Isaiah 58:1-12; I Corinthians 2:1-16; and Matthew 5:13-20

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

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a lighthouse that sat on a rocky shore and helped ships get through the water safely without hitting any big nasty rocks. One day the lighthouse operator became sick and a temporary substitute was put in charge of the lighthouse. While he was there tending the lighthouse a big storm blew up and sand and branches and all kinds of things were flying around in the wind. The temporary lighthouse keeper got out a big piece of canvas and covered up the lantern so it would not get wet or damaged in the storm. That night a ship blew upon the rocks and sank with all hands.

Sounds silly doesn't it - I mean - who, as Jesus puts it, lights a lamp and then put it under a bowl?

Shortly after my confirmation a question was put to me that I would like to ask you today - a friend at that church asked me - "What are you? Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?

I was a little bit slow that day - I couldn't figure out what he was driving at - so I asked him a simple question in return: "What the are you talking about?!

Edwin, he said - a thermometer reflects its environment, it shows what the temperature is, if its hot outside - it says its hot; if its cold, it says its cold; it exerts no influence on what's around it - rather it is influenced by it; but not so a thermostat. A thermostat has power, it sets the temperature, it changes things.

So - what are you? A thermometer, or a thermostat?

What a great question! It is one that Jesus puts to his disciples in today's reading when he says:

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Think about it for a minute - Jesus tells us - "You are the salt of the earth..." And again, "You are the light of the world".

What an incredible thing that is! What an incredible gift! Somehow - because of who God has made us. Somehow - because of our decision to follow Jesus we are made into salt - into light - for the world.

That is the beautiful realty of what God does to us, in fact it is the most important thing that God does through us, when we live by our faith.

Think of the people who have touched you, the people who first spoke to your yearning heart, the people who first, because of their love and care for you, inspired you to believe in the God of Love.

Did they not light up your life? Did they not bring new savour and zest to the diet you once lived on? Did they not penetrate and change your lives with their care and concern and honesty? just as the presence of Jesus changed the life of Peter and John and James?

The divine is a light within us, and faith is the match that sets it glowing.

We are here today because the light of God has come into our life. The only question we need to address is - what are we going to do with that light?

Some time ago at a Bible Study someone asked the group:

Do you know what Christianity is? It is a wildly infectious disease. When you got a good case of it everyone around gets it too. The only problem is - so many people try to cure it...

People cure faith by stifling it and by ignoring it and by hiding it. They destroy faith by living like thermometers rather than like thermostats.

It doesn't take much to be a thermometer you know, all you have to do is be agreeable. All you have to do is to go along with what everyone else wants. All you have to do is think of your own comfort and ease.

When others around you are scoffing and mocking - all you need do is be quiet, to not make waves - you may even perhaps join with them in a gentle put down.

When someone is being racist and intolerant all you have to do is be silent about how in Christ there is no Jew nor Gentile, no Pakistanis nor Arabs....

When someone is hurt and alone, or feeling offended or betrayed, or simply depressed, all you have to do is walk on by - all you have to do is go on doing what you were doing before, as if nothing was happening that needed your attention.

All you have to do to be a thermometer - is go with the flow, to not speak about God's power and love, to not witness by your deeds to God's grace and mercy.

Reginald Bibby, a well known sociologist said in one of his books he examined the various churches in a certain part of North America, he polled their members and he polled a large number of non-Christians and he discovered an amazing fact - a disturbing fact:

He discovered that on almost all major social and political issues Christians did not differ in their opinions from non-Christians.

Bibby concludes his book by saying that the reason that the Christian church is dying in North America is because it does not offer anything that anyone else does not offer.

Indeed, Bibby continues - the very things that make the church unique - most of the established churches refuse to talk about - they would rather talk about psychology than about faith, and about the need for politic reform rather than about spiritual change.

Bibby, with the tools of modern social science echoes the statement of the 19th century philosopher and sceptic Frederick Nietzsche. Nietzsche said this about the churches of his day:

"They must sing better songs, ere I learn belief in their Saviour. They must act like they are redeemed before I will believe in their redeemer."

Well, we have great songs - but where do we sing them?...Are we like the Israelites at the time of the prophet Isaiah? Do we only sing the songs of the Lord when we are in church? Do we only sing about our faith when we want something from God?

Are we like those who believe quietly and only when it is safe? Or do we sing loudly and cheerfully and triumphantly in public? In those places where those who sing only the songs of the devil will be confronted; where those who hear only the songs of despair can at last know that there is hope; where those who have only the songs of self-hatred to listen to can, at last, hear that they are loved?

In the winter of 1978 a very heavy snow storm struck the city of Boston. It lasted a week, and during part of that time the power went off. While the power was off a number of things happened.

A man got lost trying to find his way to an unfamiliar section of the city. He almost froze to death wandering around the streets, until he happened upon a place he knew.

An elderly woman whose house was without power went through a night of terror. Of fragile health, she sometimes suffered hallucinations. Alone in her dark home her imagination distorted all the sounds of the wind and storm into signals of some kind of attack upon her.

In a house just a block away from her - a man died when the equipment he relied upon to breath failed to function.

A few blocks away, made bold by the darkness, vandals broke into an appliance store and carried off a lot of valuable merchandise.

The reality of one part of this parable I am telling you will help make all the rest clear.

The reality was that the Boston Edison Power Company had sufficient power in its generating system to meet all the needs of the city. The problem was in one simple transformer in the main plant and with the transmission lines from a substation.

This is like Christ and us as his disciples - we who are the light of the world.

Christ is indeed the one who shines with God's light.

But just as the whole city of Boston does not live in the generating plant itself, no more can people live in the immediate presence of their source of divine energy. Power has to come out into the world were they live.

That requires "transformers" and "transmission lines". It requires disciples who will cause their light to shine where people live and die.

We are the salt of the earth.
We are the light of the world.
We are the thermostats in a world of varying temperatures.
We are the infectious disease that God wants all people to catch.
We are the transmission lines, the transformers, that God has chosen.
We are the singers of the songs of the Lord.

And what in all this does God ask of us? The God who puts his light into us. The God who seasons us with his presence. The God who imparts his song into our hearts?

God asks very little. All he wants is that we be what we he has made us to be.

The power is, after all, his.
The light comes from him.
The seasoning is mined from his word, and the song is first sung by his lips.

All God asks is that we follow him, and witness to him as faithfully as we can.

And we can do that easily. All we need do is remember a simple fact, and do a simple deed.

The simple fact is this:

God makes us the salt of the earth. Salt, however, does not exist for its own sake. No one sits down to eat salt and salt alone. Salt is a seasoning meant to be applied to something, it is meant to penetrate and preserve and flavour the food that people eat. And in the same way light is not meant to be looked at, it is not meant to be covered and treasured like some precious object, it is given so that people might see what is around them and walk in safety, it is meant to penetrate and overcome darkness.

In other words we are saved - not just for ourselves, but to do the work of God.

And the simple thing we can do is this - we can stand up for our faith in God. And we can stand upon our faith in God.

When we do so - when we stand up and stand on - when we believe and act in faith, then we will be full of light, and of power, and of grace, we will be beacons in a dark place, and praise and glory unto God will be the result

We have God's word on it, that word by which we were made, and by which all life is given.

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father in heaven. Amen!

Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1; Luke 6:17-26

Lead us, O God, to streams of living water. Speak to us in the calming of our minds and the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the meditations of our hearts. Bring us freshness, new growth and vitality, that we may be fruitful for thee, our rock and our redeemer.

Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev in the Ukraine, used to say that he had discovered the meaning of love from a drunken peasant.

The rabbi was visiting the owner of a tavern in the Polish countryside. As he walked in, he saw two peasants at a table. Both were gloriously in their cups. Arms around each other, they were protesting how much each loved the other.

Suddenly Ivan said to Peter; "Peter, tell me, what hurts me?'

Bleary-eyed, Peter looked at Ivan: "How do I know what hurts you?"

Ivan's answer was swift: "If you don't know what hurts me, how can you say you love me?"

In today's Gospel reading , we hear gives Luke's version of the beatitudes. It is a version that is strikingly different from that found in the Gospel according to Matthew.

Instead of Matthew's eight statements concerning those whom God will bless Luke gives four beatitudes - four statements concerning those who are blessed.

The four blessings at first glance seem familiar enough:

Blessed are you who are poor,
blessed are you who are hungry,
blessed are you who weep.
blessed are you when people hate you and revile and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

But then Luke goes on and instead of listing four more beatitudes - he lists four woes - four disturbing statements concerning those whom God will afflict.

Woe to you who are rich now.
Woe to you are full now.
Woe to you who are laughing now.
Woe to you when all speak well of you.

That my friend's is incredible stuff, upsetting stuff, stuff that the rich and the full and the happy and the well thought of do not want to believe - and can you blame them?

Think about what the average person in our society works for.
Think about what you work for....
And then consider the scripture you have just heard.

I think most of us in this world are prepared to accept that the God will bless the poor and the hungry. There is a part of us that is, in fact, relieved by this idea. It kind of takes some of the pressure off us doesn't it?

We like too the idea that God will comfort those who mourn - and the idea that those who do right and are hated for it will receive a reward from God is not unpleasant to our ears. We can imagine, after all, ourselves in the position of needing some of that comfort - and we know that doing right isn't always rewarded by those around us - so it is good to know that God will set the record straight.

But the idea that the riches we have - may lead to our being cursed by God, and that the food we have - may be taken from us, and the joy we have - may be replaced by sorrow, and the good name we enjoy - may be considered to be an evil, well that is a different kettle of fish isn't it?.

And so it is meant to be.

You know I can't count the number of times I have heard people, when discussing the beatitudes, say things like:

"well, you know, the poor - in some ways they are better off than the rich. They have to work together. They know just how good a meal tastes. They are more connected to God, because God is all they have."

You ever hear stuff like that?

There is, I suppose, a certain truth to it. But it all too quickly can sound like being poor is a good thing. And if that is so - why then don't those people who say those things sell what they have and give it to the poor, and follow Jesus - as Jesus told the rich young ruler to do?

No my friends - poverty - thirst - weeping - and persecution are not good things, and those who are poor and thirty and mourning and persecuted are not told by Jesus that they are blessed because poverty and thirst and sorrow and persecution are, in some fashion a blessing; rather Jesus tells them and us today that they are blessed because God loves them and because it is God's will that they have a full place in his Kingdom.

You must remember my friends that in the popular understanding of things those who have wealth and health have it for one of two reasons - they have it because they have worked hard for it - or they have it because they are "blessed by God". Often we think it is a combination of these two things. We are blessed by God because we do things that are pleasing to God.

Equally we normally think of misery as being self induced - or as being God's punishment on those who are not following in his way - the poor are poor because they are lazy or their parents were lazy - and the poor nations - well they are poor because they have the wrong kind of values, because they fight with each other, or squander their resources, or whatever.

Indeed - when you read Psalm One, or the Prophet Jeremiah as we did today, it is easy to get into that frame of mind. The bible often speaks of prosperity as coming on the heels of obedience to God - and of unhappiness and misery as coming about as the result of disobedience.

And common sense tells us that this is the case as well.

God, after all, is not mocked. And his word is not void.

Just as when you jump off a cliff you will crash down to the ground, so when you turn your back on the Spiritual principles of life you will end up in misery.

And just as when you sow a crop of corn and corn is produced rather than tomatoes, so when you live by the love of God the love of God will be seen in you and what you do.

So it becomes all too easy for us to look out on the world and blame the poor and the thirsty and the persecuted and the sorrowful for their own plight.

Either way - by the route of blaming the poor for their own situation - or by the route of saying that somehow the situation being poor is better than, or at least as good as the situation of being rich, we can easily let ourselves off the hook of really caring for those around us; of really regarding the less fortunate as people equal to ourselves in every way save that they need a portion of that which we already have.

I would like to share with you something called the Parable of the Pit. Some of you have heard it before - others have not. It goes on a bit - but that is part of it's effect. Perhaps you all can help me fill in the blanks.... It starts like this:

A man fell into a pit and could not get himself out.

A SUBJECTIVE person saw him and said, "I feel for you down there."

An OBJECTIVE person happened along and said, "It's logical that someone would fall, down there."

A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST came along and said, "You only think that you're in a pit."

A PHARISEE said............... "Only bad people fall into a pit".

A ROCK HOUND asked........ "Are there any rare specimens in the pit?"

A NEWS REPORTER asked...... "Can I have the exclusive story on your pit?"

A FUNDAMENTALIST said....... "You deserve your pit."

CONFUCIOUS said, "If you would have listened to me, you would not be in that pit."

BUDDHA said to him, "Your pit is only a state of mind."

A REALIST happened along and said, "Now THAT'S a pit!"

A SCIENTIST saw him and said..... "I'll calculate the pressure necessary (pounds/square inches) to get you out of the pit.

A GEOLOGIST said..... "Just appreciate the rock strata in your pit."

An EVOLUTIONIST happened along and said, "You're a rejected mutant destined to die in that pit, before you product any pit-falling offspring."

A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL asked........ "Are you paying taxes on your pit?"

The LAND USE INSPECTOR asked, "Did you have a permit to dig a pit?"

A PROFESSOR gave him a lecture on "The Elementary Principles of a Pit"."

An EVASIVE PERSON talked to him and avoided the subject of the pit altogether.

A SELF-PITYING PERSON said..... "You haven't seen anything until you've see MY pit!"

An ODDS-MAKER noted..... "Chances are that anyone could fall into a pit."

An OPTIMIST said, "Things could be worse."

A PESSIMIST said, "Things WILL get worse!"

But JESUS, seeing the man........" took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit."

My friends, when we are confronted by the beatitudes we are confronted with the love of God: a love that - as we sang before this sermon - takes us just as we are, and so also takes the poor, the thirsty, the sorrowful, those who are despised just as they are.

Some ago we read the passage that is often called Jesus' mission statement, that statement from the prophet Isaiah - that goes:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me top proclaim release to the captives and recovery of site to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.

God's love extends to everyone my friends - the beatitudes confront us with this fact.

They also confront us with the fact that the rich, the well feed, the joyful and the well thought of persons among us may have forgotten the fundamentals concerning God's love - they may have forgotten just what it is that hurts God - how God is pained by disease when there is so much medicine close to hand - how God suffers when millions starve while enough food to feed them rots in corporate warehouses - how God is horrified by indifference and by a society that blames victims rather than helping them.

God is not against wealth or those who have full bellies. Nor does God condemn those who experience joyfulness or have good reputations.

But God does reminds us today - through the words of Jesus - and Jeremiah and David that there are two paths in this life, a choice of two roads that we can walk.

One path leads to life - the other leads to death.

The path to death is to rejoice in the blessings rather than in the one who blesses us, it is to seek the goodies that God gives rather than the to seek to do the good that God does.

The path of life - is the path of Jesus - who not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped, emptied himself and taking on human form, humbled himself, and became obedient to point of death even death on a cross.

You who are in need today - rejoice - for God will bless you, God loves you - and counts you as part of his chosen people, your time of suffering will come to an end.

You have abundance today - consider your brothers and sisters and how it is that Jesus gave himself for them - as he gave himself for you, and love them - love them deeply - love them with all you have, for in that love all the law and the prophets is fulfilled.

May His Name be praised day by day. Amen!

I Corinthians 1:18-31; Psalm 15; Matthew 5:1-12

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

"For consider your call, brothers and sisters, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are..."

Consider your call. Consider who you were - who you are - and what God has promised to do for you and through you.

And consider too these words:

"The message of cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.... For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."

What God has chosen is a confounding thing. A thing which overturns the wisdom of the world. A thing which overturns all social expectation, all scientifically determined truths, all human strength and power - and establishes in its place the inexplicable.

Blessed are the poor in Spirit - Blessed are they that mourn - Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they who are persecuted because of righteousness. Blessed are you when people insult you and say all manner of evil against you falsely because of me...

That which God has chosen - that which God blesses - is not what the world would choose or what the world would bless - and God states that straight up front when he says: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

God has chosen you:

- you with your worries and anxieties about the future
- you with your secondary school education
- you with your bad back and your aching neck and feet
- you with your private thoughts - and your secret past
- you with your desperate needs and your hidden fears,

just as he chose so long ago Peter with his bull headed stubborn bravado - and Matthew with his unsavoury background as a tax-collector - Simon, with his reputation as a Zealot - and James and John, two fishermen with a strange ambition to somehow be first in the Kingdom they thought Jesus was going to establish somewhere in the middle of the Roman Empire.

The Lord chose nobodies to be the first to know his teaching, the first to witness his miracles, and the first to spread the good news - the good news concerning the message of the cross - the good news that God has acted to bring salvation to the world and that all we have to do is to believe and trust in him.

God chose nobodies to be the first to know and to spread the good news that eventually would change the world.

We all look my brother and sisters-in-Christ, for salvation - for wholeness.

But some look, not to God, but to other things, they look not to faith in Christ Jesus and in the message of the cross, but to programs and blueprints and clever items of organization, to doctors and lawyers and those wise in the ways of science and technology.

They look for better jobs, bigger pay cheques, more interesting hobbies, different marriage partners, and while all these things have an appearance of wisdom, while they all, in turn, may indeed be very good and even very necessary things they do not save anyone - often they do not even make us very happy...

In Corinth the church was divided in various factions and groups as the people there became captivated by one or another viewpoint concerning what was good and what was true and what was of saving benefit.

As we heard of how some boasted of how they followed Apollos, how he had the better way - and indeed Apollos was an eloquent and persuasive person, a person who planted many seeds of faith in the lives of others.

Others thought the way the message was preached by Peter was best that heeding him was the only thing to do - that because he was one of the twelve he should be heeded before all others - and so it went.

There was a group of people who insisted that all moral codes were irrelevant because the written law had been superceded by the spiritual law of freedom and of life, and others who were incredibly strict about what a person could or could not do - for the exactly same reason, and they argued back and forth incessantly about who was right and who was wrong and whether or not it affected one's status in the eyes of God, whether or not it affected one's salvation or the salvation of the entire community.

In our day and age and after over 2000 years of faith in Christ Jesus you might think that we are exempt from such disputes - from such misunderstandings about what is important and what is helpful to us before God - but sadly we are not.

There are still those who believe that all the problems that they have and all the problems that our church and our community and indeed Hong Kong has can be solved by following one political party instead of another; that they can be solved by challenging or blackmailing the Central Government of China by the unlawful act of occupying Central - or by promoting one kind of theology or promoting one particular way of doing things over another.

There are still those who believe that if they could only change the programs that are offered, if they could only do things in a modern manner - or if they could only do them in the old fashioned way - or if they could only do them in the way that they are personally comfortable with that everything would be fine in the church or in their lodge or club - or even in their families...

I do not know, my brothers and sisters-in-Christ, if the message of the cross is modern or old fashioned. But I do know that it isn't always comfortable.

It isn't always comfortable because it tells us that we are a people in desperate need - that we are a people who easily descend to acts of rejection - and ultimately to violence - to silence the voices we do not like to hear.

The message of the cross isn't always comfortable because it tells us not just that we are forgiven by God, but because it tells us well that we need forgiving in the first place.

And because it tells us that salvation is not something that we can win or earn, but rather that it is something free and gracious and ultimately only available to those who are humble enough and hungry enough to accept it.

Some people don't like that.

They think that they are pretty good, that they have good ideas, and that while they are not perfect, they still have a valuable contribution to make, one that will help set things straight - and well they might; but as long as you think that it is from you or from some other human agency or effort that the goodness comes - that healing power comes, you are missing the good news concerning the cross of Jesus Christ - you are missing all the marvellous freedom that comes when you embrace the truth concerning God's love.

Consider your calling my brothers and sisters.

Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are..."

These words do not mean that God does not use people of status and stature as well.

"He does - but only, remarkably enough, when they have learned that their usefulness does not derive from their position or their abilities, but rather from his presence in their lives."

It is God's presence that makes the difference. And it is to God that we should turn when we have a problem, or when we are looking to promote healing and wholeness in ourselves and in those around us.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was for many years an outstanding pastor in London, England, says this:

"We Christians often quote 'not by might nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord,' and yet in practice we seem to rely upon the mighty dollar and the power of the press and advertising. We seem to think that our influence will depend on our technique and the program we can put forward and that it would be the numbers, the largeness, the bigness that would prove effective. We seem to have forgotten that God has done most of his deeds in the church throughout its history through remnants. We seem to have forgotten the great story of Gideon, for instance, and how God insisted on reducing the 32,000 men down to 300 before he would make use of them. We have become fascinated by the idea of bigness, and we are quite convinced that if we can only stage, yes, that's the word, stage something really big before the world, we will shake it and produce a mighty religious awakening. That seems to be the modern conception of authority."

There are many different things that we turn to for salvation - many different things that we seek out as a means of solving our problems - both those that are personal - and those that linked to our life together as a church or as a community.

"I find people everywhere who seem to think that it takes money to do God's work, that nothing can happen unless you get money first - "If we could only get so much money, then we could begin a great ministry." It seems to me that is a reversal of the whole position of scripture, for in scripture you do not begin with money, you begin with ministry. Anybody can be a minister of God. That is the glory of the Church, because God has put us all in the ministry. If you begin to do what God wants you to do, right where you are, and God begins to work through you, all the money that is ever necessary, will come.

God has chosen what seems foolishness and weak to save the world. He has chosen to use the way of faith and of trust to bless the world. And he calls us to rely upon him, and his Spirit, his presence in our lives, for everything.

He calls us to understand that

- no programs and devices,
- no surveys and samples
- no methods of government or organization
- no raw use of power
- or clever use of technology
- no fund raising nor system of taxation
- no single leader or person

can gain us what we need, what we all need.

What the Lord requires - what we require - is that we act justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

Believe my friends

- believe that God can help
- believe that only God can help
- and believe that God does help

and ask him to do so - ask him, and seek to follow the in the way of Christ - in the way of justice and mercy and salvation will come to you - and to your household - and indeed to the church and the world.

Blessed Be God, Day by Day, Amen

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

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

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

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

That is what God wants us all to do. It is what Jesus did - in Galilee and in Samaria and in Jordan and Judea and Jerusalem, and it's what we are supposed to do - in Kowloon, in the Outlying Islands and on Hong Kong Island.

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

But are we? Are we fishing that is? And if we are fishing - who are we fishing for? For God and God's glory? For the sake of those we talk to each day? Or for ourselves and for the sake of those people to whom we are loyal - albeit in a worldly way?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Corinthians placed their loyalty in things other than the things of God - in persons other than the person of Jesus Christ, and they suffered because of it - they suffered a loss of power - they suffered a loss of love - they suffered a loss of joy in believing and in sharing.

The Corinthians did this

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

The effective Christian life is based on three simple facts - the fact that God loves us unconditionally - the fact that apart from God we can do nothing that is worthwhile - and the fact that God is pleased to work through us if we allow him to, and around us if we will not.

Sometimes we look out upon our families, upon our congregation, or upon our club or lodge, or upon our place of employment and we say to ourselves - "things would be better if only Joe would cut x and y out", or "if only Nancy would do this or that everything would be fine".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do you have a problem - don't worry about fixing blame - check out the possible solutions in the word of God. Do we have something that is hampering our life together

- let not accuse one another
- lets pray together and then let's work the works that God calls us to, both individually and collectively.

The church at Corinth was a weak church.

It was weak because the people there forgot that they were called to a new way of life. It was weak because they forgot that the true and only real source of transforming and healing power comes from the cross of Jesus Christ.

And it was weak because they forgot that their sole and only task as his followers was to show his love to others - that they were to live in such a manner and to speak in such a manner that others might be touched by God - that others might know the lure - the attraction - the wonder of God through us -and so be moved to claim Christ as their own.

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

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

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

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

Blessed Be God, Day by Day, Amen

Isaiah 42:1-9 and Matthew 3:13-17

Let us Pray: Bless O God, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts that they be of profit to us and acceptable to thee, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

We started off the service with a call to worship in which we recalled the essential message of God to us - the story of Jesus and how forgiveness and salvation come through his name.

It is the message of the cross that we proclaim - of the cross and the resurrection; yet for many of us proclaiming the message is difficult.

We know what the message is - but we find it difficult to express it to others - to get others to really feel and sense the importance of it, sometimes, even to get others to listen to us.

It is about this last - about getting others to listen to us, that I want to speak of today and I want to do so by looking at one of the great riddles of Jesus' life - the riddle of his baptism.

Theologians, scholars, and just ordinary people like you and I are puzzled as to why Jesus was baptized.

Jesus himself tells us that he was baptized to "fulfil all righteousness", but that term is never explained by him, and there is nothing else in the passage to help us understand why Jesus, who was sinless, received, at John's hands, a baptism for the repentance of sins.

What theologians and bible scholars are all agreed on however, is the fact that the baptism of Jesus by John at the Jordan marked the beginning of his ministry - it was his debut as it were - his coming out ceremony - and that at the end of it he received the approval of God, who speaks from heaven, and says: "this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

There is no question that the baptism of Jesus was a significant event, a turning point in his life and through him - a turning point in our own lives.

So what does the baptism of Jesus show us? How does understanding it lead us to being more able to communicate the Gospel to others - to be able to get others to listen to us?

The answer is contained in the reason that Jesus gave for his baptism when John says to him - in verse 14 of today's reading:

"I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

and Jesus responds

"let it be so, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness."

Righteousness is an interesting word.

It is found 232 times in the bible - and in close to half of these occurrences it refers to the righteousness of God - to his love and his justice, to his saving activities and purposes.

In other words, contrary to the popular understanding, the word "righteousness" does not primarily refer to someone who is living a good life, rather it refers to a state in which the way of redemption is actively offered or illustrated by someone.

To be righteous is not just to be good - it is to be in the right kind of relationship with God and with others - to be a relationship which brings salvation, which brings wholeness, which brings the good news of God's love, to others.

Righteousness is something active - not simply a description of one's moral state.

Proverbs 11:4 says - "Righteousness delivers from death."

and again in Proverbs 15:9 we read - "God loves the one who pursues righteousness"

and in Proverbs 21:3 we see these words - "To do righteousness and justice, is more acceptable to God than sacrifice."

So when Jesus says to John: "let it be so, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness"

what he is saying is - "do it, it is a good thing to do - because in this way we will go further towards saving others, we will deliver them from death, we will make God's loving purpose more evident, more accessible to others."

And indeed the baptism of Jesus does help bring the healing word of God to others; and it shows us, as well, how the saving message of Jesus is best delivered.

There are three points I would like make to today. Yes - I do occasionally give an old fashioned three point sermon.

First - the baptism of Jesus shows us that Jesus truly did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped - to be held on to. His baptism, there in the muddy old Jordan - shows that he identifies with us and with our sins - and not only with God and God's perfection.

Jesus did not need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins - all agree about this - but he chose this path - he chose to be seen with us - as one of us - because in this way - so Jesus says - righteousness is fulfilled.

Pause for a moment and think about this with me.

Each one of us here has had pronounced upon us the forgiveness and acceptance of God, we need not have anything more to do with thinking about ourselves as sinners.

In fact, according to the Bible, we can think of ourselves as chosen by God, as being selected by him for glory. Yet, think some more with me - in our communication with others - with those who have not yet really listened to the word of God's love - would this be helpful?

Who gets the better hearing? The perfect person, the one who has never made a mistake? Or the one who can stand and say - I know where you have been, let me help you. I know how difficult it is.

In his baptism Jesus identifies with us. He shows us the way of righteousness, the way of saving others, is a way of empathy and understanding - of putting ourselves in someone else's shoes.

Jesus does not "lord" his superior knowledge or virtue over others.

Instead he sits with them in their homes, he eats their food, he answers their questions, he laughs with them in their joy, and he cries with them in their grief. And with them, and with us, he descends to the Jordan and is washed for the forgiveness of sins.

Do you want to proclaim the message and be heard in it as was Jesus?

Then you need to identify with the people you are speaking to. You need to remember how you have "been there" before, and if you have not actually been there - well, you still need to try to put yourself in the other persons shoes, and try to really understand what it going on in their hearts as well as in their heads.

True communication can't be done in an atmosphere of judgement, it requires understanding, acceptance, and the willingness to link hearts and minds together.

Second - Jesus shows us in his baptism that it is important to go beyond ourselves when seeking to do the work of God - he shows us that we should turn to God and seek God's help when we are trying to point the way to God to others.

Jesus seeks John out at the Jordan river - it is no accident that he is there.

Jesus deliberately goes to a place where God's power and love were being proclaimed and he asks for that power and that love to be poured out upon him in a special act - an act performed by a special man - a man who was filled with God's spirit.

It is then, and only then, after this has been done, that Jesus goes on to help others.

We often forget this in our attempt to communicate to others the love of God.

We want to tell the story of Jesus, we want to share the salvation of God, but we ignore, neglect, or just plain downgrade the resources of our faith.

We speak to others - but we do not prepare ourselves to speak: we do not pray for God's help - we do not pause to ask ourselves what Jesus would have said or done in this circumstance - we do not call upon God's power to assist us in touching their hearts.

Further, when we speak with others we all too often do not offer them anything special; we do not show them anything different than that which they already have. We do not offer anything that they have not already been offered.

Too often we offer common sense, pop psychology, and the wisdom we receive from self- help books - instead of the way of God that is found in the Bible and in our different traditions.

My friends, the gospel we seek to communicate, the saving message we want to share, the righteousness we are called to fulfil with Jesus, is not something that is based on a "self help" model.

Salvation is something that ultimately comes from beyond us. Righteousness is something that is given to us by God, given as gift through the very Jesus whose baptism we are looking at today.

When Jesus wanted to make a beginning, he turned to a spiritual resource.

When he wanted to fulfil all righteousness, he turned to a spiritual man speaking spiritual words. When he wanted to communicate a spiritual message he was first baptized in a spiritual river - the river Jordan through which Israel had passed to enter the Holy Land.

Jesus turned to these things, and he also pointed them out to others - which leads me to the last point.

Third - Jesus in his baptism reminds us that we need to set the example.

Jesus was, above all things, authentic in his communications.

When he spoke of being able to help us carry our burdens - he had already experienced the same trials and tribulations as we do. When he spoke of how trusting in God could help one overcome anxiety - he had already trusted in God for his daily bread, his physical safety, and his spiritual power.

People listened to Jesus - not just because he understood and identified with him - and not just because he pointed out the way to God but also because he lived his own message.

He didn't just tell others to turn to God - he himself sought out God blessings: at the Jordan and in lonely places away from others - and regularly in places of worship - the synagogues on the Sabbath each week and at the temple at Passover Time.

He didn't just tell others to pray for people - he himself prayed for them - as he did for the disciples before going out to the Garden of Gethesame.

He didn't just tell others to forgive each other - he himself forgave them - even from the cross when he was in the midst of his agony.

He didn't just tell others how important it was to heal others - he himself did healings. He spat on the clay and anointed a beggars eyes. He reached out and touched the lepers. He laid his hands upon the sick and anointed them with his prayers.

Jesus did everything he asked others to do, and he was respected for this, and he was heard by many because of it.

My friends - not everyone will listen to us.

No matter how good we are, how righteous we are, there will be some who will take offense at us - as they did at Jesus. But the message of Jesus to us is that we ought to be trying as he did.

And when we do, when we humble ourselves - like Jesus - and identify with others, when we tell others about the source of saving power and go to it and accept it for ourselves then God will be well pleased with us. And his Spirit will indeed be seen to rest upon us as it did upon Jesus.

Thanks be to God - for his living word - Jesus Christ our Saviour, and for his Spirit - which gives up power day by day. Amen.

Ephesians 3:1-12 and Matthew 2:1-12

Let us Pray: Loving and Gracious God, bless thou the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts, we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

More than any other characters in the Christmas story the three wise men have been the subject of much good humour - like in the story of the little boy who was setting up a manger scene in the corner of the school room and, puzzled for a moment about what to do, he calls out to the teacher - "And where shall I put the three wise guys..."

We really know very little about the wise men despite the story we tell in plays and songs around Christmas time - you know the one - about how three kings arrived in Bethlehem - fast on the heels of the shepherds - to pay homage to the baby in a manger.

The problem is that the gospels do not confirm this often told story. In fact what we do know is a bit different:

First - the three kings were not kings at all, but rather they were magi, wise men, professional scholars in fact, schooled in the science of astrology.

Second - we do not know if there were three of them or thirty, we only know that there were three gifts given.

Third - there is no mention of the manger in the story of the wise men, in fact just the opposite. The story states that the wise men entered into a house.

Fourth - the last statement is really no surprise if you read the story found in the Gospel of Matthew carefully - because you discover in it that the wise men arrived in Bethlehem close to two years after the birth of Jesus - time enough for Mary and Joseph to have found a house and settle in.

Today, I want to look at the story of the magi - let's call it the story of the three wise men for convenience, and draw four points from it. Each of these points concern the wisdom of the wise men - a wisdom that is available to us if we want it.

First - we discover in the story that the wise men sought for truth and wisdom.

The magi knew that the star that they followed was no ordinary star. These three had apparently been searching the heavens for years for signs of something unique and significant occurring in their world. They were open to new wisdom and truth - more than this - they searched for it. They were not simply content to get along with that which they already knew. So, when they saw a new star in the heavens, they sensed in their hearts that it was a sign from God.

The Bible tells us over and again - that if we seek, we will find, if we knock, the door shall be opened to us, if we ask, we will receive. But how often do we actually seek for wisdom? For new truth? For guidance?

Think of assembling all those new toys and tools that appeared this Christmas. How many people actually looked at the directions before beginning to assemble them? How many tried to put something together relying on the knowledge they already had - only to find that it was not good enough?

The wise men gained their wisdom because they were seekers - they were looking for new things, new insights, new signs. They read their manuals, they searched the heavens for signs and wonders. And so can we.

Second - The Wisemen set forth in faith to find what the star pointed to.

Faith by definition involves the idea of making a journey - of venturing forth - of risking one's very self in a new activity. The living God cannot be found by proxy. That was Herod's mistake - he wanted the magi to go in his place and search for the Christ child. Only then would he come and worship the new born king. By contrast the magi had to travel from a foreign land in search of wisdom and truth. They did not know where the star would lead them, how long it would take, or what the end result would be for them. They only knew that it was important for them to follow that star to wherever it lead. It was a personal quest and the result was an opportunity to worship the one who would be king of kings and Lord of Lords..

This may well be the most important truth for us in the Epiphany story.

A story of faith with Jesus has to be a personal story, a personal quest.

It is not enough to know all kinds of facts about Jesus Christ. One must encounter the wonder of God's grace for sinners and then make a personal decision to receive him into our heart as Lord. One must decide to follow him and then do so. No one else can do that for us. Faith is not inherited like the family jewels - nor can it come from simply knowing what others have said about it..

Faith is like the difference between having read about how to make a cake and actually making one. One may know all there is to know about cooking, one may well have memorized the recipe for the cake that he or she wants to make - but until one actually gets out the ingredients and mixes them together and puts the results in the oven - it means absolutely nothing.

Third - The wise men sought help from other people as they tried to find the king.

We so often try to live our lives without making any demands on others. We try to be independent. To stand alone. To make it by ourselves. Sometimes this comes out of noble motives - we do not want to burden others. Other times it comes out of fear - we are afraid of looking weak or foolish.

When the magi arrived in Jerusalem it seems that they lost sight of the star. They knew they were in the right area, but they were not yet at the right spot. Kind of like us sometimes when we visit a new city to find a friend. We get into the right neighbourhood - but somehow can't quite locate the street we are looking for. Our map may be outdated or in error, whatever the reason may be, we are stuck and remain stuck until we ask someone else for help.

That is what the magi did. The bible says they consulted with the people in Jerusalem. They ask where the new born king is and how they can find him so they can pay homage to him. Because they ask - they receive. Their question is answered by people who are familiar with the Scriptures and prophecies concerning the birth of the Messiah - and they take that answer and set forth with it - and when they do so, once again they see the star going ahead of them - until it takes them to Jesus.

There are many people who can help us on our journey of faith - if we are wise enough to ask them. The question is: are we willing to ask for help when we need it? When we are in the right neighbourhood, but can't quite find our way to our destination will we stop and ask for directions as did the magi?

Fourth - The wise men accepted what God lead them to and believed in it.

In the story of the wise men often much is made of what they gave to the Christ child. But consider what they were given for a minute.

They set forth looking for a king - a king of kings in fact. After a long and hard journey they end up at a simple home in Bethlehem - and there they find a carpenter and his wife and child. There are no costly treasures in the house, no purple robes, no gold rings, nothing in fact to show that they are in the presence of person destined to be a great king. Only the star stood overhead to indicate that anything special at all was going on.

And they accept this. Although all the outward signs, save one, are telling them that they are in the wrong place, they accept that single sign - the sign of God that they have been following for so long - and ignore the rest.

So many of us have a hard time accepting what God has given in the form that he gives it. Because we are waiting for a gift from God - we look for great miracles, instant healings, signs and wonders, trumpet calls and 21 gun salutes.

We may pray to God for a special blessing - and then turn away at our door a homeless person who is looking for a meal, or a neighbour who is dropping by unannounced, or a client who shows up just when we are preparing to leave work for the day.

Louis Cassels tells a story about a man who hated Christmas.

It was late Christmas Eve, but in spite of his wife's pleas he would not accompany her to church. The whole crazy idea of God becoming a human being made no sense to his logical mind. He stood watching the heavy snow at his picture window. He thought of the birds and wondered if they would find the seeds he had put out for them. It was snowing hard enough that the seed holders were quickly covered. He turned on the backyard lights, but both the birds and the seed were lost in the falling snow. Putting on his heavy coat, he went outside and opened his big barn door. Then he spread bird seed just inside the barn, hoping that the birds would see it. They did not! Still hoping to help these little starving creatures, the man tried desperately to shoo the little birds toward the light of his open barn - but they were too frightened. Here they were only inches away from the food and water they needed, and he was helpless. "If only I were a bird", he thought to himself, "I would show them the way to that life-giving food." Just then the church bells began to ring announcing Christmas morning. Suddenly he understood why God's Son came to show us the way to eternal life in the way that he did - as one of us. From that point on he became a believer.

We have this idea fixed in our minds that God does not, or should not, appear to us in the ordinary aspects of our life. We do not expect God to show up while we are at work in our office, or sitting in a classroom, or doing dishes at the kitchen sink.

We have a hard time too considering that God's answers to our questions can be found in a 2000 something year old book, or on the lips of our employees or our friends, or that a dream we have had during a long and troubled night is, in fact, a message from God.

The wisdom of the wise men was and is simply this - they sought wisdom - they were willing to journey in faith to personally discover what God was doing - they did not hesitate to ask for help along the way and finally - they accepted what they found - even though it was plainly dressed - and believed in it.

Simple stuff really - but wisdom normally is simple stuff. Simple - but when used - as the wisemen used it, it leads us to God. May God bless us all with this kind of wisdom. Amen!

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

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

The Christmas story can be summarized this way: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."

The Word became flesh, it took on human form, and lived among us, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the incarnate word, he is the Word made flesh, the word of God, the word of love, the word of truth and grace and beauty.

He is the one who is the love of God in human form.

Jesus is the human form of God's forgiveness, he is the human form of God's mercy, he is the human form of God's justice, of God's truth, of God's love.

This is the Christmas story... the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

God, so that he could help us, decided to walk among us and to live with us, as one of us - born of human parents, nurtured at a human breast, and working at human tasks until he died a human death.

God among us, God made flesh, God for us - in Jesus Christ.

What is remarkable about the Christmas story is not just that God chose to place all his glory, all his beauty, and all his truth in a human form, though that is remarkable enough - it is that he chose such a simple human being in which to take on flesh.

God's word, the Word that was at the beginning of all things, and without which nothing was made that was made, could have come upon a royal princess, but it did not.

God's word - made flesh, could have taken on the form of a philosopher, wise and full of truth living in some imperial palace, but it did not.

No - God's word, the word made flesh, was a simple word - a word made manifest, a word made visible in a simple human being, born to a simple peasant woman, and cared for by a simple carpenter in a land that time still seems to have forgotten.

The Word made flesh. The Word of God, is found in its fullness in a babe who had to lay in a manager because there was no room for him at the inn.

The Word made flesh, the Word of God, is found in all its fullness in a child, who while obedient to his parents, still argued with his teachers, and got lost in the city at the time of his Bar Mitzvah.

The Word made flesh, the Word of God, is found in all its fullness, in a young man who wandered the countryside, teaching the teachers, healing the sick, eating with the sinners, and forgiving those who needed forgiving.

Jesus was the word of God in its fullness, and yet, consider, it was a word that had no home to call its own, it was a word that was denied, and betrayed, and finally killed in the hope that it would not be seen or heard again.

God's word took on flesh, and dwelt among us - it lived among us, first within the body of a simple woman and then in the body of a simple man, and that word was both accepted, and rejected, but IN rejection, and then later in death, it could not be destroyed.

This is the Christmas story, and it is a story that continues today, because the Word of God is an eternal word, it is a lasting word, it is an undefeatable word.

Jesus - the word of God is still among us, He is here as spirit, teaching his followers that which they need to know, comforting his disciples with a comfort that they need, and leading them to the truth that they need to know.

And what is that truth we need to know? Where is the word for us today?

It is in the same place that it was when Jesus walked among us, it is in the acts of love that his followers perform, it is in the mercy that his disciples give to others, it is in the truth that they utter, the justice that they struggle for, and in the forgiveness that they bestow.

God's word is still made flesh today, much in the way that it was made flesh in Jesus.

God's word takes on flesh when a woman brings food to the sanctuary of the Lord to share with the poor, and when a man delivers groceries to the local food bank, and when a brother help another brother in financial need.

The Word of God took on flesh in a unique and tremendous way in Jesus of Nazareth, and it takes on flesh today, wherever the word is believed and done.

God's word wears human flesh, in those who follow the risen word, those who obey the risen Lord, and heed the living God.

And as it was in Jesus, where the word was found in a simple man, born to simple parents, so the word today is found, found in flesh, in simple acts of love and kindness.

The word takes on flesh in those who heal, in those who forgive, in those who seek justice, in those who share, and in those who show mercy. Amen.

Micah 2:2-4, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:22-32

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isaiah 7:10-16; Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38,46-55

Gracious God, source of hope, peace, joy and love - attend this time of speaking and this time of hearing - this time of prayerful seeking and this time of meditation. Move in me and in all here assembled - that your saving word may be experienced and your name glorified in us and through us, now and evermore. Amen.

We have looked at three ways of being prepared for the coming of Christ this Advent Season.

We have stressed the need to keep the vision of God's kingdom alive in our hearts - that vision that gives hope as it tells us about the purpose and meaning of life.

We have looked at the wonder of how God's peace comes as a gift to us when we seek it, when we turn from those things that build walls between us and our neighbours and our God nd follow in the path shown to us by Jesus.

And we have briefly spoken of how God grants his gift of joy to those whose hands are open to give and receive the blessings that he pours out on his faithful people.

Today - as we see Christmas approaching, I want us to consider the importance of our saying Yes to God's love, and how our saying yes to love is able to bring to birth in our world a new and marvellous thing, how it prepares us and others for the coming of the Messiah.

You know the Christmas Story is strongly reliant upon something that most people find very strange. It is reliant upon two people saying yes to God. And saying yes in most unusual circumstances, to a proposal that seems most strange indeed.

We are all keenly aware of Mary and how she said yes to God, and so came to be the earthly mother of the Messiah, the earthly mother of the one we call the Son of God, the earthly mother of the one who would die so that we might live.

But have you considered how this Yes profoundly changed the course of Mary's life? How her willingness to trust the angel of God and to accept his word altered her entire world?

Engaged to be married, she is suddenly to be with child by one who is not the man she loves.

The risks are tremendous.

And what is this child of God's love to be? This child that she says yes to when she opens her life so totally to God?

At the time that Mary conceived there were many Messiahs, many people who proclaimed that they had been chosen of God to take the throne of David - to take David's throne back from the corruption of the rulers who sat upon it - to take it back from the control of the many who had manipulated it since the fall of Jerusalem: from the Persians, the Greeks, the Egyptians - and now the Romans - to take it back and to sit upon it and bring to Israel that time that God had promised would come.

There were many Messiahs at the time Mary conceived. Most of these were either ridiculed or were killed or both.

So why would her child - this child that she was told would be of God be any different?

Truly Mary had a lot to store up in her heart and ponder, as the scriptures tell us over and over again that she did, she had not only to store up the angel greetings and the words of shepherds and wise men and prophets, she had to ponder what all these would do with her life and the lives of her child and of her husband.

And Joseph?
What did it mean for him to say yes to God?
How easy could have it been?

Joseph is the odd man out in the Christmas Story, isn't he?

A minister that I know tells the story about how once a worried mother phoned the church office on the afternoon before the annual Christmas program to say that her small son, who was to play the role of Joseph in the Christmas Pageant, had a cold and had gone to bed on doctor's orders.

"It's too late now to get another Joseph," the director of the play said. "We'll just have to write him out of the script."

And they did! Joseph just disappeared! And few of those who watched that night actually realized that Joseph was missing."

Joseph is often forgotten. But consider his role in bringing Jesus into this world for a minute.

Without Joseph how would Mary have been supported? Her family would have been bound by the law to reject her if Joseph had rejected her. Her baby would have been seen as illegitimate. Her life, and his, would have been in a ruin.

Joseph nurtured and protected and watched over and loved both Mary and her child. And so brought into the world - as much as did Mary - that child whom we call the gift of God's love.

But how easy could it have been at first?

How easy could it have been for him to say yes to the Angel who came to him and told him that the story that Mary had told him was true?

It is hard to believe many of the things that God tells us, hard to accept, especially when our feelings have been hurt and our sense of what is really possible in our world is limited by the pain that we experience and the pain which we see in the world around us.

Could it have been any different for Joseph?

Joseph, the scriptures tell us, was a righteous man, a good man, a kind man.

He didn't want to expose Mary to public disgrace, but he certainly didn't want to marry her either, in fact he had resolved to cancel their betrothal just before the angel finally appeared to him.

It must have been hard for him to accept what he heard - yet, with the same kind of faith with which Mary said yes to God, so did Joseph. He said yes to God and he took Mary to be his wife. And what would the future bring? What would Mary's and Joseph's Yes to God bring?

It would bring to them a wonderfully intimate experience of God's love. It would bring to them and to the world not just the marvel of a new and tender life. It would bring to them and the world the King of Love, the Shepherd of the Sheep, the one whom we await this day and the one whom we know already in our hearts if we too have said Yes to God.

You know the promise is to us - as well as to Mary and to Joseph. The promise that if we say yes to God and his gift of Love that we and our world will be blessed.

But it is no easy thing to say yes. To say yes involves risks. To say yes involves overcoming our sense of pain and hurt.

Think of the number of people whom you know who seem to live by the maxim: "once burned, twice shy." The number of people who are unwilling to risk accepting love. The number of people who are afraid to show the love that God puts into every heart. The number of people who have erected a wall around their life so that they will not ever again feel hurt or pain because of how an imperfect love has let them down.

Yet, ultimately, love is what it is all about - what living is all about, whether that love be the perfect love of God or the imperfect love of human kind.

Pain and hurt will come to us all - whether we love or not. Pain and hurt will afflict us all - whether others love us or not. They came to Mary. They came to Joseph. They came to Jesus.

The big question for us - is will that pain and hurt have any meaning? Will it have any sense???

People unfamiliar with our God, marvel and wonder at the sign of his love that we display. They marvel and wonder at the cross - a symbol of suffering and shame - yet also a symbol of so much more. That cross signifies that God loved us so much that he gave his only son so that we might not perish. That cross signifies that God loves us so much, that he walks with us into the worst that life can deal out, and helps us to overcome it.

When we say Yes to God's love, we say Yes to that which will change our lives and give to them meaning and purpose.

When we say Yes to God's love, we say Yes to that which will transform our lives and give to them a radiance that transforms others.

Christmas, as most people over the age of five know, can be a very difficult time of year.

It is a time when we feel that we are supposed to be happy and joyous, a time in which we and the world around us, so it seems, puts upon us this expectation that we should be full of good cheer and at one with all of our family and with all of our friends.

We can really lay a trip on ourselves and allow others to lay a trip on us during this season.

And it is so hard - when we do see others full of joy and expectation - and we have in ourselves little but a sense of pain and loss, it is so hard to really embrace what this season is truly about: which is nothing more or less than making room in our lives for God's love - than saying yes to the wonderful gift that God offers us through Christ our Lord.

There are no 'shoulds' at Christmas, other than the should of saying yes to God's love, and that should always comes to us as a gentle knock at the door, rather than an overwhelming pressure to be happy and to be a million and one other things that we simply are not and cannot be.

I have talked to you over this Advent Season about be being prepared for the coming of Christ into our lives.

I have spoken about hope - about peace - about joy - and now about love.

I urge you as you prepare for Christmas day to remember that these things, hope, peace, joy, and love, are gifts to us, not demands upon us.

They are gifts by which God comes to us and changes us and our world.

Say yes to God's love as did Mary and Joseph even though the saying yes involves risk and sacrifice.

Say yes. Keep the vision alive. And walk in the path of Jesus with open hands and hearts, and God will come to you and to our world, and make the rough places smooth.

He will come and as he did at the creation of the world, and at the tomb of Jesus and he will bring order of chaos and life out of death.

This is the mission of our God in and through Christ Jesus our Lord, who by the power of the Holy Spirit can accomplish all things.

Praise be to God day by day. Amen.

Isaiah 35:1-10; Matthew 11:2-11

Today is the Sunday of Joy. The joy of God. As we saw in the last two weeks, in preparing for the coming of the Christ - we are called to keep alive the vision which provides us with hope and to seek the Peace of God - that peace that only God can give - that peace which comes when we turn, and walk in the path that Jesus has shown us.

Joy is not something that we can seek, it is something that overtakes us when while we are working to keep the vision alive, and walking on the path that Jesus has set before us.

As we walk that path - joy happens to us, we gain glimpses of what it is that God is about, we encounter situations where we see God's promises coming true, and we have, suddenly this great joy in hearts.

Imagine if you will for a minute John the Baptist, in prison, Herod is about to kill him - and undoubtedly John is aware of this though the particular circumstances of his death are still to be shaped by Herod's wife and daughter.

John is uncertain about whether his ministry is completed or not, uncertain about whether or not Jesus is the Messiah that he has proclaimed the coming of. And he sends messengers from prison to ask Jesus - "Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another"

And imagine if you will for a minute how he heard the answer, the feeling that must have overcame him when his disciples reported to him what Jesus said:

"Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. Blessed are they who take no offense at me."

Imagine how John felt when he heard that all that he yearned for as a child of Abraham was in fact happening, that God was working a great work through through Jesus, the child of Mary, the kind of work that Isaiah spoke of in our first reading this morning.

Joy should not be confused with happiness.

Joy rather is something rather overwhelming, it is what happens when we witness God at work, whether it is in our family relationships, in our church, or in our community and in the wider world.

I called today's homily "Giving and Receiving The Gift of Joy", not only to as a means of keeping together our Advent theme, that theme suggested by the light of the candles upon our wreath, but to highlight one of the realities of the gift of joy - that reality which relates to the fact that while it cannot be sought, the gift of joy can be given and received by us.

When we see the works of God being done - we receive the gift of joy. And when we allow God to do his works through us - we give the gift of joy or at the very, very least - it's possibility.

That is part of what White Gift Sunday is about - it is about doing the works of God the work of caring, and praying joy may come with the giving, that the hand of God may be seen.

Joy is a wonderful thing, a thing that overtakes us when we are on the path shown to us by Christ.

It is not continuous - at least in this world -- but it pops up whenever we see God at work healing the sick, curing the lame, giving sight to the blind, and proclaiming good news to those who are poor. It pops up when we do the work of God - and understand that God is doing his work in the circumstances around us.

Everlasting joy comes, so testifies Isaiah on the day of Christ's second coming:

On that day, he testifies, the wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, on that day, the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

There is a day coming which we are called to be prepared for, a day coming, of an eternal joy, a joy which we receive a taste of in the here and now when we receive the gift of seeing God at work, and when we do the works of God and thereby make it possible for others to have the joy of seeing him.

Blessed be the name of God, day by day. Amen

Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:-13; and Matthew 3:1-12

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

The good news - the Gospel - began before Jesus arrived on the scene. It began with John The Baptist, and John's message was received with the same great joy that the message of Jesus was received with.

John was the one spoken of by Isaiah. He was the voice crying in the wilderness; "prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!"

And people heard John this way - they saw him as the promised one, the one who was to come before the Messiah, and they went out to him in the wilderness, out to him from Jerusalem, and Judea, and from all the region around the Jordan, and they listened to his message - and they responded to his call - and in the thousands they were baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

"I tell you", said Jesus later on, "I tell you that among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist..."

And why is this?
Why this praise?

Looking back I think we often see John as strange character.

With his camel hair clothing and leather belt, and his long hair and his diet of locusts and wild honey, John often ends up reminding us of the cartoons we have seen, the cartoons of a strange looking character who stands on the street corner waving a sign that says - "repent , the end is near."

John seems scary - frightening almost - telling people that they are a brood of vipers, and that the axe of judgement is even now being laid to the roots of their lives, and yet - yet thousands heard his message that the kingdom of God was near - and thousands responded to his call to repent of their sins - thousands were baptized and made ready to welcome Christ into their lives.

What are we missing in our picture of John? In our picture of what he did and said as he spoke of repentance and the one to come after him?

I don't want to belabour any points today. I think what we are missing is the marvel of what John called the people of Israel to receive as they came out to him at the Jordan.

John called people to be ready for the coming of Christ, by letting go of their burdens and receiving the forgiveness of God.

John said to all who came near to him that they could get a fresh start in life; that they could begin again as newly washed individuals - pure and holy in God' eyes; and that God would visit them and redeem them as promised by all the prophets of old.

John proclaimed the love of God, the forgiveness God, and the day of God's coming, and he made this personal and particular, by giving that love and forgiveness to all those who came to him and entered the river with him.

What John proclaimed and gave was hope, the hope that peace in our lives is possible, that the past can be forgotten, that it can be washed away, and that when the new comes, when God comes, we can meet him and stand before him without fear.

The call of John for us to repent is not a word of criticism nor a word that claims that somehow he is better than we.

No, on his lips the call to repentance is a word of opportunity

- it is a way into the future with God,
- it is a renewal of our relationship with the Lord.
- it is a new beginning in our relationships with each other.

It is a foreshadowing of the message of the one to whom he pointed, the one who preached peace to those who were far off, and to those who were near.

Peace in forgiveness.
Peace in the Spirit,.
Peace in a new life.
Peace in a new heaven and a new earth.

Despite how John railed against the sins of those who thought they had none, his message was that of the one who followed him: There is none so lost, that they cannot be found, none so bad, that God still will not seek them out to save them, none so hopeless, that their life cannot be changed.

Previously I spoke of how important it is to have a vision of God, to hold onto his promises.

Today I tell you - it is important that we open our hearts to God, to admit to him what is wrong in our lives, to ask for his forgiveness and to vow each day to live as he has shown us.

It is important, not only to have a vision of what God has done, is doing, and will do; it is important that we be willing to confess our need for him and to accept from his hands the forgiveness he offers, the new life he gives - the life which leads us to his Son.

It is what, in the end, we all need, and it is what God offers to us, it is what John pointed to as he spoke in the wilderness of the one who was to come after him.

At the last few bible studies we have had on Wednesday evenings we have started having lengthy periods of silent prayer - time in which I ask each person present to close their eyes and to get relaxed, to focus at first on their breathing, and to allow thoughts and images of God to come into and then to pass out of their minds, time to listen to the thoughts that they have, and time to let them pass - and sometimes as they do this I provide some words for this time of deep prayer. It has proved to us to be a powerful experience - one in which we have felt God and heard God speak to us.

I would invite you all now to close your eyes, and to think of John the Baptist, standing by the River, calling to you to be ready, ready for the one whose sandals he is not worthy to carry, calling you to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, and to start new today, walking in God's way, knowing that Christ will appear to you, very soon.

Close your eyes...and see John and listen to John and pray to God as the Spirit leads you...

wait

Oh Lord, we think of the gift that John offers us in your name...the gift of forgiveness, the gift of washing away our sins, the gift of making our hearts ready for Christ to enter in, and we thank you....

Oh Lord, we think of John, and we confess to you that the path in our life is not smooth, we confess that we have sinned against you, we have put up road blocks....we are sorry Lord, please ake them away Lord, make the path straight once more

O Lord, we listen now to John. We listen now to Jesus. We listen now to you as the water of forgiveness pours down upon us. We listen as you proclaim the word of peace, the word of your coming.

And now we thank you again O God, we give you thanks for your servant John who prepared the way in your people for your son. We thank you for levelling the mountains and filling in the valleys and making straight his path. We thank you for the message of forgiveness and hope he proclaimed. We thank you for the new life you give to us through him.

We praise you and we adore you, God of God, Light of lights. We praise you God, Lord of Lords, King of Kings. You who enter every trembling heart. Glory and honour be to your name, now and for ever and ever, Amen.