This morning in baptising E, we acknowledged that she is a precious child of God, known and loved by God. Each time we baptise I am also reminded that God also loves me, and I hope each of you are reminded that you are also loved, that you are also precious to God.  All people are loved by God, warts and all.

This passage from the letter of John, not only tells us that we love because God first loved us, but that we are to love one another and that whoever loves God must also love others, because if we don’t love others, we can’t love God.

Compare this to the behaviour of the leaders in the reading from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah spoke the word of God to the people of Judah. He spoke God’s words of judgement, and God’s words of hope. The section we heard this morning records the judgement of the bad shepherds.

Kings in that part of the world were often called shepherds, they were to care for the people as a shepherd cared for his sheep. But these were not good shepherds, they did not care for the people, they did not keep the people safe.

God saw that the people were lost, they were being taken to Babylon by force, the leaders were not taking notice of God.

About 300 years before Jeremiah, the people of God did not have kings, and they asked the prophet Samuel for a king. God told Samuel to warn the people what life would be like with a king:

If you have a king, this is how he will treat you.
He will force your sons to join his army.
Your daughters will be forced to make perfume or do his cooking.

The king will take your best fields and your slaves and your donkeys
He will also take a tenth of your grain and grapes
and a tenth of your sheep and goats.

 … and you will finally cry out for the Lord to save you from the king you wanted. But the Lord won’t answer your prayers.

And the people said: “We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle.”[i]

Thinking about these two passages this morning, I thought about the different kinds of leaders we have in the world and in our lives.

There are leaders who care for people and leaders who care only for themselves

There are leaders who unite and leaders who divide

There are leaders who take for themselves and leaders who share resources.

Today is the last Sunday in the church year, Christ the King Sunday. Next Sunday we begin Advent, 4 weeks of preparing for the birth of Jesus.

Christ the King Sunday celebrates the all-embracing authority of Christ as King and Lord of all things. It is a relatively new celebration in the life of the church, first being celebrated in 1925. [ii]

Proclaiming Christ as King means that nothing else and no one else can claim our ultimate loyalty and devotion. ^[iii]  

Remember the picture book, Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare discussing how much they love each other. [iv]

Do you think God loves you to the river, or the moon?

Remember the words I spoke to E just before the water was poured on her head?

E,
for you Jesus Christ has come,
has lived, has suffered;
for you he endured the agony of Gethsemane
and the darkness of Calvary;
for you he uttered the cry, ‘It is accomplished!’
For you he triumphed over death;
for you he prays at God’s right hand;
for you,
even before you were born.
In baptism, the word of the apostle is confirmed:
‘We love, because God first loved us’

We love because God first loved us. and God showed that love in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus, the one who is named King today,
not a King who enjoys displaying his power,
but a king of love,
of compassion,
of generosity.

A good Shepherd,
one who keeps the flock together,
who protects,
who nurtures
who forgives.

God is love,
and those who live in love
live in union with God
and God lives in union with them.
There is no fear in love;
perfect love drives out all fear.

We love because God first loved us.
The command that Christ has given us is this:
whoever loves God must love others also.

I wonder what the love of God looks like in your life?

Who or what do you fear?

How do you love others as God loves you?

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[i] 1 Samuel 8

[ii] http://www.churchyear.net/ctksunday.html

[iii] Monica https://revgalblogpals.org/2016/11/15/revised-common-lectionary-who-reigns-edition/#comments

[iv] Guess How Much I love You by Sam McBratney

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Working with God for a new world

The people of Jerusalem had been in exile, when they returned to the devastated city, they set about cleaning up the rubble, and rebuilding. Imagine what is must have been like, you have seen images of war from the middle east, a few years ago it was eastern Europe, and before that Vietnam and Korea. We have seen devastation by earthquakes and cyclones, so imagining a ruined city is not all the difficult. But imagine this is your city, your street, your place of worship that has been destroyed. After years in exile you are excited about returning home, but what is it you return to? 

What do you build first?

The Temple. It isn’t as grand as Solomon’s Temple, and the rebuilding of other buildings is slow. Life is hard, food is not plentiful, the vegetable gardens were destroyed in the war, the vines, the fruit trees are gone. Life is hard.

Will things ever be the same?

Then Isaiah, the prophet, the man who speaks God’s word, says:

God is creating a new heaven and a new earth,
the past will not be remembered,
there will be rejoicing instead of distress;
every person will live a long and full life;
people will eat from the trees they plant;
people will live in the houses they build;
death and devastation will not be part of this new creation.
The new creation, the new thing God is creating will be so harmonious
that the lamb and the wolf will lay down together,
and neither will be in danger.

A beautiful image of the kingdom of God, the kingdom that God is creating. A word of hope for people who were struggling.

Sometimes life is a struggle.
It may be illness, grief or uncertainty about the future;
sometimes the struggle is about strained relationships, poor housing options or lack of work.

Life can be a struggle.

The message of Isaiah isn’t that everything will be perfect in an instant, but that God is creating a new heaven and a new earth.

God isn’t finished with us yet.

And God isn’t finished with the world yet.

As people who profess to follow the way of Jesus, what might this passage be saying to us today?

In a world in shock over the US election results
in a world where violence and war seem never-ending
in a world where poverty is real for too many people

What might this poem from Isaiah say to us?

God is creating something new
a world where everything is in harmony
where every creature is safe
where the environment is cherished
where people are treated with dignity
where life matters
      black lives and Asian lives and brown lives and white lives

God is creating something new, and as people of God we get to work alongside God. We are the people who see the promise of God at work.

We are called to live out God’s kingdom where we are.
To live as God’s people,
living in peace and justice,
living in harmony with all creation.
In our actions, our working, our speaking.

Sometimes that means we will be unpopular.

When the Uniting Church started up the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Kings Cross, there was vocal opposition from within the Uniting Church, from some other churches, and from many in the community. But the people who were given the task of getting it up and running persevered. Many lives have been saved, and many people have been referred to drug rehabilitation facilities.

Sometimes we can speak about our faith, but we need to always live our faith.

As we baptise Heath this morning, I wonder what kind of world he will grow up in. I wonder if he will glimpse the vision of the new heaven and new earth that God is creating.

I wonder in what way Heath will be working with God, and celebrating the work that God is doing
in his life,
in the lives of people around him and
in the world.

The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace and justice,
a kingdom where we know our brokenness,
where respect is offered to all people,
where God’s love is the standard we live.

We work with God in the coming kingdom.
A kingdom of peace and justice.
We live the kingdom;
we take risks;
we offer hope;
we trust in God.

It is time for us to listen for what God is saying to us today.