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Luke 11: 1 – 13
Jesus urges the man who wants to borrow some bread from his friend at midnight, to keep on knocking at the door – he will eventually get what he wants. That applies to all who want God to help them. He will never let us down.
The man really needs the bread for his friend because he has none of his own. He is unable to fulfil his obligations as a host. That would have been a terrible predicament for him at that time. His friend would have been aware of that and would have got up to provide the food that was needed, despite the inconvenience and the lateness of the hour. The man’s persistence would have been rewarded.
During my time here I have been woken up in the middle of the night by people – but on only a handful of occasions. That was not to give food to our neighbours but to go and be with someone in hospital and to give comfort to them after the death of a loved one.
That is a difficult thing to do but I know that it is appreciated by those suddenly bereaved. At a time like that there is nothing that I can say. All I can do is sit with them, listen to them and say a prayer for them commending their loved one to God’s everlasting care and asking him to comfort them and to love them in their grief. Perhaps I have provided them with food of a different sort.
The more I think about my ministry here the more I realise that being with people and trying to show the love of God to them – giving them spiritual food – has been the most important thing that I have done. I know that I will always be associated with the rebuilding of this church and I hope that it will be used to promote the Christian faith for many years to come but it was not me that made all this possible. It was all of us through the grace of God.
When I first arrived there were 2 Methodist churches here in Nantwich – Central and Welsh Row. The first job that faced me was to join them together to form Nantwich Methodist Church and then to consider the future direction of the new church. I did not know what to do and so I turned to God in prayer and continued to get to know people.
The vision of a new church came out of a church council meeting at Malpas. I believe that vision was inspired by God and it kept me going during the long years when planning applications were rejected, nothing seemed to be happening and yet people continued to question me about the organ.
There were times when it did not seem possible that the vision would be achieved but it has been – but only because the right people were here to drive it forward; and the money arrived when it was needed. We could not have done it without the prayer that has undergirded every part of the process. God truly has been with us and has given us what we asked for.
God has in a very real sense given us the bread that we need to live and function in the 21st century.
Food has been very important during my ministry here. I can’t count the number of meals that I have shared with you at many different times – breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It is during a meal that we can really get to know people as we share in conversation and in laughter together. Of course one of my duties before a meal is to say grace or to offer a blessing as the Americans say. When we eat together as Christians it is good to remember that Christ is always there sharing with us.
Which brings me to one of the major parts of my calling as a Methodist minister – they now call us Presbyters because Deacons are also ministers. So I am a Methodist Presbyter – a minister of word and sacrament. That is my calling, and that had not been fully tested when I first started here. Until my first Sunday I had only ever received bread and wine – the communion – I had never presided – not until my first Sunday. It was only through exercising that ministry that I could really confirm that that is what I am called to – the ministry of word and sacrament.
On a few occasions I have noticed that some people do not want to receive communion and when I have asked them why not they have replied that they do not feel worthy to receive. I understand that completely because I do not feel worthy to preside at communion but it is something that I am called to do and it is something that we are all called to share in.
Jesus Christ died so that each one of us might have eternal life with him. We begin to share in that eternal life as we share in the communion meal together and none of us are worthy to receive – but Jesus graciously gives himself to each one of us.
In a few minutes I will stand here and you will come forward with open hands in expectation. I have nothing to give to you except what I have received myself from God. All I can offer is God’s love symbolised in a little piece of bread and a drop of wine.
May God continue to bless us with the food that we all need to live the life that he calls us to lead.
Luke 10: 25 - 37
We might ask why the Samaritan did more than he had to do – more than he needed to do, but that misses the point. The point is that he wasn’t concerned with doing the right thing. He wasn’t thinking about meeting his obligations. He was motivated by love.
He was genuinely concerned about the man lying in the ditch. He saw that he was injured and wanted to do all that he could to help him. He may well have been worried about his own safety and wondered whether the robbers were still around waiting to attack him but that did not stop him offering help where he could.
He acted in the same way that any parent would act when their child is hurt and in trouble. They would go to any length to ensure that the child is loved and cared for.
The Samaritan’s attitude to his neighbour was more like the attitude that Jesus wants us to have.
The lawyer asked the question "who is my neighbour"? In other words, "who am I obliged to serve"? "What are the limitations on whom I have to love?" But the question Jesus answered was, "who can I be a neighbour to?" Who can I love? And the answer to that question is, anyone. Everyone.
The lawyer was focussed on himself – what he should be doing. That is common because we all want to do the right thing, but our boundaries are often limited by our own perspective, by our own selfishness and by our own prejudices.
Jesus wants us to widen our perspective. He wants us to forget self and he wants us to love all people as he did.
That is what the parable of the Good Samaritan is all about. That is why it is so important that we understand it and why it challenges us so much. We need to try and follow the principles within it as best we can.
1 Kings 21: 1 – 21a
A lyric in one of Cliff Richard's songs says that God is watching us – from a distance. It implies that he is sitting there watching everything that we do but will not interfere. He has given us his free will and will allow us to get on with life as we choose. That is true – but it is not the whole truth.
He has given us guidelines in how to behave toward one another and towards him, and, most importantly, he is with us himself in the person of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God may well be watching us from a distance but he is also a lot closer to us than that. He lives within us. He is there all the time, nearby and willing to guide us in our everyday lives. All we need to do is accept him for ourselves, give him the honour he deserves, and allow him to guide us in all that we think and do.
The story of Naboth's vineyard shows how very close to us the devil can get – if we allow him to. He is able to make himself so attractive to us that we can become blinded to anything else. As in the case of Ahab with Jezebel – we are in danger of inviting him into our beds where he is able to whisper evil thoughts to us in our most unguarded moments.
Thankfully, though he can come no closer unless we allow it. He is unable to be as close to us as Jesus.
The devil is always by our side trying to get our attention but Jesus lives within our hearts. Jesus will enable us to do the right thing and to resist the evil temptations that the devil sends.
Proverbs 8: 1 – 31
Here is a biblical picture of the way that God tries to attract our attention not so that he can get what he wants but so that he can give us what we need for a fulfilling life. God wants us to have wisdom because wisdom is better than gold or silver or jewels and wisdom gives us everything that we need. The wisdom that God refers to is spelt with a capital W and really means God himself – or at least an aspect of God.
Wisdom is often equated with Jesus Christ although it might be better considered to be an attribute of the Holy Spirit.
In this concept of Wisdom we can see the feminine aspect of God. The Greek word for wisdom is Sophia. I can imagine God’s Wisdom being likened to an old woman who has lived a good long life and has reflected on all that life has thrown at her. I can imagine people seeking her out to benefit from her wise words. But that is not the image of wisdom that is set forth in this poem from Proverbs.
In this passage wisdom is characterised as calling out to us. She wants to be heard and we have a picture of a woman standing at the crossroads or at the entrance to the city appealing to all who pass – calling to everyone on earth. Now that suggests an image of a completely different kind of woman – a woman of the street – a prostitute .
That is quite a shocking picture when we associate it with God, but it does give us a completely different idea of the God who is calling to us. That is God – the creator of heaven and earth – who is willing to do anything to attract our attention.
God will risk everything to ensure that he is noticed. God was even willing to sacrifice himself in the person of Jesus Christ so that we might have eternal life. God wants us all to give him his worthship. God wants us to worship him as he deserves.
Now that really is something to think about.
Acts 16: 9-15
Paul accepts the situation as it is and does what God expects him to do. He tells them about Jesus. He tells them about his life, about his death and supremely about his resurrection. He tells them that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets and that through him they can have eternal life.
The new beginning in Phillipi was only achieved because Paul and his companions were willing to obey God’s message given to them through the Holy Spirit. Before going to Phillipi they had intended to go to Bithynia in Asia but something had stopped them and Paul had a vision that they should go to Macedonia in Europe – which is where all these exciting things happened. The gospel took root and grew
Perhaps there is a message there for the way our politicians should be acting as they try to form our new government.
There is certainly a message for us because exciting things happen when we are open to the moving of the Holy Spirit. If we do as God wishes then he will do the rest and the kingdom will grow.
Our country has spoken but no one really knows what has been said. Often God speaks but we do not know what he is saying. We can only know that when we come close to him by reading the Bible, joining a church fellowship, partaking of communion and praying. When we know God better we can understand what he is asking us to do.
Luke 24: 1 - 12
The gospel depends on unreliable witnesses to tell the story. At the time that Jesus was crucified, women were not eligible as witnesses that role was the preserve of men. Yet it was women who first discovered the empty tomb. It was women who first heard the message of the resurrection. It was women who were the first to spread the good news. It was women who were the first apostles – those who were sent to give good news to others.
In the act of resurrection, and all that followed, God began a new thing. Not only was Jesus raised from death with all the promise that that holds for each one of us, but he relied on the weak, the powerless, the outcast and those not eligible to be legal witnesses to spread his message.
In those days women were marginalised and insignificant yet they enabled the message to spread by speaking the truth and letting others decide for themselves. Today the church is becoming marginalised and insignificant but we must continue to speak the truth of the gospel and let others decide for themselves.
The message of the resurrection and eternal life for all who believe in Jesus christ is too important for us to keep quiet.
Luke 13: 31-35
The pictures in this short passage are full of meaning but need a little bit of unpacking
Herod is likened to a fox. In Jesus day a fox was regarded as an insignificant animal so Jesus considers King Herod to be insignificant. But a fox was also considered to be sly, cunning & artful.
Jesus likens himself to a mother hen wanting to protect her chicks under her wing. That is not a very strong image when compared to that of a fox. We all know how long hens can last when they are up against a fox – not very long at all. We know exactly what the end result of that confrontation will be. The hen will be a bloody mess on the ground and feathers will be scattered everywhere.
Yet this is the picture that Jesus uses – a hen confronting a fox and shielding her chicks under her wings. It is a powerful image and in it we can see the cross where Jesus dies to save us all.
The protection that a hen gives her chicks does not seem to be very great when a fox is loose in the chicken run. It all depends on the faith that her chicks have in her. If they are able to hide under her wings then they may have a chance of life. If they are too frightened or do not have the faith to trust in her protection then there is no hope for them. The same applies to us in relation to Jesus.
If we want to have eternal life then we must trust in Jesus Christ and accept his sacrifice for us.
Luke 4: 16 - 30
Jesus claimed to be the Messiah but the people of Nazareth did not believe him.They did not like what he had to say. You see he was telling them that God loves other people as much as he loves them. That was a hard message for them to hear because they had always considered themselves to be God’s chosen people. They thought that they were favoured more highly than their neighbours.
They did not like the message and so they tried to do away with the messenger.
In this case Jesus walks away from them and they do not succeed as his enemies will later. This story in a sense prefigures Jesus’ later arrest and death but I don’t want to concentrate on that. I want to concentrate on the love that God shows to all people.
This gospel story shows how easily Jesus avoids being killed by the people of Nazareth. He walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way. They could not harm him even though they wanted to. That shows that Jesus had the power to avoid violent death by the hands of others. Yet 2 or 3 years later – when the time was right – Jesus willingly allowed himself to be arrested by the Temple guards and accepted the cruel death that awaited him.
That is what Love is all about. Jesus accepted all the sins that you have committed and will ever commit and all the sins that I have committed and will ever commit.
He took our sins upon himself before we knew anything of it. He loved us so much that he died so that we might live. What does that really mean?
It does not mean that we will not die – because everyone dies sooner or later. In fact most people die sooner rather than later. Most people die before they are ready. That is the great tragedy of life most people die before they have responded to the offer that God extends to us all.
God offers us life not death. He promises us life if we only believe that Jesus died for us. It is only when we accept Jesus into our lives that he is able transform our sinfulness into eternal life. If we believe in Jesus then we can be sure that we will share in the eternal life that is his.
We know that Jesus is alive because God raised him from death. If we accept that, then he will do the same for us. He will raise us to new life – eternal life when he returns to earth again at the end of time.
That is a wonderful promise. We can live forever if we accept Jesus Christ as Lord.
The hard lesson that we need to think about is what happens if we do not accept Jesus as Lord.
When he went back to Nazareth and spoke in his local synagogue the people that were there – that had known him all their lives refused to accept him as the Messiah and tried to kill him. But Jesus just walked away from them and went his own way. They did not want to know him so he went to others who did want to know him.
That was a great tragedy for the people of Nazareth they had an opportunity to learn from Jesus but rejected it and Jesus left them to go somewhere else. That is what happens if Jesus is not made welcome with us – with you with me. He will go somewhere else where he is welcome. Those who reject him may not have another opportunity to change their minds and they will miss out on the promise of eternal life
Don’t let that happen to you. If you have not accepted Jesus into your heart do so before it too late.
Luke 24: 13 - 49
The text today is Luke 24: 48 “You are witnesses to this”
Two brief points that I want to make about this story – the road to Emmaus and the appearance to the disciples.
It was during a meal that the couple in Emmaus first recognised Jesus. It was also during a meal that the disciples were able to clearly see and begin to understand something of the suffering that Jesus went through for each one of us. A meal is the central part of many church services and it is a great sadness that the church on earth is divided by the sacramental meal.
The sacramental meal is only one aspect. We may be divided in that, but we can be united with each other and with every other person in the world through any other meal. Jesus talked about the scriptures and their significance to him while he was eating a piece of grilled fish. We can do that with each other and anyone else. What better time is there for us to share our Christian experiences with others if we do not do it while sharing a meal or even a cup of tea together.
The other point is that when the couple arrived back in Jerusalem after that 7 mile walk from Emmaus the eleven remaining disciples confirmed that the resurrection was true – Jesus is alive. Then the couple told of their experiences on the road and how they recognised him when he broke the bread.
Again the liturgical breaking of the bread divides the churches but we each have our own experiences of Jesus and we need to share those experiences with each other. We need to listen and learn from each other about the great sacrificial love that Jesus has for us.
We are all witnesses separately and together. I hope that in this week of prayer for Christian unity we can all remember that and learn from it.
Matt 2: 1 - 12 Epiphany
Epiphany means something like ‘appearance’, ’realisation’, or ‘awakening’. It speaks about what may be a sudden realisation of a truth or reality – making a new discovery about life. The Church uses the word to describe what happened when the wise men actually met Jesus the baby – or the young child as he might have been 2 years old.
The Epiphany is about the realisation that God is with us now today.
Today we remember that first epiphany when the wise men met with Jesus and we remember the gifts that they gave to him – Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, but we also remember the life and death of the man that the little baby became.
We remember how Mary and Joseph took him to Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod. We remember that as an adult he was baptised in the River Jordan and spent the next three years of his life calling disciples and teaching them about the Kingdom of God. We remember his perfect sinless life. We remember his teaching and his miracles. We remember his arrest, his suffering and his death.
We remember that he suffered on our account. He took our sins on his own shoulders and he took our punishment for those sins. He died so that we might live.
We remember that on the third day he rose from the dead breaking the power of death for all time so that if we just believe that Jesus is Lord we too will experience a similar resurrection from the dead when he comes again.
The life and sacrifice of Jesus was costly for him but he did it for us. He did what God wanted him to do. He did it so that we might live.
Now here comes the difficult part for us because he calls us to follow him on the road where he has led. He calls us to give up everything for him as he has done for us.
That is why today we have this Covenant service on the first Sunday of the New Year. It is a service of recommitment that was instituted by John Wesley to remind us once a year that we are in a covenant relationship with God through Jesus.
A covenant is an agreement.
God has agreed that he will give us eternal life if we accept Jesus as Lord and follow him in all things. When we accept Jesus into our lives we agree to that.
But as we all know we have great difficulty in doing what we say we will. We recognise that we have broken our part of the bargain in many ways since we first accepted Jesus – but God has kept his part of the bargain and always will. We may have let him down but he will never let us down.
So we now have a chance to remember our epiphany – when we first realised who Jesus is. In the next few minutes we will recall something of what we promised God at that time. We have already repented of our sins earlier in the service and so we can rededicate ourselves to him once again as forgiven people. But we should remember again how we fell short last year and resolve to try and do better this new year.
John 1: 1 - 14 Jesus the Light of the world
The reading is not the traditional Christmas story of angels, shepherds, wise men and a baby asleep in a manger. It is about the word of God coming into the world that he had created and not being recognised. Jesus was not only, not recognised as the word of God by his own people – he was persecuted and executed by them.
Jesus – the word of God – in this passage is also described as the real light – the light that comes into the world and shines on everyone. Many people do not recognise Jesus as the Son of God but that does not change the truth one iota.
For various reasons they do not recognise the light of the world. Perhaps they are more interested in the darkness – the evil of the world – than the light – the goodness that is all around us. Perhaps they are more interested in the light of consumerism – trying to get as much stuff as they can, that they do not notice the real light hidden within their own desires.
There are many reasons why people do not recognise Jesus as the light of the world but that does not matter to us today.
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Immanuel – God with us. He came and lived among us as a human being. We have met him in many, many ways. We have recognised the truth for ourselves because we have seen his glory reflected in our lives and in the lives of others.
He is the light of the world and the darkness of the world has never, and will never, put that light out. Jesus was crucified and died in great agony – because he took our sins upon his own shoulders. But the darkness of death could not hold him. On the third day he rose again. That gives us hope that we too can have eternal life if we just believe in him.
We recognise Jesus as the light and we can see his light reflected in us. But there are many people who do not recognise Jesus and the light in their life is very faint indeed. It is up to us – who have the real light in our lives – to help them to recognise Jesus as the Son of God. Then they will be able see the light within themselves and be enabled to let that light shine out.
That is what Christmas is all about.
Carol Traditions
I want you to imagine the scene a long time ago – sometime in the 15th century - at a Christmas ball. This would be in a big house like Little Moreton Hall not far from here. The ball would take place in the great hall where all the guests would be gathered together.
They would be dressed in all their finery – the men in tight breeches and the ladies in beautiful long dresses. You may have seen some of the documentaries about Henry 8th and the Tudor period – that sort of thing
The musicians would be playing the latest music – the dance was about to start.
The hall itself would be dark – there was no electric light in those days. There would be a few flickering candles just illuminating the guests lining the walls to keep the dance floor clear.
A couple would step daintily onto the floor and begin. They would be holding hands and each would have a lighted candle in the other hand. They dance daintily forward and back towards another couple greeting them and bowing and curtseying as they do so.
They each let go of their partner’s hand and take the hand of a new
partner. As they do they light the candle that the new partner is holding. The two dancing couples repeat the steps and another two couples join the dance. The movement is repeated until all everyone is dancing and the whole hall is filled with the light of moving flickering candles.
Imagine if you can what that would look like.
The dance that they were enjoying so much was a snowballing candle dance for obvious reasons. As a snowball is rolled in the snow it gets larger – the dance gradually involves more people the longer it goes on.
The dance was also a carol – the word comes from the ancient Greek 'choros', which means "dancing in a circle," and from the Old French word 'carole', meaning "a song to accompany dancing".
The carol “Unto us a boy is born” was originally a snowballing candle dance.
The tradition of dancing to a carol is long gone and the tradition of singing carols at Christmas is also in danger of disappearing according to a recent article on the Daily Telegraph web site entitled: Keeping the carols alive – Christmas carols: a festive tradition is in danger of losing its voice.
This was written by a teacher bemoaning the fact that parents attending the children’s carol service did not know the carols and so did not sing them. In 6 years since he started teaching carols that parents join in have become less challenging - they just don't know them.
If people stop singing carols then Christmas will never be the same again. I cannot imagine Christmas without carols and I cannot imagine Christmas without Christ.
In a traditional carol service we listened to the gospel story of the incarnation – of God becoming a human being – through our scripture readings as well as by the singing of the carols.
The message is reinforced for us by both methods and through singing we can rejoice that God is with us in all the ups and downs of our lives.
The tradition of carol singing helps to reinforce the message for us but what about those who never go to church and never sing carols? How will they ever hear the message of God’s love for them through Jesus Christ?
Perhaps that is a question for us all to ponder as we move towards the great celebration of our Saviour’s birth.
Zephaniah 3: 14 - 20 Joy
This is a song of joy that works on three levels. It is immediately relevant to Zephaniah’s situation. It is a prophecy that has already been fulfilled and it is also a prophecy awaiting fulfilment.
Zephaniah is writing at the time when Jerusalem has just been re-established as the centre for worship of God. All the idols and the pagan priests have been banished and the Lord God reigns supreme again because all the false gods have gone. Those false gods – idols have been the downfall of the people. They have been the enemies of the people because they are not the true God.
They have now gone and so Zephaniah calls on the people to rejoice because the Lord has ended their punishment by removing all their enemies.
Now that they have returned to the worship of The Lord God Almighty there is nothing for them to fear. They have no need to be afraid and they can now really rejoice.
This song is also a prophecy of what will shortly happen to the people. Not long after it was written they were taken off to exile in Babylon and this song offered them a promise that they would return to their homes again. They would come back to Jerusalem rejoicing – and they did. That prophecy was fulfilled.
Zephaniah’s words were true for his people at that time and they are also true for us at this time as we look forward to the second coming of Jesus on the last day. When that day comes we will be full of joy and will want to praise God with all our might.
There is a nice touch in verse 16 where the Lord speaking through Zephaniah says “do not let your hands hang limp”. That means that when the time to rejoice comes they should raise their hands in praise to God.
I find it interesting that there is nothing new in people raising their hands in praise of God – it is what God wants. There is also nothing new in people being too reserved to want to praise God in that way. Most of us do not feel comfortable doing it – but here in this passage God is encouraging us to do that as we rejoice with him.
So we are called to be joyful when we think of all that God has done and will do for us and to praise him with all our being
But that is not all. In verse 17 we read “The Lord will take delight in you, ... He will sing and be joyful over you, as joyful as people at a festival”
That is really something to think about. The lord will delight in you. The Lord will delight in me. The Lord will delight in us. That is difficult to imagine isn’t it. We wonder why would the Lord – the creator of heaven and earth delight in us. Why would he rejoice over us?
I look at myself and sometimes wonder what on earth the Lord can see in me to rejoice over. Many times I am not pleased with what I have done or what I have not done and yet God rejoices over me and he rejoices over you. He rejoices over all of us and his love gives us new life.
Why would the Lord rejoice over us? There is only one reason – because he loves us. We are his children – we are his family and he loves us. He wants us to be with him and he promises that when we are with him then there will be a great festival. There will be a real party when we gather together as a family. At that party there will be an abundance of food and drink and there will be great rejoicing as we meet together with all those that have gone ahead of us and those who will come after us.
Just imagine the buzz of conversation and fun and laughter there will be on that day when we all gather together with our Father and delight in his love for us as he rejoices in our love for him.
Rev 1: 4b-8 - Christ the King
There are 3 attributes of Christ the King to consider
He is the faithful witness. Jesus in a sense is like the queen as head of state. She only speaks the words that are given to her by the government. She is a figurehead but she also embodies the ideals of the country and it is to her and her successors that all public servants swear allegiance. The queen is a faithful witness of her government speaking what she is told to say.
Jesus is the faithful witness of God. Jesus acts strictly in accordance with God’s will and speaks his word. Jesus is often called the Word of God. So we can trust in everything that Jesus says. He speaks the truth – as he says in John 18:37 “I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.”
The implication for us – if we want to be citizens of his kingdom – is clear. Listen to what Jesus says and act accordingly.
He is the first to be raised from death. His resurrection gives hope to all humanity because Jesus was fully human. If he can be raised from the dead then so can every other human being.
But how is that possible? We might ask. It is possible because Jesus is king with real authority that has been delegated to him by God his Father. Jesus has said in John 14: 6 “I am the way the truth and the life” and v 12 “those who believe in me will do what I do”
In other words we too can be raised from death if we only believe in Jesus. In fact that is all that we need to do – just believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Just believe in Jesus Christ as the King of Heaven and you will have eternal life. You, I, we will live forever if we just believe in him.
He is the ruler of the kings of the world. A theologian named John Hess-Yoder has suggested that there is always a temptation for the church to ally itself with political leaders – with earthly kings. That is evident here in England where our queen is the head of the Church of England and bishops sit in the House of Lords.
He gives a good illustration of the Kingdom of God which came out of his experience as a missionary in Laos.
Before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement on taxation in the border areas. Those who ate short-grain rice, built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians and paid taxes to the king of Laos. And those who ate long-grain rice, built their houses on the ground, and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese and paid taxes to the king of Vietnam.
Their nationality was not determined by where they lived but by their cultural values. That should be the same for us. We live in the world, but we should not be of the world. If we really want to be part of God’s kingdom, we should live according to his kingdom’s standards and values.
Mark 12: 38 - 44 - A Futile Sacrifice? Remembrance Sunday
The widow put all that she had to live on in the Temple offering. She put her trust in God – she trusted him with her livelihood. We do not know what happened to the widow after she had put all her money in the offering. We don’t know what she had to eat or how she coped having given all her money away. That is the point of a sacrifice – it can make life more difficult. It may be even be pointless in worldly terms but if it is given for the right reasons it is valuable to God.
How does this compare to sacrifices in war? Do soldiers die to no real purpose?
This week we heard the story of 5 soldiers killed in an attack by a policeman that they were training within a security compound in Afghanistan. Another 6 soldiers were injured as well as 2 Afghan police officers. That episode raises all sorts of questions about the security of our troops and also about the reason that they are there.
Is their loss of life and the injuries suffered a futile sacrifice?
Are the sacrifices made in time of war justified or not? I don’t know – but today we do remember those who have made that ultimate sacrifice – who have lost their lives in time of war.
When Jesus died on the cross it appeared futile to the disciples. What had he really achieved at that time? The disciples were a frightened bunch of people hiding themselves away in locked rooms. They were scared to go out in case they too were arrested and executed like Jesus. At that time – immediately after the crucifixion – it seemed as though the whole movement that Jesus had inspired would die with him.
But of course Jesus’ sacrifice was not futile. His sacrifice was not in vain. His sacrifice did not have to be repeated as did the sacrifices of the Jewish priests of that time – as do the sacrifices of soldiers in war time. Jesus sacrifice was a once and for all sacrifice and it has benefits for all of us who believe in him.
Jesus was willing to live his life according to God’s will. He did not do what society or governments expected of their people. Jesus was God’s man only, and nobody else’s.
He did God’s will all his life, up to and including his death as a sacrifice so that we might have eternal life.
Any sacrifice of ours pales into insignificance when compared to that.
The widow’s sacrifice was pointless as far as the temple treasury was concerned but I am sure that it was not pointless as far as her spiritual well being was concerned. She gave all that she had – her motive was pure – she loved God and was fully committed to him.
I suspect that most of the sacrifices that are made in times of war are futile because they do not involve commitment to God.
As we remember those who have given everything that they had I just want us to ask ourselves whether we are willing to give all that we have to God.
Mark 12: 28 - 34 - The great commandment
Jesus tells us to...
Love God with all our heart. The heart is more than just a pumping station. It is the centre of our being. In a sense it is the command centre of the body. It is the place where all our plans are hatched and decisions made. It controls our feelings, emotions, desires and passions. It is the place where religious commitment is rooted.
The older son in the Prodigal Son stayed at home and worked for his father but his heart was not in it and so he could not rejoice with his father when his brother returned.
So many people go through life giving their hearts to everything and to nothing. Those who give their hearts completely to God will never be lost.
Love God with all our Soul. The soul is the source of vitality in life. It is the motivating power that brings strength of will. In Genesis God breathed the breath of life into Adam. God's breath gave life to the clay that he had moulded, and that clay became a living human being – a soul. The ancient Hebrews were living bodies they did not think of themselves as having a body as we do today. For them the term soul would equate to life – which exists beyond death.
When the soul is coupled with the heart it determines our conduct. When we love with all our soul we will commit all our energy and strength to God.
Love God with all our mind. The mind is the faculty of perception and reflection. It directs our opinions and judgements. This is a translation from various Greek and Hebrew words denoting the human capacity for contemplation, judgement and intention.
We need to love God with all our intelligence – that means thinking about our faith and how it relates to modern society. We should be willing to apply our faith to the big moral and ethical questions facing the world. This would help society to answer the why questions as well as the how questions.
Love God with all our strength. Strength refers to physical capacities as well as our possessions. It signifies our energy output – our work, our job, whatever it is that we put effort into. We need to give God all that we have as the widow did with her two coins and as the rich man did not do with all his wealth.
For many people God is just a concept and we find it very difficult to love a concept. It is much easier to love a person or perhaps a thing like a church. Love of God is often expressed in the love for the church building. In some cases the love that we should give to God is actually given to the church building or parts of the church building.
We need to be careful that we don’t do that because God is real. God is the creator of us all and deserves all our love.
Our neighbour is everyone that we encounter. There is no such thing as a non neighbour. Everyone deserves our love equally because all are also creations of God as we are.
Jesus calls on us to re-order our lives by giving God priority rather than just trying to make time for him when we can. I would like you to spend some time this week just thinking about what that might mean for you.
Remember Jesus loved you and me so much that he was willing to die so that we might have eternal life. If we believe that then surely we should take great note of what he says and try and do what he asks of us.
He asks us to Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength and love you neighbour as you love yourself.
Mark 10: 35 - 45 - Conflict among the disciples
The attitude that James and John had is still prevalent in the church today. There are still people who like to be important or like to think that they are important. This story should pull all of us up short.
One of the reasons that I chose the Methodist church when I was thinking of becoming a minister was because I prefer the relative equality of the non conformist ministry rather than the hierarchy in the church of England. We do not have bishops or the same sort of career structure as they do. But, of course, ministers are often seen as being more important in the church than other members of the congregation – but we are not.
I am only here because I have been called by God. But that should be true of all of us in the church. God through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit calls each one of us to worship and to follow him.
When we respond then God gives us certain responsibilities and maybe tasks to do. One of those tasks is to come together corporately to worship as the church in this place.
That is where things can go wrong because it is so easy to confuse what the church needs with what God wants of us. The church is an organisation and it needs to be organised and run in an efficient and we might say a business like fashion. So we organise ourselves into groups and committees to undertake this function and that function so that the church will be seen as welcoming and friendly and more people will join us because they like the things that we do.
When we start thinking like that then it is easy to see how we can slip into the thought that the person who does this or that job is more important than the person who does something else or, perhaps the person who only comes to church on a Sunday.
That is wrong thinking completely because all are equal in the kingdom of God.
We are all children of God and God loves each of his children equally. That is part of what baptism is all about. As I said before we are all welcome in God’s kingdom irrespective of what we do or who we are or even how important we think we are.
I find it really interesting and quite disturbing that Jesus uses the imagery of baptism to describe what he is going to have to go through before he comes into his glory. Jesus uses baptism as an image of suffering saying to James and John “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I must drink? Can you be baptized in the way that I must be baptized?”
The cup is a well used biblical metaphor for suffering. Jesus uses it again in the garden of Gethsemane when he asks God to tak this cup from him. Baptism used in this way is a metaphor for being plunged into suffering in the same way that Jesus was plunged into the River Jordan when he was baptized.
Jesus will not just be sprinkled with a little bit of suffering as when I baptise a baby I sprinkle them with a little bit of water. He will be submerged completely in it. There will literally be no way out for him once he chooses that road, as he did. He must go through suffering and death before he can rise again having defeated death.
When we are baptized in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit we are somehow joined with Christ. We become part of his body – the church. We also open ourselves up to the suffering and the persecutions that, from time to time, are inflicted on Christian believers. At the moment the church is not really persecuted very much in this country. Most people seem to be indifferent to us – perhaps that is because we are not following Christ in the way that he wants us to.
Perhaps we are not following Christ in the way that he wants us to, because we are too concerned with our positions, with our status in the community. Perhaps we, like James and John are in danger of missing the whole point of Christ’s life death and resurrection.
Perhaps that is something that we all need to consider as we continue on in our life in this place.
Hebrews 2: 8-9
"We do not, however, see human beings ruling over all things now. But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, so that through God's grace he should die for everyone. We see him now crowned with glory and honor because of the death he suffered."
It is in Jesus Christ that the human race reaches its fullest potential. We recognise Jesus Christ as being God incarnate. Jesus Christ was a complete human being. He went through all the trials and tribulations that all mortal human beings go through.
He knew what it was like to grieve for loved ones who had died even though he had the power to heal and to restore life. He even learned what it was like to suffer and die himself, as we all must at some future time. Jesus was a complete human being – he was the most complete human being who has ever lived. And he came through death to live in glory with God his Father.
Human beings are special in God’s eyes. We have been given dominion over the whole created universe. We have been given an example in Jesus Christ of the way that that dominion is to be exercised – in God’s service. And we have through Jesus Christ, achieved our rightful place in heaven already.
The mystery – why God places so much value on us as human beings is still a mystery. But he does. God wants us to bear with him the joy of ruling over the universe and he has shown us how to do that in his son Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to show us all – as human beings – how to live and what the future holds for us. But the important thing is that he did it for each of us as individuals.
Jesus came into his glory in heaven through his death on a cross. As he died he took onto himself all our sins so that when we believe in him we too will have eternal life and be able to take up our rightful place with him in glory.
Our lives and the lives of all of humanity have potentially been saved by the death of Jesus on the Cross. It was through that sacrificial action rather than superhuman power that we can achieve our full potential.
In Jesus Christ, God used his superhuman, supernatural power to save us. God did it of his own free will. Jesus accepted his mission of his own free will. God allows us to use our own free will to accept or reject his offer of eternal life.
Perhaps we can say that it takes a superhuman effort on our part to accept that offer of eternal life, because it is not easy to follow Jesus. It certainly requires a great spiritual effort but we can be sure that that effort is always aided and abetted by God himself.
It is God’s superhuman power, God’s supernatural power, that is the ultimate saving power in the universe and we share in that supernatural power when we voluntarily submit our Wills to God and become truly what he wants us to be.
God did not send a superhuman being to save us. He sent a man like us to show us how to live. If we live as Jesus did then we have the promise of eternal life – a life that will be superhuman one. That life will be greater than any other life that we could possibly have if we do not accept Jesus into our hearts.
The capable wife Proverbs 31: 10 - 31
The reading is a picture of an ideal housewife not like Mrs Hyacinth Bucket (Keeping up Appearances) who tries to impress people. This woman does what she does so that she and her household will give honour to God.
The reading is a poem - an acrostic poem. Each line starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in alphabetic order. It is as though the poet wanted to extol the virtues of this superwoman in every possible way and so he uses the whole alphabet to do it. It would have made it easier to memorise.
The poem was traditionally recited by husbands and children at the Sabbath table on Friday night as the Sabbath began.
This is not some man’s dream woman but represents a universal type of woman. Her value is derived from her godly wisdom and it benefits her family and her community.
It is like a hymn but it praises a wife of noble character rather than God. It is very similar in pattern to Ps 111 and its aim is to extol the works of wisdom.
Wisdom is a feminine noun and so is often regarded as the feminine aspect of God. The Greek word is Sophia. So the poet can personify all the lessons of wisdom in this picture of a more than capable wife who is worth far more than jewels. She can do anything because she honours the Lord.
She is not like other women in ancient literature – decorative and beautiful. She is not a powerful warrior. Her place is as a wife and a mother. She is the mainstay of her family.
This poem suggests that the family is a very important part of society and wisdom can be gained in ordinary domestic circumstances. It suggests that she is content to be where the Lord has put her. She will do her best to look after her family’s needs and she also provides help for the poor.
It is important to realise that wisdom can be taught and learned in an ordinary domestic situation. In some way ordinary home life can give us insights into the ways of God.
I think that she is an example to us all about the way that we should live our lives. Family life is important and it is the woman who, by and large, keeps it all together. It was the Jewish women who kept the Jewish society together. They kept the household running. They ensured that the right food was eaten and that everyone was dressed in the appropriate way and that the Sabbath was observed.
This poem shows that in being a good wife she and all her household honours God. That is her motivation.
This woman is the ideal – she is rare in practice. She is a model for us all. She is happy with who she is because she trusts in God. That is something that we can all do.
The message for us is to avoid trying to live up to the expectation of others. Be content with what God has given you. Honour God in all things and you will truly be blessed.
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