Sunday, January 29, 2012

I Corinthians 1:18-31 and Matthew 5:1-12

Bless thou, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts that they be of profit to us and acceptable to thee, oh our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Today I want to talk about where we meet God and where God meets us.

I think all of us are familiar with the idea that God is best met in special times, times in which we go to special places, most often by ourselves, and dwell in silence.

Most of us have felt specially blessed when we have been able to spend time away from the bustle and hustle of daily life and to actually go up on a mountain side and look around and see nothing for miles and miles but clouds passing by and hills and valleys receding into the distance.

The scriptures tell us that this is what Jesus did.

Others have the same feeling when they go deep into the woods where they can hear nothing but birds singing in the trees and the sound of their own breathing, still others contemplate by a river with the eddies of water swirling by, carrying leaves and bits of wood to a destination hundreds of miles from where they sit.

For some - it is the beach - an ocean beach where the waves roll in one after another, pushing and pulling the gravel and sand and making whispering rattling sounds punctuated by the noise of the waves crashing and breaking on the shore.

I like going out at late at night and staring up at the stars and the moon and the planets.

All of us have our places of refuge, our places where we go to meet God and to allow him to minister to us in the midst of the beauty, and the quiet, and the loneliness.

We have a great sense of peace in these places, we can think - or even better - we can let go of thinking, and just sense the wonder and beauty of the moment, and then, sometime later, we return to our normal world, feeling more refreshed and stronger than we were than we left it.

This kind of retreat is marvellous - it is one of the ways - one of the important ways, in which we meet God.

Others ways exist of course - ways which involve other people - ways which are not quite as quiet - but which bring us into God's presence none-the-less.

Anyone who has ever seriously prayed with a group of fellow believers about matters that are of deep concern to them or those that they are with - anyone who has sat in a chair and had his brothers and sisters in the faith lay their hands on his head and shoulders and intercede for him - anyone who has gone to church for a number of years and kept her ears and eyes and heart open during the hymns and sermons and readings - anyone who has ever heard the scriptures read and then interpreted by a close friend has - as is promised to those who do these things - met God.

The interesting thing about all these encounters with God is that we are often seeking them...

We do something special.
We expend effort.
We set aside time.
We go somewhere that is different or out of the ordinary.
We seek out privacy - or the company of certain people.
We - as the old hymn goes - take time to be holy.

And that time makes us holy. Whether we feel it or not. Whether we are immediately aware of it or not. Whether we have a fantastic emotional experience or simply come away feeling that we have done "the right thing", we have sought God and we have received from God. We have met God.

But - what about where God meets us?

If we search for God - and I believe we all do at one time or another. If we search for God in special times and places. Where does God search for us? Where does God meet us?

A lot of us you know - do not think we have met God unless we FEEL that we have met him.

We gauge the success of our search for God, our meeting God, by whether or not we feel certain things.

We judge whether or not we have met the Lord, by whether or not we gain a sense of peace, by whether or not we have an emotional high - an emotional rush, by whether or not we have the Spirit send those marvellous chills and tingles up and down our backs.

And by those criteria - most of the time - even in those times when we seek God out in the special places and in the special ways we know about - we fail to meet him.

Life is not, after all, full of special times, full of special moments. Life is full of other stuff, it is full of routines, of ordinary things: we work, we eat, we sleep, we play and relax, we suffer and feel pain, we sorrow and grieve, we are insulted and injured, we struggle and fight against trials and tribulations.

In these ordinary times we are as well in ordinary places, at home, at work, in hospital, visiting with a friend, driving in our cars, standing in elevators, or sitting in a lobby or a meeting room.

What about these ordinary times, and these ordinary places, these times when we are not taking time to be holy, and those places where we do not expect to meet God but are actually getting on - or trying to get on - with living our lives?

Well - those are the times and the places where God meets us...

There was a TV commercial that played a fair bit a few years ago that I really enjoyed.

A fellow is setting up a blind date with a young woman over the telephone. They agree to meet at a certain street corner at a certain time and then she asks him "How will I know you". He replies "I'll be driving a Volkswagon". The next scene is at the street corner. He is standing by this sleek looking car and she comes wandering along looking for him - and goes right by him because parked just around the corner from him is a classic BEETLE or BUG.

Do any of you remember that Ad?

I remember it because that is kind of like us when it comes to God - we expect to meet God in a certain way - and we often end up missing His presence in our lives BECAUSE HE HAS COME TO MEET US - but he has done so, he has come to meet us, in a slightly different way - in a slightly different form or place - than that which we expect.

Blessed are the poor in Spirit - for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn - for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek - for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the those who hunger and thirst for righteousness - for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful - for they shall obtain mercy...
Blessed are the pure in heart...
Blessed are the peacemakers ...
Blessed are those who are persecuted falsely...

What these words mean is quite simply this:
Those who are living out their lives in faith; those who go about - seeking to do what is right; those who are able to feel their pain and express it; those who are trying to show mercy; those who are willing to accept insult and injury for the sake of doing what is right; those who seek to make peace; those who are walking humbly before God - are met by God.

God encounters them.
God inhabits them.
God strengthens them.
God rewards them.

They did not have reach out to God in some special manner, though that is what all of us are called to God, so that they might meet God. God comes to them, and meets them - where they are.

Some years back I knew a woman who was dying of cancer. She had struggled with the disease for quite some time. She went through radiation and chemotherapy and all the ills associated with both the disease and its treatment.

I asked her about how she felt about the whole ordeal and where it was surely leading her. She said that it was very difficult at times, she knew she was dying, but even so she felt an astonishing amount of peace and joy. When I asked her if she was scared of what was coming she replied "Why should I be afraid? I believe in God. I know where I came from and where I am going."

She was blessed and she felt it - and others knew it - even when they could not accept what she was suffering.... Blessed are the pure in heart.

I met a woman not so long ago who was the victim of child abuse. She had no real anger left, she understood what had happened - she did not like it - but she prayed for her father that he might prosper, that he might learn, that he might love better. At the time I met her she was helping her brother work on his relationship with her father - and she was helping.

She was a peace maker.- and she was blessed. God was with her. God met her in what she suffered and gave her a vision of himself..

I meet a lot of people who have lost someone - a lot of people who mourn.

The ones who do the worst - are the brave ones - the ones who refuse to let it get them down, the ones who "carry on" with a stiff upper lip - never seeking help, never seeking to understand what is really going on in their hearts..

The ones who do best - are the ones who feel their loss and express it, the ones who cry and get angry, the ones who really sense their loss and can talk about it. Always they are comforted, always - after the days in the tomb - they find new hope and new life

Blessed are they that mourn.

Similar things can be said about all the beatitudes. Similar stories can be told.

God meets us in ways we do not expect, at least those of us who think in the way of the world, rather in the way of God.

He meets us in our weakness, in our grief, in our hunger for salvation, in our attempt to do what is right, in our pain and suffering when we are persecuted.

He meets us in the cross that we share with Jesus.

Paul writes: about this in his letter to the Corinthians - he reminds us that God has chosen the way of foolishness - because in wisdom the world does not acknowledge God that he has chosen the way of weakness, because in strength the world does not accept God.

The proof that God meets us ultimately is found in us -

That proof is not found in our great visions and great moments of religious ecstasy, though these are wonderful things. It is found

in our growth in understanding,
in our increase in love,
in our acceptance and faith in the midst of continual tribulation,
in our doing of justice,
in our love of kindness,
in our humble walking,

Peace I give you, said Jesus - not as the world gives it do I give to it you.

We can go to meet God in many special ways and places and that is good - but know and celebrate this - God comes to meet us - in all ways and in all places. And all he asks us of us as he comes is that we trust and believe in his name. Praise be to him, now and forevermore. AMEN

Sunday, January 22, 2012

II Corinthians 5:16-21, Psalm 62, Mark 1:14-20

Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen

The very first words of Jesus when he met Simon Peter and his brother Andrew on the shores of the Sea of Galilee were "Follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men."

Most of you knew that before - and if you didn't - you heard them read today from the first chapter of the Gospel According to Mark.

But how many of you know what the last words of Jesus to Simon Peter were? Words also spoken down by the waters of the sea of Galilee - just before Jesus was taken up into heaven?

Yes - this is a bible test... something for you to think about - but to have mercy - I will give you the answer.

His very last words to Peter, words spoken just before he was taken up into heaven, words spoken after Peter and the others had been his daily companions for three years, were virtually the same as the first: "Feed my sheep, Follow me."

Our calling - the calling of every single person here - and the call that is extended to all of God's children is the same as that of Peter.

Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
Follow me and feed my sheep.

We have a twofold calling - you and I.

We are called to be disciples - to be ones who walk with Jesus and who learn from him and we are called to be apostles - to be ones who go forth, and in the particular way that God gifts us for, act as Christ's ambassadors in the world

- to be ones who allow Jesus to speak through us.
- to be ones who minister God's reconciling love to the world,
- to be one's who bring God's word of forgiveness and of hope, God's life giving word to all who need it.

A twofold calling.

The first aspect of our calling is to enter into a relationship with Jesus, that is one of complete and utter trust. To come to him as he asks us to come - and to give to him our weariness, our burdens, our anxieties - and to receive from him those things he wants to give us - peace, hope, joy, truth, love, strength, wisdom....To come to him - and to follow him - where-ever he leads - even if it be to a cross. To come to him and to learn from him. To come to him and to live in him - and have him live in us. To come to him and to be made new by him and in him.

This is not easy.

It is not easy

- not because Christ is unable to bear our burdens and to give us rest,
- nor because Jesus does not have the power to make us new and turn us into the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

It is not easy because it demands of us more than most people are willing to give.

It demands discipline, single-mindedness, a determination to indeed make Christ the centre of our lives.

It demands of us the resolve to do those things that our Lord asks us to do, to go where-ever our Lord leads us - even if that involves leaving behind things precious and dear to us - even if that involves doing things we think we can't do - or wish that we would not have to do.

In certain church circles there is a story told about Dr. George Darby who
served as a missionary Doctor for over 45 years.

"I hope that no one will ever say to me that I stuck it out here", Darby said at a retirement party way back in 1959. "It was a privilege, and I thank you."

When Doctor Darby graduated from Medical School in 1914 his professors recognized in him a great deal of surgical skill and tried to persuade him to take up a lucrative practice in the city, but he was determined to minister in Christ's name and out of his love for a people who needed someone to care.

And he did - in tiny fishing and logging camps and Indian villages, and under conditions that were frequently harsh and almost always uncomfortable.

Compare that to the choices some people make.

Compare it to those folk who can't even spend a hour or so a week at worship or three or four hours a week helping children or youth learn about or experience the love of God because these activities take place at the same time as mahjong games or might interfere with a favourite TV show, or some money making activities.

The benefits, my friends, of the Christian life, can only come if we actually live the Christian life, if we actually follow Christ where he went and learn and do what Christ taught and did.

Christ prayed every day - indeed he prayed continually. Christ went to the synagogue to worship and to learn every week. And Christ allowed his meals to be interrupted and his time of relaxation to be interfered with by the hungry, the crippled, and the needy.

Does this few, relatively little things I have lifted up, describe our lives? In whole? Or even in part.

Discipleship involves discipline.

No one, as Paul puts it in another place in his letter to the Corinthians can win the prize if he doesn't run the race. No one can receive the crown of victory - if he doesn't persevere to the end of the course.

Or as Jesus said - "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other."

Jesus spoke those words about choosing between God and Money. But they apply to every area of our lives. We either serve God - we either follow Christ - or we follow after the desires of our own hearts.

Our call to be disciples and our life as disciples is perhaps best described as a choice - a choice between living like everybody else, or living in the way Christ shows how to live: living in the way of the cross - knowing that the this will lead us as well to the resurrection.

Peter and Andrew, James and John and all the rest were told over and over again by Jesus that they must chose and that all who would follow him must choose: that they must chose between seeking to save their lives - between pursuing their own desires and wants - and the cross, his cross.

We sang about that choice a few minutes ago:

Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world's golden store from each idol that would keep us, "saying Christian, love me more". In our joys and in our sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease, still he calls, in cares and pleasures, "Christian love me more than these"

Our Apostleship flows forth from our discipleship.

Those who are called to follow are also sent forth, they are given a ministry - what Paul calls the ministry of reconciliation, and told variously to feed Christ's sheep, to fish for men, to be Christ's Ambassadors, to allow God to make his appeal to all humankind through us.

This is not a hard thing - though it may involve hardships. This is not a difficult thing - though it may involve difficulties.

It - as I said - flows forth from our discipleship; it flows forth from the fact that as we follow Jesus we are made new in him, - by his power we are equipped and made ready to do all that we are called to do, - we are made to be, as Paul puts it in our epistle reading today, "the righteousness of God" - we are made to be people who embody the saving love of God - and who share it.

When we join God's team - when we follow Christ day by day, God equips us, God empowers us, God uses us, God supports us, God helps us.

We are all called to the ministry of reconciliation. And we are all equipped to discharge that ministry.

We are made, by the power of Christ within us, to be the salt of the earth. We are made, by our daily choosing to follow Christ, the light of the world.

All of us are called - each in our own way - to follow and to serve. All of us are called - each in our own way - to be made new in Christ - and to allow Christ to speak through us, to allow God to act within us and to reach out and touch others using our hands - our hearts - our words.

When we follow Christ, when we learn from him and obey him, when we allow him to come in and live in us and then go out and carry him to the world, great things happen - no matter who we think we are - or who others might think us to be.

Rick Warren, in the book "The Purpose Driven Church" writes:

Small ministries often make the greatest difference. The most important light in my home is not the large chandelier in our dining room, but the little nightlight that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up to use the bathroom at night. It's small, but it's more useful to me than the show-off light."

In the dark night of the soul that our friends, our neighbours, our co-workers, might be experiencing, the light we have because we are disciples of Christ - because we are followers in his way - might be the most important thing in their lives.

We are called to let it shine.

Our Christian life revolves around two poles

- discipleship - following Christ
- and apostleship - carrying Christ into the world.

May you indeed be fully resolved to follow him and live up to your calling as fishers of men, as ones who feed his sheep.

May His Name be praised day by day. Amen.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Isaiah 9:1-4, Psalm 27; I Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

When Christ called the first disciples he set himself a task - the task of making them into fishermen.

"As he walked by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea - for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "follow me, I will make you fish for people."

That is what God wants us all to do.

- It's what Jesus did - in Galilee and in Samaria and in Jordan and Judea and Jerusalem,
- And it's what we are supposed to do - in Wanchai, in Central, in Shumshuipo and in Mongkok.

We are supposed to fish for people, to seek to bring them into that great net known as the Kingdom of God - into that creel known as salvation, as redemption, as everlasting peace.

But are we? Are we fishing that is? And if we are fishing - who are we fishing for?

For God and God's glory?
For the sake of those we talk to each day?

Or for ourselves and for the sake of those people to whom we are loyal - albeit in a worldly way?

There is so much power that flows when you witness to the love of God - when you share with others what it does for you and what it can do for them - when you have a chance to engage someone who is troubled, or curious, or hungry, and bring them before the one who can sooth their pain, satisfy their yearnings, and feed their soul.

I was talking to someone the other day whose father is an alcoholic. He was sharing with me how his family coped with the problem - and naturally Alcoholics Anonymous came up in the conversation. From that it was but a short step to the concept of the Higher Power which is at the heart of that program - and then to the concept of believing that the Higher Power can help you with your problem and that one should surrender to that Power - to "Let go and let God."

What a prescription for life that is - and how wonderful it was to be able to share it - as any believing person is able to share it - whether or not they have read through the AA program.

It was wonderful to be able to share with someone that God ready and able to help them.

There is power in witnessing - in sharing one's faith - in being a person who fishes for people, because there is power in the message and power in the God the message is about.

But sometimes we don't experience that - most often - perhaps - we don't experience that.

We don't experience the power and we don't succeed at the task of fishing for people - indeed most often we don't even begin that task, because we are involved with and committed to the wrong stuff.

Although every one of us believes in God - our energy - our focus - is all too often fixed elsewhere.

It is as if we belonged to another - and indeed we often do. We often belong to other things - to other people - to other teams - and God gets the short end.

But my friends, when God gets the short end from us, so do the people around us, so do our families, so does our church, and so do we ourselves.

When Paul wrote his First Letter to the Corinthians there were a lot of problems in the congregation.

There was arrogance, there was pride, there was indifference. There was gluttony and laziness and intolerance, and there was depression, and anger, and despair. And it all tracked itself down to one simple fact - the people in the congregation at Corinth had fixed their focus on themselves and on one another instead of fixing it on Christ and on the power of his cross.

That's not to suggest that the Corinthians never paid attention to God - or that they totally ignored Jesus. Far from it. It's simply to say that most of their attention went elsewhere.

Instead of using the gospel as a filter by which to see the world around them and of asking God at each moment of decision to direct their words and their actions - they fell into their old routines, routines that are programmed into us by our genes and by the expectations that others have of us and by our own reluctance to really trust God for everything.

They relied upon the teachings of others for their own understanding of the gospel. They formed loyalties with those who first showed them the love of God and quite naturally they defended those teachers when questioned about them. And because their was a contrary spirit in Corinth, they soon began to quarrel about who was better and who was worse - some saying Paul, others Apollos, and still others Cephas, and even some entered the fray saying that they belong to the party Christ and that he was, and therefore they were, better.

In short the Corinthians missed the point of what the gospel is all about and instead of knowing the joy and the peace that comes with the fellowship of the faithful - instead of being powerful in their witness and being able to catch people for God - their congregational life collapsed and their sense of well being evaporated.

People complained about each other and about their leadership, they became confused about what was right and wrong, and they bickered about issues that made no sense to then and even less now.

The King James Version of the Bible says that problems at Corinth could be traced to the believers there having a party spirit.

When I was younger I used to joke around a bit and say that this meant that the Corinthians stayed up too late and drank and danced a bit too much - that they played even more than they worked - but really it is no joking matter.

The Corinthians placed their loyalty in things other than the things of God - in persons other than the person of Jesus Christ, and they suffered because of it

- they suffered a loss of power
- they suffered a loss of love
- they suffered a loss of joy in believing and in sharing.

The Corinthians did this

- they misplaced their loyalty
- they missed the point of the gospel
- they formed up into party, cliques, and factions, not because they were wicked or mean or stupid, but because they looked elsewhere and forgot what they were to be about, because, most of all, they forgot who they believed in and what who they believed in was, and is, about.

The effective Christian life is based on three simple facts

- the fact that God loves us unconditionally,
- the fact that apart from God we can do nothing that is worthwhile,
- and the fact that God is pleased to work through us if we allow him to, and around us if we will not.

Sometimes we look out upon our families, upon our congregation, or upon our club or lodge, or upon our place of employment and we say to ourselves

- "things would be better if only Joe would cut x and y out", or
- "if only Wai Ching would do this or that everything would be fine".

Who hasn't heard the old song that is sung by close to everyone

if only my father hadn't been so stern,
if only my parents hadn't gotten divorced
if only my mother had been more affectionate,
if only my high secondary had a better program
if only my boss wasn't such a boob.

Who do we belong to? What holds onto us because we hold on to it?

Do you look out and assign blame for what problems exist upon some people - and apportion credit for what good is happening to still others instead of alternately - either asking God to work through you to make things better or thanking God for making things as fine as they are.

Too many judge things, too many judge people just as they always used to instead of judging them by the standard show them by Christ when he went to the cross for them

We prefer our friends to our enemies quite naturally.
We prefer our comfort to our discomfort quite naturally.
We would rather fit in than stand out.
We would rather be praised than be criticized, and we would rather be served than serve - all quite naturally.

But we are not meant to be natural people any longer - we are meant to be the children of God - to be a spiritual people who live by spiritual principles to be a people who live by the power of the cross of Christ rather than a people who live by the ways of the world.

Do you recall what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar place?

Sometimes a night light glows down the hall, providing a small amount of light, of security, against the darkness of the night. Sometimes a light has been left on in the den down the hall and its steady glow allows you to navigate safely when you have rise to raid the fridge or do what is necessary. And that's great.

But what foolishness it would be if you got up, as you do when you are at home, and, ignoring the fact of whether there is any light on or not, you try to navigate your way to the kitchen or the bathroom by making all the usual twist and turns. It's a sure fire way to experience some form of pain - I mean think of what happens if someone simply moves something in your home without telling you about it, if for some reason they leave the seat up instead of down, or some other unexpected thing...

But we do this all the time - in a metaphorical sense at least.

We forget that we have been called to a new way of living, and that we are meant to navigate our way through our new life by the light that God provides rather than by our old channel markers.

Do you have a problem - don't worry about fixing blame - check out the possible solutions in the word of God. Do we have something that is hampering our life together - let not accuse one another - lets pray together and then let's work the works that God calls us to, both individually and collectively.

The church at Corinth was a weak church.

It was weak because the people there forgot that they were called to a new way of life. It was weak because they forgot that the true and only real source of transforming and healing power comes from the cross of Jesus Christ. And it was weak because they forgot that their sole and only task as his followers was to show his love to others - that they were to live in such a manner and to speak in such a manner that others might be touched by God - that others might know the lure - the attraction - the wonder of God through us -and so be moved to claim Christ as their own.

I started this message today by saying we are supposed to fish for people, to seek to bring them into that great net known as the Kingdom of God into that creel known as salvation, as redemption - as everlasting peace.

That is, my friends, the central calling of every disciple and every apostle, and every teacher, and every evangelist, and indeed of everyone who bears the name of Christ.

And it is a wonderful calling

- a calling in which we have the privilege of witnessing God at work,
- a calling in which we are shown a portion of the love and the joy that exists in heaven.

Turn to Christ and place your allegiance in his person, your focus on his cross, your energy on his work, and all that God has in mind for you will be yours in this life as well as in the next.

Blessed Be God, Day by Day, Amen

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40; I Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

The scripture readings for today are each so rich.

We have the prophet Isaiah declaring how the promised one - was called from his mother's womb to be the one who brings salvation to the people of Israel - and more - who is appointed to be a light to the gentiles.

It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

And we have Paul speaking to people of Corinth - to the believers in that city - and saying that they will be kept strong and blameless till the time of the promised one's return - strong through the spiritual gifts that God has poured out on Christ's people through the Holy Spirit - and blameless because of the what Christ has done for us on the cross.

Very rich readings indeed. As is today's Gospel lesson with it's account of the testimony that John the Baptist makes about Jesus - and it's description of how Andrew (for whom this church is named) first visited with Jesus and then, on the following day, brought his brother - Simon Peter - to meet Jesus.

Today I want to focus mainly on the gospel lesson - and within that - mainly upon part of the testimony that John the Baptist made about Jesus on two separate days. The first part.

"Look" said John on the first day, pointing to Jesus as Jesus draws near to him and his disciples "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

And on the second day John again says to his disciples as Jesus approaches. "Look, the Lamb of God".

What does John the Baptist mean when he calls Jesus the Lamb of God? What is a Lamb of God - that Jesus could be called "The Lamb of God?

Is John referring to the thousands of lambs that were sacrificed daily at the temple in Jerusalem? Those lambs whose blood was spilled as a means of connecting the people with God? Those lambs whose death expressed the worshippers' acknowledgement of God's power over life and death?

The lambs that were sacrificed at the temple each day died as a way of thanking God for the abundance of the harvest, for the increase in the people's herds and flocks, and as a thank offering for the birth of a new child.

The time of sacrifice was a time of communion

- of communion between those who came to worship as the law required
- and of communion between them and God.

The flesh of the lamb was consumed by the worshippers and by the priests who offered the sacrifices. Much as we do today as we gather to commune with God and to thank God for being our God - prayers were said, psalms were sung, scripture was read, and the people affirmed by their presence and by their offering that they were the children of God and brothers and sisters to one another.

Is it these lambs of thanksgiving - of communion that John refers to when he calls Jesus 'The Lamb of God'?

Or is John referring to another kind of lamb - to the Passover Lamb, that lamb that every household in Israel slaughtered each year and whose blood was then painted on the doorposts of their homes as a way of remembering the first Passover - that time when the angel of the Lord passed over the homes of the children of Israel as they suffered in slavery in Egypt and struck down the first born of their taskmasters?

The flesh of the Passover Lamb was entirely consumed on the night of the Passover - thus commemorating the strength that God gave the people to make their escape from bondage in Egypt - an escape that led them to the land of promise - to the land where God would give to them - in abundance - every good thing they needed.

Which kind of lamb is 'The Lamb of God'?

We believe that it is both kinds of lambs - but in particular - we believe that it is the Passover Lamb that John the Baptist had in mind - that Lamb whose blood signified that those who sheltered behind it were to be spared death and given new life in a new land.

But when John points at Jesus and says "behold the lamb of God" - he says something more about Jesus than the images of the Passover Lamb and the Lambs of Thanksgiving might suggest to us. He says that this person, this Lamb of God, provided by God's own hands, does more than simply spare the lives of his chosen people and help to bring them to the promised land.

He is saying that this particular lamb - this particular person - has been given by God to take away the sins of the whole world.

Sin, as every child of Israel knew, leads to death.
Permanent Death.
Final Death.
Caput.
Fini.

That is - indeed the point of the story of Adam and Eve - who upon eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - come under the sentence of death. And that is the message of the story of Noah and the flood and the message of every prophet sent by God to the people of Israel.

Sin leads to death. Not just for the people that God has chosen - but for all humankind.

As the Apostle Paul so simply puts it in his letter to the Romans "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"

What John is indicating when he points to Jesus and says "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" is that this man - this Jesus - is the one promised by Isaiah and so many of the other prophets: that he is the one who is sent by God to bring salvation to the ends of the earth - the one who will free all people from slavery to sin and reconnect them to the perfect and holy God who created and austains us.

He is saying that Jesus will free all people from the sentence of death, not just those people God chose at the beginning to be his people - and he is giving to those who hear him - to his own disciples - an indication of how that would come about, namely by the offering of his body and his blood.

Just as the Passover lamb is slain so that it's blood may cause death to pass by the homes of the children of Israel and it's flesh may sustain the people as they escape from their bondage, and just as lambs in the temple were killed so that the prayers of thanksgiving and dedication might be heard by God and so that the people might rejoice and eat together, so the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the World will offer his body and his blood for us - and to us - once and for all.

From the time of his baptism by John, Jesus is led like a lamb to his eventual slaughter in Jerusalem.

His teachings and his healings, the miracles he works and the journeys that he makes during his ministry entire ministry, leads to one moment - his sacrifice on the cross.

"Here is the Lamb of God" we say, as we stand stunned, watching our Saviour's blood drain from his body for our salvation.

Here is one who was unblemished - one who was with out sin - an innocent one taking upon himself the punishment that should be ours; giving his life that we may have life.

As all the saints and the angels in heaven say

"Worthy is the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!"

A tourist visited a church in Germany and was surprised to see the carved figure of a lamb near the top of the church's tower.

He asked why it was there and was told that when the church was being built, a workman fell from a high scaffold. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was alive and only slightly injured.

How did he survive? A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at the time, and he landed on top of a lamb. The lamb broke his fall and was crushed to death, but the man was saved.

To commemorate that miraculous escape, someone carved a lamb on the tower at the exact height from which the workman fell.

That expresses a tiny bit of what it means when John says "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" The sense indicated by Isaiah with his promise of one "who will bring salvation to the ends of the earth".

And with it's visible symbol, the carving on the bell tower that gives testimony to what happened, it expresses a tiny bit of another important part of the Gospel reading today - that of John calling out to his own disciples - and to all those who would hear his voice: "Look - the Lamb of God."

As you know it was because John the Baptist said "look" that Andrew and another disciple - most likely the Apostle John - turned and followed Jesus and became excited by what they experienced with him and became his disciples.

And it was because of Andrew telling his brother Simon "We have found the Messiah" and then bringing Simon to him - that Simon became Peter - the Rock of the Church.

I call you to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Like John the Baptist, I do not want you to follow me

- I want you to follow the one who gives everyone who comes to him life and that abundantly.
- I want you to follow the innocent one, the pure one, the one of God and from God who offered himself as the unblemished sacrifice for our sins, once and for all.

I want you to follow Jesus and have the angel of the Lord's judgement pass over your house and for you to escape from bondage and enter the promised land.

And more - I want you to be like John - and Andrew - and Simon Peter - and every disciple since.

I want you to call to those who trust you and to those who will hear your voice - I want you to call to them and say "look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is still with us - to make us free and to make us holy and to give us eternal life"

There is not one of us who does not need to draw closer to the Lamb of God. There is not one of us who does not need to come to Jesus and be cleansed and forgiven and given life. There is not one of us who does not need to experience Jesus and his transforming love on a deeper basis - day by day.

The Lamb of God my friends is here - here in the book we read, here in the songs we sing and the prayers that we pray, here in the love that we share and the forgiveness we grant in his name, here in the laughter and here too in the pain. He is here in the Spirit that God poured out upon the world in response to his sacrifice.

He is here - and he is in heaven above interceding for and protecting his people and calling to all the world to come and be healed.

Blessed be his name - now and forevermore. Amen.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Isaiah 63:7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2:10-18; Matthew 2:13-23

Today I wish to share with you a wonderful Christmas tale written by Raymond MacDonald Alden many years ago. It is a story that is delightful and warm and I pray that you may be blessed by it as have many others. It is called "Why the Bells Chimed".

There was once, in a far-away country where few people have ever travelled, a wonderful church. It stood on a high hill in the centre of a great city; and every Sunday, as well as on sacred days like Christmas, thousands of people climbed the hill to its great archways, looking like lines of ants all moving in the same direction.

When you came to the building itself, you found stone columns and dark passageways, and a grand entrance leading to the main room of the church. This room was so long that one standing at the door-way could scarcely see to the other end, where the choir stood by the large altar. In the farthest corner was the organ, and this organ was so loud that sometimes when it played, the people for miles around would close their shutters and prepare for a great thunderstorm. Altogether, no such church as this was ever seen before, especially when it was lighted up for some festival, and crowded with people, young and old.

But the strangest thing about the old building was the wonderful chime of bells. At one corner of the church was a great, grey tower, with ivy growing over it as far up as one can see. I say as far as one can see because the tower was quite grand enough to fit the grand church, and it rose so far into the sky that it was only in fair weather that anyone claimed to be able to see the top. Even then one could not be certain that it was in sight. Up and up climbed the stones and the ivy, and, as the men who built the church had been dead for hundreds of years, everyone had forgotten how high the tower was supposed to be.

Now, all the people knew that at the top of the tower was a chime of Christmas bells. They had hung there ever since the church had been built, and were the most beautiful bells in the world. Some thought it was because a great musician had cast them and arranged them in their place; others said it was because of the great height, which reached up where the air was cleanest and purest. However that might be, no one who had ever heard the chimes denied that they were the sweetest in the world. Some described them as sounding like angels far up in the sky; others, as sounding like strange winds singing through the trees.

But the fact was that no one had heard them for years and years. There was an old man living not far from the church who said that his mother had spoken of hearing them when she was a little girl, and he was the only one who was sure of as much as that. They were Christmas chimes, you see, and were not meant to be played by men or on common days. It was the custom on Christmas Eve for all the people to bring to the church their offerings to the Christ- child; and when the greatest and best offering was laid on the altar, there used to come sounding through the music of the choir the Christmas chimes far up in the tower. Some said that the wind rang them, and others that they were so high that the angels could start them swinging. But for many years they had never been heard.

It was said that people were growing less careful of their gifts for the Christ-child, and that no offering was brought great enough to deserve the music of the chimes. Every Christmas Eve the rich people still crowded to the altar, each one trying to bring some gift better than any other, without giving anything he wanted for himself, and the church was crowded with those who thought that perhaps the wonderful bells might be heard again. But although the services were splendid and the offerings plenty, only the roar of the wind could be heard, far up in the stone tower.

Now, a number of miles from the city, in a little country village where nothing could be seen of the tower when the weather was fine, lived a boy named Pedro, and his little brother. They knew very little about the Christmas chimes, but they had heard of the service in the church on Christmas Eve, and had a secret plan, which they had often talked over when by themselves, to go and see the beautiful celebration.

"Nobody can guess, Little Brother," Pedro would say, "all the fine things there are to see and hear; and I have even heard it said that the Christ-child sometimes comes down to bless the service. What if we could see Him!"

The day before Christmas was bitterly cold, with a few lonely snowflakes flying in the air, and a hard white crust on the ground. Sure enough, Pedro and Little Brother were able to slip quietly away, early in the afternoon; and although the walk was hard in the frosty air, before nightfall they had trudged so far, hand in hand, that they saw the lights of the big city just ahead of them. Indeed, they were about to enter one of the great gates in the wall that surrounded it when they saw something dark on the snow near the path, and stepped aside to look at it.

It was a poor woman who had fallen just outside the city, too sick and tired to get in where she might have found shelter. The soft snow made of a drift a sort of pillow for her, and she would soon be so sound asleep in the wintry air that no one could ever waken her again. All this Pedro saw in a moment, and he knelt down beside her and tried to rouse her, even tugging at her arm a little as though he would have tried to carry her away. He turned her face toward him so that he could rub some of the snow on it, and when he had looked at her silently a moment, he stood up again and said:

"It's no good, Little Brother. You will have to go on alone."

"Alone?" cried Little Brother, "And you not see the Christmas Festival?"

"No," said Pedro, and he could not keep back a bit of the choking sound in his throat. "See this poor woman. She will freeze to death if nobody cares for her. Everyone has gone to the church now, but when you come back you can bring someone to help her. I will rub her to keep her from freezing, and perhaps get her to eat the bun that is left in my pocket."

"But I cannot bear to leave you, and go on alone," said Little Brother.

"Both of us need not miss the service," said Pedro, "and it had better be I than you. You can easily find your way to the church; and you must see and hear everything twice, Little Brother, once for you and once for me. I am sure the Christ-child must know how I should love to come with you and worship Him; and oh! if you get a chance Little Brother to slip up to the altar without getting in anyone's way, take this little silver piece of mine, and lay it down for my offering when no one is looking. Don't forget where you have left me, and forgive me for not going with you."

In this way he hurried Little Brother off to the city, and winked hard to keep back the tears as he heard the crunching footsteps sounding farther and farther away in the twilight. It was pretty hard to lose the music and splendour of the Christmas celebration that he had been planning for so long, and spend the time instead in that lonely place in the snow.

The great church was a wonderful place that night. Everyone said that it had never looked so bright and beautiful before. When the organ played and the thousands of people sang, the walls shook with the sound and little Pedro, outside the city wall, felt the earth tremble around him, for the sound was so great.

At the close of the service came the procession with offerings to be laid on the altar. Rich men and great men marched proudly up to lay down their gifts to the Christ-child. Some brought wonderful jewels, some baskets of gold so heavy that they could scarcely carry them down the aisle. A great writer laid down a book that he had been making for years and years.

And last of all walked the king of the country, hoping with all the rest to win for himself the chime of the Christmas bells. There went a great murmur through the church as the people saw the king take from his head the royal crown, all set with precious stones, and lay it gleaming on the altar as his offering to the holy Child. "Surely." everyone said, "we shall hear the bells now, for nothing like this has ever happened before."

But still only the cold old wind was heard in the tower, and the people shook their heads, and some of them said, as they had before, that they never really believed the story of the chimes, and doubted if they ever rang at all.

The procession was over, and the choir began the closing hymn. Suddenly the organist stopped playing as though he had been shot, and everyone looked at the old minister who was standing by the altar holding up his hand for silence. Not a sound could be heard from anyone in the church, but as all the people strained their ears to listen there came softly, but distinctly swinging through the air, the sound of the chimes in the tower. So far away and yet so clear the music seemed - so much sweeter were the notes than anything that had been heard before, rising and falling away up there in the sky, that the people in the church sat for a moment as still as though something held each of them by the shoulders. Then they all stood up together and stared straight at the altar to see what great gift had awakened the long-silent bells.

But all that the nearest of them saw was the childish figure of Little Brother, who had crept softly down the aisle when no one was looking, and had laid Pedro's little piece of silver on the altar......

May His Name be praised day by day! Amen.