Noah

Noah’s Ark, a story that even people with limited church background know.

You can get Noah’s Ark toys, wall stickers and baby mobiles – and you don’t need to get to a Christian shop to buy them. You would think this was a delightful story of a fun sailing adventure one afternoon.

But it isn’t a delightful story. It is a story full of death and destruction.

Someone asked me a little while ago if the Bible is true. To me that always seems like a trick question. The expected answer is yes; but does that mean everything in the Bible happened exactly how it is written about.  For me, every detail is not necessarily true. The parables of the Gospels are unlikely to have actually happened. They are stories to teach a truth.

Is the story of the flood true – I don’t know

Does it contain truth – yes, I believe it does.

So, did this flood happen, quite possibly. Many cultures have ancient flood stories.

The whole world flooded – more likely the whole known world. Without TV and Radio and telephone, people’s awareness of the world was much more limited.

A more important question for me is not did this happen, but what is the point. What does this story tell us about God and about people?

In one of the commentaries I read this week:

the biblical text uses the same root word (sh-kh-t) for the “corruption” that human beings bring on the earth before the Flood (Genesis 6:11-12 [3x]) and the “destruction” that the Flood itself brings (Genesis 6:13).¹ In other words, the destruction of the earth is the direct result of the violence and corruption of human beings, the violence and corruption that fill the earth long before the flood waters cover it.[i]

Basically, we reap what we sow.

Reading this passage, and looking at the first 11 chapters of Genesis, we have this ongoing sense of people making bad choices.

We see it with Adam and Eve in the garden, we see it when Cain kills his brother, then the ongoing violence, and not just violence, but pride in being violent.

Then after the story of the flood, there is the Tower of Babel. People had the technology to make bricks, and decide to build a great city, with a tower that reaches the heavens.

And God saw this as a haven for evil. And dispersed people.

Why does evil flourish, or why does God allow evil to flourish?

But what if evil does not exist??

For example:

Cold does not exist, cold is the absence of heat.

Darkness does not exist, darkness is the absence of light.

Maybe evil is the absence of God’s love in the heart of people.[ii]

What happens when people stop loving as God loves?

Selfishness

Violence

Greed

Pride

Amongst other sins.

“This is a story that teaches us that God takes sin seriously, their sin and our sin. This story challenges us to look within ourselves and our communities for the “wickedness” that causes God’s heart to hurt.”[iii]

Where do we see the consequences of our lack of love – love for people and love for creation?

·         Climate scientists are telling us, and have been for many years now, that our use of fossil fuels is causing harm to the earth.

·         Scientists who study waterways have been telling us that plastic waste is killing fish and birds.

·         we see news reports of what happens when people get impatient and selfish on our roads

·         and we know what happens when violence is used to try and solve problems.

·         Our lack of love and concern for humans means some people lack food and medicine and basic education, some don’t have anywhere to live.

·         What other things might cause God’s heart to break?

o   Behaviour of some businesses

o   Treatment of asylum seekers

o   Domestic and family violence

What do we allow to happen?

Sin is not only about what we do, about the times we disobey God, the times we live as less than God calls us to be. Sure, sin is when we are unkind, or gossip. But sin also allowing the creation to be damaged,

Allowing people to be treated as less than human.

What do we allow to happen, in our relationships and our community and the world?

Often the consequences for living in the fullness of God’s love,

the consequences for living in a way that shows the fullness of God’s love, is that we will have to give up something –

maybe pride, or selfishness, or greed,

maybe acting like you don’t need God

maybe treating God’s good creation as expendable

What if “We are punished not so much for our sins as by our sins.”[iv]

Maybe we get the society that reflects our choices or reflects our hearts?

After God despairs of the people, comes the flood, then comes a rainbow. A rainbow looks like the bow of a bow and arrow.  It has been likened to God hanging up the instruments of violence.  The rainbow is a sign of the promise of God to never wipe out the world by flood. But notice it isn’t only a reminder to us, but also to God.

I have heard parents talk of how they like looking at their child when he or she is asleep, because it reminds them of how much they love their child, especially on those days when their child is testing every limit.

I wonder if that is why God also needs to see the rainbow, to remember that even though people continue to sin, God will not wipe us all out.  

We are a lot further ahead in the story than when Genesis was written.

God has tried giving messages to the prophets, with limited success; and finally, Jesus came to earth, to show us the way to live,

the way to live in love,

the way to share and

the way to bless

I think this story invites us to look past the pretty pictures of animals in the ark and rainbows, to see the consequences of sin, and the way God will keep seeking us out, prodding us and challenging us to live in the fullness of love, love that drives out hate and apathy.

What are you hearing anew about this story?

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[i] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3780

[ii] http://www.integrity-authenticity-love.com/genesis-6-16-22-9-8-15-noah-and-the-flood/

[iii] https://spiritandtruthpublishing.com/blog/noahs-ark-september-9-2018/

[iv] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3780

Creation, Community and Care

When I think of the creation story in the Bible I tend to think of Genesis one, the six days, and then the day of rest, but with Genesis 2 version of the creation of man and woman. A combination of two stories, that are separate accounts. Just as in the 2 gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, we weave them together, which is not always helpful.

Notice how, in this account, God made man, which may be translated as man or human or the name Adam; then a garden for the man, then animals and birds, which the man named. Then God made woman.

The man naming the animals, puts the man as a co-creator with God[i]

This creation story is much more person focussed. In Genesis one, God made the world, and people were part of that. Here God makes man, then a place for him to live and animals and another person to keep him company.

This creation story is much more fun, God is playing in the dirt, making the man, then seeing what else is needed; not like the Genesis one story, which seems very organised orderly.

There are two sections I want to mention this morning.

The second is, verse 18: The Lord God said, “It isn’t good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him.” 

Partner is sometimes translated as helper – neither is accurate in the sense of the Hebrew. It is partner but not in the business or marriage sense. The same word is used when God is described as a helper.

It is a recognition that people rarely do well in isolation,

we need people around us,  

        people who care about us

people who treat us with respect

Remember the Emmaus road story, people walking together trying to figure out what had happened the past few days – we need relationships like that, people we can reflect and mull over what is happening around us and within us.

       

There are people in this community who are lonely,

o   I hear it from the mothers of young children

o   And people whose spouse has died

o   I hear of loneliness from people who struggle to get out due reduced physical ability

o   And people whose mental health makes it hard to leave the house

In some cases, social media, Facebook, email etc helps, but in other cases it makes the loneliness deeper.

Frontier Service Patrol Ministers offer a listening ear,

a friendly face and

a link to the church and the world

for people who live in isolated areas

What can we do, in this local area, to build community that allows people to connect in healthy and life-giving ways?

Firstly verse 15: The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. 

Man was to care for the earth.  Where Genesis One has the idea of humans having domination over the earth, this version of creation has man responsible for the care of the earth.

I wonder what it means to care for the earth?

In the midst of drought, how do we care for the earth?

With the political discussion around pricing of electricity and gas,

With claims and counter claims about climate change and what to do about it

It is easy to forget that people were given the task of caring for the earth.

People are made to live in community, and to have something meaningful and useful to do with their lives.

What can we do to build community that allows people to connect in healthy and life-giving ways?

What can we do to care for the earth?

---

[i] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=400

love God love others

I have been told that I talk about love a lot.

This whole passage is about love.

God’s love for us, and our response, that is loving others.

I think it is important that we try and get our heads around the fact that God loves us. full stop.

Not God loves us when we are good.

Not God loves us when we do well in school

Not God loves us because we don’t swear

Not God loves us because we come to church

Not God loves us only when we read the Bible

Not God loves us only when we are kind.

God loves us. full stop, or maybe

God loves us! exclamation mark!

It is easy to think that somehow what we do, or how we look or how we behave will change God’s love for us; because that is how we have been raised or what we do. From an early age many of us realised that

·         doing well at school, or sport,

·         being pretty or being quiet,

·         conforming to certain values and behaviour

would mean favourable treatment, like smiles or ice cream.

Some people learn that love can be withheld.

But God doesn’t work that way.

The idea of being loved by God is amazing. For some of you it will be like a well-worn coat, that is comfy and comforting and fits you well. For others it will uncomfortable, like wearing a coat made for someone else. Some people struggle to accept that God loves them, no matter what.

Sometimes I hear people talking about loving a particular car, flower or ice cream flavour etc.  when we mean, we like something very much.

God doesn’t love us in the way that I love sleeping 😊  

In our culture, love also tends to be used in a romantic way.

God’s love for us is not warm and fuzzy, this is love that is about relationship; love that is sacrificial.

I know that isn’t a popular word these days - sacrificial. And as humans, we look for things which satisfy us – like chocolate and ice-cream – they are nice to eat, satisfy our sweet tooth, and ask for nothing in return.  God’s love isn’t like that.

Jesus offered himself as a model for love, a love that would give up his life for his friends. A life that showed the love of God in the way he lived. The love of God was shown in the way Jesus treated the people no one else wanted to talk to or be with.

Something I read this week: “You will never look into the eyes of someone God does not love^”[i]

Jesus offers a new-old commandment,
that we should love each other.

With the incredible power
and the unfathomable depth
of God's love for us
we can
we must
love one another.

And it is in this
our love for one another
that the world will know
whom and what we worship. 

Come, children of God,
let us love one another.[ii]

A few phrases from the passage:

·         Real love isn’t our love for God, but God’s love for us.

·         Since God loved us this much, we must love each other.

·         We love because God loved us first

·         The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”

What does it mean to you that God loves you?

How do you love others as God loves you?

We will now hear a song: You are Mine. Please remain seated.

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[i] https://www.facebook.com/tobymac/photos/a.241173571178/10155616972486179/?type=3&theater

[ii] Katherine Hawker, and posted on Outside the Box. http://liturgyoutside.net/

witnesses?

Reading 1 John 1 

In the early church one of the big questions was about the nature of Jesus, was he human or was he God. The gospel of John makes the case for the divinity of Jesus. John writes of Jesus being the Word of God, the Word that spoke creation into being. In the gospel of John, Jesus is God. here in the letters of 1,2 and 3 John, we see a more human understanding of Jesus.

We now talk about Jesus being fully human and fully God.

While this is no longer contentious in the church, it was a major issue at the time.

A few themes to think about with this passage.

Witnesses – “We saw it happen, and we are witnesses to what we have seen. Now we are telling you …”

What are we witnesses to?

Not the birth in the stable,

Or the feeding of the multitude

Or the calming of the storm

Not the arrest

Or crucifixion

Or empty tomb

We didn’t walk with Jesus on the Emmaus Road

Or touch his wounds

What are we witnesses to?

What have we witnessed?

·         I have seen people grow in faith as they ask new questions and look for ways of understanding what is happening in their lives.

·         I have seen people grow in confidence as they step out in faith and use gifts they were not sure were good enough

·         I have seen young people make decisions about their future based on where they sense God is calling them – and that isn’t into ordained ministry.

·         And I have been aware of God’s presence in my own life, and how I have changed because of those experiences.

Another theme is Light – “Jesus told us that God is light and doesn’t have any darkness in him.”

·         At the time this was written there was no electric lights, or torches or even gas lamps. I remember camping a lot as a child, and even with a torch you can’t see much around you in the dark.

·         There is the idea here, that you can get away with poor behaviour in the dark, because it goes unseen. If you are going to be ashamed of what you do, do it in the dark, and no-one else will know.

·         But Jesus is light, so nothing goes unseen, and if we do something we are ashamed of, we know we have done the wrong thing.

Which brings me to another theme - Sin and forgiveness

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar “

“if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.”

We all sin,

I wonder what do we mean by the word sin?

For me, sin is that which separates us from God

Or shows that we are not living in the way God intended for us to live.

It may be something we value more than God

It may be the way we speak to or treat people, and God gives us that nudge that says – really!!!

The 2 greatest commandments are love God and love others a you love yourself; so, sin is probably anything outside that 😊

I suspect for many people sin is focusing on our own desires rather than on God.  

But, we also know that God forgives us, not so we can do the same thing again, but so we can continue to live in relationship with God and each other.

…

We are witnesses,

witnesses to the power of forgiveness,

        living in the light of Christ

                and showing the light of Christ.

Not only are we witnesses, but we are to tell others. To tell others what we have experienced of God’s presence and grace in our lives.

In the Grapevine this week, I have encouraged you to:

Think of a time when you were especially aware of God’s presence.

Sit with that image in your head - What did you feel

Here is a piece of paper, with 3 boxes on it

An example from my life:

      1.   At a retreat, day one was hard ☹

      2.   Woke day 2 – cloudy –I realised just as the sun continues to exist even if 

          it is covered by cloud here, so God still exists even if I can’t sense God

      3.   I started to sing 😊

  

One commentator writes about this passage:

“Authentic love is not an abstraction. It comes through speech, action, and presence. That is the manner of God’s communication. That will characterize authentic faith and authentic community as well.”[i]

What do we communicate about God: with our words and our lives?

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[i] Craig R. Koester; https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3702

Hesed

Book of Ruth

Proclamation of the Word

Ruth, a book of the Bible,

Ruth is a person:

• ·         An ordinary person
• ·         A foreigner
• ·         A widow

This is a story about people,

• ·         Real people
• ·         Not warriors
• ·         Or kings
• ·         Or priests

This is a story about people,

• ·         Real people
• ·         About survival and death
• ·         About struggle and birth
• ·         About welcome and blessing

Like many people, before and after, Naomi and Elimelech and their sons moved because of famine.

Same as the brothers of Joseph who go looking for food in Egypt and find Joseph.

And it happens still.

Naomi and Elimelech take their sons to search for food in foreign country, the sons marry Moabite women, and all 3 men die.

This was a perilous position for the women to be in.  At that time a woman needed a man as protector and provider, otherwise she could be destitute and at risk.

Naomi makes a sensible decision, go back to Bethlehem now that the famine is over.

And Ruth goes with her, even though Naomi points out that she is not likely to have another son for Ruth to marry.  This refers to the system of a man marrying his dead brother’s wife, so that she will have children to carry on the dead man’s name and inherit his property.

I wonder why this little book made it into the Bible. It is one of 2 books named after women, the other being Esther.

·         We hear a story of loyalty of a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law

·         We read of unusual courtship practices – including Ruth asking Boaz to marry her.

·         It is also a story that moves from despair to hope

o   From death to life

o   From famine to abundance

o   From bitterness to joy

o   Barrenness to birth[i]

This is a story about ordinary people, people like us, and how their story connects to the God story.  

Ruth, the foreigner, the widow, is the great grandmother of David, and an ancestor of Jesus. For the people of Israel, Jewishness was important, yet here we have an outsider in the lineage of the great King David and the Messiah.

….

Things to think about:

What is family?

·         Bloodline?

·         People who love us and are loyal to us?

….

How to live?

The book of Judges finishes: In those days Israel wasn’t ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right. [Judges 21:25 CEV]

What we see in the book of Ruth is people living in ways that allows others to live with dignity. Naomi, Boaz and Ruth all act out of loyalty, love, and a deep sense of righteousness.[ii]

…

Spoken blessings:

In the four chapters of this book, we read of people blessing each other. It sounds a bit like passing the peace.

Such as when Boaz went to his field, he said to the harvest workers, “The Lord bless you!” They replied, “And may the Lord bless you!” [Ruth 2: 4]

…..

How God acts:

We don’t have God telling people to allow Ruth to be part of the community, there are no great miracles in this story, like walking on water or the burning bush. Here we see God acting through circumstances, and through the faithfulness of ordinary human beings.[iii]

…..

What does all this have to do with us?

The lives of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz are part of the story of God, and our lives are also part of the ongoing story of God.

Sometimes it can be difficult to see God in our lives, especially at times of grief and loss.

I wonder how often we offer a blessing to people, even when we gather as a church.

One commentator wrote: As the old adage goes, “A coincidence is a miracle in which God prefers to remain anonymous.”[iv]

Can you think of a time when a coincidence turned out to be a blessing?

When I was at University in my late teens, I was going to be a scientist, or a science teacher. Then I changed to engineering, and this boy was in my Maths class, and he was at the church I had started going to. Each year my family was involved in running a canoe race, and the same year I changed to engineering, the same boy came to the race with a mate to help with communications, remember this was before mobile phones.

It seemed everywhere I went there he was.

I remember asking one of the people at church how would I know if he was the one, God hadn’t yelled at me, or put our names in bright lights.

We have been married for almost 36 years.  

Can you see where your story connects with the God story?

There is a word that keeps appearing in this story, a Hebrew word: hesed: goodness, kindness, faithfulness[v]

We see this in the book of Ruth, which is a tale about belonging, about blessing, about faithful love (in Hebrew, hesed), God's faithfulness, incarnated in human beings.[vi]

 Where do you see God’s faithfulness, God’s covenant love, lived out in the lives of everyday, ordinary human beings, much like you and me?

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[i] Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3707

[ii] http://www.enterthebible.org/oldtestament.aspx?rid=28

[iii] Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3708

[iv] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3708

[v] https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/checed.html

[vi]   https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1108

What is a Christian?

After thinking about the church, this week I thought we would think through what it is to be a Christian.

I am sure there are lots of different readings I could have chosen when looking at this topic. 

Our 2 gospel readings both speak about commandments:

The Mark reading has someone asking, “What is the most important commandment?”

And in the John reading, Jesus gives a new command.

All are to do with love.

Jesus answered, “The most important one says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: and ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’

And the new command: you must love each other, just as I have loved you.

Loving God with all that we are - OK

Love others as much as you love yourself. Not exactly what I was taught as a young Christian. I was taught love God and love others, and I don’t count.

So we have:

Love God

love yourself

Love others

love each other

what might that look like.

on Friday night we read a few verses from 1 John – we love because God first loved us. I asked the children what love looked like. They are clever children:

love looks like kindness

and hugs

saying sorry when you hurt someone

playing games together

I asked them what God’s love looked like:

The earth

People

Family

Air and water and food and animals

I told you they were clever children.

So how do we:

Love God

Love others

Love ourselves – because if we don’t love ourselves we can’t love others

Love each other as Christ loved us.

I am not suggesting any of this is easy. What might it look like in our lives.  

Love in action?

Love God: like other people we love that will mean spending time with God - for some that will be in church, others walking along the beach, or in the bush or a garden, or …
for some it will be singing, or painting or drawing or laughing or dancing or silence.

The ways we show God that we love God will be as individual and unique as each person.

Loving others? We can’t go around hugging everyone we meet.

In Galatians I think we get some clues, we love others by being peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. The fruits of the spirit within us. We love others by looking at the world from their point of view. In another place Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in response to a question about who to love. We love when we do what is needed for someone to have life, fullness of life.

Loving ourselves? Sometimes I wonder the commandment should be love yourself the way you love others, because we will often treat other people better than we treat ourselves. We love ourselves when we give ourselves the time we need - to walk and sing and swim and play. We give ourselves permission to make mistakes. We forgive ourselves. We are kind to ourselves.

And then the new command that Jesus gave to the disciples shortly before his death: love one another as I have loved you. there is nothing sentimental about any of this. Jesus showed love in many ways – healing, forgiving, restoring to community, and dying. In what ways are we a community where people find that which is life giving and healing and hopeful?

All this reminded me of a song:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

And we pray that our unity will one day be restored

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love.

Do people see that love in us and our interactions,
do people see Jesus in us?
in our words?
In our actions?

so often when I hear people talk about what it means to be Christian, the conversation is not about love. The conversation is about:

a set of doctrines,
or a way of understanding the Bible,
or a prayer that you must pray

or what you can or cannot do or eat or say

or the length of your hair or your hem

In Galatians we heard: All that matters is your faith that makes you love others. At that time the debate was over the need for Christian men to be circumcised.

All that matters is your faith that makes you love others.

And from John: If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

What is a Christian? my answer is someone who loves God, who tries to live that out in loving other people, loving themselves, caring for the creation.

A Christian is someone who loves Jesus and tries to live that out in following the call to be a disciple.

A Christian is someone in whom the Holy Spirit is taking root, growing and will hopefully show the fruits of kindness and peace, patience, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The way we love God, the way we follow the path of discipleship and the way the spirit acts in our life, will be different in each one of us, just as each one of us is unique.