Working with God for a new world

The people of Jerusalem had been in exile, when they returned to the devastated city, they set about cleaning up the rubble, and rebuilding. Imagine what is must have been like, you have seen images of war from the middle east, a few years ago it was eastern Europe, and before that Vietnam and Korea. We have seen devastation by earthquakes and cyclones, so imagining a ruined city is not all the difficult. But imagine this is your city, your street, your place of worship that has been destroyed. After years in exile you are excited about returning home, but what is it you return to? 

What do you build first?

The Temple. It isn’t as grand as Solomon’s Temple, and the rebuilding of other buildings is slow. Life is hard, food is not plentiful, the vegetable gardens were destroyed in the war, the vines, the fruit trees are gone. Life is hard.

Will things ever be the same?

Then Isaiah, the prophet, the man who speaks God’s word, says:

God is creating a new heaven and a new earth,
the past will not be remembered,
there will be rejoicing instead of distress;
every person will live a long and full life;
people will eat from the trees they plant;
people will live in the houses they build;
death and devastation will not be part of this new creation.
The new creation, the new thing God is creating will be so harmonious
that the lamb and the wolf will lay down together,
and neither will be in danger.

A beautiful image of the kingdom of God, the kingdom that God is creating. A word of hope for people who were struggling.

Sometimes life is a struggle.
It may be illness, grief or uncertainty about the future;
sometimes the struggle is about strained relationships, poor housing options or lack of work.

Life can be a struggle.

The message of Isaiah isn’t that everything will be perfect in an instant, but that God is creating a new heaven and a new earth.

God isn’t finished with us yet.

And God isn’t finished with the world yet.

As people who profess to follow the way of Jesus, what might this passage be saying to us today?

In a world in shock over the US election results
in a world where violence and war seem never-ending
in a world where poverty is real for too many people

What might this poem from Isaiah say to us?

God is creating something new
a world where everything is in harmony
where every creature is safe
where the environment is cherished
where people are treated with dignity
where life matters
      black lives and Asian lives and brown lives and white lives

God is creating something new, and as people of God we get to work alongside God. We are the people who see the promise of God at work.

We are called to live out God’s kingdom where we are.
To live as God’s people,
living in peace and justice,
living in harmony with all creation.
In our actions, our working, our speaking.

Sometimes that means we will be unpopular.

When the Uniting Church started up the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Kings Cross, there was vocal opposition from within the Uniting Church, from some other churches, and from many in the community. But the people who were given the task of getting it up and running persevered. Many lives have been saved, and many people have been referred to drug rehabilitation facilities.

Sometimes we can speak about our faith, but we need to always live our faith.

As we baptise Heath this morning, I wonder what kind of world he will grow up in. I wonder if he will glimpse the vision of the new heaven and new earth that God is creating.

I wonder in what way Heath will be working with God, and celebrating the work that God is doing
in his life,
in the lives of people around him and
in the world.

The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace and justice,
a kingdom where we know our brokenness,
where respect is offered to all people,
where God’s love is the standard we live.

We work with God in the coming kingdom.
A kingdom of peace and justice.
We live the kingdom;
we take risks;
we offer hope;
we trust in God.

It is time for us to listen for what God is saying to us today.

Living Saints

Tuesday was All Saints Day.

I wonder what do we think of when we talk about saints?

Someone with a day named after them, like St Patrick?

Can only dead people be saints?

In the Apostle’s Creed, which we say each time we baptise, we say the following:

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

And what is the ‘communion of saints’ that we say we believe in?

The communion of saints is about connection,

connection with God: creator, redeemer and Spirit;

connection with members of the congregation;

connection with Christians across the world and throughout history;

connection with the creation;

connection through participation in sacraments;

connection through participation in the activity of God in our everyday life.

And the source of that connection is God who lives and moves through the Holy Spirit.

The communion of saints is the people of God across time and space, known and nurtured through the gifts of God for participation in the activity of God in the world.[ii]

The Gospel reading set for All Saints Day this year is the Sermon on the Plain that we also heard this morning:

blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the excluded

Woe to the rich, the well fed, the laughing and the popular.

Not such a pleasant message.

Then the hard part:

love your enemies

do good to those who hate you

bless those who curse you

Turn the other cheek

Give away your shirt

‘do to others as you would have them do to you.’

Wow!

Makes one bride for 7 brothers look easy J

But does this tell us anything about Saints?

I wonder if Saints are people who live into God’s future now

A future where the hungry are fed

The lowly are lifted up

The rich go away empty and

the powerful are brought down

which may sound familiar… Mary’s Song of Praise, from Luke chapter 1.

you are part of the communion of saints

you are known and nurtured by the Holy Spirit

for participation in the activity of God in the world

We take some time to reflect on what God is saying to us this morning.

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[ii] This is the conclusion of an essay I wrote at college that drew upon multiple sources. 

resurrection life is not like this life

The passage we just heard about one bride for 7 brothers sounds weird to our modern ears. While technically it was feasible that a woman could be married to 7 brothers, one at a time, it is highly improbable.

But this reading isn’t about brides or brothers. This passage shows the increasing tension between the Sadducees and Jesus. The Sadducees were the group in charge of the temple. And the Sadducees took the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible as we have it, as their sacred scripture. That is the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, for the Sadducees, these were the books that mattered. As Resurrection isn’t explicitly mentioned, then it isn’t a part of their belief.  

In asking Jesus the question about marriage and resurrection, they are trying to show the absurdity of the idea of resurrection, and trying to catch Jesus out. ‘Their question is premised on the assumption that eternal life is an endless state of “more of the same.”[i]’

I have had people ask me, will someone with a disability still have that disability in resurrection life? The question makes the same mistake as the Sadducees, that is that resurrection life looks like this life.

Here is a story:

Story: Waterbugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children"

by Doris Stickney

From: "Waterbugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children"  by Doris Stickney  https://www.rainbowsbridge.com/belovedhearts/stories/doris-waterbugsanddragonflies-632617144169637500.aspx

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[i] David Lose, Questions About the Resurrection, November 04, 2013

Seeing and Hearing and Obeying

This morning we meet two people with names that are unusual in our culture: Habakkuk and Zacchaeus.

Habakkuk is one of the prophets. Prophets were people who reminded the people and nations of Israel and Judah to return to God’s ways.

In this passage, we hear Habakkuk asking God why did he have to see so much violence and injustice.

On the news at times the presenter will make an announcement like: Warning, some people may find the following images offensive.

There is violence and injustice and poverty and oppression in the world.

Yes, that is offensive.

And sometimes we want to say: I don’t want to see this anymore

I don’t want to know about homelessness or war or abuse.

It is all too much to bear.

Join Habakkuk.

The book of Habakkuk is 3 chapters long and well worth reading in one sitting.

Chapter one is basically a list of problems in the world, and Habakkuk asking God why the world is in the shape it is in;

Chapter two is mainly God responding.

 “I, the LORD, refuse to accept
    anyone who is proud.
Only those who live by faith
    are acceptable to me.”

…

You’re doomed!
You made your family rich
    at the expense of others.
You even said to yourself,
    “I’m above the law.” [Habakkuk 2:9]

………..

Let all the world be silent—
the LORD is present
    in his holy temple. [Habakkuk 2:20]

chapter 3 is a prayer of Habakkuk:

    “I know your reputation, Lord,
and I am amazed
    at what you have done.
Please turn from your anger
    and be merciful;
do for us what you did
    for our ancestors.” [Habakkuk 3:1-2]

…..

And even though the harvest may fail:

“but I will still celebrate
because the Lord God
    saves me.” [Habakkuk 3:18]

I will still celebrate because the Lord God saves me.

Despite the doom and gloom,
      the violence in the world and in our hearts
      the pain of illness and bereavement
      the horror of child abuse
      the destruction of the environment
      the breakdown of relationships.

Despite what we see and hear, God is God.

And sometimes we need to be still and silent.

The hymn[i] we sang a few minutes ago is about a God who has spoken through the words of the prophets,
and through the life of Jesus
and still speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit.

How do you respond when God speaks to you?

The second person we meet this morning is Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus, the short man, the tax collector, one of the unpopular people in town.

A friend wrote some comments on this reading, and suggested that it would be strange for us to see a man in a suit up a tree. [ii]

We have all been to parades; small local parades, or large parades; some sombre, some festivals. Anzac Day, football final, Melbourne Cup parade. 

Sometimes you will see a child on the shoulders of a parent or grandparent, so the child can see over the crowd and see what is happening.

Zacchaeus must have noticed the gathering crowd, being short he looked for a way of being able to see what was happening.

As Jesus travelled around, people come to see and hear him.

They came out of curiosity,
they came looking for healing
      for sight
      for salvation.

Some just wanting to see this man they had heard about, others desperate to get close enough that Jesus might touch them, renew them, make them whole and holy.

We don’t know why Zacchaeus was wanting to see Jesus, or if he wanted Jesus to see him. But Jesus does see him, and says: Come on Down!

“Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus.”

The text doesn’t suggest that Zacchaeus is upset or ashamed to have Jesus come to his house.

Jesus doesn’t mention guilt, shame or sin.

It is the crowd boo and hiss! Why him! He is a sinner!

Jesus is going to the house of the villain!

I wonder do you ever find it easier to look for the bad in a person or situation, rather than looking for the good?

The crowd are upset that Jesus is going to the house of Zacchaeus, but it is Zacchaeus who responds by saying – hey, I’m not that bad. Look “I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”

How would you respond if Jesus said to you: Come on Down, I’m going to your place?

I asked this question in a group at one time. I was thinking, Jesus can’t come home, the house is a mess, what is there to eat? I wasn’t the only one worried about those kinds of things.

The children had completely different ideas. They were thinking about what Jesus might like to eat. One child was going to make pizzas with Jesus so Jesus could choose what he wanted on his.

How would you respond if Jesus said to you: Come on Down, I’m going to your place?

Zacchaeus found that Jesus was looking for him, even as Zacchaeus was trying to get a glimpse of Jesus.

Habakkuk found that God was aware of the situation.

At times, we may feel that the world is a mess. We don’t want to see or hear about the reality of poverty and injustice. But just as God named the injustice and violence, we too need to name what is happening in the world.

And we need to stop and be still and listen for the God who still speaks to us today.

And with listening, come obeying.

What is God saying to you this morning.

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[i] God Has Spoken by His Prophets George Wallace Briggs

[ii] https://talbragar.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/tree-change/

Habakkuk verses from the Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Increase our Faith!

This week I have been thinking about faith. Like the disciples, our prayer is often “increase our faith!”

But these same disciples had left their workplace and home to follow Jesus, how much faith do they want! The picture we have of the disciples from the gospels shows us they didn’t always understand what Jesus was talking about, they were often confused by his actions, but they still followed.

“Faith is not believing that certain claims or statements about God are true. Genuine faith presumes a relationship with God. It implies a radical trust in God, faithfulness in one’s relationship with God, and a way of seeing the world as life-giving and nourishing rather than as hostile and threatening. “ [i]

Faith allows us to join Habakkuk in saying: For crying out loud, LORD! – What is going on in the world, or why is my life such a mess.

Faith is waiting for God, listening for God.

Faith is trusting that what God says will come true, even if not in my lifetime.

Without faith in God, we wouldn’t be so open and honest with God about how we feel,
about how we feel about injustice in the world,
about we feel about the pain in our lives
about how we feel about evil.

Faith isn’t a magic wand that we wave and everything is suddenly OK.

Faith is trusting that God is present when things are going against us, when we are in pain, when we are confused.

Sometimes we think about the so called giants of faith, the people who seem to have been given a double dose of faith.  Faith “is simply and humbly doing what needs to be done, big or small, great or mundane, just because it needs doing.” [ii] Faith is simply the willingness to do what needs to be done, to respond to the call of the Spirit in our lives. It isn’t a commodity to be hoarded, it isn’t a scarce resource.[iii]

The rest of the Luke reading is a story about a slave and master, this is an image that might not resonate with us.

But if I said, you go to work for 8 hours a day, you come home and do some housework, look after children etc. That is life. You don’t get a medal for doing your job. Same deal with being a disciple, offering hope and love and grace, living in faith, that is what a disciple of Jesus Christ does, so what do you expect, a Parade! 

I wonder what it really means when we pray Lord, increase our faith.

What is it we are looking for?
- a bigger God?
- courage?
- recognition?
- a way out?

Biblical Scholar Tom Wright comments that this is not so much about having a big enough faith in God, but faith in a big enough God.[iv]

There is a wonderful story, “Mister God this is Anna”. One story Anna tells her friend is why she won’t go to Sunday school anymore. She has sensed that the Sunday School teacher tries to make God small, because Sunday School teacher is scared of God.

Are there ways in which we try and make God smaller, easier to understand?

In the letter to Timothy we read:  “God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.”

Maybe rather than praying for more faith, we need to recognise the faith we have, and live out that faith.

That doesn’t mean doing something major and heroic.
It means being honest with God and ourselves.

In response to the request for more faith, Jesus tells the disciples that faith the size of a mustard seed – which is small - is enough to uproot a tree and plant it in the sea. This isn’t literal, I mean why would you uproot a tree and plant it in the sea except to show off, and faith isn’t about showing off.

I think Jesus is saying that we have enough faith, enough faith to live as the people of God.

Faith is an action, it isn’t being able to recite the Ten Commandments or knowing the Apostles Creed of by heart.

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

Faith is living out the love, the forgiveness and the mercy that God shows us. Faith is trusting that God is God. And that will show up in a myriad of ways in our lives.

I encourage you to think about when you acted in faith this week.

- have you listened when someone needed to talk?
- have you volunteered at a local charity
- have you written a thank you note to someone who has done a kindness
- have you cooked dinner
- have you prayed for a neighbour who is having a hard time.
- have you spoken a word of encouragement to someone who needed it

None of these is any big deal, and yet it is just these kinds of acts that occupy so much of our lives. They are acts of faith.[v]

And faith means sharing in bread and juice and allowing that something happens when we eat this bread and drink from this cup. Not something magical, but something significant.
Somehow we grow close to God, somehow we connect on a different level with God and each other and Christians around the world.

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[i] Br. David Vryhof Society of Saint John the Evangelist email 1/10/2106

[ii] In The Meantime , David Lose

[iii] In The Meantime , David Lose

[iv] Spill the Beans

[v] In The Meantime , David Lose

Listening and Action

Another parable in a series recorded by Luke.
There are a few things to note about this parable.

“Lazarus is the only name given to anyone in Jesus’ parables;”[i]

The rich man did not notice Lazarus while when was alive, but now he is dead, he sees Lazarus and knows his name. But he sees him, not as an equal, but as someone who can do something for him. [ii]

For many of us this parable hits a nerve, a comfortable middle class, I have all I need nerve. This is challenging parable. But for some people, for the “Lazarus’s” of the world this parable is empowering and offers hope that things will not always be this way. [iii]

Luke isn’t saying that being wealthy is a bad thing of itself. We know the rich man is wealthy, he is called ‘the rich man’, but he also wears purple and fine linen, he lives in the equivalent of a palace, with gates and security. This all adds up to serious wealth!

There is nothing to suggest the rich man gained his wealth by exploiting people. The problem is that being wealthy isolated him from the community around him.

In the letter to Timothy we read: The love of money causes all kinds of trouble.

The passage we heard from the letter to Timothy this morning, not only warns us about the danger of loving money, but encourages us to be content with the basics needed for life, such as food and shelter.

The love of money and the focus on getting more money means we lose sight of who we really are.  In last week’s passage from Luke we heard that you cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve God and wealth. [Luke 16:13]

What will it take for us to recognise our wealth, not just our financial wealth – because if you have food, decent clothes, a place to live and transport you are in the top 15% globally[iv] – which means we are all wealthy; but we are also rich in non-financial terms.

We could look at images of heaven and hell in this parable; or what wealth looks like; but for me this parable isn’t about money or the afterlife. This morning I want us to explore the final part of the parable a little: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”’ [Luke 16:31]

What and who do we listen to?

Who do we see?

In the parable, Father Abraham tells the rich man that his brothers should listen to Moses and the prophets – who are the prophets today?

Who are the people who speak God’s word?

Who are the people who challenge any system that oppresses people, who challenge any system that sees people go without food and shelter and medical service and education?

The prophets in the Bible were a feisty lot, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea, Micah and Malachi. Have you noticed that many of the prophets did not speak to individuals but to the nation of Israel and Judah, and at times other nations?

There are some comforting messages, but mainly speeches telling of the demise of nation because they haven’t lived in Gods ways. Forsake your idols and return to the Lord; return to God’s righteous ways and don’t make yourself rich at the expense of others; trust in God’s love.  

What will it take for us to really hear the prophets, to hear and act on God’s call to justice and righteousness?

When God speaks are we too busy looking after our assets; working extra hours; worrying about our looks and our status.

True wealth comes from faith in God. From listening to God’s word through Moses and the prophets, through the teaching and life of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit who guides and challenges us.

My experience is that hearing, and acting upon, God’s word can be difficult.  Sometimes we will be challenged to change the way we live. Leaving a secure job to start your own business or work for a church or charity.

At one time I was on an interview panel for a senior role in the Synod office. The people we interviewed were mainly from other church or not-for-profit organisations, so the pay we were offering was similar to their current situations, but some people were currently working in private industry, on much higher salaries than we could pay. But they were looking for work with meaning beyond the pay cheque. They are still well rewarded financially, but they could earn much more elsewhere.

What of other areas of our life?

When have you been challenged by God?

• to change jobs
• to move house
• to take up a new ministry
• to stand with the poor

How have you responded?

Some of you will know by now that I am slightly hard of hearing. In most situation it isn’t an issue, but when there is a lot of background noise, I can’t keep track of a conversation.  Sometimes my relationship with God is like that. There is so much background noise, the to-do list in my head, the last song I heard on the radio, going over a conversation and wondering if I could have handled the situation differently, the meeting next week, the report due in two weeks, and on and on…

Being available to hear God is one thing, but being willing to act is another.

I wonder what stops you from acting on God’s call to fuller life.

Fear if what people might think?

Fear of losing friends?

Fear of losing control?

Or is it that we just don’t trust God?

This parable is a story about a rich man who didn’t notice the poor man at his gate.

It is about a rich man who even in death saw Lazarus as someone to do fulfil his desires

It is about the gulf between life and death

But ultimately I think it is about where our values for living come from.

Are our values in agreement with the life and teaching of Jesus?

Do we listen to the voice of God, or the voices that tell us that the people with the most money and power win the game of life?

We will have some time for silent reflection.

[silence]

If there is anything form this that you would like to speak with me about, please let me know.

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[i] Lois Malcolm, Working Preacher

[ii] Barbara Rossing, Working Preacher

[iii] charwils2015 on RevGalBlogPals

[iv] https://irememberthepoor.org/3-2/

Praise and exploitation Sunday morning rewrite

Sermon 2

This morning we have praised God, pondered words from the prophet Amos about not exploiting people, and then this passage from Luke.

This parable is confusing, and reading various scholars hasn’t helped much. I could go through various parts of the parable and explain the culture and economic system, that may help a little, but it still doesn’t help us work out why this parable was told.

Parables typically have a twist at the end, the twist in this one is that the master praises the manager for being shrewd rather than being angry with him for reducing what people owed. Which may or may not have hurt the bottom line for the master – it may have been that the manger was adding his own cut to the accounts, and he simply reduced the bill by his cut.

Here is a story: Izzy gets busy  from Spill the Beans 2013

I wonder in what ways we are like Izzy, using our brains and creativity for selfish reasons, rather than for the good of the kingdom of God?

Remember the quote from Augustine:

“... that God gave us people to love and things to use,” ^[i]

I can remember many years ago making a mobile, with people and things on opposite sides of one piece of paper, and love and use on the other piece of paper, just like this.

Do we use our position in life, our resources to feather our own nests, or do use what we have to show and share the love and grace of God?

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[i] David Lose, In the Meantime