The cloaks that didn't make the road

This Palm Sunday I revisited in a fresh way an old theme. Whilst many greeted Jesus coming into Jerusalem there were many who did not or could not. Which leads to asking the question did Jesus enter Jerusalem for them as well? Whilst I refreshed the message here is one with a similar theme from a few years ago. A different heresy: The cloaks that didn't make the road.

God is no-thing?

Induction of HA to Hospital Chaplaincy

Isaiah 43:1-3a, 16-21

“I am about to do a new thing. Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”

So writes the prophet Isaiah over two and a half thousand years ago.  How do we understand his prophetic words on this day?

It would be the easy option for me this morning to sentimentalise the words of the prophet Isaiah into this moment in HA’s life.

“God is about to do a new thing in HA’s life.”

“God is about to do a new thing in St Andrews.”

“God is about to do a new thing in UnitingCare.”

Such sentimentalising of the reading would feel nice and recognise a simple truth that is occurring – HA is about to start work in a new placement. I think that the poem that HA has chosen for us to listen to as part of this liturgy taps into the human everyday fear and excitement of starting something new. But such a focus would reflect the domestication of the scriptures to the individualism of our era and pull our human activity to the centre of the sermon rather than who God is and what God has done.   

Such sentimentalising also helps us to step around the complexity of the context of Isaiah’s prophecy as we think about his broader message. Whilst the words we read from the prophet today have an uptick of hopefulness they are set against a much bigger picture. The ancient geopolitical implications of the prophet’s words have an undertone of violence and war between Israel and its neighbours, particularly the Babylonian Empire. The vision of God’s involvement in setting aside patches of land for chosen people are still being played out in our contemporary world. Not simply for Israel but for those who see such visions might justify the concept of a Christian nation. Stepping into this complex space feels inappropriate for today’s sermon but needs to be acknowledged.

As Christians hearing this text I wonder if it might be helpful to dwell on the following phrase a bit more deeply:

Do not remember the former things

or consider the things of old.

 It seems ironic to say do not remember the former things when we are seeking wisdom from something from ‘of old’. It is an ancient text. Still, the promise of God doing a new thing, and perceiving what that might be, challenges us to read the vision of Isaiah with fresh eyes. As Christians we are invited to wonder what is the new thing that God is doing.

As I contemplated this question, I began to wonder how God even perceives doing something new. In his book The Afternoon of Christianity Tomáš Halík reminds us of this confronting insight from the mystical traditions into the mystery of God. God is nothing. Let me say that a little differently.

God is no-thing. In other words, the concept of substance or matter is irrelevant to God’s existence. God is utterly transcendent and beyond our human comprehension.

To push this mystery a little further of God is no-thing then we should also then contemplate the possibility that God is also no-where. Prior to the creation, if prior is even a relevant category, there was nothing and nowhere and maybe even more baffling is the idea God is no-when. The physicist who later became a theologian Victor Pannenberg explores in depth the complex relationship of linear historical time with the eternity of God.

So how do we make any sense of God who is no-thing, no-where, and no-when doing something new within created reality. How can there be new or old if space and time are irrelevant.

At the beginning of John’s gospel, we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being … and the Word became flesh.”

In Christ, God who is a mystery utterly beyond us and transcendent, becomes entirely immanent. In Jesus we discover this utterly perplexing and amazing revelation:

God is some-thing (or some-one). God is some-where. And God is some-when.

Pannenberg wrote, “Only in the history of Jesus of Nazareth did the eschatological future, and with it the eternity of God, really enter the historical present.”[1] This event of God doing something new within the creation has an effect that ripples back and forth through time and space and touches the whole cosmos. As Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “In Christ God was reconciling the whole world to himself.” (2 Cor 5:19)

The incarnation has cosmic implications as the transcendence of God intersect with created reality and invites all things to find their home with God as God finds a home with us. The breaking down of the barrier between the creator and the creation is symbolised as Jesus dies. Mark tells us that “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom,” (Mark 15:38)

This tearing of the temple curtain as a sign of God’s presence in the world is made clearer as the resurrected Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples and later, on the day of Pentecost. The particularity of the incarnation as the meeting place between the divine and human finds its universal expression through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit God is in everything. God is everywhere. And God is everywhen.

Paul theologises Jesus’ presence in the world when he writes to the people at Ephesus. “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

In the book of Lamentations we hear those well-worn words, “God’s mercies … are new every morning.” God who relates to us from beyond time now comes to us within time, in all things and in all people. Each and every moment a moment in which the eternal life of God the resurrection hope is present. This is the good news which we carry and offer to others, and which takes me back to where I started.

“I am about to do a new thing.

Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”

The new thing that God is doing is being in the world and in our lives through the eternal Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pastoral Crae takes on fresh meaning for us when we embrace this truth. In pastoral care our sentimentalising and our practical responses to people’s pain and suffering is done in the context of knowing that God is already there. We are there to point beyond ourselves and whatever is occurring to this presence of God which is the hope by which we live.

There is an image from the Easter stories which I think might be a helpful story as we contemplate our place in all of this. Maybe the best that we can say as people who seek to do pastoral care is that we wait alongside those who are suffering, sick, or sorrowing outside an empty tomb. We stand with them longing to hear Jesus’ reassuring voice speak our name just as he spoke Mary’s. For it is in this moment of hearing his voice that we truly know that we are not alone. We know that God is with us. Sometimes it is through our voice as carers that God’s presence becomes known. And sometimes it is through the voice of those we care from that we come to know God’s presence as we hear our name spoken.

HA. May the mystery of the transcendent and immanent God found in Jesus be with you in your personal pastoral encounters as you share in the hope of a God’s whose love knows no bounds and touches all things.

Amen

---

[1] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, vol. 3, 604; cf. Theology of God’s Kingdom, 133.

Reconciling the whole world to himself!

 “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ.”

Paul’s claim that the reconciling work of God occurs in and through the whole life of Jesus Christ is astounding. His claim takes us beyond the cross and into the mystery of the incarnation. It centres our faith squarely in the person of Jesus and pushes us beyond our contemporary individualism.

For we who belong to the Uniting Church in Australia the significance of this passage from Paul is heightened. In the Basis of Union, which was the founding document that brought the three churches together, there is only one direct Biblical quote. It is from this passage by Paul and is in the third paragraph of the Basis which bears the title ‘Built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ’. It begins with these words:

Paragraph 3 Built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ

The Uniting Church acknowledges that the faith and unity of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church are built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ. The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father. In Jesus Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself" (2 Corinthians 5:18 NRSV). In love for the world, God gave the Son to take away the world's sin. (Basis of Union)

In his commentary on the Basis J. Davis McCaughey, who was one of the chief architects of the document, explained that this Paragraph was the most fundamental Paragraph in the whole Basis. 

In the opinion of the framers of the Basis this is the heart of the Christian faith: that in Jesus Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself". There is a universalism to God’s work in Christ. Furthermore, the line following the quote echoes this universality as it connects to John 3:16 and John 1:29, “In love for the world, God gave the Son to take away the world's sin.”

This wide-sweeping claim of God’s gracious action reconciling the world to himself challenges any form of exclusivist or exclusionary behaviour by Christians. God's reconciling work is for the whole cosmos from the big bang to whatever ending there might be for the universe. This claim invites us to share in witnessing to this reconciling work of God as good news.

McCaughey in his commentary goes on to say this. We are simply people who name and articulate what God has already done for the whole world in Jesus Christ. 

This kind of universal view of God’s work in Christ is not simply the province of the Uniting Church. The Orthodox theologian Kharalambos Anstall reminds us of this in his reflections about the concept of atonement. 

He says: “Despite the presence of ethnic, creedal and "colour" variances that may often give rise to widely diversified cultural expressions, Holy Scripture informs us that all of humanity is created uniquely in the likeness and image of God, whose universal love knows no discrimination.” (Stricken by God?: Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ Kindle Locations 6104-6106. Kindle Edition)

This week we invited the S. family to choose a song for worship today and explain its meaning for them. Mum chose ‘Come as you are’ and in doing so unknowingly chose a song intimately tied to the theme of this sermon. The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. If we mean the words that we sing ‘come as you are’ then we are offering a universal invitation for all people to come into this place as already accepted and loved by God. This song reflects how God’s reconciliation of the world might be played out in our midst. As Paul puts it “we regard no one from a human point of view” but through the eyes of God’s reconciling and unconditional love.

This means that when a person walks into this congregation or someone you know understands that you are a person of the Christian faith you automatically become an ambassador for Christ. What you say and what you do represents to that person who Jesus Christ is. It is little wonder that Paul goes on to say to the people in Corinth “since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” However, the reality is that we are flawed and fallible humans and we struggle in our role as ambassadors.

As I contemplated this difficult role that we play representing Christ I was drawn back to the artwork on the cover of John Carroll’s book Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture. The artwork often goes by the title ‘The Ambassadors’ and was painted in 1533 by Hans Holbein. The reason I was drawn back to this image is that depicts these two scholarly men at the height of their intellect but when we look closely beset by issues. The painting is laden with meaning. 

Between the two men the shelves contain items of science and culture representing the heavenly sphere and the earthly realm. According to experts the latest scientific instruments are set incorrectly, the mathematics text is open on a page about division, the lute string is broken and there is a Lutheran hymn book. The distorted image that floats between them is a human skull painted in a style that means you must stand at the correct angle to see it clearly. Finally, hidden in the top left corner partially hidden by the curtain is a crucifix.

There is a great deal of speculation about the meaning that Holbein was trying to convey in this painting. But, for us today, it serves as a simple reminder that having glimpsed Jesus in our own lives whilst we might try to do our best to be ambassadors, but our task is fraught with difficulties. Nonetheless as followers of Christ we try and consider what it means to be ambassadors of God’s reconciling work in Christ. I want to share a few glimpses of the work of reconciliation that we are called to.

In Australia the word reconciliation is laden with political meaning related to our relationship with First Nations people. In 2024 the National Assembly recognised the 30th anniversary of the Covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Congress. Rev Mark Kickett, a Noongar man, and the National Chair of the UAICC, reminds us that 

"The Covenant helps to express the relationship we have as one church. (It) expresses a determination and a desire for the people of God, both black and white, and everyone else that comes in thereafter, to be committed to one journey and it's a journey of justice, and a journey of oneness, with a common goal." 

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek deeper reconciliation with First People.

Working in an all-girls school for the last seven years I have become much more acutely aware of the ongoing issues around discrimination and the treatment of women. This afternoon a vigil will be held for a local woman who was murdered last week in our own area. She was killed by her son. Our culture continues to grapple with violence against women, as well as the fair treatment of women and people of different genders generally. As people of faith our reconciling work involves us in this struggle. In 2018 the National Assembly of the Uniting Church out a Statement on Domestic and Family Violence. The Statement reminded us that 

“Every person is of infinite worth and entitled to live with dignity and each person's life and humanity needs to be protected or the human community and its reflection of God are diminished.” It goes on to recognise that “Some violent men who are members and adherents of Christian churches have used phrases in the Bible to reinforce their power in intimate relationships.” This second part is difficult for us to grapple with but also vital for us to deal with.

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek to name issues of discrimination and violence against women in our society. 

The issue of how we include people of different genders and sexuality has been a pivotal point of discussion for the Uniting Church. Again, at last year’s Assembly, the Assembly resolved to

“invite congregations and councils of the Church to welcome and honour transgender, gender diverse, and intersex people, and the gifts and skills they bring to all aspects of the Church’s life, including worship, leadership, and social justice advocacy.” 

At the Assembly I spoke in favour of this motion. In every congregation that I have worked in there have been members of the congregation, or members of the congregation with family members, who would identify their gender or sexuality in different ways. At the school I worked with students who were trans, and I had a member of my Chapel team who was transitioning to being a male in an all girls school. 

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek to include and welcome people of diverse backgrounds of gender and sexuality. 

In our personal relationships and approaches as a congregation we always have our own work to do in reconciliation. I recall my father telling a story of two sisters in one congregation who had a disagreement in their teens. One sat at the front of the church, and one sat the back. The barely spoke to one another. They were in their 70s. As individuals in our relationships, we can hold grudges for not just months, but years and even decades.  In every congregation and community in which I have ministered I have heard about divisions and disagreements on a range of issues. The work of personal reconciliation is hard work. At Moreton Bay College they had adopted an approach to Pastoral Care and discipline called Restorative Practice. 

Restorative Practice in schools is based in the principles of Restorative Justice which in its contemporary form largely grew out of the Mennonite community in the 1970s. It is ironic that when I searched for churches of any denomination in Brisbane who were using restorative practice, I could not find any. Church communities often leave conflicts unresolved and speak of forgiving one another but often the hurt and harm is not dealt with. 

As a congregation we are invited to be ambassadors of the reconciling work of God in Christ as we seek ways to resolve our own conflicts in healthy and gracious ways.

We are ambassadors for Christ. 

We are ambassadors of the good news that God was reconciling the world to himself. 

The formation of the Uniting Church was an act reconciliation. This reconciling action also involved repentance. The three churches who came into union recognized their unfaithfulness and that the fragmentation of the church into denominations was a sign of unfaithfulness. We are meant to be the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. As the church we are meant to be witnesses to what God has already done for the whole creation.

“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ.”

Take a moment to contemplate these questions. 

Who is God calling you to be reconciled with? 

How are you being an ambassador of the idea that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.”

 

Of Arameans and Anamnesis

Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Luke 4:1-13

The title of today's sermon is ‘Of Arameans and Anamnesis’ and by way of introduction I want to explain anamnesis. The word anamnesis sounds a little bit like the word amnesia, but it means the opposite. It means to remember but this remembering occurs within a community.

The symbolism within the story Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge gives to us a helpful way to think about the idea of communal memory. The items bought by Wilfrid to Miss Nancy enabled her to remember things that she had long forgotten. In the process of remembering Miss Nancy experiences a sense of renewal.

Within Christian worship, the word anamnesis is often used in explaining what happens when we share in the Lord's Supper. We remember something as a community that as individuals we might have no personal memory of, yet through this communal remembering and the power of the Holy Spirit, we find a sense of assurance and renewal in our relationship with God as we are drawn into experiencing the event.

I have written the sermon in a slightly different way which involves a statement and invitation for you to respond at the beginning of each section. There are four sections. 

These are:

Anamnesis in the Ancient Liturgy.  
Anamnesis on Country.
Anamnesis in God’s Faithfulness in Christ.
Anamnesis in the Gap Uniting Church.

I will conclude the sermon with the same refrain.

Refrain

Leader:        A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:

Response:       We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
                         We remember our past
                        We remember our future
                        We remember our present
                            in God’s presence!

Anamnesis in the Ancient Liturgy

We remember the past
As we remember that Moses
Led the people out of Egypt, then
Wandering for forty years
Before coming to a land
Flowing with milk and honey
 
We remember that
Before entering this land
Moses described a ritual
Which was the work of the people
A liturgy through which they
Remembered their roots
 
We remember that the wandering Aramean
To whom Moses referred
Was Jacob, who married Rebekah
A woman descended from the line of Aram
We remember that
The nomadic roots of God’s people
Stretched long even before
The wilderness wanderings
After escaping from Egypt
 
The people were to remember
The history of God’s faithfulness
By offering the first fruits
Of their harvest
An act that reflected that they were
A settled and sedentary people
Living in the promised land
Where they had the time
To plant and to grow and to harvest
 
We remember that
The fruits that were given
Were to be offered in celebration
And to be shared with all who resided
In the promised land
To be shared with Levite, alien and stranger
 
We remember that they were
Invited to celebrate God’s providence
And generosity, not simply to one nation
But to all people on earth
The chosen people were chosen
To include and embrace
Not to exclude, as some might think.
So that all might know of God’s love
God’s mercy and God’s faithfulness.
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 
Anamnesis on Country
 
We remember the past
We remember these ancient lands
And its ancient peoples, this place
Country for the Turrbal and Jagera peoples
 
We remember that God
Is the God of all peoples
And the God of all places.
And so, we remember that
When Europeans came to this Country
They entered a land
That had been created and sustained
By the Triune God
They knew in Jesus Christ
And they encountered people
Whom God already loved.
 
We remember that many
Of the first Europeans who came
Were coerced and cajoled
And did not come by choice
But we also know
That some came seeking
A new and better life
Many hoped for a promised land
A land flowing with milk and honey 
 
We remember the encounters
Between the First Peoples
And those who came
And how these encounters
Were interpreted differently
Words like colonisation and settlement
For the First nations people felt more like
Violence, invasion and dispossession
A time of sadness and tragedy
That carried forward through the generations.
 
We remember as the colony expanded
Moses, no, not the one from the Bible
But Moses Adsett who lies just yonder
Who established this land
As a place of Christian worship
And whose headstone reminds us
Of a Christian heritage
Begun here over 150 years ago
 
And we remember those
Who lie close by with Moses
Who are encouraging us still
 
We remember the names who have
Given time, talents, and treasures
To build this worshipping community
More than mere names etched in a window
They are the communion of saints
Who gather around us
And who made who we are now
Possible through their generosity
 
Aitkens and Blakes
Bennetts, Bonds and Cowans
Eastons and Earles
Fannings and Finches
Goldburg’s, Harrisons, and Hilders
The list and their legacy goes on and yet on
Too many to name
In this short refrain
 


We remember the days of struggle
For the early years of building this community
For the days of hardship, and depression
We remember the grief and loss of wars
That impacted this community
For those who went away
And came home changed
And for those who left and never came home
We shall remember them
Lest we forget
 
We remember the days of celebrations
For establishing the first church
For building and rebuilding
For the beginnings of the Uniting Church
We remember Methodist,
Presbyterian and Congregationalist
For joining and openings and new possibilities
Serving the community and the world
For which Christ died
 
We remember the past
And we remember the people
People whom we didn’t know
And those whom we did and still do
People to whose lives we are joined
In the power of the Holy Spirit
The community of Christ
The Communion of Saints
At the Gap Uniting Church
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 
Anamnesis in God’s Faithfulness in Christ.
 
We remember our future
Through anamnesis
As we remember the past
And the incarnation of God
As God’s faithfulness
To all that God has created
 
We remember his birth
And the love of his mother
We remember his growth
And the teaching of his father
 
We remember his stories
And miracles shared
On the journey with disciples
Whom he later called friends.
 
We remember the table
Where Jesus shared in a meal
And dipped his bread in a cup
Shared with a friend
Who became his betrayer
But still promised
To be with his followers
Whenever we gather
And share in the meal
We remember his death
And we remember his resurrection
And we remember his coming again
 
We remember that
He comes to us now from the future
And from outside time itself
Where he, the eternal Word, now resides
In the eternal presence
Of the Divine Creator of all
 
He comes to us now
He comes to us in water
He comes to us through the Word
He comes to us in bread and wine
By the power of Holy Spirit, and
He comes to us in the love that is shared
From one to another
 
He comes to us with assurance
Giving renewal and hope
For in him we are a new creation
Because in him we resisted temptation
And a new future was born
This is the good news
Of God’s faithfulness
A mysterious hope for all
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                        that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 
Anamnesis in the Gap Uniting Church.
 
We remember God’s presence
Is with us here now
And that we are his church
And this church is not ours
 
It’s not mine
It’s not yours
It’s God’s new creation
By the power of the Spirit
It is our destination
 
It exists beyond time
It exists beyond space
But here in this place
And now in this time
We are joined into one as
We remember things
which we did not know
that we had forgotten
We remember our present
in God’s presence!
 
We remember all this
as we watch the light play
Through panes of stained glass
Which were placed to help us see
To see new hope
In the movement and life
Of the work of the Spirit
The strands of DNA
The pulse of the universe
The festivity of life
Celebrating our community
And its diversity
And God’s love for all
 
We remember the call
To be his disciples
And we remember the call
To grow his disciples
To go into the world
And to share the good news
Rather than stay cloistered here
In some holy club.
 
We remember as look out the windows
Of this church to see
The community around
To find that God is there
And waiting to be found
In the people we meet day by day
Whose lives can astound
 
God's presence is with us
It goes before us and behind us
Is within us and beyond us
It can be found in all places
And can be met in all people
To whom in love we are called
 
We remember with assurance
that renewal means change
to constantly become
that new creation in him
And that through remembering our past
and encountering our future
to live in the present
And the presence of God
Who is the source of our assurance
And the cause of our hope for renewal.
 
Refrain
 
Leader:       A wandering Aramean was my ancestor
                    But I did not know because I did not remember
                    But here we remember together:
 
Response:     We remember things
                        which we did not know
                           that we had forgotten
 
                    We remember our past
                    We remember our future
                    We remember our present
                        in God’s presence!
 

For Reflection

How has remembering change you today?
What is the one thing which God is laying on your heart?

A Shepherd Loses a Sheep

Reading Luke 15:4-10. 

I'm going to do something that you might phrase as a little bit meta this evening. And I'm doing it for two reasons. First, because it's something I've already done with the morning service. And second, because of the way I'm going to deal with the parable that we just read.

In my approach to my faith and therefore also to my preaching I have a deep sense that God remains a mystery that I do not fully comprehend. I cannot domesticate the words of the Scriptures into messages that are perfectly sound. This is reflected in the title of the blog where I publish my sermons which is called “A Different Heresy”. On the blog I explain that I believe I preach a different heresy every week trusting that God can do something with it. I pray the Holy Spirit will be at work.

Alongside my imperfection as a preacher is your imperfection as a listener and you too have a task in this process. As a listener to a sermon, I believe that my task and therefore yours is to listen for what the Word of God, by which I mean to say Jesus, is saying through the sermon. There will be things that you will always disagree or agree with, but your task is to move beyond your opinions to listen for the prompting of what God might say.

The miracle of preaching occurs when despite the inadequacy of the preaching or the biases of the listener the Holy Spirit interrupts our banal lives with a revelation. When Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah, he is told it is because flesh and blood has not revealed this to him but my Father in heaven. In the same way I believe it is the work of the Holy Spirit which helps us to hear God speaking to any of us. We step beyond our rational desire to be in control of what is a logical outcome and message and into the mystery of God's presence.

Having said all this this brings me to speak about the parable that we heard tonight. Traditionally this parable is called the parable of the lost sheep but even the naming of the parable is problematic. The name leads us to a focus which may or may not be that helpful. I'm going to present three different interpretations of the parable that I have grappled with through my faith journey, and I am going to invite you to listen for where the Word of God might be challenging you with tonight.

The first interpretation of the parable is represented by what I would say is a Sunday school understanding of the parable. A great example of this interpretation is found in this book Cecil the Lost Sheep. At the heart of this interpretation is a suggestion that somehow the sheep is a sinner who gets itself lost. Despite the effort of the shepherd to find the sheep as a young person the implication that was presented to me was that I needed to repent. In this case the focus was on my repentance as a sheep not the search of the shepherd for the sheep.

This is a traditional interpretation, one that you may have heard before, but it is problematic because the focus is on the work of the sheep to save itself through its repentance. This idea seems to be implied by the words at the end of the parable that turn it into an allegory.

As a person who has grappled with this passage for a long time now, I do not hear this interpretation as good news. For me it certainly does not reflect the idea of a gracious God who comes to us. The sheep must repent to be found. The sheep saves itself.

This brings me to speak about the second way of thinking about this parable. One of the things that always troubled me about the first interpretation was that the sheep does not find itself. The sheep is found. Despite the inference of the first interpretation and Jesus’ embellishment at the end of the parable the sheep does not sin, it gets lost, and it does not find its own way back.

So, if we shift our focus away from the sheep and back on to the shepherd what stands out in this case is the perseverance of the shepherd and the commitment of the shepherd to find the one lost sheep. Possibly even searching for that one at risk of the rest of the ninety-nine.

By focusing on the shepherd and interpreting the shepherd to be Jesus a focus is shifted away from the action of the sheep in saving itself to the action of the shepherd in being the saviour. In this case the parable begins to send sound again like good news.

The extravagant celebration at the end of the story points towards a God who delights in relationship with us. To me this is a more hopeful reading of the parable, but it still ignores some of the problems inherent in the text. 

The scholar Amy Jill Levine provides a helpful summary which relates to the first two interpretations but highlights a key issue. She says,

“Traditional interpretations see the sheep as the believer who is strayed from the fold; the one in search is Jesus or one of his representatives, who makes every effort to save this lost sheep from destruction; and the friends who join in the feasting at the end are the church. This is an encouraging message; it is certainly good news. What has got lost, however, is any provocation, any challenge.” (Short Stories by Jesus p.37)

Levine’s analysis of Jesus’ parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin involves her critique of the way in which both Luke and Matthew have Jesus’ recontextualizing the parable to support the broader telling of the two gospels.  

Levine points out how the allegory fails to match the parable. “There was no repenting in the story; there was no sin; the sheep did not ‘come to itself’ and find its way home. It was the owner who lost the sheep, and if this losing was sinful, he's not seen repenting.”

To listen to Levine's voice of interpretation requires us to consider the possibility that both Luke and Matthew may have embellished Jesus’ words. It is important for us to remember that the gospels were written 30 to 60 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The stories were handed down orally before the gospel writers chose to record them. Each of the four gospels is unique in its telling and has different emphases. The correlation between the parables and their suggested allegorical meaning does not fit neatly and when considered closely the allegorical meaning would not have made sense when Jesus told the parable.

Suggesting that this might be the case does not undermine the notion that we listen for God’s Word speaking to us through the scriptures. Rather, it challenges us to read the more closely and listen more carefully. One of the concerns that Levine highlights in her close analysis of these parables is to move beyond antisemitic sentiments or interpretation. Here is what she says about this parable.

“The parable presents a main figure - the owner, not the sheep - He realises he has lost something of value to him. He notices the single missing sheep among the ninety-nine in the wilderness. For him, the missing sheep, whether it is one of a hundred or a million, makes the flock incomplete. He engages in an exaggerated search, and when he is found the sheep, he engages in an equally exaggerated sense of rejoicing, first by himself and then with his friends and neighbours. If this fellow can experience such joy in finding one of hundred sheep, what joy do we experience when we find what we have lost? More, if he can realise that one of his hundred has gone missing, do we know what or who we have lost? When was the last time we took stock, or counted up who was present rather than simply counted on their presence? Will we take responsibility for the losing, and what effort will we make to find it – or him or her – again?” p.44

The focus of the parable should be on the shepherd, in this case, or on the woman in the case of the lost coin.  If this is the case, then the provocation of the parable is to ask the question of the listener, ‘what have you lost?’ And, moreover, ‘what are you prepared to do to find what you have lost?’  Listening to the parable in this way I have begun to wonder about what I am missing in my relationship with God. And ‘what am I missing in my relationship with the people that I know?’ I am also wondering how much I am prepared to put into looking for what is missing.

I'm going to be honest at this point and say I have not landed on what I think this parable is about. I am feeling nudged in different directions. We know that the disciples struggled to understand Jesus’ parables. And if you go hunting around you will find other interpretations of this parable as well. I wonder how many millions of sermons have been prepared on this parable, each with its own angle! 

Considering the journey that I've been on with this parable my tendency is to suggest that any focus on the sheep having to repent or find itself speaks of a works theology that I believe undermines unconditional grace. Focusing on the shepherd being Jesus has a level of ease and comfort with it that I do find appealing. Yet, this approach still leaves me with some unresolved issues in the text. The third interpretation by Levine does resolve some of those issues but I am still left with questions about what Jesus was really trying to say to his audience. Levine’s interpretation has left me with the question what I might be missing in my relationship with God and others and what would I be prepared to do about that issue. Is this what God might be asking of me now?

I began this sermon by being a bit meta and saying that as a preacher I don't consider myself as having all the answers. Rather I seek to diligently and faithfully pose questions and postulate ideas that might help us listen for what Jesus is saying to us. In the case of both the lost sheep and the lost coin they finish with a happy ending. There is a celebration. A celebration which is disproportionate to what had been lost and found. 

In wrapping up, I believe there is something to be said about living in the context of the celebration of God's joy and delight in finding us and our joy and delight in finding God.

I'm going to invite you to a few moments of silence to consider what you might be hearing in what has been said. You may decide that you particularly feel attracted to one of the three different interpretations. You may have heard at distinct phrase or idea that you're going to think about a bit more. Or you may be just sitting with the mystery of a parable that you once thought you had nailed but now have more questions about.

Choices

 A sermon for a baptism 

Luke 6: 27-38

The editorial at the beginning of the latest New Philosopher magazine entitled ‘The Unlived Life’ begins this way: 

“Every choice you've made in life has brought you to here, now, reading this article [or in our case here at this baptism]. Every small decision has funnelled you to this point. Had you made a different choice at any point in your life's trajectory, then right now it's likely that you'd be doing something else.”

It’s an interesting reflection on the choices we make and when we think about it of all the different choices that you could have made this morning you chose to come here. 

Now as I think about the many alternative choices there are some very attractive ones. 

Starting with you could still be tucked up in bed. You could be at home with a tea or coffee enjoying a good book. You could be out to brunch with family and friends. You could be lying on a beach after an early morning swim in the surf. You could be riding your motorbike up Mount Nebo, which is a popular option as we hear every Sunday. 

All are more than viable options. And I hope that you do not hear them as an invitation to leave early. 

Instead, you chose to be here. You chose to come to church. P(mum) and N(dad) you chose to bring your daughter B(daughter) for baptism. And some of you chose to come to support P(mum) and N(dad) and B(daughter) in this moment. 

The implication of the article in the New Philosopher suggests that for all of us our presence here has its origins in all the choices that we have made through life. 

This means that choices made by the families of both P(mum) and N(dad) must have opened the door to this possibility of today when they were still children. Whether visiting church with grandparents or fond and sentimental memories of Sunday School - choices were made. 

But whatever small or large choices have led you to this point B(daughter)’s birth and her baptism are the kind of moments when we all pause and take notice of what is happening in life. We take stock of who we are, where we are, and what we are doing in life. It is a moment of existential reflection. And, in this baptism, we celebrate God’s choice for B(daughter). 

You see whilst we may think we are making all the choices baptism reminds us about the choice God has made for us. Listen again to these words which describe God's choice not simply for B(daughter) but for each one of us. As I says these words substitute your own name when I say "you".

“For you Jesus Christ has come, has lived, has suffered; for you he endured the agony of Gethsemane and the darkness of Calvary; for you he uttered the cry, ‘it is accomplished!’ For you he triumphed over death; for you he prays at God’s right hand.” This is God’s choice for us and our response to God’s choice is to choose to follow God.

This congregation has as its vision “Growing lifelong disciples of Christ” which by default means that we know that none of us have arrived. None of us are perfect. We gather each week curious about God’s choice for us in Jesus and how we can connect with God more deeply. The promise of the Jesus found in the gospel of John is that the Holy Spirit comes alongside us to guide us in our journey of life.

But the journey of life as we all know is not an easy one. As we think about the life that is laid out before B(daughter) it is likely that she like all of us will be asked the question what do you want to be when you grow up? Do you want to be a nurse or a plumber or electrician or a teacher or a preacher? Do you want to be something else be an astronaut, a physicist, a deep-sea diver, an influencer, a singer, a dancer? 

As interesting as the question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ is, I wonder today whether a more interesting question for us today is ‘What kind of person will I be?’ By this I mean what sort of values will she have, how will she behave towards herself, others, and the world around her?

The world into which B(daughter) has been born continues to change rapidly and there are many challenges that lie ahead. As I thought about this, I reflected on my own daughter who is now 18, about to turn 19. I reflected on what the world was like 19 years ago when she was born. As much as I would like to ignore it, life was vastly different in 2006. But looking ahead what might it be like when B(daughter) turns 18 in 2042? The year when she is just leaving school.

Given I don’t have a crystal ball that can see into the future I had a conversation that would have not been possible for me 2 years ago. 

I asked Chat GPT about life for a girl baptised today in 2042. Many of the responses of the program were unsurprising and non-committal. It seems Chat GPT likes to sit on the fence. Some of the key themes were the impact of climate change, changing society and culture, geopolitical challenges, and a changing marketplace in terms of jobs.  

Two things which did stand out though were, firstly, the impact of artificial intelligence as it becomes even more deeply embedded in our daily lives. The question of what it means to be a person in an artificial world is becoming a more pressing one day by day. And, secondly, the need for her resilience and adaptability in this evolving world. 

These two aspects stand out as pertinent when it comes to being in church today. As I said before, this congregation is committed to “Growing Lifelong Disciples of Christ.” 

Being a person of faith isn’t about having arrived. Rather, it involves a constant curiosity and yearning after a deeper sense of connection with God and what it means to be a person in this changing world.

One way of doing this is contemplating the words of the Bible. When we look closely at the Bible reading that we heard today there are three phrases that are worth us thinking a bit more about. These phrases may give some ideas for P(mum) and N(dad) to think about as they nurture B(daughter) in her journey through life and build her resilience and adaptability. These are:

• Love your enemies.

• Do to others as you would have them do to you.

• Do not judge.

It may seem strange to highlight the phrase love your enemies 

at a baptism but at the heart of the Christian faith is the conviction that God is love.  In the book of 1 John we read, “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them”. But love as U2 sang in their song ‘Walk on’ Love is not the easy thing! Loving those who are like us and who like us is not that hard but leaning into loving those who are different from us and those who don’t love us back is hard work

In the well-known passage from 1 Corinthians 13, often used at weddings, Paul reflects on the meaning and depths of love: 

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

In his book What Can Love Hope For? Bill Loader explains how being open to God’s love changes us. He writes:

“For it is in opening ourselves to God's generosity, to forgiveness and acceptance, that we become free from preoccupation with ourselves and with concern for our own status. We are able then to have space and energy to respond to others in love, to love our neighbours as and because we love ourselves. Love creates love.”

Setting B(daughter) on a journey of discovering the depths of God’s love for her, is so important. Often, we hear a phrase said about a person that they are their own worst enemy. The proliferation of mental health issues speaks to us about the need for people to understand that they are loved and learn to love themselves. Loving our enemies might start with loving ourselves but it also leads towards loving others, even the people that we find unlovable. 

This brings me to my second point which is: Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you take a moment to look at the screen this teaching of Jesus is sometimes called the golden rule. What is really interesting about this teaching is that it appears in each of the major world religions in slightly different forms and is part of nearly every culture.

The reason that I point this out is it whilst I believe that Jesus is the centre of relationship with God, I also believe that God works in mysterious ways through all peoples. This fundamental teaching found in all these different religions challenges human beings to view how they behave towards each other by considering it how any of us would like to be treated. Which I believe is grounded in love, respect, caring, and kindness. If as human beings we actually followed this teaching the world would be a much better place. Just as loving your enemy is not an easy thing neither is following the golden rule. Both teachings when grounded in how God has chosen for us invite and empower us as followers of Jesus to seek to live towards others in a better way.

This brings me to the third and last point which is not to judge others. And hopefully you will see a thread of connection that goes through the three things that I've highlighted.

For me to speak about not judging others in the context of a church service carries with it both a level of hypocrisy and more than a little irony. I am just going to make this call. Church people are really judgey people. Even though Jesus teaches us not to judge one another we are really good at doing it. I grew up in congregations and have been in ministry for close to 30 years. I have never come across a church community in which people don't judge each other. And ironically, I am being judgy about church people by saying this and I imagine some people are judging me for saying this. But it's part of our reality because when I go into communities beyond the church the reality is this problem of being judgey has existed in every friendship group, every club, every business, and every school that I have a been part

It seems that judging others as human beings is part of our DNA. If we are to love our enemies and we are to live in love and so live in God, then we need to move beyond our judgement of others and into acceptance and kindness and care. And if we are to treat others as we would wish to be treated, we need to look beyond any judgments that we make about them, including how they behave towards us, and seek to love them by how we act towards them.

The choice of God for us is found in Jesus’ life lived for us and the invitation for us to follow him. P(mum) and N(dad) your choice to have B(daughter) baptised celebrates God's choice for her and for each one of us. It is my hope and prayer that you would take seriously the invitation of this congregation to be part of our journey of curiosity as we continue our journey growing as lifelong the disciples of Christ. That you would continue to explore what it means to nurture her as a person who might learn to love not just those who love her but those who she might find unlovable. That you would continue to explore what it means for her to grow up treating others as she wishes to be treated. And that you would help her to move beyond judgments that we make about each other into being able to do the first two of those things.

We as a congregation have committed to being here to support you in nurturing B(daughter). And it is my hope and prayer that we will still be here in 2042 in some form for B(daughter) to grow into that relationship with God and make her own choices about the God who has chosen her.