mother, nursing all her residents with bosoms rich in milk. “For the Lord says...you shall nurse and be carried on her arms...As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you: you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 66:12-13)

The key word here is comfort. Comfort to people who have lost everything. Comfort to people trying so hard to get it back. Comfort to people having one of those days, one of those years, one of those decades. Comfort! What does that word mean to you? What images cross your mind?

It should be no surprise to you that when I hear the word comfort I think of food. Comfort food. Soul food.

Ask me what, and I’ll tell you that a favourite comfort food is my Mum’s Steak and Kidney with Short crust Pastry Pie. But it’s not just the taste of it is the smell of it cooking slowly for hours before the pastry goes on top. It reminds me of Mum and offers me comfort. Until a number of years ago, when we went to see her she would make it you us, ok me!  The best part! How the place smells afterwards, of steak and kidney and seasoning, a reminder that there has been people and food.

That is the power of comfort food. The bond it forms, the comfort it creates. That is part of what makes today’s reading so powerful.  God understands just how uncomfortable and worried the people are, even today, so God offers them and us an image of comfort: a child being breast-fed by its mother, the original comfort food.

There has been a lot of discussion about breast-feeding. The pros and cons, the responsible public actions, the proper age to stop, etc. But the more research that has been done, the more scientists find the benefit of it. Mother’s milk is easy to digest and an excellent source of nourishment. Breast-feeding improves the child’s immune system, staving off infection, reducing the risks of intestinal and respiratory tract problems.

But breast-feeding does something more: it provides the child comfort. The baby, weak and vulnerable, is held in the protective shelter of the mother’s arms. The infant, with its head next to the mother’s chest, can hear the sound of her heartbeat, the source of life. The child can look up and sees its parent looking back.

Taste, touch, sight, sound, every sense incorporated, every sense saying you are comforted, you are mine, and you are loved. Breast-feeding is about a relationship in which one is dependent on, and loved by, another.

Imagine how powerful of an image that is for people during a time of economic, political and environmental hardship. This image invites folks to look beyond their current situation and to look towards a future in which they will be comforted, a time in which their every need is met, a time in which every sense says to them “You are OK, you are well.”

Comfort, like the smell of steak and kidney pie, like a suckling infant receiving its mother’s milk. That is what God wants for us. That is what the Spirit is busy working towards. And that is what Jesus is calling us to offer to one another and to the community around us and to the outside world.

And that comfort comes in so many ways, doesn’t it? Here at church we have members who provide pastoral care by volunteering to visit people at home, hospitals and hospices, offering comfort to the sick and dying, a listening voice to turmoil in a family etc. Week by week, people place food and other items into the Besom box, offering comfort to those in need in our town, Christian Aid week raise thousands of pounds in our local area to comfort those overseas. We are by our Renewal plan offering comfort to the generations who will grace the church doors in the future. We are starting a fund raising event ‘Parable of the Talents’ which I will talk about later in the service. Renewing of ourselves as we seek God’s comfort in our lives so that we can be healed and restored to offer comfort to others. 

How else can we offer comfort? By speaking words of forgiveness, by saying that we are welcoming of all, by celebrating communion and having an open table. Communion, the Lord’s Supper, means so many things. Communion is also a sign of grace, freely given; grace that we receive, grace that we pass on to the person besides us.

Communion is a form of comfort. And like most comfort foods, it’s made from simple ingredients, in this case grain and fruit, two items you can find in almost any home, two items that transcend rich and poor, worker and jobless. The bread, as the body, the wine, as the blood; meant to nourish us, sustain us, let us know we are comforted, we are the Lord’s and we are loved.

Communion is a chance for us to taste, touch, hear, see, a chance for our heart to rejoice, our bodies to flourish and a time for it to be known that the hand of the Lord is with us.

In conclusion, we all have those days. We all have those weeks, we even all have those years.  But we are not alone, nor does our current situation define us. We are more than our finances, we are more than our mobile phone network, we are more the land around us.

We belong to God, and our God is holding us in tender yet strong hands, and our God is comforting, and caring: “Comfort, O comfort my people...” (Isaiah 40:1).

Thank you Jesus for inviting us to the table, to the Spirit that leads the way and to God, our Father/Mother who desires to feed us all with comforting milk. Amen

 Questions/Considerations:

• No protector like a mother or father. Consider God’s protection – Psalm 91:1-4.
• No touch like a mother and father’s touch. Consider the touch of God in scripture.
• There is no forgiveness like a mother or father’s forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is supernatural – Jeremiah 31:34.

Consider God’s forgiveness for you.

• How can we offer comfort to a family, community, world in turmoil and maybe on the verge of burnout,

The sermon for Sunday 23 June 2013 - Galatians 3:23-29 – Does this still fit me?

Putting on clothes that we know are too small may seem daft but it’s surprising how often, as Christians, we behave as if we have never grown up!

We come to church on the Sunday, we say our daily prayers but we fail to extend a hand of friendship to a person on the streets or ignore the single mum with children who has just been caught shop-lifting but this time spared jail. We thank Jesus for sacrificing himself for us but fail to pick up our responsibilities and act as a son or daughter of God. We pick out the bits we want to do – the familiar bits not the bits that take us out of our comfort zones.

Paul had the similar problem. His letter is not to any single church in Galatia but to a number of churches in that region. He is concerned that quite a few Christians are still trying to please God by sticking to a set of rules or laws which provide direction and restraint, but did not encourage FAITH. The only mark of ‘faith’ Paul could see was the law being carefully acted out as the law prescribed and in doing so the law kept the people Israel under restraint. The response of the people was by and large adolescent rebellion. Israel did not humble themselves’; the law exposed their sin and held them under restraint until God took away their blindness and gave them a heart to trust him (Jeremiah 24:7). For the law is a teacher, not a saviour; a mirror, not a cleanser.

So Paul attempts to put the record straight. He tells the Galatians that God knows only too well that following a law would prove difficult to do all the time and although God made a covenant, a contract with Abraham it was only intended to be the start of the journey which reached its destination with the arrival of Jesus Christ.

In the time of the Romans a certain slave (known as paidagogos) would have the responsibility for supervising and correcting the children of the family. A paidagogos did not have the power to make the child’s heart good, nor can he give the child his inheritance. When the children grew older, they had learned how to behave and now dealt directly with their father and were responsible to him for their actions.

This is the idea that Paul was trying to get across to the Churches in Galatia. The law could act as a guide but it was only a start, a sort of teacher, which could go just so far in preparing anyone for a relationship with God the Father. The Law is a teacher, not a saviour; a mirror, not a cleanser. Paul emphasised that it was only faith in Jesus Christ which made a person acceptable to God.  To say ‘I have faith in Jesus Christ’ and then continue to live according to the law was the same as a Roman person, having grown up and being told they were now free to develop a relationship with their father, ignoring that freedom and going back to the slave for guidance. The Law is a teacher, not a saviour; a mirror, not a cleanser.

We have a similar choice to make. In the same way that we wouldn’t buy clothes that were intended for someone a lot younger than ourselves, neither should we say we want a relationship with God the Father and then ignore the freedom that we have through Jesus Christ to chat with God. If we try to live our lives by superstition, performing elaborate rituals or attempting to earn God’s favour, aren’t we ignoring what Jesus Christ has done for us?

Just as we no longer make animal sacrifices, as was required under the law, nor are we expected to perform a complex ritual to gain God’s attention. Christ’s sacrifice meant that we can have a relationship with God, anywhere, anytime. Perhaps it is time to experience some of that freedom which faith in Jesus Christ brings?

With this freedom though comes responsibility. It is not a freedom where we can do what we like and ignore the laws and rules which keep us safe from harm etc, it is a freedom that comes from God and is dependent on what we are towards the law-giver – God. If we have a heart to trust God and rely on his mercy, then the law will feel like a much needed dose of medicine from a wise and beloved doctor. ‘This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.’ (1 John 5: 3) For Israel abiding by the laws was a large burdensome job description for earning their favour with God because it did not meet with faith. For us Christians we abide by the law because we love Him.

Those of us that drive will have at some point before taking our test read and memorised as much as possible the Highway Code. We have become familiar with many of the signs although hardly anybody can say they know what every sign means.  If we tried to live by the Highway Code, we would be stopping the car every few miles to refer to the book to find out what the sign meant. Most people who drive, hardly ever refer to the Highway Code (although driving to the Meadows yesterday, perhaps some people need to!); they use their experience to get around safely. Although they know what most of the signs mean, they recognise that they are only a guide. To drive safely takes more than simply knowing what the signs mean.

Having faith in Jesus needs more than a reliance on the Bible. The Bible is an important document which helps us to understand what God did and how other people related to God, but it is a guide. A relationship with God is a living experience, one to be shared daily. A relationship that needs to be worked at and nurtured even on the days when we don’t feel like it.

Having faith in Jesus unites us to himself and all the benefits he can give become ours. God appears to us through Jesus and we are saved. We are saying yes to being his eternal child, to wearing his robes of righteousness, to accepting his love, mercy and forgiveness. As we honour and trust Him, God can not turn himself away or deny us.  We are his and we are no longer under the law.  We have freedom to be His children. There is no distinction between being a male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile. God sees all of us as His children. It does not mean that ‘anything goes’ in terms of how we live. It means we do not have to strive to become good enough, we never could and we will certainly never be. But it does mean that we are the Sons and Daughters in God’s mission to respect, love, forgive and serve all people, whoever they are. It does mean allowing him to take us out of our comfort zones to get His work done.

Paul was warning people back then and even today that a false gospel robs you of salvation and of membership in the family of God where all believers are one in Christ. It robs you of your spiritual riches as an heir of the promise. Above all it robs you of an inner peace.  It is a peace we cannot create but we can accept it.

Peace is a gift from God to us. We can accept it by living in a peaceful way. The mind can often be in turmoil like a raging sea and yet God is there and offering us his peace. Peace is not an absence of activity but rather a working in harmony with the world around us. Peace comes through a right relationship between others and us, but, above all, between God and us. Peace is God’s gift and will help us to get back in tune with everything, but if we persist in staying out of tune with others or the world it is hard for God’s peace to get to work in us. For as I have said before; the Law is a tutor, not a saviour; a mirror, not a cleanser. So I am guessing that the question is; are we really rejoicing in the freedom we have in Christ?

Questions:

1.  In those days it was common to send a child to school in the company of a household servant who was big and strong enough to keep the child safe while walking through town.  The servant was called a custodian (paidagogos in Greek – literally “one who walks with”) The custodian would take the child to school and meet the child after, assuring the child’s safety. This would happen until the child was big enough and strong enough to fend for himself. Paul says this is what the law was like.

a. How does the law keep us safe?

b. How will we know when we are big and strong enough to make it on our own?

c. Using the example of the law as a custodian, if we live by grace and not the law, who watches out for us?  Who is our custodian?

2. In vs 28 Paul makes an astounding statement in his time – that in Christ, there is no longer a difference between Jews and Gentiles, slaves or free, or men or women, but we are all equal in Christ!  Rather, he says, we are all one, united in Christ.

a. In a community that was split over the Gentile/Jew issue, how do you imagine this was received? How do you imagine this would be received today not just in Israel but the world over?

b. Paul wrote these words close to 2000 years ago.  We did not start ordaining women as priest until 1993.  Why do you think it took so long to put these words into practice?

3. What are the implications of us all being equal in Christ?

4. What does being one in Christ imply for your faith and your life?

Sunday 16 June 2013 Liquid Communion

                                                                                                                                                 

Luke 7.36 – 8.3

“I tell you her many sins are forgiven, because she has shown great love.”

He said to her: “Your sins are forgiven… Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

In chapter four Luke has given us a programmatic statement of what he is going to do in presenting Jesus’ Galilean ministry. He is going to establish that Jesus fulfils Biblical prophecy, Isaiah 61.1-2

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me.

For he has anointed me to proclaim:

the good news to the wretched,

freedom for prisoners,

sight for the blind,

release for the oppressed,

the Year of the Lord’s Favour!”

Luke then presents incident after incident which fulfils this prophecy through the words and actions of Jesus.

In our reading Jesus comes to dine in the house of Simon the Pharisee in Capernaum by invitation. He reclines propped up on cushions and elbows on one of the couches in the triclinium, following the Greco-Roman custom. Sandals have been removed for dining, leaving the feet bare. (See illustration)

First, the Pharisee.  Should we have preconceptions about this Pharisee? Yes. The story is carefully located after earlier stories which provide extended comment on Pharisees. They have attempted to deny Jesus’ authority to forgive, have strongly disapproved his healing on the sabbath (This was “work) and have not submitted (7.30) to the baptism of repentance from John.  “They have rejected”, says Luke, “God’s purpose for them”. This is just a few verses before our reading. So at 7.36 we have every reason to suppose that the Pharisee is set to trap Jesus into some words or actions which will embarrass and discomfort him. Simon’s complete lack of sympathy for Jesus is also betrayed by his rudeness as a host, omitting all the duties of host to guest – no water for Jesus to wash his feet, no kiss of greeting, no perfumed oil for his hair.

Second, the woman.  She knows she needs the salvation offered by Jesus. Inarticulate though she is, weeping constantly, her actions speak through a string of eight verbs in a long sentence after the Hebraic: “behold!”, marking high drama. I translate literally:            

            37: “And behold a woman who was in the town (Capernaum), a sinner, and, having learnt that he was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, having brought a jar of oil of myrrh,

            38: and having stood behind [him] near his feet, weeping, she began to rain upon his feet with tears, and she was wiping [them] off with the hair of her head, and was kissing his feet, and was anointing [them] with the oil of myrrh.” Luke here deliberately recalls the same odd structure at Mk. 5.25 where another unclean woman of great faith was healed by touching Jesus’ clothes, and Jesus declared to that woman (the woman with the issue of blood):

“Daughter, your faith has saved you.

Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction!”

But in our own reading (Lk. 7) we can grasp a little more about the woman. “Sinner” means that she was an adulteress or a prostitute. In floods of tears she comes in repentance to Jesus, seeking forgiveness from the prophet who speaks for God. To kiss his feet expresses deep gratitude. To wash away his tears from his feet with her hair identifies her as a prostitute, for respectable women wore their hair piled high, not hanging down (see the illustration).  Jesus makes the same declaration to her that he made to the paralytic lowered from the roof and to the woman with an issue of blood:

“Your sins are forgiven.”

“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace!”

Here too he fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah (above).

Third, Jesus. Equally astonishing are his perception/ understanding, his authority and his great love and compassion. Jesus does understand that the woman weeps in repentance for her sins, and trusts in him. He reads Simon’s thoughts, his hardheartedness, and points out to him her great love. For the debt of sin cancelled in her case is great – v.47 “I tell you her many sins have been forgiven – and equally great are her repentance, gratitude and love. And this is the main point of the story. This woman has been made whole (the term ‘peace’, Greek for shalom, implies this), while the Pharisee remains unredeemed.

Jesus has overthrown normative values.

He has seen further, judged deeper.

He has shown compassion for the repentant sinner.

We have been presented by Luke with one more scene of Jesus’ charisma,

his authority, his healing power, his kindness.

May we too, then, admit and repent of our sins before God.

Let us forgive (unlike the Pharisee), trust and love (like the prostitute).

For it is Christ who sets the prisoner free and releases the oppressed.

                                                Questions.

Q 1. What has the artist got wrong in his scene of the ‘Roman’ triclinium?

Q 2. What was the attitude of the Pharisee Simon to Jesus?

Q 3. Who loves most?

Q 4. What do we learn about Jesus from this story?