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!

naming and named

Who do you say that I am? If Jesus was standing here asking you that question, what would you answer? Who do you say that I am?

To make this a little easier, we could ask: who is Julia Gillard? The obvious answer is the prime minister; but she has also been a lawyer, and is a sister, daughter and partner.

People know us in different ways, who people say we are depends on how they know us.

Jesus asks the disciples who do you people say I am? What is the word on the street? Matthew records answers that indicate people were waiting for God to intervene.

What would we say now about people’s response to Jesus; for some people Jesus is a swear word, to some he is a prophet, a teacher, a good person, an example.

Who do you say that I am? If Jesus was standing here asking you that question, what would you answer? Who do you say that I am?

It is Peter who answers, Peter who tried walking on water, Peter who will deny knowing Jesus, it is Peter who answers: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Well that is all good and simple, Peter answers the question and Jesus says well done. Does this mean all we need to be able to do is repeat the word of Peter?

Peter’s words did not come from a book; they came from his experience of being with Jesus, listening, watching, and being forgiven.

For us to be able to answer the question: Who is Jesus? We need to know Jesus, not just have read about him in the Bible, and not give someone else’s answer.

And when we know Jesus, and can say who Jesus Christ is in our life, then we too will hear a response from Jesus. Because Jesus doesn’t just give Peter a pat on the back and say well done, Jesus tells Peter he is the rock on which the church will be built. Now there is a word play going on here, because the Greek word for Peter is also the word for rock.

When we can speak of our relationship to Jesus, in the way Peter did, we too will become the people on which Jesus will build the church, not in a bricks and windows sense, but being the body of Christ here on earth.

In the first letter of Peter, chapter 2, we are described as “living stones, [that] are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood” [verse 5].

I wonder how often you feel like an important part of the priesthood, of the body of Christ.

I wonder how the midwives felt about their part in the Moses story.  The Hebrew people were being oppressed in Egypt, and they cried out to God for help. And God intervened, not with chariots and an army, but with the birth of a baby boy. Moses was born in a time when the Pharaoh wanted to be rid of the Hebrew people, the non-Egyptians. He told the midwives to kill any boys born to the Hebrew women. The midwives saved many baby boys by refusing to kill them. The person with power in this story is the Pharaoh; the heroes of this story are midwives, a mother, a sister and the princess, who must have known that the baby she pulled from the river was a Hebrew baby. The heroes of this story have little power; the most powerful is the princess. If the ‘little’ people had not done their part, Moses would have died. But the midwives refused to obey the pharaoh and instead did the right thing; the mother of Moses knew it would be hard to hide him much longer, so she put him in a specially made boat in the river, in the hope he would be safe; his older sister watched to see what happened to him.

When you feel small and insignificant, remember the midwives in the story of Moses. If they had followed the command of the ruler, they would have killed him as soon as he was born. The action of the midwives was an act of civil disobedience.

God used ordinary people to be part of God’s work in important ways; the ordinary people and the outcasts, the midwives, the mothers and sisters, the fishermen and the tax collectors. God has relied on, and continues to rely on, people; people like you and me, people who sometimes, or often, feel small and insignificant; people who feel powerless to change the world. But the midwives and Peter did play a part in changing the world. And we too can play our part in working with God, we too are called to be a building block in God’s church. The church is built on Peter, and on all who join him in confessing, or naming, our relationship with Jesus.

This morning I am giving you a stone, to remind you that you are a rock; you are part of the church that God is building. Sometimes you will feel small and insignificant. Look at this picture of a dry stone wall; if you take out the small rocks, the wall loses strength. The wall is made of lots of stones, all different shapes and sizes are needed to make the wall. And a lot of different people are needed to be the church.

Who do you say that I am? If Jesus was standing here asking you that question, what would you answer? Who do you say that I am? And when you answer Jesus will tell you who you are. Our identity is found in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This relationship is not only based on our naming Jesus as Lord. We not only speak of what we know, but we live that as well. Are we willing to not only name Jesus as Lord, but to live in ways that confirm this relationship?

Are we willing to live out our faith, following the examples of Peter and the midwives?

If Jesus was standing here asking you that question, what would you answer? Who do you say that I am?

Faith journey

Yesterday a group from Engadine were at a Presbytery education day discussing what it means to be a healthy congregation. Part of our discussion was on sharing our faith, and what that might mean and how we can go about that.  

This week a person, who I was meeting for the first time asked me why I became a Minister, what was it that caused me to take this step? So I told her my story. And she told me her story.

She talked of having gone to Sunday School as a child, leaving as a 13 year old and leaving church behind. She is now very involved in community development, the peace movement and the women’s movement.

As we talked about the type of family we grew up in, the things that shaped us, there were points of connection. We found we both are working for some of the same things, equality, inclusiveness, justice, and peace. We are both interested in building strong communities that exhibit those qualities. Our motivations are not the same, mine is part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ, and hers is in response to some life situations.

During our recent holiday, Ian and I stayed in a cabin on a vineyard near Cessnock. One morning, I walked out the door, looking at the kangaroos in the bottom paddock, the blue sky, feeling the warmth of the sun, and there was something in that moment that was special, a sense of unity, wholeness, like God was as close as my breath.

You too may remember times where you were acutely aware of God’s presence.

Today I want us to think about how we relate to God being in our lives, and to God’s call on our lives.

Firstly, my friend Moses, God gets Moses’ attention with a burning bush. The God tells Moses that he has heard the cry of the people, and Moses will go to Pharaoh and tell him let the people go. And Moses says – who will I say sent me; what if they don’t believe me, and I’m not much of a speaker and …..

God gave Moses some signs for people, so they might believe, and God sent Aaron with Moses.

God heard the reticence in Moses voice, and responded, and Moses went, and eventually the people left Egypt for the Promised Land. It was not all smooth and easy, but the people of God were freed.

Then we come to Elijah, having been zealous for the Lord, killing the prophets of Baal, Elijah is now scared because the queen has threatened to kill him.

Elijah ran away, he camped out one night hoping to die, but in the morning he was told to eat, he travelled a long way to the mountain. He slept in a cave and God questioned Elijah - what are you doing here; and Elijah tells God how zealous he has been, and how his life is now threatened.  God said to Elijah: Go and stand on the mountain as I am about to pass by. And God was not in the wind or earthquake or fire, all things associated with the presence of God. God was in the still silence. And God asked Elijah again why he was there, and Elijah tells the same story, and God says go back; anoint these people for the future. There is still work for you to do.

John has been beheaded by Herod, as Jesus is going to grieve, the people want to be around him, they follow him across the lake, and that is where we have the story from last week of the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus puts the disciples in the boat to return across the lake, and goes to be by himself. As he is returning to the disciples, they see him coming across the lake, walking on water. Peter says if that is really you Jesus, tell me to come to you – and Jesus tells him to come, and he walks on the water. Now the disciples had been conscious of the waves and the wind and were scared, Peter forgets this for the moment, but when he remembered he was scared again, and started to sink. And Jesus holds his hand and helps him into the boat.

The disciples didn’t always get what Jesus was saying; the great prophets Moses and Elijah struggled to follow God’s call at times. But as the Matthew reading reminds us, it isn’t that Peter took his eyes of Jesus, we all do that; it is that Jesus doesn’t take his eyes of us. Sometimes it can be hard to believe that, hard to see it in our own lives; hard to recognise God when we are in a difficult place.

These stories are stories of people connecting with God, people who are willing to acknowledge their fears and shortcomings. Each of these people were called by God. Each of these people were fearful or failed in some way. These are stories of people being sent, being called. We too are called to be God’s people, to be disciples of the living Christ, to live empowered by the Holy Spirit. How do we respond to God in our life?

Spend a few minutes being aware of God in your life.

Is God calling you to some new place?

What is holding you back?

Trinity

This year I am not following the Trinity Sunday readings; here is a sermon on Trinity Sunday from a few years ago. Looking back in my files, the only one where I have specifically looked at the Trinity.

Trinity Sunday, and I could have read a whole range of theological books on the doctrine of the trinity and attempted to explain it to you.  I could have given you the history of the historical debates on how the doctrine of the trinity was arrived at, but it doesn’t necessarily help us to understand the nature of God, and that is what the doctrine of the trinity tries to do – explain the nature of God. If you are interested in the technicalities or history of the doctrine, I’ll lend you some books. One of the resources I read this week likened the trinity to the internet – you don’t have to understand it for it to be useful! There are some scholars who disagree.

God doesn’t appear the same all the time. In one story we hear of God speaking and the world is created. Then we have Jesus crying over Jerusalem. Paul writes of the prison being opened. There  is the One who died on the cross. Even in our own life, God interacts with us in a variety of ways. How do we know each of these is God, and how do we understand a God who can speak the world into existence and show the depth of love by being executed. 

Hopefully for each of us here, God is not only a concept, something we think about, but God is part of our experience. God is a being with whom we are in relationship. Faith is not agreeing with a set of statements, faith is living in relationship with God.

Trinity helps us to see more of a picture of how God relates to us. When Ian and I go on holidays, we often take a jigsaw puzzle or two. Ian is the jigsaw whiz in our house.  When you are putting a jigsaw together, you get a more complete picture as the pieces go on the board. Even without the picture on the box, you can have  good guess at what the final picture will look like as the puzzle progresses, but you can’t see the detail, and sometimes there are surprises as you complete the picture. A bit like on Spicks and Specks when they show part of a record album cover, and you have to guess the missing bit.

When we think about God, there are a number of different aspects of God that we might think of. In the service today there have been a lot of different words used about God and naming God:  One who made everything well, life-giving Word, Spirit who formed, Giver of grace, Lord, wise, forgiving, caring, holy, playing, loving God, Strong mother God, God who created, warm father God, Prince of peace, old aching God, Spirit of truth and many more. One that stands out for me is never fully known. Because that is very much my experience of God. I am continually being challenged and sometimes surprised at the ways on which God relates to me. The lengths to which God goes to get in touch with me.

I think we can never fully understand or describe what God is like. We can attempt, using the limitations of language, to express our understanding of God from our relationship with God. But that doesn’t mean that that is all there is to God. 

There are some advantages to God relating to us in a myriad of ways. Because we are all different, there is always a way for us to relate to God, and it makes it harder for us to avoid God. Remember when children are small and they leave notes all over the house with what they want for Christmas or birthday – well God is like that, notes all over the place about love and grace, forgiveness and peace.

This doesn’t mean that God can be anything we want. The trinity is interdependent. That is Jesus is not independent of the Father, and the Spirit is not independent of Jesus.

One thing the trinity attempts to explain is the interrelationship between the three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or creator, redeemer and sanctifier, or any number of other combinations that you might come up with. There are some people outside the Christian Church who suggest that we are not monotheists – people worshipping one God; but tritheists, people worshipping three Gods. As Christians we understand that God is three and one, at the same time. This is not a mathematical oneness, but a living unity – diverse and dynamic. It has been described as a dance.

The main point here is that there is a relationship within the Godhead, a dynamic, diverse relationship. A relationship of love. God is love in action, it was out of love that God became incarnate, became human. God is love in action and we are invited to be included in this vibrant, loving relationship. We don’t have to pass a test, or have an annual appraisal. This is being swept up by the love of God into the relationship of the trinity and the community.

Have you ever been at a party where someone has started a conga line ? and people join in, they are part of the dance, expressing their joy in community with each other.

The power of the trinity for Christians is the freedom to live in community, with each other and God. Not in a hierarchy, or a moral vacuum, but in communion with the living God, whose very being is relationship. God is relationship. And so as Christians we live in relationship with God, and by implication with each other. [1]

One of the implications of the doctrine of the trinity is non-hierarchical relationships; living in community, being co-equals, even when gifted differently; none of the ways in which God relates to us being more important than others. At various times, some images of God, or ways of thinking about God will be more important to us, individually, but that doesn’t mean they are  more important. One of the traps Christians can fall into is taking one part of the trinity out of the relationship. If we see God the Father, as God, and leave out the Son and the Spirit, we can live as if God is distant, or only interested in a particular ethnic or religious group. Elevating the Father, can also lead to a lack of awareness of sin and therefore no need for forgiveness, salvation or transformation for individuals or society. ([2])  

Where the main object of devotion is Jesus, we can have a religion of pious devotion, where salvation is in the next life and there is little or no effort in overcoming oppression or poverty in this life. ([3]) This type of religion can also be authoritarian as the words or deeds of Jesus become codified rather than living as part of a Trinitarian faith. ([4])  Worshipping the Spirit, without the Father and Jesus tends to elevate the experience of the believer above all else. Here the Spirit is disconnected from God and Jesus.([5])

Trinitarian faith helps us to see God more fully, and to see ourselves more fully. As we worship God in trinity, in relationship, we can be aware of our sin, and our need for forgiveness and transformation. we can be aware of our tendency towards individualism and our need to live in community with God and each other. We can be aware of the injustice around us and work with God to transform society. 

We celebrate communion this morning, and this too has Trinitarian aspects. We remember the Israelites being liberated from bondage in Egypt, we re-enact the last supper of Jesus and the disciples, we are recreated by the Spirit, fed and nurtured in community. We share the Eucharist together, it isn’t something that happens in isolation.

A quote: “God loves in freedom, lives in community and wills creatures to live in community. God is self-sharing, other-regarding, community-forming love.”[6]

As Christians, we have a Trinitarian faith. That means we are included in the love relationship that is God, a relationship that leads to community and allows us to live in freedom.

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[1] Fox, p287

[2] Migliore, p 64.

[3] Migliore, p65.

[4] Dicker, p53.

[5] Migliore, p65

[6] Migliore, p 64.

Being Pentecost People

Pentecost, we've heard again the story of the first Pentecost as recorded by Luke in the book of Acts; the day of wind and fire, the day when people heard the gospel in their own language, the day when Peter preached to thousands of people, the day of the spirit. Pentecost is a celebration in the life of the church, a celebration of the life of the church. Pentecost is a celebration of gift and giftedness, of the remarkable and the everyday.

This reading from Acts is one we hear every year, the coming of the Spirit in wind and fire, not a gentle breeze, but a rushing wind. Enough noise for people to come and see what is happening, enough fire for people to worry and then to be amazed as they realised that the disciples were not harmed by the flame.

In thinking about Pentecost this year, I want us to think about think about how the spirit is active in our lives; what it means for us to be people of the spirit. Let’s go back to the story for a moment, the disciples had travelled with Jesus, they had been there when he died, they saw him after the resurrection, and saw him ascend to heaven. Now they were waiting, behind closed doors, waiting for the spirit to come. And then Luke records this remarkable scene. A story of wind, a strong wind, full of noise; a story of fire, fire that does not burn – where have we heard that before; a story of people being able to communicate the gospel across language and cultural boundaries.

The spirit gave the disciples courage, courage to be themselves. Peter, impetuous, Jesus-denying Peter, now filled with the Holy Spirit addresses the crowd. Some in the crowd made fun of the disciples, suggesting they are drunk. But Peter stands there and tells people, that no, the disciples are not drunk. This is what the prophet Joel had talked about: the coming of the Spirit of God that would enable people to see visions, to dream dreams and to speak God’s word, which is what prophesy means.

Peter stands there and tells the crowd about Jesus, and quotes many passages form the Old Testament to illustrate how Jesus is the fulfilment of the words of the prophets. The people in the crowd are in Jerusalem for the Festival of Pentecost, a major Jewish festival to celebrate the giving of the law. The people in the crowd would have been Jews, Jews from all over the Middle East. Later in chapter 2 of Acts you realise how large the crowd was, for three thousand people were baptised that day. 

The coming of the Holy Spirit into their lives at Pentecost was transforming for the disciples, this group of people who didn’t seem to get much of what Jesus spoke about, this group of people who didn’t know what to do after the crucifixion, this group of people who didn’t know what to make of the empty tomb, this group of ordinary, faithful, confused, bewildered disciples spoke and lived with such faith, such fervour, that they changed the world.

The Holy Spirit transforms us, changes us, and challenges us. It isn’t that God’s spirit makes us do things we can’t do, but gives us courage and strength, so we can be the people God made us to be. What prevents us from being the people God created us to be? It isn’t lack of education, or that we are too old or too young. I suggest that fear is what stops us from being the people that God calls us to be. It may be fear of standing out in the crowd, fear of public speaking, fear of not knowing enough, fear of being laughed at, fear of ….

Being a disciple of Jesus is risky; a few years ago there was material around for Uniting Church congregations called Risking the way of Jesus. Living the Jesus way is risky. Living as people of cross, empty tomb and Pentecost is risky, and at times challenging.

SOUL AND RISK

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another person is to risk involvement.
To expose your feelings is to risk being your true self.
To place your dreams and ideas before the crowd is to risk their rejection.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing.
This person can avoid suffering and sorrow, but cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, or really live.
He is chained by his certitude. He is a slave. He has forfeited freedom.
A person who risks is free.

From A Canopy of Stars: Some Reflections for the Journey by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ [David Lovell Publishing 2003]

One of the Ministers I talk with on the internet told a story last week of a church that decided to cancel Pentecost; there were lots of special services and it just didn’t fit in the calendar. I wondered, in what ways do we try and avoid the Holy Spirit from being active in our lives. Do we discount the Spirit’s promptings as a daydream, drunken or not, too ridiculous to bring to life? Do we crowd out the Holy Spirit by keeping busy, by filling our lives up with noise and activity, surely God can’t really expect us to fit in any more!

Maybe it is like this cartoon, where we make up excuses for why the Holy Spirit can’t come into this or that part of our lives. We are unwilling to risk living the way of Jesus, to risk the Holy Spirit setting us on fire, or blowing us in a different direction. We worry about what people will think about us, or say about us, and miss out on the opportunities the Spirit gives us to live more fully for God.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

What would we do if we weren’t afraid?

What would it mean to your life, to our life together, if we went with the Spirit, into new places, new relationships, new ministries, new lives?

What would it mean to your life, and our life, if we risked being Pentecost people?

Witnesses

A shorter sermon this week, becasue I will allow time for people to reflect as we go.

This week at retreat, we looked at the theme of Grace. We thought about times we had experienced Grace, we thought about images that remind us of grace – and some of us made symbols. We thought about Bible passages that speak to us of grace. We heard the story known as the prodigal son, and thought about how to speak of grace to the older brother. We thought about people who had mediated grace to us. We reflected on the places in our lives where we are wounded, and how for some the wounds are infected and making us ill, and for others the wounds are now scars, we continue to be shaped by them, but they do not make us sick any more. And then we were invited to write a letter to God about grace, and listen for God’s response. It seems like a lot, putting it all together like this, but this was over three days.

Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit will come, and they will be his witnesses. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth; this is like saying, Engadine, Sutherland Shire, Australia, and all over the earth.  We are to be witnesses.

A witness can stand back and watch something happening without getting involved. A witness can be someone who is specifically called to be present to see that something happens as it should. A witness can be someone who countersigns documents. A witness can be someone who tells what they have seen or experienced.

Thinking about being a witness, I wondered how we witness to God’s presence in our lives, as individuals and as a community of faith. 

As we reflect this morning, you may like to get comfortable and close your eyes.

1. I invite you to think about one person who told you, with words or actions, about God, the gospel, about God’s love, grace, and forgiveness?
1. Hold that person in your mind and Thank God for that person, ask God to bless them.
2. I invite you to think about a time you seen someone living out the gospel.
1. Hold that person in your mind and Thank God for that person, ask God to bless them.
3. Now I invite you to think of the work of this congregation – worship, OOSH, meetings, social activities – what does our life together say about God?
1. What else would you like your life to say about God?
2. Ask God to help you make that a reality.

……………………

Our lives touch others’ lives; our lives can be a positive or a negative influence in the lives of those around us.

When we witness, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the presence and activity of God in the world, we change the world around us. Listen again to his verse form the reading this morning:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus didn’t say, you might, or there is a raffle or lucky dip, or just a chosen few – in speaking with the disciples, Jesus said ‘you will’.  You will receive power from the Holy Spirit, and you will be my witnesses.

Our lives are witnesses to Jesus. What kind of witnesses are we, Engadine Uniting Church; what does our life say about Jesus, about God, about grace.

Our life as a church does speak about God.

Is our witness to God one of inclusion or exclusion; is our witness one that tells of God’s love; is our witness one that shows the love and faithfulness of Jesus; is our witness one that tells of the power and presence of God.

Next week is Pentecost, when we again celebrate the Holy Spirit in our lives. In what area of our life together, do we seek a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that we might be able to fulfil Christ’s call to be witnesses?

In what area of your life, do you seek a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that you might be able to fulfil Christ’s call to be a witness?