What a Gift

These passages from Matthew and Luke, enlarge the story of the birth of Jesus. Matthew writes very little about the birth, but then writes about the visit from the Magi, the killing of the children, and Mary and Joseph and Jesus going to Egypt.

Luke includes the visit of Joseph and Mary and Jesus to the Temple, to make their offering for the birth of a child. Here they meet Simeon and Anna. Simeon who recognises Jesus as the Christ, Anna who praises God when she sees the child.

How did you feel when you heard about the birth of a child of a close friend, or a grandchild?

How did you feel when you first heard about the birth of Jesus?

For many of us, we have heard the story so often, we don’t remember the first time we heard it, and we have lost the sense of excitement or shock or emotion of first hearing about the birth of Jesus.

Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Temple when they went to make their offering for the birth of their son. And they meet Simeon, we imagine him to be old, but nothing in the story suggests that.
Simeon recognises the baby as the Christ,
speaks of light and peace
the honour this child will bring to his people
and … then … the words he speaks to Mary “you, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger.”

Anna, sees the baby and sings praises to God – “She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.”

The people who travelled from the east were excited, eagerly travelling for many days, weeks or even months to see who it was who born with such a star. Those in Jerusalem were not overjoyed, they were upset and frightened.  I find both responses amazing.

I can’t imagine following a star, just because it’s a special star. These people, probably astrologers, but maybe priests,
didn’t know where the child was to be born.
Didn’t realise that his birth was not into a royal family.
They had no idea who they were looking for.
They thought it was a baby born to be king,
but for them that was born into a royal bloodline, in a palace.
Not born in a stable.
To these people, someone born with such a star to mark their birth was special,
special enough for them to pack up and to travel,
to pay their respects to such a special child.

I also find the response of Herod and Jerusalem amazing. This was a baby, how much of a threat could a baby be – Herod would be unlikely to still be in charge by the time the baby grew up. But such was the family way of handing on power that even a baby was considered a threat. Not someone to keep an eye on, and see what eventuates, but a threat to be wiped out just in case, and kill a lot of others to make sure the threat was done away with. And as we know from the end of the story, Jesus was a threat to Herod, but not in the way Herod had thought.

There were people who followed a star to see this child who had been marked by the heavens as special. Travelling far, bringing gifts with them. There were people willing to kill many children to do away with the perceived threat posed by this one child. Today around the world, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, by having Christmas, a holiday in many countries, special food and traditions, including giving gifts. But beyond the food and celebration, how do we respond to God’s gift to us, this gift of ultimate love, of God becoming human.

Star Gifts

This morning, I have a gift for you. There is some information about this on the front page of the Grapevine.

In these 2 baskets there are stars, each has a word written on it. When the baskets are passed around please take a star, turn it over and have a look at the word. Just as the magi followed a star to be close to Jesus, I pray that this word will speak to you this year, and will encourage you in your relationship with God through Jesus. If you would like to talk with me about your word, we can do that.

Hand out Star Gifts – if you received one on Wednesday please don’t take another one.

We receive gifts from God in many forms. As we think about the gift of Jesus, from birth to crucifixion and resurrection, how do you respond to that gift.

How we respond to God’s gift is up to each one of us to decide.
But if we look in the manger, be prepared to be changed.

If we hang around the stable be prepared to see the light.

If we open ourselves up to God, prepared to know we are loved,
maybe we will find ourselves loving people,
and accepting that God loves even people we disagree with. 

Invitation to life

The Gospel of John is an invitation to experience life with Jesus.

Last week we heard the prologue, the beginning of the Gospel of John, with its poetic language.

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

John 1:1 NRSV

Towards the end of the Gospel of John, we read:

Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.
John 20:30-31 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

This is not a book of facts to learn,

nor is it a list of requirements to enter the kingdom of heaven.

John is telling us about what he has seen and heard.

John is writing a story, not a text book, but a story that he hopes will transform people’s lives.

John is inviting us into the story, to experience Jesus.

These passages start with questions: firstly, to John the Baptist:

Who are you?

Are you Elijah?

Are you the prophet?

Who are you?

We must tell the people who sent us something!

There was something about John that had the religious authorities concerned. This Gospel doesn’t spell out what that was, Matthew, Mark and Luke all include a bit about John, what he says, what he wore, how he was baptising. But John the gospel writer, is focussed only on Jesus. John the Baptist is mentioned only to the extant that it fills us in on Jesus.

John the Baptist knew who he was and his role. He knew he was not the main character in this story.

His role was to point to the One who was coming. 

Sometimes we need to remember it isn’t about us.

Church isn’t about us

Life isn’t about us.

More questions:

On seeing two of the disciples of John the Baptists coming to him, Jesus asked “What do you want?”

They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?”

These questions are more interesting than they appear in English.

What do you want? Could also be translated:

What are you seeking?

What do you hope to find?

What do you need?

What do you long for?

What do you most hope for? [i]

In a culture that tells us continually what we need:
a new car,

Home renovations

Lose weight

Private schooling for our children

New clothes

Etc,

How often are we asked: What do you most hope for?

Think for a moment: What do you most hope for?

[space]

The two disciples answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?”,

‘they are really asking where he is dwelling, abiding, remaining, indwelling. They want to know, that is, where they can come and simply be with him.’[ii]

Notice, Jesus doesn’t answer their question in a way that would be expected. He doesn’t tell them who he is staying with, or how to find him at the town market tomorrow.

Jesus invites them to ‘come and see’

The invitation of Jesus, now as then, is come and see. A non-threatening invitation.

An invitation to sit with the questions of life:

What are you seeking?

What do you hope to find?

An invitation, not to answers,

but to relationship,

to experience God in Jesus.

What has been our experience of Jesus?

For me, it has been a learning curve:

of recognising love without strings attached

of knowing that life is about more than I can see or touch

of accepting that God sees more in me than I see in myself,

and that more is giftedness and goodness.

I have experienced God in the most painful parts of my life.

I have experienced God walking through the bush or by the water.

Those experiences have changed me, shaped me and strengthened my faith. They have also led to me following the call to this ministry.

Some people find it difficult to know the ways in which their life has been changed or transformed by the presence of Jesus. I was a shy child, we have photos of me half-hiding behind my mum or dad. As a teenager, I would be a prompt for dad if he forgot his lines when reciting poetry, but always just out of sight around the campfire.

You may notice I am not so shy any more 😊

What about you, what has been your experience of Jesus?

[space]

Notice the way the message about Jesus spreads in this first chapter of the gospel. John the Baptist points to Jesus, the lamb of God, and as people follow, they invite others. The invitation isn’t to salvation, but to ‘come and see’.

My experience is that some people, even if they have some sense of Jesus or God in their lives, want nothing to do with church.
Some in our community have been abused or betrayed by the church;
some have been let down or shamed;
some have been ridiculed or ignored.

A lady I knew attended worship each Sunday, but would not stay for morning tea, or go to any social activities in case people found out she was divorced. It had not occurred to me that being divorced would be a problem, but somewhere along the line, this lady had picked up that message.

I wonder what messages people hear from us?

Is it ‘come and see’

Is it an invitation to experience love and welcome?

Is it an invitation to come and be and sit with the big questions of life, without being given neat packaged answers?

Tomorrow is the start of a new calendar year. Some of you may make resolutions, some will watch the fireworks tonight. In Australia it is also summer holidays, so people tend to be a bit more relaxed.

I wonder if this is a good time to think about our response to the invitation of Jesus into true life.

Come and see!

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[i]http://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-2-a-a-question-invitation-and-promise/

[ii] http://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-2-a-a-question-invitation-and-promise/

Christmas 2017

Luke tells of the birth of Jesus to a young woman,

a baby laid in a bed of straw, because they couldn’t find anywhere else to stay

a baby visited by shepherds, who lived with their flocks.

This is a story about the God who comes beside us,

The God who appears first to the outsiders and the unimportant.

The God who comes to live with humanity.

The Old Testament is a series of stories that tell us about how God reached out to people, and people said yes,

Then…

They forgot,

or turned away to other gods and idols,

And then God sends messengers to remind the people,

These messengers speak of judgement,

and of hope.

God continued to reach out to people, even when they rebelled, or walked away.

And I wonder why.

Why come at all.

And why as a baby

The video we will see know is made by a church in New Zealand, so you may have to listen carefully.

Video: Unexpected Christmas

When we wonder if we are enough

When we wonder who we are

When we wonder about life

When we are scared or angry or just plain tired

We hear the message of love

We hear the message of the God who came to earth as Jesus, born as a baby, in dubious circumstances

We hear the message that “God thought we were worth coming to earth for.”[i]

Isn’t that totally awesome?!! God thought we were worth coming to earth for.

God chose to communicate with us, talking to us, cajoling and encouraging us, and finally becoming human just like us.

God could have demanded we be obedient, but that isn’t love;

God could have forced his way into our lives, but that isn’t grace;

God could have left us in our despair, but that isn’t compassion.

God chose to become human to show us what love looks like,

to remind us that we are loved,

even when we aren’t expecting that.

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[i] https://revgalblogpals.org/2017/12/22/11th-hour-preacher-party-the-incarnation/

Light and Life Coming into The World and Our Lives

John 1:1-18 will be read from CEV

This is one of those readings where there is so much to say, and yet it is a reading we need to feel, to experience, more than understand.

I wonder if we listened to it being read a few times with different voices, if that would give us a greater sense of what John is speaking about.

There are images of

Light

Creation

Kindness

Grace

Word made flesh

You may be more familiar with this version:

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 NRSV

We could write this as:

In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. Jesus was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without Jesus not one thing came into being. [1:1]

Everything that was created received its life from him,

and his life gave light to everyone. [1:3b-4]

Wow! What an image. Isn’t that mind-blowing?

Everything that was created received its life from him,

and his life gave light to everyone. [1:3b-4]

In Genesis we heard of God speaking the creation into being,

And here, John tells us that the Word of God, is Jesus.

And not only is the Word, Jesus, involved in creation,

Jesus also brings light,

Not like carrying a candle or a torch,

Jesus is the Light

John’s gospel begins with this poem or hymn. No word of Mary or Joseph, no shepherds or travellers from the east. John begins with an image of experiencing who Jesus is, and spends the rest of the gospel filling in some of the details.

This passage has been described as cosmic birth story, it harks back to the beginning of Genesis, and links Jesus with the story of the beginning of creation.

This all sounds wonderful, this close relationship between God and Jesus, and the close relationship between the life and light of Jesus and our own lives, yet … there is a downside[i]. Jesus being light, and dwelling with us, means we can’t hide.

We can’t pretend with God.

We can put on our ‘everything is going OK’ mask and go out into the world, where most people won’t suspect a thing.

But you can’t do that with Jesus.

And Jesus won’t let you lie to yourself.

Jesus comes bringing

life,

light,

grace

and kindness.

In the coming of Jesus, we “celebrate that God thought we were worth coming to earth for.”[ii]

Isn’t that totally awesome?!!

Here are some of the verses from a modern paraphrase:  

John 1:1-18 selected verses

The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
    God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
    in readiness for God from day one.

Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing! —
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.

…..

The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighbourhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

.....

We all live off his generous bounty,
        gift after gift after gift.
    We got the basics from Moses,
        and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
    This endless knowing and understanding—
        all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
    No one has ever seen God,
        not so much as a glimpse.
    This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
        who exists at the very heart of the Father,
        has made him plain as day.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

What does it mean to you that “God thought we were worth coming to earth for.”[iii]

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[i] Working on the sermon on John 1 and I had the thought, "Doesn't God dwelling so close to us suck? Because with the light living so close I can't overlook my faults." Caleb Suydam Facebook

[ii] https://revgalblogpals.org/2017/12/22/11th-hour-preacher-party-the-incarnation/

[iii] https://revgalblogpals.org/2017/12/22/11th-hour-preacher-party-the-incarnation/

the invitation of Advent

An intersecting article I read this week, was about invitations. A church in Philadelphia hosts what has become known as “Philadelphia's most dangerous dinner party” [i].  Members of the community go out into all parts of the city centre, with a handwritten invitation to a dinner party where anyone and everyone is invited. The invitations are handed to bankers and lawyers, shop workers and people in city parks. If you accept the invitation, you don’t know who you might be dining with.

It reminded me of the invitation we read in Isaiah:

If you are thirsty, come and drink water!
If you don’t have any money, come, eat what you want!

Pay close attention! Come to me and live.
Turn to the LORD! He can still be found.

    Call out to God! He is near.

The people were in exile, here Isaiah is telling them that there will come a time when things will be different. A time when they will no longer be in exile. But until then, turn to the LORD, a reminder that the Lord is able to cross national boundaries.

The food and water are not only for those who can afford it.

Imagine a meal where there is enough for everyone, where no-one goes hungry, even if they cannot afford to pay the entry price.

I wonder what a modern version of this might be?

What is it you hunger and thirst for?

Do you sense that the LORD is near?

..

Mary speaks of her joy, at being chosen to bear the child of God. I find this odd, here we have a teenage girl, unmarried, who is pregnant. She could be stoned.

Yet she sang about how blessed she is,

she sang of the way that God was making the world a more just place: “he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.”

Just as Isaiah wrote about the future, the time after exile, before it happened, so Mary sings of the future God is bringing into being.

Mary and Isaiah did not for the world to change, Isaiah spoke, and Mary sang, of the new world that God was bringing into being.

A world where people have enough to eat

A world where everyone has dignity

A world where the proud are scattered

And the lowly lifted.

A world modelled on God’s plan for humanity and creation.

Advent is a time when we remember that we live in the time between the first and second comings of Jesus. We have read and heard about the person, Jesus, who healed and taught and loved;

Who showed us the way to live.

One of the invitations of Advent for us,

is to work for the coming kingdom of God,
as we wait for the return of Jesus,
and the fulfillment of the kingdom Jesus spoke of, and lived.

The invitation of advent, is an invitation, to prepare for the one who comes, offering life.

Not the life others think we deserve

Not the life that your ATAR points you toward

Not the life your bank balance allows you to live

The kingdom of God has begun to unfold, but it is not yet complete.

As people of God, followers of Jesus, we live the kingdom values, even though the kingdom is not complete.

If you are thirsty, come and drink water!
If you don’t have any money, come, eat what you want!

The invitation of Advent, is an invitation to embrace a new way of living

a new way of living where all have enough to eat

a new way of living where all have clean water

a new way of living where every child has an education

a new way of living where children are not abused

a new way of living where every person is cherished

Next week we will look at the Moderator’s Christmas message, he finishes with this thought:

The normal evangelistic question is whether we have invited Jesus into our hearts. Christmas declares something entirely more wonderful. The birth of Jesus is the declaration that God has indeed invited each and all of us into God’s own heart.

God has declared us welcome. [ii]

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[i] https://www.splendidtable.org/story/on-the-transformative-power-of-an-invitation

[ii] https://www.insights.uca.org.au/news/making-room-this-christmas

Breath and Word of God Equals New Life

sermon from Umina, can be heard here:
https://soundcloud.com/patty-lawrence/2017-12-10-sermon

here is the pre-written version

The passage we have just heard, tells us some of the visions that Ezekiel had.

Remember, the nation of Israel had been defeated, humiliated, and is now in exile. They wondered what the future held. For people at this time God was tied tightly to the land that they lived in, so being outside of their land meant that they were distant from their God. Each country had their own god, or gods. How would they worship and stay connected with their God, now they are in exile?

Then we read of the vision of a valley full of dry bones: sun-bleached, dried-out bones, with no signs of life in them.

In this vision Ezekiel speaks and the bones come rattling together to form a skeleton, and then he sees the sinews and muscles; and bodies where once there were bones. But there is still no life.

And God calls for the wind to blow breath into the bodies, and they come to life.

God acts in the vison given to Ezekiel, both through spoken word and breath. We have seen this before in the creation stories. In Genesis one, God speaks the creation into being, one day at a time. In Genesis 2, God forms people from the dust of the earth and breaths into their nostrils, giving them life.

The word of God and breath of God are considered powerful.

Ezekiel spoke of a valley of dry bones in his vision; but he was referring to the dry bones of the faith of the people of Israel. “They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future.” Then God says:   

“My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

This passage is for people who are living in despair, who have no hope. This passage is for all who need to hear that God has not, and will not, forget them.
This passage is a promise of new life, not the old reinstated, but a new and transformed way of living.

At times I hear that the church is in decline, often from people are part of the church!

It does appear that the church is in decline:
worship attendance is falling,
many people don’t know anything about Christianity and
we live in a multi-faith and a no-faith society.

And the church does not have the power it used to have.

It is easy for us to feel like we are part of a dying group, to join with the Israelites in saying: our hope is dried up.

And I know some of you feel like that in your own life, not just the life of the church,

There are times when we feel like we have no hope.

If we are looking for the return of the ‘good old days’, we will be disappointed.

God has never promised a return to what was,
the promise is always for life,
new life,
transformation.

As individuals and a community of faith, we are sustained by the word of God and the breath of God. [i]

When we have no hope, we hear the promise made to the people in exile: My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again.

What helps you to know the breath of God and the word of God in your life?

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[i] https://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_podcast.aspx?podcast_id=945

Hope that motivates faithfulness

It would be easy to read this story as a promise that we will never get hurt, no matter what the world throws at us. But we know that isn’t true.

This story tells of three young men, taken from their homeland, renamed, and chosen to be court officials. Yet these young men have not ‘integrated’ into the society, they hold fast to their beliefs. They will not worship an idol.

These three men decide “They will remain faithful to God, no matter the cost. When they say that God might not save them, they are not saying that they doubt God. They believe in God no matter what is the outcome.”[i]

They know the potential consequences of their actions, they realise it may cost them their life, but they refuse to bow down to the idol when ordered by the King.

“Martin Luther King says this story is about civil disobedience, not bowing to what is arrogant, oppressive, shallow, or populist. It is not about standing up for God per se, but about defying that which is corrupt. It is a story where the characters can be measured against the earthly gods of trade and economy and populism, or the higher morals of love, compassion and grace.” [ii]

Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws of the state, and/or demands, orders, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power.[iii]

Examples of Civil Disobedience are:

·         The Freedom Ride through NSW in February 1965, where a group of students from the University of Sydney drew national and international attention to the poor living conditions of Aboriginal people and the racism that was rife in New South Wales country towns.[iv]

·         Anti-war demonstrations, against our involvement in wars such as Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan; and especially against conscription in the Vietnam War.

·         You may have seen groups of Christians praying in Government offices, part of an organisation called, Love Makes a way: Christians seeking compassion for people seeking asylum.[v]

These are all examples of civil disobedience from Australia,

·         people willing to say that aboriginal people are human and there is no place for racism in Australia

·         people willing to say that war and violence is not the solution

·         people willing to say that refugees are people and deserve to be treated with dignity

what motivates people to be involved in civil disobedience?

That varies.

From the Loves makes a way website: “Jesus is the centre of our faith, life and activism. Love Makes a Way makes little sense without the example of the enemy-loving Christ who was willing to suffer for the sake of others.”[vi]

There is a saying that goes "Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not.”

If we say God is Lord, how far are we willing to obey? Who or what rules in our lives? [vii]

As we move through Advent, we look to the coming of Jesus.
The Jesus who challenges and confronts our living.
The Jesus who challenges the notion of true worship
the Jesus who confronts our ideas on sin.
The Jesus who offers life to all.

This first week of Advent is traditionally about hope.

I wonder where you see hope in this story?

Dale Matherly: “Hope doesn’t mean everything will turn out ok…., hope is about imagining tomorrow differently, …, and as we imagine that tomorrow differently we begin walking towards it, holding onto hope is about that walking”[viii]

Where is your hope being lived out this Advent?

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[i] The Story of God Narrative Bible Study December 3, 2017

[ii] Roddy Hamilton, Facebook Narrative Lectionary Group in reply to a post by Tonya Eza 29 November 2017

[iii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience

[iv] https://aiatsis.gov.au/exhibitions/1965-freedom-ride

[v] http://lovemakesaway.org.au/who-we-are/

[vi] http://lovemakesaway.org.au/who-we-are/

[vii] The Story of God Narrative Bible Study December 3, 2017

[viii] Dale Matherly, Facebook Narrative Lectionary Group in reply to a post by Johanna Rehbaum 1 December 2017