Cost and Clay

this week a short reflection on Luke, before the Prayers of Confession

Luke 14:25-33 

This section is part of the hard sayings of Jesus.

I can’t imagine living without God in my life, and at times I have, and I know I don’t want to do that again. But it does mean giving up some things – not because they are ‘bad’, but because God calls us to live in ways that are about life.

My parents didn’t go to church, and struggled with their ‘born again’ teenage daughter. I admit I look back now and see I was like many new converts – long on enthusiasm and short on grace. But I think even if I hadn’t spoken about religion, it would have still altered my relationship with my parents, and particularly my father. He didn’t want a religious daughter, so me going to church meant that I was different. I had changed. At times I had to choose between pleasing my parents and doing what I thought was right in my relationship with God. Those decisions were not easy.  

A few weeks ago I was listening to an interview with one of the Olympians. The athlete described how being an elite athlete was a very selfish thing to do, missing holidays, birthdays and being overseas, training and competing, much of the year. Family and friends came after training and competing. To be an Olympian you need to be that focussed.

This is what Jesus is saying here. There was the risk that the people who followed Jesus would only see the ‘high points’ of faith. They witnessed healings and miracles, yet if they did not think about the cost of being a disciple, it is like thinking being an Olympic athlete only involves the race and medal ceremony.

“Discipleship is not just one more hobby or extra-curricular activity.”[i] Following Jesus has to be more important than anything else in our life, and requires the focus of an elite athlete. That doesn’t mean we can use discipleship as a reason to neglect family or work responsibilities. But there will be times when we need to make a choice because of our decision to follow Jesus. And those choices will not always be easy or popular.

Jeremiah 18:1-12

This reading from Jeremiah lends itself to thinking about the ways in which we are shaped by God. I usually think of this as a gentle, loving process. Of being made into something unique and beautiful. But reading this passage this week, I sense another side to the image God as the potter.

Clay in hand

“People of Israel, don’t you realise that I can do with you just what the potter has done with this pot. Watch the way the potter works, people of Israel, and remember that you are like clay in my hands. If I speak to a corrupt nation and threaten to tear it out by the roots and crush and demolish it, and it takes note of what I have said and mends its ways, I will change my mind and give them a fresh start. If, on the other hand, I tell a nation that I am planning to build them up with strength and life, and they turn around and become callous and cruel and take no further notice of anything I say, then I will abandon my plans to do anything good for them.
So then, Jeremiah, go now and give the people who live in Judah and Jerusalem this message from me: I, the LORD, am taking you in hand like a potter taking clay, and I am planning to flatten you; to crush you completely. The only way to persuade me to change my mind is to turn around right now; to mend your ways and clean up your act.”

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Before clay is fired, it is able to be made and remade many times.  The more clay is handled the more flexible it becomes. But at the beginning, it is hard work getting the clay to move and take shape.

The prophet Jeremiah is not speaking to individuals, but to the nation. Clean up your act! I can build you up or destroy you.

And the basis that God will make that decision on?  When is a nation evil?  

Matthew has a story of the judgement of the nations in chapter 25 [25:31 – 46]. Do you remember what was judged?

‘I was hungry and you fed me,

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

I was homeless and you gave me a room,

I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

I was sick and you stopped to visit,

I was in prison and you came to me.’ [The Message]

As a nation do we live up to this standard?

Do we provide for the hungry and thirsty, here and internationally?

Do we provide homes, clothing and shelter for those in need?

Do we work to make health services available to all?

And do we make prisons safe and appropriate?

In recent weeks we have seen the mistreatment of teenagers in youth detention in the Northern Territory,

we have seen the high percentage of indigenous youth in prison,

we have seen the reports of the abuse of people in detention on Nauru

and there are the continuing stories of violence and war

of women being forced into marriage or becoming sex slave

of teenagers and children being kidnapped and made to fight.

At times it seems like we live in a very messed up world.

There is some signs of hope:  

In the last generation, humanity has made great progress in shaping a more just and equal world:

·    global poverty has been cut by 50% in the last ten years

·    the number of people who have access to clean water has doubled

·    the number of children dying every year has been dramatically reduced and

·    the number of women dying during childbirth has nearly halved

Together, through Australian Aid, we’ve all played a part in this story.^[i]

Where does this leave us today?

A beautiful image in the psalm of being known and loved and valued by God

The image of a potter, a reminder that we can work with, or against God,

And the Gospel that tells us that while grace is free gift, discipleship is costly and will demand us to make choices.

Shortly we will participate in Holy Communion, we hear again that on the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and wine and shared it with his disciples.
We are part of that ongoing tradition,
of hearing the story,
of giving thanks,
of taking the bread and the cup,
of being renewed and refreshed,

Of giving ourselves over to God, again and again.

Prayer: The Clay of Our Lives

Take the clay of our lives and shape it to love
Take the clay of the church and shape it to grace
Take the clay of the world and shape it to peace
Take the clay of today and shape it to hope

And then breathe your spirit into all
again

For ever and ever
Amen

~ written by Cheryl Lawrie, and posted on [hold this space]. http://holdthisspace.org.au/

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[i] https://www.oxfam.org.au/what-we-do/aid-and-development/campaign-for-australian-aid/australias-aid-effort/

[i] David Schnasa Jacobsen, Working Preacher

Some things can't be measured

This Sunday we are baptising twelve month old twins.

Reading the gospel this week, I was reminded of the phrase ‘cost/benefit analysis’.  It is usually used in the business world to calculate the financial benefit of projects.  For example, if you put new equipment into a factory it would cost 20 million dollars. If the new equipment will

-      double production, meaning extra sales of 2 million a year.
- a life span of 20 years

-      a total ‘benefit’ of 40 million

A cost of 20 million and benefit of 40 million, it is worth the project going ahead.

The same idea exists in the gospel reading. People were working out where to sit to maximise their prestige, without having to be embarrassed by being asked to move to a lower seat. There was a pecking order, and each host had to work out who sat in the most prestigious seats.

When we attend a wedding today, there are usually place cards, so you know where to sit. Usually immediate family, then extended family and friends. What would happen if you moved your place card from the back table to the table nearest the bride and groom?

In the first part of the wedding story, when Jesus is addressing the guests, he seems to be working within the cultural world - a world with a limited amount of honour to go around, and it was important to get as much as you can, and not give any away. The advice to sit in the lower place, so you will asked to move to a higher place makes perfect sense in the world of honour and shame.

Then when Jesus talks to the host, and advises that you invite people who can’t invite you back, he is going against the cultural traditions.

By being invited to functions you gained honour or prestige. Why would you invite someone who isn’t able to reciprocate your invitation? You are giving them some of your honour, and they are not going to be able to give you honour. That makes no sense in the society of the time.

Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to happen much today either.

We live in a culture which still expects us to reciprocate in some way. If I buy you coffee this time, you pay next time.

When we live with the idea of exchange rather than generosity, we lose out.

I wonder about the cost/benefit analysis of having a child, or two?

Not everything in life is able to be measured and costed – how do you cost a hug? Or a sleepless night? Or the first day of school?
How do you measure the benefit of a friend who drops everything to be with you in an emergency?

We can measure distance and time, but how do we measure love or grace?

One issue this passage is addressing is the scarcity model of thinking, that is, there is a limited amount of honour, so get as much as you can. Sometimes in our society it is prestige, but might also be property, money, food, jobs or power. Anytime we think there is not enough of something, we tend to hold tightly to what we have, and see if we can get more.

“But what if there was? What if there was enough and more than enough to go around? What difference would that make in our own peace of mind and the way we treated others? What if we saw others not as competitors for scarce resources but as partners, even siblings, commissioned by God to distribute the riches of God’s goodness and grace?” [i]

What if we started living as if there was plenty to go around?
Plenty of food and housing,
plenty of prestige and power,
plenty of everything we need
more than enough.
What if we lived like that?   

Too often I hear statements about how ‘those people’ deserve to be without housing or education or adequate health services.

I hear how ‘those people’ deserve to be lonely or isolated or in prison.

When we work in a framework of scarcity and the need to reciprocate, we try and give everything a quantitative value. But what of the most important relationship of all?

We can’t reciprocate with God.  “If we insist that our faith, our salvation, is dependent upon an equal rate of exchange between God and us, then we need to ask ourselves, in what kind of God do we believe? What happens if we don’t measure up? And what makes us think we can assume certain systems to quantify the grace of God?” [ii]

If God only loved me as much as I loved God ... well, let’s just say life would be very different, and not for the better J

The story I read earlier is Guess how much I love you? [iii]

Guess how much God loves you. As wide as I can reach, as high as I can jump, to the moon and back?

In the baptism service we heard these words spoken to each child. I want you to listen to them for yourself. When I put my hand up, I want you to say your name out loud. OK?

[Name – put my hand up],

for you Jesus Christ has come,

has lived, has suffered;

for you he endured the agony of Gethsemane

and the darkness of Calvary;

for you he uttered the cry, ‘It is accomplished!’

For you he triumphed over death;

for you he prays at God’s right hand;

for you, [name - put my hand up],

even before you were born.

In baptism, the word of the apostle is confirmed:

‘We love, because God first loved us’.

We jostle for position, for the best seats and the best spot on the beach. I have seen children jostling for position of Mum’s lap.  We want to be seen, we want to be well regarded, and we want to be loved.

The good news is that you are loved, more than you can measure. Our worth is not determined by how much we have accumulated, or who our friends are. Our worth is not determined by how other people see us, or even how we see ourselves. Our worth is determined by God. In the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, God said, and says, you are worth everything.

What would your life be like if you lived acknowledging that you are loved without limit?

What difference would it make to our community if we valued each person as much as God values them?

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[i] David Lose, In the Meantime

[ii] Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher

[iii] Sam McBratney, Guess How Much I Love You

A Holy Sabbath?

Both our readings today mention the Sabbath. Some of you may remember in your younger days that Sunday was a day of rest.

Shops did not open

Sport was not played

Homework was not done

A friend told me she wasn’t allowed to knit.

Isaiah talks of the Sabbath being a delight, but not being able to do anything fun doesn’t sound like a delight to me.

The idea of Sabbath comes from two different parts of Scripture. In the story of creation, in Genesis 1, God rested in the seventh day, so all creation has a day of rest and renewal. The other place we get the idea of Sabbath is from the story of the exodus. Here is part of the Ten Commandments from Deuteronomy[i]:

Deuteronomy 5: 12- 15

“Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

The idea of Sabbath is about rest and renewal, but also about liberation and freedom from slavery.

Just as theologians disagree on various issues today, so the rabbis had robust conversations about what it meant to be faithful to God. Did tithing include the parsley garnish on your plate?

Does being born with a disability reflect on the sinfulness of your parents?

And what does it mean to keep the Sabbath Holy?

Is keeping the Sabbath holy mean that we only sing hymns and read the Bible on the Sabbath?

Does it mean we can read other books as long as they are religious in nature?

Maybe we can visit family, or friends?

Some orthodox Jews will not use any appliance that means work – which means pedestrian lights work automatically, so that you don’t have to push the button, because that would mean you did something to cause something to happen, and that is work.

I am reading a book called ‘Sabbath in the suburbs’[ii]. It is about a family’s experiment and experience of keeping Sabbath each week. As a family of 5, with both parents in full time demanding jobs, they don’t always manage it. As they are about to embark on their Sabbath experiment, the author ponders what is work, what should we be ceasing from? With 3 small children, just being involves some level of work.

What is the work that we refrain from on the Sabbath?

Now we come to the gospel reading, a woman bent over for 18 years, comes to the temple, Jesus notices her, and heals her. While she rejoices and praises God, a leader of the synagogue is horrified because Jesus broke the Sabbath law.

Let’s not be too hard on the leader of the synagogue. The leader of the Synagogue didn’t wake up each morning thinking: how can I make life difficult for people?

Both Jesus and the leader of the synagogue are wanting to be faithful to God, to uphold the law.

Today our theological conversations revolve around different questions:

• What are the requirements for baptism?
• Who can participate in Holy Communion?
• What role can people in same gender relationships have in the church?

But I wonder if we looked at what it means to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, that maybe some of those other questions would be less divisive.

What does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy?

The prophet Isaiah is writing to the people of Israel as they come back from exile.  They are being reminded that Sabbath-keeping has an inherent link to justice. Remembering and focusing on God will, or should, lead to right relationships with our neighbour. Mercy is not to be forsaken simply because it’s the Sabbath.[iii]

A paraphrase of part of the Isaiah reading:

Isaiah 58

The LORD says:

“If you abandon all forms of exploitation,
    and avoid bad-mouthing others to gain an edge;
if you share what you have with those in need,
    and respond to the real needs of suffering communities;
then you’ll find that the world will light up for you
    and life will be one beautiful day after another.^[iv]

Who are the exploited in our society?

Who are the people who get bad-mouthed?

In what ways do we share with those in need?

This week we have seen more news of the living conditions of people in detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. There have been more allegations about the treatment of young people in juvenile detention centres, especially indigenous young people. And I am struck by the different repose to this news and the closure of greyhound racing in response to the report on cruelty by some people involved in racing dogs. 

Sometimes I wish that being a Christian was simple. If God would just put a list on my fridge with what to do each day that would make my life a whole lot easier. 

We live in a world that is bent out of shape,

We live in a world where people live in fear

Where there is violence and oppression

Where hatred is spread

Where greed and selfishness masquerades as good.

We live in a world that needs healing

And we are people who need healing, because as much as the world is bent out of shape, so are our lives.

We carry loads that bend us out of shape:

Shame

Guilt

Anger

Fear

Frustration

Despair

Sabbath allows us to breath,

to put down our load for a while,

to stretch our sore muscles.

Sabbath is about rest and renewal and liberation.

For me, it means being aware of God in my life and in the world around me

It means being less caught up in my own ‘stuff’ , how messy the house is, how long the to-do list is, how many boxes we still haven’t unpacked …….

And being more aware of the rhythm of grace, of breathing, of joy. And that changes not just that time, but changes my focus during the rest of the week.

What does it mean to you to keep the Sabbath holy?

A day of rest

Time enjoying Gods good creation?

Renewal and refreshment for another week?

Or maybe you can’t imagine having a Sabbath

What does it mean to you to keep the Sabbath holy?

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[i] David Lose, http://www.davidlose.net/2016/08/pentecost-14-c-dream-tenders/

[ii] MaryAnn McKibben Dana, Sabbath in the Suburbs A family experiment with Holy Time

[iii] https://revgalblogpals.org/2016/08/16/revised-common-lectionary-listen-up/

[iv] ©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

intro to Abram

The passage we are about to hear from Genesis tells a small part of the story of Abraham and Sarah.

We first hear of Abram, in chapter 11:27

Terah was the father of Abraham, Nahor and Haran.

Haran died before his father Terah in Ur of the Chaldeans. 

Abram’s wife was Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was Milcah.

Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Terah, Abram, Saria and Lot set out from UR to travel to Canaan, but settled in Haran, which was on the way.

At the end of chapter 11, Terah dies. Then in the beginning of chapter 12, God calls Abram to leave his homeland and ‘I will make of you a great nation” 12:2

Abram passes his wife off as his sister to get safe passage through Egypt.

After they arrived in Canaan, Lot and Abram separated so they both had access to enough pasture for their herds.

The Lord said to Abram: I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 13:16

Lot is captured during a battle. Abram leads an army to regain his nephew Lot and all his goods and people.

Then comes this morning’s passage.

Genesis 15:1-6

Faith is ...

The book of Hebrews is considered to have been written to Jewish Christians encouraging them to hold to their confession of Christ as Saviour and Lord, rather than lapsing back into Judaism, because they were being persecuted. [NRSV, Zondervan, intro to Hebrews]

In the passage from Hebrews ‘faith’ is mentioned 6 times in 9 verses, so I guess it might be important.

What do you think of when you hear or read the word faith? Certainly people of faith are not perfect, look at Abraham, this hero of faith, he doubted God’s promise, he passed his wife off as his sister, and he slept with his wife’s servant because he didn’t believe God’s promise. Abraham doesn’t sound like much of a hero to me.

What do we mean when we talk about faith?

If you had to define or describe faith in a phrase or sentence, what would you include?

[Responses?]

Here is a dictionary definition:

A strong belief or trust in someone or something

A belief in the existence of God: strong religious feelings or beliefs

A system of religious beliefs

[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith]

Then there are lots of quotes about faith.

Slide 1:	Trapeze – no words
Slide 2:	Faith is acting like it is so, even when it is not so, so that it might be so, simply because God said so.
Slide 3:	I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only makes sense in reverse.
Slide 4:	Faith is like Wi-Fi, it’s invisible but it has power to connect you to what you need
Slide 5:	Faith tells me that no matter what lies ahead of me, God is already there.
Slide 6:	Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught to fly.
Slide 7:	Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.  Martin Luther King Junior
Slide 8:	Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1

While the dictionary has faith as a noun, I like to think of it as a verb. After all, I was taught that verbs are doing words. Surely faith is a doing word, faith moves us to action.

And action is what Jesus is talking about in the Luke reading.

“Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit,”

This is about being ready to respond when God calls you to action. Being ready to respond to an opportunity to share the good news. It is like a car engine, you need always have petrol in the tank or the car won’t travel very far.

We need to be ready to respond to the call of God to live gospel values and actions: healing, justice, love, grace, peace, etc Erick J. Thompson working preacher

We say we live by faith, how does this show in our lives?

By faith Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice

By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death

By faith Noah,… respected the warning and built an ark

By faith Abraham obeyed

By faith Isaac invoked blessings

By faith Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph

By faith Moses was hidden by his parents

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea

Bu faith the walls of Jericho fell

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. NRSVA 11: 32-34

Living by faith, doesn’t mean being perfect.

It means hearing the call of God

Offering hope to the disillusioned

Peace to the heartbroken

Being ready to speak and live the good news of life in Christ Jesus.

This morning we meet around the table sharing in the good news of God’s love.

Where do you need God’s healing?

What will you take out into the world this morning?

Greed and the Good Life

What would you do if you were given 100 million dollars?

·    Pay off the mortgage

·    Help out your children and grandchildren?

·    Go on a holiday?

100 million is a lot of money, I can think of what to do with one million, possibly 2 million, but more than that, I would have to think really hard about what to do with it all.

Those of us who grow fruit and veggies at home know that some years there is an abundant crop, and some years very little. What do we do with the excess crop – most people I know preserve some and give some away. I know when we were growing chockos, we would take them to church and everyone had ample. At the moment there is a box in the foyer at Umina with some oranges and lemons for people to take.  

The farmer in the parable is often known as ‘the rich fool’. As a landowner he is well off, and now the rain and sun have worked their magic and a bumper crop is on the way.

In the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, we read how he built bigger barns to store grain during the 7 fat years, put it away for the community during the 7 lean years.

But this farmer doesn’t store the grain for the community, he stores it for himself, so he no longer needs to work. The man is called a fool, not because he had a bumper crop, not because he stored the grain, but because he was selfish.

What matters isn’t what is in the bank account, but what we do with the resources we have. Do we spend wisely, share generously and live compassionately.  Remember Herbert in our story, he had the treasure, but all he did was worry about it, he didn’t benefit from it, in fact he lost his relationship with his brother and he lost sleep.

It seems at times like the Bible speaks against being financially well of, but it doesn’t. It speaks against relying on wealth instead of God, it speaks against the focus on money, it speaks against greed.

By greed I am not meaning having enough to live, but the way we place emphasis on having more for the sake of having more.

Greed hurts us, because it blinds us to what God has done and is doing in our lives.
Greed hurts us because it cuts is of from relationship with others and with God.
Greed hurts us because we are unable to see the riches of God,
 salvation,
redemption,
freedom.

We live in a culture which promotes the building of bigger barns - larger houses, expressways for private vehicles rather than improving public transport for everyone; we encourage people to prepare for the future, to accumulate, to hoard. We spend time and energy counting and securing our treasure. We look to give our children an advantage over other children, to give ourselves an advantage over those who might be in competition with us for work or housing or prestige.

When did life become a competition rather than co-operative?
it was amazing to watch the grand finale of Master Chef last week, when one contestant helped another in the last few minutes of a 5 hour cook off.

We build walls around ourselves, physical and emotional walls, so that we feel safe. Yet we are all diminished as humans. In the story of the creation, God realised that people were not to live without relationships.

The person who came and asked Jesus to judge in a family dispute wanted more. When we are looking for more resources what inadequacy are trying to fill? When we try and hold our things close to us, when we try and get more, when we spend our time and energy and money on getting and keeping resources, what are we missing out on?

Because in the end our security comes from God, our life is a gift from God.  Jesus said: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

It is easy to get hooked into the expectations of the society we live in.
it is easy to get caught up in wanting more.
It is easy to look to possessions to make us
feel whole,
to feel secure,
to feel worthwhile.
And we end up on a treadmill of always wanting more.

How much of what we own, actually owns us. The bigger our houses, the more cleaning there is to do. The more expensive our car, the more we worry about getting it damaged.  And if you have a backyard pool, you need to spend time on keeping it clean and the water treated and tested. And all that can take time away from our relationships.

Jesus said: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

The value of our lives is not determined by our possessions or our bank account or our status. Each person is precious in the sight of God.

Here is a paraphrase of some of the Colossians reading:

If you are fair dinkum when you say you have been raised to new life with Christ, then commit yourself to the things that belong to such a life. Look to Christ — God’s right hand man — and take your cues from him. Concentrate on the things that matter to Christ, and don’t let yourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around you. Your old life is behind you — dead and buried — and your new life is intimately bound up with Christ, and lived in God. The full reality of this new life is not visible to the general public yet, but it will be. Because your life is now bound to Christ, when Christ makes his triumphant return to the public stage, you will be there with him, in all your glory, for all to see.
........So, since your old life has been extinguished, make sure you stamp out any remnants of it that might spark up within you and set it off again. Don’t char your sexuality with trivialised, loveless flings. Expel the fumes of moral contamination. Douse smouldering compulsions. Remove anything that might fuel greed, because after all, greed is just another form of idolatry. God is getting ready to deal with those who have been defiantly allowing these sorts of things to burn out of control. You were once implicated in all this, because those things were all part the kind of life you used to live. But now you must purge yourselves of all such things — bitterness, vengefulness, spite, slander, and any tendency to mouth off in ways that insult and humiliate others. And don’t lie to one another. Dishonesty may have been a natural part of the old persona you all once wore, but you’ve stripped all that off, along with all its accessories, and decked yourselves out in a whole new persona. The new you is becoming more and more like your creator as your minds are reconstructed and your understanding grows. In this renewed life, we are no longer divided up into factions based on our backgrounds. It no longer makes any difference at all whether you were from this ethnic group or that, one religious tradition or another; whether you were educated or illiterate, refined or rough-nut, welfare dependent or money-to-burn. Every possible distinction among you is rendered irrelevant, because now Christ is in all of you and all of you are in Christ.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

“Christian faith is not about a religious adventure on the side of daily life, but about a total orientation of one's being in which, through Christ, God is back being God for us, and we are back to being human in the way we were made to be.” Bill Loader

Change starts from within

This was written for the Fellowship Day Service 2016 of the Australian Church Women inc.

Year theme: Women empowering change

Service theme: Change starts from within

Readings: Luke 8:43-58 John 4:4-28

Sermon

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this worship service. Here is a short story.

Mary Marty retells a parable from the EYE OF THE NEEDLE newsletter:

 “A holy man was engaged in his morning meditation under a tree whose roots stretched out over the riverbank. During his meditation he noticed that the river was rising, and a scorpion caught in the roots was about to drown. He crawled out on the roots and reached down to free the scorpion, but every time he did so, the scorpion struck back at him.

“An observer came along and said to the holy man, ‘don’t you know that’s a scorpion, and it’s in the nature of a scorpion to want to sting?’

“To which the holy man replied, ‘that may well be, but it is my nature to save, and must I change my nature because the scorpion does not change its nature?”

Joseph B. Modica from https://bible.org/illustration/scorpion

I wonder is our identity grounded in the love of God, the life of Christ and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit; or is our identity driven by ego, the media and the mood of the people around us.

We live in a time of fear. We hear about bombings, shootings, violence and war. And the instinctive reaction for many people is fear. Fear of those who are different or have a different opinion. Fear of those with a different ethnic or religious background.

It is easy for us to get caught up the fear and anxiety of the community around us.

It is easy for us to live in fear, to be enslaved by fear. The more we watch the news, the more we listen to popular commentators, the more we hear about fear:

Fear of young people
Fear of Muslims
Fear of people with lots of money
Fear of poor people
Fear of what will happen if this or that political party gets elected.

It seems that keeping people in a state of fear helps politicians and companies – when we fear a possible terrorist attack, we don’t ask about the erosion of civil liberties.

When we fear a takeover by foreign companies we don’t look at the behaviour of local companies.

Fear is easy.

We can’t wave a magic wand and rid the world of abuse and oppression and violence.

The way to change the world is to change within.

A woman came to the well, in the middle of the day and an encounter that changed her life.

A woman stretched out her hand and touched the cloak of an itinerant teacher.

In a culture where a woman and an unrelated man would not talk without other people being present

In a culture where purity and holiness were important

In a culture so different to ours, but then sometimes I wonder if under the surface it has changed much at all.

We heard these two accounts of women meeting Jesus. In each case the woman is unnamed.

In both the woman is seen and heard and known, in a way that is life giving.

We too get to meet with Jesus, the one who knows us, loves us, forgives us, gifts us, and sends us out to be light and hope in a troubled world.

In the midst of a world that seems intent on seeing how much hate and anger and violence and fear can be generated, we follow the One who lived the way of peace and grace and forgiveness.

When we come into relationship with God through Jesus, we become new people. It isn’t always easy to accept this new life, to accept the transformation offered to us. Sometimes we resist the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Sometimes it all seems too hard.

The world is changing all the time and there are many forces that impact on the world.

How do we change the world?
It isn’t like changing our clothes.

When I look at what is happening in the world, I wonder what can I change. I can’t stop the violence in Africa or the Middle East or the USA.

I can’t even change this country, or this community.

But, I can allow myself to be changed,
I can accept the transformation Christ brings to my life.
I can live out the call to live with grace and hope.

And in being changed, in living life transformed by Christ, the community will be changed by the light and hope and grace that will radiate from our lives.

Jesus met these two women, and their lives were changed. We don’t hear what happened to them. But we do know that the woman at the well went and told people about Jesus. Her encounter with Jesus led to her telling others, and then they heard and saw Jesus for themselves.  

The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touched the hem of his cloak, then she is called out and unable to hide in the crowd. Everyone hears about the change in her life.  

Are the lives of people around us changed because of the way we really see them, of the way we allow the love of God in Jesus to flow through our lives to those we meet?

When we are changed by our relationship with God in Christ Jesus, we are called to respond to fear, not with anger or hate or even fear; we are called to respond to fear with love.

In Romans 8, Paul wrote, we are not given a spirit of slavery and fear, rather “God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.” [Romans 8 the Message]

God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.

The Spirit of God, flowing through us; sometimes in a surprising rush, and sometimes like a gentle breeze; confirms who we really are – children of God.
Each one amazing and unique.
Each one with something special and individual to bring to the community of faith and all of God’s wonderful creation.

We are transformed from fear to joy and confidence, to be who we are – children of God.

Let us pray:

God, who loved us into being;

Christ, who transforms our living;

Holy Spirit who breathes new life into us;

Forgive us;

Heal us;

Transform us;

May we be the people you dream us to be

May we be confident in our identity as your beloved children

set free from all that binds us

offered grace and mercy beyond measure

treasured and loved

Transforming Trinity, transform our lives.

In Jesus name we pray

Amen.