Elisha, another miracle

this week I have been asking:

• where does this story fit in the overall Biblical story?
• why is this story even in the Bible?
  and I don’t know that I have the answer to either of those questions.
  this story could lead us into looking at a variety of topics, including: child trafficking, slavery, healing, war, washing and power.
  A bit of background, the books of  1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, tell us about the kings of Israel, the way the prophets interacted with the Kings, and also the separation of Israel into the Southern and Northern Kingdoms, and the defeat and disintegration of the northern kingdom.
  Elijah and Elisha were both prophets in the Northern Kingdom, also known as Israel.
  When Elijah went to heaven, in a chariot, the mantle passed to Elisha – see 2 Kings 2. Then follows a series of stories where Elisha works miracles – purifying water; the provision of oil for the widow to sell; the birth of a son, and then his return from death; purifying a pot of stew; and a feeding miracle, which bring us to today’s story – the healing of Naaman.
  There are some twists and turns in this story. Naaman and Elisha  didn’t just meet somewhere. Naaman was a warrior, an important person. In a raid against Israel, he took a young girl captive, and she became a slave for his wife.
  If you or I were ill, and someone suggested we see a particular person, a doctor or physio or whatever, you would ring up and make an appointment, but that isn’t how it worked in the time of Elisha.
  The slave girl, and this would have been a brave move for her, told Naaman’s wife of a prophet who could heal him.  As the prophet was in another country, Naaman needed a letter to request passage – I guess that is a bit like a passport and visa.
  However, the King of Aram in writing to the King of Israel, got things a bit messed up. There is no reason why the King of Aram would have understood that it was a prophet rather than the King who could heal. This is a time when kings were the ultimate rulers, and we see that reinforced in the reaction of the King of Israel.
  Israel was continually under threat from various neighbours – larger more powerful nations, from border incursions like the one that took the slave girl to all-out war. 
  Naaman and the King of Aram are working through diplomatic channels, all very appropriate, except, the king of Israel isn’t able to heal Naaman.
  While the slave girl knows of the prophet Elisha who can heal, the king of Israel seems to have no knowledge of him.
  is this going to be another round of battles?
  what will happen to Naaman?
   
  the skin condition must really be bugging him – he has travelled to another country, with a contingent of people and animals, carrying gifts to curry favour, and a letter of introduction to the King.
  Fortunately for Naaman,  the prophet Elisha hears about the incident in the palace – and sends a messenger.
  Naaman is an important person, but he does want the skin condition cleared up, so he leaves the palace and heads off to less salubrious lodgings.
  Another problem –
  Elisha doesn’t come out to meet Naaman, so he gets the huffs – Naaman is an important person,
  the rivers back home are better –
  and he ends up outside the house of the prophet,
  not inside the house,
  Elisha doesn’t invite him in,
  doesn’t meet him personally.
  Naaman is standing out the front of the house, being told by a messenger to wash in the Jordan – not the ‘best’ river.
  after all this travel, Naaman is going off in a huff until his servants bring him back around, convincing him to at least give it a try.
  And he is healed – I don’t think it had anything to do with the water.
  Here we have a story where the powerful – the king of Aram, the King of Israel are not named.
  Nor are the powerless – the slave girl, the messengers of Elisha, the servants  of Naaman.
  but without these people we would not have a story.
  One commentator talks of this section of 2 Kings being a series of ‘folk stories’. by that he means that these were stories people told over many years, stories that showed parts of life that  had not come under Royal control. [i]
  remember a few weeks ago we looked at the story of Nathan confronting David – and we remembered how the people of Israel begged God for a King, just like the other nations. But Israel is not like the other nations, Israel is a nation under God, not King. the role of the prophets in calling the Kings to account, in reminding the people of their place as Gods people, makes Israel and Judah different.
  back to the questions I asked at the beginning:
• where does this story fit in the overall Biblical story?
• why is this story even in the Bible?
  I still don’t have the answers, but I wonder if at least part of the reason for this story being included, along with some others is to remind Israel that it is God working through people – from slave girls to prophets – with the power to transform lives, to heal, to make whole.
  A reminder that the power of life and death is in the hands of God and not of Kings.
  For us today, that is also worth remembering. Forgiveness and grace are gifts of God, healing and wholeness are gifts of God, life in its fullness, hope, peace and joy – all are from God.
  Many churches today will be celebrating All Saints Day. Who are the people in your life who have had  a significant influence in your life – my guess is that for most of you it won’t be the Queen or the Prime Minister, but a friend, a fellow worker, someone that most people will not know.
  When we think about powerful people, we often think about people with ‘positional’ power, that is people who have some level of power and authority because of their role. that is only one kind of power. The young girl used what little power she had, she could have stayed quiet, she could have not been compassionate and concerned about the person who carried her away from her family. But she did not. This young girl, who has no obvious power at all, is a vital part of the healing of Naaman.
  Who can you heal, whose life can you transform – not by telling them what to do, but by being compassionate?
   
  This morning we will meet around the table together,
  What is God offering you this morning?
  Where is God asking you to act as an agent of healing?

---

[i] Brueggemann, An introduction to the Old Testament, p 152-153.

choice, consequence, confession, change

The last few weeks with been reading through parts of the old testament. Two weeks ago it we heard of God speaking to the people of Israel through Moses, and handing down what have become known as the 10 commandments. The people needed to learn a different way to the after they came out of slavery in Egypt.

Then last week we heard from the final speech of Joshua, by this time the people of Israel were in the new land, the land that God had promised to Abraham.

And this morning here we are with jump all the way up to second Samuel and Nathan confronting David. So what happened in between?

After the book of Joshua comes the book of Judges, where we hear stories of some faithful people but we also see how flawed humanity can be at times. Until this point in time Israel had never had a King. In chapter 8 of the first book of Samuel that people ask the Prophet Samuel for a king. Last week when Joshua asks the people who they would follow, he warned them that choosing God was not an easy road. The Prophet Samuel reminds the people of what happens when you have a king :

“This is how your king will treat you,” Samuel explained. “He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots. ¹² He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plough his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. ¹³ Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers. ¹⁴ He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials. ¹⁶ He will take your servants and your best cattle^[a] and donkeys, and make them work for him. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. [1 Samuel 8: 11-17]

but the people did not take notice, they continued to demand a king and God appointed Saul as King, which is whole other story. David is the second king of Israel.

Because of David's actions prior to becoming king, his faithfulness to God, the killing of Goliath, the people had high expectations that David would be a king after God's own heart. But David was as human as any one of us.

A few points to remember as you consider the passage we heard read this morning:

• it was usual during war time for the King to be with his troops, not comfortable at home.[i]
• While the nation was at war, troops did not engage in normal family activity, even when back in their home city. This was about being in solidarity with the rest of the troops.
• Uriah is named as a Hittite, one of the peoples whose land was colonised by the people of Israel.
• Bathsheba was considered property. Any crime was committed against her husband, the theft and misuse of his property, rather than a crime against Bathsheba.

The story that preceded this passage;  the complex relationship between David, Bathsheba, and Uriah, could well be part of the modern-day soap opera. Greed, power and lust. David, the one who was to be the great king, is shown to be fallible and weak, and self-centred.

I wonder where we see in our world today and misuse of power?

where do we see in our world today poverty due to greed?

where do we see in our world today lust that masquerades as love?

where do we see relationships that are self-centred?

It was rare for anyone to challenge the King. The King had absolute power, and as in today's world there are many people who will praise, and do whatever is necessary to keep the one in power satisfied and comfortable. And often we do that to ourselves. It is easy to excuse our behaviour, to excuse our consumerism, our avoidance of people who are different to us. It is easy to excuse our lack of empathy for people in other countries, or whose lives are very different to ours.

two quotes [ on PPT slide]:

“it is sinful to impoverish the powerless for the sake of your own greed.” 

“People of privilege tend to become accustomed to a world that conforms to their desires.”[ii]

one part of this passage that I find troubling, is that the child will die. David is forgiven, but the child dies.

I don't have any fancy way of making this seem any better than how it reads. Sometimes life just isn't fair.

The other thing to note is that sin has consequences, for us, and for others. The sin of greed, of lust, of power all have consequences. Our desire for cheap goods and services denies others a fair wage and working conditions. Our desire for the latest gadgets uses the earth's resources. Our demands for choice, means retailers attempt to have a wide variety of food available at all times, leading to waste.

Jesus wasn't the only one to use parable is, Nathan uses a parable, a story, to get his point across. If he had confronted David about his behaviour, I suspect the response would have been very different. Often we are moved by a story, or an experience, more than by the harsh reality of the effect of our behaviour. We all need Nathans in our life. We all need someone who will hold a mirror up to us and show us what we are really like, to call out our bad behaviour.

Who does God use to speak to you, to challenge the comments that put down another person, another race, another religion?

Who does God use to challenge your shopping choices, your lifestyle?

Who does God use to challenge you?

Who holds up a mirror to you?

We all need people like Nathan in our lives.

And like David we need to recognise our sin. Like David we need to say, and mean, “I have sinned against the Lord".

We need to acknowledge and confess our sin. God is always ready to forgive us, but we need to do the hard work of confession, of seeing ourselves as we really are. Seeing ourselves as broken people in a broken world. We need to do the hard work of accepting that some of our choices have negative consequences for other people.

Confession is not the end, confession is the transition. Just as David could not undo murder, betrayal, adultery; we cannot undo the consequences of sin. That is why I say confession is a transition. It is not about us feeling better about ourselves, but recognising our weakness, and our involvement in inequality and abuse in the world. Confession signals a change in us, because in confession we not only acknowledge our wrongdoing, but we commit to live as new people, God's people.

we will now join in a prayer of confession based on psalm 51, there is a sung response.

http://re-worship.blogspot.ca/2012/02/litany-of-confession-psalm-51.html

---

[i] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=599

[ii] http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/greed-good-politics-2-samuel-121-7/

Who will you serve?

Where does the speech of Joshua we just heard take place?

Shechem: if you need to, look up Joshua chapter 24 in the Bible.

what else has happened there?

Genesis 12: 1-7  call of Abram

Genesis 33:   18 – 20 [ 33: 1-16 Jacob and Esau reconcile ] Jacob buys a plot of land at Shechem

Genesis 35: 2 – 4  buried false gods under the tree at Shechem.

(for more information on this see http://otl.unitingchurch.org.au/index.php?page=joshua-24-1-25 

many times the people of Israel rehear the story of their history. what is different about this story?

generally Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but in this chapter of Joshua's we go back to Terah, the father of Abraham and Abraham's brother Nahor is also mentioned.

this story takes place where Abraham and Jacob also travel, both building an altar to the Lord. And at the end of this passage we heard from Joshua again uses a large stone to witness the choice of the people, in this very same place.

Joshua had outlined the history of the people of Israel, and it starts with long ago your ancestors: even though he then mentions Terah and his sons: Abraham and Nahor, it also includes those who lived before then. The Lord through Joshua, is reminding the people that  their ancestors worshipped different Gods.

This place is also significant because it is the place where other gods, and the images of other gods, were buried by Jacob. And here we have Joshua asking the people who they will follow, which God will they worship, which God will they serve.

Genesis chapter 12 is where we hear the call of Abram to leave his father's home and to take his animals and his family and go to the land that God will show him. And God shows him the land of Canaan and tells him that his offspring will have that land. In Joshua 24 we read about Abram and Jacob and Esau, and we hear of Moses and Aaron and the people getting out of Egypt, we hear of  the time when they lived in the wilderness, and we hear of  all the different groups they fought. Joshua is telling the people of Israel that God has fulfilled his promise to Abraham.

For many of us, as modern readers, we find some of these passages in the old testament difficult. Most of us no longer talk about God leading us into battle against a foreign army, though we do still hear that language at times. This was a different time. People looked for, and expected to see, the hand of God at work in every situation.

This event occurs in a significant place for the people of Israel, Joshua outlines the history for the people, and then says to them: “decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

When Joshua asks the people whom will you serve, he is asking about worship and life. The people had been in slavery, they had to serve their Masters in whatever way the master wished. Now they are being asked to choose who they will serve: Pharaoh, one of the gods of their ancestors, or the Lord the God of Israel.

Joshua took a large stone and set it up under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord, as a witness against the people. A reminder of the pledge they had made.

reflection: Whom Will You Serve?

from Spill the Beans

Throughout history, people have served a variety of gods. We hear of the Lord's involvement throughout the history of the world; from creation, to liberation from slavery in Egypt, to the humiliation of the exile, the warnings of the prophets to live lives of Justice and peace, the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus, the one whose life shows us most clearly what God is like, the one whose teaching inspires us, and the travels of the early Christians.

What might God say to us?

Just to as our ancestors recorded in the Bible, set out to worship and serve the Lord, some time ago a group decided to start a church, in a new and growing suburb. They were blessed with leaders who helped the church to grow, and who built spaces to worship and meet, and spaces for the community to gather. the people  worshipped, witnessed, and served the Lord. and God blessed them. And there were difficulties, and pain, and celebrations.

What might God say to us?

From your birth, I have loved you.

Throughout your life, I have been present with you.

I have brought you out of slavery,

slavery to guilt,

slavery to greed,

slavery to Pharaoh  in whatever form that takes in your life.

This is the God who defeats sin in your life,

who overcomes your fear with love.

Who will you serve?

Will you serve the God of market forces?

Will you serve that God of astrology?

Will be serve the God of popularity?

Will you serve the God of shame?

or Will you serve the God who has loved you and offers you freedom and liberation?

if you respond as the people of Israel did to Joshua “we will serve the Lord for he is our God”

I bring you a challenge:

        this God is not one to be trifled with,

this God knows your heart,

this God expects all of your life, not just part of it.

So I ask you again:  who will you serve?

Are you sure you want answer as the Israelites did to Joshua: I will serve the Lord for she is my God”

Are you willing to forsake all other gods,

are you willing to be laughed at,

are you willing to be considered out of step with the rest of society,

are you willing to stand up for that which is right

even when it is unpopular and dangerous?

For this Christian life is no easy path.

Unlike the people of Israel who were responding to Joshua, we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ, we do not fear that God will smite us.

But we are still asked to respond with every fibre of our being and every second of our life.

So I ask you again: who will you serve?

[place a large stone on the communion table]

Who will you serve?

time for reflection

freedom for all

Exodus 19: 1-7

Exodus  20:1-17

 

God said to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me.’ [the Message]

this part of scripture is sometimes known as :  “'historiography', that is, the remembered history of the Israelite people which is crucial to their identity as the people of God.” ^[i]

the exodus is a pivotal story, a foundational story for the people of Israel. The people had been in slavery. Just three months before the section we heard this morning, the people of Israel left Egypt. Already in those first three months there were complaints to Moses, why did you bring us out here to die?  there is no water, there is no food  - yet God provided water and food for them.

Many times in the Bible the people of Israel are reminded that God bought them safely out of Egypt. The language is not of bringing Israel out of Egypt or bringing to a new land, but bringing the people to God. ^[ii]  

God rescued the people of Israel so they could be in relationship with God.

The last two Sundays John McKinnon has mentioned that God was calling the people of Israel to be different to the nations around them. Still in chapter 19 the people are told if you keep my covenant you will be my treasured possession. All of creation is God's but God has chosen these people to be a holy nation, a nation that lives differently, a nation that lives as God's people

We are Gods treasured people. How do we live out in that  covenant relationship?

 

We turn now to chapter 20 and the 10 commandments. Of course it wasn't called the 10 commandments, that is a name that has been given to this section of the text. When the text when the story was told and the text written down there weren't any headings.

A lot has been written and spoken about the 10 commandments. I've had conversations with people at times who have thought that they could tick each one of these commandments off; I have even had people tell me that they can tick every one of these commandments off, therefore they are a good person; and of course those people who can't tick them off are bad people.

 

Firstly I don't think anyone can tick all of these commandments of as having kept all of these rules.

Secondly I don't think they are rules that you can use to decide of your are ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

These two sections of exodus remind us again that God brings us into relationship, then makes a claim on our lives. Reminds me of the passage from 1 John that we read it baptisms: we love because God first loved us.

God establishes a relationship with us, a relationship that brings us out of slavery, slavery in Egypt, slavery to sin, slavery to fear,…. We are all aware of places in our lives where we have been, and in many cases, still are in bondage. God establishes a relationship with us, a relationship that brings us out of slavery.

The 10 commandments, the law that God gives to the people of Israel, are not about how good I can be. They are not about a pathway to relationship with God, God has already established a relationship with us.

These commandments in many ways are not for us. They are for our neighbour, so our neighbour can with the best life possible. You see God loves all of creation, all people. When we are in a relationship with God, when we live in covenant with God, we are God’s treasured possession. But God wants all people and all of creation to live a full life, and gives the law, so that all people can live.

The good news for my neighbour is that God loves them so much that God tells me not to  steal from my neighbour, cheat my neighbour, kill my neighbour, or take their family from them. And the good news for me, is that God loves me so much that God calls my neighbour not to kill me, or steal from me, or cheat me.

According to the book of exodus, these laws were given just three months after the people came out of slavery in Egypt. Imagine what it was like for these people who for generations had been enslaved. The people who had come out of Egypt needed to remember, to relearn what it means to live as free people.

As people created by God, redeemed by Jesus, and sanctified by the holy spirit, we are free.

Free, not so we can dominate others, but so we can work for their freedom.  

Free, not so we can take more than we need, but so we can ensure all people, and all of creation is provided for.

Free, not so we can make slaves of others, but so we can respect all people. [iii]

 

With freedom comes responsibility,

How do we live with the freedom God offers us?

what stops us living into that freedom?

 

[followed by a prayer by  Rachael Keefe http://rachaelkeefe.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/praying-the-ten-commandments/

---

[i] Rev Dr Anna Grant-Henderson

[ii]  Brent A. Strawn http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2221

[iii] Rolf Jacobsen, working preacher

civil disobedience or divine obedience

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Matthew 16:13-20

“whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Peter is given the keys to the kingdom.  Peter, the rock on which the church is built; there is a word play going on here, as the word for Peter in Greek, is like the word for rock.

one implication is that the church has the keys to the kingdom. just imagine you have the keys, do you use the key to lock the door and guard the entrance? or do you use the key to unlock the door for everyone to enter?

often in the church we talk about heaven and hell as places that exist after death; I think heaven and hell exist, but they exist here, in this dimension of time and space.  it is easy for us to think the keys to the kingdom are for keeping out the ‘wrong’ people; but in doing so at times we make life hell for each other.

during this past week at the retreat we looked at holiness, shame and vulnerability:

how often do you worry about saying something in case people laugh at you?

how often do you worry that you are not enough, not clever enough, or pretty enough, or strong enough,…?

how often do you worry that people won’t like you if they knew what you were really like?

that is shame. guilt is sorry for something you have done, shame is sorry for who you are. many people feel shame, it keeps us small, trying to not get noticed.

shame also makes it hard for us to be vulnerable, yet we need to know vulnerability if we are to feel empathy, if we are to act with courage, if we are to stand alongside people who are hurting. Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable means being honest with ourselves, and with others, about who we are. and yes it can be hard.

..

the Hebrew people were in Egypt because Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, and Joseph ended up in Egypt, did a good job and was promoted by the then Pharaoh. then famine hit the homeland and Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt looking for food, and so the whole family moves to Egypt.

years later we pick up the story, there is a new Pharaoh who doesn’t know Joseph, and the Hebrew people are large in number. so Pharaoh does what many in his positon have done throughout history, and continue to do; he got scared. ‘ He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."

heard anything like that recently?

Pharaoh not only was worried, but told the people of Egypt to be worried.  there is no suggestion that Hebrews and Egyptians had not lived peacefully until then.

the Pharaoh, the King, was scared, the Hebrew people are made to be slaves, they build cities, they are oppressed and still they breed. the fear increases and the oppression increases.  until finally the King decides that something has to be done; all the baby boys will be killed.

but there are some flaws in his plan:

1. the midwives are about life not death
2. the river that is meant to be the place of death, maintains life
3. and girls/women were more trouble than the king imagined they would be.

 

This story is one with a number of heroines: the midwives who refused to kill, the mother and sister of Moses who refused to give up hope and the Egyptian Princess who refused to ignore a child.  This reminded me of other times when women have been the ones to speak out against injustice and violence.  women like the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who met as they looked for their ‘disappeared’ children, during the military dictatorship in 1976 – 1983 in Argentina; women like Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan form Northern Ireland who received the Noble Peace Prize in 1976. these women were generally in traditional homemaker roles. the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo were demanding their right to care for their children – something they couldn’t do when their children were taken by the secret police.   

Moses grows up and God calls him to free the people from slavery, and leads them out of Egypt, safely through the water that kills the Egyptians. there are a lot more steps in the journey until we get to that point. sometimes it can seem that God saves the people from slavery in one giant amazing miracle, but there are small steps throughout the story of Moses. and each step is necessary for the story as a whole.

“It's a courageous act of civil disobedience that changes history, And it all starts here, with two women willing to say "no" to an act of injustice. I doubt very much they thought they were changing the world. But they were, just by being faithful, by following the dictates of their hearts, by heeding the call of conscience.

The things we do this week -- our actions, decision, choices -- will, in fact, ripple out with consequences foreseen and unforeseen, for good or for ill, for the health or damage of the world. That question isn't whether, but what...what will we do this week to make a difference in the world.” [David Lose, working preacher]

 

the action of the midwives is ‘civil disobedience’, or as one person has put it  ‘divine obedience’. [http://sweetjubilee.tumblr.com/post/79831990907/imagine-a-woman-confronting-injustice-shiphrah-puah]

we can stay out of sight, we can hide, or we can stand up, we can speak out, we can protect life.

here is a  quote from Nelson Mandela:  “ for to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

and another quote , this time from Desmond Tutu

”If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

 

Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah. I wonder if it is because our living speaks louder than our words.

in our world today there are many examples of injustice, poverty and oppression. in our world there is a need for people to act with integrity, compassion and courage.

measuring faith

Another week, and more news of violence and destruction.

Another week, and more news of corruption by politicians and others

another week, and it seems like life is just getting stranger all the time.

And on a personal level there are people who are ill, grieving, lonely and in pain.

 

And yet we meet each week, we are here again this morning.

 

Often in looking at the Matthew passage I think about the social context and the religious context. Today I want us to think what it would be like to be this woman. As a parent, grandparent, and friend what would you be prepared to do to help a child in need? And not just any child, for those of you with children and grandchildren what would you do for your child, for your grandchild?

 

The current events in the USA, where another young black man has been killed by a police officer, some of the comments that I have been reading have surprised me. One person, who has black skin,  talks about how she was taught by her parents to always have her hands out in the open while they were shopping, so people would not accuse her of stealing. Always have receipts in view so people knew that you had paid for what you had in your hand. Growing up in the United States with black or brown skin meant being constantly on guard.

 

And mother of a white child writes of all the things she didn't have to tell her son, to keep him out of trouble, the way black mothers have had to.

 

And I think of the situation with surrogacy and the baby Gammie.

And stories of women in detention centres, thinking that if they let their children be adopted by Australians then their child will be safe.

 

Parents and grandparents  would do almost anything for their child to be healed, to be safe, to be free. And the woman we hear about in Matthews gospel is doing exactly that. Somehow or other she has heard about Jesus and she is not going to take no for an answer.

 

This woman talks of only wanting the crumbs, yet she is talking to Jesus, who is the one who fed over 5000 people and had food leftover. She is willing to accept a scrap, knowing that just the tiniest piece of God's grace can heal her daughter.

We are told that this woman's faith is great enough for her daughter to be healed. Yet just last week we were hearing about how little faith the disciples had.

 

I wonder how do we measure faith?

Having been a science student I am familiar with metres and gallons, light years, and nanometres, amps, and decibels. We know how to measure noise and distance, volume and light intensity; but how do you measure faith?

 

How much faith is enough? What does that mean that she is a person of great faith?

What is it about her faith, that it would be described as great faith?

She is persistent, she is honest about her situation, she asks for help, she recognises who Jesus is. Are these the things that make for having a great faith?

This woman does not accept Jesus initial response, she answers back, she does not let the standard boundaries stop her from getting what she wants, and she gets Jesus to act. Maybe this is what makes her faith great.

 

The woman wanted her daughter healed.

I wonder, what is it that we want?

Do we have enough faith?

 

What is enough faith?

the disciples are told they have little faith.

Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat, but not enough to stay on top of the water.

The woman had enough faith that her daughter was healed.

 

 

With all the bad news we see each night on the TV, with the pain and brokenness in our own lives, still we come together to hear God's Word, to confess our brokenness, to sing praise to God, to pray for ourselves and others. One of the ways we talk about the church is as a community of faith, a community that comes together so that we are reminded of who we are and to whom we belong. We are a community of faith that cares for each other, that seeks to follow in the way of Jesus.

Do we have faith that the world can change?

Do we have faith that people will no longer be oppressed?

Do we have faith that people can change?

 

It seems to me that faith is not measured in the quantity that we hold for ourselves, faith is not something that we can store away for a rainy day. Faith, enough faith, is when we act.

 

Where is God calling you to put your faith into action today?

lived out vision

Yesterday I was at the Social Justice Expo that was organised by the UCA. It was an amazing day.

 

There was a choice of sessions looking at a number of different issues. Issues such as modern-day slavery, climate change, and the recognition of indigenous people in the Australian Constitution. Along with issues we looked at different ways of being active in working for social justice for all people; some people are involved in direct action, such as people who are up in the Leard Forest in northern New South Wales, trying to protect the land, plants, animals and indigenous history from another large coalmine. Other people work through community organising, peacemaking activities, prayer and contemplation.

 

While each person there is committed to living out the gospel call to follow Jesus, which means to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, and to welcome the stranger; we each do this in a different way.

 

As I drove home last night thinking about this gospel passage from Matthew that we would be hearing this morning, it occurred to me that only one person stepped out of the boat. With the other stories we have of Peter it may not be much of a surprise that it is Peter, rather than one of the other disciples. Yet Matthew records all of them in the boat believed.

 

And it isn't like Peter was all that successful at walking on water.

 

In the beautiful story of the three trees that we heard, each tree had a dream, a vision, of what their life would be like. And each of them was disheartened when their dream did not come to fruition as they were being shaped into something different to their expectation.

 

We have a vision of what church will be like, a vision of what our family will be like, our society, our country, how our life will pan out. Sometimes our visions are flawed, they are not the visions that God gives us. But sometimes the vision that God gives us is lived out very differently to our expectation.

 

Yet just as the trees eventually did live out their dream, their God given vocation if you like, in a different way to their expectation; at times we to find that we wonder about our call. It is easy to begin to doubt because just as the waves became too much for Peter, just as Peter became aware of what was happening and focused on himself; at times we to find ourselves overwhelmed, focusing on ourselves and doubting our ability, our giftedness, to follow where God is calling us as individuals and as a community.

 

In the midst of the storm, with what they thought was a ghost walking towards them, and then Peter stepping out of the boat, Jesus was with the disciples.

Peter did not drown.

The wind and the waves were still.

And the disciples believed.