Thanksgiving for Holy Communion

Thursday 7 June 2012 – Corpus Christi at St Giles

Reading 1 Corinthians 11.23-26

I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Gospel John 6.51-58

Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord.
Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever. John 6.51
Alleluia.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Corpus Christi means body of Christ. Feast on Thursday after Trinity. Like Trinity, does not celebrate any particular event, but in our church is now known as Day of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion.

Institution of Eucharist celebrated on Maundy Thursday. This is actual event. Last Supper. Washing of Feet. New commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. So today, the feast day focuses solely on Communion without other events.

Holy Communion – what is happening – how we regard it in our worship – differs markedly for everyone. For some, it is a regular rehearsing of the last hours of Jesus’ life on earth, according to his command Do this in remembrance of me. For others it has a much more sacramental significance. For all, the Eucharist stands at the centre of our worship. It is regular, unlike for example Baptism which is a single event.

So the first reason for regular Communion is that Jesus told us to observe it. We are remembering Jesus, and all he did for us in his life, death and resurrection. At the same time, we take the opportunity of examining ourselves, making sure we are right with God and our neighbours before approaching and sharing in the meal.

The names we use vary according to our tradition – Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, Mass – but in this church most commonly the word communion reminds us we are participating in the body of Christ, which is the church and all Christian people. His life becomes our life. There is one loaf that is broken for us, but although we are many we are one because we all share the one bread and the one cup.

Lastly, communion is a statement of faith. We are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes again. So this is what is going on as we prepare ourselves for the Eucharist and approach the altar. Each week afresh, despite the risk of staleness through familiarity. Listening anew to the words, and not just allowing the language to wash over us, but to retain its significance and meaning in our lives. Amen

The Power of the Trinity

Cheddington – Trinity Sunday – 3 June 2012

Reading Romans 8.12-17

Brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Gospel John 3.1-17

Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
one God, who was, and who is, and who is to come,
the Almighty.
Alleluia.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

In the past – many Trinitarian illustrations. One in 3 – 3 in One. Clover leaf. Meat and 2 veg! Ice, water, steam. Apart from showing all persons of Trinity are the same, how do these advance our understanding? Good for children – fully formed Christians require more.

Paul’s language is Trinitarian. Does not focus on doctrine or illustration. Dives right in with a problem. What about our sinful nature? How come it constantly gets the better of us? How can we stop living according to our sinful nature, and live as children of God and heirs of the promise of salvation?

Paul skips over niceties of doctrine and proclaims good news of the gospel into the nitty gritty of realities of trying to live the Christian life as we experience day in day out. This is the fundamental dilemma: the power of sin, dwelling within us, prevents us through our own efforts alone doing what is good and right, despite our best intentions.

According to Paul, the solution to this human dilemma is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

It all sounds very easy, doesn’t it? All we have to do is open ourselves up to the life-giving power of God’s Spirit. We all know it isn’t that straightforward – but it could be.

Nicodemus who at first ‘came to Jesus by night’ never got a chance to explain why he came, or ask a question. Jesus told him he must be born again – born of the Spirit this time. Then Jesus half mocked him when he failed to understand.

The trouble is, temptation is ever present and it’s a powerful and subtle force. Personalise it if you will. The old fashioned 7 Deadly Sins have been replaced with a myriad of sin’s systematic manifestations in modern life. Is it any wonder that most people feel powerless and overwhelmed by its insistent clutches? Like many forms of addiction, many people don’t realise how trapped they are in the grip of such forces.

It’s just like the early days of the Blackberry. We all thought these devices were a wonderful gift and vied to be given one. Only when we got one did we discover it was a ball and chain. We had become enslaved to work. We were available 24 hours a day, and on holiday too in any part of the world.

Once you’ve got a mobile device, it’s almost impossible to give it back. Paul does not see things that way. God’s desire that we receive the true life that God so willingly offers to all, he says. Life is yours! That is a powerful promise, affirmed many times through Paul's letters and again in our passage: if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

The resurrection promise is not for Jesus alone. It is for all of us who are in Christ. No one is so dead to sin that the power of God’s Spirit cannot bring them back to fullness of life.

As Nicodemus was told no one can enter the Kingdom unless they have been born again of the Spirit. Adoption into God’s family as children of God is brought about through the Spirit. The spirit of adoption, through which we become daughters and sons of the Father. Abba is an incredibly personal name for one’s dad. Hardly credible anyone might us it of the Almighty God, who was not even named throughout the Old Testament. A wonderful and mysterious promise indeed.

When words fail us, as we read elsewhere in Romans, the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. As many adoptive parents will attest, such children and loved just as much as those born to the family in the usual way.

Even more staggering is the claim Paul puts forward that through adoption we become co-heirs with Christ. Christ is a joint heir with us: he suffers and is glorified, and we suffer and are glorified with him. What happens to Christ – his resurrection life - happens to us; the glory that is Christ’s - as God's son - belongs to us as well who have become God's children.

Where else is this made clearer than in John 3:16. First Bible verse I ever learned. Perhaps the best known in whole of Scripture. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Amen

God separated the Light from the Dark

The Work of Discipleship

 

Sunday 20 May 2012 – St Giles

First Reading Acts 1.15-17,21-26

Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus – he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.

“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Gospel John 17

Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
All Alleluia.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus looked towards heaven and prayed:

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Perhaps nothing breathes more strongly the promise and presence of the Holy Spirit in John’s gospel than the words and promises of the ‘farewell discourse’ of Jesus in John 14-17, portions of which have occupied our attention during the last several Sundays of Easter.

Next Sunday is Pentecost. Pentecost – time of gift of HS – stands as fulfilment of Easter season and promise of the resurrection, leading on to Trinity Sunday a week later. But now, focus on disciples and Jesus’ prayer for them before he leaves them to continue his mission on earth.

The hour approaches and along with it the glory of both the Father and the Son as Jesus prays on behalf of those to whom the Father has authorized him to give eternal life.

Continuing work of disciples evident in Acts 1. One of first ‘acts of apostles’ is to choose successor to Judas the betrayer. As you heard, after prayer they select two candidates who have been with Jesus throughout, and cast lots between them. Wonder how many of you, faced with important life choices, might consider throwing a dice after praying for guidance as to which fork in road to take!

Jesus’ prayer is lengthy one, filling chapter 17. Sounds like disciples are present. Most prayer and reading anyway in those times was aloud. Jesus’ prays for his followers, and exhorts and encourages them in the words of his intercessions.

How else might they have been able to record and recall his very words unless they were also witnesses to what he actually said? These are the words of an already resurrected Lord who now encourages a company of his disciples, including us in light of the resurrection promise. As Easter people, we are encouraged not to dwell in feelings of abandonment or despair, but to hope in the assurance of Jesus' continuing presence, now that the work for which he was sent has been accomplished. “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do” (17:4).

In the prayer, you may have noticed how many times the work giving is repeated. God gave the disciples to Jesus. Jesus gave the disciples God’s Word. He protects and sanctifies them, before giving them back to God – only one is lost – that is Judas. The message: God is an extravagant giver and his relationship with the Son is cemented by mutual giving.

This means we belong in a special way. One thing we have been given is knowledge of God and his name, through the Son. God's ‘name’ stands for all that He is and has done, most importantly in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

When Jesus says we have been given the Word it reminds us of the opening of John’s gospel. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. To know the Word is to know God, and to unlock new life in Him – entry into his kingdom. This knowledge implies adoption as children of the Father. Knowledge of the Word made flesh, leading to belief in the One sent from God. The whole objective of John the Evangelist in writing his gospel.

Nothing is held back by extravagant grace. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. True sharing in its entirety. Much to ponder in these words.

Although discipleship can be a dangerous place to be, yet we are not taken out of this world, but rather sent into it. The love of the Father is not a cotton-wool love. Just as the Father sent the Son, so we are sent into the world – a world that will most likely reject and abuse us. Just as it rejected Jesus himself.

Guarded and sustained in that Word we can know ourselves as a faith community, constituted in the power of Christ's death and resurrection and in the promise of his presence in the gift of the Holy Spirit. About which we will hear more in next Sunday's lesson when we join together as a newly formed missionary team at Wingrave Church for Pentecost Sunday. Amen

True Vine

Cheddington Easter 5 May 6th 2012

Gospel John 15.1-8

Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the first and the last, says the Lord, and the living one;
I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore.
All Alleluia.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Last year Wine Soc. Ribera del Duero – banks of Duero river – flows through Spain to Portugal. Mysterious process winemaking. So many variables. Weather. Disease. Soil type. Viniculture. Barrels. Temperature. Etc.

Jesus uses I AM imagery throughout John. I AM does not refer to God. Examples:

· Bread of Life (John 6:35)

· Light of the World (John 8:12)

· Door of the Sheep (John 10:7)

· Resurrection and Life (John 11:25)

Now, later in chapter 15 I AM the True Vine. Why ‘true’ referring to vine? [Leave to ponder]. Chapters 14-16 come from Jesus’ familiar address to disciples prior to Passion.

Promise we/they are not abandoned or left alone – often used at funerals – many mansions – I go to prepare a place for you. Give great comfort when interpreted as personal promises from Jesus in our time of distress. Yet image of Vine as much about community of faith as it is about individuals linked to Jesus.

The promise is also in the here and now – as well as about our future in heaven. Fullness of life on earth. Here and now. Life in the Spirit.

Light has come into the world (John 3:19) – not will but has – we are bathed in light here and now. I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10). The presence of the risen Lord is here among us.

Image of Vine not a new one – used in OT – God’s people=his vineyard. Psalm 80: You transplanted a vine from Egypt. It took root and filled the land. Isaiah 5 Song of the Vineyard. Similar imagery – but the True Vine not about Vineyard or entire people but Jesus as the Vine, and us as the branches.

Command is to Abide in Me – this does not just mean remaining in contact with the rootstock or gaining nourishment from it.

Abiding = believing. Word believe never used as verb in John. Believing and abiding – sharing reality of life in Christ – being fully integrated part of it – not just appendage – cannot join then move off – cannot lose contact with vine and remain alive.

Promise of abundant life here and now. Jesus says I will come back and take you to myself – not just transporting us to live near him in ‘dwelling places’ but sharing intimate joined-up relationship – one plant sharing the same tree – same sap flowing through us as everyone else and Jesus himself.

Jesus cannot be kept at a distance. Branches have no separate existence of their own. If we so wish, our link to Christ is lasting and permanent.

What happens when we are joined?

· Bearing fruit – not a command by stern taskmaster – not even something we must do – happens naturally if we remain part of the true vine – all branches bear similar fruit – we cannot do better through our own skills or gifts

· If we are detached – we wither and die. Or if diseased we are cut away. Vine must be protected from corruption or all will die or fruit will be thin.

· We cannot just go our own way – branches must be pruned and cut back – painful – if they are disciplined and can flourish.

· Must be cleansed if diseased

· Branches must be trained – cannot trail around or are damaged or ripped away. Need to face right direction.

· Have no life of our own – but enjoy the abundance of life in Jesus.

Call to bear fruit – not made by disciplinarian but loving, tending, nurturing vine dresser. Not someone who hacks, but identifies what is best for us and gently trains us in the way that we should go to bear best fruit.

We are invited to pray to God as Our Father (not My Father). Such familiar address implies abiding relationship that will last. Vines in Ribera del Duero hundreds of years old. Deep roots many metres down.

Integrity of True Vine held together by One who was lifted up on cross for our redemption. Those who abide in Him abide in the Father. The test will be the fruit we bear. That faithful production of fruit for the world, not of our own volition, not of our own action, skills or works but because we are the True Vine ourselves – an integral part of the tree, in service to God and to the world. Amen

Jesus the Good Shepherd & Christ the Paschal Lamb

Sermon at Methodist Chapel Cheddington – Easter 4 April 29th 2012

Sermon

On this 4th Sunday of Easter – gospel lesson shifts from events after Jesus’ resurrection to a reflection on who and what he is.

Many pictures in Scripture. John starts gospel – grand vision of one who was before time through whom all things created came into being. Very Word of God made flesh. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus himself taught disciples he was the Vine – they the branches. He said he was the bread of life. At another time – living water welling up to eternal life. Gate of the sheepfold.

Some of first images of Jesus in churches and catacombs do not portray him on cross or laid in manger, but as a gentle shepherd. One of the earliest pictures shows Jesus as a young man in a short white tunic, with a lamb draped across his shoulders. They show the importance of John 10 to the early converts to Christianity.

It’s not what the disciples wanted their master to be. Peter had already declared that Jesus was “Messiah, Son of the living God.” When Jesus told him the Messiah would have to lay down his life and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests, then be killed and eventually raised again to new life Peter protested and was himself rebuked and silenced. No – the disciples did not want a meek and mild leader – they wanted a strong, victorious one.

It’s fair to say most of us don’t have much experience of sheep and shepherds. In Jesus’ day, they were considered cowardly and dishonest – but here we are talking about a good shepherd, not a hired hand, but one who would lay down his life for his sheep.

It’s a pastoral picture of people’s lives everyone could understand. Sheep were important. Shepherds were not. Sheep provided milk. The milk also made cheese. They represented wealth to their owner. They were even sacrificed in religious rituals. Shepherds were mistrusted, cowardly and dishonest. Sheep depended on the shepherd for protection, but men depended on the sheep for food.

The first disciples would have thought it odd that Jesus portrayed himself as a shepherd. Wasn’t that God? OT Scripture is full of images of God as shepherd of his chosen people. The psalm appointed for today is psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
    he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    for ever.

What is it to be a member of Christ’s flock? It means to be known to the Father and to know him. It means to enter the divine sheepfold. To go in through the gate. It means making that choice to go in, because these sheep are not herded into the pen against their will. If lost, we must allow ourselves to be found and brought home safe. Not just once, but again and again. We often go astray, yet the good shepherd is there to bring us home, if we will only allow ourselves to be found.

The good shepherd protects us from evil – the wolves who prowl around and the bandits up to no good. Eventually the forces of evil become so strong that the shepherd gives up his life for the flock. He does this willingly. “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord ” he says.

It’s a wonderfully comforting picture. Who would not want to be loved and cared for by such a shepherd? Many of course go their own way and rely on themselves alone. Perhaps the majority of people do that. As I said, you cannot be rounded up against your will. There’s no rustling in the Kingdom of Heaven. You don’t have to do anything – God’s grace is enough for the shepherd to seek out the lost and bring them safely home.

Don’t be fooled though into believing this pastoral picture is the whole image. No – the way is long, the road is hard, and the gate is narrow. That’s the way the Kingdom is. The distractions of wealth and comfort are all around, as are the potent forces of evil.

And in the dark days of Holy Week, can we ever forget the switch that was made by Jesus himself? By his death Jesus the Good Shepherd becomes Christ the paschal lamb, offered up for us, who by his sacrifice has taken away the sins of the world.

By his death, he has destroyed death, and by his resurrection he has restored to us eternal life. All these images come together in the communion we are about to share together. Amen

The Golden Calf

Thursday Midweek Communion 22 March 2012

Reading Exodus 32

⁷ Then the LORD said to Moses, Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.

⁸ They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'

⁹ I have seen these people, the LORD said to Moses, and they are a stiff-necked people.

¹⁰ Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.

¹¹ But Moses sought the favour of the LORD his God. O LORD, he said, why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

¹² Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.

¹³ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'

¹⁴ Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Sermon

You can almost feel the fear amongst the people of Israel. Moses their leader had freed them from slavery in Egypt, and led them to Mount Sinai. It’s not a high mountain – less than 7,500ft. I climbed it in just over a couple of hours. Mount Katherine next door is bigger. At over 8.600ft it was not covered by our annual travel insurance, and sleeping at the top in below zero temperatures was uncomfortable.

Moses had been gone a very long time. He was being taught the Law by God, and given the two tablets on which the 10 Commandments were inscribed by the finger of God.

The people say to Moses’ brother Aaron that they didn’t know what had become of him. So they asked Aaron to organise the melting down of all their gold jewellery, and make a golden calf which was to be hailed as a deity in place of the one who really led them out of Egypt, not Moses.

It seems an odd thing to do, bearing in mind the wonders the people had seen. The plagues. The crossing of the Red Sea. The destruction of Pharaoh’s army, and so on. What good would a man made image be in God’s place?

You have to read the text closely to realise the image itself was not made as a god, but as a representation of God. After fashioning it, Aaron sets it up before an altar as proclaims: Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD. The LORD is in capital letters. So the sin that Aaron committed was to make a false image of God, and not an idol.

Meantime up the mountain an alert icon flashes on God’s tablet computer telling him what the people have done. God offers to scrap the experiment with Abraham’s descendants, and start again with Moses. But Moses, in an example of prayer, reasons and argues with God. How would it look to other nations if after all God has done for the Israelites he were to destroy them on the foothills of Sinai.

The story teaches us what sort of God we have. One who can be trusted. Who is faithful and keeps his promises, even faced with our sin and disobedience, however bad that might be. One who makes good out of evil. A God who listens to our feeble intercessions, and can change his mind. One who cannot condone wrongdoing, but can overlook and forgives even the most serious of sins.

Powers and Dominions

Third Sunday in Lent

Gospel John 2.13-22

Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
The Lord is a great God, O that today you would listen to his voice.
Harden not your hearts.
All Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!”

His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Account of Jesus intervention – Cleansing of the Temple. As if the animals had made the courts dirty. Probably you regard it as Jesus against commercialisation of worship of God, especially arrangements for animal sacrifice. Or Jesus against the priests who made money out of the crowds attending Temple worship at Feast of Passover.

Much more than all these things. Romans had total control of Judaea. Occupied land. Religion was not an exception. Romans controlled Temple worship.

Priests not appointed. Members of tribe of Levi. Born to the task. Duties to perform. Only they could do them. But they were not independent of the Roman governor. They colluded with Roman authorities. Both sides made money out of the status quo. Priests not really religious leaders, but were resented because of their inherited status and the way they feathered their own nest and distanced themselves from those who suffered under the harsh and violent rule of Rome.

Jerusalem at best of times was a tinderbox of rebellion and sectarian dispute. Time bomb waiting to go off. During Passover, Jews from all over empire would make a pilgrimage and visit the Temple. Crowds pressed on every side. Numbers swelled hugely. Always a potential for disturbance, so increased and oppressive presence of Roman soldiers.

In this volatile setting, Jesus makes a whip, drives out animals, people selling them, and moneychangers. He pours out their money and tips over their tables. And in doing this, he confronts not only the Temple authorities but the Romans whose coffers are swelled by the taxes raised during the festival.

Chief priest was appointed by Rome and served its interests. By attacking the system of raising money in the midst of Passover Jesus was confronting not only the religious leaders but the Roman officials who controlled the Temple. There was no doubting this would quickly attract their attention.

Reasonable to assume Jesus’ angry outburst aimed not so much at corruption of the worship of God, nor people making money out of it, but at the duplicity of the whole system, hand in glove with occupying forces.

Is this anything more than a history lesson? Yes – when we grasp what is really going on, and the enormity of what Jesus tried to do, we ask ourselves the question What does it mean to follow Christ?

During these weeks of Lent, we as Christians ask ourselves this very question, and we relive the events of Holy Week and Easter. What does it really mean to walk the way of the cross?

During Jesus’ trial, Pilate mocks him and calls him King of the Jews. He does this to taunt the chief priest. Here is your king Pilate says to the people.

The people reply that anyone who claims to be a king “sets himself against the emperor.” The priests confirm their loyalty to the emperor claiming “We have no king but the emperor.”

The consequence of challenging these two groups was death, and Jesus must have known this was inevitable.

Sometimes in our faith we may be faced with the choice of standing up for what is right, and challenging the authorities. We can think of Martin Luther King, Archbishop Tutu, John Sentamu and the bishops in Uganda, and Zimbabwe for example.

Sometimes the church fails in its duty and colludes with evil authorities for its own survival. We can think of Nazi Germany.

If we understand the gospel as Jesus cleanses the Temple we miss the point. The open confrontation of civil authority regardless of the implication for the individual sticking their neck out and finding the guillotine.

What does it look like to follow Jesus in our own time and place? Who are our models of faith and why? Lent is a good time to think about difficult or unpopular decisions we might make as we walk the way of the cross. Or if we don’t have to make these critical decisions ourselves, supporting them who do and confronting the abuses they are up against.

Heaven and Hell

Reading Jeremiah 17

⁵This is what the LORD says:

   Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

⁶ He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no-one lives.

⁷But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

⁸ He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 

¹⁰I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.

Gospel Luke 16

Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
The Lord is a great God, O that today you would listen to his voice.
Harden not your hearts.
All Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

²⁰ At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores

²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

²³ In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

²⁴ So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

²⁵ But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

²⁷ He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house,

²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

²⁹ Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

³⁰ 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

³¹ He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Whom do you trust? It’s a choice we have to make all the time. Jeremiah says the person who trusts only in himself is cursed. Blessed is the person who trusts in God, whose confidence is in him.

The parable about Lazarus is about trust as much as it is about money or compassion. The rich man has every luxury, but each day ignores Lazarus who is dumped by his gate in abject poverty and want, not even able to fend off the neighbourhood dogs.

Both men die. Lazarus is in heaven. The rich man is tormented in hell. Not because of his past riches, but what he did with them. Or rather, didn’t do.

The desire for money to provide for your future is sensible. The Bible is full of people rewarded by God with prosperity for their prudence. But obscene luxury and a refusal to help the poor are both sins. Those were the reasons for the rich man’s fate.

Even after the realisation of death, the rich man still doesn’t get it. He treats Abraham as his equal. He asks Abraham to send Lazarus over to serve him with a cooling drink. He wants Lazarus to be consigned to his father’s house as a warning. Only someone risen from the grave will do. The rich man’s brothers will not trust in any messenger on earth, but only believe when the warning is irrefutable and impossible to doubt.

No, says Abraham. They won’t even trust a heavenly messenger. As Jeremiah says, trust not in man, whose heart turns away from the Lord. Trust in God, and have confidence in him.

Hellfire preaching is deeply unfashionable these days, but I think we do well to heed the warnings. If there is paradise, maybe there is the torment of hell? Perhaps not burning fire, although the absence of God would be hell enough without physical torture. Or maybe death is death – oblivion – for those who are not in heaven.

Jesus teaches of the afterlife. From the cross, he assures a repentant criminal “Truly I tell you: Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Notice it’s immediate. There’s no waiting for the end of time.

But between one place and the other is a great chasm. No one can cross from the one place to the other, even if they want to. Frightening people in the way the church did in past times is wrong, but watering down the realities of the implications of the choices we must make does not help either.

So let’s use Lent for a period of self-examination and reflection. And as part of that process, read the gospels and consider before it’s too late what our lives are like, and what awaits us when our all too brief stay on earth comes to and end. Amen

Faith

Everything amusing has a grain of truth