Philippians 2:1-13; Psalm 78; Matthew 21 23:32

In today’s reading we hear of the story of two young sons: one younger and the other one older. We had in the story one of the sons who said yes when his father asked him to go and work in the vineyard – and then did not do it. We have the other one who refused to work in the vineyard, and yet later changed his mind and went and worked in the vineyard.

I would like to ask those of you who are parents here today – do you find this story familiar to you? Did you ever have one of your children promising to do something, and then not do it all? Let us have a show of hands…..

Have you ever had one of your children telling you that they would not do it, and yet later on had a change of mind and did it for you? Can we again have a show of hands…?

This seems to be a common enough experience for parents, and it is no wonder that Jesus used this story in order to demonstrate to us what obedience is and what is not.

There was this man who had two sons. He went to the older son and asked him to go and work in the vineyard today. And the boy answers – and I think that you can very well imagine some of the things that his son might have said. I also think that you can imagine the tone of his response.

No father! I will not go! I already make plans for today. I cannot do it. No way. It is not my turn to work in the vineyard today. Get my little brother to do it. You are always on to me. It is not fair. Forget it!

There was absolutely no sign of respect from the boy – no honouring of his father – no respect – no admiration.

How do you think the father felt – he had a sick feeling right in the pit of his stomach – a feeling that his son is going astray – that his son does not care – that the entire thing is out of control – his family is going out of control and nothing good will come out of such a situation – indeed most likely – great harm will come out of it.

As parents most of us have been there, have we not? But can you for one moment put yourself into Jesus’ shoes? Imagine it from His point of view – the very Jesus who wanted us to work with him in order to build a better world – the very Jesus who invites us to work in the vineyard that produces the best fruit in the entire world – in the vineyard that produces the love and joy and peace and hope and strength that is so much needed in this world of ours…..

“I slaved and laboured so hard every day for my son, I have given him everything, a fine land, a fine home, and countless blessings, thinks only of himself!”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is that not what is happening with a lot of people in this world? This happens not only with little children – but with so many adults as well.

They are all living in a fine land, they have fine homes, prosperity, good health, and blessings too numerous to count, and they say to God, the source of all good things: “Who are you? I do not owe you anything. I have better things to do with my time and my life than going to church. I have better things to do with my money than sharing it with people who are too lazy to work.”

“I am not going to go to church every Sunday and listen to someone telling me all those things about faith, or sing all those silly hymns. My time will be better spent sleeping for a couple more hours. When should I spend my time in church, when I could be looking at ways to win at the horse races or with betting on soccer games. No way am I going to help make the experience of the Christian community any better by joining the choir, helping with Sunday School classes, or being friendly and encouraging toward other people as they enter leave the church building. This is just not for me.”

“Why should I bother myself to go out there and tell others about all the wonderful things that Jesus did for me? Why should I go on prison visits? Why should I care about injustice in this world? Why should I help those who are in need of help? Why should I ever help anyone who is not a family member? Preaching the Bible is for those mindless insensitive and crooked bible thumpers! It is only for those who are either in trouble or have nothing better to do! If people would just stop spending their money on such needless causes, or stopped spending money on killing themselves off, they will be fine. They do not need me!”

No. I will not help you!

No, I will not work for you!

No, I have better things to do with my time and my money!

No, what you want is not important!

No, I do not care!!!

Thank of how our Father in Heaven feels!

Yes, think of how our Father in Heaven feels!

How wonderful it must have been for the father in the story when he went to talk to his other son. In this story it was the youngest son, and the son in reply to the father’s request said, “Yes, Father, I will go!”

Imagine it for a moment.

Imagine how the heart break of the Father turned around.

My child cares for me, for the family and for what I want!

My child has respect for me!

My child is willing to help!

My child is wiling to do the work that the world needs doing if the fine fruit of my vineyard is going to grace the world as I wanted it to; if my healing word is to spoken to others, and my healing touch to be experienced by all those children of mine who are in need of it.

But we do know what happened, do we not???

We know from the story that we hard this morning, the story that Jesus told us, what happened. We know from our very own experience with our own children, with our own families, and from our own friends just how the Father felt. We know just how God feels. When the willing son did not do what he promised to do. When the unwilling son changes his mind and did what he was first asked to do….

Some people said that Jesus told this story for the benefit of the chief priests and leaders of the people in order to shame them – in order to force them to recognize that they were just like the younger son – worshipping and obeying God as an appearance – but deep inside, they were rebellious, self-righteous, hypocritical and disobedient.

Some people will tell you that one should understand the words of this story in the context of verses 23 to 28 of our Gospel reading of this morning, where we have the chief priests and leaders challenging Jesus about his authority to teach do work miracles.

We are told that we should understand this story to be how Jesus got back at the chief priests and leaders of the day. He did it by suggesting to them that they are really like the younger son – disobedient children of God. And that the sinners, were like the oldest son, who came to Jesus for forgiveness and for mercy, were those who changed their minds as to the way they were living their lives. Those were the people whom the chief priests and scribes could not abide with because those were the tax collectors and prostitutes.

This may be the case with the way that Jesus ended the story when he told the chief priests and leaders in verses 31 and 32: “You can be sure that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.”

But to leave this story at this level of understanding is to miss the importance of the story for us here today. It only reduces the Gospel to simple history, and the Gospel is not and never was meant to be seen as history.

We here today know that the Chief Priests and Leaders of the people make a bad mistake. We know that their religion was only a matter of outward appearance rather than real inner passion.

So what???
What message does it give to us today?
What value to us apart from making us feel good does this judgment have on us today?
It is of great value if we ask ourselves as to which child are we?

Are we the ones who can recite the creed – the ones who can have our children baptized – even ones who work in the church and do all the things that make us seem holy – and yet nor really seeing and believing that God is working in and around us – just like the chief priests refused to believe that God was working in John the Baptist or in Jesus the Son of Joseph and Mary?

Are we familiar with religion – practiced even at religion? But not familiar with faith and with what it requires of us in our hearts and our heads and in our attitudes and our actions. What does it require of us and what does it do for us?

Or are we the ones who said at first – no way God – forget it; you do not even exist – and if you do – you are not what I want in a God – I have better things to do than pray and read that silly old book with all its rules and regulations, it wars and woes, its contradictions and craziness.

Are we the ones who led a life that was clearly wrong – ones who cheated on our friends, who stole from our employers, who drank and did drugs and lived on the street anyway we could? Are we the ones who do are using the excuses of being too tired from work to attend fellowship on a weekday?

And then changed our minds! Then, when listening to the pain that is within every human being; and to the voice promising forgiveness and wholeness that comes from without, through people like John and Jesus turned and received a new life?

Or are we somewhere in between? Children of God who try hard on some days to be faithful – and on other days – let our hardness of heart, our selfishness, our unwillingness to see God and listen to God in our daily routines get the better of us?

That is the benefit of this passage for us today – in asking ourselves who we really are – and what it really means for us.

And in asking who we are and what it means considering the Gospel that Jesus proclaims both in this story and elsewhere: the good news that it is possible to change one’s mind; that it is never too late; today at least – to become a child that is destined to see and enter the Kingdom of God.

It is all a matter of saving faith, a matter of seeing that God is and that God is willing and able and of accepting that and going forth and labouring at the work He has asked us to do for Him.

A matter of seeing that God is forgiving and gracious; of seeing that God is more interested in saving His children than in allowing them to perish; of accepting that God will give to us a new life – no matter how bad our old life is; and that He is able to accomplish all this in us; no matter how defiled we think that we have become when we turn to Him and allow Him to have His way with us…

It is a matter of seeing that God is present in the most unlikely persons that work each day around us, that as He spoke through the wild man of the wilderness; the one who wore the worst clothing and said the strangest things that as He spoke through a carpenter’s son and worked wonders in the world around him, so God is present today and in the most unlikely persons, in the least of our brothers and sisters; and that while present there in them He wants us to minister to him, to minister a cup of cold water; to minister some clothing to cover his nakedness; to minister hope and encouragement when he is placed in prison; and to bring comfort when he is sick in bed.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the good news I am preaching here today is not a gospel of what work we must do or not do.

It is not a matter of what we offer in terms of percentage of our income to God each year. It is not a matter of how to successfully avoid committing one or other of the seven deadly sins…

The good news I preach today is the Gospel concerning faith. It is the Gospel of believing; and in believing, in hoping and in praying, and in opening oneself to the power of God and to the will of God.

Today it is not too late to get right with God.

It is not too late to say to God – I believe – help me in my unbelief.

It is not too late to say to God – YES – I will go out in the vineyard after all. I will go with you as you go with me, and to work to bring the good news of your love to my family and my friends and to the whole world in all that I say and do. I will worship you and work with you and obey your will.

IT IS NOT TOO LATE!

Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16

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

Did you ever hear the story about the company that chartered a ship for its top sales personnel?

On the appointed day the sales people swarmed aboard looking for their cabins. Minutes later one of them was on deck demanding to see the Captain.

One of the officers asked if he could help.

"My friend has a much better cabin!" the salesman said. "I did as good a job as he did and I want a cabin just like his."

"Sir, the officer replied, "the cabins are identical."

"Yeah," said the man, "but his cabin looks out on the ocean and my cabin looks out on this old dock."

I think that we often misunderstand the will and intention of God.

We get so wrapped up in what we think we need, and so bound up in our sense of what we think we deserve, that we fail to recognize what God is even now about and to remember what had God has already done for us.

It is said that when the people of Israel first grumbled and complained against God and against Moses, accusing them of leading them from slavery in Egypt only so that he could kill them in the wilderness, that God responded to their criticism - to their harping - to their lack of trust - by promising to provide them with bread from Heaven every day - and that on the first morning that they were to collect this bread that had formed like dew upon the ground, in thin flakes like frost, hey did not know what it was, and asked one another what it might be.

And so this bread - this stuff that formed on the desert floor each dawn - this daily provision from God - came to be called Manna - a word that literally means "What is it?"

Even though the people of Israel were liberated from their bondage in Egypt with incredible signs of God's power - even though the Red Sea parted to allow them through safely and came together again and destroyed their enemies - even though God made bitter water sweet and led them by a fire in the night and by a pillar of cloud by day towards the Holy Mountain where they would worship Him and towards the land God had promised to give them - even though God had proved his goodness to them, his love for them, they fretted and worried and grumbled and complained - and doubted the love of God, the will of God, to do them good, and then they failed to recognize how God had answered their complaints and their cries of need.

Perhaps it is always that way.

Certainly many people are like the salesman on the cruise ship before it left port, and like the Children of Israel before they reached the promised land:

- they are constantly comparing what they have been given to what others have been given,

- they are constantly comparing the past with the present and doubting what the future will bring,

- they are constantly evaluating what it is they think they should have against what they do have and forgetting what it is that God has promised to give them - they are constantly forgetting that it is nothing but the grace of God that has brought them safe thus far, and that God will bring them "home".

In part that is the message of the parable of the workers in the vineyard that was read this morning.

You know the story - how a Landlord needing workers to bring in the harvest goes to the local marketplace in the morning to hire workers and agrees to give them a denarius - or a day's pay - for the day's work.

Several times during the day the Landlord returns to the marketplace and finds people standing in the unemployment line - people who have no work, no income, and hires them, saying to them only that he will give to them what is right. Even at the 11th hour, near the end of the working day, the Landlord goes to the market and finds others standing around - people no one has hired - and he takes them on.

At the end of the day the Landlord pays off those he has hired - those he has liberated from the hunger and want of being unemployed - starting from those last hired and progressing to the first, and to each he gives a full day's wage - to each he gives enough money to buy them and their families their daily bread.

And those hired first complain and grumble about it - claiming that they deserve more than those last hired because they have worked harder and longer.

To which the Landlord replies - "I am not being unfair to you. I am giving you what you agreed to. Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"

Are we like those hired first?

Have we forgotten the anxiety of starting a day wondering if we will find work enough to feed ourselves and our families? And the joy of being hired early enough in the day to ensure that we will indeed obtain our daily bread - that our families will not starve - that there will be enough to go round?

Indeed - as we sit in this church and look around at some of the people - some of the newcomers - some of those who have been warmly welcomed to our midst and who will come to the table of the Lord with us in a few minutes - do any among us resent the fact that they have been given the same rights and privileges by God that we have been given - that they will receive enough bread - enough love - to sustain them - enough to get them through to the next day?

Do we compare our labour to the labour of others and conclude that we should have more than they, more love, more respect, more thanks, more say in how things are run?

Undoubtedly, for those who think in worldly terms, the answer would be yes.

But the story of God liberating the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt (where they would have surely perished), like the story of the cross of Jesus and how it liberates from sin and death, is not a story about worldly wisdom - but story about divine grace.

It is not about what we deserve but rather it is about what we all need, and how God most generously provides it even when we do not "deserve" it.

Bread enough for each day - in a world where normally only those fortunate enough to be hired first are able get enough to eat.

Bread enough for each day - in a world where normally even those fortunate enough to have the strength to work are left standing in the unemployment line because of corporate downsizing, even banks like HSBC who has been making so much money are downsizing.

Bread enough for each day - in a world where even those who work hard and long in the heat of the day are often forced to agree to less than a day's wages because of an employer's desire to maximize his or her profit. Which is we have employers who are complaining of even having to give a minimum wage of HK$27 per hour (less than US$4 per hour).

Bread enough for each day for everyone who is willing to respond to the landlord's call to come and work, even though the landlord promises only what is fair for the labour they perform.

In God's Kingdom it is all grace - from those who are hired first and promised a day's wage for a day's work - to those hired last and promised only what is fair.

We who have been called by God

- we who have been called out of the unemployment line

- we who have been called out of bondage to those things that would destroy us

each one here today has been taught to pray and are urged to pray, as Jesus taught us: "give us this day our daily bread".

And we are given it.

We are given bread from heaven - day by day.

And more - as we follow where God would lead us, as we respond to his invitation to work in his vineyard for whatever may seem fair to Him, we are given freedom, we are given life. And we are led to the promised land.

Today - receive the bread from heaven that God has provided.

Come from your seats without worry about whether you deserve to receive it or not.

Come from your pews without thinking about whether you have earned more than your neighbours.

Come and receive the mercy, the love, the care, the hope, and the promise that God has provided.

Come and receive what you need and what God has given.


Come and share in God's grace and generosity with your brothers and sisters, the generous God who would not see one of us perish...

Praise be to God, day by day, day by day. Amen

Genesis 50:15-21; Psalm 103; Matthew 18:21-35

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

Our three readings today speak to us today of sin and of forgiveness.

Our first reading shows Joseph - being implored by his brothers, in the name of the God of their Father, to forgive them. And Joseph does - saying - as he does

"Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives..."

Joseph, you will recall, was sold into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of the favour shown by their father towards him and resentful of the attitude that Joseph seemed to have towards them. They would have murdered him, but for their reluctance to actually have his blood on their hands, but the fate they condemned him too was little better than murder, for no slave is able to do as they wish - and the life of a slave could be +taken at the whim of his master.

Indeed it was only because of Joseph's favour in the eyes of God that Joseph was able to prosper in his slavery and, after many trials and tribulations, including more than two years in prison for an offense he did not commit, rise to the position of being at the right hand of Pharaoh, where he was charged with the task of keeping Egypt safe from seven years of drought and famine.

Joseph was most surely sinned against by his brothers. And yet, many years later, when hunger brought them into Egypt - he fed them; indeed he provided richly for both them and his father, saying even then, that God had a purpose in allowing them to sell him into slavery, for it made it possible for him to save them and all his people in their time of need.

Joseph was given the grace to see beyond the pain to the gain. The grace to see that while evil was done to him - God was able to use that evil for good.

Often for us that is a most difficult thing.

We can't see anything good coming out of the harm that others have done us.

We can't see any reason for mercy - for forgiveness - even if, in other areas of our life, we prosper.

We carry the wounds of the past with us, we remember the hurt done us,

We think of what might have been, rather than looking at our life as it is now and seeing in it the hand of God to do good for many, and from that point of view, forgiving the harm done to us by few.

The truth be told - even in the story of Joseph, sin remains sin, even though God brought good out it.

That is the simple fact that we do well not to lose track of.

No matter what God does with the sins that have been committed against us they remain sins.

The Psalm today speaks to us of what God does with our sins. Let me quote from the first eleven verses of

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.... The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us...

God removes our sins from us. Out of love for us, God forgives us our sins. God cancels them out. God makes the debt that in justice we owe to him - of no account. That is the great message of the cross - that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life.

As you all know from your experience - sin is grievous.

Sin is always wrong.
It is always bad.
It always hurts someone.

But the incredible news is - while sin always hurts - it's power to hurt ends when forgiveness is applied to it.

We have been forgiven by God. Sin no longer has the power to harm our relationship with God, it has been washed away, it has been nailed to the cross, it has been buried, never to rise again, and in it's place new life has come forth, a life that we have but to reach for to receive.

That is what God does for us.
- Instead of punishing us for our sin
- Instead of keeping us at arm's length
- Instead of turning his face away from us as we deserve, God turns to us.

God turns to us, and in pain, and in tears, and finally in death itself, he forgives us and calls us - and empowers us - to live as ones who are able, like Joseph, to save many lives - as ones, who like Jesus, are able to bring the word of life to those who are in darkness, the word of love to those are perishing on account of their lack of it.

"God doesn't condone our sin, nor does he compromise his standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion, nor does he relax his demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, he assumes our sin and, incredibly, incredibly sentences himself. God is still holy. Sin is still sin. And we are redeemed." (Max Lucado - "In The Grip of Grace")

We are redeemed. We have bought out of slavery to sin and death. God is good to us - even though some of our brothers and sisters have not been good to us - even though we have not been good to God.

And so we arrive at the Gospel Lesson today. And also at the title for our Sermon
"as we forgive those who trespass against us."

After listening to Jesus speak to him and the other disciples about how to treat a brother or sister who has sinned against them, and the procedure to be followed in trying to win them back to the way of God, those careful steps I dealt with last week, Peter comes to Jesus and asks him

"Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins gainst me? Up to seven times?"

And Jesus gives his famous answer - "I tell you not seven times, but seventy times seven times".

And then Jesus tells an alarming parable about how the Kingdom of Heaven is like a King who wanted to settle accounts with his servants - and how one of these servants - even though he is forgiven a massive debt by his master - fails to be equally forgiving of a fellow servant who owes him but a small debt.

"You wicked servant" says the master to the one he had forgiven so much, "I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" And in anger his master turned him over to the jailors to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

Alarming is it not? And how much more so when you remember the punch line that Jesus offers.

"This", says Jesus, "is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

I call this parable alarming because most of us find it difficult to forgive.

And because, in some way or other, it seems that the forgiveness we finally receive depends on the forgiveness we give....

"This", says Jesus, "is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

And again, from earlier in the Gospel According To Matthew, when the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray.

This, says Jesus, is how you should pray, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us."

God loves and us forgives us - even before we even ask. His forgiveness is total and unconditional, and he calls to us to open our lives to him and to accept that love and forgiveness.

If you worried about being unable to forgive someone one time, let alone seventy times seven times, there is something you can do about it.

Or if you are worried that perhaps your prayer to God might be fulfilled before you are ready for it, and that God will end up forgiving you in the way you forgive others there is something you can do about it.

And that something is this: surrender your judgement to God, surrender your judgement to God and keep praying the prayer that Jesus taught, and pray it with deep earnestness.

From time to time try changing the words.

Change them from "And Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" to "And, as You have forgiven us our trespasses, help us forgive those who trespass against us"

and change the words back again.

Pray the prayer of Christ and savour the grace of God of which our Psalm sings of today.

Remember that sin is sin - and that it all hurts - and yet God removes it from us as far as the east is from the west, he forgives us, he has compassion on us, like a father has for his children, like a mother has for her child.

Savour what that means for you, think of how God has shown love for you, forgiveness to you, even before you asked, even before you thought to ask.

Then you will be, as the Psalm One put its, "like a tree planted by streams of water"

You will be drawing upon the love of God - the story of God wonder and grace - the word of God - and you will be able to yield your fruit in season, and your leaves will not wither, your actions - and later even your feelings - will be good.

Yes, sin is sin, and we have a right to be angry about it. We should be angry about it.

But work to let go of your anger at those who sinned, work at it by not only remembering what God has done for you, but also by remembering who is in the end, the only one who has the right to render judgement.

Forgiveness means that we must forever surrender the idea that we are the judge.

And I so am happy about that. Because I know what a lousy judge I am. Because I know how my judgements of others have proven wrong, and I know how even when they have been "right", they have done nothing to improve the situation: for me. For those I am worried about. For the one that has done wrong.

Think on these things.

Think about how God's ways are greater than ours. And how God cares. And wants us to care.

Then pray again, "Lord, forgive my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me" and again, "Lord, as you have forgiven my trespasses, help me forgive those who trespass against me"

God will help you as you remember what is so near to God's own heart - and ask his help with it. God will help you even as you continue the prayer as Jesus taught us to pray.

Fear not that you have already lost - or will loose your salvation - your joy or peace.
Rather keep trying to forgive - for in trying to forgive forgiveness comes.

Fear not either your failures to forgive despite your resolve to be forgiving. The Lord who calls to us to forgive seventy times seven times has himself done the same - and indeed even more.

Your salvation is not lost by one act of malice, or even by a series of such acts. It can only be lost if you commit what the scriptures call the unforgivable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit, the sin which we understand to be the denial of God and God's power, the denial of the Truth of God that seeks to leaven your life.

On this the day of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities, let us remember that the truth of God is that God is forgiving.

The power of God is the power to help you to stand firm and to show that truth to others, through the love we give.

Praise the Lord, O my soul. All my inmost being, praise his holy name. Amen

Romans 13:8-14 and Matthew 18:15-20

Lord, we would follow thee. We would be and do all that you have created us to be and do. Guide, O Lord, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - at this time - and indeed always. Amen

Hear this text again - from Romans 13:11 - the Contemporary English Version Paul writes:

"You know what sort of times we live in, and so you should live properly. It is time to wake up. You know that the day when we will be saved is nearer now than we first put our faith in the Lord. Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark an be ready to live in the light."

Live properly - be ready to live in the light.

I would like to start by sharing something I read some years ago with the heading:

"Holier, Happier, Healthier":

"Attending church regularly is not only good for your soul, it is also good for the rest of you, according to Time magazine. In a recent cover story about changing attitudes to health, the magazine cited several scientific studies which indicate people who are religious are markedly healthier than those who are not. Their blood pressure is lower, they have fewer heart problems, they're less prone to depression - they even recover faster and more completely from hip fractures."

Neat stuff -- Something that we all should think about - especially those of us who are not regular in the worship of God - and those who are thinking about giving up on church.

It is the stuff of biblical promises which have always said that if we follow God - if we love God and obey the Lord's commands that we will prosper... Let me share some

Moses - speaking to the people just before his death said:

(extracts from Deuteronomy 28:1-13) - "always obey the laws and the teachings of the Lord and the Lord will make your businesses and your farms successful - he will make you his own special people - he will make you successful in your daily work - he will open the storehouses of the skies where he keeps the rain and he will send rain on your land at just the right times - he will make you a leader among the nations and not a follower"

Jesus - in the Sermon on the Mount, speaking about anxiety and worry about what to wear, what to eat, how to get by says, as it is put in the hymn based on that same passage - and you better sing it with me so that it sounds right:

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness, then all these things shall be added unto you - Allelu - Alleluia" (Matthew 6:33)

Allelu, Alleluiah indeed!!...

Of course there is not a strict relationship between faith, between attending church regularly, between keeping the commandments of God and worldly success - THE CROSS should tell us that - the Book of Job tells us that the Spirit in our hearts tells us that but all in all - being with God, being in the family of God, and acting out - living out -your faith in a community, in a church, in worship with one another, is one of the best things you can do - in worldly terms - as well as spiritual.

But even as I say this - let me remind you - around the world Priests and missionaries - and people who gather for the worship of God - are killed simply because of the Gospel they believe in, because of the name that they bear.

Faith is not simply about attending church and prospering because of it.

It is about commitment.
About belief.
About courage.
About passion.
About love.

Love even when you don't want to love.
Love even when your brother or your sister hurts you.
Love even when it takes you to a cross instead of to a Rolls Royce.

Nevertheless I marvel my friends - and so perhaps ought you: I marvel at how so many people who do not believe miss what seems to be so obvious to those who do believe - that God's promises are sure and that the faithful are rewarded in this world by what Jesus calls, in tenth verse of the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John - "abundant life" or "life in its fullest" - and in the next by what we call "eternal life"

The abundant life is not a life of worldly riches - but rather a life full of spiritual treasures - a long life which commences now - and continues forever.

Think on it long and hard my friends: statistics suggest and the honest scientist can't rule out the idea that the claims of our faith are true - that loving God and obeying his commands, that attending church regularly and living properly, that living in the light - has real benefits.

So what does it mean to live properly - to live in the light???

Well, Paul suggests that it means several things - some of them very pedestrian, very simple, very common sense - very much like what good mothers and good fathers have told their children for centuries: (Verse 13)

- don't go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent
- and don't quarrel or be jealous.

There are obvious benefits to these things are there not???

- no bad reputation - no hang overs
- no having done things one would regret if only one could remember what it was one had done
- no people looking askance at you because of your vile mouth or avoiding you because of your inappropriate acts
- no senseless feuds brought about by insisting that your point is correct and someone else's is wrong
- no green tinge about your gills as you fume about how someone else has managed to get more than you have
- no more pain in the gut as you think about how little you have

Pretty obvious stuff with pretty obvious benefits.

But there is more to this living properly - living in the light - than what is obvious.

Paul goes on in verse 14 to say

"Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires."

To live properly, to live in the light, is to do more than simply follow a bunch of rules; it is more than the legalism of the scribes and pharisees and the doctrinaire approach to things of the rabidly orthodox and the politically correct.

To live properly, to live in the light, is to be close to the one who is the light. It is to be in intimate communion with, to be in touch with, the one who vanquishes darkness. It is to put on, to wear, to be indwelt by, the Spirit of the one who made the heavens and the earth and who knows from his own experience our every weakness.

And this my friends is above all a matter of attitude - a matter of desire - a matter of the Spirit which is in us.

The Christian life is not a matter of rules and regulations! It is a matter of wanting to be like the Lord Jesus and of believing in him - and of following him, of living by the love that he showed us when he went to that cross and died for us.

Listen to Paul again as God speaks through him -reading back in verses 9 and 10 of today's reading:

"In the law there are many commands, such as, 'be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others.' But all these are summed up in the command that says, 'love others as much you love yourself'.

Love is the basic stuff of living by faith and love is not a matter of the law - nor even is it a matter of what we feel - it is a matter of the will.

What do you will?? What do you want?? What do you desire?? What do you strive to bring about??

To return to a passage I quoted - or sang - a bit earlier. Matthew 6:33 - this time from the Contemporary English Version of the Bible:

"More than anything put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well."

Live properly, live in the light. Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. More than anything, put God's work first and do what God wants....

Today we celebrate a special moment in our faith community - to every member of their family a special moment in the Kingdom of God.

We celebrate how the lost have been found.
How the dead have come to life
How the wounded have been healed.
How the blind have received sight.
How the crucified have risen.

That is what baptism and confirmation are all about. That is what the Lord's Supper is all about. That indeed is what the Kingdom of God is all about.

Living in the light is a marvellous thing my friends. But it has its deep and serious side.

The light asks us - and shows us - that we owe to one another the kind of love God has for us.

It calls us to take upon ourselves a solemn obligation - a solemn debt, the debt of gratitude and thanksgiving, the obligation of actually giving a hoot.

That means my friends - that we must be willing in our relationships with one another to go first.

- To be the first to reach out after a quarrel.
- To be the first to try to work things out after we have been sinned against.
- To be the first, when things can't be worked out, and even when they can, to trust God for results,
- to be first in seeking reconciliation - and the first to refuse to fret or grow anxious or bitter or hateful because of what has happened to us.

Living in the light is a wondrous thing to do, a hard thing to do - a glorious thing to do.

A thing that benefits us from now - to eternity.
A thing that transforms us - and which can transform our world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, hear today - as we come to perform the sacrament of Holy Baptism and to confirm the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Joseph and Mary and Robert, the words of Jesus. Hear and remember how before Jesus ascended into heaven he spoke to his followers, saying:

"All authority in heaven and on earth have been given me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.

I am with you always. even to the close of the age....

This is the promise of God for all - and all those who walk in the light know it and rejoice in it. Praise be to God.

Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 63; Matthew 16:21-27

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

To really get hold of the significance of today's gospel reading with its talk of the cross and of suffering and dying and being raised you need to know what happened just minutes earlier in the scene.

Jesus has led his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi, and there he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They tell him - "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

Then he asks them - "But what about you?" Who do you say I am?"

And Peter answers "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus answers Peter's assertion by saying that Peter is truly blessed - that this confession has been revealed to him by God the Father and then he says to Peter that on him he would build his church - an everlasting church - and to him he would give "the keys of the kingdom of heaven so that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

And then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

There today's reading begins - with the words

"From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Notice the word that repeated twice in this single verse, the word that Peter reacts to immediately by taking Jesus aside and attempting to rebuke Jesus saying "Never Lord! This shall never happen to you."

I refer to the word "must".

I must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. I must be killed be killed - and on the third day be raised to life.

I think we can understand where Peter is at. Many of us feel the same way today as Peter felt then.

It makes no sense to him that the Messiah, the Son of The Living God, must suffer and die.

It makes no sense to him that the King over Israel, the one promised of old to arise from the line of David and to rule over David's kingdom, must suffer many things at the hands of the very people who should welcome him with open arms.

It makes no sense at all that a dear friend - a holy man - a righteous man - a man destined to rule God's own people should be speaking of defeat instead of victory - of disgrace instead of honour - of an ignoble and early death - instead of a glorious and long life - and saying that it MUST be so.

Peter simply doesn't hear what Jesus is saying - and what he does hear - he doesn't want to accept.

And Jesus condemns that lack of hearing - that lack of accepting - that lack of understanding by saying to Peter:

"Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

And then by telling all the disciples, who have been listening to this exchange between Peter and Jesus:

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself (there is that word again) and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it...".

Have you ever wondered why throughout the gospels Jesus rebukes demons who identify him as the Son of Man and warns his disciples to not tell others that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living of God?

When I first started reading the Bible in my late teens and early twenties it struck me as very strange.

I mean is not our whole faith based on the understanding that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh?

- that he is the promised shoot arising out of the stump of Jesse?
- that he is the fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham and to Moses, to David and to Jeremiah and to Isaiah and all the prophets?

Indeed, isn't it the job of the Holy Spirit to reveal this very thing to us, much as Jesus says to Peter at Caesarea Philippi that he is blessed because the Father has revealed it to him?

"Jesus - You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" Why can't we say it?? Why can't we tell the whole world - right now - today?"

Well, of course, we can. But at the very beginning the disciples were told not to.

And the reason for that is because the people of the time, the faithful people, the hopeful people, who awaited the Messiah, would, upon hearing the news, fail - much as Peter failed - to hear the message of the Messiah.

The message concerning his life- I must suffer.

- I must be killed and on the third day rise.

And the message about their lives - If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

We see it today in some churches - this failure to hear what the Messiah is all about, and what the Messiah, the Christ expects, indeed demands, of his followers.

We see it where forgiveness is proclaimed without requiring repentance, where baptism is practised without requiring that one be a part of the body of Christ, where communion is offered without the need for confession and reconciliation and where wealth and health is promised if you just believe - rather than the service and sacrifice, the humility and the self-giving that is the sign of our calling, and indeed the sign of sainthood.

Someone once said: "Jesus promised his disciples three things - they would be entirely fearless, absurdly happy, and always in trouble.".

That's not the kind of message most people want to hear.

Trouble we already have.

What we want is a world without trouble -

a world where all our problems are taken away with the snap of the fingers
a world where our enemies are made to vanish - just like that,
a world of peace and plenty and happiness,
a world where we and those we love can have everything a person desires.

That is what the Messiah is supposed to do - the Messiah is supposed to make our world better, to bring in the age of peace and plenty with one quick snap of the fingers and - if there must be a bit of fighting at the very beginning to get rid of those who oppress us, well, it will be a glorious affair, one with no injury or cost to the good guys, one where the enemy will be routed completely and where those who have fought for the king will be honoured in their victory with him, and the world will be safe forevermore....

From the moment that Peter and the other disciples recognized Jesus as the Messiah, from that time Jesus began to explain to them that he must suffer and that he must be killed and on the third day rise.

I would love to be able to tell you that this isn't the way things must be.

But God's ways - praise be to God - are not our ways.

The emblem our faith is not a crown - but a cross.

And the field of battle upon which our Lord wins his victory is not the sand of Judah and of Palestine but the hearts of men and women like you and I.

And what he fights against - and what we fight against with him, is not an enemy of flesh and blood, but rather the principalities and powers of this world, the world's way of doing things - that way which began when the serpent suggested to Eve that she could become like God if she simply reached out her hand and took the fruit that God said she should not eat.

I am not much of a gardener - but I do know a couple of things. The most important of these is that a flower's beauty can be realised only by first being planted in the ground, in the form of a seed.

As it is with seeds that are meant to be flowers - so it is for us - so it is with Christ.

Evil is not overcome by evil.

And a life worth the living is not found by clinging to the life we have, and surrounding it with all the toys that the world affords us.

Rather it is found by letting go of ourselves and our own selfish desires and our own feeble way of understanding things - and being obedient to the one who makes seeds to grow.

Yes Peter, Jesus must suffer and must die - and yes, that seems so wrong - but listen - didn't you also hear him say "and on the third day be raised?"

Or, thinking about the call of Moses which was described in part in our first reading: Yes Moses, I want you to leave the comfortable life you have found here in Midian

- I know you are wanted for murder in Egypt
- I know you can't speak well,
- I know that you require some kind of way of convincing my people you have talked to me,
- I know Moses that even though I AM WHO I AM - the God of your ancestors, has spoken to you, you don't want to go. But haven't you heard me? I have heard my people's cry - and I am going to lead them out of bondage and bring them to this very mountain to worship me - if you but do as I ask.

Or again - Yes Ricky - I know that I am asking to go an extra mile when - in an ideal world - you shouldn't even have had to go the first. And yes, I know that Lam King and Amy don't deserve your time and your care after allthat they have done to hurt themselves and their families. And yes, I know that you have worked hard for what you have and shouldn't have to share it with those who haven't worked at all. I know all that you have done and I know that other people should be taking their turn instead of you - but haven't you heard?!

It is not only about what you are being asked to give up, it is not only - it is not only about taking up my cross and doing my will instead of indulging your own.

It is also about gaining the very thing you and indeed everyone else needs the most: a life worth living - a life that gives life - a life that is joyful and unafraid - a life which death cannot destroy - a life in which the kingdom of God draws near and is lived and shared with all.

Yes, I talk about how you need to die to yourself each day and to put my will first in your lives, and yes, it is not going to be fun or easy - especially at first; - but think about what is coming and what you will become.

Or not.

Praise be to Christ Jesus our Lord who died so we might live and who lives that we never die. Amen

Exodus 1:1-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20

At the begining, let me observe that this morning's reading is one of the New Testament's most significant one. It is found in all three synoptic Gospels: in the 16th chapter of Matthew, the eighth chapter of Mark (which is presumably the original) and in the ninth chapter of Luke. In each of these Gospels, though most obviously in Mark and Matthew, this episode represents a turning point. With Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah (which is the theme of this morning's reading) and Peter's subsequent failure to recognize the true meaning of Jesus' Messiahship (which is the theme of next Sunday's reading) all three Gospels arrive at a critical juncture. To that extent, all three synoptic gospels are in agreement.

At the same time, for all their agreement, Matthew in his telling of the story, includes important details that are found neither in Mark nor in Luke. Listen. Listen first to Mark's Gospel.

"Jesus asked them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, You are the Messiah. And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him." That's Mark's version.

Now listen again to the version from Matthew we heard earlier.

"Jesus said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

That's quite a mouthful, isn't it? And it raises a number of issues that have divided Christians along all sorts of fault lines.

Most notoriously, it has divided Roman Catholic Christians from both their Eastern Orthodox and Protestant brothers and sisters. You see, in the traditions of the Catholic Church, this verse is seen as a key foundation for the office of the Pope. And so the argument is made that Jesus was handing over a distinctive spiritual authority not only to Peter but to Peter's successors, the subsequent bishops of the city of Rome, in which church Peter is believed to have been the first bishop, in which city Peter is believed to have been martyred.

Protestants, for their part, have tended to respond that the promise is only made to Peter, not to his successors. Besides, or so runs a classic argument, it is not so much Peter himself who is made the foundation of the church, but rather Peter's confession (his recognition that Jesus is the Messiah) that is the foundation of the church. No wonder we Protestants delight in singing that "the Church's one Foundation, is Jesus Christ our Lord!"

For the record, I believe there is a measure of truth in each perspective. Protestants are right to remind Catholics that there is nothing whatsoever in this verse about Peter's successors. Protestants are also right to remind Catholics that any authority given to Peter is valid only to the extent that Peter remains faithful to his insight: namely, that Jesus is the Messiah. But Catholics, I believe (and more and more Protestant scholars seem willing to concede this), Catholics are right to claim that it is not only Peter's insight that is authoritative, but that Jesus is conferring at least some measure of authority on Peter himself, and through Peter on the church and its subsequent leaders.

Mind you: all of this presupposes that Jesus actually spoke these words to Peter. And that is another fault-line that this passage creates. Not only a fault-line between Catholics and other Christians, but also between liberal and conservative scholarship. Conservative scholarship believes these sayings about Peter really came from Jesus; liberal scholarship has tended to believe that Matthew's church inserted these sayings into Mark's original, as a way of conferring special authority on the ministry of Peter.

And this is, of course, one disagreement that will likely rage until the end of time. For my part, I am struck by a growing tendency among even liberal scholars, to regard the sayings about Peter as authentically coming from the lips of Jesus: preserved in a tradition that was available to Matthew but not to Mark. Three arguments seem especially convincing. First, that where we have a source that was used by Matthew, he is exceptionally respectful of that source; he shows no tendency simply to make things up. Second, that the pattern of Greek in this passage appears to reflect an underlying source in either Hebrew or Aramaic, making it likely that these words about Peter come from an ancient tradition. Finally, there is impressive corroborating evidence in Paul's letter to the Galatians, where Paul grudgingly acknowledges familiarity with traditions that give Peter special authority.

At any rate, that is my rather convoluted way of saying that I take this material at face value. I believe these sayings come from the lips of our Lord. Which means I have no choice but to ponder their meaning for today. And, as my sermon title indicates, I have a sense that their meaning for us today is caught up in this whole notion of the keys: the keys that were handed to Peter. Keys to the kingdom of heaven. Keys that will bind and loose on earth, so that (to quote from Matthew) whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. But what, pray tell, does any of that mean?

Well: at a minimum, it means that a profound authority has been conferred upon Peter, upon other church leaders, upon the church itself. And our temptation, I fear, has been to err in one of two ways in the face of such authority: the first turns the church into a dreadfully serious business, an institution that takes itself far too seriously. In reaction, we then go to the opposite extreme (the danger we now face in the United Church) by not taking the Church's distinctive mission seriously enough. But surely it is possible (not easy, mind you, but possible) to take the work we have been given as the church seriously, without taking ourselves seriously. And so yes, as distant descendants of those earliest Christians, as distant descendants of Simon Peter and the others, we ought never underestimate the weightiness of the work we have been given: the gospel we proclaim, the prayers we offer, the bread and cup we share, the care and compassion we offer in Christ's name. Let us never underestimate the importance of that work to God's work: its power to do great good, and (God help us) its power to do great harm (think about the residential schools, or about sexually abusive clergy), its power to harm when we betray the trust that has been placed in our corporate hands.

We can go further, I think: we can say more about those keys that were placed in Peter's hands. And I was struck, this past week by the two contrasting images that emerged as I pondered Peter and his keys. One of those images came from my study of some of the fine commentaries I perused, commentaries that are fairly unanimous in their understanding of the keys, explaining that Peter is being given the authority which rabbis traditionally held (and in some Orthodox Jewish circles still hold) to make binding decisions in the areas of doctrine and ethics. And I found myself contrasting that with an image that has become a staple of pop culture (and all kinds of very funny jokes): the image of St. Peter and his keys, standing guard at the gates of heaven. And as I weighed those images, as I contrasted those images, I was left with a question.

Why is it that the image most non-churchgoers have of the institutional church, tends to draw so heavily on the rabbinical image: the image of a group of right-minded folks who delight in laying down all sorts of doctrinal absolutes they themselves don't really believe, and all sorts of ethical absolutes they themselves never manage to keep. And I know that's a miserably unfair caricature: we're not like that. And yet, the fact remains that the church, as far as the world is concerned, seems to be far better at binding then at loosening. Far better at the creation of binding doctrinal norms and ethical rules, than at the setting loose of God's people for lives of hope-filled freedom in the midst of a horrifically complex world.

And I think most of you know me well enough to know that I am repudiating neither doctrine nor morals! The shelves of my church study are lined with many volumes of theology: with a decided preference for those theologians who view theology as nothing more than sustained commentary on the church's teaching, the church's doctrines. As for ethics, again I hope you know me well enough to realize that I am not so naive about the human race as to believe that we could get along without at least some guidelines (which had generally better take the form of rules, regulations, and laws) to assist us in governing our unruly passions and our boundless pretentions. I know that, and I hope you know that I know that.

But! I also know this. Simon son of Jonah, this Peter on whose confession the church is founded, immediately (as we will see next Sunday) managed to make a botch of the whole business, entirely misunderstanding the true nature of Jesus' mission. This same Peter then proceeded to deny Jesus not once, not twice, but three times on the night of Jesus' arrest. Furthermore, it was this very Peter (according to John's Gospel), who could think of nothing more productive to do after witnessing the risen Christ, than to return to Galilee and get back into the fishing business. And then, some 20 years later, when you would think he had finally managed to get things sorted out, it was this same rock-like Peter who received a good tongue-lashing from the apostle Paul. Why? Because Peter had withdrawn from table fellowship with fellow Christians, simply because they were Gentiles. You see: Jesus founded the church on the back of a man who was a repeat recipient of divine mercy. Someone who fell often, but who was allowed to stand again. In other words, Jesus placed the keys to his kingdom in the hands of someone who had as much reason as any human being who has ever walked the face of this earth, to acknowledge his radical need for God's mercy-drenched grace.

And oh, how I wish, how I wish, that the Church did a better job of presenting the Gospel in that way. How I wish we displayed more facility at showing the world that Christ's mission was and still is, and that therefore the church's mission always has been and still is, fundamentally a mission of divine mercy. That any wisdom, any doctrine, of which the Church might dare to boast, is grounded fully and exclusively in the truth of divine mercy; that any virtue, any ethical achievement of which the Church might dare to boast, is grounded fully and exclusively in the goodness of divine mercy. The mercy that picks us up each time we stumble, each time we fall.

I'm reminded of St. Augustine's famous quip. That the Kingdom of heaven will be built not from the perfection of virtue, but from the forgiveness of sins.

I am reminded of a wonderful song: one of the last songs written by a remarkable evangelical Christian song-writer, who was taken from us far too young: Rich Mullins.

"Let mercy lead, (let mercy lead!)
let love be the strength in your legs,
and in every footprint that you leave,
there'll be a drop of grace."

I like that. The good news being....

....the good news being that it is just such grace, that it is just such mercy, that now has a name. Mercy now has a name (we call him Jesus!), mercy now has a story (we call it Gospel!)...

...and also, also mercy now has a community of followers (we call it church!): a key-wielding community of followers, that lives for the express purpose of telling the world, and better still of showing the world, the face of God's unyielding love.

"Jesus said to them: But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

May He be blessed day by day, Amen.

Isaiah 56:1-8; Matthew 15:21-28

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.

Every now and then, rather than doing a what I call an ordinary sermon where I take the Bible passages for the day and attempt with God's help to find in them the Word that we need to hear, I instead take the Bible passage, generally a story, or a parable, and retell it as a story.

In doing so I ask myself - and hope that you will ask yourselves what was the event like? What were the people in it thinking about? What happened and why did it happen that way? How is God found in the story?

Stories help us to use our imagination, they help us to hear what God is saying to us, and when we listen and wonder as did our ancestors by their fires and in their temples and synagogues, the Holy Spirit helps us to hear what it is God is saying.

Today - I offer to you such a story, and, prayerfully, you will hear in it the word of God for you this day.

It is the story which I call Crumbs From the Table. Relax and listen.

She didn't belong there. I knew it and the rest of us knew it.

We were just sitting down to dinner when she barged in.

The dogs woke up immediately and from their place under the table they began to bark.

One of the children started to cry as the woman frantically looked around the room.

I was startled and I stood up immediately. I could feel myself beginning to get angry as I look at this dishevelled and dirty woman.

John and James, who had been sitting near the door had leapt up at the same time I had - and they were already reaching out to stop from the woman from coming closer to the table when she spotted the master.

"Lord, Son of David" - she cried out as they moved in front of her, "Have mercy on me! My daughter is sick. She is suffering terribly from demon possession..."

The master must of heard her over the noise of the two dogs and the child, but he never said a word.

He didn't even look up from his plate.

By this time not only John and James, but I and three others had surrounded the woman and we began to hustle her out the door. She was interrupting not only our meal, but the time that Jesus had specially set aside for teaching us about the Kingdom he was
going to establish. We had no intention of letting her get in the way of that.

The woman struggled a bit, but she didn't have a chance. Hauling nets gives a person a lot of strength, and she was outnumbered. We got her outside even more quickly than a bouncer gets a drunk out of a tavern.

But let me tell you, once outside, she caused just as much trouble as a drunk does.

She was loud and insistent.
She tried to get by us and to get back inside.
She kept on saying to us that she had to see the miracle worker, that her daughter was in terrible shape, that she needed help.

She must of clutched at and grabbed each and every one of us as she pleaded.

I tell you, she was a real pain. I just wanted to get back inside for dinner.

James tried to reason with her.

"Look", he said, "You have no right to be here. You've got no right to bother the teacher. You are a foreigner, you don't believe in anything we believe in, your people are gentiles, they are heathens, and your behaviour shows that you are too. There is no way the master is going to help you, so please go away."

"I've got to see him", she said, "I know he can help me. He has done so much for others."

"That may be", James said, "but he's not going to do anything for you. You are not only a woman, you are a Canaanite. You don't go to the synagogue. You don't obey the law of Moses. You are unclean. You eat forbidden food. To make matters worse... you have absolutely no respect. Jesus is trying to eat. He is a guest in another man's home, and this is supposed to be a special time for us all, and you just barge in and start demanding help! Listen! Please! Go away! You are not going to get help here."

You know what she did?

That wretched woman just shook her head and said: "I know he will help me, he's got to help me!"

John butted in, "Look", he said, "Go away. We've told you that your not welcome here. We've told you that Jesus isn't going to have anything to do with your type. So why don't you just get lost."

I tell you she was a crazy woman. She didn't know her place, that's for sure. The more we said to her, the louder and more persistent she was. She cried, she begged, she screamed. There was no reasoning with her.

After a few minutes of this I got the idea of asking Jesus to tell her to go away. I figured that if he said something to her she'd get the picture and stop her infernal racket.

I mentioned the idea to a couple of the others and they agreed that it was the only thing to do if we were going to have any peace.

As soon as I opened the door to go in the dogs began barking again. Someone hissed at them to be quiet as I went over to Jesus. He was sitting with the child who had cried earlier and eating and talking with our host.

Our host looked a little embarrassed. He was trying to pretend that nothing was going on - but the woman was standing just outside the open door where my two mates were waiting for the word and the noise level was none too low.

"Excuse me", I said to the Master, "could you please tell that woman to go away. She is really pestering us with all her crying and carrying on."

Jesus look at his host, then at me, and said - "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

I tell you, Jesus was really frustrating at times. He never seemed to give a straight answer to a simple question. But even so, this time he was backing us up.

It was like he had heard everything we had said to the woman, so I turned to tell the wretched woman that the master had told her to go away.

Just as I was turning around, she squeezed by the guys at the door and ran over to right beside the master, and fell on down on her knees at his feet.

"Lord, help me", she said.

I didn't do a thing. I was tired. I figured after what he had said Jesus would handle it just fine. And he did.

Jesus looked at her at his feet.

She bowed her head and looked down.

Then he looked around the room for a moment.

The child beside him was busy eating a piece of bread as if nothing untoward had happened. The dogs were nuzzling around under the table. Our host was staring at him, no doubt wondering what Jesus was going to do to get rid of this problem. John and James and the others were all inside by this point. They were still standing, waiting to see if they were going to be needed again.

It became very quiet in the room as the master looked around, the only sounds were those of the flies and of the child eating.

Then Jesus looked down at the woman and said to her

"It is not right to take the children's bread and to toss it to their dogs"

A couple of the disciples smiled. I must confess that I grinned too. It was such a well turned phrase. The kind that only Jesus seemed to be able to come up with.
It made the point well. As far as I was concerned, it certainly disposed of her
and all of her kind.

I caught James looking at me and began to nod my head at him. As I did so the woman looked up at Jesus and stared him in the eyes.

"Yes Lord", she said to him in this incredibly calm and clear voice, and I swear to you she had this little smile on her face,

"Yes Lord", she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

I was stunned. The woman really was too much. Lippy, rude, obnoxious, unclean, disrespectful, I could go on!

Anyway - do you know what Jesus did?

He smiled at her, as if it was all some great contest of wits and he said to her

"Woman, you have great faith, For your reply, your request is granted. Go home, you daughter is healed."

I just could not understand it. I mean why in the world did Jesus do that? She did not belong there. She was not one of us. She was nothing but a Canaanite, Jesus knew it, I knew it, and the rest of us knew it. I just don't understand Jesus sometimes. I just don't understand....

Romans 10:5-15 and Matthew 14:22-33

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.

There are two levels to the story in our Gospel today:

- the level in which we see Jesus as the stiller of the storm; as the one who brings peace to those who sail through life in the boat called the church;

- and the level in which we see Jesus as the one who bestows power; as the one who calls to his followers - to those who are willing to step out of the safety of the boat - "come to me" - and who supports them when they do so.

It is this second level to the story that I want us to think about today - the level at which we see Jesus as the giver of power to those who, as a part of his church - are willing take a chance.

Think with me on the whole episode of Peter and his trip out upon the water. Think with me of how he was willing to risk all on the word of his master.

We hear in the gospel story that the disciples have been commanded by Jesus to take a boat and go before him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee while Jesus stays behind to dismiss the crowds that had gathered to listen to him.

By evening Jesus was alone - praying - and the disciples were far from shore, being battered by wind and waves. They struggle almost all night against the storm that is crashing down against them, and they struggle successfully, until near dawn they see an apparition - they see someone or something - walking across the water towards them - and they are terrified and quite naturally given the circumstances, they cry out in fear.

Immediately Jesus, for it is he who is walking upon the water, responds to the disciple's fear with the words - "Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid."

Peter answers Jesus first - saying

"Lord - if it is you - command me to come to you on the water."

And Jesus answers by saying "Come". And Peter climbs over the edge of the boat and puts his feet upon the water, and begins to walk towards Jesus.

Now some people dismiss the miracles recorded in the bible as simply tall tales. They claim that the stories of healing and of resurrection and of walking on water are but symbols for other things.

I don't agree with these people at all - I don't agree that these things never happened because I know that miracles occur, that people do get healed - I witnessed one myself when the doctors had all given up hope, that the dead are raised; and that many other marvellous, unexplainable things occur when people call upon the Lord.

Even so - most of the miracle stories in the bible are symbolic in that they teach us things about life and about faith even as they tell us about the marvellous things that Jesus and the disciples did.

And the story of Peter walking upon the water towards Jesus is one of these.

It shows us what can happen when we respond to the call of Jesus, it shows us how we can triumph over the forces of chaos and meaninglessness, it shows us how, when we take chance on the word of Jesus, his power lifts us up and allows us to weather the storms of life and do something new.

Think about it - Peter did not need to get out of the boat. He did not need to venture forth upon the stormy waters. He could have simply stayed where he was and waited for the Lord to come to him. He could have sheltered himself in the safety of the boat in the knowledge that everything would be okay now that the Lord was coming to him and the other disciples

But he did not. Instead Peter took a chance. He asked the Lord to bid him to come to him. He asked the Lord for the power to meet him in the middle of the sea.

Here is courage indeed - The courage to venture forth into danger and to do what the Lord has said can be done; the courage to risk taking a step that does not really need to be taken, simply because the Lord tells him it can be taken.

Most people suffer from a lack of boldness, a lack of courage - even Christians suffer in this way.

Given the choice between continuing in a situation where, despite the burdens and the dangers that are all around, there is a reasonable degree of safety, and venturing out into a new and unknown situation, where the dangers seem even greater and where there is no apparent safety net, most people will elect to stay put - to stay where they are.

Thus it is that women will stay in a home where they and their children are being abused rather than walk out and try to find a new life.

Thus it is that men will work for years in a job that is slowly destroying their health and happiness - rather than risk their homes and their security by returning to school or starting their own businesses.

Thus it is that teenagers will not speak to someone whom they are attracted to because they are afraid of botching up - afraid of being laughed at and rejected.

Thus it is that people who have had dreams of travelling around the world or of doing something else very special will stay where they are and allow their dreams to wither and die.

What have we been afraid to do?

What have we postponed because we dreaded the possible consequences?

Who have we have avoided because we did not know what to say to them?

Where have we refused to go because we feared what might happen there?

What goal have we hid from because we have felt inadequate?

What dream have we let wither and die?

Sometime we need to get out of the safety of boat. We need to say to the Lord, "Lord, if it is you - bid me come to you."

I am not saying here today to go out and take a wild chance on the first thing that comes along - but I am saying - if you have a dream - or if you are in a situation where wholeness and happiness are elusive - and you hear the master calling to you to take a chance - if you see that you can do something to help someone else - or simply feel that God is calling you to change something in your life that seems unchangeable - risk it.

Peter - though he did not need to - in the absolute sense of the word need - got out of the boat - and - upon the bidding of the Lord - walked upon the sea.

And he did well - his faith held him up - the power of Christ held him up, and he continued to do well until he forget about that power that he had called upon, he did well until he focussed upon the danger he was in, till he looked at the strong wind and the waves - and became afraid.

Then he began to sink..

When we take a risk - when we venture out upon the bidding of the Lord to do something new, or simply to fulfil what we believe our calling is - it is very important that we remember to stay focussed on our goal - to trust that God will see us through despite what is happening all around us.

A helicopter pilot who flew from an aircraft carrier in the Pacific told this story.

"I was flying the helicopter back to the ship when a blinding fog rolled in. Flying at a low altitude, I knew 5that a single mistake would plunge me and my crew into the ocean. Worse yet, I was experiencing a complete loss of balance - which, apparently is common for pilots flying by instruments. This loss of balance - known as vertigo - was so bad that despite the instrument readings I was certain that I was lying on my side. For 15 minutes I flew the helicopter by its instruments, fighting the urge to turn it according to my feeling. When we finally broke safely through the fog, I was deeply thankful I had being trained to rely upon my instruments rather than on my feelings.

That is what people who live by faith do - they remember that feelings can be misleading, but the truths in God's word are reliable, trustworthy, and consistent.

When we believe and act on these truths, we eventually break through the fog and experience the fulfilment of divine promise.

Peter - when he is overcome by fear, when he starts to walk according to his feelings instead of by the instruments of faith - begins to sink. His risk looks as if it has failed - but, as our story shows - it does not fail.

Pete sinks - but as he sinks Peter remembers from whence his help comes - and he cries out - "Lord! Save me!"

And Jesus reaches out his hand and catches him.

That is what the Lord does when we risk as well; it is what he does when he bids us come to him over the dangerous waters.

When we step out, when we take a risk to come closer to God, and then falter...the hand of Jesus reaches out to us and lifts us up. All we have to do is remember - and focus on him once again.

Jesus says to Peter after reaching out to him to save him, he says, and I believe he says it gently - he says "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

When we take a risk for the Lord, when we dare to do what is right, when we decide to go an extra mile - a mile that we need not walk - but which Jesus tells us we can walk - he is near to us to help us.

We do not need to doubt the outcome. We do not need to fear the adversity we encounter on the way.

All we need to do is keep focussed on Jesus, to look to where our help comes from. All we need to do is ask for the help we need and trust that it will come.

Like Peter who stepped out of the boat and walked on the water towards the Lord who had called him - we too can step out, and we really ought to step out, to respond to the Lord who bids us come to him.

When we do power flows. When we do marvellous things happen. When we do we discover new things about ourselves and our world.

We can risk, because we have a powerful Lord watching over us. We can trust, because we have a forgiving God caring for us. We can step out because we have a God who is sure to save.

Blessed be God - day by day. Amen

Romans 8:22-39 and Matthew 13:31-33,44-52

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