Scripture Readings: Malachi 3:1–4 | Luke 1:68–79 | Philippians 1:3–11 | ​Luke 3:1–6

“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” 
(Luke 1:78-79)

Peace is a precious thing… and it always comes with a price.

In the ancient world, the price of peace for one people or tribe was usually the use of violence against another rival group. This kind of ‘peace’ was won by the sword, and would only last as long as your tribe managed to stay on top… kind of like that old game called “king of the hill”, where kids try to push their way to the top of snowbanks, and then fend off all challengers to win. 

The Roman Empire was famous for this approach to peace. The Pax Romana, the “Peace of Rome” was praised as a great gift to the nations they conquered… there was stability within the boundaries… protection for those who went along with the Empire’s interests… that is until the occasional rebellion started, or a neighbour invaded, or a civil war broke out… then the legions were summoned to crush and to crucify anyone who stood in the way.

Looking around today, in many ways our world still seems stuck in that same mindset: only envisioning peace to be possible once all who get in our way are gone… brought low underneath the feet of our side in the conflicts we face. This week saw yet another wave of violence, as Syrian rebels rapidly advance towards the capital city of Damascus, hoping to overthrow the oppressive government they have been fighting against for more than a decade. We witnessed the attempt to institute martial law… military rule in South Korea, as a means of resolving the political conflicts among those in power. 

Over and over, and all over the world, we humans keep using force and the threat of violence try and establish stability and security… thinking that the sword or the gun… or the bomb… is the only way to bring about the peace we all really need. 

But the season of Advent invites us to reflect on… and to practice another kind of peace. A peace that’s not won through violent force, but which also comes with a price. 

In our Gospel reading today, for the second week of Advent, we hear about the ministry of St. John the Baptist… the son of Zechariah the priest, and Elizabeth, and the cousin of Jesus our Lord.

John’s whole life was set apart for a particular mission: to prepare the way for God’s coming Messiah… serving as a kind of prophetic herald, calling God’s people to get ready for their King. 

At his naming ceremony, St. Luke tells us that John’s father Zechariah prophesied over his child, and the role he would play in God’s great rescue mission: Luke 1:76-79,

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; 
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 
to give knowledge of salvation to his people 
by the forgiveness of their sins. 
By the tender mercy of our God, 
the dawn from on high will break upon us, 
to give light to those who sit in darkness 
and in the shadow of death, 
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

But this high calling also came with a high price. Like most of the prophets before him, John was not your typical religious leader. He was an outsider. Literally. He lived outside… in the desert on Israel’s border region… far from the cities and centres of power… dressed as one at home in the wilds… and seen as a bit radical and extreme. 

And John’s message was not exactly a comfortable one either. He was sent to call his people to get ready for God’s Chosen One! Calling them to repent… to turn around and leave behind the ways of life that had taken them down the road of sin… and calling them to start again as God’s people. To remember God’s faithfulness and gracious deliverance in the past… and to walk in His ways again… humbling themselves, admitting their brokenness, and seeking God’s forgiveness… not in the Temple in Jerusalem… but at the Jordan River, where Israel first stepped foot in the Promised Land… symbolically starting again from the very beginning, to get ready for God’s coming Messiah.

Of course, John’s message and ministry was not well received by many of those among the leadership of Israel at that time… the priests and scribes based at the Temple, and the strict Pharisees, who saw themselves and their practices as the best way to be faithful to God. And he was not popular with those who had aligned themselves with the Roman Empires’ way of doing things either… with people like Herod Antipas, and his followers, who profited greatly from close ties with Rome.

But far from playing it safe, and trying to appease those in power, John’s ministry completely rocked the boat… he was upsetting the status quo… shaking up a complacent and compromised community by calling them to change… to do something different… to repent, restart, and get ready for real.

And many flocked to his message, upsetting and radical as it was. Why? Because they believed… they believed that John was right, and they knew that they needed peace.

Real peace, not simply the absence of discomfort, or conflict… but peace in the deepest biblical sense:    Peace that comes from completeness… from wholeness… from holiness… from having their lives realigned and in sync with the good will of the One who had created them, and loved them, and longs for them to experience the fullness of life… a peace that the world around us promises us constantly… but which it can never deliver.

John’s listeners knew that their lives were off base, broken, and incomplete. They knew that their communities were needing to be realigned and set right again. They knew there were many proud mountains that needed to be brought low… as well as many lowly valleys that needed raising. And so, they responded to John’s call to repent by being baptized… submerged in the Jordan River, seeking the forgiveness and faithful love of the Lord, and trusting in His divine mercy to bring about His peace among them. 

And as John would remind them, this peace would not be painless, or easy. But it would be well worth it! Turning our lives around and walking in God’s holy ways takes work, and will involve real struggles, and ask us to say no to ourselves again and again. But the peace we need is only possible through God’s cleansing hand at work in our lives.
 AS we heard in our first reading today from the prophet Micah (3:2-4),

“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

John was calling his people to get ready for God’s coming King by seeking God’s peace… God’s own gracious cleansing, purifying, sanctifying power, to set their lives back on track so they could fully participate in His coming Kingdom.   

And this invitation is not just meant for those who stood by the Jordan River in John’s day… but for us as well… for those of us who know we need God’s peace at work in our lives.

How might John’s call to repentance apply to us as a Church community? Here at St. Luke’s? As a Diocese? As the Anglican Church, and as a part of the whole body of Christ? Are there ways we as believers have gotten off track, and are in need of cleansing and new beginnings?

Perhaps John’s message is connecting with us in a more personal way this morning. For those of us who may still be exploring the Christian story… John’s calling might offer us an opportunity to respond to the invitation to be baptized… to offer our lives in faith to Christ Jesus, God’s Son, and to receive the gift of forgiveness and new life in His name.

And for those of us who have already been baptized, but who may have walked away from God for a time, and are now sensing the deep need for our lives to be set right again, John’s calling might offer us an opportunity to formally renew our baptismal vows… to reaffirm our faith in Jesus, and our need for Christ’s peace to rule in our lives.

If you’d like to explore either of these invitations to baptism, or to reaffirm your baptism, please let me know, and I would be happy to meet with you, to pray with you, and to walk with you through this process.

But even if that’s not where you are this morning, John’s message is truly for all of us. Wherever we are in our walk with God, we are to get ready for the Messiah… remembering that God’s true and lasting peace also came with a high price. 

This peace was not won through force or violence… or through unjust compromises, or by avoiding conflicts, or through anything else that our world has to offer… but through the work of Someone even more radical and world changing than John himself was prepared for… through Jesus Christ, God’s Chosen King… the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus disrupted the status quo… not only bringing low the proud mountains… challenging those who thought they were on the right track, but had in truth abandoned God’s good ways… He also lifted up the lowly valleys… reaching out to the hurting, and the desperate… and preaching God’s peace to sinners… to people whose choices and compromises had set them apart from their neighbours, marking them as outsiders in their communities… but not beyond the bounds of God’s love. 

And Jesus practiced peace among deeply divided communities… pulling together people of all walks of life, and making them one, united to one another by their devotion and connection to Him.

Jesus Christ practiced God’s peace… even when it would require the highest cost. He refused to play the world’s game… to rally armed forces to Himself, to bring about His Kingdom by force. No, in self-giving love Christ Jesus surrendered Himself to those who would crush, curse, and crucify Him… pleading for their forgiveness, even as they called for His death… and paying for the sins of the whole world through His blood shed at the cross.

But far from ending in utter defeat, we know that the cross became the sign of God’s great victory… breaking the power of guilt and shame by cleansing us of sin… disarming the threat of death, which all tyrants depend on… and assuring us that we no longer need to be estranged from the Living God, or from our neighbours created in His image. In rising again from the grave, Jesus has shown the world that His death for our sake has paid the price once and for all for our peace… and through His Spirit at work in us, we can now put this peace into practice. 

As Christians, our peace must be a Christ-shaped peace… a peace that is willing to stand out, and shake up the status quo… not by using force to get our own way, or by compromising with injustice and evil, but by trusting that no matter what others might do, they cannot shake or take away the new life that Jesus Christ has share with us, and longs for us to share with one another as we await His return to set our whole world right again.

Christ Jesus has paid the high price for God’s true peace to break into our broken world even now, and as His people today we are to practice His peace… to live God’s way here and now, no matter what it might cost us… which we can do with hopefulness and joy because we know that it will be well worth it!

In time, St. John too would experience the high price of seeking God’s peace. His ministry would set him at odds powerful people in the world, who would eventually call for his head.

We don’t know what it might cost us to devote our lives to the way of God’s peace today. We might risk losing friendships and relationships. We might experience great disappointments or pain. We might even end up losing our lives, as many of our sisters and brothers still do around the world.

But whatever the price may be, in Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, we know that the reward is well worth it all. Our Lord has already paid the ultimate price for our peace, not just for a short season of life… but to share the blessed life and love of the Living God with us forever.

So may the peace of Christ rule in our hearts this Advent season, and beyond. May we not simply seek to stay comfortable, but to be made complete and holy in Him. May we trust that what He did for us all at the cross is powerful enough to put an end to all that keeps us cut off from God, and from our neighbours. And with the Spirit’s help, may we seek ways to practice God’s peace in our daily lives, and with those all around us. Amen. 

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 33:14–16 | Psalm 25:1–10 | 1 Thessalonians 3:9–13 | ​Luke 21:25–36

“Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28).

Are you ready?

I don’t often remember my dreams, but occasionally I will have one that stands out. Actually, it’s more of a recurring dream: in it, I find myself writing a math test… scrambling to finish what I know should be simple and straightforward, but still feeling completely lost… and worried that everything else in my life will now be somehow in jeopardy. I feel like I’m about to lose everything all because I didn’t prepare. 

But then I wake up and realize I haven’t taken a math class in over 20 years. That I’m not about to fail… and lose everything I care about. It’s all just a dream.

But even so, I’m left with the feeling that there’s things in my life that I’ve been neglecting… that something’s not in order… that there’s something I have been avoiding, and that I really should get on top of. Maybe I’ve been too distracted by other matters…or too discouraged by the fear of big challenges ahead… and so I’ve just been putting off something pretty important… a strategy which doesn’t tend to do me much good.

And so, even though it doesn’t leave me with a very pleasant feeling… these dreams can sometimes kind of serve as a wake-up call for me to stop putting things off. Reminding me to do what I can to be ready… to prepared for what I know is ahead of me… so that I can look forward, not simply with dread, but with some anticipation.

One thing I know many people around us are anticipating these days are the holidays. As all the stores and advertisements online remind us, Christmas is right around the corner… just over three weeks away. And if you’re like me, there’s still lots to do to get ready for it. Lots of details to straighten out. Lots of plans to finalize… and of course lots to look forward to. Like this afternoon, as we gather for our annual Parish All Ages Advent celebration… as well as the many other special traditions and events that this time of year has in store.

But of course, it’s important for us to remember not to rush too far ahead this time of year. There’s lots to do before Christmas to get ourselves ready, not only in practical ways… but in spiritual ways as well. 

As we know, today is the beginning of Advent, a season of preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ the Son of God… not just in the cradle in Bethlehem… but as the Crucified and Risen Saviour King, who is coming again to set God’s world right again, once and for all.

From the start, Advent is a season of anticipation… of looking forward… of preparation. Getting ready to take part not just in Christmas… but in the Kingdom of God.

But even though the Church has been in this state of anticipation and preparation for around two thousand years, Advent reminds us that what we are preparing for is not in our control, or bound by our own expectations. It requires us to pay attention… to remain engaged… to be willing to pivot, and adapt, and to be ready to do whatever needs doing… not sitting idle, or building our own little kingdoms. We’re called to always be ready.
But be ready for what? What are we waiting for? 

I can recall times when I heard the Christian hope talked about in ways that remind me a lot of that sinking feeling I’d get from my math-test dreams: a sense of deep urgency that I know I need to be ready, and even deeper sense of unease that I’m totally helpless and lost.

Sometimes we Christians can get so fixated on our own fears, and forget the Good News we’ve been entrusted with. We can talk about the need for ‘being ready’ as a way to scare ourselves, and each other, into ‘being good’… just making sure our own hands are clean, and becoming preoccupied with our own eternal security.

Now, you’re not going to hear me start advocating for getting your hands dirty… or to ignore the importance of having a clean conscience before God, or trying to live a life of true holiness. Quite the opposite. But I know that this kind of fear-focused approach to faith leads us only to spiritual self-centredness… and ends up encouraging us to start placing our hope in our own ability to ‘be good’. 

But as Christians, our hope always requires our active preparation, but our hope is never placed in our own preparations. Our hope is in the One we are preparing for! Our hope is in Jesus Christ, our Saviour King.

And our Scripture readings today call us to be ready… to be looking forward to Jesus’ return in ways that help us remain engaged in His Good Kingdom here and now.

In our first reading this morning from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we are reminded that despite how dark our circumstances may get, we really can place our hope in the Living God. 

Our reading takes place at a time when things weren’t looking all that great for God’s faithful prophet. Jeremiah was stuck in prison, unjustly persecuted for speaking out against Jerusalem’s unfaithful kings, priests, and leadership, and for prophesying that Babylon, who already had won a great victory against Jerusalem, and sent many into Exile, would indeed come back and utterly overthrow Judah, as the LORD God had commanded him to. 

And while other prophets were preaching peace, and Judah’s smooth recover and return to greatness, God had again assured Jeremiah that the Exile would not be ending anytime soon, but would in fact get worse. God’s people had turned their backs on the LORD and His ways, and so they would have to face the dark consequences of breaking faith with the Almighty One. 

Looking around him, and his bleak prospects, Jeremiah might have been tempted to give in… to give up taking his stand, and just try to get on with what was left of his life. When we face dark times, we too have to deal with these kinds of temptations. We can get discouraged by how things in our own lives and our world turn out in ways we had not anticipated. And we can be tempted to get too invested in things that don’t really matter… or get distracted by our own concerns, and forget about the gift of hope we have received. 

And God knows that about us. God knows we need something to hold onto. Something firm to stand on when our world is shaken. Something trustworthy and true to stay focused on when our troubles and cares demand all our attention.

And so God gives us what we need in times like these: He gives us His Word. He reminds us of His steadfast love… His complete faithfulness… and His promise to do what is right… and He calls us to trust Him. To put our faith and our hopes in Him to redeem and rescue us. 
 
And so, in that dark time, God also assures Jeremiah that this darkness will not be the end for God’s people. The LORD Himself will not abandon His promises: though in the days to come, it may seem to all like Jerusalem’s royal line and priesthood would fail, God would raise up His people again. Beyond all hope, He would raise them up.

Jeremiah 33:10-11, “Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without human beings or animals,’ in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without inhabitants, human or animal, there shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: 
“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, 
for the Lord is good, 
for his steadfast love endures forever!” 
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.”

And then as we heard this morning in Jeremiah 33:14-16, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'”
 
The Lord is our righteousness.

At the right time, the Living God would raise up a righteous descendant of King David… One who would set things right once and for all, and bring God’s salvation to His people. 

Now Jeremiah Himself would not live to see these words fulfilled. But he would hold onto this hope in his darkest moments, and pass it on to others who trusted in it too. And one day, God did raise up One from David’s line who did bring God’s promised salvation to the world.  

Turning now to our reading from the Gospel of Luke, and the word of Jesus Christ our Lord, warning His disciples, back then and today, about the dark times that lay ahead of them.

As His own time of suffering drew close, Jesus saw serious challenges ahead for His disciples. He knew they would face lots of discouragement and reasons to doubt… And He warned them against becoming distracted from their mission by alarming events in the world… or tripped up by the many pressures and preoccupations of everyday life.

And so, Jesus calls them, and those of us who belong to Him today, to be ready… to not give in to the distractions, or to despair when things got dark… but instead, when everything seems to be falling apart, He says to us: “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28). 

And Jesus did not just talk about this kind of hope. He lived it. He embodied it. He was fully prepared to face death for us… placing His hope in His Heavenly Father’s steadfast love, which is even stronger than death. 

Jesus faithfully endured the horrors of the cross for us all, laying down His sinless life to rescue us and our world from the powers of darkness, and to bring us the gift of His freedom and forgiveness, made possible through His blood shed for us. And His hope did not disappoint!

Christian hope is Christ-shaped hope: hope, not that we will somehow manage to avoid suffering and evil in this life, but that the life-giving love of God is able to save us from its power, and to raise us up with Jesus to share in God’s holy love forever.

And in our second reading this morning, St. Paul shows us what that kind of hope looks like in practice… what it means to get ready and be ready for the coming of our Saviour.

1 Thessalonians 11:13, “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

Our hope in Christ our Saviour is expressed… is practiced through sharing in His holy love together. Through Christians gathering for fellowship, and learning together, and worshipping together… Not as a distraction from, or as a denial of, the many difficulties around us, and indeed ahead of us… but as a way of sharing in the life of God’s Good Kingdom even now, through God’s Spirit at work in us… and of encouraging one another to stand firm in the Good News we have been entrusted with: the Good News that, no matter how dark the night might get, the glorious day of the Lord will dawn, and our Redeemer, Jesus, the Saviour King, will return to set this world right.

Being ready for Christ’s return is not a call to panic and obsess over the state of ourselves… but to actively put away all that might keep us from sharing God’s holy love with one another, and with those all around us. There is no cosmic pop quiz waiting for us, but there are His commands already made known: to love God, to love one another, and to let God’s holy love have its way in us today.

So today, as we enter into the season of Advent together: may we place our hope in the steadfast love of the Living God for our messed up world, and in Christ’s promise to return to set it right again once and for all. 

May this hope help us to keep our heads held high… not trying to deny the darkness around us, but empowering us to stand firm against it… focused on remaining faithful to our Saviour, and walking in His ways until He returns.

And may this hope help us to get ready, and stay ready for eternity… to do what we can to strengthen and encourage one another… in worship, fellowship, and mutual support. And through God’s Holy Spirit, may this hope help us to put God’s holy love into practice here and now… committed to keeping alive the light of the Gospel in our dark and despairing world… so that those all around us may also come to know the Good News of Jesus our Saviour King. Amen.

Today we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent: a season of anticipation and preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, both in His birth at Christmas, and in His future return to reign forever over a renewed creation.

Each week in Advent, we reflect on an important aspect of the Christian life as we wait faithfully for our Saviour, and serve His kingdom even now. The first Sunday of Advent, we reflect on the theme of Hope.


Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Daniel 7:1-18 | Psalm 93 | Revelation 1:4-8 | John 18:33-38

“Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’” (John 18:37).

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the Christian year, commemorating the reign of Jesus our Lord. It is an important celebration for us for many reasons, especially at times when there is deep  
confusion about what it really means to call Christ King… and what it means for those of us who follow Him to serve Him faithfully.

After all, not all who claim the name of Christ end up truly serving His Kingdom. Over the centuries, many have mixed up their own agendas with the mission of God.

One clear example of this from the last century was the so-called German Christian movement in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s, which gained widespread support among many people of faith, and preached the wholesale realignment of the Christian Church with Nazi ideology… and making loyalty to their Leader… Adolf Hitler, the epitome of doing God’s will. 

We can also see this confusion and distortion at work in the operations of Christian Nationalist groups in our day… movements that try to establish the Kingdom of God in their own countries by seizing political power and influence to bring about God’s Kingdom by force… inevitably ending up betraying Christ and abandoning His ways in the process.

There are countless ways that our faith can, and has been, co-opted over the years. Which is why it’s so important for Christians today to have a clear-headed understanding of the Gospel: of who Jesus Christ is, and what He is doing… and what He is calling us to do in His name. And so, the Feast of Christ the King calls us to regularly reconsider our assumptions about how God’s Kingdom comes about… how we can share in it.

In our Gospel reading this morning, we jump right in to a clash of Kingdoms: we hear Jesus being questioned by Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea, serving as the representative of Caesar, the head of the most powerful and influential Empire the world had yet come to know.

And in this encounter, Pilate can’t seem to make sense of Jesus. He can’t seem to understand why our Lord isn’t trying to avoid the horrible fate that is laying before Him.

Pilate knows all about power games. He understands the cut-throat competitions for influence, and jealous rivalries at work in so many societies. He can see that Jesus is actually innocent of the charges brought against Him by Jerusalem’s religious leaders… and that their calls for His execution have no legitimate basis.

But then Pilate hears that Jesus is called a King of the Jews… which is clearly a claim of authority and power… which must then be put in its ‘proper place’ under the absolute authority and power of Caesar in Rome and his subordinates.

But when asked about His supposed kingship, Jesus responds by challenging everything that Pilate thought he knew about real power and authority.

“Jesus answered, ‘My Kingdom is not from this world.’” (John 18:36).

Notice that He doesn’t say that His Kingdom has no place in this world… as if it only exists somewhere out there, disconnected from the daily realities of earthly life. He’s not claiming that His Kingdom has no authority or power here and now. 

No, He says His Kingdom is not from this world. It doesn’t arise from here, or rely on the world’s ways of doing things. It is not just another earthly realm. The kingdoms of the world lean on the threat of violence as the basis for their authority… their rulers rely on coercion and force, or manipulation to get their way. For example, the Roman Empire bragged about being the bringers of peace, but they could only do so by swiftly bringing the sword against any who might dare to defy them.

And we can see these same approaches at work in modern societies as well. Some countries use explicit violence and oppression to keep their subjects in line. Some rely more on coercion, manipulation, and political power games to get their way. But whatever tactics are being deployed, the general agenda is the same: people desire power, so they do whatever it takes to take it… even if it means crushing others in order to get it.

This is what the Romans, and so many other kingdoms of the world have done. But Christ is not that kind of King! So where does Christ’s Kingdom come from then? Where does its power and influence arise from, if not through earthly violence and force?

Our first reading today from the book of Daniel offers us an incredibly important glimpse into how Christ understood the basis of His Kingship, and how it must come about.

In Daniel Chapter 7, we hear one of the prophet’s visions, experienced at one of the lowest points in Israel’s story… after Jerusalem had fallen, after the Temple of God had been destroyed, and what was left of His covenant people were carried away into Exile by the most powerful kingdom in their day: Babylon… a violent, prideful Empire bent on forcing all others to bend their knees, and bow to their obvious greatness.

In Daniel’s vision, he sees a series of great kingdoms depicted as terrifying beasts… inhuman monsters capable of great ruin… the most fearsome of which ends up trampling on God’s people… crushing them beyond all earthly hope.

But then suddenly God Almighty, the true Lord of All, brings an end to these beastly rulers, and raises up those who were crushed by the beasts, to reign with Him in glory.

It’s a vision of great hope for Israelites like Daniel, who were still suffering in Exile… hope that the Living God would not abandon His people. Regardless of how vicious and powerful the kingdoms of the world may be, or how low their own circumstances might become, this was a message that in the end, God Himself would set things right, and they would be raised up to reign with Him.

Daniel’s vision was a powerful reminder for God’s people to place their hope and trust in the LORD… to remain faithful to His ways… and to not get swept up by the ways of the beasts.

For the only lasting victory over the beasts is the LORD’s own doing… it cannot be achieved by the might or power, of God’s people, trying to raise themselves up against their enemies, but only by the Almighty’s intervention, striking at the heart of evil’s power in ways that no earthly force could ever do… disarming evil for good.

Here we must turn to our second reading today from the book of Revelation. Here’s another plug for our Bible Study on Tuesday afternoons. We’ve spent the last eight weeks working through Revelation, and we’ve just reached verse eight last week! Clearly, there’s a lot going on in this book, which we won’t have time to get into today. But join us on Tuesday afternoons, and you might be surprised by the Good News this book has to share.

Just as a reminder: the book of Revelation is not simply a depiction of the end… it is a view of human history offered from God’s perspective… a vision revealing the truth of our world that’s often hidden from our eyes… and that the powerful kingdoms of our day actively deny.

This passage we read today is really just setting the stage for the rest of Revelation, introducing the key melodies that will be picked up and explored in greater depth, tying together important themes of the Gospel that run all throughout the Scriptures.

But to keep it short, the key point of this passage for this morning is the nature of God’s ultimate victory over evil… not just over the Babylonians, or Greeks, or Romans… but over every beastly Empire that will raise itself up and trample on the innocent. God’s Kingdom will overcome them, not by playing their games… not by coercion or force, or political maneuvering, or manipulation… but by the power of the cross.

This victory is won by what Jesus Christ Himself has already done, disarming the power of all evil, through His own death… and through His resurrection… and through His coming again.

He disarms the lies that prop up all these beastly kingdoms by being the faithful witness… the One who remained steadfast in the truth, exposing the world’s injustice, greed, violence, and pride as merely self-destructive delusions.

He disarms the fear of death, as the firstborn from the dead… who suffered the very worst physical fate that anyone could throw at Him. But three days later, He rose again, conquering the grave forever for those who trust in Him. 

And He disarms the power of all others who claim to be the masters of our lives, and the final authorities we are to pay our allegiance to… for Jesus Christ alone is the true ruler of the kings of the earth… He alone has been raised to God the Father’s right hand, and all other earthly rulers will one day be called to account before His throne to answer for everything that they have done. 

And in addition to disarming all these powers at work in our world… disarming the lies, and the fears, and the false-claims over our lives that bring about so much destruction, Christ also shows us how we are to serve within His good Kingdom. Revelation 1:5-6,
“To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.”

We share in and serve in His Kingdom through faith in the Good News: by trusting in the love of Christ our King, who will never abandon us, no matter how hard things might get. By trusting in the gracious forgiveness and freedom He achieved for us by shedding His blood at the cross. And by trusting that through His Holy Spirit at work in us, we are being remade in His own likeness… empowered to share in His glorious ministry and reign with Him forever!  

Trusting that, with Him we are able to stand for the truth… even if it goes against the expectations of all those around us. Trusting that with Him we are able to face death faithfully, because Christ’s victory over the grave and everlasting life will also be ours. Trusting that, with Him we are able to stay true to God’s Kingdom, and to resist the many temptations to play along with the beasts at work today… remembering that Christ’s Kingdom may not be from this world… but it is for this world!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18).

This is God’s victory. This is our victory. One not achieved through violence or force… or political power games. But through the rescuing… reconciling… resurrecting love of the Living God, revealed once and for all in Jesus Christ our Saviour King. 

So let us rejoice in His steadfast love! Let us trust and believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and all that He has done to save us and our world. Let us stay true to Him… walking in His ways, and listening to His voice… as we await His coming again, and the fulness of His good Kingdom. Amen. 

​​And our Songs can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Daniel 12:1–3 | Psalm 16 | Hebrews 10:11-25 | Mark 13:1–8

“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23).

What does our hope rest upon?

Like many people around the world, in these past two weeks I’ve had to experience and come to grips with some serious disappointment and discouragement. I try not to talk to much about my own political positions from the pulpit… mostly because my views aren’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. 

We don’t gather here each week to listen to my opinions… or my grand pronouncements… but to try to listen together to God’s word to us all: to be transformed together by the Good News of Jesus Christ, shared with us throughout the Bible, and to worship Him alone… receiving the gift of His new life, in word and sacrament… His saving grace offered to us all, through faith in Him.

But in reflecting on our Scripture passages today, it seems to me that the events of these last few weeks… the results of the American election, and the reactions that many have had to it… are being addressed in a relevant and meaningful way, and might actually help us reflect on the bigger picture of what biblical hope is all about.

As I said, I was personally disappointed by the results of the American election. Specifically, how so many people chose to entrust such significant power and influence over the lives of millions of people, in their own country and around the world, to someone with such deeply suspect character, and openly self-serving plans and motives.
A great part of my disappointment comes from the fact that so many of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters have rallied around him… and seem to see him as chosen by God to bring about a “greater” and more “faithful” America.

To these kinds of claims, my mind goes to places like Matthew Chapter 7:15-20, and the words of our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15-20).

Now before I start getting too self-righteous here, we need to remember: this is a warning for everyone… not just directed at those who we disagree with. These words apply to us all! And so, while we need to beware of people using our faith to lead us astray, we also must take care that we don’t find ourselves producing bad fruit of our own.

All this is to say that I, and a lot of people are disappointed by how the election turned out, and are also concerned about what this all will mean for the future of our world. But that should really be no surprise: after all every election leaves lots of people feeling disappointed. It’s kind of how democracy works: one party or candidate wins, and others lose. Every single time, someone’s dreams are dashed, and some are achieved. 

And this uncertain reality actually offers us a pretty good life lesson: Maybe the world's hopes… maybe our hopes shouldn’t be resting on something as changeable as the opinions of American voters.

Decisive moments in life, like elections, often shine a spotlight on where our hopes really rest... and thankfully, our Scripture readings today call us to reflect on where we have set our hopes… as well as inviting us to place our trust in what is… or who is truly unshakeable. 

In our reading today from the Gospel of St. Mark, we hear some challenging and perhaps frightening words from our Lord, that certainly shook His first followers, and has the power to keep doing so today. 

This passage is just a small part of a long section of Jesus’ teachings, found also in Matthew and Luke, that tend to activate a lot of our own hopes and fears about the fate of our world, and what the future holds for us all.

Those of us who have been taking part in our Bible Study on the Book of Revelation this Fall might remember that this passage has a deeply prophetic purpose and meaning within the story of Jesus, helping us see what He’s up to.

And these words remain very relevant for us today, but not as some collection of cryptic clues to be pulled out of context to help us try and puzzle out an exact roadmap for the events of the ‘end times’. Many still use Jesus’ words that way, and it tends to lead to some strange conclusions that often run counter to the Good News of Jesus Christ that we His followers have been entrusted with.  

This is why it's so important for us to try to understand what Jesus is speaking about in His own context long before we try to apply His words directly to our own day… trusting that this is how God’s Spirit sheds His light on our own situations.

And so, in this passage, we find Jesus preparing His followers for some dramatic events in their not-to-distant future… warning them about the dangers ahead, while also offering them hope. Not the hope that believers will somehow be whisked away from all the troubles of the world… but a hope that can help them, and you and I, to persevere when we must face those troubles.

In short: Jesus is challenging the false-hopes of His followers, so that we can place our hope in what will endure.

The passage begins with our Lord’s disciples admiring the grandeur and glory of the Holy Temple of the Lord, the Living God, in the heart of Jerusalem. This Temple was built by King Herod… a puppet king of the powerful Emperors in Rome… on the site of Solomon’s Temple, which had been destroyed long ago by Babylon.

King Herod built many wonderful buildings in his day, including the Temple, always eager to show off his power and greatness and win the admiration of others. In fact, Herod was not really known for his devotion… he used projects like rebuilding the Temple for political gain, and to win influence over his subjects… trying to buy their loyalty by giving them what they want, and making a show of supporting the faithful.

And like most of the people in their day, Jesus’ disciples were deeply impressed with what Herod had done, and for what it meant for the future of their people. After centuries of being kicked around by one empire after another after the Exile, they were now able to worship and practice their faith in ways that made sense to them. Their holy city was no longer a ruin, but was becoming a proud centre of life once again. How could they not look with wonder on the Temple… this tangible sign of God’s presence with them. How could they not get excited, especially now that the Messiah, their rabbi had come. Soon Jesus would set up His Kingdom in Jerusalem, and everything would be wonderful.

But as it turns out, even the disciples were looking for hope in the wrong places. 

Mark 13:1-2, “As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1-2).

Not. One. Stone. 
All will be thrown down.

Far from being a sign of God's favour, Jesus says the Temple built by Herod was bound for destruction. It would all come crashing down, shattering all hopes of a return of the glory days of King David… or a seamless, painless transition into the eternal Messianic Kingdom. And far from sharing in their hopes, Jesus seemed to be pointing towards a return to their people’s worst nightmare: a return to the horrors of Exile.

At one of the lowest points in the story of God’s people, the armies of Babylon had defeated Jerusalem, centuries before… leveling the grand Temple that King Solomon had built, and devastating the city. At that time, it seemed like all hope was lost for Israel.

But even in that lowest moment, the Living God did not abandon His covenant people, even though their unfaithfulness and folly had brought the Exile upon them. And God had kept hope alive for those in Exile through faithful prophets like Daniel, who had to learn how to live under the power of proud and ungodly rulers, while staying true to the LORD. Learning how to be faithful to the Living God, even when that put them in harms way.

And in His mercy, God brought His people through this time of Exile, and brought them back home again to the land He had promised them… something they could never have achieved on their own.

And now… after centuries of struggle, and rebuilding, and waiting for God’s Messiah and Kingdom to come… expectations were high that God’s final victory over their enemies must be drawing near at last.  

But rather than feeding these hopes, Jesus points instead to a time soon to come when His followers would see the Temple, the Holy City Jerusalem, and all that seemed so sure and promising brought low again.

Not. One. Stone. 
All will be thrown down.
 
Mark 13:4-8, “Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

And Jesus will go on to speak of armies surrounding Jerusalem… and that all those who could flee should do so without delay. He speaks of terrible suffering… and tragic circumstances… including the persistent persecution of His followers… and warning of deep betrayals, tearing families apart because of Him. Mark 13:12-13, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mark 13:12-13).

Did you hear that last part? The one who endures to the end will be saved. The hope is not in avoidance… but endurance… in remaining faithful, no matter what comes. 

And all these things did come about: Jerusalem fell to Roman armies, and the Temple was destroyed mere decades after Jesus said these words.

Just as He said, other charismatic would-be Messiahs called for armed uprisings against Rome, and after a few years of rebellion, Caesar sent in his legions to completely crush Jerusalem.

Now if Christ’s disciples had placed their hopes on a building… however sacred it may have seemed… their hopes would have been completely crushed.

And if His disciples had placed their hopes in the establishment of a stable and secure society, shaped by leaders claiming to be in line with the will of God, they would have been put to shame.

In His mercy, Jesus challenges the false-hopes that even His followers had: He knew God's Kingdom was not going to arrive in the way that they had hoped… and perhaps, the way that you and I would have hoped.

Instead, Jesus invites us all to place our hope in Him… He says to us: ‘trust in Me… be faithful to Me, even when everything else is falling apart… place your hope in what I am up to… what I am doing… and if you do, you will truly get to see God's glory!’

At another decisive moment in Jesus' story, He would stand before the High Priest Caiaphas, and the Jewish Elders. He would be falsely accused of many things… but one charge stands out: some claimed that Jesus said He would destroy the Temple that Herod built, and rebuild it in three days. To those in charge, Jesus was seen as a challenge to how their whole society and faith operated. The things that Jesus was saying and doing was threatening everything that they had hoped to preserve… especially their way of life centred around the Temple. 

But Jesus had not been speaking about the Temple that Herod had built… Jesus meant the Temple of His own body… the Truest Meeting Place between Heaven and Earth. Jesus knew His own people would reject Him… publicly shame Him… and execute Him as someone apparently accursed by God. Jesus knew that those who opposed Him would destroy His body… would cast it down and crush it at the cross… devastating the dreams of everyone who loved and followed Him.

But He also knew that three days later, He would rise again! He knew that in Him, God's unshakable Kingdom could never be overthrown.

The Good News of Jesus, the Crucified and Resurrected Saviour of our world, calls into question so many false hopes… but it offers us something far greater: God’s eternal life, which Jesus has already won for us.

He is our great High Priest, who has dealt with our sins and failures once and for all through His atoning sacrifice. He is the true meeting place, the Temple where we can encounter the life-changing love of God, and be filled with the power of His own Holy Spirit. 

In a world full of false hopes, and tempting voices trying to lead us astray… Jesus Christ alone is our hope. He is the One who holds our future… and He is the One who holds us today… helping us to endure, whatever comes.

So, where have we placed our hope? 

Are their still some false hopes we have been holding onto, trusting in people or things that will not endure? 

Our buildings and institutions will not last forever. But God's Kingdom will.

Our leaders and society will all one day be shaken. But our fellowship in the Holy Spirit is truly unstoppable.

Our careers, our homes, our hobbies, our families, even our lives will all one day come to an end. But in Jesus, the Crucified and Resurrected King of Kings, we have the promise of eternal life, and an invitation to share in His glory without end.

Jesus Christ is our only Lord. The only One who we can truly place all our hopes in, and not be put to shame. 

What he did for us all, once and for all, at the cross has set the course and destiny of our world. Nations will rage, and evil may run rampant for a time… but their end will come. And His victory… the victory of God’s saving love won at the cross will be made complete.

Until then, we are called to remain true to Jesus, our Saviour King. To place our faith, and love, and hope in Him… whatever comes.

I’ll close now with a passage from our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (10:19-25):

“Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Amen.

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Micah 4:1-7 | Psalm 46 | Romans 12:15-21 | Matthew 5:38-48

“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18).

What’s the bravest thing you ever had to do?

Life is full of moments that call for bravery… for remaining steadfast and choosing to act with courage, and commitment in the face of danger and fear. 

It might mean standing up for what we believe in… or standing up to people we need to confront. It might mean having to take on new and challenging responsibilities… or simply having to accept some difficult news… for ourselves, or for those we love.

For a lot of people, public speaking requires a lot of bravery… and I’ll admit, when I was a young man, first feeling the call to ministry in the Church, the thought of being a pastor… offering sermons and leading others in worship each week… was a pretty daunting thought, and it took me a long time to feel at home doing this.

Each of us will have our own moments when we will need to be brave. When the way forward will be hard, but will bring us to where we truly belong.

As we know, tomorrow is Remembrance Day, a day set aside to commemorate those who have served their countries in the armed forces… those from our families and communities who have faced the horrors of war for us… many of whom lost their lives, or returned wounded in mind, body, or spirit.

It is important that we take this time to remember them, and what they have done for us… to honour their courage… their steadfast bravery… choosing to face danger and fear, and risk their lives for the sake of others.

We take this time each November to remember in the hopes that such sacrifices would not be required again… not to glorify war and violence, but to seek ways to find true and lasting peace. To strive for a future where war is a distant memory for all. 

Sadly, we know all too well today that many around the world are still faced with the horrors of war… including many civilians who had no choice in the matter. We remember the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, as they defend their homeland from an invasion from Russia. We remember the devastation in Gaza and Lebanon, as the Israeli Defense Forces seek to defeat Hamas and Hezbollah, while thousands of civilians have lost their lives, their homes, and their whole communities have been laid waste as a result.

All across our world, conflicts and tensions keep on growing, leaving many of us afraid of what is to come… uncertain of what lies ahead. 

In times like this, it’s good to step back and remember that there have been troubling times before. And that, those who have gone before us have faced uncertain times, but have found a way forward all the same. We do well to remember the examples of those soldier who faced the horrors of the great wars… we can be inspired by their steadfastness… and dedication to their country’s cause… their courage in the face of uncertainty and danger.

But as inspiring as their examples and stories can be, those of us who are Christians have an even greater source of hope: we are called to remember the Good News of Jesus Christ… to remember the hope found in the story of Scripture… hope we heard in our readings today from the Bible… we are called to remember God’s story, which is still at work in our world today.

We heard the ancient poetic words of hope shared from the Prophet Micah, and the author of Psalm 46: reminding generations of believers that even when all seems lost… when the mountains themselves are thrown into the sea… and everything that seemed stable and secure is shaken, the Living God will not abandon our world… that God Himself will bring wars to cease in all the earth, breaking the bow, and shattering the spear… and bringing back those who are scattered to where we belong: together, and at peace. Freed from all oppression, and injustice, and fear. This vision of God’s majesty and might setting things right, and opening up an entirely different way of life… the way of peace. 

In our Gospel reading today, we heard the words of Jesus Himself, calling those of us who trust in Him to live this way even now… to set aside our own desires for revenge, or divisiveness driven by fear, and instead to follow Him in the way of peace… practicing forgiveness today in a world full of hate. Practicing patience with others today in a world that demands instant results. Practicing goodness today towards all… even those we see as deeply mistaken, and even led by evil intentions. Loving our enemies, even when… especially when… it comes with a cost.  

Jesus Himself knew well the cost of seeking peace… He remained steadfast in the face of injustice and suffering… bravely facing His own death at the cross, in order to bring hostilities to cease between the Living God, and all humanity… and inviting us all to experience the freedom and new life that comes from God’s forgiveness and grace. 

The way of Jesus, the way of peace is not an easy road to follow. Not by a long-shot. It really does require steadfastness… dedication… and courage to live this way today. To arm ourselves, not with weapons of war, but with a commitment to this whole new way of life… being willing to stand up and stand out, like a candle in a dark room, so that those around us can start to see that there really is another way forward for our world. That with God’s help, we can really be another way together. 

In our reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Christians in Rome, we heard him offer a glimpse of what this way looks like in practice: Romans 12:15-18,

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” 

This doesn’t mean that we have to agree with or support what everyone around us or around our world is up to… and there will still be times when we will need to be brave and confront evil through our words and actions. But even so, the way of Jesus does challenge us never to turn our backs on or demonize others… even those we deeply disagree with… to write them off as our enemies, even if they see us that way.

Instead, we are called to overcome evil with good. To live lives of faithfulness, hope, and love, trusting that the Living God will be at work in, around, and through us to bring about His lasting peace. 

Now I know not all of us here today are necessarily Christians… followers of Jesus Christ. But I believe that all of us can see that our world really does need to find another way forward. And that way won’t just happen on its own. It will require people like us to put it into practice. To strive to be steadfast… dedicated… and courageous as we face the future together. Seeking not just our own wellbeing, but the lasting peace of our world.

May the Living God help us all to face our own uncertain days bravely… steadfast and dedicated not just to winning wars, but to forging a way forward for us all… that the world around us may begin to experience a taste of true peace… learning to live together, and to love one another… even when we disagree. 

I’ll close now with the words of a well known prayer:

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that we may not so much seek
​to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

​And our Songs can be found here:

This past Saturday at Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton, Anglican Clergy and Lay Delegates from across New Brunswick attended our 139th Diocesan Synod.

We heard about many ways in which our people and Parishes are at work in our diverse communities, as well as inspiring and challenging words from our Archbishop, the Most Rev'd David Edwards.

In place of a sermon this week, we will be attending to The Bishop's Charge, which is his call and challenge to us as we seek to serve God's Kingdom together in our communities.

Our service of Morning Prayer and Bulletin for this week can be found here:

​​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:7–9 | Psalm 126 | Hebrews 7:23–28 | Mark 10:46–52

​“Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51).
 
Last week, we spent some time reflecting on the kind of leadership we really need today… and the ministry that Christ invites His people to share in with Him: not seeking after our own honour or status or glory… but sharing in God’s great love for the world… serving the wellbeing of others… and even suffering along with Jesus until the fullness of His Kingdom, won once and for all  at the cross, comes at last.
 
We looked at how upside down this vision of greatness looks from the perspective of the world around us… but also at how powerful and transformative it can be to be led by God’s self-giving love in all we do.
 
But what about those who are not at all concerned about greatness, and those who are already powerless? Those with no ambitions, apart from being set free from their own crushing situations?
 
If Christ’s “upside down” Kingdom would have us reconsider what it means for those who might be called to take the lead… how are we to rethink the stories of those who are most often seen as insignificant? The people on the margins. The poor. The isolated. The vulnerable. For those of us feeling lost, broken, hurting and alone today… what hope does Christ’s Kingdom really have for folks like us?
 
Our Gospel reading today tells us the story of a man named Bartimaeus whose whole life was transformed by a passing encounter with Jesus Christ our Lord. It’s a story that stands is shape contrast with our Gospel reading from last week, and the bold request from James and John, who, despite their closeness to Jesus, could not yet see the truth of what God’s Kingdom was all about. No, this week we are invited to see a stranger… a poor blind man who looks to Jesus for mercy… and receives far more.
 
But before we dig into the story itself, I’d like us to take a few minutes to look at the significance of the title that Jesus is called here: “the Son of David”.
 
David was by far Israel’s greatest king… ruling over the twelve Tribes of Israel, and establishing Jerusalem as it’s capital city. He came from incredibly humble beginnings… the youngest of eight brothers, tasked with shepherding his family’s sheep. But the LORD noticed David… and raised him up to be the shepherd of God’s sheep… the king over God’s covenant people, protecting and providing for them, and guiding them in God’s good ways.
 
And at a crucial point in his story, David receives a powerful promise from Yahweh, the Living God… that one of his descendants would reign as king forever.

Excuse this long passage, but listen to the promise that God made to David, and to all His people. 2 Samuel 7:8-16:
 
“Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
 
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies.
 
Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.”
 
What a powerful, hope-filled promise God gave to David and to his people. But the rest of story of David’s descendants, and his nation is not a happy one. As we read through the rest of Israel’s story in the Scriptures, we find it’s a story of self-destruction.
 
Not long after God makes this promise to King David, he falls into grievous sin. He has an affair with Bathsheba, gets her pregnant, then has her husband killed to cover it up. And from this point on, David’s household descends into bloody infighting, intrigue, and incest… and one of his sons, Absalom, whose name means “my father is peace” leads a rebellion against him.
 
Eventually, one of Bathsheba’s sons, Solomon, becomes king after David dies. And his story seems to start out pretty well. When God says to Solomon “Ask what I should give you.” (1 Kings 5:3), Solomon requests wisdom to rule and guide God’s people well. But soon he too ends up falling into the trap of sin. As his power and greatness grew, Solomon became more and more like the rest of the kings of the earth, amassing military power, forging networks of alliances, and hoarding wealth… placing his hope in his own resources and capabilities instead of in the Living God.
 
And so, even though Solomon was the one who built the first great Temple to God in Jerusalem, his reign would end with him setting up many places of worship for the false gods of the nations around Israel, leading the people away from their covenant relationship with the LORD.
 
And the story gets worse. His son Rehoboam takes the same path as his father, and leads the nation into civil war, splitting the Northern ten tribes of Israel from Judah in the South. And it’s a giant downward spiral from there, as king after king after king abandons their calling to care for Gods people, and lead them in His holy ways… seeking instead their own ambitions and greatness… at great cost to their own people.
 
Now a handful of David’s descendants did try to turn things around again. Kings of Judah like Hezekiah and Josiah. But these were the exceptions that prove the rule. Eventually, due to their unending unfaithfulness to the LORD, first the northern Kingdom of Israel, and then the Southern Kingdom of Judah are swept away into Exile.
 
What had started off in the hope of peace and life had ended in disaster. God’s people were carried off as the spoils of war… led far away from home with no way to return in sight.
 
Our own stories can feel like this at times. When we turn on the news and see all of the conflicts and chaos at work… between our nations, our political parties, our communities… and even our homes. There’s so much confusion, and fear driving people’s decisions… overshadowing so much of the good gifts that life has to offer. What kind of hope is there in times like this? Especially for those so easily overlooked?
 
After all, most people are not really scheming for power or glory. Most of us are just trying to get by, while facing all sorts of struggles… in mind, body, and spirit.
 
So where can we look for hope today? We can look to God’s great mercy and unfailing love.
 
Our first reading this morning comes from the prophet Jeremiah, whose own situation was pretty bleak. He was called to serve as God’s prophet, sharing His words of warning, as Jerusalem was about to fall. Much of Jeremiah’s message was about calling God’s people to turn around… to repent… to stop placing their hope in their own schemes and plans, and instead to accept the coming consequences of turning their backs on their covenant with the LORD.
 
But our reading today is one of the few bright spots in the prophet’s message: that despite how dark the future was going to get, the LORD had not abandoned them. God tells them to trust Him… to place their hope in His mercy and love… and one day the Exile would end. God would bring their children home again, and lead them into life.
 
This was a promise not to avoid suffering, but to come through it. The Exile would still happened… but it’s darkness would not endure. It would not be the end of their story. God gives them this word of hope:

“See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and those in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.” (Jeremiah 31:8).
 
And true to His word, the Living God brought them back from Exile. But for many years they were still kept waiting for the promised descendant of David to reign as their Messiah King. To provide for and protect them, and lead them into God’s good Kingdom forever.
 
And this is when Jesus of Nazareth comes onto the scene. He was a descendant of David’s line, but born and raise in obscurity… living among the poor, and lowly… and at this point in the story, He was travelling from town to town without a home… bringing the light of God’s good Kingdom to all those still dwelling in darkness.
 
Last week we heard how even His closest disciples imagined that He had come to set up a great earthly kingdom, one that would overthrow the Romans, and that would lead them to status and glory.
 
But we saw that Jesus had come to bring about God’s heavenly Kingdom to bear fruit here on Earth. Not expanding with military force or amassed wealth, or strategic alliances, but through everyday people being touched and transformed by the great mercy and self-giving love of the Living God.
 
The people He met received glimpses of this Kingdom at work in His teachings, and miracles… signs of God’s power and purposes… bringing help, and healing and hope to those around Him, as He slowly makes His way to the cross, to overthrow once and for all all the powers of darkness that keep us trapped in our old self-destructive ways.
 
To set us free from the fear of death, by facing it for us, and rising again to new life.
 
And to set us free from our guilt and shame, taking our sin onto Himself, so that we can find true forgiveness.
 
And to set us free from all that keeps us from taking part in the New Life God has in store for all of His children. From sharing in the life of His New Creation, as we follow Him even now.
 
While He was on the way to this ultimate victory, Jesus touched and transformed many lives… turning them around, and through their stories, bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into view.
 
And one of those lives belonged to Bartimaeus, a blind beggar sitting by the road outside of Jericho, who hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. Though he was blind, Bartimaeus could see in Jesus the hope for new life that he needed… that he was longing for.
 
So he starts crying out: “Jesus, Son of David… have mercy on me!” Son of David. Son of God’s promise to care for His people Israel… the coming King… “have mercy on me!”
 
Those around him tried to silence him… to shut him up, but Bartimaeus would not be deterred. “Son of David… have mercy on me!” He continued to shout as the crowd passed him by.
 
But the LORD took notice of him. Jesus did not ignore his cries, and He would not leave His sheep behind.
Mark 10:49-51, “Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’”
 
“What do you want me to do for you?”
 
These were the very same words that Jesus spoke to James and John last week, when they made their bold request… blindly asking for the favour of sitting at Christ’s right and left hand in His Kingdom… seeking places of power and glory for themselves, and missing what God’s Kingdom is really all about.
 
And now Jesus says these same words to Bartimaeus… coming to Jesus poor, blind, and desperate… and who looks to Jesus not for a favour… but for a miracle.
 
“The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’” (Mark 10:51). “Let me see again.”
 
Think about it. As bold as James and John’s request had been, what Bartimaeus was asking for was even greater. James and John at least kept their ambitions grounded in the realm of possibility. After all, every earthly king and queen has honoured counsellors to rule by their side. They were asking for positions for themselves within an earthly Kingdom… not requesting the impossible.
 
But what Bartimaeus asked for goes well beyond the bounds of a reasonable request. He asked Jesus for what God alone could give: to restore his sight…. to completely transform the story of his life, his present circumstances and hopes for the future… to restore his sight… setting him free to take hold of the wealth of possibilities that so many of us take for granted… like the freedom to behold the beauty of the world around us, and seeing familiar faces of loved ones again… and the freedom to no longer stumble along in the darkness, but to choose his own path… to live life to the fullest. To restore his sight would be to restore his whole life.
 
And this request would be madness… insanity, if he asked anyone else to do this for him. But Bartimaeus was looking to the only One who truly could set him free. For Jesus really is the Son of David… the promised Messiah, come to set God’s people free… to protect and to care for them as a true King should… just as a shepherd tending their sheep… seeking to sustain them, provide for them, and lead them always into life.
 
And Jesus remains our Shepherd King, our Messiah today! He alone is the crucified and Risen Lord, and we can look to Him to bring us the freedom we all truly need: the freedom from the fear of suffering, and death… the freedom of forgiveness of our sins… freedom from guilt and shame… from hatred, and greed… the freedom to live and love God’s way.  
 
And unlike His answer to James and John, our Lord looked at Bartimaeus in compassion and love, and “said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.”
 
In an instant, Jesus transformed Bartimaeus’ life… as He has transformed the lives of countless others over the centuries… including in this very room: opening our eyes to help us share in God’s Kingdom… setting us free to truly live.
 
But did you notice what Bartimaeus chooses to do with his newfound freedom? He follows Jesus. He focusses his attention… his life on the One who set him free, and lets Him lead the way. He places his faith in Jesus, not just for a favour… or for a miracle… but to lead him into life.
 
Is that our response today? As we face our own struggles… in body, and mind, and spirit… are we open to following Jesus, not as a way to avoid all suffering, as we saw last week… but as a way to take part in God’s Kingdom, here and now, and forever… wherever He may lead us?
 
Following Jesus won’t be easy. Many challenges will come our way when we try to live His way in the world. But even when things get rough, and we can’t see an end to the difficulties that we have to face, we can look to Jesus and know that we can trust Him to lead us into the new life of His Kingdom. We can believe in His mercy, and compassion, and in His steadfast love which is stronger by far than any darkness that may lie before us.
 
So like Bartimaeus, may we also look to our Saviour Jesus, our Shepherd King, and follow Him. May we not be discouraged or deterred by the voices and forces that try to keep us from His side. May we place our faith and hope in His great mercy and unending love. And may our transformed lives help others glimpse God’s heavenly Kingdom at work even now. Amen.  
 

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 53:4–12 | Psalm 91:9–16 | Hebrews 5:1–10 | Mark 10:35–45

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45).
 
What kind of leadership do we really need today?  
As I’m sure we are all well aware, tomorrow is our Provincial Election Day… when we the people of New Brunswick will choose between the competing visions of the future our politicians have been pitching to us. A lot of promises have been made. A lot of time and money has been spent. All to convince us to entrust these select representatives with the authority and power to lead us.
 
Of course, this isn’t the only election on people’s minds these days. In just a few weeks, our neighbours in the United States will also be holding their own massive Presidential election. And while there will be lots of other American government officials chosen at that time, a huge amount of energy… not to mention time and money… has been focused on promoting each side’s candidate in the hopes that they will be elevated to the highest office in their country… a choice that shines a huge spotlight on an ever growing clash of values and priorities… and which will likely go on to have some truly worldwide implications.

Every community throughout history has had to try to work out the tensions and challenges of leadership… of figuring out how to keep their people united… how to survive together, and to overcome the many challenges being faced… and how to strive for the best future… at least, the best future for themselves.

And like so many things in life, leadership is complicated… and messy. Those who seek to gain and exercise authority will face all sorts of serious temptations, and may end up in situations that can expose our worst weaknesses and tendencies. Things like greed and corruption, using our power to exploit others for selfish gain. Or giving in to fear and hatred against those who seem to threaten our groups position. Or fueling mistrust and cynicism that eat away at the communities we claim to serve.

These same dynamics are at play in some form in every human society… even in the ones who consider themselves to be explicitly Christian.

So it is good news for us that our Scripture Readings today  present us with a challenge to the whole way we humans think about and exercise leadership… challenging us to rediscover what the power and authority of the Living God is all about.

Our Gospel reading today from Mark Chapter 10 tells us of a moment when two of our Lord’s closest disciples ask Him for a favour:
 
Mark 10:35-37, “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’  And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’”

James and John were asking straight up for authority… for power… to be Christ’s Kingdom cabinet ministers… to belong to the top tier rulers when Jesus finally takes charge. Bold move. But I mean, why not right? They had been with Him a long time. They had paid their dues. They had shared in His ministry, with all of it’s ups and downs. They thought they knew what it would take. Somebody was going to be by Jesus’ side in His moment of glory. Why not them?

Well, one reason at least is that it seems like James and John, despite being two of Christ’s closest followers, had also completely misunderstood the nature of the Kingdom Jesus had come to bring. They wanted to share in Jesus’ power and authority… to be lifted up and to reign in glory at their Master’s side.
 
But to be lifted up beside Jesus in His glory was not at all what they had imagined. And Jesus tells them both that it was not to be their fate to have this favour granted.
 
Honestly, what comes to mind when I hear this part of the story is the old warning: ‘Be careful what you wish for!’

Thinking back to the example of Elections again: how many times have people elected a person or party, only to find out after the fact that they should definitely not have been trusted with the reins of power? If we don’t know what someone’s really about… what drives them… and what guides their way, we might be very surprised by the direction that they end up leading us down… for better, or for worse.

I often listen to a history podcast, and they have been working through a series on the events of the French Revolution… what a mess!

They reminded me that, at that time, like today, so many people were longing for freedom from the very serious challenges they were facing. They longed for things like ‘liberty, equality, and fraternity’… all good things, I hope we’d all agree. But the ways that these ideals were pursued led to an ongoing saga of extreme paranoia, divisions, and widespread bloodshed… a time that’s often been simply called the Terror… as one group after another seized power for themselves, and executed those who opposed their own particular vision of the future for their country.

One person’s hero quickly became the next person’s tyrant. And all these cycles of violence paved the way for one of histories most infamous Emperors, Napoleon Bonaparte, to raise himself up above all his rivals, and bathe Europe in war. And this is a pattern that has played out again and again: someone wants to become great, and so they step over and crush anyone else in their path.

But we know Jesus is not this kind of King… one who rises by holding others down… who reigns by using fear, or hatred, or endless divisions. And if we want to be a part of His Kingdom, and share in His rule and reign… than we have to do things His way: not seeking to be served… to have our ambitions met… but to serve.

After the other disciples start to get upset with James and John, Jesus tries to set the record straight.
 
Mark 10:42-45, “So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’”

This passage and others like it has influenced our language about leadership in the West. We speak of our politicians and government employees as ‘public servants’… holding up the ideal that leaders are supposed to be working for the common good… not just pursuing their own interests. This is all a remnant of centuries of Christian influence on our culture’s imagination… but it’s true meaning goes far deeper than just the words we say.  

When Jesus tells us that He came to serve, He is offering us a whole different path to follow… and a completely different reason to seek greatness at all. Why did Jesus come to serve? Why does He call us to do the same? The answer lies at the heart of the story of the Good News:
“to give His life a ransom for many”.

A ransom is a payment made to set someone else free. This word is used in the Bible as the price to buy freedom for those who were captives or enslaved… giving them the gift of liberty, erasing the lines that kept them cut off from their fellow humans, and placing them on the same plain… to offer true liberty, equality, fraternity… true fellowship. Jesus came not to get His own way, but to ransom humanity.

And not through use of terror… through the shedding of the blood of His enemies… but through His own blood being shed on their behalf… serving their best interests by laying down His own life at the cross.

This had been His plan all along. Back in our first reading today from the Prophet Isaiah, the seeds of hope were already planted. Back in Isaiah’s days, the Israelites had long been drawn into the same old self-destructive patterns of slavery to power at work in our world, leading them on the path to devastation and eventually Exile. But the Prophet Isaiah held out the hope of God’s surprising promise to save them… a hope that has echoed down through the centuries, and points us once again to the cross.
 
Isaiah 53:4-6,
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
 
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
 
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
 
Jesus came to be that faithful, suffering servant… to bring about God’s good Kingdom by ascending the throne of His cross… ruling God’s way by giving up everything in order to save the world that He loves.

Because love is the why behind it all. Love is the reason that God sent His Son to give His life for the likes us. Love led Jesus to the cross, and love is what held Him there to the end.

And love is how Jesus reigns in our lives even now. Love is the power of God at work in us today. Love, not just for us, or those on ‘our side’… but love for us all… love that sets slaves and captives free… love offered equally to everyone from all nations… even to our enemies… love that draws us together into God’s worldwide family.

So, back to James & John’s request: they asked for power and authority and positions of honour for themselves. But to sit at Christ’s right and left hand meant to share in His sufferings… to be lifted up on a cross along with Him… to die with Him, as He gave His life to ransom us all. James and John had no clue what they were asking for… and in the end others would take up those places at Calvary… the two criminals that died at His side.
 
And yet, Jesus invites James and John, and the rest of us to also share in His sufferings in our own ways… to share in His baptism… to drink from the cup of His calling… to offer our lives along with Him as instruments of God’s great compassion and mercy for our frightened, fractured, and imprisoned world. To die to our own ambitions… and maybe even to face death itself for Jesus’ sake, in order to serve those around us… sharing Christ’s saving love, offered up at the cross, once and for all… so that all who trust in Him might share in His resurrection life that even death cannot defeat.

So, as we reflect on the people who we will let lead us… not only as elected officials, but as examples, or sources of inspiration, or as those who may influence our visions of the future, let us remember that first of all we are called to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ our Saviour King.
 
May His great love guide us, and keep us, and empower us to resist the impulse to seek our own self-centred goals… or to give ourselves over to the agendas of others… but instead, to help us share with Christ in His sufferings… to walk in His holy ways, and to share His saving love with those all around us today.   

I’ll close now with a poem I’ve shared before by the priest and poet Malcolm Guite:
 
See, as they strip the robe from off his back
And spread his arms and nail them to the cross,
The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black,
And love is firmly fastened on to loss.
But here a pure change happens. On this tree
Loss becomes gain, death opens into birth.
Here wounding heals and fastening makes free,
Earth breathes in heaven, heaven roots in earth.
And here we see the length, the breadth, the height,
Where love and hatred meet and love stays true,
Where sin meets grace and darkness turns to light,
We see what love can bear and be and do.
And here our Saviour calls us to his side,
His love is free, his arms are open wide.[1]
 
Amen.


[1] Malcolm Guite, Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year (Norwich, UK: Canterbury Press, 2012).

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