2014 advent 2

Peace

The theme of the second Sunday on Advent is Peace. What are some things that describe peace for you?

Quiet

No violence

…

…

[PPT Slide]

Peace - it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. (unknown)

 

Other ideas on peace - peace within our own lives, in our community, in creation.

[stable and unstable equilibrium]

This week I have a dove to give each of you to take home.

 

In our candle lighting song :Peace is a prayer that starts with me.

Think of a time when you were aware of God’s peace in your life.

 When you look at the dove, I want to think about God’s peace in your life.

 In what ways might we offer peace to those who do not have peace?

Hand out doves.

 

...

 

Proclamation of the Word

**Idea of writing a Chirtmas list, imaging Christmas Day and relooking at the list is taken from David Lose at working preacher.

 

 Each of you will have a piece of paper, please write down at least 5 things you have/need/want to do before Christmas. Shopping, house cleaning, cards, …..

 [space]

 

Put it aside for a few moments, and we will come back to it.

 

The passage we heard read from Isaiah this morning is similar to last week’s passage. Isaiah was a prophet, this doesn’t mean he was foretelling the future. He was challenging people to return to the essence of their faith. To live as the people of the covenant, to trust in God, to live in ways that were just.

In chapter 10, the people of Israel are told not to fear the Assyrians when they beat and you end up being enslaved to them, for God will deal with them, just as God dealt with the Egyptians. Part of that is that trees will be cut down, and the lofty brought low. He will hack the forest with an axe, and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.

And a shoot come from the stump of Jesse…..

When the people of Isaiah’s time could see the rise of the Assyrians, when they were concerned about the impending danger, Isaiah, the prophet, wrote of the judgement of God leading to destruction, and the mercy of God leading to renewal.

Sounds similar to John and his message of repentance.

Repentance isn’t confessing sins and receiving forgiveness. Repentance is “about a re-orientation, a change of perspective and direction, a commitment to turn and live differently.” [ii]

Isaiah gives an image of what a renewed creation might be like. Again in this passage, as with last week’s passage, the idea of complete harmony within nature seems impossible.

 

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den..[from Isaiah 11]

 

Sounds bizarre!

As part of the workshop on Matthew I was at yesterday, we looked at this passage from Matthew, as if we were travel reporters on the ABC or SBS.  

We imagined we were reporters with a film crew, reporting on the crowd of people in the desert, flocking to hear this man, John was his name, who was telling people to repent, to return to living in the ways of the faith of the ancestors. He was standing in the middle of a river, and people would walk out to him, and he would put them under the water. In asking the locals about this, we were told this was part of the process for new converts to Judaism. But here was John baptism Jews as if they were gentiles. He railed against the religious leaders, and spoke of one who would come after him, who is more powerful, and will baptise with the Holy Spirit.

Sounds bizarre, unless you have heard the story so many times you start to switch off and think of what else to add to your Christmas list. J

Isaiah gives us an image of a peaceable kingdom.

I invite you now to think about what you would like Christmas day to be like – it doesn’t have to resemble reality. In your dreams, what would Christmas Day be like, see it in your mind, smell it, taste it.

 [space]

 

Now look at the list you wrote earlier, do any of the things on the list prepare the way for the kind of Christmas you would like to celebrate?

[space]

This Season of Advent are we in need of repentance, to see things from a different point of view? Are we in need of conversion, as if we were gentiles?

 

John tells the people : “ the axe is lying at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Sounds like the prophet Isaiah, the trees will be cut down, but…

Like a green shoot sprouting from a tree stump,
........the family of David will again produce a king.

The Spirit of the LORD will be with him,
........giving him wisdom and insight,
........making him strong and perceptive,
........filling him with knowledge and respect for God.

Treating the LORD with due respect
........will be the new king’s greatest delight.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Where are the green shoots in your life?

---

 

[ii] David Lose working preacher

Advent 1: Being Prepared, Knowing Hope

“Be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”

The whole problem with this is that we don’t know when it will be, so how can we be ready?  When I was a teenager my friends were a little older than me, so they were driving before I was. Whenever anyone was coming to pick me up, Dad would make sure I was ready early, because you shouldn’t keep people waiting. J

It was about always being ready.

It may surprise some of you to know that I was a Girl Guide, and the motto is ‘Be Prepared’.   Going out for a walk would mean a backpack, water, food, money, first aid kit etc. you can imagine the amount of stuff that was packed for a camping trip.

Somehow I don’t think Matthew was meaning ‘be prepared’ by carrying a compass, Swiss army knife, matches, map, ……

What might it mean, in the gospel sense, to Be Prepared?

Much of life just happens, we can’t prepare for every eventuality. In the past few weeks we have heard of typhoons  and storms, and at 10.25pm pm Friday evening, Scottish time, a Police helicopter fell on a pub in Glasgow. When you go to the pub, or out for Dinner, do you plan what you will do if a police helicopter crashes into the building? Of course not, it happens so rarely.

I suspect Being Prepared is about knowing who we are in Christ, more than having a map and compass. Being prepared is living in the way of Christ.

…

Our verse in the candle song today, was ‘Hope is a light to show the way’ .

What does it mean to be a light, to offer hope?

Some of the people I meet do not have hope, and cannot imagine any future different to the one they are living in. I recently met a young man who was living on the street, a few people had befriended him, and they asked for my help in finding a place for him to live. He wouldn’t take our help, he has tried all the government departments, knows what is available and knows he can’t afford even the cheapest rents on unemployment benefits. Department of Housing has a crisis accommodation program, for people like this young man. But, it is one night at a time, and each morning you back up all your belongings, go to the office again, and get another docket for another nights accommodation – not simple when you don’t have transport, and you may not be in the same place as last night, so all your belongings go with you.

After 2-3 weeks, you may be eligible for assistance with private rental bond etc.

No-one plans to be living on the streets.

…..

In the passage from Isaiah, we hear of a different world to what people were experiencing.

This first part of Isaiah, is about God’s judgement on the people of Israel, about how the land will be desolate, the people in exile, yet interspersed, there are some passages of hope. Jerusalem was the site of many battles, and was overrun by other nations. The Israelites saw this as punishment from God. The five verses we heard today are one of these passages of hope, promises of God, hope for a future.

A future that will be different to their daily experience.

Imagine if the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, were told that their future would be one without war – how easy would it be to believe that sometime in the future, fear and violence would not be part of daily life?

….

 

Each week during Advent, I will have a symbol for you to take home. today it is a gold bauble for you to hang on your tree, or around the home somewhere:

 

I want you to think about:

What is my experience of God’s hope in the world today?

 

When you look at the bauble, I want to think about God’s hope in your life.

…

Last Saturday I went into Circular Quay, to the Give Hope gathering. There we saw the banner created from over 250 patches from around the Synod. we worshipped, we prayed and we sang.

Here is a clip of the event. [show YouTube clip 1.5 minutes  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G90wQNlaykw&feature=youtu.be ]

 

In what ways might we offer hope to those who are without hope?

Resurrection Life

---

 Luke 20:27-38

Some background:

The question in this passage revolves around levirate marriage: Levirate marriage, as this system was called, was to enable children to be born to the dead husband, in order to continue the family line.  In an era where a woman would be destitute without a male – father, brother, husband or son – it meant the family of her husband would look after her. All this is theoretical, we don’t know if it actually happened. But the fact that the Sadducees use this as an example means people would have understood what they were talking about.

Some people, particularly politicians like to demand a return to traditional or Biblical family values.  

Next time someone mentions Biblical family values, think about what that might mean – a woman being handed to her brother in law when her husband dies; or the story of Leah and Rachel, and Jacob. Jacob worked 7 years for Rachel, and Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, so he gets to marry Rachel as well, and works for another 7 years.

I admit I find it difficult to see anything positive about returning to Biblical family values.  Most of what we read in the Bible has women being treated as a commodity; marriage was about family alliances and maintaining the family line.

….

Once again, Jesus is discussing Torah, or law. We see this happen quite often in Luke’s gospel. A question, like this one, set to trap Jesus. Often Jesus answers with another question, or with a parable. But this time is different. For starters Jesus is talking with Sadducees rather than Pharisees – two different religious groups. The Sadducees only recognised the first 5 books, the books of Moses, as scripture; the Pharisees included the prophets and psalms as well as the 5 books of Moses. These groups were not on friendly terms, but they united against the common enemy Jesus.

One of the theological differences is in their understanding of resurrection – the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, as it is not in the Pentateuch; the Pharisees do believe in resurrection of the dead. While the Sadducees were Jesus, some Jews and some Christians did not accept them as Jews, such was the importance of the resurrection.  

This also led to differences in understanding about justice: Sadducees, with no resurrection, thought God’s covenant would be worked out here on earth; the Pharisees thought God could, and would, enact justice and keep the covenant beyond this earthly life. During the Roman occupation the idea of justice in the afterlife was a comfort, as it is for many people living under oppression today.

Often Jesus would answer with a question, but here, not a question, or even a parable, but teaching. Teaching about the nature of resurrection life.

If I asked each of you what you thought of when I said the word resurrection, my guess is there would be a variety of answers. This is not about the resurrection of Jesus.  In the apostles creed we say:

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

What do we mean by resurrection of the body, or resurrection of the dead?

Jesus covers a few areas in his response:

The first thing to note is that Jesus does not deny the validity resurrection theology,  he doesn’t say don’t be a fool, this is the only life you have. In fact his answer assumes that resurrection is real.

Secondly – resurrection life is substantially different to this life – in resurrection life relationships will be different, the systems and structures of society will not exist. Marriage will not exist, treating people as property will no longer happen. Resurrection life is nothing like our current existence. Resurrection life is completely new, it is not a continuation of our current life.

Thirdly – resurrection life is about life, not death.

“Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." [Luke 20: 38]

Jesus uses an argument from Moses, because the Sadducees only accepted the first 5 books, that is the books of Moses.  In Exodus chapter three we read of Moses’ experience of the burning bush and God speaking to Moses. Moses heard God speaking to him, and saying: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”  Notice it is not ‘was  the God of your father’  etc., but is – present tense, which infers that in some sense Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are living; therefore resurrection is real.

This leads to another topic – will we recognise family and friends in resurrection life? Jesus doesn’t deal specifically with this question, but from his quoting of Moses experience, it would seem that in resurrection life, we will be in relationship with God, and likely with each other. For me, this reading reminds me that my primary identity and relationship will be with God, this does not mean other relationships will not exist, but I like to think we will see each other as God sees us.

Resurrection is not the same as being immortal, we do actually die. There is no suggestion that we hover around like ghosts. We die, and we live with God in a new relationship.

None of us has experienced resurrection life, and while there are several passages of scripture which touch on this topic, none gives a clear and definitive answer to all our questions. If you have any questions or concerns from any of what I have said, please make a time for me to meet with you, to hear your concerns.  

“God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." [Luke 20: 38]

[thanks to Richard Swanson and David Lose of Working Preacher for many of these ideas]

being seen by Jesus

Imagine making a movie of the gospel story we have heard this morning. Who might play Jesus??? Danny de Vito could play Zaccheus,  just imagine him in long flowing robes running, and climbing a tree. [picture] a sycamore tree.

People of high status did not run,  in the story of the prodigal son, the father ran to meet the retuning younger son, here we have Zaccheus running to get  ahead of Jesus, and looking for a vantage point. Both men were acting inappropriately for their status.   Today we might suggest they act their age!

 

What would you do to see  Jesus?

There were obstacles for Zaccheus, he was not able to see Jesus because of the crowd, and the crowd was not letting him in front to see better.  

What are the obstacles that make it hard for you to see Jesus? to recognise Jesus as you go about your daily tasks? Is it workload? Responsibilities? Tiredness? Preoccupation?  Or is that you don’t expect Jesus to be part of your day?

What do you need to do to be able to see Jesus?  Zac climbed a tree. What do you need to do, to be able to see Jesus?

Zac was transformed by his time with Jesus.

This is a story about seeing and being seen. Zac was wanting to see Jesus, to catch a glimpse of the travelling teacher, and Jesus saw Zac. Jesus saw Zaccheus as a person, as a child of God.  

No matter how other people see you, or how you see yourself, Jesus sees you as precious, as lovable, Jesus wants to eat  with you, and spend time with you. whatever image you try and project to people around you, whatever mask you wear, Jesus sees you for who you are, a precious child of God.

In the passage form Ephesians, we heard  “You’ll certainly be a shining testimony to God’s glory then!” 

Friday was All Saints Day, that means remembering those who have died, it also means remembering that we are each saints, that we are joined with all of God’s people, and all of creation, past, present and future. All Saints is one of those days when I can feel really tiny, a tiny speck within time and space.

But All Saints is also a reminder that each one of us is a saint, not because of anything spectacular that we have done, but because we are part of the people of God.

“I once worked with a pastor who made it practice in worship after baptisms (infant baptism was the norm in this congregation) to walk down the aisle holding the child and introducing him or her to the people with the title “saint” before the baptized’s name. It was a little jarring to hear “saint” applied to the name of a baby but this pastor was on to something. In Paul’s understanding the title “saint” belongs to those who have been united with Christ. He routinely calls the members of his churches “saints” (Ephesians 1:1 and 1:15) because of who they are in Christ and not because of what they have accomplished.

…Our designation as saints comes from our rich inheritance of Christ’s righteousness” [Mark Tranvik working preacher]

We are saints, saint.. and .. and …. . [name some people]

We are saints, our lives a testimony of God’s grace, forgiveness and love

In what way is your life a testimony, a witness, to God’s grace, welcome, …..

Praising God with our lives

There is much we could think about from this passage from Luke’s gospel. Jesus is in the borderlands, and the fringes of society, or the borders of countries, are often dangerous places. Places that people avoid. Borders help to divide ‘us’ from ‘them’ .

Lepers were people who were not allowed to associate with others, they were people to avoid.

Even those these people are called lepers, it is unlikely that they had what is now known as leprosy. Any kind of skin condition was called leprosy.  Notice this group of ten lepers kept their distance, they were unclean, and anyone who touched them, even accidentally, would also be unclean – and this would have meant not being able to go about their normal daily business or interact with other people.   So here we have Jesus crossing borders and boundaries.

 

I wonder, who do we avoid?

I wonder, what places we avoid?

When do we use language of ‘us’ and ‘them’?

Where do we draw the lines?

 

Another aspect of this reading is that of gratitude.

“Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" “ and Jesus responds that they should go and show themselves to the Priest – the one who can declare them clean. And one came back. The other nine did what they were asked to do, they were obedient. but one came back.  We are told that they were healed as they walked. They were not healed with Jesus standing there, in this story he does not touch them or spit or rub dirt or anything else, just tells them to go to the priest. And as they were walking to the priest, they noticed they were healed.  

Earlier we sang: Thank you for giving me the morning.

How many mornings do we wake up thanking God for the morning, for a new day, for the possibilities and opportunities that arrive with a new morning?

In some way we receive the blessing when we recognise the blessing, and then we give thanks.  But this man does more than say thank you, he returns to Jesus  ‘praising God with a loud voice’. In being healed this man recognised God’s healing.

“So what does the man who returned receive? Certainly, the blessing of healing, as did the other nine. But also the blessing that comes from recognizing blessing and giving thanks -- the blessings, that is, of wholeness and even salvation.” [David Lose Working Preacher]

In a world where we hear of financial crises, violence, death and despair on the nightly news, we are more likely to speak about our problems, concerns, and worries. I know how easy it is to  think, and speak, of those things; but by focusing on our troubles they become bigger and more prominent in our life. The more we focus on the problems, the harder it is to see the beauty, the wonder, the blessings of each day.

And naming the blessings make them more real. Thanking God for the blessings reminds us of God’s involvement  the world. How often do we stop to count our blessings, or to thank God for the beauty of the world, the wonder of life, the smile from a stranger?

We are going to practice now. Thirty seconds thinking time then I invite you to name a blessing in your life.

…..

Name the blessing

Prayer: thank you God for all your blessings, amen.

.....

There is a difference between being obedient, as the nine were, and recognising and celebrating the new life each of us is offered.  In recognising and living into this life, recognising and naming and being grateful for blessings.

As disciples it is important to be obedient, to follow God’s call in our lives, but it is also important to respond to God with love, not only obedience.  

Being grateful changes us. We see ourselves in a different way, and we see life differently. No longer do we focus on our problems, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there and we don’t need to deal with them. Try spending as much time on your blessings as you do on your troubles.

We are told that the man who came back was praising God loudly as he returned, then fell at Jesus feet thanking him. Sounds a bit over the top to me, but imagine what life was like for this person. He was a Samaritan, which meant hated by the Jews, and he had been labelled as a leper, which means he was doubly cursed. He now was healed, but he is still a Samaritan. So he was still an outcast on this side of the border, but now he knows he is more than a Samaritan or a leper, he is a loved child of God.

 

How might we live as the loved child of God that we are?

How might we encourage and support other people to live into their identity as loved children of God?

 

Slide 1 [gratitude is the hearts memory]

Slide 2  [stones happiness gratitude]

Thursday was International Day of the Girl. [slide 3] This year’s theme is innovate to educate. In many countries [slide 4] , education resources are limited, so boys are seen as worthy of education, but girls are not. And it isn’t that long ago, even in Australia, when it was thought that girls needed less education than boys.

Slide 5 – we can let people know they are important to God by letting people know they matter, their story matters, their feelings, voice and life all matter. Each person is important to God, surely that means each person is important to us.

Slide 6 – we don’t do this alone, just as each person is important, each person has a role in the coming of the kingdom of God, we don’t work alone, we work with other people, and we work with God.

 

Earlier today we have talked about fair trade, and the church’s response to refugees, we have looked at Jesus crossing boundaries and borders, and the response of one person, the one who was despised because of his ethnicity and excluded because of his disease, the one who not only thanked Jesus, but praised God. We praise God in worship, but we also praise God when we live in gratitude, when we recognise God’s abundance in our lives, and when the decisions we make each day reflect God’s love for all people and all of creation.   

How will you praise God in your life this week?  

 

 

 

enough faith

In the gospel reading, the disciples ask for more faith. Jesus has told them more about what it means to be a follower of his, and the response from the disciples is to ask for more faith. A number of times, it  seems the disciples don’t get what Jesus is on about – I mean if we did all that Jesus told the disciples to do, that would be really weird! Forgiving others, loving others, including the people everyone else discounted. Why Jesus even ate with and touched people who were not ‘clean’. Jesus acted in ways that were against the accepted religious traditions of his time. And now the disciples have been told to not to be the cause of another stumbling in their faith, and to forgive, as many times as it takes.

How on earth can we live this way, Jesus’ way, without bucket loads of faith? No wonder the disciples ask for more faith.

The disciples request shows they misunderstood the nature of faith, they think of an amount of faith. They show that they fear that they will not have enough, that faith is a scarce and limited commodity.

The disciples asked for more faith, and Jesus tells some stories.

The first is the story of the seeds of the mustard weed, a weed that was difficult to eradicate. Mustard weed grew wild and was the scourge of farmers in Palestine.  Birds would eat the seeds and distribute them, and even if you pulled up the mustard weed, the birds would drop more.  It was persistent, irritating, and fast-spreading. It would be there whether you liked it or not.

Jesus is telling the disciples, and us, that this is the kind of faith we need. This isn’t about amount of faith, but faith that is small enough to be carried everywhere, faith that is contagious and takes root into any space it can find.

If you have any faith, even as tiny as a mustard weed seed, you can do amazing things. It isn’t about how much, but having any faith at all. Any amount of faith in God is enough. Faith in God, faith that God is God, that God is able to act in the world. If we believe in God even just a little bit, it is enough.

Faith is about what we do, rather than how much we have. Jesus changes the discussion from how much faith, to what faith can do, and what we do with the faith we have.

All these words about faith but what is faith? What do we mean to have faith, to have enough faith?

Faith is a heart thing, it is trust and acting in obedience to God. It is honest sadness, tenacious remembering, performance of duty, a holy calling, and holding fast to sound teaching. Living in faith requires everything of us. Being grounded in awareness of the holiness and sovereignty of God; reflecting the grace of God in all our living; knowing our purpose is in serving God.

Looking at the second letter to Timothy, a few things stand out for me. This was likely written in the early part of the second century, that means we are looking at second and third generation Christians. The church is struggling, many thought that Jesus would have returned quickly, but this had not happened, … how to hold fast to what is true, how to not be discouraged when living in a hostile environment.

The author of this letter is writing to encourage Timothy, but not in a sweet or soft way. The encouragement is to stand firm, to maintain correct teaching. The letter starts by telling Timothy how much he respects Timothy, calls him beloved, and how grateful to God he is for Timothy. How Timothy comes from a family tradition of faith, handed down from Grandmother and mother and Paul to Timothy.

I remember hearing that faith is caught, not taught. Who are the people who lived faith into you? who inspired you, or challenged you, to live in faith?

While we all have role models and mentors in faith, we too teach others what it means to live in the Christian faith – are we helpful or unhelpful guides for people around us, particularly people younger in the faith? What does your faith family tree look like?

In the past few years some of my reading has been about why, or why not, young people who grow up in the church, leave the church. Much research is being done on this topic, and one thing that comes out of the research is the importance of intergenerational worship and activities. The research is showing the importance of children being part of the community of faith, not just knowing their parents and Sunday School teacher, but knowing other people in the church community.  Lois and Eunice handed on the faith to Timothy, and Paul mentored Timothy.

In what ways can we encourage each other, no matter what age, to live out our faith?

Remembering from the gospel reading that any faith is enough for God to work with, any faith is faith enough to make a difference.

What difference have you made in the past week? What value have you added to people’s lives though your paid employment;   through volunteer work; your involvement in community and sporting committees; meals you have cooked; prayers said. Imagine what the week would have been like without all those things being part of it. 

“And so Jesus tells his disciples -- both then and now -- that we’ve got all that we need to be faithful, and that being faithful, finally, is about recognizing all the God-given opportunities just to show up and do what needs to be done:

·                     doing our work

·                     caring for those in need

·                     protecting the vulnerable

·                     reaching out to the lonely

·                     befriending the friendless

·                     keeping the world going

·                     contributing to the common good.

It’s all the ordinary stuff we do all the time and, taken together and blessed by God, it’s pretty darn extraordinary.” [David Lose http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2773

We are equipped with the promise that our faith will be sufficient, and the assurance that "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Is it just about money?

The reading from Luke is a parable, and that might seem obvious but it's actually important to recognise that it is parable. Because a parable is a story that has a message in it, it isn't a full-blown systematic theology. Often a parable has a twist at the end, Jesus turns around what people expect the ending to be. The parable, the story, has two people in it, well two main characters. The rich man, while often he is called Dives, his name is not recorded. The other person is Lazarus. One thing to notice in this parable is that the poor person has the name and the rich person does not, this in itself is unusual.

So what might this parable teach us? We hear that the rich man had all he could eat, and Lazarus had nothing and the dogs licked his sores. And both men died. While the parable then speaks of Lazarus going to heaven and the rich man going to hell this parable isn't about heaven and hell. In some ways it is about money and what we do with it, but it also isn't about money at all.

I will speak first about money. Here is an image I found on the Internet this week, the caption says : “ if this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus is just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." These words were spoken by an American, where the sense of being a Christian nation is much stronger than it is in Australia. But I think the same can apply to our lives. If we say we are Christian people and don't help the poor we have to pretend that Jesus is as selfish as we are, or acknowledge that we just don't want to live by the gospel teaching.

http://missionalthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/398726_3106482339387_1184152258_3272631_387366926_n.jpeg

The decisions we make about money and what to do with the money that we have, no matter how little or how much we have, can make a big difference in the world. The choices we make about what to do with the money that we have make a difference, that can be in which charities we choose to give money to, but also the choices we make when we go shopping, the kind of vehicle that we travel in, the clothes that we buy, all make a difference.

Following the devastation in Pakistan earlier this year people are starting to ask questions about working conditions in factories where our clothes are made. At the Synod of meeting earlier this year a proposal was passed requesting that all congregations and agencies of the church look into using fair trade tea and coffee. This is because fair trade products offer greater dignity to those who grow, pick and make these products.

The parable is about money, in the sense that Timothy speaks about the love of money: “those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” [1 Timothy 6: 9- 10].  [Image of Christians against greed. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20130928691680908&code=act&RC=55711&Row=10]

I said earlier this parable was about money but not about money,.

This parable reminds us of what happens when wealth, greed, or just plain preoccupation with money or our own life blinds us to those in need. The rich man is not condemned for being rich, but ignoring the plight of Lazarus. It isn't that he wasn't aware of Lazarus, because he asks Abraham to get Lazarus to bring him some water. Even in death the rich man is thinking of himself rather than Lazarus or anyone else. He did nothing to help Lazarus and now he wants Lazarus to come to his aid. He doesn't ask Lazarus he asks Abraham to send Lazarus.

I wonder who would do we ignore, which people or group of people do we pretend don't exist or don't need our help.?  Growing up during the Vietnam war, the veterans were ignored on their return.

Whom do we ignore? Is it people of different colour, faith, language, or dress? Is a people with mental illness, people without adequate work, people who are homeless?

I wonder what the government is trying to say about asylum seekers, when information is drip feed to the media? To me it feels like asylum seekers are being treated as less than human.

Who do we ignore?

The rich man also asks for Lazarus to go and warn his brothers – but they, like us, have the prophets. We also have the gospels, and the example of Jesus. People will always find reasons for not living out their discipleship.

When we ignore the needs of other people, when we see ourselves as somehow superior, we miss the grace that God is offering to us. One of the problems of wealth is that the things that money can buy numb us to the needs of others and our own need. When Jesus said it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye in needle, it is because those who are rich, those who have sufficient or more, start imagining that hard work and some luck are all that is needed. When we have more than we need for basic living it is easy to pretend that we don't need anyone else, even God.

When we no longer feel compassion for other people, we lose something of our own self. As we become more aware of the needs of other people, as we become more responsive to people who are hurting, as we listen to people's hopes and dreams, we become more aware of our own humanity, our own need, our own pain. And we become aware and we give thanks for God's offer of grace, peace, Love.

This parable is about money but it is about so much more than money. This parable is a reminder that each of us makes choices in life. It is a reminder that we ignore people at our own peril. It is a reminder that we too are human. We are all in need of God's grace, forgiveness, love and peace. We are all human. And we are called to live in ways that recognise and respect the humanity of all people, showing the love and grace that we are shown through Christ.

 

 

*ideas from David Lose at working preacher