peace

 “We'll live in your light and be guided in peace.”  Do we, are we?  Do we live in God’s light, are we guided in peace?

Last Sunday we heard of the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah, announcing that Elizabeth and Zechariah were to have a child.  Zechariah was unable to speak, but now after the birth, he we have this spoken song, this canticle recorded by Luke.

The canticle tells of the place of God in the history of Israel;

of God speaking through the prophets;

of the covenant with Abraham;

and then Zechariah moves into the future, and speaks of this child, John, as the one who will prepare the way for the Lord.

For Luke salvation or liberation is not primarily about political freedom.   John’s role in preparing the way for the coming one is about forgiveness of sins, not gathering an army to overthrow the Roman occupiers. In the same way, the Messiah leads people on the path of peace, not violent revolution.  Salvation means “We'll live in your light and be guided in peace.”

Serving God without fear, and living as the forgiven and freed people that we are; our whole life dedicated to living as God’s people, as followers of Christ with his passion for justice.   [Texts for Preaching, CD-ROM Edition] and [Sacra Pagina – Luke by Luke Timothy Johnson]

One of my favourite subjects at school was science, and I am now going to show you something from physics.

[slide of stable and unstable equilibrium from Wikipedia]

The first picture shows unstable equilibrium, that is if the ball is moved even a small amount, the ball won’t go back to the same place. The second picture shows stable equilibrium, that is, if the ball is moved it will go back to where it was.

In thinking about peace, there are times when it is like holding our breath, we know it isn’t going to last, it is in unstable equilibrium. A stalemate more than peace.

We see it in our families, as well as in world conflicts. I can remember times when my father and I weren’t arguing, but it wasn’t peace, it was a lull before the next round. My grandmother talked of being able to cut the air with a knife. Those of you who have lived with teenage girls may know what I mean.

What would it look like if we did live in the light of Christ, walking the way of peace? A song we sometimes hear at this time of year is “my grown up Christmas Wish” the chorus goes

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal our hearts
Everyone would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end.

What is on your Christmas list this year?

It is fine to ask for peace from war, but what about peace in our families, actual peace not ceasefires. What about peace in our hearts?

Sound all too idealistic, but if peace doesn’t start within us, we can’t live in peace with our neighbours.

Last week we thought about hope, and the ways in which we might be able to bring hope into the world. Today I have some stars, and you are invited to write down one way in which you are a prophet for peace or one way that you would like your life to show the peace of Christ.

These will also go in and around the manger.

group singing : You bring peace but not as the world gives,

Advent is a time of waiting, of watchful preparation for the coming of the one who is the prince of peace, the one who enters our lives, bringing peace. Peace from fear and anxiety, peace that is life affirming and transforming.  Peace that is durable.

 “Dream. Dream. Dream. Be idealistic. Dream the world can be a better place." -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Maybe then we will live in God’s light and be guided in peace.”  

Let us take a moment to reflect on what God is saying to us today.

hope

Jeremiah 33:14-16
This week a Baptism and Communion,  so a shorter sermon than usual.

 

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made …” Each year we sing of hope and peace and joy; each year we hear these advent readings about the coming of the kingdom of righteousness, peace, justice; Sometimes we hear about the lion laying down with the lamb – which must be the ultimate in reconciliation of the whole creation. Some years we hear about swords turning into ploughshares, weapons into implements to grow food. We hear of the coming fulfilment of the promises of God.

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made …”

The people Jeremiah was speaking to were in exile – Israel and Judah had already split from each other, and now both were in exile, the people taken to a foreign country, the Temple destroyed, the people had to answer to a foreign power. Jeremiah, speaks God word to them - “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made …”

Imagine what it would have been like for the people in exile, hearing these words from Jeremiah. Hearing that once again there would be a King, a righteous king. Not a foreign king, but a King from their own people, a king from the line of David.

It was  a long wait for the people, many generations passed before the birth of Jesus, and then he was not what people were expecting the king to be like.

We wait this advent time, we wait each year for the coming of the righteous branch of David, we wait for the one who will come and make all things new, the one who will be the fulfilment of God’s promise of justice and peace and reconciliation and redemption. We wait.

We wait to celebrate the coming that happened 2000 years ago, to retell the story of the baby in a stable, the baby that some saw and the one Jeremiah had referred to as the fulfilment of the promise, the righteous branch of Israel.

But we also wait for another coming. One writer talks of the comings of Jesus: the birth, the resurrection, the coming in the Holy Spirit. I would add the coming of Jesus into our lives. And Jesus will come again, and again, and again. Into our lives, into this community.

What will mean it mean for Jesus to come again into our lives and into this world?

In the Church year, this is the beginning of a new year, Advent is the start of the lectionary, and today we began our reading of the Gospel of Luke.

As we begin another year, we look ahead, we reflect on what has been, and plan for a different future – that basically is what New Year’s resolutions are.

During worship this week and for the next 4 weeks, we will think about the theme for the day, this Sunday it is Hope.  

 When are we aware of being hopeful, hopeful rather than despairing about the future, and the present.

 Think about a time when you were full of hope.

What would help you be hopeful more often in your life?

When we look at the word around us, there are plenty of stories of anguish and desperation.  I wonder what we can do to increase hope in the world?

2 minute video on the start of the Christmas Bowl. http://www.actforpeace.org.au/Ways_To_Give/The_Christmas_Bowl/Christmas_Bowl_2012/Video__the_Christmas_Bowl.aspx

There are ways we can bring more hope into the world, we can give to the Christmas Bowl, we can buy Gifts that give a future to people, we can shop fair trade. What else might you be able to do,

Each of you will receive a piece of paper, on it I want you to write, or draw, one thing you will do this year that will grow hope in the world, in your life, or in another’s life.

When you have done that, please come and place it around the manger.

Reign of Christ?

Here is an image I saw this week. [slide 1] this image,

I thought we might play with it a bit this morning.

 [slide 2] It is asking us to think about if God is in the Church,

[slide 3] or if the Church is in God?

 [slide 4] I wondered what this would look like for some other questions:

 [slide 5] Is God in the world?

[slide 6] Or the world in God?

 [slide 7] Or something else? like this

[slide 8] or this

The reading from John’s gospel this morning asks where is God in the world? Where is the kingdom of God, the reign of Christ? Is it only in the church?

From the reading of the encounter between Pilate and Jesus, we can hear how Pilate was trying to work out the next step.  Going from the Jewish religious leaders who are outside the building, to Jesus who is inside the building.

Who has power, who has authority?

Pilate has power, so do the religious leaders.

The reading finished with Pilate finding no case against Jesus, but we know that the story continues to the crucifixion, because Pilate chooses the way of political expediency. He knows that Jesus has done nothing wrong, but in the end he chooses the path of least resistance. Back and forth he goes, from the Jewish leaders to Jesus, asking questions, trying to find a way out.

At times Christians have been accused of living compartmentalised lives, following Christian rules for religious matters, but following the secular rules in other matters. I wonder how much of our lives we find ourselves in Pilates shoes, listening to leaders,[religious and secular] listening to Jesus;

listening to the voices of caution, hearing the call to risk everything.

Listening to the voices of exclusion, hearing the call to welcome the least.

Listening to voices of greed, hearing the call to be generous.

Going back and forth, what to do, how to live, how not to stand out from the crowd.

Jesus said: ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’

How many of us are so clear about our life purpose? if Jesus is the truth, in what ways do our lives testify or witness to the truth?

Next Sunday is the beginning of Advent, 4 Sundays that count down to the Coming of Jesus, in those four Sundays we look at some of the Old Testament readings that tell of the yearning and waiting of the people of Israel for their new King.

As we shop and eat and party and visit, and write cards and go carolling, and everything else that gets squeezed into December, are we waiting and yearning for the coming of Jesus?

What are we waiting and yearning for in the coming of Jesus?

what do we expect that to mean in our lives and the life of the world?

This Sunday is the day we celebrate Christ the King or the Reign of Christ. Jesus said; My kingdom is not from this world. This is a King without a Royal Yacht, without a palace, without a throne; a king who respects and loves and dies for his people; a king who chooses the least, the unlovely, the powerless and offers welcome, inclusion and liberation. This Kingdom is not one we are familiar with. We live in a world where politics is littered with stories of corruption; where church leaders are questioned over child abuse policies; where business leaders argue for less tax, lower wages and higher profits.

This Kingdom is not one we are familiar with, but it is real, for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.  

I wonder where do we see the Kingdom of God; this week I was at a workshop of people who work in various capacities in the community sector, people who work with people with disabilities, people with mental illness, people who are struggling financially or physically, or homeless or addicted to alcohol and drugs, families who need help with children or aged relatives. People. People who struggle in one way or another.  To me this is a sign of the Reign of Christ. My guess is that few of the workers I met consider themselves Christian, yet the work they do with the least in our community is the work of Christ.

Where do you see the Reign of Christ around you?

How do you respond to Jesus the King calling you?

[I acknowledge the influence of David Lose  from Working Preacher in this sermon]

fear and hope

Most of us fear something, most of us grieve, most if us know what it is to be in pain, emotional and/or physical.  Hannah was in pain, the pain of not bearing a child, particularly a son. For Hannah, a child meant having a future. If she doesn’t have a son, when her husband dies, she will be at the mercy of the sons of the other wife, or a more distant male relative. Having a son meant life and security and hope for the future.

What is it that causes us fear and grief and pain today? For some of us that will be a relationship, a medical procedure,  or a disappointment about a new job.

Mark talks about rumours of war, we don’t need rumours, there are wars and violence in many places around the world. People fear terrorist activity and criminal behaviour. Politicians are good at playing the ‘fear card’ in any election, and any time the polls are going  against them. Fear of crime, fear of foreigners, fear of teenagers, fear of bikies, fear of financial doom.  Western society is very good at fear.

The reading from Samuel, where we hear about the pain and anguish of Hannah, is a reminder of our souls longing for connection with God. Hannah's prayer is a deep longing within her, a prayer without words, or at least audible words, a prayer that wells up from deep within her. So often our prayers are what we think they should be; our prayers can become lip service, rather than relationship with God.

A quote from Mahatma Gandhi, 20th century
“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” [UCC SAMUEL]

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

When we are in pain, when we grieve, when our life is held by fear, what happens to us. Most often, in these situations, people isolate themselves, we close ourselves off from others. Whether we literally lock ourselves away in a house or whether we just go into a shell, it is easier not to have to relate to other people, to new situations, and sometimes even to people we know well. It seems easier to cut ourselves off from the world and to deal with the potential for more pain.

Unfortunately sometimes this also means closing ourselves off from God. God knows about pain and fear and grief, but God is not held by these things and doesn't want us to be held and bound by them either. God, the giver of life, knows the diversity of emotions, the variety of experiences, the terror in the joy of being alive.

We are people who know God, and that means instead of holding everything inside ourselves we can pour it all out to God.

In Israel at the time of Jesus, the centre of life was the temple in Jerusalem. While the Romans had conquered Israel and were the governing body, the temple held a special place in the life of the people of Israel. The reading from Mark takes place as Jesus and his disciples have just walked out of the temple, and the disciples remark on the strength of the walls of the temple. In times of trouble people will often look to the church for help. While for many people a beautiful church building helps create a place where they sense the presence of God more easily, the building is not what can help ease our fears or hold our pain. Some buildings have that feeling of being prayed in so much that there really is something special about being in them. Churches, and other places that help us connect with God, are sanctuaries for us, sanctuaries that allow us to pour out all our worries and fears, and all our joys.

Hanna does bear a son, Samuel, and another of Hannah's prayers is recorded. This is a very different prayer to the first one. This is a prayer of joy, a prayer about God, to God. Theology is talking about God, prayer is speaking to God, prayer uses first person language. But this prayer is not only a prayer of joy at having a son, it is a prayer about a world turned upside down.

I had wondered about playing part of the song to you this morning the chorus of which is “it’s the end of the world as we know it”, I won't try and sing it for you. The gospel reading is one that has been used to try and predict the end times, but that isn't what it's about. It is about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, a place of great importance.

It is the end of the world as we know it.

Hannah's prayer is very much like the song of Mary that we will read in a few weeks, they both talk of a world turned upside down. A world where the poor will have food and the rich will be hungry.

It is the end of the world as we know it.

And that means the beginning of a new world.

What might this new world look like.

This morning we have baptised Callum and Rose, acknowledged how much God loves them and welcomed them into the Christian community. When I speak with people here who are in the 80s and 90s, they tell stories of how much the world has changed in their lifetime. I wonder what the world will be like when Callum and Rose are in their 80s. 

We can be fearful of the future, of the unknown, fearful of change; and we can allow that fear to keep us closed up within ourselves. We can allow fear and greed and anxiety to dominate our life and our choices. There is much in this world that we feel powerless about, poverty, wars, earthquakes and cyclones. There is even much in our local area that we feel powerless about: we fear violence if we go out at night, we are suspicious of groups of young people, we don't know who to trust. There are media reports of politicians and church leaders that cause us to question what is happening in our country.

God didn't create us to live in fear. God created us for love and for life, for freedom. We are created, known and named as God's daughters and sons.

We are called to live as the people of God, people known by God, people loved by God, people blessed by God.

It is the end of the world as we know it. A revolution of grace,  a new beginning for the poor, the hungry, the downtrodden;   a time for transformation.

Let us reflect on where God’s transforming work in our lives and the world.

What does it mean to love?

The Hebrew Bible has lots of rules to follow, there is the ten commandments, but also many rules in the old testament that cover what to plant, and what and when to sacrifice, and tithing and numerous other rules. Rabbis were often asked to interpret these rules. Here Jesus is asked what the most important of the rules are; and he responds:

“The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.” [Good News version]

He doesn’t speak of tithing, or sexuality, or what clothes to wear, or how to worship, or what structure the church should follow. He speaks about loving God and loving neighbour.

Reminds me of the song: All you need is love. it is just so simple, all you need is love, so says the Beatles classic.

“All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love,
Love is all you need”

But what do we mean by love?

These days we think of love as a romantic feeling.

I wonder what it means, to love God with all that we are, and to love our neighbour as our self. 

Loving God has to be easier than loving our neighbour, maybe we should start with the first one: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Maybe not so easy, so we will come back to it later, and move to the second most important commandment: “love your neighbour as you love yourself” .

In Luke’s gospel we have the story of the Good Samaritan in response to a question about who is my neighbour? Our neighbour is someone who is in need, and I get that we can, and should, help such people, but love them???

We heard a few weeks ago about the rich man who went away sad- Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor – is that what loving people is about, giving them what we have worked hard for? It doesn’t sound like love.

Matthew has the story of the Sheep and Goats at the judgement, and the sheep asking when they have visited or fed or given water or clothed Jesus and the response is : “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” [Matthew 25 CEV]

Love your neighbour as yourself, doesn’t sound simple either; maybe we can start with the part about yourself, loving our neighbour in the same way as we love our self.  I can remember early in my time as a Christian being told that I was at the end of the list, J O Y, Jesus first, yourself last and others in between, , there was a song about it. Yet, Jesus is saying that the second most important commandment is loving our neighbour, the person who is in need, in the same way that we love our self.  One person explained this by thinking about it like the oxygen masks on an airplane: the instructions are to ‘ “attach your mask first before assisting others.” The point is clear: If I do not take care of myself, I cannot take care of others. If I do not love myself, I cannot love others.’ [Seasons of the Spirit]

This passage then is about love, but not love that is a warm, romantic, sentimental feeling; love of neighbour = non-exploitation [Binding the Strong Man p318 Ched Myers].

I wonder what loving God and loving neighbour means in our world today.

·    In a world where people are cleaning up after the super storm Sandy [2 pictures]

·    In a world where making changes that mean a more liveable environment is thought of as strange [1 picture]

·    In a world where wanting to learn is considered dangerous [1 picture]

·    In a nation where the entire country has been removed from the migration zone

·    In a city divided by geography, wealth and education.

What does loving God and loving our neighbour as our-self mean?

Well, first of all we need to love our self, which can be difficult for many of us, because if we don’t love ourselves, how can we love others? This doesn’t mean thinking we are better than others, or that we never get anything wrong, but it does mean recognising and valuing the person that God has made you.

Loving our neighbour, living in ways that do not exploit people, in Biblical times this meant leaving grain for people to glean, which you can read more about in the Ruth story; not oppressing your workers; not discriminating against the disabled; not speaking falsely about people. Loving our neighbours seems to me to be about living in ways that offer life to all people, the fullness of life that Jesus speaks about.  

Which brings us back to the greatest commandment - Loving God with all out heart, soul, mind and strength. What might loving God look like? The scribe agrees with Jesus’ answer, and continues on that these two commandments are more important than burnt offerings and sacrifice - remember this was a time when ritual and sacrifice was considered very important, more important than how you treated people.

This is a reminder that loving God is not shown in burnt offerings, or these days we might say in an abundance of good works or giving to charity or pious living.

I have one more picture for you this morning, it was on the front page of the Leader on Thursday, this woman is recipient of the carer category of the NSW Grandparent of the Year awards; she has raised her grandchildren from the time they were quite young due to the breakdown in relationship of the children’s parents. The headline caught my eye.

All you need is love.

Maybe that is all we need, maybe the Beatles song isn’t too simplistic after all.

All we need is love

Love God with all that we are , and love our neighbour as we love our-self.

What does this mean in your life?

The Challenge of Grace

Another of the hard sayings of Jesus, last week it was about divorce, and this week about money, or rather giving it away.

No wonder these are called the hard sayings. Last week’s reading had us thinking about law and relationships. Jesus was not trying to do away with the law, but was reshaping the way the law was interpreted. For Jesus the law about divorce wasn't about when it was or was not permissible for a man to divorce his wife; but about people in relationship.

In  a society where women and children were possessions, Jesus treats both groups as people, as just as important as the men who held power. I don’t think Jesus was condemning divorce per se, but the way that it was, and is, possible for people to be discarded. Women and children are not possessions in the Kingdom of God, and therefore should not be treated as possessions, but as God’s precious people.

Today’s reading is another reminder that Christianity is about more than keeping a set of rules.  For many people that is the image of religion; a set of rules, about how what you wear, about alcohol, about money. Christianity is about more than keeping rules.

While this reading is often referred to as the rich young ruler, in Mark he is simply referred to as a man. This man is looking for something, he has been an observant Jew, aware of the law and has followed it. Jesus doesn't question if he has really has kept all the laws. For the Jews it was considered quite reasonable to be able to keep these laws. He comes to Jesus, looking for reassurance, security; it is like he knows there is more to life than keeping rules.

Other people who came to Jesus and knelt before him were looking for healing, I wonder what this man was looking for healing from?

We was rich, Jesus tells him to go and sell all he has and give it to the poor. This is a difficult reading for somewhere like Australia, and especially like the Shire. While there are people living in poverty, people who are homeless, people without regular meals, in Australia that is not the norm. Most people in Australia, including those of us here today, are not poor, we have enough and often more than enough. This reading is again about how we relate to God’s people, all of them.

In first century Israel, wealth was at the expense of the poor. Just as today that may not be intentional; but when we buy cheap goods manufactured in sweatshops, so we can afford some luxury, who pays for that? Much of the inequity in the world is not because we plan it that way; but we are complicit, because the structures that serve our interest, keep many of the poor, poor.  There are options, such as fair trade goods and food, but it is easier and cheaper to go a supermarket and buy the cheapest products.

“How would we spend our money this week if we trusted God? What would we buy? What would we refrain by buying? What would we save, and for what purpose? And what would we give - how much and to whom?” [David Lose : Working Preacher]

The man is challenged to give to those, whose poverty has allowed his wealth. How does it feel to realise that you have more than enough? To be challenged to spread around the resources that we have, so that all may have enough?

This isn't only for the benefit of those who receive. Possessions, by their very nature are things that belong to us, but in many ways they own us.  The larger house you have, the more time in cleaning. Some cherished items need special cleaning and maintenance. The swimming pool or tennis court takes time, or money, to maintain. Possessions have a way of keeping us focused on them.

Our possessions do not bring us life, or hope, or peace, or the security we crave. Life in Jesus provides life, and hope, and peace, and the security we crave. Life in Jesus, the invitation is there, but do we accept it, along with the challenges that life in Jesus entails? The challenge of investing resources in all God’s people and all of creation; the challenge to live not only by the law, but in the spirit of grace; in relationship with each other, with all people.

The man who approached Jesus wanted to know how to receive eternal life. In Matthew’s Gospel we are  reminded that we should store up our treasure in heaven “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [Matthew 6]

When our treasure lies in possessions, that is where we focus our time and our energy. In challenging the man to sell his possessions and give to the poor, he is being encouraged to put his resources, his treasure in God’s people. Investing in God is investing in the poor, the homeless, those seeking education, clean water, sustainable food.

Maybe that is what Jesus is telling this man, invest your wealth where it counts. How to do that? That is hard, for some of us, almost impossible. No wonder the man went away sad.

And  then we get to the part about the rich not entering the kingdom of God. Where does that leave us, we all have shelter and food, that means each one of us is rich. Does this mean we can’t enter the kingdom of God?

If it is up to us, to our resources and our willpower, yes it means we can’t enter the kingdom of God. But it is not up to us, entry into the kingdom of God, into heaven, is through God’s grace, not our wealth, or our poverty or our keeping the rules.

It is God’s grace, that brings us life, abundant life, now and forever.

“God doesn't want us bound up in rules as the Pharisees were.  God offers us transforming love, that we might live as God intended, disciples with an active, daring, self-risking faith.” [Texts For Preaching]

Imagine that you are kneeling before Jesus, as he heads towards Jerusalem. What do you need transformed in your life?

What does Jesus challenge you to let go of, to give away?

law and love

I'm sure you are all wondering how I'm going to speak about the gospel reading on a day when we are also celebrating B and Y’s 50th wedding anniversary.

This passage has been used at times to define relationships, there are people who are divorced, remarried, or in same gender relationships, and at some time or another this passage will have been quoted to them to point out their sinfulness.

 While this reading does have something to say to us about marriage and divorce; it is about much more than that.

 The question that the Pharisees ask, as in many of the questions Jesus is asked, is intended to trap Jesus. There were different Rabbinic Schools and each has different interpretations of the laws of Moses. In the same way that if we were to discuss the Bible passage here today different people would have different understandings and would all have a good reason for thinking that way; the thing is when Jesus was alive it wasn't just a Bible study discussion it was law, it determined your ability to be involved in religious life and in community life.

The Pharisees asked is it lawful? “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?". Jesus responds in good Jewish fashion, and refers to Moses, the great lawgiver.

And then Jesus brings in a completely different dimension. He doesn't talk about when divorce is or isn't lawful or permitted, he doesn't talk about custody disputes, or even the unjustness of a system that allowed men to divorce their wife but not the other way round. A  system that left many divorced women destitute. A system that treated women and children as property of father or husband. 

Some commentators point out that the Pharisees asked about divorce, and Jesus talked about marriage, but this is about much more than divorce or marriage. It points to a different place for the Law, a different understanding of relationships, a different way of looking at God.  

Firstly, looking at the Law. For the  ‘ordinary Jews’ that Jesus met, the Law was important. The Law was important for how you related to God and to others. The Law was the central point of the community. The Law was also under debate. Just as lawyers now debate in the High Court how legislation and constitution should be interpreted, so Rabbis debated various interpretations of the Law.  

Jesus doesn’t align himself with any one view of the Law, but points to behind the law. Jesus talked about God’s intention in creation. The question is asked: is it legal, is it allowed; Jesus responds by showing he knows the law, but that there is something that overrides the law. God’s will, God love, overrides the Law.  

Relationships are an area we could spend days talking about, parents, children, siblings, wider family members, in-laws, step parents, half siblings and on and on, as well as partners and spouses and friends. Relationships come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. I think here Jesus is emphasizing that people are made, created, intended by God, to be in relationship. Not necessarily marriage. People are not intended to live isolated lives, humans are ‘herd’ animals.  

For many people, even today, following God’s law is in expectation of future reward. For many in our community this is part of  their understanding of religion and the role of religion. Yet the actions of Jesus show that religion is about love, not law. Religion has been used, and still is in places today,  to keep people under control, to limit freedom, to close of criticism and keep people compliant in their servitude. That is not the way of Jesus.  

Looking at the second part of the reading, Jesus shows again how radical he is. Children were not considered cute, children were property, they had no status. When the parents are bringing their children to Jesus, the disciples behave as any reasonable adult would. Why waste time on children, they have little value, no status, nothing to possibly gain from them, so why waste time on them. But Jesus rebukes the disciples and calls the children to him, and blesses them.  

These two stories may seem unrelated, but together they point us to a picture of Jesus that is about inclusion, welcome of the least, and the marginalised.  

A picture of grace.  

During much of September we looked at the creation, the  world, people, animals, plants and the sky, we thought about their interaction, and how all of God’s creation was seen by God as good. We acknowledged the way that the whole creation worships God, and tells of God’s glory. 

Here Jesus is reminding people, that God is not about what is lawful, but about living in relationship, interdependence, harmony of all things.  

Do we spend our time trying to find loopholes in laws, so that we can do as we desire?

Do we treat people as disposable? 

Another thing I notice in this reading is that people brought their children to be blessed by Jesus, which reminds me a bit of parents bringing their children to church for Baptism and blessing.  

We all need to be blessed by Jesus, and here we have three different interactions with Jesus.

One group thinks they know the Law, and therefore the religion, they don’t ask for a blessing, they try and trick Jesus with their question.  

Another group try and keep Jesus ‘safe’ from people who are not deemed ‘worthy’ of Jesus’ time or attention. This is not the only place the disciples try and keep people away from Jesus.   

And the last group come asking for a blessing, they come not with lots of knowledge, they come with little status, they come with their children, and they come hoping that this holy person will bless their children.  

Do we come to worship today comfortable in our knowledge about God?

Do we live in ways that tell people that they are not good enough to be around God’s people?

Do we recognise our frailty and seek God’s blessing?