A Message in 3 Gifts

 Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:30-34,53-56

For those of you whom I teach you will be used to a return to term ritual in which I invite you to share something from your holidays as we first call the roll.  It provides a moment of reconnection not just as your teacher but with one another as a class well.  No doubt, for staff and for students alike, the next few days will provide moments of such reconnection as we return from our time off.

There is a beautiful moment in the Bible passage from Mark's gospel in which the disciples returned to Jesus after being out working among the people teaching and healing.  We are told that the apostles, which literally means the ones who were sent, gather around Jesus, and shared their stories. 

In contrast to us, the disciples though were returning from their labours and even in that moment we are told that they were so busy that “They had no leisure even to eat.”  This phrase is another reminder of the busyness of our term life when students come to my classes after first or second break and ask for permission to eat during class because they had a meeting during the break.  Jesus recognises the busyness of the disciples and as we follow through the short story that we have heard from Mark I believe there are three key ideas contained in the story for us.

On the first weekend of our holidays the Uniting Church in Australia celebrated its anniversary and so today as we reflect together on the reading from Mark, I want to offer the message in the form of three gifts.  I'm going to invite students to come and unwrap these gifts as we explore each one.

(1. Clock/Celtic Cross 2. This book will make you Smarter/Bible 3. Medical Kit/El Salvador Cross)

Part 1 - The Gift of Time

Let’s unwrap the first gift.

The first gift contained within the passage is the gift of time.  Jesus says to the disciples who were so busy, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”  As a school community most of us have just received a similar gift, the gift of time.  And, for many of us too, this was a much-needed break.  But I want to explore the gift of time that Jesus was offering the disciples and to connect it with the idea of holidays.

You see the word holiday has its origins in the phrase holy day.  It stems from a time that the only holidays that were granted to people were days that were considered holy. This included the Sabbath, which is Saturday.  On the blog Rest and Work it says this, “After six days of creation, God looks upon the works of his hands and pronounces it “very good” (Gen 1:31). But it is not until the seventh day that God calls something, “holy,” the day of rest that he interjects into the time and space of creation. The day of rest receives the attribution of holiness, which is the very essence of God’s character.” https://www.theologyofwork.org/key-topics/rest-and-work-overview The story of creation in the Bible is not a scientific explanation of the origin of all things rather it teaches us how to be in the world and one of the things it teaches us is that resting in God’s holiness is important because in this we encounter and are shaped by the character of God.

For Christians Sunday, the first day of the week, is the day that we remember the resurrection of Jesus and is consider it the first day of the new creation.  For Christians it is the day of rest.  It is a reminder of the beginning of the eternal Sabbath promised for the whole creation where we can rest in God’s holiness together eternally. Whilst this ancient idea may have been lost on most of us one of the implications of holidays becomes how we conceive of the time into which we are entering. 

In the Greek language, that the Bible was written in, there are two words that are used in association with time.  The first is chronos. Chronos essentially refers to the ticking of the clock, the sequential passing of time.  Whereas the second word, kairos, has a different connotation.  Kairos infers the opportune time, the right time, maybe even the time for encounter.

When Jesus offers that the disciples come away to a deserted place what I believe he is offering them is not simply chronos but kairos.  This time of encounter had already begun in his process of reconnecting with them and them sharing stories. But in the invitation to come away from the crowd Jesus was inviting the disciples to come with him to rest in God's presence.

So, one of the questions this raises for us is whether your holiday was simply experiencing time as chronos or whether you made space for kairos.  Experiencing time as chronos means that time is something that needs to be filled up, that time is something that causes us to be restless, or that as time passes we experience boredom.  So it is, that we scurry about trying to keep ourselves occupied - bingeing the latest Netflix, or Stan, or Amazon, or Disney series.  Our fingers race across our phones searching for content in Instagram, or Tik Tok, or messages from friends that will satisfy our restless hearts and minds.  Yet, the research shows us that we feel disconnected and lonely as we search for meaning by filling our lives as if there is only chronos.  Is this really a holiday? Do we really come away feeling rejuvenated and renewed in our sense of purpose and meaning in life?

Sometimes it is the ancient wisdom that can help us.  Pope Gregory I, sometimes referred to as Gregory the Great reminds us, “We make idols of our concepts, but Wisdom is born of wonder.”  When we spend our fleeting and fragile lives simply filling up time as chronos, with distractions, there appears to be little space for wonder which is why the concept of taking notice in our wellbeing framework is so important because it is about moving from chronos into kairos.  Almost two centuries earlier the great teacher of the church St Augustine said, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” (St. Augustine, City of God)

We fill up our time just as we fill up our hands.  As full as our time may be, we remain restless.  Augustine also said in his book Confessions, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”  Kairos is the time when we take notice, we take notice of God, we take notice of God’s presence in and around us and we lean into the invitation of Jesus to come away, to transform our holidays, or at least moments within them into holy days.  To enter the kairos moment which is also beyond time - eternal.  Looking at the Celtic Cross in the gift we see the circle which represents eternity. 

In her song the Well the singer JJ Heller reflects on the Well of Jesus’ presence of the source of life in contrast to the pursuit of her own desires.  For me going to the Well of Jesus’ presence is her acknowledgement of being in a karios moment with God rather than simply living life in chronos.  I invite you to listen to the song now as a kairos moment, a time to connect with God.

Song for Reflection You are the Well that never runs dry 

Part 2 – The gift of a Teacher

It is somewhat ironic that whilst Jesus offers to his disciples the gift of time to rest in God's presence the crowd follows them.  It is a telling moment that we see the character of Jesus reflecting the character of God when on encountering the crowd we are told, “He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”

So, this is the second gift that we are given. (Unwrap the gift) These books represent the gift of a teacher.  Returning into our context here at school and contemplating the term ahead it might be difficult for us to sometimes see our teachers as a gift but a gift they are.  The gift of Jesus as our teacher is represented by the Bible which I will return to in a moment. Whilst, the gift of our education system, is represented by this book of mine entitled This book will make you smarter.  I will leave it up to you to judge whether me owning this book is actually reflected in who I am.

Whatever you may think about my knowledge and wisdom let me quote from Carlo Rovelli who writes in the book about “The uselessness of certainty.”  He says this:

 

There is a widely held notion that does plenty of damage: the notion of ‘scientifically proved.’  Nearly an oxymoron.  The very foundation of science is to keep the door open to doubt. Precisely because we keep questioning everything, especially our own premises, we are always ready to improve our knowledge. Therefore, a good scientist is never ‘certain.’ 

It may surprise some of you to know that Rovelli is a physicist who works in France at the Centre de Physique Théoretique.

What Rovelli is critiquing is what is known as scientism within our community, an assumption that science is about certainty.  James Tartaglia and Tracy Llanera in their article ‘Can we outgrow the problem of nihilism?’ on the ABC Religion and Ethics Website say this, the philosopher, “Heidegger warned how the culture of scientism, and of our obsession with manipulating reality, can obstruct the way the world might relate to human beings. Adopting a scientistic way of life, according to Heidegger, stifles our ability to listen to the voice of Being and kills off possibilities of wonder.”

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/can-we-outgrow-nihilism-james-tartaglia-and-tracy-llanera/13432122

As teachers and learners, we are constantly being challenged to have a growth mindset and to keep learning: to wonder and be in awe.  To be curious and agile as we reflect on what teachings we encounter.  When Jesus sees the crowd, he sees them as sheep without a shepherd.  This reality is more so given the scientism, consumerism, and individualism of our era.  Jesus is still looking upon us with compassion. 

Richard Kearny in his recent article ‘God after the loss of God: What comes after atheism?’ introduces us a new word, anatheism.  By which he means “returning to God after God.”  He goes on to suggest, “anatheism contains a moment of atheism within itself, as it does a moment of theism.”  To put it more simply anatheism suggests that we have moments of believing in God and moments of rejecting belief in God, sometimes at one and the same time, but in which we are caught up in mystery and wonder and not certainty.  A space in which we might still be prepared to listen for God speaking to us through Jesus.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/richard-kearney-anatheism-what-comes-after-god/11719700

If Jesus is our true shepherd, then Jesus’ teaching is not simply a teaching about who God is but who we are in the midst of our seeking and searching for meaning and purpose.  The psychologist Martin Seligman in his PERMA model of wellbeing outlines five aspects leading to wellbeing acknowledging that one of these is having meaning. 

Further, studies have shown that those who receive the gift of faith and, for example, sit at the feet of Jesus as their teacher, have better outcomes for their wellbeing.  I believe approaching Jesus as our teacher is also about receiving the gift of teaching that comes through others and is connected to every aspect of our learning.  Alongside the scientist Rovelli I would encourage you to enter into having a lack of certainty or to receive the gift of doubt that the disciples Thomas encountered. This is a way of having a growth mindset and being prepared to learn from Jesus our true teacher about God, ourselves, and this creation in which we live.  Therefore. I included the Bible in this gift as a primary source in which we listen for Jesus speaking to us.

As we continue to reflect on this gift of a teacher, I have chosen a second song for contemplation released just 10 days ago.  A song which I believe has elements of anatheism, something being lost and re-found and then re-shared.  It is by the South African singer Matthew Mole and has implicit Christian themes within it.  As an artist Mole does not throw his faith in people’s faces but it is certainly there.  As you watch it, view the song with curiosity, as a parable exploring the possibility of God’s presence which is with you, even when you may be missing it.

Song for Reflection I’m with you

Part 3 – The gift of Healing

Unwrap last gift.

The last gift is the gift of healing.  After Jesus teaches, he and the disciples move off into the surrounding villages and everywhere they go people are bought for healing.  The healing provided by Jesus is a sign of God's care and concern for us and for all people.  Symbols within the gift of healing are the symbols of a medical kit and of the El Salvador cross.

Healing has many layers and expressions.  There is the healing of our sinfulness.  Healing of our souls as we are drawn back into relationship with God.  Healing of our bodies and our minds which stands over against the entropy of our existence. 

Unlike the first two gifts this gift of healing is one which is more complex in our relationship with God.  Recent weeks have reminded us of the ongoing pandemic that continues to unfold around us.  The devastation and heartbreak that has been wrought upon the world community is deep and abiding.  When we turned to God with our prayers for healing and for hope it is like the people who long ago carried people on their mats into Jesus’ presence.  They brough them to Jesus in the hope that even touching the hem of his robe might restore people to wholeness in their life.

Rather speak more about God’s gift of healing we are going to pray for the world and its people.  We will pray for this country Australia and for our community. We pray for each other and the ones whom we love.  We will come in faith and hope that we might reach out to touch Jesus’ robe.

Loved by God: A life in ministry

A sermon preached at the funeral of Rev Bill Lockhart by Rev Peter Lockhart.

Before I preach, I would like to share little story I tell about why I am a minister.  About 37 years ago give or take I was sitting in church and dad was preaching.  Now dad had a predilection in his preaching to tell personal stories about people.

During the sermon, he said this, “a young man came up to me the other day. I'm not going to tell you his name because it would embarrass him, and he said dad.” At which point the entire congregation turned to look at me. This is because at that point in our lives Ian was still at boarding school and I was the only son around.  

So, my motivation for being ministry stems from the idea that one day I'll be preaching and I'll say, “I saw an old man the other day but I won't tell you his name because it would embarrass him and he said to me ‘son.’”

Dad this one is for you.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight our Lord our strength and our redeemer. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Love one another as I have loved you.” 

As soon as we started talking about dad's funeral, I think it was Judy and Sue who suggested the reading about loving one another or loving our neighbour as ourselves.  And it was Judy who said, we should sing A new commandment.  The notion of loving one another was central to dad’s understanding of what it meant to be a minister.  I would concur that a core teaching of Christianity is loving one another as God has loved us.  Jesus’ teaching is a simple and as complex as that. I want to look at its simplicity, then contemplate its complexity.

The concept of loving one another was expressed in many ways through Dad's ministry.  During the week I was in contact with one of dad's contemporaries from the New South Wales Synod the importance of dad's pastoral ministry.   Dad had a great sense of care and concern for the people in his congregation.  He sought to love them.  This was reflected in a piece of advice he once gave me about pastoral care.  Thinking about his time in the country he said, “if you can't talk to a farmer about his sheep, why would you think you can talk to him about God.”  Dad understood a basic principle of loving others was to be engaged with who they were and what mattered to them.

His love of his time in the country was also reflected in his commitment to the development of the Rural Ministry Unit in NSW.  I met Simon Hansford, the now Moderator of the NSW Synod, a few years back who expressed how inspirational dad had been within the rural ministry network and to him personally.  He saw dad as something of a legend.   

His pastoral ministry and serving of others were not something just for his congregations.  In his early years, dad worked in the mission in the Kings Cross area, and he was influenced by the social gospel.  He had a deep commitment to seeking the good of the community that he was part of.  The other night when we were going through some of dad's things there were references to his involvement in the Lions Club, in the Rotary Club and in school P and C's. 

At Kyogle, which he indicated was possibly his favourite place as a minister, he was involved with the brass band committee, although he was not a trained musician. He helped develop a school music programme and became a bandleader, although he was not a trained musician. And he worked with the local youth community support scheme which supported especially young people who were at risk.  To love others meant to bring transformation to their lives. 

As I look back there was almost a naïve hopefulness in dad's engagement with this idea that living out the gospel was about loving others and changing the community.  But there were moments where I believe the Holy Spirit worked through him and God’s love was encountered in deep and meaningful ways for people in his congregations and the communities he was a part of. 

‘Love one another as I have loved you’ it is a simple and as complex as that.

The complexity of what it means to love one another was also part of dad's ministry because loving others can be hard work and being loved by others can be even harder.  The difficulties dad encountered in ministry and the flaws in dad’s own character shaped my understanding of God and the church.  This was so much the case that when I shared with mum and dad that I was candidating for ministry mum exclaimed “You should know better. You know what its been like.”  Nevertheless, here I am and the stole I am wearing today was dad’s.   I feel somewhat like Elisha to dad’s Elijah, who handed on his mantle before he ascended into heaven.

Now I do not want to dwell too much in the negative experiences that dad had and that I observed of his time in the church.  However, by simply skating across the imperfections of life some we can contemplate the complexity of what it means to love one another.

As a person dad did have a bit of a temper. He was far from perfect . But it is the encounters in ministry and the church that I would briefly highlight.  There are just a few stories that I want to share.  Firstly, my recollection of a group within the congregation at one of dad's placements that broke away from the congregation and prayed that dad would leave town.  In another situation, a group of ministers within a Presbytery excluded dad because he was a former Presbyterian, and they were predominantly Methodist in background.  More than that they had all been an Emmaus walk together and so dad was treated as if he were not in the know.  We were supposed to be a Uniting Church but his experience in this Presbytery was anything but uniting. 

The difficulties that he had around the time that he had a stress breakdown in Bundaberg also stand out in my memory.  This was after tensions in relationships with colleagues and a range of conflicts that had built up over time. The Synod's support of dad through this time was questionable.

As much as he strived for changing the community sometimes the work did not necessarily bear the fruit he might have wished for.  It also, again, created tension with congregation members.  Even within the church, or maybe especially within the church, he did not always find that loving one another as Christ has loved us was present.            

This all brings me to say, I was with an older man the other day and I won't tell you his name because it would embarrass him, and I was explaining to him some of the challenges of my own placement in the school. Within the course of the conversation, I said “Dad, I think I am finally finding where God is in the school.”  Without batting an eyelid, this old man, said to me “Son, it's not about you finding God, it's about God finding you.”

In the same way that dad gave me this piece of advice, it was our last significant conversation, my response to his ministry, seeking to love one another I would remind him, it's not about us loving God or even each other, it's about how much God loves us.  When we get our loving of one another wrong it does not mean God's love for us ceases rather it continues and deepens as we encounter grace and forgiveness.  This is the hope of the Christian faith that becomes flesh in Jesus – in him God is love.  And our lives are hidden in his.

To conclude, another short story about why I am a minister.  As a teenager I noticed that dad always seemed to manage a post lunch nap, a siesta.   I thought to myself who would not want a job where you can come home and have a nap after lunch.  Sadly, my placement at the school has interrupted this aspect of ministry, but the importance of the Sabbath rest has not been lost on me.  In Jesus' resurrection we see the beginning of a new creation.  It is the eternal Sabbath rest in which we enjoy God's presence.  It is my view, my hope and my prayer, that dad now, with mum, has entered his post life, after lunch nap, the eternal Sabbath rest in God's presence, his final siesta.         

To echo dad’s final words at the end of many of his sermons “And now unto him be all the glory, honour, and power now and forever. Amen”

The Beginning

John 1:1-18, Ephesians 1:3-14

A sermon Prepared for Cleveland Uniting Church.

I wonder if you might take a moment with me to ponder, to contemplate, to savour these words from John’s Gospel and listen for Jesus speaking to you, In the beginning.

 In the beginning…

What is it the beginning of? And when does the beginning even begin? What is God saying to you and me about beginnings today? And, what about the beginning that we find ourselves in right in this moment? In this moment now you and I are at the beginning of the rest of our lives.

This week we have begun a new year. In the beginning of 2021.  Living in the transition between 2020 and 2021 the beginning of Charles Dickens great novel A Tale of Two Cities feels somehow appropriate:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

The opening words of stories whether fictional or non-fictional entice us and draw us in to consider the point at which find ourselves in the midst of human history, to consider who we are, and to contemplate where we are going.  To think about our story.

The opening salvo of John’s gospel is no different.  The idea that there is a beginning, that there can even be a new a beginning, creates an atmosphere of hope for us amid the joys and sorrows of our human journey. 

John’s gospel speaks of a new beginning in the midpoint of creation as he echoes the words of Genesis Chapter one verses one and two.  “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2)

John re-frames this beginning of creation in the light of Jesus coming and presence in the world.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life…” your life and my life included!

Today as we listen for that eternal Word of God speaking to each of one us, I want to juxtapose this concept of beginnings in the Bible with the beginnings of a number of other stories as we explore together the open-endedness of time, the continuity of God’s creativity, the magnitude of grace and the hope of the destination or the end of all things in Christ.

So, to start with, this new beginning of Jesus’ presence in the world raises significant questions for us about time and the idea that we are always at the beginning.  Graham Greene opens his novel The End of the Affair with these insightful words, “A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.”

Spiritually, scientifically, and theologically I would take this a step beyond Greene’s words because time itself is created and not linear.  So, the act of creation by God was not a moment locked in the past but is a continual dynamic unfolding of God’s creative and gracious relationship with the whole cosmos.  God is always creating the creation and the Word of God is present in it all.

In the first words of his book To Change the World James Davison Hunter reminds us of the dynamic nature of the creative act when he says, “Out of nothing, ‘God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen 1:1).  This was the beginning, the primordial act, the culmination of which was the creation of human life itself, not only in manifest beauty and delight but also in its potentialities. The goodness of creation, then, was anything but inert. It was dynamic, vibrant, and full of latent promise.” (p.1)

The vibrancy of and dynamism of God’s creative act is captured in the timeless words of Lamentations in which the poet declares, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (3:22-23)

The newness of God’s mercies is a reminder that each moment in which we live is being created.  The creation story is always unfolding.  And the eternal Word, who is Jesus, is always present in the new beginning of each moment.  Paul reminds us that Jesus presence in the world opens up the possibility of each of us becoming a new creation.  In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says, “The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he [or she] is a new creation.”

If we are each at the beginning of a new creative act, if God’s mercies are new every morning, then this very moment in which we exist is pregnant with the possibilities of what God might do in and through our lives and in the world around us. 

As Christians we do not worship on the sabbath but on the day of resurrection, which is the first day of the week. It is the eighth day!  Each time we come to worship on a Sunday we are reminded that we are living from, in and towards the new creation in which Christ is present and coming to us in the constancy of the new beginnings of our lives.

I think George Orwell in the opening words of his dystopian novel 1984 challenges us to think outside the box to be people who might consider viewing all that has gone before differently.  He writes, “It was a cold bright day in April, and all the clocks were striking thirteen.”  The symbolism of the clocks striking thirteen creates a tension between the truth of what has gone before and what the possibilities of what lies ahead of us. 

More than that how we think about the past is as much of a mystery as is the future. L.P. Hartley opens the novel The Go-Between with these words, “The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.” The past can feel distant and strange as we think about what has gone before. 

In his book Homo Deus the historian Noah Yuval Harari suggests that the past is almost like a bad dream. The opening of his book reads, “At the dawn of the third millennium, humanity wakes up, stretching its limbs and rubbing its eyes. Remnants of some awful nightmare are still drifting across its mind. ‘There was something with barbed wire, and huge mushroom clouds.  Oh, well, it was just a bad dream.’ Going to the bathroom, humanity washes its face, examines its wrinkles in the mirror, makes a cup of coffee and opens the diary. ‘Let’s see what’s on the agenda today.’” 

Whatever we might think of our own past or the history of our community the coming of Jesus into the world transforms those events and creates new possibilities grounded in forgiveness and renewal.  “The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” 

The incarnation, and the hailing of the incarnate Son of which we sing, are a stark reminder that our created lives are important.  Salvation is more than pie in the sky when you die, it is also about encountering the eternal Word creating each moment of eternity in our lives now.  God cares about us, no matter how small and insignificant we think our lives might be.

In his wonderful science fiction novel Douglas Adams explores the infinite smallness of human beings in the first words of his book The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy:

“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.” 

Despite however small we might think we are and whether we primitively still think digital watches, or the latest technology, is a pretty neat idea God in Christ invites us to share in his very life, in the divine existence.  John wrote that “all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”  This is the gift and grace of God beyond our control as we are born from above and drawn into the constancy of the new beginning of Christ’s life with us, or as Paul writes it later to the Colossians “Our lives are hidden in Christ.” (3:3) 

Like the people long ago it is easy for us to get distracted and miss the miracle of God’s loving presence in our life.  As John says, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.”  Sometimes, we do not know Christ’s presence even when it is closer to us than breathing.  We miss it and we distract ourselves so easily with our own idols and preoccupations.  Norman Maclean notes our predilection for substituting other things for God in the first words of his novel A River runs through it. He writes, “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly-fishing.” 

Regardless of our own preoccupations whether it be fly-fishing, playing the stock market, gardening, golf, or googling Jesus comes to us constantly offering a new beginning, a new creative act so that we might live well in this life with God and with each other.  Of course, life is not perfect in fact far from it.  And, we must constantly look at the world around us through a critical eye. 

One of the books that has deeply influenced my life is Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture written by the sociologist John Carrol.  He begins with these confronting words:

 

We live amidst the ruins of the great, five-hundred-year epoch of Humanism. Around us is that ‘colossal wreck.’ Our culture is a flat expanse of rubble. It hardly offers shelter from mild a cosmic breeze, never mind one of those icy gales that regularly return to rip us out of the cosy intimacy of our daily lives and confront us with oblivion. Is it surprising that we are run down? We are desperate, yet we don’t care much anymore. We are timid, yet we cannot be shocked. We are inert underneath our busyness. We are destitute in our plenty. We are homeless in our homes (p. 1).

Living in the new beginning of Christ’s presence makes us aware of the disruption of what is and what could be.  It is little wonder then that the opening words of U2’s song Heaven on Earth are replete with longing: 

    Heaven on earth

    We need it now

    I'm sick of all of this

    Hanging around

Every time we pray the Lord’s prayer, every time we say “on earth as it is in heaven”, we are expressing our longing for the collapsing of the beginning and ending of all things into the present moment in which we live.  The eternal Word, Jesus, is according Revelations 22:13 alpha and the omega, the first and the last.  He is our origin, and he is our destination. He is the destination of the whole creation expressed by Paul in our reading from Ephesians today.

Yet this longing has a fulfilment and hope in mind.  With all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Way back in the fourth century the Bishop of the Nile Delta Sarapion of Thmuis prayed "Lord! We entreat you, make us truly alive."  I wonder whether to be truly alive means to live in the beginning of the moment we are being created in which Christ is truly present and more than that to live in the moment of the gathering up of all things in Christ, encountering earth as it is in heaven.

So, here we are at the ending of the sermon but I wonder if you might take a moment again with me to ponder, to contemplate, to savour these words from John’s Gospel and listen for Jesus speaking to you, In the beginning.

In the silence, I invite you to think about the one thing that God has laid on your heart amid these frail human words this day.  What are the words God is placing on your heart at the beginning of the next part of your story?

"2020: The Year that God forgot"

On ABC news on Monday night, the 16^th of March, the reporter finished his report with the phrase “2020: The Year that God Forgot!”  It is always unusual to find God making the press these days and it seems often only to be when we believe God might be somehow to blame for something.  The inference in the reporter’s comment is underpinned by an idea that God is generally in control and micromanaging everything that is occurring.  This reminds me of the conundrum that Nick Cave sung about in his song, “I don't believe in an interventionist God, but I know, darling, that you do.” 

Within the Christians faith there have been long standing questions about the concept of divine and human agency.  How much control does God have over the world and how much freedom do we have?  These questions of freedom and determinism have not disappeared with the growth of preferences for many in our community to reject faith in God.  Determinism is still an issue for us as we consider issues of cause and effect in areas such as neuroscience, economic modelling, physics, climate change, and health.  Whether we reject God completely, or blame God, we are still confronted by questions around how much control any of us have over our own lives.

Yet, believing in God is not necessarily wondering about how much control we do or don’t have in our predicament.  Rather it involves leaning in on God for courage and hope as we face the mysteries of life and the of the unknown.  The promise of the Christian story is that God remembers.  In fact, the majority of the Old Testament follows a pattern of humans forgetting God and God’s ways, and thus turning away, whilst God constantly remembers.  God shows mercy, forgiveness, and healing, and draws people close again. 

The rhythm and pattern of Christian worship is grounded in remembering God as God has remembered us, especially in sharing the bread and wine of communion.  The technical jargon often used to describe the act of remembering is anamnesis which is kind of the opposite of amnesia.  Tapping into our communal memory, that God is with us and that God is for us not against us, especially when the chips are down can serve to strengthen us and give us hope.  In the presence and power of the Holy Spirit remembering God, anamnesis, can transform us as we face the unknown.

For so many people it may feel as if God has forgotten us, but our faith draws us beyond our individual and momentary existence, and into the mystery of the eternal story and promise God’s love.  It is a promise of love that is unending and as each new day dawns we can be reminded that God’s mercies are new every morning.  Regardless of how bleak the world may seem God is with us the light of Christ "shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:1-3)

“God remembers the covenant forever, the promises God had made, for a thousand generations.”

(Psalm 105:8)

4 Witness to the Healing at Bethsaida

Based on Mark 8:22-26

The Villager

I don’t know about you but where we live it’s boring, nothing much happens here ever… boring!

Welcome to no where’s ville, here in the middle of nothing – Bethsaida.  There’s the desert dust and then just over that way to the West of us is the Jordan River.  That’s about it.

What happens here you ask.  You look at the desert and you go fishing and then for something different you go fishing and then you look at the desert. You think it’s boring here in this school with all your smart phones and laptops and entertainment and information on tap. You don’t know anything about boring, try fishing and the desert and the dust and the nothing ever happening.

Of course, like everyone else, we are under the Romans but even that is boring.  Everyone is too afraid to do anything about them – I mean they rule everywhere, everyone… everything!  So we keep our heads low and we fish and watch the dusty desert as the days pass by.

It’s so boring, nothing ever happens in Bethsaida… well not until today… today… today we had a visitor.

We had heard about this man, a man travelling the countryside with his ragtag bunch of followers. This man was telling people that God is good and that God is close.  This man named Jesus.  But it wasn’t just that he was teaching – he was doing miracles. 

We had heard he had fed a crowd – a crowd of 5000 people they said.  With just 5 loaves and 2 fish, they said.  I don’t know what sort of charlatan chef this Jesus is, but people said it was a miracle.  And people say it’s fantastic and that only someone connected to God could do anything like this.

So here we are in boring Bethsaida, where nothing ever happens, and Jesus, Jesus turns up.  Anyway old Fred who lives just down the way, old Fred who’s blind as a bat, his friends go and get him.  They get him and they take him to Jesus.

Nothing ever happens here, I’m telling you it’s so boring. 

But this day they take old Fred out to the edge of the town.  They take him out because they’ve heard that Jesus is coming.  And we followed them.  This is the most exciting thing to happen here since the Romans showed up a few decades back.  We wanted to see what was going on.

And we get out to where Jesus was just in time to see the most disgusting thing.  Jesus spat on his eyes, how gross is that.  Then he put his hands on old Fred’s eyes and he seemed to rub his eyes a bit before taking them away. The Jesus asked, ‘can ya see?’

Old Fred’s eyes still seemed a bit misty as he look around and he said ‘nuh, nope, not really… I mean I think I can people but they like a bunch of walking trees.’

A bunch of walking trees?  That’s what he said, that’s what called us.

And so Jesus put his hands on Fred’s eyes again and took them away.  Nothing ever happens here, I’m telling you that this place is so boring, but this day, this day Fred could see.

I saw it with my own eyes… it was a miracle.

I mean I did wonder for a moment whether old Fred had been tricking all these years.  I mean think about it one moment blind, the next not.  I mean that’s the stuff of the old prophets.

I don’t know who this Jesus bloke really is.  But I can tell you no one could do what he did without a direct line to upstairs… to the one who made us and everything… you know to the Lord… to Adonai

 

The Friend

Ok, I admit it. I was the one.  I took old Fred to see Jesus.  Well we did.  But, it was my idea.

I want you to think about this for a moment.  Have you ever known any of your friends to be in trouble or to have a problem?  Maybe they were feeling stressed about an assignment.  Maybe they had fallen out with another friend.  Maybe they were sick.  Maybe it was something serious… maybe like Old Fred, they were blind.

Being blind is pretty serious you know, well I think it is.  I had been helping Fred out for years. We all had.  And Fred seemed happy enough… but, well, you know… it was hard for us as well.

Anyway, we had heard that this Jesus guy was coming our way.  We had heard he could do anything.  So what do you do?  What would you do? You’ve got a mate who’s in trouble, you see an opportunity to help him out – what do you?

Do you sit back and do nothin’? Do you not care? Do you not engage? Do you not show any character?

Well that’s not me.  So I got my friends and we formed a team went to get Fred and we helped him to head out and see Jesus.  It was great teamwork.

And we got out to Jesus and we said to Jesus, ‘This is our mate Fred, his blind… What can you do?’

Now as soon as his saw Fred Jesus just went about his business.  He spat on his eyes and rubbed them with his hands, you know I’m talking about.  You’ve heard the rumours.

And old Fred was healed.  Now I don’t know but I think Fred was happy, he was really happy.  He seemed to really appreciate what had happened.

That was all that we had wanted for Fred to be able to see – and he could.  A miracle for sure.

But then again since then I’ve been wondering what does this all mean for me? I mean Jesus healed a blind bloke. 

So who is Jesus for me? What difference will it make to who I am?  I went there expecting to happen, hoping for it to happen, but when it actually happened… what does that mean for me?  What will it mean for you?

I don’t know about but if you’ve got a friend whose got some sort of problem.  Well you can sit back and do nothing… Or you can show a bit of character and engage with them, show them you care.  If you can’t do it alone get some friends to help out, show a bit of teamwork, and see what you can do, ask yourself who can help us.

That’s all we did.  We trusted that Jesus could help out, and he did.  It leaves you wondering doesn’t it, who is this Jesus, and what is God really like?  It has change my view of the world for sure.

 

The Disciple Peter

You should know who I am.

I am Peter, Simon Peter, the fisherman. And I follow Jesus.

I don’t just follow him I am one of the twelve, one of the disciples, one of the inner circle.

One of the in crowd… we’re like this (crossed fingers) with Jesus…

But I got to admit we might be like this but sometimes we just don’t get it…

Been with him a few years now.  It was back then I was there on the beach minding my own business when Jesus comes along and says the weirdest thing, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”

I had no idea what he was talking about.  I thought the man was bonkers – kangaroo loose in the top paddock.

But… at the same time… there was something about the way that he asked it that was irresistible.  There was something in the way he looked at me, so I just up and left my nets, right there and then.

And I said “Ok, let’s do this” and he said “I’ll make you fish for people.”

And ever since then I’ve been seeing things and hearing things that you simply would not believe.

He keeps saying to us things about who he is.  Just today, I saw him heal a blind man.  That’s real Torah stuff, that’s Moses and Aaron stuff, and Ezekiel and Isaiah stuff.  The stuff of the miracles and the old ways and the old legends! It’s that stuff becoming real again.

And it’s got me thinking. It’s got me thinking. Maybe, Jesus is more than I think he is.  More than just a teacher, more than a friend, more even than a healer and a miracle maker! Maybe more than all those things put together…

Maybe, just maybe… this guy, this guy who can heal blind men is the Messiah!

 

The Healed Blind Man

No one really asked me whether I wanted to see again.  My friends just took me to Jesus, they took me to Jesus just outside Bethsaida.  They took me to Jesus because they had heard that he could do amazing things… miracles.

And so Jesus spat on my eyes and put his hands on my eyes and asked, ‘Can ya see?’

But I couldn’t, not properly.  I can remember what it was like to see. Sure I could see shapes and people all blurry and all out of focus walking around like lumbering trees.

So I told Jesus, “I can see people but they like funny, like trees walking.”  I didn’t understand what was happening.

But I felt his hands reach out and cover my eyes again and then he took them away and everything was clear again. I can see clearly now…

You don’t really appreciate what you have until it’s gone but, crikey, when you get something back you sit up and take notice.

I could see my friends, they seemed to look so much older… different… but they were there and they looked so fine and beautiful…

I could see the pristine snow white clouds hanging against the bright blue sky and the town, my town, Bethsaida set off to the distance in the desert and dust, with the Jordan snaking its way off to the south in the background.  It was stunning, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

It was truly a miracle, I knew it was going to change my life.  So there I was just starring at everything, letting my eyes drink it all in when Jesus caught my attention.

He looked at me intently, with dark piercing eyes.  Full of wisdom, dripping with love and he said to me the strangest thing. 

“Go to your home.  Don’t even go to the village.  Just go to your home.”

It was as though he wanted to hide me away, hide the evidence of his miracle. 

I just wanted to go and share my news, to tell everyone, “Hey world, Jesus has made me well.  I once was blind but now I see!”

But he said go home. I think my friends were just as surprised, I think they expected more too.

So here I am.  Here in my dim home… not much to see inside here.  And I’m left wondering ‘what comes next?’

Encountering Jesus has changed my life.  I don’t know how it has changed my life yet, but it has changed my life.  I’m not sure what it means.  I don’t know who he was.  I just know that he did this thing for me that I don’t quite understand.

How will I live my life now that I can see again?  How can I say thank you? What does it all mean?