Discipleship is not about me!

The last will be first in the first will be last. This passage we just heard read from Matthews’s gospel is not one for the human relations or personnel department; this is a reading for each one of us who is a disciple of Jesus Christ. Maybe we should start this reading half a dozen verses earlier when Peter says to Jesus ‘we have left everything and followed you, what then will we have?

Jesus has just told the rich young ruler that as well as keeping the commandments he needs to give up everything that he has, give his money to the poor, sell his possessions, then he will have treasure in heaven. And the young man went away sad. Peter asks: what about us, we've given up everything for you, what will we have? And Jesus tells the parable of the workers in the Vineyard. This isn't about fair work commission or pay scales for agricultural workers, this is about our expectations and the way that we live as followers, as disciples of Jesus.

God created people to live together in community, not to be isolated individuals. Both readings this morning, call into question much of the way that we live. The people of Israel had been happy and willing to follow Moses, to leave the oppression of the Egyptians. They had seen the plagues, daubed their doorposts with blood, and left quickly on the night of the Exodus. They had walked through the Red Sea. I am imagining that would have been a terrifying situation for many of them; first coming up against the Red Sea with the Egyptians close behind, then Moses holds out his staff, the East wind blows and they can walk across on dry land, all the time the Egyptians gaining ground.

They travel safely across, then things get a bit tough, and the hardships of the present seem more real than the hardships of the past. The people complained to Moses and Aaron saying: why did you bring us out of Egypt, we are about to die here in the desert, why not let us die in Egypt, where at least we had food to eat. They were hungry and thirsty, they had forgotten the oppression of Egypt, the crossing of the sea, and were struggling to believe the promise of God.

But God was not building a new Egypt; the people that God had liberated were to become a new nation, a nation that followed God's ways, a nation that trusted God; a nation that was guided by God; a nation that relied on God.

Bringing about change in the community is never easy. Often when we decide to make a change in our life, whether it is changing our diet and exercise habits, moving to a new place, taking up a new course of study, there comes a rough patch where it just all seems too hard, where we just want to go back to the way things were. We forget about those moments of inspiration or frustration that led us to making those changes, all we can see is the difficulty. The people of Israel were in the wilderness to 40 years during the Exodus, the implication being that this was pretty much a new generation by the time they got to the Promised Land. And in that time the people had learnt to trust God, to trust God for safety, for food, for water, for guidance.

I know many people find the Bible comforting, and it can be; but we mustn’t let ourselves be lulled by the comfort passages and miss hearing the radical call to live a life where everyone is valued; not only the rich, the high status, the healthy, everyone. The manna that was provided in the story from Exodus was enough for each family for the day.  In the parable, the amount given to each worker was enough for their daily needs. When this parable was written, day labourers would go and wait at the marketplace each morning, hoping someone would offer them a day's work, because the wage for one day's work was a denarius and that is what it would cost to feed a family of the day. As happens today the fittest and strongest get chosen first, and the others get left behind and will be unable to provide what their family needs.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we say “give us this day our daily bread.” Yet for many of us, only one day’s food in the cupboard would be stressful. There are people in this city; there are people who are part of God’s amazing creation, who do not have enough for even one day.  How do we work towards everyone having enough?

In the parable Jesus tells; there is an expectation that those who have laboured longest will get a greater reward, and once again Jesus turned everything upside down and says the reward that awaits you is not about how long you've served or how faithful a disciple you've been. The reward you receive from God is about the generosity and open heartedness of God. Because even if you're 95 or 105 spent every day worshipping God, never missed a Sunday at church, spent your life working with and behalf of the poor, teaching scripture in school, and working in underprivileged places, your reward is no more and no less than anyone else’s reward. And sometimes it just seems like it's not fair. But I wonder how would we feel if God treated us as we deserve?

Discipleship is not about earning God's favour; it's not doing what we have to do, so that God will bless us. Discipleship is our response to God's generosity, forgiveness, grace, new life, transformation and hope.

And discipleship implies we are working together, together with each other and together with God. Because both of these stories aren’t just about us as individuals, they are about community. In the book of Exodus, community is being formed, a community that will become a nation. The parable in Matthew is about people having what they need, of people not being envious or jealous, but each having enough, and each recognising God’s miraculous and outrageous provision.

We can't earn what God offers us, we can't pay for it, we don't deserve it.  None of us can earn God’s love or grace. God doesn’t treat us fairly. What God offers us is worth so much more than we can imagine, there is no way we deserve the generosity, the love, the salvation, the liberation that we are offered by God through Jesus Christ.

Discipleship is our response to God.

How will you respond anew to the challenge of God’s outrageous generosity?

[ following thisI am using an exercise by David Lose, posted at Working Preacher
http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=510">working ]

What would life be like?

This week in the news has been lots about this date 11 September, and it is often called ‘the day the world changed’. If September 11, 2001 is the day the world changed, in what way has the world changed? Where was light and hope amplified; where was peace increased; where was the proliferation of freedom? For me, in many ways the response to the actions of a few have created less hope, less light and more fear, then the events of that day.


As important and terrible as the events of 11 September, it is not the only day that the world changed. Every day has the potential to be life changing; every day is full of possibility; every day is a new day.

For the people of ancient Israel and the Jewish and Christian people today, the story of liberation from slavery in the book of Exodus was life changing and world changing. One of the intriguing things about this story is that Pharaoh is not named. In the Hebrew Scriptures many of the Kings are named, Kings of Israel but also Kings of other countries around Israel. Yet in this pivotal story in the history of the people of Israel, the name of Pharaoh is not recorded.

In many ways this story of the Hebrew people fleeing from Egypt refers not only to a particular group of slaves at a particular point in history; but is a common story. This is a story for people who are oppressed in many places, and many times in history. Sometimes for us to be free from that which binds us, we end up going through the desert. Taking the way that brings liberation and life can be fraught with danger and hardship. I wonder if the reason that Pharaoh is not named is so that this doesn't just become the story of one group of people, but a story in which many people can see their story. Maybe this is a story people in detention on Christmas Island[i] would relate to.

It wasn’t only Pharaoh that the people escaped from; they also were freed from their fears and doubts. This event was transformative in the history of the people of Israel, and in the faith journey of the people.

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The dramatic reading[ii] links with last week’s reading from Matthew, and this week’s reading. In asking ‘how many times do I need to forgive’, it shows that Peter had not understood the lesson on forgiveness from Jesus. Some translations say we need to give 77 times, others say 70x7, what it does mean is you just keep on forgiving.

When we are forgiven, it means we are able to take more risks. This doesn't mean we should go out and intentionally hurt other people. Hopefully being forgiven by God and being forgiven by other people means that we are able to try things that we are not sure will work. This passage is about forgiveness, and our need to forgive; but it is also about our need to accept forgiveness. Only in accepting forgiveness are we able to grow as individuals and grow in faith.

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In writing this letter to the Romans, Paul was addressing some specific issues. Divisions within the church are not new, the issues may be new, but division, unfortunately, has always been part of the church. In Paul's time it was about eating meat, not out of regard for animal welfare or human health. Most meat for human consumption was meat that had been offered to idols in the temple. Some Christians said the idols weren’t real so it didn't matter where the meat came from; others said we can't worship idols and therefore anything that could possibly be tainted by being associated with idols is taboo. Another point of division was about the day or days of worship. Are the Jewish holy days still to be recognised?

The divisions in the church in the last 10 or 15 years have been over quite different issues; issues of the ordination of women; the place of people in same gender relationships and baptismal practice. These are no more or less significant than the issues Paul was writing to the Romans about. At different times in history each of these issues has threatened to, or has, split Christian communities.

Paul tells the people of the Roman community that eating meat or not eating meat, worshipping on one day or another, does not make any difference to our relationship with God. We are told not to condemn one another because of different practices. We need to be discerning, but not judging or condemning.

Jesus tells us in Matthews gospel to forgive, and in a letter to the Romans, Paul tells us not to condemn one another because of our differences. It is our unity in Christ that makes us one with God and each other. Christ is Lord of all. We are to welcome those whom God has welcomed, not only those who agree with us on every matter, but everyone.

A story[iii]:

It was the final night of Vacation Bible School at Sweet Fellowship Baptist Church. Parents filled the sanctuary, eager to hear the songs and stories that their children had learned during the week. Four lively 5-year-old boys jumped up to offer their dramatic presentation of Moses and the Hebrew slaves leaving Egypt. Wielding their plastic swords, the boys especially liked playing the mean Pharaoh and his army who would not let the people go.

With a little prompting, Moses stood with his shepherd staff before Pharaoh and pleaded, "Pharaoh, the people are tired of being beat up. Let the people go." With the sword swirling, Pharaoh yelled, "Never!" Young Moses left the room, returning in a few moments to plead again. The teacher [I] whispered into Pharaoh's little ear: "Say ‘Never, never, never!'"

But Pharaoh had other ideas. He jumped down from his throne and said, "I'm tired of being mean. I don't want to be mean anymore. All of you can go, just go!" Then he threw his sword on the floor, walked over to Moses, and draped his arm around his shoulder and said, "Come on, let's go play."

“In many ways, we have felt trapped in the past ten years, in a cycle of fear and retribution (however we justify it), and yet ultimately left hungry for a better kind of justice that will lead to a more meaningful kind of peace.”[iv]
I wonder what it would be like if we welcomed everyone on a day when the media is focused on an event 10 years ago, an event that included devastation and loss of life?

I wonder what it would be like if we were people fleeing oppression, totally dependent on God for safety and survival?

I wonder what it would be like if we lived in the peace and freedom offered to us in Jesus Christ.

God forgives us, Christ offers peace and reconciliation, we are charged to welcome all people, to live as people of peace, compassion, freedom, forgiveness. I wonder what that would look like.

[i] Christmas Island is usually where Asylum seekers who arrive by boat are taken.

[ii] Re Matthew 18: 21— Nancy C. Townley, posted on Ministry Matters website

[iii] Let My Pharaoh Go! by Nancy Hastings Sehested [Sojourners: preaching the Word website]
[iv] Kathryn Matthews Huey in UCC SAMUEL

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What a Wonderful World

[ the choir is singing What a Wonderful World earlier in the service]

What a wonderful world. Sounds like what God said on each day of creation. Yet there are times when we recognise that some things in life are not wonderful. This coming week marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US; at present there is fighting and conflict in parts of the Middle East, Africa, and other places.

The person who wrote the song what a wonderful world, is right, the sky and the trees and the sound of a newborn baby, people shaking hands, all signs of this wonderful world that God has made. But so often we see shaking fists, rather than shaking hands; Fists that are a sign of aggression rather than love.

A few weeks ago we read about Peter being the rock on which Jesus would build the church, today we read about conflict resolution. Jesus didn't teach a lot about church, most of it was about living as God's people. The word church occurs rarely in the Gospels. So it seems to me that Jesus knew that when you get a gathering of people you will have conflict.

Yesterday at the market day at the school I was speaking with the principal, and we talked about places of community like being part of a congregation, or part of a school. Places where we gather, and when we gather what we can do and what we offer, and who we are is more than the sum of the parts. It is like in the Wizard of Oz where the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow join with Dorothy. Together they encourage and build each other up so that all of them together, is much more than four individuals.

The teaching in Matthews’s gospel about conflict resolution is a reminder of the importance of relationship. It is a reminder not to gossip, but to speak with the one who has caused you pain. It is a reminder of the importance of community, that the behaviour and actions and words of each one of us, affects those around us, and affects the community that we are a part of. Because when we are part of a community, whether that is a small group, a neighbourhood, a club, a church, a suburb, or some other group; our words and our actions speak not only about us as individuals but also about the group or the community that we are part of.

Each group or organisation that we are part of will have their own set of rules, they may be written down in a book, or they might be unwritten rules about the way you behave in this group or what does or doesn't happen in this group. In the reading from the letter to the Romans this morning, Paul talks about some of the rules of the church. Well it wasn't really the church then, these are part of the 10 Commandments handed down to Moses that are part of the Jewish faith as well as the Christian faith.

The 10 Commandments [exodus 20]:

1.   I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, you shall have no other Gods.

2.   you shall not make for yourself any idols

3.   will not take the name of the Lord in vain

4.   keep the Sabbath holy

5.   honour your parents

6.   do not murder

7.   do not commit adultery

8.   do not steal

9.   do not bear false witness

10.        do not covet your neighbours possessions.

The first four Commandments talk about our relationship with God, recognising God’s action in history and in our lives, and worshipping only God, not worshipping idols, not misusing God's name, and taking time to rest each week.

The other six Commandments are about our relationship with each other, and they flow from our relationship with God. When we recognise the God who has been active in the history of people, bringing liberation from Egypt in whatever form that is in our life, when we recognise that and recognise how much God loves us and forgives us, we also recognise that God calls us to treat all people with respect.

Paul is not advocating following just the 6 Commandments, or even the 10 Commandments. Paul is building on the teaching of Jesus, not in doing away with the law, but in bringing a new way of looking at relationships. There are a people who are willing to obey rules, and to a comfortable doing that, but you will notice at times people talk about the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. And sometimes following the letter of the law does not follow the spirit of the law. That is probably one reason why rules and regulations get to be so complicated. If we look at the commandment not to murder that seems clear-cut, but it isn't; what about self-defence and accidents. And what about when people live in such grinding poverty; lacking proper shelter and food and die malnourished and from disease; does that also count as murder.

Paul writes that love is the fulfilling of the law. Not to do away with the law, but to put the law in its proper place. Because when we act out of love, we respect life, we respect the relationships of others, we respect the homes and property of other people, and we do not use other people for our own ends.

Living out of love is not easy. Following the teaching of Jesus in the on conflict resolution is not easy. There are times when acting out of love is really hard, because we feel wronged, we feel hurt by the words or actions of another, we feel we are not respected, we feel let down. There are times when we act out of anger, fear, ignorance, rather than out of love. There are times when we don't want to resolve the conflict; we don't want to make peace with the person who hurt us, because it seems too hard.

How do we live this impossibility; this impossibility of living out of love. Paul writes that we should put on Christ. I'm told this is the same verb as putting on your clothes it makes your Christian life public. We live in this wonderful world that God made, and it can be a wonderful life, not because of the absence of pain and fear and anger, but because Christ lives in us and with us, and because of that we also live in hope and faith and love, for given and set free, to be the people that God made us to be.

We are the people of God, and we are called to live out of love, to love God and to love all people. And when we live out of love, we will want the best for each other and the best for God’s world. It is only in living in the love of God through Jesus Christ that we can begin to live out of love; it is only as we know God’s love in our life, as we know the forgiveness offered through Christ, as we embrace the Spirit within us, that we can be people of hope and faith, people who live out of love.

And that would be a wonderful world!