creation and transformation

Genesis 1: 1-25

When we read, or hear, the creation account in Genesis chapter one, what do you think of?

-           Arguments over creation and evolution?

 
This story of creation is thought to have  been written when the people of Israel were in exile in Babylon. It is from this exile that we get songs asking ‘how can we worship the Lord in a strange land?’

It is thought that Genesis one was written for use in worship. Notice how the passage is written like poetry, it has a pattern and repetition.

For the people in exile it seemed that the Babylonian Gods were in control. This passage is a theological and pastoral answer to people living in exile; people who lived with chaos, who felt abandoned by God; which is why this passage speaks not only to the exiles in 6^th century BC Babylon, but to people throughout the ages, and to people today.

People still live with chaos, in despair, without hope, with sickness, unemployment, grief, people are betrayed, or lonely; people who feel overwhelmed by life, this passage is written to these people.  

It may seem strange to say that a story about the creation is a pastoral and theological statement, an affirmation of God’s presence and goodness, for those overwhelmed by life, but that is what we have here.

The people could remember that God was the one who can bring order out of chaos, just as in the creation story, and while it may not look like it at the time, being in exile, they could remind themselves of God’s presence, of God’s power and of God’s creativity.

Verse 2 tells how the earth was formless; and in God speaking the earth was transformed. This transformation is what the people in exile were looking for, and the creation story gives hope to people in despair that there is the possibility of transformation, that life will not always be chaotic. 

This God is not coercive, but life and permission giving. When God spoke, it doesn’t say God made, created or built plants and animals, but God said: let there be… and there was.  The relationship between God and the creation is free and gracious and invitational, God says, ‘ let there be’ ; and the earth responds.

How do we respond to God’s invitation ‘to be’, to live, to be transformed?

…

In the newspapers last weekend I read a few articles about the lack of outdoor activity by children and young people today. One article was talking about how some people spend so much time indoors, and walking on smooth surfaces, that they are unable to walk on rough ground. It seems that that part of their body just doesn’t develop.

Another article talked about the increasing rates of short-sightedness as people spend more time in front of TV, computer, electronic games etc.

I wonder when did the world, the creation, become something to be avoided?

When we look at the passage from Genesis we heard this morning, one phrase that is used over and over is ‘And God saw that it was good’. The light was good, the separating of land from water, the plants, the animals of sea, air and land, all are viewed by God as good.  God delighted in creation, why does it disgust us so much?

We live in a society where many people minimise their contact with the earth, with nature. Now I am not all that keen on creepy crawlies, and I don’t like camping, but there is something wonderful about being in nature, about being somewhere away from the noise of traffic, the closeness of buildings; there is something wonderful about birdsong, and breezes and sunshine, and wind whooshing through trees. It may not be as comfortable as sitting in a lounge chair watching a movie, but there is something amazing and life giving about being close to nature from time to time.  

I wonder why some people avoid this altogether?

The passage we read from Genesis one, was to remind and comfort people in exile, people who felt life was out of control. This passage gave them hope that their life could be transformed, just as the formless earth was transformed by God’s invitation. 

What does it mean when we avoid creation, when we try and remove ourselves from creation?

I wonder if we cut ourselves off from God by separating ourselves from creation of which we are a part?

Wealth among the poor

30 September 2007 Year C

Reading : 1 Timothy 6: 6-19 

Gospel : Luke 16:19-31

 

The more I read the gospels and scripture, the more challenged I am. The more I see Christianity as counter cultural and see my life as a pale imitation of what God has called me to.

This last month we have reading through Luke’s gospel. In chapter 14 we heard about the value of humility and hospitality, how it is important to invite people who are not able to repay you; how we should take a lower place at the table. Then the parable of the dinner guests, which wasn’t part of the lectionary at this point, where the excuses for attending the banquet are a property transaction, work, and family. Jesus then tells the disciples to count the cost of discipleship.  

This is followed by the stories of the lost things – the lost sheep and the lost coin; this is followed by the prodigal son. Different ways in which we lose ourselves, by wandering away from God or being distracted like the sheep; by losing our place, suddenly realising we are not where we should be like the coin; or by choosing a different path, like the son.

Then Luke records the story we heard last week of the dishonest manager. The person who used his position to get himself out of  a mess and assure his own future. This week we hear of the rich man and Lazarus.

The rich man is not noted as being evil, or cruel, or acting in any way that is inconsistent with the general society. The fact that he dresses on purple indicates that he is very wealthy, and is possibly part of the royal family. Lazarus sat at his gate, so this suggests walls and a gate, a major complex of buildings with some protection against unwanted intruders. Also note that after the rich man dies, and he is in torment, he commands Abraham to tell Lazarus to look after him, by bringing some cool water, or running an errand to his brothers. The rich man sees any other person there for his benefit.

 

Luke doesn’t say wealth is bad, even the author of the letter to Timothy doesn’t say that being wealthy is bad. There is nothing to indicate that the rich man was in anyway responsible for the position that Lazarus was in, or had anything to do with his death.

Yet what happens to him in the story, after the rich man dies he is in torment. Being rich comes with responsibility. We all have responsibility to our fellow creatures.  The problem of wealth is that it can blind us to what is happening to the world around us. As people get wealthier there is more concern with security, and having enough, and how far will the resources stretch, and how many people we can share our resources with. The sin of wealth is being preoccupied with oneself.

It almost seems that these chapters of Luke were written for our modern western society. We live in a culture that values money and possessions and status, and increasingly security is being added to the list. While the stories revolve around money, they are about more than that. They are about relationships and life, about a new way of thinking and being, about breaking the mould of looking after ourselves at the expense of others.

 

In many ways it is difficult to know what to do about poverty, about homelessness, about violence and drugs and family breakdown. There is much on our world that is downright scary, and much that seems to have no solution. When but when we look at our society, and accept that some people will lose so that we can win, that some people will not have a hospital bed, or housing assistance, or enough food, so that we can have a tax cut, then there is a problem.

 

Remember Luke doesn’t suggest that the rich man was responsible for the situation Lazarus was in, but he was responsible for not helping him out of that situation, for ignoring what was in front of his house. In the news in recent months there was a story from the US, but it could also happen here, that a woman was raped in an hotel hallway, and no-one helped, and it was a long time before anyone even called the police. The people who didn’t help were not responsible for the violence, but they added to the violence by not calling for help more quickly. The idea that another persons predicament is none of our business, that we don’t want to get involved as it might get messy, that is our sin.

 

We are not directly responsible for much of the structural inequality in our society, we are not responsible for drought and famine, but we are responsible for what we do with the resources that we have. I read that Wesley, in one of sermons, included “his formula for earning and saving all you can in order to give all you can, as part of wise and faithful stewardship that provides first for your own and your household's basic needs, then does good within the household of faith and to all others.”

The song went money makes the world go round – but only when we share what we have with others.

 

For many people accumulating wealth is their life’s work, to the exclusion of all else. Here we are called to account for being preoccupied with our own needs, for ignoring the cry of our neighbours around the world – for our neighbour is any who is in need. When we keep searching for more wealth and more ways to protect our wealth and to gain more wealth, then we are substituting money for God.

 Our security, our wealth, our identity, our purpose, are all found in God, and when we go looking for those things in other places, whether it is in finances or football, then we are in trouble. We need to come back to who we are, to the one in whom we live and move and have our being.  It is only when we live trusting in the faithfulness of God, when our identity is in the risen Christ, when our guide is the Holy Spirit, that we can be content with life. For life is what God gives us, and only in relationship with God can we recognise what life truly is.

what is being built

this is the first sermon I preached in my first [and current placement] in 2006.  readings: 2 Samuel 7: 1-17 and Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

There are times when I wish life was logical and sequential. There are times when I wish God would behave in ways that made sense to me. There are times when I wish l could understand life, before it happened and while it was happening. There are times, well most of the time actually, I wish life was orderly and had some structure.

At school, and when I first went to university I was good at maths and science – the logical, systematic subjects. Neat and orderly was how I wanted life to be, that feels safe to me, minimum risk and minimum chaos. But life hasn’t been like that for me, and I think it isn’t like that for many people, some people enjoy the chaos more than others.

I look at the disciples, and the leaders we read of in the Old testament, and I have hope. In the reading from 2^nd Samuel we hear of David wanting to build a house for God. We read a fair bit of David’s life story in the Old testament, multiple versions of some of it. David keeping the sheep, anointed by Samuel, victorious against Goliath, a musician in the court of Saul, and here he is King of Israel. He has a palace, and decides it is time that God also dwelt in a magnificent house. The place where the holy things were kept was a tent - portable, fitting the life that people of Israel had lived since the exodus – wandering in the wilderness, fighting battles – place was temporary for them. Now it was to become permanent. Now they were in Jerusalem, and the holy things, and therefore God, would have a house befitting such a strong and powerful god.

Makes sense to me, and as one of the scholars I read this week notes, the prophet Haggai later uses the same logic to get the temple rebuilt after the exile. So why does God not want David to build a temple. There are a few reasons:

§  God can’t be domesticated or held in one place. God had been with the people all through their journeys, and would be with them in the future as they lived through exile and colonisation. God didn’t, and still doesn’t need a temple, or even a church building.

§  God can’t be controlled. God would decide when and where and who would build the temple, in this case it is Solomon, David’s son, who has the temple built. This isn’t about how good David or Solomon is, but about things happening in God’s time and place – much as it doesn’t always make sense for us.

§  There is an emphasis in this passage on what God is building rather than what we build for God. David’s announcement that he will build a temple is initially greeted positively by the prophet Nathan. Then God tells Nathan to say to David: “Are you the one to build me a house to live in?”.  David is putting what he can do ahead of what God will do.

How could David – the great warrior, the anointed one, get it so wrong. I suspect the way that I get it wrong. I work out what I think I can best do, instead of listening for God, discerning where the Spirit is active. David had the means and the capability of building a temple. As king of Israel he had building materials and people at his beck and call. There are things I am capable of, that doesn’t mean that is what God is calling me to do at any particular time. There have been times when I have also known, much better than God, what I am not capable of doing – but that doesn’t always match up with God’s understanding of the situation. David was a shepherd, the youngest son when anointed by Samuel, yet God did great things through David.

In this passage there is a play on the word, house. A house is a dwelling, or it can also refer to the family. So the house of David could be the building in which he lives, but usually refers to the family and offspring of David, in the same way that the English royal family is of the house of Windsor. So David thinks he will  build a house for God, but God is building a house for David, a living house of flesh and blood, obedient, disobedient, living people; not a house of cedar and stone, with fine gold and fancy fittings.

I said earlier the disciples also give me hope. This group of insiders who travelled with Jesus, saw everything up close, don’t understand what is happening most of the time. So I don’t feel so bad when I don’t understand what God is doing. In this section of Mark, it is clear that the crowd recognises Jesus as a person who can heal and teach, someone special; yet the disciples often seem ignorant of the greatness of Jesus as they travel together.

The end of Chapter 7 of Mark is a summary of what has been happening, people healed, some by touching the fringes on his cloak. The fact that Jesus was wearing a cloak with fringes suggests that he was following in the traditions of the Jewish religion. Tassels or fringes were a sign of devotion. While many in modern times think of Jesus as someone who overthrew Judaism, this isn’t the case. Jesus was very Jewish, but he didn’t follow the religion in the ways that many of his contemporary religious leaders did.  We have recorded in the gospels occasions when Jesus quoted scripture, went to the temple or synagogue, followed Jewish traditions; but we also have examples of Jesus reinterpreting the tradition and the scriptures.  For example, healing on the Sabbath, gave priority to health and inclusion over ritual and purity laws. There was, and is, more than one way of interpreting tradition and scripture.

In the Uniting church at the moment there is disagreement about some issues, some to do with biblical interpretation, some with moral, social and ethical issues. I don’t know what all the answers are, and I sometimes wonder who do we think we are. In the same way that God challenged David : “Are you the one to build me a house to live in?”.  I wonder if God might challenge the church today: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?”.  God is building the church for us to live in, not the other way around.  God builds the church, God invites people into relationship,  loves, forgives, holds us as precious even or especially when we are confused. God builds the church with living, breathing, faithful, confused people – people like us.

I don’t know where God will lead us together as the Engadine congregation of the Uniting Church. I do know that God has lead me to places I never thought I would be, like theological college and being in ministry. What I have learnt is that discipleship isn’t about what I want to do, or where I think God should be active. Discipleship is about being involved where God calls me and equips me to be.

Are we like the disciples, so caught up in our own experience that we miss recognising Jesus in the world and people around us. Are we like David, aware of our own ability, independent and resourceful. Are we building the temple we think God should have, or are we looking for and celebrating what God is building in our lives.

violence as usaul

Proclamation of the Word part 1

Many of you will have seen in the news this week that a woman was shot in Afghanistan for alleged adultery. It reminded me of the passage from John’s gospel where a women caught in adultery is about to be stoned. I wonder what happened to the man.

In Biblical times women were regarded as possessions, and it many places still are. The practice of the Father of a bride giving her hand in marriage, comes from this idea that a woman is a possession of her father, and then her husband.  

And in the case this week, I wonder what happened to the men. One report says that :

“Salangi [Provincial governor Basir Salangi ]said two Taliban commanders were sexually involved with the woman in Parwan, either through rape or romantically, and decided to torture her and then kill her to settle a dispute between the two of them.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/08/afghan-woman-accused-adultery-shot-dead

this was a dispute between two men, about a woman, and the woman was killed.

In the gospel reading we heard this morning, another example of violence as a way of dealing with complicated relationships. John had called Herod on his relationship with Herodias, his brother’s wife.  And John is beheaded.

It got me thinking about violence in our world.

The Psalm begins with

“The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

How is violence respecting God’s creation?

Violence in the home, violence when people are out for the night, violence as a way of solving our problems.

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

It seems that the abundance of God is made available to some more than others. Does that mean some of God’s creation is more important than other parts? Are people living in the Horn of Africa less worthy than Northern Europeans?

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

How do we treat the earth and all that is in it?

What do we say about God and creation when we allow the Great Barrier Reef to be destroyed for the sake of bulk carriers moving to ports nearby?

What do we say about God and creation when we allow some people to live in poverty, to be oppressed, to be tortured, killed?

What do we say about God and creation?

Whose voices do we hear and whose are not heard?

A reflection including song and prayer. Please remain seated and join in with the singing.

Hymn/prayer: Kumba Yah – from Bread of Tomorrow p 74-5

Proclamation of the Word part 2

What voices do we hear,
who do we see dying,
who do we hear crying,
where is the shouting,
and who do we join praying?

The voices we hear in the media are often about the price of petrol; interest rates – too high or too low depending on how you are effected; housing affordability; traffic snarls; government stuff-ups. The voices we hear in the media feed us on a diet of self-interest, and negativity.

There are other voices we regularly hear, friends or family talk of their pain, their loneliness, their illness, their grief, their broken relationships.

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

 It is not only one woman who was killed in Afghanistan this week, just one which made the news more than others. And it happens in other places, not only in Afghanistan, not only in war zones, not only in one religious group. Since time began, people have been killing each other, because they don’t want to be challenged, or found out, or because they want something that belongs to them, even when that something is a human being.

What can we do?

It seems that our society tells us to look after ‘number one’, and that means our self. But what does God say?

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

What can we do?

We can speak. Silence can be part of the conspiracy of oppression and violence. Remember the US soldiers who were ’found out’ for torture? Silence and secrets allow the violence to remain hidden. Secrets have allowed abuse to be remain hidden in the Catholic Church – but like most secrets they eventually come into the open – someone has the courage to speak out one more time.

The death of the woman in Afghanistan this week may have remained a secret except someone videoed the event.

We can speak, with words, but also with our lives. We can live as part of God’s abundant and amazing creation. We can live as if others are part of God’s abundant and amazing creation.

We can speak,
we can listen to the voice of ‘silenced’
we can name the dying,
we can comfort the crying,
we can acknowledge the shouting,
we can join with the praying?

a prophet v 2

Proclamation of the Word

I know some of you have family who visit from time to time, and they come and worship here. We look at people who we have seen grow up here, and think about what they were like as children, and how they have turned out. How much they have grown and changed. And then their children come, and there are comments about how much this grandchild is like their parent or aunt or uncle was growing up. It seems to be part of our human make-up to look for family resemblances.

Jesus was back in his home village, visiting his family, and teaching in the local Synagogue. At first the people were astounded, amazed, at what Jesus was teaching, then they look at him, and see it is a home town boy of suspicious parentage – he is called Mary’s son rather than Joseph’s son. The villagers have seen Jesus and his sisters and brothers grow up.

And they wonder - Who does he think he is?!

Sounds like the Aussie ‘tall poppy’ syndrome. I can remember watching sport with my father, who was similar physical build to me, and he would say, I could do that, I just don’t want to show off. Now there was no way he could run a sprint or a marathon, or swim or dive or any of the other amazing things we will at the Olympics this year. In Australia we have habit of knocking those we deem to be too much ‘in the spotlight’.

And the people of the village wonder - Who does he think he is?!

This Jesus, this carpenter, this boy who grew up with our sons and daughters.  Who does he think he is?!

The reactions of the people in the village is not unusual.

I wonder how we respond to Jesus?

When Jesus asked his disciples ‘who do people say I am?’

“[The disciples]  replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”. “ [Matthew 16:14]

Jesus reminded people of the prophets.

Prophets were, and are, people who speak God’s word into a situation. People who speak up, and act, for the marginalised, for the whole creation, for the hungry, for the abused.

We can think of Jesus as a friend and companion, healer and teacher – and he is those things. But that is only part of who Jesus is.

I wonder, have we grown so comfortable, so familiar, that we don’t hear what is being said anymore, that we miss the strangeness of the Gospel.

The gospel which tells us of Jesus including the excluded, healing the sick, calming the storm, teaching, calling disciples, challenging those in leadership. The Gospel is good news, but it isn’t about being good in terms of middle-class western respectability.

For many people today, Christianity and the Church is about respectability, being good and nice. 

But Jesus was not that.

Jesus was not respectable.

Jesus did not stay on the ‘right’ side of the powerful and important.

Jesus broke the rules.

Jesus challenged the way things were.

What might Jesus challenge today – our treatment of asylum seekers, our fixation on ourselves, the cult of individualism, the way that economics decides what health and education are available for those unable to afford private schooling and healthcare.

What might Jesus challenge today –in your life?

In this community?

In this nation?

Who does he think he is?! This Jesus, who comes asking the difficult questions.

This Jesus who comes as challenges us to step out of our complacency, to see beyond our own life.

Who does he think he is?!

a Prophet in town

After a three week break, a weekend off, then 2 weeks ill, back preaching this week.

I know some of you have family who visit from time to time, and they come and worship here. We look at people who we have seen grow up here, and think about what they were like as children, and how they have turned out. How much they have grown and changed. And then their children come, and there are comments about how much this grandchild is like their parent or aunt or uncle was growing up. It seems to be part of our human make-up to look for family resemblances.

Jesus was back in his home village, visiting his family, and teaching in the local Synagogue. At first the people were astounded, amazed, at what Jesus was teaching, then they look at him, and see it is a home town boy of suspicious parentage – he is called Mary’s son rather than Joseph’s son. The villagers have seen Jesus and his sisters and brothers grow up.

And they wonder - Who does he think he is?!

Sounds like the Aussie ‘tall poppy’ syndrome. I can remember watching sport with my father, who was similar physical build to me, and he would say, I could do that, I just don’t want to show off. Now there was no way he could run a sprint or a marathon, or swim or dive or any of the other amazing things we will at the Olympics this year. In Australia we have habit of knocking those we deem to be too much ‘in the spotlight’.

And the people of the village wonder - Who does he think he is?!

This Jesus, this carpenter, this boy who grew up with our sons and daughters.  Who does he think he is?!

The reactions of the people in the village is not unusual.

I wonder how we respond to Jesus?

When Jesus asked his disciples ‘who do people say I am?’

“[The disciples]  replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”. “ [Matthew 16:14]

Jesus reminded people of the prophets.

Prophets were, and are, people who speak God’s word into a situation. People who speak up, and act, for the marginalised, for the whole creation, for the hungry, for the abused. A few weeks ago you watched a DVD about the Uniting Church’s Statement to the Nation from 1977. To me this is a prophetic statement, even now. There are some copies available at morning tea, here are

[The] six affirmations of the Uniting Church in 1977 were: [on PP slides] [Rev Dr Dean Drayton retiring address as President of the Assembly

http://assembly.uca.org.au/component/k2/item/295-church-members-called-to-act-on-historic-statement]

1. We will challenge values which emphasise acquisitiveness and greed in disregard of the needs of others …
- compare this statement to the response of people to changes in interest rates, tax tables and various charges for services. How much do we respond from our situation rather than the poorest, the least?

2. We affirm that the first allegiance of Christians is God, under whose judgment the policies and actions of all nations must pass. We realise that this allegiance may bring us into conflict with the rulers of our day.
- are we, like Jesus willing to be in conflict with the rulers of this country – religious and political and social?

3. We are concerned with the basic human rights of future generations and will urge the wise use of energy, the protection of the environment and the replenishment of the earth’s resources for their use and enjoyment.
- are we aware of how our consumption undermines our grandchildren’s future?

4. We affirm our eagerness to uphold basic Christian values and principles such as the importance of every human being.

- Do we treat some people as less important than others? Why is the death of one person in Australia more newsworthy than hundreds in another country?

- How do we respond to the Government intervention in the Northern territory and now Bankstown and some others cities, are the human rights of some more important than others, do we afford more dignity to some people?

5. We affirm … the need for integrity in public life, the proclamation of truth and justice.

- where do we get our information from? It seems that much of the public discourse on important issues is what we get in a  30 second sound bite on the nightly news. Or from people who make a living by creating conflict and division.

6. We pledge ourselves to hope and work for a nation whose goals are not guided by self-interest alone …

 - how do we as a nation make decisions?

- ----

How do you feel about this list, about being part of a church that runs a medically supervised injecting facility, that has chaplains in prisons and detention centres, that speaks out on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers, that calls politicians to task for their double standards. What is it like being part of a denomination that doesn’t always agree with other denominations?

It can be easy to worship each week and forget about some of that the Uniting Church stands for – justice, human rights, the dignity of all people and all of creation.

We can think of Jesus as a friend and companion, healer and teacher – and he is those things. But that is only part of who Jesus is.

Have we grown so comfortable, so familiar, that we don’t hear what is being said anymore, that we miss the strangeness of the Gospel.

The gospel which tells us of Jesus including the excluded, healing the sick, calming the storm, teaching, calling disciples, challenging those in leadership. The Gospel is good news, but it isn’t about being good in terms of middle-class western respectability.

For many people today, the Church is about respectability, being good and nice. 

But Jesus was not that.

Jesus was not respectable.

Jesus did not stay on the ‘right’ side of the powerful and important.

Jesus broke the rules.

Jesus challenged the way things were.

In this passage Mark records that Jesus was unable to perform many miracles, because of the unbelief of the people. Now it would take a long time to explore this in detail, but I wonder how often we miss what God is doing in this community, and around the world, because we only see the Jesus we are comfortable with, the one who is kind, our friend, our support, our comforter.

What if we looked for, encouraged and supported the prophets in our midst, the ones who call politicians to account, the ones who question our lack of concern for the excluded of the world, the ones who make us feel uncomfortable in our comfortable lives.

Who are the prophets today, where do we speak God’s word into the world.

Trinity???

A slightly different service today, in that I am looking briefly at Isaiah early in the service, followed by the Prayer of Confession, and we will read the Psalm together, as well as hearing the Gospel.

The Sermon is preceded by a litany from Spill the Beans which ends with the question how would explain what no one yet has been able to …? - see  http://spillbeans.org.uk/

Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
Notes: Guess What Happened in Worship

Here we read of Isaiah’s experience of worship; Isaiah had a significant encounter with God. Which tells us something about worship.

Firstly, Isaiah was aware of God ‘he saw the Lord’ Genuine worship starts with God, and recognising the holiness of God.

Then when Isaiah is awed by God’s presence, he sees himself realistically, and he becomes aware of his sin;  "Woe is me! I am lost” .

God wants us to recognise our frailties and failings, but God also has  a way of dealing with those things. God’s forgiveness not only removes our sin, but also the guilt that so often accompanies our awareness of our sin.

Isaiah’s encounter with God does not end with recognising God and being overawed by the scene; nor does it end with his guilt and sins being removed. The encounter win the temple finishes with Isaiah going to serve in God’s world. To meet human needs, God uses people.[i]

---

[i] Ideas from http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/2823/sermon-options-june-3-2012

Gospel : John 3:1-17 Proclamation

 The question got me: how would explain what no one yet has been able to …? That question could refer to a range of things, like how will you know when you are in love; how can I have faith; why do cows eat grass; but here the question refers to the Trinity. I am told that this is one day of the year when ministers will try and find a lay preacher. Trinity is one of those ideas that we have in the church, one of those ways that we have of expressing something about God, when really trying to describe God is so difficult within the constraints of human language.

 In the reading from Isaiah, we have Isaiah attempting to put into words his experience of worship. Isaiah describes the hem of God's garments as filling the whole of the temple, and the six winged creatures flying around singing holy, holy, holy. I don't know about you, but I don't think I've been in any worship experience where I've encountered six winged creatures flying around. When asked to explain what worship is like for many of us we think about prayers and music and readings and the functional things that happen in worship. Other times we might try and explain the experience, the sensation, the mystery of encountering God when we meet together and worship together as a community of faith. The functional stuff is much easier to put into words than the sense of awe and mystery.

Turning now to the gospel reading, Nicodemus comes and speaks to Jesus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee, which means he was well versed in the Jewish religion. It also means he was one of the guardians of the Jewish faith. We hear of him coming to Jesus, and discussing the kingdom of God. It seems that in many encounters with people who think they know the truth, or the set answers, Jesus doesn't make it easy for Nicodemus.

Reading of Nicodemus’s encounter with Jesus, reminds me of how hard it is sometimes to understand faith, to be articulate and put into clear words what our faith means, or even what faith is. Nicodemus is correct, in a functional sense, you can't be born a second time, so what else might this mean.

Back to the Trinity for a few moments, something I read this week[i] talked about Trinity by starting with the creation story, in the first chapter of Genesis verse 26 it says :

‘then God said ‘let us make humankind in our image according to our likeness’ ”. The Genesis story begins with a sense of God who is plural, while the Jewish faith is monotheistic, the creation story has a sense of God being part of community. If God was a single creator God, we could worship, we could pray, we could bow down, but it would be about paying homage to, not being in relationship with, or being transformed by. Because God is God in community, because creation is an action of voice of God, word and Sprit, God calls us into community.

The doctrine of the Trinity does not give us a way to explain the details of God, or of faith. What Trinity does is allow a framework, a tool, for seeing God in a new way.

The challenge for Nicodemus in his encounter with Jesus is to let go of what he knows of the physical world, to let go of the certainty of the religion that he knows so well, and to risk being in relationship with God, to allow himself to be swept up into the community of God.

That is our challenge as well. It is easy for us to focus on the physical in life, that which we can touch and see; it is easy for us to be comfortable with what we know; but as we worship we open ourselves up to God; as we come together around the Lord's table we are allowing ourselves to be part of something more, that can be wonderful and joyous and challenging and frightening. Because when we open ourselves to God, when we allow ourselves to be swept up into the community of God and God's people, we don't know what will happen. God being Trinity, God in relationship with God and with us, is part of the wonderful mystery of faith.

Let us take some time to sit in the mystery.

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[i] Nadia Bolz-Weber  http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/06/01/some-thoughts-holy-trinity/