Reign of Christ?

Here is an image I saw this week. [slide 1] this image,

I thought we might play with it a bit this morning.

 [slide 2] It is asking us to think about if God is in the Church,

[slide 3] or if the Church is in God?

 [slide 4] I wondered what this would look like for some other questions:

 [slide 5] Is God in the world?

[slide 6] Or the world in God?

 [slide 7] Or something else? like this

[slide 8] or this

The reading from John’s gospel this morning asks where is God in the world? Where is the kingdom of God, the reign of Christ? Is it only in the church?

From the reading of the encounter between Pilate and Jesus, we can hear how Pilate was trying to work out the next step.  Going from the Jewish religious leaders who are outside the building, to Jesus who is inside the building.

Who has power, who has authority?

Pilate has power, so do the religious leaders.

The reading finished with Pilate finding no case against Jesus, but we know that the story continues to the crucifixion, because Pilate chooses the way of political expediency. He knows that Jesus has done nothing wrong, but in the end he chooses the path of least resistance. Back and forth he goes, from the Jewish leaders to Jesus, asking questions, trying to find a way out.

At times Christians have been accused of living compartmentalised lives, following Christian rules for religious matters, but following the secular rules in other matters. I wonder how much of our lives we find ourselves in Pilates shoes, listening to leaders,[religious and secular] listening to Jesus;

listening to the voices of caution, hearing the call to risk everything.

Listening to the voices of exclusion, hearing the call to welcome the least.

Listening to voices of greed, hearing the call to be generous.

Going back and forth, what to do, how to live, how not to stand out from the crowd.

Jesus said: ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’

How many of us are so clear about our life purpose? if Jesus is the truth, in what ways do our lives testify or witness to the truth?

Next Sunday is the beginning of Advent, 4 Sundays that count down to the Coming of Jesus, in those four Sundays we look at some of the Old Testament readings that tell of the yearning and waiting of the people of Israel for their new King.

As we shop and eat and party and visit, and write cards and go carolling, and everything else that gets squeezed into December, are we waiting and yearning for the coming of Jesus?

What are we waiting and yearning for in the coming of Jesus?

what do we expect that to mean in our lives and the life of the world?

This Sunday is the day we celebrate Christ the King or the Reign of Christ. Jesus said; My kingdom is not from this world. This is a King without a Royal Yacht, without a palace, without a throne; a king who respects and loves and dies for his people; a king who chooses the least, the unlovely, the powerless and offers welcome, inclusion and liberation. This Kingdom is not one we are familiar with. We live in a world where politics is littered with stories of corruption; where church leaders are questioned over child abuse policies; where business leaders argue for less tax, lower wages and higher profits.

This Kingdom is not one we are familiar with, but it is real, for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.  

I wonder where do we see the Kingdom of God; this week I was at a workshop of people who work in various capacities in the community sector, people who work with people with disabilities, people with mental illness, people who are struggling financially or physically, or homeless or addicted to alcohol and drugs, families who need help with children or aged relatives. People. People who struggle in one way or another.  To me this is a sign of the Reign of Christ. My guess is that few of the workers I met consider themselves Christian, yet the work they do with the least in our community is the work of Christ.

Where do you see the Reign of Christ around you?

How do you respond to Jesus the King calling you?

[I acknowledge the influence of David Lose  from Working Preacher in this sermon]

fear and hope

Most of us fear something, most of us grieve, most if us know what it is to be in pain, emotional and/or physical.  Hannah was in pain, the pain of not bearing a child, particularly a son. For Hannah, a child meant having a future. If she doesn’t have a son, when her husband dies, she will be at the mercy of the sons of the other wife, or a more distant male relative. Having a son meant life and security and hope for the future.

What is it that causes us fear and grief and pain today? For some of us that will be a relationship, a medical procedure,  or a disappointment about a new job.

Mark talks about rumours of war, we don’t need rumours, there are wars and violence in many places around the world. People fear terrorist activity and criminal behaviour. Politicians are good at playing the ‘fear card’ in any election, and any time the polls are going  against them. Fear of crime, fear of foreigners, fear of teenagers, fear of bikies, fear of financial doom.  Western society is very good at fear.

The reading from Samuel, where we hear about the pain and anguish of Hannah, is a reminder of our souls longing for connection with God. Hannah's prayer is a deep longing within her, a prayer without words, or at least audible words, a prayer that wells up from deep within her. So often our prayers are what we think they should be; our prayers can become lip service, rather than relationship with God.

A quote from Mahatma Gandhi, 20th century
“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” [UCC SAMUEL]

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

When we are in pain, when we grieve, when our life is held by fear, what happens to us. Most often, in these situations, people isolate themselves, we close ourselves off from others. Whether we literally lock ourselves away in a house or whether we just go into a shell, it is easier not to have to relate to other people, to new situations, and sometimes even to people we know well. It seems easier to cut ourselves off from the world and to deal with the potential for more pain.

Unfortunately sometimes this also means closing ourselves off from God. God knows about pain and fear and grief, but God is not held by these things and doesn't want us to be held and bound by them either. God, the giver of life, knows the diversity of emotions, the variety of experiences, the terror in the joy of being alive.

We are people who know God, and that means instead of holding everything inside ourselves we can pour it all out to God.

In Israel at the time of Jesus, the centre of life was the temple in Jerusalem. While the Romans had conquered Israel and were the governing body, the temple held a special place in the life of the people of Israel. The reading from Mark takes place as Jesus and his disciples have just walked out of the temple, and the disciples remark on the strength of the walls of the temple. In times of trouble people will often look to the church for help. While for many people a beautiful church building helps create a place where they sense the presence of God more easily, the building is not what can help ease our fears or hold our pain. Some buildings have that feeling of being prayed in so much that there really is something special about being in them. Churches, and other places that help us connect with God, are sanctuaries for us, sanctuaries that allow us to pour out all our worries and fears, and all our joys.

Hanna does bear a son, Samuel, and another of Hannah's prayers is recorded. This is a very different prayer to the first one. This is a prayer of joy, a prayer about God, to God. Theology is talking about God, prayer is speaking to God, prayer uses first person language. But this prayer is not only a prayer of joy at having a son, it is a prayer about a world turned upside down.

I had wondered about playing part of the song to you this morning the chorus of which is “it’s the end of the world as we know it”, I won't try and sing it for you. The gospel reading is one that has been used to try and predict the end times, but that isn't what it's about. It is about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, a place of great importance.

It is the end of the world as we know it.

Hannah's prayer is very much like the song of Mary that we will read in a few weeks, they both talk of a world turned upside down. A world where the poor will have food and the rich will be hungry.

It is the end of the world as we know it.

And that means the beginning of a new world.

What might this new world look like.

This morning we have baptised Callum and Rose, acknowledged how much God loves them and welcomed them into the Christian community. When I speak with people here who are in the 80s and 90s, they tell stories of how much the world has changed in their lifetime. I wonder what the world will be like when Callum and Rose are in their 80s. 

We can be fearful of the future, of the unknown, fearful of change; and we can allow that fear to keep us closed up within ourselves. We can allow fear and greed and anxiety to dominate our life and our choices. There is much in this world that we feel powerless about, poverty, wars, earthquakes and cyclones. There is even much in our local area that we feel powerless about: we fear violence if we go out at night, we are suspicious of groups of young people, we don't know who to trust. There are media reports of politicians and church leaders that cause us to question what is happening in our country.

God didn't create us to live in fear. God created us for love and for life, for freedom. We are created, known and named as God's daughters and sons.

We are called to live as the people of God, people known by God, people loved by God, people blessed by God.

It is the end of the world as we know it. A revolution of grace,  a new beginning for the poor, the hungry, the downtrodden;   a time for transformation.

Let us reflect on where God’s transforming work in our lives and the world.

What does it mean to love?

The Hebrew Bible has lots of rules to follow, there is the ten commandments, but also many rules in the old testament that cover what to plant, and what and when to sacrifice, and tithing and numerous other rules. Rabbis were often asked to interpret these rules. Here Jesus is asked what the most important of the rules are; and he responds:

“The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.” [Good News version]

He doesn’t speak of tithing, or sexuality, or what clothes to wear, or how to worship, or what structure the church should follow. He speaks about loving God and loving neighbour.

Reminds me of the song: All you need is love. it is just so simple, all you need is love, so says the Beatles classic.

“All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love,
Love is all you need”

But what do we mean by love?

These days we think of love as a romantic feeling.

I wonder what it means, to love God with all that we are, and to love our neighbour as our self. 

Loving God has to be easier than loving our neighbour, maybe we should start with the first one: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Maybe not so easy, so we will come back to it later, and move to the second most important commandment: “love your neighbour as you love yourself” .

In Luke’s gospel we have the story of the Good Samaritan in response to a question about who is my neighbour? Our neighbour is someone who is in need, and I get that we can, and should, help such people, but love them???

We heard a few weeks ago about the rich man who went away sad- Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor – is that what loving people is about, giving them what we have worked hard for? It doesn’t sound like love.

Matthew has the story of the Sheep and Goats at the judgement, and the sheep asking when they have visited or fed or given water or clothed Jesus and the response is : “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” [Matthew 25 CEV]

Love your neighbour as yourself, doesn’t sound simple either; maybe we can start with the part about yourself, loving our neighbour in the same way as we love our self.  I can remember early in my time as a Christian being told that I was at the end of the list, J O Y, Jesus first, yourself last and others in between, , there was a song about it. Yet, Jesus is saying that the second most important commandment is loving our neighbour, the person who is in need, in the same way that we love our self.  One person explained this by thinking about it like the oxygen masks on an airplane: the instructions are to ‘ “attach your mask first before assisting others.” The point is clear: If I do not take care of myself, I cannot take care of others. If I do not love myself, I cannot love others.’ [Seasons of the Spirit]

This passage then is about love, but not love that is a warm, romantic, sentimental feeling; love of neighbour = non-exploitation [Binding the Strong Man p318 Ched Myers].

I wonder what loving God and loving neighbour means in our world today.

·    In a world where people are cleaning up after the super storm Sandy [2 pictures]

·    In a world where making changes that mean a more liveable environment is thought of as strange [1 picture]

·    In a world where wanting to learn is considered dangerous [1 picture]

·    In a nation where the entire country has been removed from the migration zone

·    In a city divided by geography, wealth and education.

What does loving God and loving our neighbour as our-self mean?

Well, first of all we need to love our self, which can be difficult for many of us, because if we don’t love ourselves, how can we love others? This doesn’t mean thinking we are better than others, or that we never get anything wrong, but it does mean recognising and valuing the person that God has made you.

Loving our neighbour, living in ways that do not exploit people, in Biblical times this meant leaving grain for people to glean, which you can read more about in the Ruth story; not oppressing your workers; not discriminating against the disabled; not speaking falsely about people. Loving our neighbours seems to me to be about living in ways that offer life to all people, the fullness of life that Jesus speaks about.  

Which brings us back to the greatest commandment - Loving God with all out heart, soul, mind and strength. What might loving God look like? The scribe agrees with Jesus’ answer, and continues on that these two commandments are more important than burnt offerings and sacrifice - remember this was a time when ritual and sacrifice was considered very important, more important than how you treated people.

This is a reminder that loving God is not shown in burnt offerings, or these days we might say in an abundance of good works or giving to charity or pious living.

I have one more picture for you this morning, it was on the front page of the Leader on Thursday, this woman is recipient of the carer category of the NSW Grandparent of the Year awards; she has raised her grandchildren from the time they were quite young due to the breakdown in relationship of the children’s parents. The headline caught my eye.

All you need is love.

Maybe that is all we need, maybe the Beatles song isn’t too simplistic after all.

All we need is love

Love God with all that we are , and love our neighbour as we love our-self.

What does this mean in your life?