Greed and the Good Life

What would you do if you were given 100 million dollars?

·    Pay off the mortgage

·    Help out your children and grandchildren?

·    Go on a holiday?

100 million is a lot of money, I can think of what to do with one million, possibly 2 million, but more than that, I would have to think really hard about what to do with it all.

Those of us who grow fruit and veggies at home know that some years there is an abundant crop, and some years very little. What do we do with the excess crop – most people I know preserve some and give some away. I know when we were growing chockos, we would take them to church and everyone had ample. At the moment there is a box in the foyer at Umina with some oranges and lemons for people to take.  

The farmer in the parable is often known as ‘the rich fool’. As a landowner he is well off, and now the rain and sun have worked their magic and a bumper crop is on the way.

In the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, we read how he built bigger barns to store grain during the 7 fat years, put it away for the community during the 7 lean years.

But this farmer doesn’t store the grain for the community, he stores it for himself, so he no longer needs to work. The man is called a fool, not because he had a bumper crop, not because he stored the grain, but because he was selfish.

What matters isn’t what is in the bank account, but what we do with the resources we have. Do we spend wisely, share generously and live compassionately.  Remember Herbert in our story, he had the treasure, but all he did was worry about it, he didn’t benefit from it, in fact he lost his relationship with his brother and he lost sleep.

It seems at times like the Bible speaks against being financially well of, but it doesn’t. It speaks against relying on wealth instead of God, it speaks against the focus on money, it speaks against greed.

By greed I am not meaning having enough to live, but the way we place emphasis on having more for the sake of having more.

Greed hurts us, because it blinds us to what God has done and is doing in our lives.
Greed hurts us because it cuts is of from relationship with others and with God.
Greed hurts us because we are unable to see the riches of God,
 salvation,
redemption,
freedom.

We live in a culture which promotes the building of bigger barns - larger houses, expressways for private vehicles rather than improving public transport for everyone; we encourage people to prepare for the future, to accumulate, to hoard. We spend time and energy counting and securing our treasure. We look to give our children an advantage over other children, to give ourselves an advantage over those who might be in competition with us for work or housing or prestige.

When did life become a competition rather than co-operative?
it was amazing to watch the grand finale of Master Chef last week, when one contestant helped another in the last few minutes of a 5 hour cook off.

We build walls around ourselves, physical and emotional walls, so that we feel safe. Yet we are all diminished as humans. In the story of the creation, God realised that people were not to live without relationships.

The person who came and asked Jesus to judge in a family dispute wanted more. When we are looking for more resources what inadequacy are trying to fill? When we try and hold our things close to us, when we try and get more, when we spend our time and energy and money on getting and keeping resources, what are we missing out on?

Because in the end our security comes from God, our life is a gift from God.  Jesus said: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

It is easy to get hooked into the expectations of the society we live in.
it is easy to get caught up in wanting more.
It is easy to look to possessions to make us
feel whole,
to feel secure,
to feel worthwhile.
And we end up on a treadmill of always wanting more.

How much of what we own, actually owns us. The bigger our houses, the more cleaning there is to do. The more expensive our car, the more we worry about getting it damaged.  And if you have a backyard pool, you need to spend time on keeping it clean and the water treated and tested. And all that can take time away from our relationships.

Jesus said: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

The value of our lives is not determined by our possessions or our bank account or our status. Each person is precious in the sight of God.

Here is a paraphrase of some of the Colossians reading:

If you are fair dinkum when you say you have been raised to new life with Christ, then commit yourself to the things that belong to such a life. Look to Christ — God’s right hand man — and take your cues from him. Concentrate on the things that matter to Christ, and don’t let yourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around you. Your old life is behind you — dead and buried — and your new life is intimately bound up with Christ, and lived in God. The full reality of this new life is not visible to the general public yet, but it will be. Because your life is now bound to Christ, when Christ makes his triumphant return to the public stage, you will be there with him, in all your glory, for all to see.
........So, since your old life has been extinguished, make sure you stamp out any remnants of it that might spark up within you and set it off again. Don’t char your sexuality with trivialised, loveless flings. Expel the fumes of moral contamination. Douse smouldering compulsions. Remove anything that might fuel greed, because after all, greed is just another form of idolatry. God is getting ready to deal with those who have been defiantly allowing these sorts of things to burn out of control. You were once implicated in all this, because those things were all part the kind of life you used to live. But now you must purge yourselves of all such things — bitterness, vengefulness, spite, slander, and any tendency to mouth off in ways that insult and humiliate others. And don’t lie to one another. Dishonesty may have been a natural part of the old persona you all once wore, but you’ve stripped all that off, along with all its accessories, and decked yourselves out in a whole new persona. The new you is becoming more and more like your creator as your minds are reconstructed and your understanding grows. In this renewed life, we are no longer divided up into factions based on our backgrounds. It no longer makes any difference at all whether you were from this ethnic group or that, one religious tradition or another; whether you were educated or illiterate, refined or rough-nut, welfare dependent or money-to-burn. Every possible distinction among you is rendered irrelevant, because now Christ is in all of you and all of you are in Christ.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

“Christian faith is not about a religious adventure on the side of daily life, but about a total orientation of one's being in which, through Christ, God is back being God for us, and we are back to being human in the way we were made to be.” Bill Loader

Change starts from within

This was written for the Fellowship Day Service 2016 of the Australian Church Women inc.

Year theme: Women empowering change

Service theme: Change starts from within

Readings: Luke 8:43-58 John 4:4-28

Sermon

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this worship service. Here is a short story.

Mary Marty retells a parable from the EYE OF THE NEEDLE newsletter:

 “A holy man was engaged in his morning meditation under a tree whose roots stretched out over the riverbank. During his meditation he noticed that the river was rising, and a scorpion caught in the roots was about to drown. He crawled out on the roots and reached down to free the scorpion, but every time he did so, the scorpion struck back at him.

“An observer came along and said to the holy man, ‘don’t you know that’s a scorpion, and it’s in the nature of a scorpion to want to sting?’

“To which the holy man replied, ‘that may well be, but it is my nature to save, and must I change my nature because the scorpion does not change its nature?”

Joseph B. Modica from https://bible.org/illustration/scorpion

I wonder is our identity grounded in the love of God, the life of Christ and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit; or is our identity driven by ego, the media and the mood of the people around us.

We live in a time of fear. We hear about bombings, shootings, violence and war. And the instinctive reaction for many people is fear. Fear of those who are different or have a different opinion. Fear of those with a different ethnic or religious background.

It is easy for us to get caught up the fear and anxiety of the community around us.

It is easy for us to live in fear, to be enslaved by fear. The more we watch the news, the more we listen to popular commentators, the more we hear about fear:

Fear of young people
Fear of Muslims
Fear of people with lots of money
Fear of poor people
Fear of what will happen if this or that political party gets elected.

It seems that keeping people in a state of fear helps politicians and companies – when we fear a possible terrorist attack, we don’t ask about the erosion of civil liberties.

When we fear a takeover by foreign companies we don’t look at the behaviour of local companies.

Fear is easy.

We can’t wave a magic wand and rid the world of abuse and oppression and violence.

The way to change the world is to change within.

A woman came to the well, in the middle of the day and an encounter that changed her life.

A woman stretched out her hand and touched the cloak of an itinerant teacher.

In a culture where a woman and an unrelated man would not talk without other people being present

In a culture where purity and holiness were important

In a culture so different to ours, but then sometimes I wonder if under the surface it has changed much at all.

We heard these two accounts of women meeting Jesus. In each case the woman is unnamed.

In both the woman is seen and heard and known, in a way that is life giving.

We too get to meet with Jesus, the one who knows us, loves us, forgives us, gifts us, and sends us out to be light and hope in a troubled world.

In the midst of a world that seems intent on seeing how much hate and anger and violence and fear can be generated, we follow the One who lived the way of peace and grace and forgiveness.

When we come into relationship with God through Jesus, we become new people. It isn’t always easy to accept this new life, to accept the transformation offered to us. Sometimes we resist the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Sometimes it all seems too hard.

The world is changing all the time and there are many forces that impact on the world.

How do we change the world?
It isn’t like changing our clothes.

When I look at what is happening in the world, I wonder what can I change. I can’t stop the violence in Africa or the Middle East or the USA.

I can’t even change this country, or this community.

But, I can allow myself to be changed,
I can accept the transformation Christ brings to my life.
I can live out the call to live with grace and hope.

And in being changed, in living life transformed by Christ, the community will be changed by the light and hope and grace that will radiate from our lives.

Jesus met these two women, and their lives were changed. We don’t hear what happened to them. But we do know that the woman at the well went and told people about Jesus. Her encounter with Jesus led to her telling others, and then they heard and saw Jesus for themselves.  

The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touched the hem of his cloak, then she is called out and unable to hide in the crowd. Everyone hears about the change in her life.  

Are the lives of people around us changed because of the way we really see them, of the way we allow the love of God in Jesus to flow through our lives to those we meet?

When we are changed by our relationship with God in Christ Jesus, we are called to respond to fear, not with anger or hate or even fear; we are called to respond to fear with love.

In Romans 8, Paul wrote, we are not given a spirit of slavery and fear, rather “God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.” [Romans 8 the Message]

God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.

The Spirit of God, flowing through us; sometimes in a surprising rush, and sometimes like a gentle breeze; confirms who we really are – children of God.
Each one amazing and unique.
Each one with something special and individual to bring to the community of faith and all of God’s wonderful creation.

We are transformed from fear to joy and confidence, to be who we are – children of God.

Let us pray:

God, who loved us into being;

Christ, who transforms our living;

Holy Spirit who breathes new life into us;

Forgive us;

Heal us;

Transform us;

May we be the people you dream us to be

May we be confident in our identity as your beloved children

set free from all that binds us

offered grace and mercy beyond measure

treasured and loved

Transforming Trinity, transform our lives.

In Jesus name we pray

Amen.

distractions, expectations and God's judgement

this week's newsletter column:

Our gospel reading for today is Luke 10: 38-42, Jesus is welcomed into the house by Martha, who busies herself with meal preparation. Her sister, Mary, sits with the disciples, listening to Jesus.

Being a good host requires us to listen to our guests and to provide for the needs of our guests. Being a good host finds the balance between these things. Martha fulfils the role assigned to her by her culture, proving for the physical needs of others, but she misses out on time with Jesus.

We read that “Martha was distracted by her many tasks.”

How often are we distracted by a list of things that need doing?

It could be appointments; contacting friends and family; household chores like washing and cooking and cleaning; work; study; etc.

We hear a lot about work life balance and how hard it is for some people to achieve, especially with long commute times. 

But I wonder about our faith balance?

We need to listen, to pray, to read the scriptures; but we also need to put our faith into practice, to serve, to witness. Christianity is about being loved by God and loving others.

What this might look like for our congregation as a whole? How much time and energy do we spend on looking after buildings, balancing the budget and keeping the doors open? Are these tasks a means of enabling us to participate in the life God wants for us and the people round about us and beyond us, or are they a distraction holding us back from that life?

What would life look like if we broke free from the constraints of what we ‘should’ do, and be the person God made us to be? Not as a way of avoiding responsibility and service, but living as the person God made us to be.

I encourage you to reflect this week on who God made you to be, and what distracts you from being that person. 

.....

sermon one: Amos 10: 1-18

This passage from Amos begins with another vision. Last week it was the plumb line, showing how the people of Israel had moved away from the ways of God. This week the vision is of a basket of fruit. The paraphrase we heard this morning picks up the wordplay from the Hebrew. In Hebrew the word for ‘summer fruit’ and ‘end’ sounds similar, just as quince and quits sound similar. [Blake Couey, Working Preacher]

Why is God calling it quits with Israel?

Because of the way Israel is treating people.

Sometimes we don’t see the connection between how we live and the lives of other people, or the health of creation.

While the book of Amos is dated around 750 years before the birth of Christ, the themes are ones that are familiar to us today.

This was a time of relative stability and affluence in Israel, but this was also a time of corruption.

We live in a time when coal mining is killing the Great Barrier Reef.

We live in a time when child labour means we can buy cheap clothing.

We live in a time when shops are open almost every day of the year, and some retail businesses want to be open every day.

We live in a time when truth in advertising is a joke.

We live in a time when the rich can get loans with little interest but the poor pay over 150% interest.

For example, one online lender, will loan between 150 and 2000 dollars for 9 weeks – no credit check.  “The establishment fee is 20% of the amount borrowed. The monthly fee is 4% of the amount borrowed” If you borrow $1000, you pay $1320 over 9 weeks. 184% annualised interest rate. [http://www.sunshineloans.com.au/?gclid=CMHLoNHp980CFUNvvAodw4AIWg]

“Corporate fraud, exploitation of the poor, and ecological disruption are all consequences of the drive to maximize profit at any costs. People who live on the margins often suffer disproportionately from environmental abuse.” [Blake Couey, Working Preacher]

Just as in the days of Amos, almost 3,000 years ago, so it is today.

What can we do?

I have tried and it is very time consuming to check out the manufacturing trail for each item of clothing or food or homeware.

But we can make some changes:

·                     We can support people who are harassed because of their gender or colour or religion

·                     We can buy fair trade items when we see them – it is relatively easy with tea, coffee and chocolate.

·                     We can join with groups working for a fairer society.

·                     We can write to politicians and retailers

·                     We can stop expecting $5 t-shirts

“I, the LORD, swear on the Bible you so proudly wave,

........that I will not forget a single one of your mongrel actions.” [©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net]

God will judge us, not on how often we hold the Bible, or quote from the Bible, but on how we live out the love of God in action. 

followed by this hymn   http://www.newhymn.com/160ChooseLife.htm


sermon two: Luke 10: 38-42

Distractions, this is something I know about. There are often multiple things going on in my mind at the same time that is one reason I ask you to write me a note rather than tell me something at the church door on a Sunday morning.

Or I jump from one thing to another and another, and then back again.

One of the problems with mobile phones is that people walk around looking at the screen instead of where they are walking.

We live in a world where it is easy to be distracted:

Distracted by latest Hollywood romance

Or the crisis in almost any team sport

Or how the floor needs washing

Look at this picture  [Mind Full or Mindful]   https://sites.google.com/site/mbct4yppcdevon/_/rsrc/1378978316924/do-you-want-to-know-about-mindfulness/Mind-Full-or-Mindful-my-web-1.jpg

Are our minds full, full to overflowing; or are we mindful, aware, of that which is going on around us.

This week there was story in the Sydney Morning Herald about a young man from Port Macquarie. At age 16 Riley Bennett was told by a high school adviser he should train as a baker. He is now in third year of Medicine at the University of New South Wales. http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/dont-sell-yourself-short-%E2%80%93-no-limits-indigenous-medical-horizons

This reminded me of the way our society puts expectations on us – to be pretty or brainy or strong or to not get ahead of ourselves.

When many of you were growing up, it was expected that after getting married a woman would not take on paid employment, at least not until the children were at school.

There is an expectation that people moving to Australia only do the jobs that no-one else wants to do. They should be grateful to be here.

We are all subject to expectations. Remember the story I told a few weeks ago, about the Wemmicks and grey dots and gold stars – these were used to label people and judge people.

Martha invited Jesus into her house – that is what Luke writes, it was Martha’s house. Even though Martha is the head of the house, she is still bound by the expectation that a woman will prepare food, and make everyone comfortable. Her sister Mary, who I can only imagine is a younger sister, sits with the disciples – but only men can be disciples,
…  well isn’t that the way it works???  

And why isn’t Mary helping in the kitchen like a good woman??

Expectations can keep us confined, to a place, or a state of mind.

I wonder what part expectations played in the high school advisor’s recommendation to Riley Bennet to be a baker, rather than look to University study. Riley Bennett is aboriginal.

We read of families where two or three generations are unable to find work – is this because people write of the family, or in the case of Mt Druitt a few years ago, a whole school?

Or is it that poverty keeps horizons low? When you are looking for how to pay the next bill, university education for your children just doesn’t seem possible. And it is increasingly difficult for people from lower socio-economic groups to go to university.

Mary broke the expectations society placed on women, she acted like a disciple. But she was also a gracious host. When you go and visit someone, you don’t want them to spend the whole time in the kitchen. Being a host means providing for the needs of your guests, but also to be with them.

Jesus saw Mary as a disciple.

Jesus said Mary has chosen the better part.

One commentator writes:

“Mary and Martha cannot be about the better thing that means who is better, who acts better, who can be better.

The better thing is the invitation to believe that you are who God sees you to be.

And that is precisely our problem. An inherent, systemic, omnipresent, ingrained, intrinsic, dysfunctional, disturbing belief that not all are worthy of God’s regard and love. The conviction, as Paul Farmer says, “That not all are not equal in God’s eyes. That all are not made in the image of God.” [Karoline, Working Preacher]

Do we really believe that everyone is created in the image of God?

Do we think that we are more worthy of God’s love and grace than someone else?

Riley Bennett told the Sydney Morning Herald:

“While students were sometimes underestimated by those around them, others limited their horizons by underestimating themselves"

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/dont-sell-yourself-short-%E2%80%93-no-limits-indigenous-medical-horizons

The better thing is the invitation to believe that you are who God sees you to be.

What are our expectations of women, indigenous people, refugees, Muslims?

What are the expectations that bind us?

What happens when other people move outside of our expectations?

Friday Five - light

from Julie at RGBP

The Fridays come and go, and each week there are things in the news which catch our attention. It seems that in our present time wherever we are in the world – bad stuff is happening.

.......

Friends, the times may be dark, the days uncertain, but this we know – God is light and life and love and together we can overcome.
Today for your Friday Five contributions – share your favourite bible verses, photos, times of day and poetry – in any combination you choose in order to shed light on our darkened world.

Far North Queensland

Far North Queensland

Far North Queensland

stairway to heaven, Broome [NW Western Australia]

sunset at Quirindi [New South Wales]

Are we pretending to follow Jesus?

Amos 7: 7-17

Hold plumb line

This is a plumb line, have you seen one?

Used one?

Chat a bit about plumb line and use

Amos sees a vision, and in that vision the Lord is holding a plumb line to the nation of Israel.

And the result isn’t good for Israel.

Amos is a prophet, a reluctant prophet.

If you read through the book of Amos, you will hear the nations condemned. In chapter 2, the transgressions of Israel are:

 “They sell honest people for money,

and the needy are sold for the price of sandals.

They smear the poor in the dirt

and push aside those who are helpless.

My holy name is dishonoured,

because fathers and sons sleep with the same young women.

They lie down beside altars on clothes taken as security for loans.

And they drink wine in my temple,

wine bought with the money they received from fines.”

Amos 2:6-8 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

God will no longer overlook the failures of the people of Israel, described primarily in the book of Amos as economic oppression (Amos 2:6-7; 5:10-12; 8:4-6). [Blake Couey, Working Preacher]

I wonder what it would look like if a plumb line was held up to our nation.

Amaziah, the priest at the national temple, is annoyed at Amos, he is making things uncomfortable. So he tries to send Amos away.

I wonder which voices we try and shut down.

We live in a nation, yet often we see ourselves as individuals, especially in matters of faith. In Amos the plumb line is being held against a nation, not an individual.

As a nation, what might God make of:

• our destruction of the earth
• our treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• our lack of compassion for those fleeing persecution
• our lack of regard for working conditions for those who produce our clothing and food
• the number of people who are homeless
• children growing up in poverty
•  

Just as Amaziah, who stood for the status quo,

tried to shut down Amos, and

told Amos to leave,

the same happens today.

I know some will say to me:

Why should we worry about people seeking asylum, it isn’t pour problem?

Why should we recognise that aboriginal people lived here, and had their own culture, before white settlement?

Why should we increase the rate of social security payments?

I worked hard for my money, why should it go to someone who isn’t working?

Hold plumb line 

Luke 10: 25-37

We looked at this passage at the Friday evening worship time. Here is some of the work we did together.

Poster of heart

Posters: love God/love your neighbour/as you/love yourself

There are so many possibilities for discussing this passage that I will skim over a few of them.

Most people who hear this story today think of themselves as the Good Samaritan, as the one who helps. But the people who first heard this would have imagined themselves as the man lying by the side of the road.

They would understand why the Priest and Levite didn’t stop to help – touching a dead body would make them unclean and they would not be able to fulfil their duties. Also it may be a trick, the robbers may be hiding nearby and attack them.

But they would expect a good Jew to help the man.

Samaritans were the enemy, to be despised. A bit like the relationship between Israel and Palestine at present.

If you are the person who is hurting, bleeding, in pain, you don’t get any say in who helps.

It may just be that the person who comes to help you is your enemy.

…….

From Bruce Prewer:

The robbers, represent all those whose basic attitude is: Yours is mine if I can get it.

The Priest and Levite: They are self-protectors. The attitude is: Mine is my own if I can keep it. What I have I will hang on to.

The Samaritan, despised by righteous Jews. His attitude is: “Mine is yours if you need it.”

http://bruceprewer.com/DocC/C44sun15.htm

….

I wonder what a modern version of this story would be like.

A man was walking down Ocean Beach Road one night, and he was mugged and bashed and dragged behind the bus shelter near Umina Mall. And a shop keeper arrives for work early in the morning, notices the man and figures he is drunk, anyway they need to get to work so they can open in time.

A person on their way to church goes past, notices the man, and doesn’t want to be late for church – not my problem, and anyway I don’t know first aid.  

An aboriginal teenager comes past, sees the man, calls for help and stays with him until the ambulance arrives.

Who is my neighbour?

The lawyer is trying to trap Jesus, then wanting to justify himself. If a neighbour was only Jewish, or only male, or only someone living next door that would make loving them easier.

The lawyer knows what he must do, but doesn’t want to do it, and really does not want to hear that the worst of worse persons, in his mind, is the good neighbour, the one who showed mercy. [Rev Mindi]

We claim to be people who follow in the way of Jesus, people who are brought to life, loved and forgiven. Yet at times it is hard to follow in the way of Jesus.

It is hard to put the interest of another ahead of our own.

It is hard to see, really see, the pain of another, and act compassionately in response to their pain.

So often following the way of Jesus, goes against the status quo. Speaking for the least and the outcast

Caring for the unloved

Accepting help from the stranger.

We can try and justify:

• our treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• our lack of compassion for those fleeing persecution
• our lack of regard for working conditions for those who produce our clothing and food
• the number of people who are homeless
• children growing up in poverty

We can try and justify and explain away the inequality, racism, poverty and violence in our heart, our community, the nation and the world.

Or we can admit our failure to live in the way of Jesus.

We can stand with the oppressed

We can feed the hungry

We can see the beauty of each person

We can live out the generous, inclusive love of Jesus. 

A letter from Patty

Greetings from Patty, converted by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

To the people of God on the Peninsula,

Grace to you and peace from the Triune God, who created, redeemed and purified us, and to whom all and honour be now and for ever. Amen.

Our salvation rests in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who by his life and resurrection offers us new life. New life that reflects the love, mercy and grace of God.

Grace is a gift, freely given. We are saved, not by works or keeping rules, we are saved because that is the nature of God.

Salvation is not earned or merited, so watch out for false teachers who try and lead you astray, and no-one is to tell another that they are not good enough for God’s grace.

I know some of you find it hard to believe that you are loved by God. You don’t have to change for God to love you, for God to offer you new life.

“Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change.” ― Richard Rohr

It is by the life and love of Christ that you are transformed. You are not the agent of your own transformation, you may be able to make some changes in your own lives; but the change that comes from the love of God, the grace of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who lives within you, is so much more than you can do yourselves. It is a complete makeover of heart and mind and soul.

And when you are changed by your relationship with God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, then that will show in your lives. For freedom, Christ has set you free.  

You are free to live as the people of God, free from the burden of guilt and shame. But you are not to use your freedom to hurt, exploit or abuse other people.

The freedom you have is freedom to love,
You are free to be joyful,
You have freedom to be at peace and work for peace.
You have freedom to be patient,
you are free to be kind and generous,
you are free to be faithful and gentle,
you are free to control ourselves.
You are freed from the need to hate those who hate you.
You are freed from the need to respond with anger.
You are freed from the need to allow hate and greed to win.
You are free to love God, love each other and love the world for which Christ died.

If you have been made free by Christ, why do you allow yourselves to be enslaved again? You need no longer be slaves to public opinion, jealousy, anger, and quarrelling.

When you live by the Spirit, it will show by the way you live. You will no longer seek to outdo each other, or to be the most important person. Instead you will seek to serve as Jesus served those he met. You will work together as the body of Christ, always working for the kingdom of love and peace and grace.

Remember that your salvation is not something you earned, you don’t deserve salvation. Just as I don’t deserve salvation. But just as God has worked in my life, God also works in your life.  As many of you already know, I grew up not knowing God, not praying, not reading the Bible, not going to church. But I had a yearning for something that was missing in my life. And when I heard the gospel, a gospel of love and freedom and salvation. A gospel of the forgiveness of sins and new life, I had found what I had been missing. God had been there all along, but I had not recognised God in my life.

You are a new creation, and that is everything! And that will show in your life. You can’t expect to pick raspberries from a pumpkin vine, and you don’t expect to get apples from planting onions, so you get out of life what you put in.

When you live filled with the Holy Spirit, when you let the Spirit direct your life, then people will see that. You will be loving, kind and generous. You will be at peace, full of joy, and patient – with yourself and with others. You will be gentle and faithful and show self-restraint. Live by the Spirit, be guided by the Spirit.

You are all one in Christ. Because your salvation is not earned, but a gift of grace. You are all God’s children, sisters and brothers, all one in the Lord. So do not think of yourself more highly because of where you were born, or because of your gender, or your job. And do not think less of yourself because of where you were born, or because of your gender, or your job. You are all one in Christ.

Do not boast about your achievements, boast only in the cross of Christ. Through the cross the world no longer has power over you. You belong to Christ. And illness and pain and age doesn’t change that.
What in life could be more important than love and forgiveness and grace? What could be more important than salvation?

Remember:

You are loved.
You are a new creation.
You belong to Christ.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen