Blessed?

What does it mean to be blessed?

Some translations use the word: happy, others fortunate, most stick with blessed.

Blessed is a word we don’t use very often, especially outside the church.

I even looked up the Greek, and the word translated means: blessed, fortunate or happy.

If we think about the things that make us happy, or times we feel fortunate, what might they be?

Chocolate

Reading a book

Swimming

Being with family or friends

Not having to cook
….
…..

I asked the people on Friday night when were they happy, and someone said he is happy when he gets presents, another when she is singing or dancing, another on his bike.

We all have times in our lives when we are happy.

But while I am happy eating chocolate, I don’t know that I would call that blessed.

A time I remember feeling blessed was a time I was very unhappy. Because of what had been going on in my life, I wondered if God was real, or maybe just distant and disinterested in me. The alternative, that God inflicted this suffering on me was too much to contemplate, even though some people told me that. The blessing came from a Minister, who spoke to me of a God who was holding me and crying with me, rather than judging me or ignoring me.

I was blessed to see a picture of God that was of grace and love and hope. An image of a God who was with me in my struggle and sorrow.
 I still wasn’t happy, but I was blessed.

Do you feel blessed by God?

Maybe you feel you are not worthy?

Or that you are not good enough?

Not rich enough?

Not important enough?

Now, as 2000 years ago, to be blessed meant being successful; that is a good job, housing, food and children.

Yet the people named as blessed
are not the rich, the leaders, the warriors,
but the poor, the humble, the peacemakers.

I wonder if the reason these groups are listed, is because these were people who were of no account in society. People who would not be considered blessed.

Here, as in other parts of the Scriptures, Jesus turns our ideas upside down.

Reflection

He spoke of blessing.

And I stood among the crowd,

in filth and ignorance,

and bristled at his boldness.

He spoke of blessing.

And a rumour spread across

this hill of hopelessness

that he might mean me.

He spoke of blessing.

And I realised he talked

not through impudence or importance

but through experience.

He spoke of blessing.

And in an uninvited, unexpected

moment of madness

I was made holy

in my poverty and weakness,

hallowed in my hunger

and in my humanity,

sanctified in my peace-seeking

and in my persecution.

He spoke of blessing.

And I left there

wearing my rags like the richest finery,

and carrying my burdens

like precious jewels.

Spill the beans

You are blessed.
You are a precious child of God;
God is crazy about you;
and there's nothing anybody can do about that!"  anon – working preacher comment

In Matthew, the blessed are

the poor

the ones who trust God

the grieving

the humble

the merciful

those who obey God

the pure-hearted

the peacemakers and

those who are oppressed or persecuted.

Matthew leads us through the waters of baptism with Jesus, the temptations in the wilderness, the calling of the disciples, and here, a sermon. A sermon that sets the scene for much that follows. A sermon that tells of the presence of God,
the presence of God with the unexpected,
the sorrowing,
the lonely,
the ones who please God
who don’t show off
who seek to bring peace.

This passage is the beginning of the sermon on the mount. But here, at the beginning of this sermon, Jesus makes sure that the disciples know, not only in their heads, but in their whole beings, that they are known and treasured by God. The identity of the disciples as children of God is secure, and always the challenge to follow in the way of Jesus.

God loves you
and wants you to know the blessing
of grace and forgiveness
of hope and peace.

The blessing that sustains in times of turmoil
the blessing that keeps us strong when we are ridiculed for standing alongside the poor
the blessing that nurtures and strengthens us when we despair of the violence and oppression in the world.

The blessing of being known and lived

Secure in our relationship with God

To follow in the footsteps of the one who shows us the face of God.

Reflection time

We are Called to Follow

When I first became a Christian, I was told all I had to do was believe in Jesus as Lord and I would be saved. Then, the only extra thing to do was tell other people to believe in Jesus and be saved.

But as I have read more of the Bible I am aware that Jesus asked people to follow him, just as he asked Simon and Andrew and James and John.

Jesus didn’t ask people to like him,

or to be his best friend

or to be his bodyguard.

In the calling of the disciples,

they are asked,

in the midst of family and work,

to follow.

These were not the spiritual elite or people at worship every day. They were not an intellectual elite or the wealthy.

These were ordinary people, doing ordinary every day things,
and Jesus said to them: Come with me!

One thing I find difficult to understand is how these 4 fishermen, stopped what they were doing, and left to follow Jesus. According to Matthew’s gospel, all Jesus did was ask them to follow, and they immediately left their nets and followed.

These four men, and later other men and women, answered the call to follow Jesus, to be with Jesus as he saved and healed and taught. They were present with Jesus for meals and travelling and stories.

Their lives were disrupted and then transformed, they were called to a different way of living, to create a new community; a community that would be like a light shining in the darkness of Roman ruled Galilee. [i]

The reading from Matthew started with the news of the imprisonment of John the Baptist. Preaching a message of repentance was not going to win Jesus friends in high places.

He knows there will be consequences, real and scary. In spite of this awareness he begins his ministry.[ii]

We are not asked to only believe; “belief alone is not enough, we need action. That’s incarnational, God using us to advance God’s desire for the world….” [iii]

What would it mean for each of us to choose to follow Jesus?
to follow Jesus in speaking with the outcasts
to follow Jesus in offering forgiveness
to follow Jesus in offering inclusion to the disabled

to offer comfort to the ill

What would it mean for us to follow Jesus
in speaking out against injustice,
refusing to repay violence with violence.

What would it mean for us?

The lives of the four fishermen, Andrew, Simon, James and John were disrupted and transformed, when they responded to the call of Jesus: Come with me!

If we decide to follow Jesus, in bringing light to the hidden places of oppression and poverty and injustice, we too will find our lives disrupted and transformed, and possibly uncomfortable and even at risk.

Last week, someone spoke to me of seeing people from the Jehovah Witnesses doorknocking on one of those very hot days.  I am not advocating we go door to door, as some churches do, but this person was wondering out loud, when the last time they had done something for God that was uncomfortable.  

We are called to follow, not to simply bask in the love and grace of God.[iv]

Following Jesus will mean giving something up, we may be uncomfortable, we may lose friends, relationship with family may be strained. Andrew, Simon, James and John gave up fishing and left their families to join Jesus.

I wonder how willing we are to have our lives turned upside down, how willing are we to experience the kind of repentance that turns away from materialism and self-interest. [v]

What has been transformed in your life?

What are you willing to have transformed in your life for Jesus?  

-1 minute silence -

(written from the view of a disciple)

Reflection

Will you follow me

he asked—and we never hesitated

because it was an adventure,

and we never tired of those,

the risk, the randomness, the gamble.

...........

..........

[Spill the Beans]

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[i] Warren Carter, Working Preacher

[ii] Dani Veenstra, RevGalBlogPals

[iii] Rev Terri C. Pilarski, RevGalsBlogPals 11^th hour Preacher Party

[iv] Kathryn Matthews, UCC SAMUEL

[v] Kathryn Matthews, UCC SAMUEL

Baptism and Identity

this 'sermon' is an introduction to a liturgy for reaffirmation of Baptism. i hope the experience and prayers will speak to people's hearts in ways that words do not always.

In Baptism, the identity and call of Jesus was affirmed. The next chapter of Mathew is about the temptations in the wilderness.

In our baptism, our identity is affirmed, as children of God. That doesn’t mean that until we are baptised we are not known or not loved by God.

Baptism is a sign of grace, a reminder of what already is.

Baptism is not an insurance policy.

Baptism is not armour against temptation, or illness, or difficulty.

Baptism is not a guarantee that we will be better people.

Martin Luther, was one of the leaders of the reformation.  

When Luther himself was hold up in a castle translating the Greek Bible into German so that for the very first time somewhat regular folks could read the Word of God for themselves, well, while he was doing this he struggled mightily with doubt and discouragement from what he understood to be the devil. And he was known to not only throw the occasional ink pots at whatever was tormenting him and causing him to doubt God's promises, but while doing so he could be heard throughout the castle grounds shouting "I am baptized".[i]

Not I was Baptised, but I am Baptised.

Baptism is a sacrament, a sign, a symbol – not a sign of anything we have done, but of what God has done and will continue to do in our lives.

Sometimes it is easy to think of baptism as something that happened, a once off; but just as a wedding marks the beginning of a marriage; baptism marks the beginning of the life of discipleship.

This morning there is the opportunity to reaffirm our baptism, our commitment to being disciples of Jesus Christ.

For you who have not been baptised, I encourage you to think about your relationship with God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Also, if you are not baptised, and would like to have a conversation about that, please let me know.

---

[i] Nadia Bolz-Weber, https://sojo.net/articles/how-say-defiantly-i-am-baptized

Matthew 2 Introduction

The first 2 chapters of Matthew set the scene as to the importance of who Jesus is. In chapter one there is the genealogy, which shows Jesus’ place in Jewish culture; he is from the tribe of Judah, born in David’s line. Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah in naming Jesus Emmanuel.

Matthew also quotes the prophet Micah; Bethlehem is the place the Messiah would be born.

Matthew is writing for a Jewish audience, so the people who first heard this would have connected the dots. Matthew includes lots of quotations from the prophets, lots of connections to the Old Testament.

So far we have that Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, and his birth fits the expectation that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

The wise men, or Magi or astronomers, come from the East. The East is where typically the enemies of Israel had come from: Assyria, Babylon and Persia.

There are some other connections that the first hearers of this gospel would have made.

·    The political leader Herod, orders the death of all the children under two, which sounds like; Pharaoh ordering the male Hebrew babies to be killed. And who survives; Jesus and Moses.

·    Egypt was a place of slavery, but this was not the first time we have heard of someone going to Egypt to stay alive. Joseph was taken to Egypt, after his brothers decided not to kill him; then years later Joseph brings all the family to Egypt during a time of famine.
Now another Joseph, with Mary and Jesus travel to Egypt looking for safety.

·    Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, and that is thought to be the birth of the nation; what might this coming out of Egypt bring to birth?

·    Joseph is spoken to in dreams, we have heard of another Joseph who considered a dreamer.

Matthew is saying: look out, something amazing is about to take place. This baby is something special, even more special than Moses. God is doing something new, be prepared to be challenged, to be surprised.

Response to Incarnation

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.

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.

Are we excited like the ones who travelled, following a star?
Are we fearful, wondering in what ways our current life is threatened?

How to respond to God’s gift – that’s 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.

Christianity is revolutionary, not because we get together and sing songs and read Scripture, though many would consider this strange. Christianity is revolutionary because God loved and loves to the point of sacrifice. Christianity is revolutionary because we are offered love because God is the giver not because of anything we have done or will do in return. Christianity is revolutionary because God became human.  God is God’s gift to us.

God’s gift to us, wasn’t so that we would feel guilty, precisely the opposite. It wasn’t so that we would have to think up elaborate ways of repaying God. Like with some families where each gift must be bigger and better. God doesn’t expect that, and we could never do it anyway, how do you top a gift like God’s.

Our response to this gift, our response to this awesome love of God, that’s up to you. Regardless of what you decide God will continue to love you, that’s what Christmas is all about.

Remember the cow, the sheep and the hen from our story?
They each gave a gift to the baby, but not one that costs them too dearly. There will be more milk tomorrow, and another egg, and while the wool will take longer to grow back, it will.

Are we like this?

Giving a gift that fulfils our sense of duty,
looks suitably impressive
but doesn’t impinge on our life too much.
A gift that keeps others from visiting the stable,
because they don’t have anything we consider suitable to give.

Or are we like the mouse,
forgetting about taking a gift in our excitement to see the baby.
The gift which the mouse gave was giving of himself.
He hadn’t planned it to be a gift, he just wanted to see the baby.
Sometimes we are in the right place at the right time.
It is a case of recognising those prompts,
following the star that guides us.

As you journey from Christmas this year,
pack up the tree,
put away the wrapping paper,
finish the ham and turkey,
what do you keep with you from the Christmas story?

My prayer for you is:
that you will know and accept that God loves you;
that you will follow the star no matter how crazy it seems;
that you will be transformed by God’s gift of love;

What will you carry from Christmas this year?

How will you respond to the birth of Jesus?

Incarnation

This reading from the beginning of John’s gospel, reads like a lovely piece of poetry. But, like much of John’s Gospel, it can be a little difficult to understand.

John doesn’t start with a birth story like Matthew and Luke,

John begins with the same phrase that begins Genesis, “In the beginning”.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth; John tells us that the Word of God was present in the act of creation.

In the Old Testament, the Word of God signified God in action. [i]

This Word of God, that spoke creation into being, has now come in human form. The technical word is the Incarnation – God coming to share this human life.

Play: The Incarnation Cloth for the Cradle p 86ff [about 700 words]

God trying 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.

A friend sent me this story a few years ago: 

There was a man named Henry who was a pastor in charge of a home for disturbed children.

It was Christmas Eve, and preparations were being made for the carols by candlelight service. Everyone was ready to go, but at the last minute a young boy called Tommy crawled under his bed and refused to come out. The staff couldn’t get him to come out. They begged, they pleaded, they threatened - but Tommy refused to budge from under his bed. So the staff sent for Pastor Henry. Henry stood beside the bed and talked to him. He talked about the brightly lit tree, the presents beneath it and all the fun games they would play- but no answer.

Time was slipping by and Henry was getting concerned about being late for the service that he himself was conducting, but he put his own needs aside and got down on his knees and lifted the bedspread and looked straight into Tommy's two enormous blue eyes. He could have pulled him out easily - and it was tempting, but it was not pulling that Tommy needed, it was trust; so Henry launched into the menu for Christmas Eve dinner that was soon to be served, and he told of a special present just waiting with Tommy's name on it. But it was no use, there was just silence from Tommy. No indication that Tommy heard or cared at all about Christmas.

Henry was beginning to feel a bit foolish. After all he was a Pastor – a man of authority and this was an undignified position to be in, especially with his staff watching. Nevertheless he got down even lower, flat on the floor and wriggled in under the bed along side Tommy, and he talked for quite a long time. Eventually, after talking of decorations in the church, the candles, the carols the kids were going to sing, and finally running out of things to say he simply waited. He just lay, in silence, under the bed beside Tommy letting him know he wasn’t alone.

After a while the small child's hand slipped into his, and Henry said, "You know Tommy, its a tight fit under this bed. How about you and me go out where we can stand up straight."

God waits with us, for as long as we need,
so we can slip our hand into God’s hand.

God still comes into our lives today,
finding us wherever we are,
even if it is hiding under the bed.
God seeks us out,
wants us to be able to stand up straight and
be the people God knows us to be. 
Even when that means waiting with us,
lying beside us in silence in the dark,
waiting for us to trust God enough
to move our hand into God’s.

  

This morning we share again around the table,
sharing bread and juice,
remembering the life of Jesus,
acknowledging the death on the cross,

celebrating resurrection and the new relationship with Christ that is offered to each one of us.

Where, is God waiting for you to trust, to put your hand into God’s hand, and to stand with God?

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[i] Gordon Dicker, Faith with Understanding, p 118

So this is Christmas

The song that is in my head the past week or so is:

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun[i]

I look back over the past year and wonder if anything has changed. There are still people in the world who live in fear, who live amongst war and violence. There are still people in our community who struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table.

Next weekend we will celebrate New Year’s Eve, and maybe make some resolutions. If you are anything like me, they don’t last long.

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

Fear, that is something we know about. Fear is easy. We fear change, we fear strangers. Each time an angel appears they say: Don't be afraid! Yet, fear is one of the easiest responses for us.

The song goes on to mention that it is Christmas for old and young, rich and poor, weak and strong, black and white.

I wonder what Christmas is like for those who rely on Mary Mac’s or the Salvos for Christmas.
I wonder what Christmas is like for people seeking asylum.
I wonder what Christmas is like in Aleppo, and Palestine.

Our Bible reading tonight started with ‘At that time’. At that time the Emperor called a census. At that time the people of Israel were under foreign occupation, the Romans ruled over the people of the middle east. Society was divided by income and status.

Into this less than perfect setting a child was born.

In some ways the world has changed a lot since that first Christmas morning – we now have electricity
and transport that gets us places faster than a donkey or on foot. We can send letters and emails, and get almost instant responses.

But in other ways, life hasn’t changed much.
We still live in fear, fear of death, fear of failure, fear of the unknown and the new.
We are still living with divisions, based on wealth and power, status, culture and faith.
and we still need to know that we are precious and that we are loved.

At that time, God came into our life and our world in a new way
Jesus was born a baby, to show us love
Jesus was born in a manger to show all creation mattered
Jesus was born that we might live to the full, being ourselves without shame.

At this time, God comes into our life and world
to show love
to be light and hope
to bring peace.

A Christmas wish:

This Christmas
I wish for you
light
to crumple up the darkness

This Christmas
I wish for you
love
to pull us closer to one another

This Christmas
I wish for you
peace
the same the angels sang

This Christmas
I wish for you
starlight
to follow on your way home

This Christmas
I wish for you
promise
to keep hope alive for you

This Christmas
I wish for you
God
newly born and in the flesh

This Christmas
I wish for you
Jesus Christ
born this night
light of the world

~ written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Listening to the Stones.http://newkilpatrickblog.typepad.com/nk-blogging/mucky-paws/

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[i] http://www.metrolyrics.com/so-this-is-christmas-lyrics-john-lennon.html