Let us Pray: Breathe on us, O God, that we may be filled with your Spirit - and led by your living word - Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless the word of my lips and the meditations of our hearts. We ask it in his name. Amen.
Over the last three weeks we have heard Matthew retell a series of the parables of Jesus. This Sunday we end this series - with five of those parables
The first two parables use the images of mustard seed and yeast. Both describe how, from small, almost invisible beginnings, great things will come.
In the second group of parables we see God's realm is described as a treasure hidden in a field, something that brings about life-changing joy when it is discovered - and when we are prepared to sell everything we own to obtain it.
We see the kingdom of God described as being like a pearl of great price - a thing of great beauty, for which the merchant will give up all other pearls - so he or she may purchase it.
The final parable in this set describes the kingdom of God as being like a great net that catches all kinds of fish - which are then sorted out according to their quality - with the good ones being kept safe for the use of the Master and the bad ones being tossed away.
Finally Jesus tells his disciples how to respond to the Good News that he has just proclaimed. He tells them that those who are students of the Scriptures - those who study them diligently AND become disciples of the kingdom of God - will bring out treasures both old and new from the storeroom of heaven.
What to make of all this?
For me these parables speaks strongly about the nature of faith and what it does - and about the nature of God and what he does, and, as usual, God does far more than we normally give God credit for.
Jesus says in the first two parables that the smallest faith, the smallest seed of God, the tiny bit of the yeast of righteousness can transform itself and those things in contact with it - and so change the world.
As Jesus said at another time "If we have faith as small as mustard seed we can say to the mountains be removed - and it will remove itself."
Think of it
- just a little seed - from which can come a mighty bush.
- just a little leaven - and we can change the entire loaf.
When I was pastoring on the island of Peng Chau a few years back I met a man in one of the local restaurant one day. I was having a dimn sum meal like many Chinese people love to do, and eating tea at the same time - Chinese people drink a lot of tea in a year.
Anyway I was enjoying my dim sum meal and my nice hot green tea - and I met this man who lived in the Peng Chau community, but I, and many others in the church, really didn't know him - though he knew us - you know how it goes.
As we talked he asked me - "You're the Minister at the church on the island are you not?"
I told him that I was. And then I invited him to come out and give the church a try.
"Well", he said, "I don't really know. I haven't been to church for a long time. But I'll think about it for sure."
"What the heck", I said, "Just come and enjoy it - there's always room for one more sinner. That's what it is all about. We have all kinds of sinners at our church"
The next Sunday the man showed up at the church all by himself (his wife and children were in the Philippines. As he said, he hadn't been to church regularly for a long time. He hadn't felt right about himself. He didn't think God was too pleased with him. He was uncomfortable in the places where he used to feel at ease. --- That's how it is for a person when things aren't right - and to be frank - they aren't right quite a bit of the time for a whole lot of people.
But God calls us back - and he works with the tiniest seeds - the small bit of faith we have - and the littlest bit of His Word - whatever he can sneak right by all a person's guilt and anxiety and remorse and worldly busyness and plant.
For that man - the word that the church was full of sinners was all he needed to hear - for the seed of faith he had told him that churches that welcomed sinners would welcome him.
Nothing can stop the growing of the seed because the Power of God is in the seed. Nothing can prevent the leaven from spreading because The Power of God is in the leaven.
In God's kingdom the smallest and the least significant things have incredible power; the incredible power to affect the largest and most significant things and transform them.
From the small amount of yeast that represented that man's faith - the man I met in the local tea shop; and from the small seed of welcoming truth - the small seed of God that God let me plant that day, has come a mighty bush - or to switch parables - a mighty tasty loaf.
Today my tea drinking friend is an elder of another church on that island. And he is helping lead a revival there - a time of awakening - within the congregation - and - as is always the case when God's spirit is involved - without it.
Revival it is said "always begins with me" Something awakens in us - something gets us on fire - and suddenly marvellous things are happening - not only to us - but to those we come into contact with.
God takes a seed - he plants it - and slowly, but surely growth comes - until suddenly everyone notices it - we notice it and other people notice it in us.
The mustard seed is the word of the kingdom of God - the word of truth - the word that points the way to the living reality of God in Christ among us. And the yeast is the word that grows within us - the faith that rises up because that is the nature that God gave it - that rises up and makes new - that brings to life - that revives.
And praise God - I have seen a planting - and I have seen a sprouting - and now others, like the birds of the air - are suddenly frequent visitors because of that which God has wrought - people build their spiritual homes on the branches of faith that my tea drinking friend has produced because he listened to and held onto the word which came his way.
Which brings me to the next two parables.
In the next two parables Jesus calls us to treasure the message we have discovered in the field of life, to do everything to hold onto the wonder working seed and the miraculous yeast that we find, - or which finds us - for who can predict just how and why we would ever stumble upon treasure buried in the middle of a field? Or just how and why a pearl of tremendous beauty might come our way, even if we are merchants who deal in such things?
There has been many a pastor and many a faithful Christian in the pew - who have let go of the treasure - and whose joy and delight in God - and whose trust and confidence in God - has been not as tremendously beautiful as it once was.
We all know the facts of life. When a person finds something of great value he or she has a decision to make - to obtain that treasure - no matter what the cost - or to be content with the treasure that he or she already has.
Often what we do - is obtain the treasure - and then let it go.
We exchange it for lesser things - things that seem important at the time or maybe we just allow events to overwhelm us - so that the great treasure is once again buried in the field of our life.
And then, to mix up the parables of Jesus, we suddenly come to our senses and return home to our Father; we decide to repurchase the pearl; to once again lay claim to the treasure.
Hopefully we are not too late.
There is a word from God for us - a touch of the Spirit for us - an event for us - a person who comes to us for us - that is worth everything we have - So says Jesus!
Don't let it go by. Pick up - hold on to it - don't let go. It is a saving thing that makes all of one's life worthwhile.
The value of what God has given to us freely through his law and his prophets, the value of what God has buried in our hearts and our minds for us to find, what God has brought to us in the person of Christ and pours out upon us through his Spirit, is beyond everything. When we grasp it.
The challenge for us is to grasp it - to not only recognize what we see and hear as being important; but to take action - to hold on to it - to give everything we have for it - to stand - and then walk - and then run if need be - to that place where we can claim full ownership of it.
Hold on to the seeds cast your way - let them germinate - nurture them.
Take the yeast out of its container and risk losing it all by putting all of it into the dough of your life.
Sell everything and buy the whole field - get the pearl - and watch what happens.
What will happen is great. You'll be attacked and assaulted by doubters and naysayers. But you will see better things than you have seen before - and you will know a love and show a love that the people who live in the world can only dream about it.
Which flows into the last parable - the parable of the net - and of the judgement that comes once the net is drawn and landed on the shore of heaven.
God casts his net to catch us all - he gives us all a chance to be his - he reaches out to us - he seeks us - and as the parables we have looked at over the last three weeks - and the stories I have told indicate - he goes to great lengths to make us into the kind of catch he wants. He is patient with us. He allows the weeds to grow so that the wheat is not uprooted - he changes what appears to be beyond hope into something that is worthy of praise.
But still there is a time when the catch is landed and sorted for market, when the field is harvested and the wheat and the weeds are separated.
And God calls to heed the approaching of that time - to number our days - to have a holy fear - so that we might acquire a heart of wisdom.
What God has made good lasts forever. It is valued by the maker.
What turns out bad - and refuses to be reworked - revived - refashioned - by the Maker, perishes.
And so it should be.
"Do you understand all these things", Jesus asked his disciples when he finished speaking. "Do you understand what I have been telling you"
"Yes", they said, "We do."
So he told them "Every student of the Scriptures who becomes a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like someone who brings out new and old treasures from the storeroom."
There is a difference here drawn between being a student and being a disciple, between learning about something or knowing something and then actually doing it, between taking a stand and actually standing, and it is an important difference.
The one who becomes a disciple, the one not only learns about Christ, but who actually follows Christ, is one who discovers an abundance of treasure - treasure that is both old and new - and who displays it all for others to see, who values it all - and wants all the world to see it all.
In changing times it is good to know that the followers of Christ embrace what has gone by and recognize that which has just come has value as well.
There are so many treasures that God has sent our way - so many to value and embrace and hold up - the old law and the prophets with their guidance and their grace and the new law written in the heart by the Spirit of God, - the old rituals with their ability to calm and quieten the heart so that we may meet God, and the new ones which can energize and make fresh a tired soul, - the great grandmother with the wisdom of her age worn like a mantle upon her shoulders and the smallest child with his or her tremendous ability - born of innocence - to see God where no one else can.
God's treasure, it is said in Scripture, is contained in earthen vessels, in perishable - very mortal containers - and so the disciples of Christ value one another - and what they have to offer - whether it be old or new or in between.
There is a great mercy spoken of in all the parables we have heard. A great love, a great power, a great God, are pointed to in them.
It is worth everything and when embraced - leads to everything of importance in this world and in the next.
Blessed be God - day by day. Amen
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Genesis 28:10-19a, Psalm 139; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43a
Bless, O God, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts, that they be of profit to us and acceptable to thee, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said "Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it!"
Over the years I have met and become friends with people whom others would consider but little better than the devil himself.
I have known murderers, cheats, thieves, and adulterers, and I have come to one conclusion about all these people who have crossed my path, and that conclusion is that you cannot know what is going to come next, nor can you pin down just where God is and what he is about.
I want you to hold onto that thought today - I want you to hold onto it when you meet people that strike you as evil, and I want you to hold onto it when you feel that you yourselves are out of reach of God. I want you to hold onto it when you watch the television news and when you walk into in a court room to face a judge. I want you to hold onto it when you see the neighbourhood gossip doing her rounds, and I want to hold onto when you encounter an unscrupulous salesman doing his pitch.
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about.
This is the message of Jacob's story - the Jacob who cheated his brother and stole his birthright - the Jacob who fled to do his father's bidding fled not because he was particularly obedient - but because he feared that he would be killed if he stayed at home.
And as he fled he came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, he took a stone of the place and put it under his head and lay down, and he slept - and he dreamed - and in that dream God came to him - God came to him who was tired and fearful, to him who was alone and thought that he was loved by none except his mother - God came to him who was a cheat and a rascal and goodness knows what else, and God gave to him a vision of a staircase reaching into heaven, of a ladder upon which the angels ascended and descended to do God's bidding and as Jacob looked upon this scene God gave him a promise, the promise made to his grandfather Abraham and to his father Isaac, saying "know that I am with you - and will keep you wherever you go, that I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
And Jacob awoke - and he said - and catch this line - he said "Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it!"
Does that fit your experience?
Have you ever been in God's presence and hardly noticed it? Have you ever suddenly realized that God had been with you long before you knew he was there? Have you ever been in exile or in fear only to discover God coming to your aid? Have you ever had your picture of someone completely painted only to discover that the light has shifted - that the person you thought you saw - has completely changed? Changed for the better? Have you ever painted a picture of yourself - a picture in which the colours are all blue - all depressed - all unloveable - only to discover that someone loves you? That someone believes in you? That you are more than welcome in God's presence?
The good news of Jacob's story is not simply that there are links to heaven. The good news is not that God sometimes comes to us. The good news is not that heaven and earth are somehow connected. The good news is not that Jacob was a special kind of guy despite his tricky ways. Nor is the good news simply that we see God keeping - and renewing - his promise to Abraham and to Isaac to raise up a people and to bless them to be blessing.
No - the good news is all but hidden in that single sentence: "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.!"
Do you understand? Do you get it? Do you have ears to hear?
The gospel reading today - the reading about the parable of the wheat and the tares is instructive for us.
It is instructive - not because it prophecies the ultimate destruction of evil doers, - nor because it teaches us that the blights on our lives and the weeds that suck up the nutrition of better plants are afflictions that come from Satan - No, it is instructive for us because it counsels patience -
- patience in the face of situations that seem bad to us,
- patience in the face of attacks by Satan,
- patience in the midst of our urge to go out and fix things and make them right.
- patience in the face of our desire to make judgements about others and to act on those judgements.
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about. In fact we can't even be sure that the weeds about us will remain weeds and that the wheat will remain wheat.
Consider Moses - a murderer,
Consider David - an adulterer,
Consider the Apostle Paul - a religious vigilante,
Consider the disciple Peter - a hypocrite and a coward.
Who would think that God would work with them?
that God would be present with them?
that God would love them?
that God would make them great?
that God would grant unto them the blessings of his kingdom?.
Consider yourselves....What judgement do you make upon yourself?
Master - say the servants in the parable of the wheat and the weeds - Master, do you want us to go out and gather the weeds for burning - do you want us to pluck out the evil sown by your enemy to try to separate out the roots - to destroy that which is doing harm?
No - says the master - for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Wait till harvest time - wait till the reapers go forth. Wait.
Let anyone with ears hear...
Where is God? What is he doing?
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about.
But we can be sure of one thing - we can know one truth we can rely on one verity - and that is - God will surprise us.
God will surprise us by embracing us when we feel dirty and unclean, - God will surprise us by turning our greatest afflictions into sources of strength and healing - God will surprise us by taking the lost and lone and making them great lights - God will surprise us by changing the wicked into saints and by casting down those whose righteousness turned out to be only something they wore on their sleeves. - God will surprise us by making sour lemons into thirst quenching drinks - God will surprise us by converting moments of pain into stripes that heal. He will surprise us by changing a time of death into an eternity of glorious life.
Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it.
This could be a cry of despair -coming as it does from Jacob's most unworthy lips, it could be the kind of cry we have all uttered when we have done one thing when we ought to have done another, it could be a cry of despair and a moment of longing for that which is past. But it is not!
For Jacob that cry signals a moment of awakening, a time of opening his eyes and truly seeing, a time of opening his ears and truly listening. A time of coming from the night of uncertainty into the daylight of a holy hope.
For Jacob that cry signals a moment of discovering that, yes, God is here:here even when we do not know it, here even when we think that God can not, should not, will not be here, here even when we are not looking for God to be here.
And in discovering that God is here, it is for Jacob a moment in which he understands that God is here to bless and to heal; that God is here to comfort and to guide; that God is here to change to transform; that God is here to help and to reassure.
And Jacob woke from his sleep, and he said "surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it" and yes - Jacob was afraid - afraid not because he had made some mistake, but afraid because he realized just how holy was the place he was in - and as he looked in that fear upon the sand and rock and the dry plants and soil of that place, he said "How awesome is this place - this is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven"
And Jacob took the stone upon which he had laid his head while he slept and he made of it a kind of memorial - a kind of altar, and he poured oil upon that stone upon which he had his vision and he named the place in which he had slept - Bethel - The House of God"
How awesome indeed is the place of God
- the place in which the weeds are allowed to grow up with the wheat
- the place in which all we have for pillows are stones
- the place in which we fear and long for comfort and think we have none
- the place in which the lost are found and the blind given sight.
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about.
But if we wait - if we let God do whatever it is God does - if we let God move in his mysterious ways - his wonders to perform, we will find ourselves surprised in the most wonderful of ways - we will discover that where we are - wherever we are - is the House of God and that next to us is the gate of heaven.
Lift up your heads, O Gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors that the King of Glory may come in.
Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts - he is the King of Glory - Hallowed be his name, now and ever. Amen and Amen.
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said "Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it!"
Over the years I have met and become friends with people whom others would consider but little better than the devil himself.
I have known murderers, cheats, thieves, and adulterers, and I have come to one conclusion about all these people who have crossed my path, and that conclusion is that you cannot know what is going to come next, nor can you pin down just where God is and what he is about.
I want you to hold onto that thought today - I want you to hold onto it when you meet people that strike you as evil, and I want you to hold onto it when you feel that you yourselves are out of reach of God. I want you to hold onto it when you watch the television news and when you walk into in a court room to face a judge. I want you to hold onto it when you see the neighbourhood gossip doing her rounds, and I want to hold onto when you encounter an unscrupulous salesman doing his pitch.
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about.
This is the message of Jacob's story - the Jacob who cheated his brother and stole his birthright - the Jacob who fled to do his father's bidding fled not because he was particularly obedient - but because he feared that he would be killed if he stayed at home.
And as he fled he came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, he took a stone of the place and put it under his head and lay down, and he slept - and he dreamed - and in that dream God came to him - God came to him who was tired and fearful, to him who was alone and thought that he was loved by none except his mother - God came to him who was a cheat and a rascal and goodness knows what else, and God gave to him a vision of a staircase reaching into heaven, of a ladder upon which the angels ascended and descended to do God's bidding and as Jacob looked upon this scene God gave him a promise, the promise made to his grandfather Abraham and to his father Isaac, saying "know that I am with you - and will keep you wherever you go, that I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
And Jacob awoke - and he said - and catch this line - he said "Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it!"
Does that fit your experience?
Have you ever been in God's presence and hardly noticed it? Have you ever suddenly realized that God had been with you long before you knew he was there? Have you ever been in exile or in fear only to discover God coming to your aid? Have you ever had your picture of someone completely painted only to discover that the light has shifted - that the person you thought you saw - has completely changed? Changed for the better? Have you ever painted a picture of yourself - a picture in which the colours are all blue - all depressed - all unloveable - only to discover that someone loves you? That someone believes in you? That you are more than welcome in God's presence?
The good news of Jacob's story is not simply that there are links to heaven. The good news is not that God sometimes comes to us. The good news is not that heaven and earth are somehow connected. The good news is not that Jacob was a special kind of guy despite his tricky ways. Nor is the good news simply that we see God keeping - and renewing - his promise to Abraham and to Isaac to raise up a people and to bless them to be blessing.
No - the good news is all but hidden in that single sentence: "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.!"
Do you understand? Do you get it? Do you have ears to hear?
The gospel reading today - the reading about the parable of the wheat and the tares is instructive for us.
It is instructive - not because it prophecies the ultimate destruction of evil doers, - nor because it teaches us that the blights on our lives and the weeds that suck up the nutrition of better plants are afflictions that come from Satan - No, it is instructive for us because it counsels patience -
- patience in the face of situations that seem bad to us,
- patience in the face of attacks by Satan,
- patience in the midst of our urge to go out and fix things and make them right.
- patience in the face of our desire to make judgements about others and to act on those judgements.
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about. In fact we can't even be sure that the weeds about us will remain weeds and that the wheat will remain wheat.
Consider Moses - a murderer,
Consider David - an adulterer,
Consider the Apostle Paul - a religious vigilante,
Consider the disciple Peter - a hypocrite and a coward.
Who would think that God would work with them?
that God would be present with them?
that God would love them?
that God would make them great?
that God would grant unto them the blessings of his kingdom?.
Consider yourselves....What judgement do you make upon yourself?
Master - say the servants in the parable of the wheat and the weeds - Master, do you want us to go out and gather the weeds for burning - do you want us to pluck out the evil sown by your enemy to try to separate out the roots - to destroy that which is doing harm?
No - says the master - for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Wait till harvest time - wait till the reapers go forth. Wait.
Let anyone with ears hear...
Where is God? What is he doing?
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about.
But we can be sure of one thing - we can know one truth we can rely on one verity - and that is - God will surprise us.
God will surprise us by embracing us when we feel dirty and unclean, - God will surprise us by turning our greatest afflictions into sources of strength and healing - God will surprise us by taking the lost and lone and making them great lights - God will surprise us by changing the wicked into saints and by casting down those whose righteousness turned out to be only something they wore on their sleeves. - God will surprise us by making sour lemons into thirst quenching drinks - God will surprise us by converting moments of pain into stripes that heal. He will surprise us by changing a time of death into an eternity of glorious life.
Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it.
This could be a cry of despair -coming as it does from Jacob's most unworthy lips, it could be the kind of cry we have all uttered when we have done one thing when we ought to have done another, it could be a cry of despair and a moment of longing for that which is past. But it is not!
For Jacob that cry signals a moment of awakening, a time of opening his eyes and truly seeing, a time of opening his ears and truly listening. A time of coming from the night of uncertainty into the daylight of a holy hope.
For Jacob that cry signals a moment of discovering that, yes, God is here:here even when we do not know it, here even when we think that God can not, should not, will not be here, here even when we are not looking for God to be here.
And in discovering that God is here, it is for Jacob a moment in which he understands that God is here to bless and to heal; that God is here to comfort and to guide; that God is here to change to transform; that God is here to help and to reassure.
And Jacob woke from his sleep, and he said "surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it" and yes - Jacob was afraid - afraid not because he had made some mistake, but afraid because he realized just how holy was the place he was in - and as he looked in that fear upon the sand and rock and the dry plants and soil of that place, he said "How awesome is this place - this is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven"
And Jacob took the stone upon which he had laid his head while he slept and he made of it a kind of memorial - a kind of altar, and he poured oil upon that stone upon which he had his vision and he named the place in which he had slept - Bethel - The House of God"
How awesome indeed is the place of God
- the place in which the weeds are allowed to grow up with the wheat
- the place in which all we have for pillows are stones
- the place in which we fear and long for comfort and think we have none
- the place in which the lost are found and the blind given sight.
We do not know what is going to come next, nor can we pin down just where God is and what he is about.
But if we wait - if we let God do whatever it is God does - if we let God move in his mysterious ways - his wonders to perform, we will find ourselves surprised in the most wonderful of ways - we will discover that where we are - wherever we are - is the House of God and that next to us is the gate of heaven.
Lift up your heads, O Gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors that the King of Glory may come in.
Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts - he is the King of Glory - Hallowed be his name, now and ever. Amen and Amen.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Eph 1:7-8
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence" Eph 1:7-8
We all love to have things lavished on us. Women love to be loaded down with diamonds, furs and chocolates. Men adore a woman who buys them tools, remotes controls, gizmos and gadgets and they love to use these items with us. We all love Christmas and birthdays (yes, even those over 50 - but we just don't show it as much). Why? We love the attention we get on those special days.
God has lavished gifts on us as well. He gave us the gift of redemption - He paid our penalty for our sins - through His Son, Jesus. He has poured forgiveness on us. Why, because He loves us. It comes from His vast, immeasurable storehouse of grace.
Perhaps you have never accepted that great gift of salvation. Do it now. Perhaps you have lost that gift sometime in the past. He is still offering it to you. Take it . . . again. Maybe you think your sins are too great for God to forgive. Your sins cannot be bigger than God's grace. He loves you so much that if you were the only sinner, He would still have sent His Son to die for your sins. Accept His forgiveness now, today! It is free for the taking. (I know you are thinking "it can't be that easy." It is, He offers it freely. The hard part is humbling yourself to take it - it is easier to give than receive.)
There has never been a sinner who called on God who has been turned away. God's arms are open wide for all who seek Him. He doesn't play "hide and seek" with you. He says "seek Me and you shall find me. Call upon me and I will answer." Today is your day! Seek, call and receive! Amen and Amen.
Are YOU Right with God?
True Christianity is not about attending a particular church, or how your parents raised you, or what country you were born in. Being a Christian means that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that He is your Savior. It's not good enough that your priest, pastor, mother, or aunt knows Jesus, you must know Him for yourself. They cannot believe in Him for you, you must believe for yourself. They cannot repent for you, you must repent for yourself.
Jesus is everywhere all the time. He can hear you now if you ask Him for forgiveness. Please turn your life over to Him NOW. Time slips by so quickly, don't miss this opportunity. If you want to pray and ask Jesus to be your Savior, you can say a prayer something like this:
"Jesus, I know that I have sinned against you. I know the truth is that I have sinned by my own choice, and I am the one responsible for it. I know that I have earned punishment from You, and that the fair punishment would be death. Jesus, I believe that You died in my place. Forgive me for my sin. I cannot cover or take my sin away, I am relying totally and only on You. You are the only one who can save me. I reject my sin, I turn away from it, I repent. Come into my life, take away my sin, and show me how to live my life in a way that is right and pleasing to You." Thank You Jesus, Amen
If you have prayed this, YOU ARE SAVED! You are now completely forgiven, a new creation, innocent in the eyes of God, please e-mail me and let me know and I will guide you toward Fellowship and Baptism. Welcome to the family of God! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.
We all love to have things lavished on us. Women love to be loaded down with diamonds, furs and chocolates. Men adore a woman who buys them tools, remotes controls, gizmos and gadgets and they love to use these items with us. We all love Christmas and birthdays (yes, even those over 50 - but we just don't show it as much). Why? We love the attention we get on those special days.
God has lavished gifts on us as well. He gave us the gift of redemption - He paid our penalty for our sins - through His Son, Jesus. He has poured forgiveness on us. Why, because He loves us. It comes from His vast, immeasurable storehouse of grace.
Perhaps you have never accepted that great gift of salvation. Do it now. Perhaps you have lost that gift sometime in the past. He is still offering it to you. Take it . . . again. Maybe you think your sins are too great for God to forgive. Your sins cannot be bigger than God's grace. He loves you so much that if you were the only sinner, He would still have sent His Son to die for your sins. Accept His forgiveness now, today! It is free for the taking. (I know you are thinking "it can't be that easy." It is, He offers it freely. The hard part is humbling yourself to take it - it is easier to give than receive.)
There has never been a sinner who called on God who has been turned away. God's arms are open wide for all who seek Him. He doesn't play "hide and seek" with you. He says "seek Me and you shall find me. Call upon me and I will answer." Today is your day! Seek, call and receive! Amen and Amen.
Are YOU Right with God?
True Christianity is not about attending a particular church, or how your parents raised you, or what country you were born in. Being a Christian means that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that He is your Savior. It's not good enough that your priest, pastor, mother, or aunt knows Jesus, you must know Him for yourself. They cannot believe in Him for you, you must believe for yourself. They cannot repent for you, you must repent for yourself.
Jesus is everywhere all the time. He can hear you now if you ask Him for forgiveness. Please turn your life over to Him NOW. Time slips by so quickly, don't miss this opportunity. If you want to pray and ask Jesus to be your Savior, you can say a prayer something like this:
"Jesus, I know that I have sinned against you. I know the truth is that I have sinned by my own choice, and I am the one responsible for it. I know that I have earned punishment from You, and that the fair punishment would be death. Jesus, I believe that You died in my place. Forgive me for my sin. I cannot cover or take my sin away, I am relying totally and only on You. You are the only one who can save me. I reject my sin, I turn away from it, I repent. Come into my life, take away my sin, and show me how to live my life in a way that is right and pleasing to You." Thank You Jesus, Amen
If you have prayed this, YOU ARE SAVED! You are now completely forgiven, a new creation, innocent in the eyes of God, please e-mail me and let me know and I will guide you toward Fellowship and Baptism. Welcome to the family of God! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.
Prov. 11:4-5
"Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright" Prov. 11:4-5
We've probably all heard the story of the two men who paused to pay their respect to an approaching funeral procession. As the men took off their hats, they watched as the hearse quietly rolled by followed by an armored car with the name "Brinks" painted on the side. One respectfully noted to the other, "I didn't think you could take it with you, but Mr. Brinks is sure going to try."
There is an old song that says, "Money can't buy you love." And that is a very true saying. Money can buy companionship. Money can buy a false sense of friendship. Money can buy health - to a certain extent. Money can buy lots of things that make life easier on this sparkling blue orb we call "Earth," but money can't do a thing for the man who is bound for hell. Money won't buy an air conditioner there. It won't purchase a drink of cool water. It won't even buy friendly companionship in that overheated dwelling of the ever-dying sinner. Solomon tells us that riches are worthless in the day of wrath ... the day of judgment.
On the other hand, righteousness won't buy pleasures on earth. It won't buy a fast car. It won't purchase the goods that men seem to lust after. But it will buy peace of mind, and happiness, and contentment. It will buy what money can't - it can buy love. What's more, righteousness will deliver the owner from the eternal death of hell and deliver him into the glories of eternal life in Heaven with Jesus.
In the days of the ancient kings, runners would precede the king's travel by weeks. They would tell the local residents that the king would arrive in their village on such-and-such a day. The village chiefs would arrange work crews to travel the length of the roadway to make the paths smooth for the king. Potholes would be filled. Rough road would be smoothed. Valleys would be filled and hills would be cropped off so the king would have a safe and comfortable ride through the village lands. This is what the king's influence bought him.
Our righteousness - and that is a gift from our King - is what makes our paths smooth and safe and comfortable. Certainly, I am not talking about a "pain free life." Quite the contrary, the life of the true believer might be fraught with great trials producing physical and emotional pain. Some of us might even lose our lives because of the choice we have made to follow in the footsteps of the King. But, all the while, we are comforted by the knowledge that this life is nothing but a passing vapor compared to the vast riches of eternity. All the suffering we endure on earth are just "hiccups" on the way to the rewards offered by the King of Kings to those who overcome.
If we can keep this in mind, we will be at peace ... because of our righteousness in Christ Jesus - and such a comforting thought it is! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.
We've probably all heard the story of the two men who paused to pay their respect to an approaching funeral procession. As the men took off their hats, they watched as the hearse quietly rolled by followed by an armored car with the name "Brinks" painted on the side. One respectfully noted to the other, "I didn't think you could take it with you, but Mr. Brinks is sure going to try."
There is an old song that says, "Money can't buy you love." And that is a very true saying. Money can buy companionship. Money can buy a false sense of friendship. Money can buy health - to a certain extent. Money can buy lots of things that make life easier on this sparkling blue orb we call "Earth," but money can't do a thing for the man who is bound for hell. Money won't buy an air conditioner there. It won't purchase a drink of cool water. It won't even buy friendly companionship in that overheated dwelling of the ever-dying sinner. Solomon tells us that riches are worthless in the day of wrath ... the day of judgment.
On the other hand, righteousness won't buy pleasures on earth. It won't buy a fast car. It won't purchase the goods that men seem to lust after. But it will buy peace of mind, and happiness, and contentment. It will buy what money can't - it can buy love. What's more, righteousness will deliver the owner from the eternal death of hell and deliver him into the glories of eternal life in Heaven with Jesus.
In the days of the ancient kings, runners would precede the king's travel by weeks. They would tell the local residents that the king would arrive in their village on such-and-such a day. The village chiefs would arrange work crews to travel the length of the roadway to make the paths smooth for the king. Potholes would be filled. Rough road would be smoothed. Valleys would be filled and hills would be cropped off so the king would have a safe and comfortable ride through the village lands. This is what the king's influence bought him.
Our righteousness - and that is a gift from our King - is what makes our paths smooth and safe and comfortable. Certainly, I am not talking about a "pain free life." Quite the contrary, the life of the true believer might be fraught with great trials producing physical and emotional pain. Some of us might even lose our lives because of the choice we have made to follow in the footsteps of the King. But, all the while, we are comforted by the knowledge that this life is nothing but a passing vapor compared to the vast riches of eternity. All the suffering we endure on earth are just "hiccups" on the way to the rewards offered by the King of Kings to those who overcome.
If we can keep this in mind, we will be at peace ... because of our righteousness in Christ Jesus - and such a comforting thought it is! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 65; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
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.
Over the next three weeks we will be looking at some of the parables of Jesus as they are found in the Gospel According to Matthew.
The parable of the sower and the seed that we read this morning is the first of several that Matthew records in his gospel and as we look at it - and some of the others in the weeks to come - it will be good for us to remember that the parables of Jesus - when they were first heard - were heard in two ways. Some found their message offensive - and others found their message to be incredibly liberating, they heard them as good news about God's love - about how God cares for the world and for everyone in it.
The offense in today's parable should be obvious to any of you who garden - and to any who have farmed or who are familiar with farming.
Seed is a precious commodity. It is not something that you spread on rocky ground or cast indiscriminately on the pathways throughout your garden or the roadside next to acreage. Nor do you sow seed in the midst of thistles.
Yes - when you sow - be it by hand or by machine - some seed will fall in those places, but it is not something that you do deliberately.
What you do deliberately is sow seed in good ground. You sow it in those places where you know the seed has a chance not only to germinate and sprout, but to grow up into a healthy plant - one that produces much fruit.
But in today's parable it seems that God has a different system of sowing.
The incredible thing within the parable of the Sower and The Seed - the thing which is both offensive to those who think that they know how things should be done, and good news to those who have ears to hear the message is the liberality of the sower of the seed and the abundance of the harvest that is produced - a harvest that far exceeds what could be reasonably expected even if all the seed landed in good soil..
Those who have ears, let them hear.....
The seed in the parable of The Sower and the Seed is the Word of God, it is the Word - or The Message - about God's kingdom.
And the sower is God.
But the seed is also the one who first tells us this story, - the seed is Christ Jesus himself - who - as the scriptures tell us over and over again - came from God that we might have life and have it abundantly - the seed is the one whom we call the Living Word - the Word made flesh - who came, while we were yet enemies of God - and gave us his life for us so that we might turn to God and live as God's beloved children in a world - and a heaven - made new. The seed is the one who tells us to do crazy things like love our enemies - and to pray for those who oppress us - and to bless those who curse us. The seed is the one who accepts us and who wants to be planted deep in our hearts and to grow in our lives even we think that we are not good enough to approach him and to ask him for his hope - his love - his strength - his joy.
While there may be a limit to what we can do in sowing the word - a limit to the energy and the love that we have for one another - a limit that might cause us to try to sow in one place, but not in another, there is no limit to what God can do and what God does do; nor is there a limit to what we can do when God's word is in our lives, working through us, growing in us as God wants it to do..
"Those who have ears", says Jesus, "let them hear."
Let them hear that God is pouring out himself in abundance upon this world upon the rocky ground and the places that thistles grow and the pathways and the good soil and that at the end - when the final reckoning is made - there will be an incredible harvest, a harvest so generous that the one who has sown so much seed so indiscriminately will be rewarded beyond anything one could reasonably hope for - even if all the soil had been good soil.
Let them hear too that we should not hoard the seed that God has given to us to sow; let them hear that God's purposes will not be frustrated if we waste a little bit of here and there, that the word of God's love and care that we manifest in our actions and our attitudes and the words we speak will not be lost if we give it freely to the those who may allow it to be snatched away, or choked out, or to wither away... it won't be lost because the harvest that will come from all our acts of sowing the good news of Jesus Christ will be more, much more, than anyone can expect.
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth" said God through the prophet Isaiah in the first reading of today.
"My word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
The purpose of God is the renewal of our lives - of our lives - and of the
life of the world.
"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace", says God to his people Israel - and to us here today. "the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."
God's purpose is accomplished by God's word - the word that created heaven and earth and which has been made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord so that the sick might be healed, the captive set free, the poor receive good news - and the dead restored to life.
It is going to happen - and we can be part of it - or not - as we choose.
But those of us who have chosen to receive the Word of God into our lives, those of us who have accepted Christ into our lives and who strive to grow in him and have him grow in us - let us not choose for others by denying to them what God has given to us, let us be wildly indiscriminate in how we share the good news, in how we love one another
This indeed is part of the harvest that good soil produces abundant seed for the sower to sow once again and grain that is more than enough for all who hunger.
They who have ears - let them hear - day by day, now and forever. Amen
Over the next three weeks we will be looking at some of the parables of Jesus as they are found in the Gospel According to Matthew.
The parable of the sower and the seed that we read this morning is the first of several that Matthew records in his gospel and as we look at it - and some of the others in the weeks to come - it will be good for us to remember that the parables of Jesus - when they were first heard - were heard in two ways. Some found their message offensive - and others found their message to be incredibly liberating, they heard them as good news about God's love - about how God cares for the world and for everyone in it.
The offense in today's parable should be obvious to any of you who garden - and to any who have farmed or who are familiar with farming.
Seed is a precious commodity. It is not something that you spread on rocky ground or cast indiscriminately on the pathways throughout your garden or the roadside next to acreage. Nor do you sow seed in the midst of thistles.
Yes - when you sow - be it by hand or by machine - some seed will fall in those places, but it is not something that you do deliberately.
What you do deliberately is sow seed in good ground. You sow it in those places where you know the seed has a chance not only to germinate and sprout, but to grow up into a healthy plant - one that produces much fruit.
But in today's parable it seems that God has a different system of sowing.
The incredible thing within the parable of the Sower and The Seed - the thing which is both offensive to those who think that they know how things should be done, and good news to those who have ears to hear the message is the liberality of the sower of the seed and the abundance of the harvest that is produced - a harvest that far exceeds what could be reasonably expected even if all the seed landed in good soil..
Those who have ears, let them hear.....
The seed in the parable of The Sower and the Seed is the Word of God, it is the Word - or The Message - about God's kingdom.
And the sower is God.
But the seed is also the one who first tells us this story, - the seed is Christ Jesus himself - who - as the scriptures tell us over and over again - came from God that we might have life and have it abundantly - the seed is the one whom we call the Living Word - the Word made flesh - who came, while we were yet enemies of God - and gave us his life for us so that we might turn to God and live as God's beloved children in a world - and a heaven - made new. The seed is the one who tells us to do crazy things like love our enemies - and to pray for those who oppress us - and to bless those who curse us. The seed is the one who accepts us and who wants to be planted deep in our hearts and to grow in our lives even we think that we are not good enough to approach him and to ask him for his hope - his love - his strength - his joy.
While there may be a limit to what we can do in sowing the word - a limit to the energy and the love that we have for one another - a limit that might cause us to try to sow in one place, but not in another, there is no limit to what God can do and what God does do; nor is there a limit to what we can do when God's word is in our lives, working through us, growing in us as God wants it to do..
"Those who have ears", says Jesus, "let them hear."
Let them hear that God is pouring out himself in abundance upon this world upon the rocky ground and the places that thistles grow and the pathways and the good soil and that at the end - when the final reckoning is made - there will be an incredible harvest, a harvest so generous that the one who has sown so much seed so indiscriminately will be rewarded beyond anything one could reasonably hope for - even if all the soil had been good soil.
Let them hear too that we should not hoard the seed that God has given to us to sow; let them hear that God's purposes will not be frustrated if we waste a little bit of here and there, that the word of God's love and care that we manifest in our actions and our attitudes and the words we speak will not be lost if we give it freely to the those who may allow it to be snatched away, or choked out, or to wither away... it won't be lost because the harvest that will come from all our acts of sowing the good news of Jesus Christ will be more, much more, than anyone can expect.
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth" said God through the prophet Isaiah in the first reading of today.
"My word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
The purpose of God is the renewal of our lives - of our lives - and of the
life of the world.
"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace", says God to his people Israel - and to us here today. "the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."
God's purpose is accomplished by God's word - the word that created heaven and earth and which has been made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord so that the sick might be healed, the captive set free, the poor receive good news - and the dead restored to life.
It is going to happen - and we can be part of it - or not - as we choose.
But those of us who have chosen to receive the Word of God into our lives, those of us who have accepted Christ into our lives and who strive to grow in him and have him grow in us - let us not choose for others by denying to them what God has given to us, let us be wildly indiscriminate in how we share the good news, in how we love one another
This indeed is part of the harvest that good soil produces abundant seed for the sower to sow once again and grain that is more than enough for all who hunger.
They who have ears - let them hear - day by day, now and forever. Amen
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Romans 7:15-25a; Psalm 45; Matthew 11:25-30
"Gracious God - bless now the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts. Breath your Spirit into us and grant that we may hear and in hearing be led in the way you want us to go. Amen.
Many of us here today have had, or still have, many problems in our lives. We are under constant stress from one thing or another:
- there is an interview coming up
- some one we know and love is sick
- our finances are shaky
- we feel understandably depressed and find it difficult to watch the news on TV or to think about anyone else's troubles.
Something is eating at us.
Stress is a common, all too common fact in our lives.
It could be any of a thousand and one things that afflict us, but the result is we feel tired; or we find ourselves being angry at other people for almost no reason at all or, even more commonly, we feel unable to think good thoughts or do what we believe are good things.
We are not at peace.
So what do we do about it?
A lot of people do nothing... they feel that somehow this is meant to be their lot in life - or they feel powerless to change things.
Others - those blessed with the conviction that they should be more at ease with themselves and with the world around them - are more active.
And many of these - and in this age it seems the majority - turn to the solutions offered at the local library and at the supermarket stands or on TV, and they buy self-help manuals or they watch shows featuring pop psychologists hoping against hope that by following the instructions of the books or enacting the principles outlined in 30 minutes by some expert on the tube - that they will be able to get a grip on their problems, and find a happier and more fulfilling life.
Yet, despite all their efforts - all too often they are just as tired and unhappy as those who have done nothing, perhaps even more so - since the rules and regulations and principles they try to follow to help themselves require a lot of effort.
Who will rescue me is a cry heard not only on the top 40 charts, but in the depths of our hearts.
Who will rescue me...who will rescue me from the aimlessness of my life? Who will rescue me from my pain and loneliness? Who will rescue me from the negativity of the world? Who will rescue me from myself?
Again, hoping against hope, some of us turn to religion, we turn to the values and principles taught to us on our mothers knees and we try to live our lives by the ten commandments and by the laws taught to us by Moses, Jesus and Paul.
But like Paul - we end up finding that this does not work either, we find that the good that we would like to do we do not do and the bad that we would not do, we end up doing anyway.
Like Paul we find that there is a kind of war going on inside us, And deep down we end up saying with him -
What a wretched person I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
Brothers and sisters in Christ there is a better way, - a better way than the quick fixes offered by the wise psychologists on the supermarket stands, - a better way than that which is offered to us by a religion based on do's and don'ts, laws and regulations.
The way I am referring to will strike many of you as being very silly, very simplistic, very naive, but I assure you that it is not - even when applied to problems that are larger than our own personal ones.
I do not know how many of you ever heard of a person by the name of Samantha Smith -
when she was 10 years old she woke up one morning in her home in Maine and "wondered if this was going to be the last day of the earth". She had just read about the arms race and thought that it made no sense. So she did something that only an unsophisticated child would do - she wrote a letter to Mr. Andropov, the Soviet Leader at the time. She said "I am worried about Russia and America getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote for war? Please tell me how we can stop having a war?"
To many peoples' surprise, Mr. Andropov answered her letter and invited her to Russia to see things for herself. She went and met Mr. Andropov and many children of her own age. She got along very well. When she returned to the States she said "If we can be friends by getting to know each other better, then what are our two countries arguing about? Nothing could be more important than stopping a nuclear war".
Adults cannot say such things lest they seem silly...Yet is there not a profound wisdom here? Something greater than the wisdom of our political scientists and international experts?
We have so many problems - both personal, and as a nation and a world. And we have so little peace, so little rest.
Who will rescue us?
You know that it is all enough to drive a person to pray, we get to the point after we have tried this and that formula and consulted this and that expert in our problems that we do not know what else to do.
We've tried to make it under our own steam - and we are tired, and in desperation, finally, we try God.
But wouldn't we be better off to try God first? Wouldn't we be better off to live by God's wisdom rather than the wisdom of the learned of this world?
But we don't do this do we? It is just too silly to expect that something simple can solve a complex problem.
But listen to Jesus once again. He said:
"I praise you Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children."
An ancient story is told about a Rabbi who had the prophet Elijah appear to him one day while he was in the market place.
There the teachers of the Law were holding forth, others were buying and selling goods, and still others were listening to the disputes that were brought before the elders of the people in one corner of the market.
The Rabbi asked Elijah if there was anyone in the market place who was destined to share in the blessedness of the life to come. At first Elijah said no - but then he pointed to two men and said that they would. The Rabbi went over to them and asked what they did. "We are merry makers", they replied, "When we see a person who is downcast we cheer him up. When we see two people quarrelling with each other, we try to make peace between them."
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the answers we need to our problems are often hidden from us, because so many of us, particularly those of us who are well educated cannot comprehend the simplicity of the truth - for us there always has to be a catch, we cannot accept that things might be easier than they appear.
I tell you this: God wants us to understand and find solutions to our problems. And so God has arranged things so that it is not our knowledge that is important, but rather our heart and our will.
God wants us all to have peace and fulfilment, and so there is nothing complicated here, instead there is only a call, a call to yield yourself to God, a call to follow Jesus and enter into a relationship with him.
As a theologian once put it: "the heart, not the head is the home of the gospel"
The smallest child is given the faculty of knowing Christ, of knowing what is important and what is not, - but for us adults it seems we need something more, we need a model which we can consciously follow.
Jesus said:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.
Come to me, take my yoke upon you, my yoke is easy and my burden light.
The word yoke in the scripture often refers to the TORAH - to the way of God, to the teachings of God through the prophets, and as such it is it is not so much about servitude but rather about the direction of things - the focus of our labours, which is for us the focus of Jesus and not the rules and laws of religion.
And the word easy - my yoke is easy - in the Greek means well fitted.
In the days of Jesus yokes were made of wood. The ox was brought to the carpenter's shop and carefully measured and then the yoke was roughed out. Then the ox was brought back and it was tried on him - the yoke was then marked - and carefully adjusted by shaving the wood. Each yoke was tailor made to fit each ox.
When Jesus says that "my yoke is easy and my burden light" what he means is this: The life I give you is not a burden to gall you, your task is made to measure to fit you.
What Jesus is saying is: My burden is light, it is not meant to weigh you down with demands, it is not rules and regulations about what you can and can not do, nor is it a task that you will hate doing.
No, the burden of Jesus is like the one in the old story about a man who comes upon a little boy carrying a still smaller boy, who was lame, upon his back.
"That's a heavy burden for you to carry", said the man. "That's no burden", came the answer, "that's my wee brother".
What ever Jesus sends us, and whatever he asks of us is made to fit our needs and our abilities exactly, it is made to give not only us, but our whole world rest.
We need to give up our old way of looking at life and assume the way of seeing and living that Christ wants us to have, - the one that concerns our heart, - the one that is suited to us.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. Come to me you who are tired of doing it all under your own steam and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, take what I have designed especially for you, and learn from me, learn from me for I am gentle and humble in spirit, for I am one who is at peace, one who knows the right way. Do this, come to me, and take what I have designed for you, learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls.
You will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.
Who will rescue me?
An old hymn by the name of "Come Unto Me" says in its second verse:
Are you disappointed, wandering here and there, dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care? Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast? Bring your case to Jesus, He will give you rest.
Come unto me, come unto me, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, Hear me and be blest. I am meek and lowly, come and trust my might. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Who will rescue me?
Jesus invites us - come to me, learn from, take my yoke upon you - and I will give you rest...
It is a promise, a promise that requires a very simple answer on our part to take effect.
Come to Jesus like a child - listen to him, talk to him, do what he asks of you, and you will find your rest. AMEN
Many of us here today have had, or still have, many problems in our lives. We are under constant stress from one thing or another:
- there is an interview coming up
- some one we know and love is sick
- our finances are shaky
- we feel understandably depressed and find it difficult to watch the news on TV or to think about anyone else's troubles.
Something is eating at us.
Stress is a common, all too common fact in our lives.
It could be any of a thousand and one things that afflict us, but the result is we feel tired; or we find ourselves being angry at other people for almost no reason at all or, even more commonly, we feel unable to think good thoughts or do what we believe are good things.
We are not at peace.
So what do we do about it?
A lot of people do nothing... they feel that somehow this is meant to be their lot in life - or they feel powerless to change things.
Others - those blessed with the conviction that they should be more at ease with themselves and with the world around them - are more active.
And many of these - and in this age it seems the majority - turn to the solutions offered at the local library and at the supermarket stands or on TV, and they buy self-help manuals or they watch shows featuring pop psychologists hoping against hope that by following the instructions of the books or enacting the principles outlined in 30 minutes by some expert on the tube - that they will be able to get a grip on their problems, and find a happier and more fulfilling life.
Yet, despite all their efforts - all too often they are just as tired and unhappy as those who have done nothing, perhaps even more so - since the rules and regulations and principles they try to follow to help themselves require a lot of effort.
Who will rescue me is a cry heard not only on the top 40 charts, but in the depths of our hearts.
Who will rescue me...who will rescue me from the aimlessness of my life? Who will rescue me from my pain and loneliness? Who will rescue me from the negativity of the world? Who will rescue me from myself?
Again, hoping against hope, some of us turn to religion, we turn to the values and principles taught to us on our mothers knees and we try to live our lives by the ten commandments and by the laws taught to us by Moses, Jesus and Paul.
But like Paul - we end up finding that this does not work either, we find that the good that we would like to do we do not do and the bad that we would not do, we end up doing anyway.
Like Paul we find that there is a kind of war going on inside us, And deep down we end up saying with him -
What a wretched person I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
Brothers and sisters in Christ there is a better way, - a better way than the quick fixes offered by the wise psychologists on the supermarket stands, - a better way than that which is offered to us by a religion based on do's and don'ts, laws and regulations.
The way I am referring to will strike many of you as being very silly, very simplistic, very naive, but I assure you that it is not - even when applied to problems that are larger than our own personal ones.
I do not know how many of you ever heard of a person by the name of Samantha Smith -
when she was 10 years old she woke up one morning in her home in Maine and "wondered if this was going to be the last day of the earth". She had just read about the arms race and thought that it made no sense. So she did something that only an unsophisticated child would do - she wrote a letter to Mr. Andropov, the Soviet Leader at the time. She said "I am worried about Russia and America getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote for war? Please tell me how we can stop having a war?"
To many peoples' surprise, Mr. Andropov answered her letter and invited her to Russia to see things for herself. She went and met Mr. Andropov and many children of her own age. She got along very well. When she returned to the States she said "If we can be friends by getting to know each other better, then what are our two countries arguing about? Nothing could be more important than stopping a nuclear war".
Adults cannot say such things lest they seem silly...Yet is there not a profound wisdom here? Something greater than the wisdom of our political scientists and international experts?
We have so many problems - both personal, and as a nation and a world. And we have so little peace, so little rest.
Who will rescue us?
You know that it is all enough to drive a person to pray, we get to the point after we have tried this and that formula and consulted this and that expert in our problems that we do not know what else to do.
We've tried to make it under our own steam - and we are tired, and in desperation, finally, we try God.
But wouldn't we be better off to try God first? Wouldn't we be better off to live by God's wisdom rather than the wisdom of the learned of this world?
But we don't do this do we? It is just too silly to expect that something simple can solve a complex problem.
But listen to Jesus once again. He said:
"I praise you Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children."
An ancient story is told about a Rabbi who had the prophet Elijah appear to him one day while he was in the market place.
There the teachers of the Law were holding forth, others were buying and selling goods, and still others were listening to the disputes that were brought before the elders of the people in one corner of the market.
The Rabbi asked Elijah if there was anyone in the market place who was destined to share in the blessedness of the life to come. At first Elijah said no - but then he pointed to two men and said that they would. The Rabbi went over to them and asked what they did. "We are merry makers", they replied, "When we see a person who is downcast we cheer him up. When we see two people quarrelling with each other, we try to make peace between them."
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the answers we need to our problems are often hidden from us, because so many of us, particularly those of us who are well educated cannot comprehend the simplicity of the truth - for us there always has to be a catch, we cannot accept that things might be easier than they appear.
I tell you this: God wants us to understand and find solutions to our problems. And so God has arranged things so that it is not our knowledge that is important, but rather our heart and our will.
God wants us all to have peace and fulfilment, and so there is nothing complicated here, instead there is only a call, a call to yield yourself to God, a call to follow Jesus and enter into a relationship with him.
As a theologian once put it: "the heart, not the head is the home of the gospel"
The smallest child is given the faculty of knowing Christ, of knowing what is important and what is not, - but for us adults it seems we need something more, we need a model which we can consciously follow.
Jesus said:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.
Come to me, take my yoke upon you, my yoke is easy and my burden light.
The word yoke in the scripture often refers to the TORAH - to the way of God, to the teachings of God through the prophets, and as such it is it is not so much about servitude but rather about the direction of things - the focus of our labours, which is for us the focus of Jesus and not the rules and laws of religion.
And the word easy - my yoke is easy - in the Greek means well fitted.
In the days of Jesus yokes were made of wood. The ox was brought to the carpenter's shop and carefully measured and then the yoke was roughed out. Then the ox was brought back and it was tried on him - the yoke was then marked - and carefully adjusted by shaving the wood. Each yoke was tailor made to fit each ox.
When Jesus says that "my yoke is easy and my burden light" what he means is this: The life I give you is not a burden to gall you, your task is made to measure to fit you.
What Jesus is saying is: My burden is light, it is not meant to weigh you down with demands, it is not rules and regulations about what you can and can not do, nor is it a task that you will hate doing.
No, the burden of Jesus is like the one in the old story about a man who comes upon a little boy carrying a still smaller boy, who was lame, upon his back.
"That's a heavy burden for you to carry", said the man. "That's no burden", came the answer, "that's my wee brother".
What ever Jesus sends us, and whatever he asks of us is made to fit our needs and our abilities exactly, it is made to give not only us, but our whole world rest.
We need to give up our old way of looking at life and assume the way of seeing and living that Christ wants us to have, - the one that concerns our heart, - the one that is suited to us.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. Come to me you who are tired of doing it all under your own steam and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, take what I have designed especially for you, and learn from me, learn from me for I am gentle and humble in spirit, for I am one who is at peace, one who knows the right way. Do this, come to me, and take what I have designed for you, learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls.
You will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.
Who will rescue me?
An old hymn by the name of "Come Unto Me" says in its second verse:
Are you disappointed, wandering here and there, dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care? Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast? Bring your case to Jesus, He will give you rest.
Come unto me, come unto me, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, Hear me and be blest. I am meek and lowly, come and trust my might. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Who will rescue me?
Jesus invites us - come to me, learn from, take my yoke upon you - and I will give you rest...
It is a promise, a promise that requires a very simple answer on our part to take effect.
Come to Jesus like a child - listen to him, talk to him, do what he asks of you, and you will find your rest. AMEN
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