what is life?

A little background:

·    When the man comes up to Jesus, he compliments Jesus by calling him good, in the culture of the time, this meant Jesus should be return with a compliment.

·         prevailing theology was “wealth = blessing from God”, the idea that the wealthy would not be the first into the Kingdom is a radical change[i]

·    In Mark, the man is not described in the same way as Luke – where he is the rich young ruler. In Mark he is a property owner. I am told the word used for having possessions, means property rather than watches or jewellery or books.

·    In the commandments listed, which are the second half of the ten commandments that deal with how we live in community with each other, Jesus adds in an extra one – do not cheat. Is Jesus implying the man has exploited his workers?

Landowners had tenant farmers farm their land, with the landowner getting the excess over what the family needed, but as in other times in history, it is possible the landowner was demanding his portion first, even if that meant the tenant farmer could not feed his family.

The last week we read the section where Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah, the Jesus says this is what will happen, I will be tortured and killed, and Peters says: no way, that isn’t how it is going to happen.

Then the story of Jesus up the mountain with Moses and Elijah and a voice form heaven saying: This is my son, listen to him!

Then some parts we didn’t hear read:

Jesus healing a boy with a spirit,

Jesus again says he will be killed;

then the first part of today’s reading –

the argument about who is greatest and the need to welcome children, then a question from the disciples over what to do about an exorcist that isn’t one of them
and a conversation about what to do if you are tempted to sin,
the teaching on divorce,
Jesus blessing the children,
then the story of the rich man.

I wonder if Jesus ever got angry and said to the disciples:

when will you get this!

There is not going to be a palace or a party at the end of this road.

I am the Messiah, but not like what you are looking for.

We are almost up to the entry into Jerusalem and Jesus can see the writing in the wall.

What to make of this reading?

Well, it isn’t saying being rich is good or bad.

But what is important is what we do with what we have.

The kingdom is not after we die, but what we live into here and now.

The Kingdom of God is not about who has the most possessions, land, money, toys, or anything else.

The kingdom of God is based on who generated the most love and reconciliation and forgiveness

It is about living into the Kingdom, seeing the divinity in each person.

We are near the beginning of Lent, a time when we consider our life with God and with others. A time when we review our lives and our priorities.

Verse 21[NRSV]: Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’  

Notice that Jesus loves the man, before the man decides what to do. The love of Jesus does not depend on your response to his call to come and follow. Jesus loves you!

Just as the other disciples were called to leave behind their nets and tax booths and everything else, so this man was called to leave everything he has. And we are also called to follow and be willing to leave behind anything and any relationship.

Jesus says: I love you

Then invites us into a deeper relationship with God and with those around us.

And in that relationship with God we are challenged to be agents of reconciliation, admitting our greed, hateful words and offensive behaviour.

None of us are perfect, and I don’t think Jesus expects perfection.

Love is the basis of Christianity;

the Love of God shown in Jesus

the love of Jesus shown in his living

the love that we show others because we know we are loved unconditionally.

How does the love of God for us

and the love of Christ in us

show in our lives?

Reflection time

---

[i] https://www.pulpitfiction.com/narrative-notes/2-26

Strange Stories - Forgiveness and Prison

This is the first of our parables for Lent.

When we read it, what do we find out about God or Jesus?

Jesus introduces the story: This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like:

Another Kingdom of Heaven parable,

A few weeks ago, we heard a series of parables on the kingdom of heaven is like, and I summarised the kingdom as:

·         Generous to the point of being extravagant or wasteful [sower/4 soils]

·         Inclusive, even of enemies [wheat and weeds]

·         growing/useful [mustard seed]

·         hidden/subversive [ yeast]

·         valuable [ treasure]

·         something to seek, and find[pearl]

·         non-judging [fish]

today’s parable:

the kingdom of heaven is like a king who forgives a debt,
a big debt,
a debt so big the servant could never have paid it back.

Various people have tried calculating how much the debt was, in the translation we heard this morning it is fifty million silver coins, other translations have ten thousand talents. it equates to about 150,000 years of wages for a labourer. I wonder how the person could get into that kind of debt. Even if he was paid five times as much as a labourer, it is 30,000 years of wages. It is a ridiculous amount.

the king was merciful.

and we think what a lovely story.

the first servant is forgiven a ridiculously big debt.

then he refuses to forgive a much smaller debt.

and he is thrown in prison.

in the Kingdom of Heaven, forgiveness is received and given.

If we read it as the king represents God,
the forgiveness of the debt of the first official is what I want to hear;
not only am I and my family not being thrown in prison for being in debt,
but I don’t have to pay back what I owe,
which given the amount is impossible.

But then when the one who was forgiven doesn’t forgive, the forgiveness is taken back.

That doesn’t seem like good news to me.

It does fit with the line in the Lord’s Prayer: forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

The ending doesn’t fit well with me, it isn’t the way I want, or expect, God to treat me, or anyone.

What is forgiveness?

A quote:
“Forgiveness is not saying that what happened was OK,
it’s being able to say within your heart
that you accept what’s happened
and you won’t let it stop you living a life
or seeing humanity in the person who has hurt you.”[i]

In my experience, not forgiving someone eats away at me, and at times the other person has been totally oblivious to the turmoil within me. 

A story:

When I was at college, I struggled with one person on staff. She put students down, expected us to be able to stop our lives on little notice and do what she wanted. At times her comments were cruel and hurtful.

After I finished college, I decided all was well, as I would not ever have to relate to her again.

About five years later, I was on a Synod task group, and she was on it as well.

UGH!!!

I wondered how I could work with this person when I did not want anything to do with her.

 
I decided I had to forgive her. I had no idea if she was aware of how hurtful her behaviour had been, or even if she remembered some of the things she had said to students. She had not asked for forgiveness.

I chose to forgive her, so I could be involved in the work of the Synod task group without seething about her treatment of students.

I didn’t say anything to her about forgiving her, but once I had forgiven her, I was able to work with her without being distracted by resentment.

Is there someone you need to forgive?

If you are ready to forgive, you can write it on a piece of paper, screw it up and it will be burnt.

When I have offered this before, some people commented that they wished it was so easy.

often forgiveness is not easy,

but:

forgiveness does not ask you to forget what happened

forgiveness does not ask that you stay in an abusive situation

forgiveness does not ask you to pretend it never happened

forgiveness does mean the behaviour was acceptable.

forgiveness means not letting the hurt dominate your life

forgiveness means letting go of the desire for revenge

forgiveness means freedom for you to be yourself

when we hurt someone, we need to ask for forgiveness, and we also need to take responsibility for what we have done.

my experience is that some people don’t forgive – they hold onto hurts, they let the pain envelop their lives, and they become bitter.

the other pattern I have noticed is that some people struggle to accept forgiveness.

I wonder if that is part of what is happening in this parable.

While the Lord’s prayer says: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Maybe we can only truly forgive, when we know ourselves forgiven.

Until we accept forgiveness, from God and ourselves and others

When we stop holding ourselves hostage to our mistakes

Maybe then, when we can accept the forgiveness of God, will we be able to accept forgiveness and forgive others.

Forgiveness isn’t like winning the lottery, though for the first person in this parable it must have seemed like it.

Forgiveness is part of our lives, and we live with the consequences of not forgiving.

What does this parable tell us about the Kingdom of Heaven?

this parable is a warning of what happens when we don’t forgive others.

when we hold onto hurts,

when we hold onto judgement,

when we hold onto the desire for revenge,

we are not free to live in the forgiveness God offers us

when we don’t forgive others, they can be hurt by that, but so are we.

The person who holds onto the anger and resentment, is not at peace,

God offers mercy and grace, but we are expected to do the same.

the Kingdom of heaven is a Kingdom of forgiveness.

This lent, who do you need to forgive?

What do you need to let go of?

---

[i] https://www.theforgivenessproject.com/tracey-ford

This is Love

Each week seems to bring some bad news, this week it seems more than usual has stuck to me.

·         A cyclone hit the Pacific Islands

·         A police officer lost a leg yesterday when a texting driver ran into him as he was setting up a RBT stop

·         17 people died in a shooting at a school in Florida

Closer to home, this week, another woman spoke to me about domestic violence, and how she is in the process of separating from her partner. She and her children are safe.

I wonder if we might all want to join with Mary and Martha and say: “Lord, if you had been here,”

This story is pivotal in the Gospel of John.

It is like a hinge between the public ministry of Jesus, healing, signs, travelling, and the final words of Jesus to his disciples, then his arrest, death and resurrection.[i]

This passage has grief, understandable grief, and Martha, in the midst of her grief, makes this confession:

“Yes, Lord! I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.”

A few days after the death of her brother,
in her grief, and her wondering what if -
what if Jesus had been here;
and maybe some anger that he was not.

In the midst of all that, Martha makes this confession of faith. One author even suggests this passage should be called the Confession of Martha, rather than the raising of Lazarus.[ii]

“Yes, Lord! I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.”

Then the miracle, life returned.

Then an invitation to be involved. Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, and then Jesus tells the people, “Untie him and let him go.”

And here is the part I want to focus on this morning, the reaction of people to the raising of Lazarus.

We are not told how his sisters react, but we hear of Mary again in the next chapter, when she pours perfume on the Lord’s head and wipes his feet with her hair.

The responses we are told about by John are that, after seeing all that happened, some people had faith in Jesus.

But some went to the Pharisees and reported what had happened.

And the religious leaders decided that both Jesus and Lazarus needed to die, permanently.

Coming into contact with Jesus never leaves us the same.

Recently we have heard about Nicodemus coming at night to see Jesus, and while it is not clear at that point in the story if Nicodemus follows Jesus, Nicodemus helps bury Jesus.

The woman who encountered Jesus at Jacob’s well, her life was clearly changed, and so was the life of many of the people in the village.

Last week we heard about the man born blind, and how recovering his sight set up a series of questions from the religions leaders and then he was excluded from the Synagogue.

How we view any situation depends on where we stand.

For example, if everyone with over $30, 000 in investments had their investment halved, so that those with less than $2, 000 could have theirs doubled, how would you feel?

I am guessing, it depends on which group you are in.

 “… God’s activity will change us, it will comfort some and threaten others. Even the promise of new life, that is, comes only as good news to those who recognizes that the old life is not enough and only threatens or upsets those who don’t want to change. “[iii]

Is the new life, the transforming life based on love and grace,
the new life that calls for us to leave behind the old, to take on the new
the new life that calls for us to live for others
is that good news for you?

The religious leaders did not celebrate that a man who was born blind could now see, or that a man who was dead is now alive.

No! this person Jesus threatened their way of living, it threatened the balance they had achieved with the Roman overlords. The religious leaders had position and status, as long as no one stepped out of line.

And along comes Jesus, who says that life is for living,
that people are loved
that all people are valued and precious, no exceptions
that God wants a connection with us, not based on rules, but on a relationship
and that our relationship with God through Jesus will change us.

We are challenged in our living to not only look at what God is doing,
but to become part of the work,
not to be passive bystanders,

We are not only called to be witnesses of God’s action in our lives, but also to be changed by what we see and thereby invited into the ongoing reality of what God is doing. God does the miracle, but God also gives us a part to play as it unfolds in our life [iv]

This morning you will be invited to reaffirm your commitment to God in a covenant prayer. This is not an easy prayer to pray.  
None of us are perfect
we well all fail
we will at times challenge God

The story of Jesus and Martha and Mary and Lazarus,
speaks to me of real life
life that is messy and painful
that at times we will grieve
at times we will rejoice
at time God will work miracles in our presence
and at times we will be expected to be part of those miracles.

And I keep coming back to love,
the love of God
the love that says yes,
even when we say no.
the love that says you are valuable
when the voices tell us we are not welcome
the love that says I would die for you
rather than play it safe.

Here is a poem:

Prayer:  This is Love

This is love.
Not that you spoke words of comfort,
walked with the unclean and unloved,
shared wisdom, bread and wine,
brought healing into lives
and challenged the status quo.

This is love.
That you spoke the word of God,
walked a painful road to the Cross,
shared living water, bread of life,
brought Salvation to the world
and died for the sake of all.

This is love.
It is a seed
sown in the ground,
which germinates,
blossoms,
and spreads its sweet perfume.

~ written by John Birch, and posted on Faith and Worship. http://www.faithandworship.com/

---

[i] Bible project John

[ii] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3404

[iii] http://www.davidlose.net/2017/03/lent-5a-heartache-miracle-invitation/

[iv] http://www.davidlose.net/2017/03/lent-5a-heartache-miracle-invitation/

Testing

2008 Proclamation of the Word

Firstly a word about the devil or Satan. In Hebrew the word is Ha-satan, and in Greek it is Diabolos. We translate these words as Satan and the Devil, which is commonly used to denote the personification of evil, but in the way these words were used in the time the Bible was written, these beings were adversaries. We meet the Ha-satan in Job, an adversary who came to test Job and his faithfulness. Here Jesus is in the wilderness, and diabolos comes to test him – which is precisely the role of an adversary.

At the end of Chapter 3 in Matthew’s gospel Jesus is baptised, the spirit descended as a dove and a voice from heaven says: This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Then the very next verse Jesus is being led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted.

So the first thing that becomes clear is that being in God’s favour does not make life any easier for us. I know some people think that being faithful to God means that everything in their life will go smoothly, and they will continually be blessed by good health, obedient children and favourable finances. Life isn’t like that.  When Dolly Parton sang, I didn’t promise you a rose garden, it could be the song that goes with this reading. Life with God is many things, but it is no guarantee of a smooth, pain free existence.

One writer suggests in Matthew’s gospel the focus of the temptations is clearly vocational rather than a lesson about private morality. It is about who Jesus is, what Jesus relies on, and what his agenda is. So when we talk about temptation in terms of personal immorality, that isn’t what this gospel is about. There are plenty of places to read about how to live, try the beatitudes in Matthew, or Paul’s fruit of the spirit.

Here the temptation is for Jesus to use the power he has, to short circuit God’s plans, to take his future into his own hands, rather then trusting God.

And I think that is one of the greatest temptations we face today. We are told in the media that we can have it all. One of the catch phrases of the women’s liberation movement was that women could have it all. But now many people, both men and women are realising that work and family and sport and hobbies and relationships add up to more than the number of hours in a day; and more energy than most people can muster. But we are sold the lie. The lie that we are in control. The lie that we can choose our future. The lie that we can be successful because we want to be. The lie that we can pack more and more into each day and week.

Now I strongly believe in personal responsibility, there is no point lazing your way through school, sleeping through the day, then wondering why you haven’t made CEO of Telstra. But on the other hand, the idea that we are in control of our future is a con.

And that is the con diabolos is trying on with Jesus.

In the Genesis reading we heard about Adam and Eve and the temptation to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. The food looked good, tasted good and would give them wisdom. Now if we knew about such a super food, I can imagine it would be on the menu in most households. But here God is saying that just because something looks good and is healthy, and you want it for good reasons, the getting of wisdom, doesn’t mean you can just reach out and grab it. God gives us much, but that is the point; God offers, gifts, reaches out to us, and in response, we rebel hands grasp and take what is not offered. We are to receive God’s gifts, not reach out and grab them for ourselves.

Jesus had been in the wilderness for forty days when the adversary appeared. Now I’m not much good if I haven’t eaten for a few hours, let alone a month or so, and I like my creature comforts. I can well imagine that after forty days in the wilderness I wouldn’t have much hesitation in conjuring up food and anything else I could get, just to get me out of there. Sure Jesus could have jumped from the temple and seen if the voice at the Baptism was true, if he really was the beloved, if God would really send angels to catch him. But Jesus knows his mission is more complex than food and politics, power and prestige. Jesus knows the importance of waiting for God.

Jesus does use the power he has at times, at times when it brings food and healing to others. Jesus shows who he is, and brings glory to God in the process.  If Jesus had tried showing of like a circus magician, who gets the glory.

Maybe that is why we are tempted to prove our worth, to show what great jobs, what brilliant children and grandchildren, what grand homes and expensive holidays we have. Because they show how well we do, they show what clever, successful people we are.

Lent is a time for us to stop, to reflect, to listen to what God is saying to us, about our lives, and our hearts.  Lent is time for us to be vulnerable, to spend time in the wilderness, to lose some of the comforts we place around ourselves, things that help us to ignore God. TV, books, chatter, work,…. a whole lot of activity that pervades our modern lives.

Sometimes I wonder if we have as people become like a large shallow body of water, trying to cover as much ground as possible, getting spread so thin, that we risk disappearing altogether. Lent is a time to reconsider our priorities, a time to live deep, rather than expansive lives.  A time to take stock, to journey with Jesus in the wilderness. And this can be scary. Letting go of some of the comforts of life, time to look at what is essential for us.

Time to face the reality of who we are, to see ourselves as the broken, sinful, people that we are. Time to acknowledge the shame and guilt we carry with us. Time to recognise the emptiness in our lives. The emptiness we try and fill with activity, with possessions, with relationships.

Time to see that we need God. Not as another box to tick off for the week. We need God because only God can fill that hole within us, only God can heal the wounds of our hearts, only God can put back together our fragile lives. Only God can offer us forgiveness, grace, belonging, love, that frees and enables us to truly live. Only God. Because we can keep building stronger defences, we can keep working harder, we can have bigger houses, we can fill our days with busyness.

But we know, when we finally stop the activity, when we finally sit and be still and quiet, when we can’t sleep at night, when we are in hospital facing surgery, when our lives are in a mess, then we know that houses and money and busyness are not what makes our lives. What makes our lives is being the people of God.

This lent, join Jesus in the wilderness, be vulnerable with God, open up your life and let God make you whole. This Lent, choose God.

Lent 1 an acceptable fast

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, a period of six weeks leading up to Easter. Traditionally this time has been a time of introspection, of reducing our human footprint. For many this is a time of ‘giving something up for Lent’, for others a time to add in new spiritual disciplines. Some of what I have read over the past few days on lent has encouraged me to think in a different way about Lent this year, one of those things has been the title of the Old Testament study: An acceptable fast.

The title comes from Isaiah 58, the people of Israel are complaining that they fast yet God does not respond to their pleas;

 ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

The response:

 “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
and oppress all your workers.
⁴ Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?” [Isaiah 58]

Fasting, giving something up for Lent is not about losing weight or being the one to deny ourselves the greatest amount, it is not to put on a  show of piety. The passage from Isaiah continues:

 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” [Isaiah 58]

An acceptable fast. It seems that an acceptable fast is one that isn't about giving something up, or adding another spiritual discipline into our life; an acceptable fast is one that is life changing, not only for us, but for the oppressed, those suffering from injustice, the hungry, the poor.

This Lent I am planning on looking mainly at the old testament reading set for each week, that reading today is Deuteronomy. This chapter of Deuteronomy occurs before the people of Israel arrive in Canaan the promised land. Moses has led the people through the wilderness, and this is part of his final instructions to the people as they prepare to go into the land that God has promised them.

Moses is reminding the people that they should remember who they are and where they came from. It can be easy when things are going well to ignore what has happened in the past. If I asked someone here, or someone on the street, today to tell me their story I'm guessing most people would start off with I was born, I have lived, I went to school, I work etc. Moses is telling the people that when they arrive in the promised land they should bring the first of their harvest to the priest. And then they tell the story, the story of being a wandering Aramean, of the time in Egypt, of the exodus, and the promised land. Each harvest people would really tell the story, the with bringing the first of the harvest, present it to the priest, then the community including the Levite and the foreigners would share the food together.

The people who would be saying this had not wandered with Jacob through the Genesis story; most of them would not be able to remember Egypt; yet this was their story. A story based on faith in God, being in community, offering thanks and sharing food together.

Reminds me a little of what we do in our communion services. We here again the story of faith, of creation and prophets, exile and exodus, crucifixion and resurrection; we hear the story of faith. But I wonder for how many of us is this the dominant story of our lives. There are a number of factors that influence our behaviour and thinking, I wonder where that God story comes into that in your life, and in the life of this congregation.

I wonder what the dominant story of our lives is, when we think about the environment, minimum wages, refugees, prisoners, health, education, and a whole range of other issues. Now I know many of these issues are considered political, and therefore should not be discussed in church.

Remember the words of Isaiah from chapter 58 about an acceptable fast, one in which the poorer feed the oppressed are given liberty those suffering under injustice are free.

I suspect that people who are worshipping here this morning will have something to eat at lunchtime, have safe accommodation and money in the bank. It's easy to think that everyone lives this way, but that is not the case. And to a large extent it's about when and where we were born.

None of us bought ourselves into being, none of us can make food appear out of nothing; we all rely on God for life, food, physical and spiritual growth. We also need other people, we don't grow cotton and weave it into our own clothes, we don't have our own animals and kill them for meat, most of us don't grow enough fruit and vegetables to feed ourselves, and we rely on manufacturing and building industries for our homes and cars and household goods.

This chapter of the study gratitude, it isn't always easy to be thankful for what is happening in our lives. Moses told the people who had been in the wilderness, the people who are about to go over to the promised land, that each harvest they were to go and give thanks to God. They did that with the story of who they are and where they came from, but they also said “the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, .. and he bought us into this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey so now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you the Lord had given me."

There is a sense in this passage of how much the people relied on God, in the liturgy the telling again each harvest is part of remembering that story and passing that story on to future generations. Thereof rituals in our lives as well, some are to do with church, some are to do with other parts of life. There are stories that get cold over dinner tables about great-grandparents who came from another country, who started farming, who built a house around the corner, the stories that get told over and over again.

This is the beginning of lent, a time when we move towards the story of Easter, the great three days in the Christian calendar. We are on a journey that takes us to a cross, and a tomb; for Jesus the cross and the tomb were transforming; and because Jesus was transformed we to can be transformed. Lent is a time for us to look at our lives, at our priorities, and our identity,  it is a time when we are encouraged to stop and think a little more deeply about what the influences on our lives are, about what cherished thoughts we need to let go of.

A prayer reflection:

Lent makes me so uncomfortable.

I prefer to remain in my 'zone,'
lounging in my chair;
glued to my plasma screen;
relaxing after a long day;
but you would lead me
into the wilderness

into those uncomfortable places
of tempting,
of power,
of testing.

I would like to hear words
about success,
and praise,
and feel pats on my back,
but you talk about
self-denial;
you mention the cost
of following God;
you invite me (!)
to shoulder
a cross.

couldn't you have sent
a more comfortable
Saviour,

O God?

~ Copyright © 2007 Thom M. Shuman. Posted on Prayers4Today. http://prayersfortoday.blogspot.ca/

What will you do with this Lent?

What fast will you observe?