Scripture Readings: Numbers 11:4-29 | Psalm 19:7–14 | James 5:13–20 | Mark 9:38–50

“Whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mark 9:40).
 
Have you ever heard the phrase: “That’s not how we do things around here!”?  Have you ever used it yourself?
 
Every community, big and small, develops its own sense of how things are done over time… promoting practices and values that help to shape a shared sense of identity and culture, whether consciously or not. Sometimes these social rules are pretty obvious… sometimes they are left unspoken. Sometimes they seem to be really rigid, and sometimes they can be much more flexible.
 
And these shared ways of doing things can be really useful, and good… giving us the gifts of meaningful traditions passed down from past generations… as well as helping us to accomplish great things together… binding us together in co-operation to achieve our common goals we simply could not reach on our own.
 
We might have really good reasons to hold onto “how we do things around here”. But we must always remember that there’s a big difference between valuing our own ways of doing things, and denigrating the ways of others.
 
Every community, big and small, faces this danger: we can start to assume that our way is not just a good way… but the best way… or even the only way… and so fail to see what the Living God might be doing outside of our little circle. In fact, we might even find ourselves actually acting against Him!
 
In our Scripture readings today, we are reminded that God’s ways are often much bigger than we imagine. And we are invited to trust the Lord to do what is right, even when it challenges the way we would like to do things.
 
Our first reading today from the book of Numbers tells us about a crisis moment in Moses’ ministry. We find Moses overburdened by the huge responsibility and challenge of keeping God’s people Israel on the right track as they make their way through the wilderness… constantly doubting God’s goodness, and grumbling about all the things they want, but don’t have.
 
At this point in the story, Moses is completely fed up with these unfaithful people. Leading them had become such a hassle that he even asks the LORD to take his life!
 
But even though God was fed up with His people too, He did not give up on them, or on Moses, His burned-out servant. So, the LORD eases Moses’ heavy load by sharing His empowering Spirit with others.
 
Numbers 11:16-17, “So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.”
 
And as a sign of the Spirit’s presence and power at work among the elders, they all began prophesizing together. Imagine how relieved Moses must have been to see that God had begun to work among His people in a new way. But then something much more unexpected happened.

Two of the elders who were supposed to be a part of the special meeting had not been there. They had remained in the camp with the rest of the people… but God’s Spirit came on them anyway.
 
To those close to Moses, this seemed like a threat to their leader’s authority. These two elders had not followed the proper protocol, but were now taking on leadership of God’s people. So Joshua, Moses’ right hand man insists that they be stopped. But Moses responds in Numbers 11:29 “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
 
For his part, Moses clearly understood that God’s Spirit didn’t belong to him… nor was the Spirit’s plan simply to support Moses in his ministry. No, Moses knew he was God’s servant… at God’s command and disposal… not the other way around. So if the LORD saw fit to speak through these two prophets, or even all of His people, how could Moses take offense? Rather than being put out, Moses says he would prefer that all of the people could share in this Spirit-filled ministry.  
 
This is a clear reminder for us today that God’s Spirit is not bound to follow our expectations, or to obey our sense of how things should be done. To put it bluntly, He’s not bothered about “how we do things around here…” God’s got much bigger plans than we can imagine.
 
And so, like Moses, we can be grateful for, and obedient to, what God has invited us to take part in, and trust Him to do what’s right, even when it doesn’t quite line up with our plans or expectations.
 
Moving now to our Gospel reading for this morning, we can see that it has some clear parallels to the reading from Numbers Chapter 11.
 
Here we encounter John, one of Christ’s closest disciples, getting upset because someone outside of their group was performing miracles in Jesus’ name. Mark 9:38, “John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’”
 
Like Joshua centuries earlier, John was concerned that those other people were stepping out of line… acting outside of the proper channels, and undermining the work of God’s Anointed One. I mean, if those other people were really trying to serve God’s Kingdom, wouldn’t they need to do things their way?
 
I can imagine the fear in the back of John’s mind. The fear of losing his own sense of influence. The fear that things might get out of control, and dishonour might then fall on his beloved Master. The fear that these others might make a mess of things if they don’t follow in their footsteps.
 
These are of course all pretty reasonable fears. All of these things might have come about. But even so, it seems that Jesus Himself was not too concerned about the things that were making John so jealous.
 
Mark 9:39-40, Jesus said “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.”
 
How do these words speak to our hearts and circumstances today? Do we have a hard time when we see other groups… and maybe especially other groups of Christians doing things very differently than we would?  Do we at times feel contempt for them? Looking down our noses because they’re not doing things our way? Do we at times feel threatened when they seem to thrive? Are we afraid that they might make a mess of things for the rest of us?
 
Again, there may be some seemingly good reasons for us to feel these ways. But we must always remember that there’s a huge difference between valuing and upholding the Gospel… the Good News of what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile all of humanity with the Living God, and with one another… and demanding that everyone respond to this Good News by doing things “our way”.
 
Here we can easily run straight into real danger: by insisting that it’s “our way or the highway”, we can all too often end up tearing down and devastating the people that the Living God has called us to care for and love.
 
There are many ways this has happened in the past, and is still happening today. And one clear example that seems important for us to discuss, especially ahead of tomorrow, is the history behind the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
 
Rather than offering my own account of the devastating impact that European Christians, including our own Anglican Church, have had on so many Indigenous peoples, particularly through the abuses rampant in the residential schools, I am instead going to read an excerpt from a document entitled An Apology for Spiritual Harm which was offered by our former Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, and addressed to General Synod in 2019. I apologize in advance, it’s a long quote. But I believe these words are still needed for us today.
 
“In the Apology to survivors of the Residential Schools delivered on August 6, 1993, Archbishop Michael Peers expressed his remorse on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada that “we tried to remake you in our own image”.
 
Today, I offer this apology for our cultural and spiritual arrogance toward all Indigenous Peoples – First Nations, Inuit and Métis – and the harm we inflicted on you. I do this at the desire of many across the Church, at the call of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, and at the request and with the authority of the Council of the General Synod.
 
I confess our sin in failing to acknowledge that as First Peoples living here for thousands of years, you had a spiritual relationship with the Creator and with the Land. We did not care enough to learn how your spirituality has always infused your governance, social structures and family life.
 
I confess our sin in demonizing Indigenous spiritualities, and in belittling the traditional teachings of your Grandmothers and Grandfathers preserved and passed on through the elders.
 
I confess the sin of our arrogance in dismissing Indigenous Spiritualities and disciplines as incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus, and insisting that there is no place for them in Christian Worship.
 
I confess our sin in acts such as smothering the smudges, forbidding the pipes, stopping the drums, hiding the masks, destroying the totem poles, silencing the songs, stilling the dances, and banning the potlatches. With deep remorse, I acknowledge the intergenerational spiritual harm caused by our actions.
 
I confess our sin in declaring the teachings of the medicine wheel to be pagan and primitive.
 
I confess our sin in robbing your children and youth of the opportunity to know their spiritual ancestry and the great wealth of its wisdom and guidance for living in a good way with the Creator, the land and all peoples.
 
For such shameful behaviours, I am very sorry. We were so full of our own self-importance. We followed “too much the devices and desires of our own hearts” (Confession, p. 4, Book of Common Prayer). We were ignorant. We were insensitive. We offended you. We offended the Creator.
 
As we look to you today, we have come to acknowledge our need to repent.
 
As we turn to God, we say: “We have offended against thy holy laws, We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, And we have done those things we ought not to have done…” (Confession, p. 4, Book of Common Prayer).
 
I know that an important part of repentance is sincere lament, and that an important part of lament is our intention to “lead the new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in God’s holy ways…” (Invitation to Confession, p. 76, The Book of Common Prayer).
 
With humility, I ask our Church to turn to the Creator seeking guidance and steadfastness of will in our efforts to help heal the spiritual wounds we inflicted. Let us commit ourselves to learning how traditional Indigenous practices contribute to healing and to honour them…
 
…I offer this apology in the name of Jesus Christ, the great Pain Bearer and Peace Maker. I have hope that through Him, we will be able to walk together in newness of life.[1]
 
Far more must be said, and done… but I deeply appreciate Archbishop Hiltz’ call for us to repent of our prejudice, and arrogance, and jealousy, and to seek new ways to walk humbly alongside our Indigenous neighbours… our brothers and sisters… towards the peace of God.
 
But to do so, we must learn to let go… to trust that the Living God is not bound by our expectations and practices… to recognize that God’s Spirit is at work in the world in ways we can hardly imagine… to hold firmly onto the Good News of Jesus Christ, while holding onto our own traditions and practices a bit more lightly… remembering that the God we serve is the Creator all that is, and not just our little circle.
 
Turning back to our Gospel reading, what is our Lord’s response to John, His jealous disciple? Essentially: ‘Don’t stop those other people from serving in My name. Trust Me to handle them, and to be at work in and through them.’
 
Of course, we know there are those who are actively acting against the Gospel… those who are fiercely opposed to God’s ways in the world. But there are also many who are serving Him faithfully, but perhaps in ways that make us uncomfortable. The question for us today is: Can we trust God to know what to do with us all?
 
I mean, it’s not like we’re all the perfect models of faithfulness ourselves. We’ve got many things wrong. And yet, God has not given up on us, but longs to work through us to share the Good News with our world.
 
Jesus reminds us that those who are not “one of us” might still be an important part of God’s family, and faithfully serving God’s good Kingdom work in the world. And so, we dare not cause them to stumble by shutting them down, but instead, we can always pray for them, and seek to share God’s holy love with them as best we can.
 
Jesus reminds us to take drastic steps not to give ourselves over to sin… including the sins of prejudice, divisiveness, arrogance, and pride. Pluck out our own eye, He tells us. Cut off our own hand or foot… do whatever we must to make sure that we ourselves are living in line with the living God. And trust God to take care of everyone else.
​
After all, we belong together in God’s Kingdom. We are not simply solo disciples, or even small self-contained communities. We are part of the one worldwide Church, the body of Christ, brothers and sisters bound together through Jesus: His life, and all that He has done for us all.
 
And so, as St. James reminds us, we are to pray for one another. We are to confess our sins, and seek forgiveness and healing together in Jesus’ name. And yes, in humility and love, we are to seek to keep each other on the right path. But the point is never simply to insist on “our own way”, but to help each other learn again and again how to stay true to God’s way… which has been made known to us most clearly in the self-giving love of Jesus Christ at the cross… who allowed His own life to be cut off, to bring forgiveness and newness of life to a world full of sinners like us.
 
So may the Holy Spirit of God guard our hearts and minds from all prejudice and pride. May He bind us in faith to Jesus Christ, the Risen Saviour of the world. And may our lives make known the Father’s reconciling love in all we do. Amen.


[1] Archbishop Fred Hiltz, An Apology for Spiritual Harm. Address to General Synod, July 12, 2019. https://www.anglican.ca/news/an-apology-for-spiritual-harm/30024511/

This week our communities and country will commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Here is a message to help us prepare for this solemn day from our National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper. 

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

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 11:18–20 | Psalm 54 | James 3:13–4:3, 4:7–8 | Mark 9:30–37

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35).
 
These words are such a contrast to how our world operates. All around us, people are competing to be noticed… to be seen as important. Searching for honour and status by building themselves up… amassing wealth… or influence… or power.
 
Just this past week here in New Brunswick election signs have started to sprout up everywhere. And in Ottawa, our Members of Parliament argue about who has the best plan for our country, while eagerly tearing each other down. Meanwhile, our neighbours to the South are in the midst of a seemingly unending fight for the Whitehouse… and this spirit of competition and mistrust seems to be permeating every level of society.
 
Everyone wants to be on the winning side. Everyone wants to advance… to be elevated. Everyone wants a taste of greatness… and a share of the glory.
 
And into this mess, Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
 
The Good News of Jesus has much to offer our world today… a world obsessed with greatness… and it has much to says to His Church as well… to His people… who can be just as caught up and confused about what true greatness is as everyone else.
 
Sometimes this confusion shows up when we just go along with the impulse to build ourselves up… to strive to make ourselves and our communities seem impressive, influential, and important to those around us. But sometimes it shows up when we start to doubt our value… when we give into discouragement because our dreams for the future didn’t come true, and we feel sidelined and insignificant.
 
I mean, after all, in a world so fixated on success and greatness, what kind of difference could we make anyway? What good could our little church, in our little neighbourhood, and our little lives really do, right?
 
Our reading today from the Gospel of Mark reminds us that God offers the world a very different way to understand greatness… and call us to keep on striving for what matters most.
 
Our passage begins with Jesus trying for a second time to teach His disciples the true nature of His mission: that He had not come to conquer the Roman armies, or establish an earthly centre of power… but to suffer… to be rejected, and betrayed, and brutally executed… but rise again on the third day. This was how God’s great and glorious Kingdom would finally come about.
 
But, as it turns out, the disciples were still not getting it… confused, and afraid to ask Jesus to explain what He meant, they were still caught up in pursuing their own visions of God’s Kingdom… visions that included their own glory and honour… their own sense of greatness.
 
We can see the same self-centeredness being addressed in our second reading today, from the book of James… highlighting the source of all sorts of conflicts at work in every human community.

James 4:1-3, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.”
 
St. James is calling out Christians who were still just serving their own desires… whose lives were simply reflecting the deeply selfish values of the world and its visions of glory and greatness.
 
And he contrasts this with a vision of true greatness… and Godly glory… God’s light and wisdom at work in our daily lives, which looks very different.
 
James 3:16-18, “For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.”

One of these ways reflects our natural, self-seeking habits. The other reflects the Spirit-led life of God at work in and through people transformed by His love. People who have put our faith not in our own status or understanding, or abilities, but in the rescuing grace of God offered to us all in Jesus Christ.
 
It can be so easy, even for us Christians, to get caught up in a self-centered sense of greatness… to just build our lives around achieving our own goals, and serving our own desires… or when we despair and give up when we seem to not be as successful as those around us.
 
In the face of this temptation, which can show up in both big and subtle ways everyday, we must ask ourselves: Will we choose to keep seeking our own desires, our own glory, or God’s good Kingdom? Will we trust in our own sense of greatness, or entrust ourselves to the greatness of our Lord?
 
St. James’ spells out how to make this choice. James 4:7-8,
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:7-8).
 
As long as we’re serving ourselves… as long as our lives revolve around getting what we want… achieving our goals… building up our own sense of greatness, we’re missing out. But if we turn to the Lord, and turn over our hearts and minds and lives to Him… resisting the temptations of the evil one, and instead drawing near to the Living God in faith… then we can begin to experience something wonderful… and liberating… and new.
 
We can discover that we are here to share in something that is so much bigger than ourselves. We are invited to belong to an eternal fellowship… a family of sisters and brothers, where we don’t have to compete, or fight for attention or status… but where we all are welcome, and wanted… and where we all have been given a role to play together in God’s good Kingdom.  
 
Jesus shows us that true greatness is not found in building ourselves up… but through giving ourselves away in love.
 
Back in Mark Chapter 9, Jesus calls His bickering disciples to explain what they were arguing about on the way to Capernaum.
 
Mark 9:34-37, “But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’”
 
Whoever welcomes a child in Jesus’ name, welcomes Jesus as well as His heavenly Father. What does welcoming a child have to do with the disciples’ argument on the road about greatness?
 
Notice that Jesus is not telling them to become like a little child here. He does that elsewhere. No, He’s making the point that even a little child… a member of society with zero status or influence or power, can act as an effective messenger of the Gospel, and servant of the Kingdom of God.

The Anglican Bishop and scholar, N.T. Wright puts it well, saying of the disciples that, “They were each hoping, it seems, to become Jesus’ official spokesman. Jesus would be king; the question was, who would be Chief of Staff, head of the royal household? Who would speak for Jesus? Who would be his ambassador, welcomed with the honour due to Jesus himself? Answer: anyone at all, and the humbler the better. An insignificant, unnamed child can become Jesus’ official representative, so that receiving him or her means receiving Jesus. Furthermore… by receiving Jesus, not least in the person of an insignificant child, people will receive ‘the one who sent him’”.[1]
 
In other words, there’s no point in fighting over positions of honour and status in God’s Kingdom… God doesn’t operate the way our world does… rewarding those who fight their way to the top, while leaving everyone else in the dust. It’s not a matter of ambition or ability that makes an effective disciple of Jesus… even the lowliest, least capable people can be used by God to share His love with those around them… faithfully offering to others what they have received.  

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
 
While the disciples were busy bickering over who was going to be the greatest, Jesus made clear that the message itself is far more important than the status of the messenger! The Gospel is not a tool to use to build ourselves up, it is the Good News of God’s great love for our messed-up world… and what He has done to rescue and raise it up again. And God loves to work through even the most humble people to share this Good News with everyone.
 
The Living God, the Creator of all that exists isn’t limited by our limitations. Nor is He impressed by our world’s ideas of greatness. Time and again, He uses humble messengers… everyday people to serve His glorious purposes. Instead of playing favorites, God wants to work through us all.
 
So we don’t need to worry about being seen as great by others to be of great use in God’s Kingdom. If we want to be great in God’s eyes… to reflect the values of His Kingdom… and share in His own glory and honour… it means laying aside our selfish ambitions, and learning to serve others like He does: in self-giving love.
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We know that Jesus our Saviour King did not seek His own glory, but rather, He humbled Himself… submitting to the will of His Father in Heaven… and giving His life at the cross to atone for the sins of the whole world. 
 
Our Lord was beaten, ridiculed, and publicly put to death. But what seemed to be the worst failure and defeat, was turned into God’s glorious victory over sin and the power of death when Jesus Christ rose again from the grave.
 
And the same Spirit that was at work in Him can empower you and I today to take part in the work of His Kingdom… putting His holy love into practice, and helping those around us hear and see the Good News at work in our own lives, so that they can share in it too.
 
So let’s not get distracted by worrying about trying to make ourselves look great in the world’s eyes… or even in our own eyes. And let’s not give into self-conscious concerns about not being important or powerful enough to be able to make a difference for God in the world.

Instead, let’s heed the words of St. James, and keep on drawing near in faith to Jesus, our great Saviour King, so that all we say and do starts to reflect His glorious life and light, and rescuing love… trusting Him to take care of the rest. Amen.


[1] N. T. Wright, Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible Readings, Year B (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2002), 107.

And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50:4–9 | Psalm 116:1–9 | James 3:1–12 | Mark 8:27–38

​“…How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire…” (James 3:5-6).
 
Words are powerful.
 
Like fire, words can be a source of great hope, and comfort, and strength, and light… but they can also wreak havoc… causing all sorts of chaos and destruction.
 
Words can be used to create… to bring about beauty and order, and understanding… opening up new possibilities to explore, and expanding our imaginations. And words can be used as weapons… tools to tear down others… to dehumanize our neighbours… and spread deception instead of drawing us towards the truth.  
 
Words shape how we see our world… and how we see ourselves as well… wielding great influence over what we believe, and over what we do.
 
How many of us can remember a time when someone important to us lifted us up with their words? Offering just the right words of encouragement, wisdom, or even correction when it was needed the most? Or what about those poems or songs that pierce our hearts, and open our eyes to a whole new perspective?
 
On the other hand, how many of us can recall those times when someone’s words knocked us back? When instead of helping us find our way, we felt attacked, humiliated, or lost?  And looking around our world today, at all the viciousness, all the fear and hatred being thrown about… and all the division and destruction that these words fuel… we can see why St. James warns that the human tongue… our words are a dangerous force:
 
“How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!” he says, “And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:5-6).
 
‘Talk is cheap’, some say. ‘Actions speak louder than words’… maybe. But there is no denying the fact that words can be incredibly powerful. And so, what we say really does matter… especially when what we’re talking about really matters.

In our reading today from the Gospel of St. Mark, we heard about a pretty tense moment between our Lord Jesus Christ, and St. Peter, one of His closest followers. In a way, this exchange is sort of a war of words… a conflict over the meaning of who Jesus is, and what He had come to accomplish.
 
It started when Jesus asked His disciples what might seem like a pretty simple question: “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). I mean, the obvious answer would be: Jesus of Nazareth, right?
 
So what is He getting at? What does this question mean?
Well, it’s essentially a question of purpose… of reflecting on how the crowds understood His significance.
 
Jesus had been travelling all around Judaea and Galilee, healing and teaching, performing wonderous signs, and exorcising demons… and people had noticed. They had formed their own ideas about Jesus, and what He was up to… ideas that may or may not be true. And so Jesus asks His students to tell Him what they have heard the people saying about Him. “Who do people say that I am?”

And for what it’s worth, the crowds seem to have a fairly positive impression of Jesus… identifying Him with people like John the Baptist, or the prophets of old… imagining Jesus as one of the many messengers sent from God over the centuries. Important, and powerful, but not necessarily unique or different from those who had come before Him.
 
Then Jesus turns to His disciples… those who had followed Him closely, and shared in His ministry… and He asks them: “‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’” (Mark 8:29). The Christ. God’s anointed One.
 
Not simply one messenger among many… but the One promised long ago who would bring freedom and salvation to God’s people. The One who would fulfill the promises of Yahweh to Israel, and finally bring about God’s good Kingdom. This is who Peter says Jesus is.
 
And we might expect Jesus to respond: ‘Well done Peter! You figured it out, now go and tell everyone else…’
But instead St. Mark tells us that Jesus “sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.” (Mark 8:30).
 
Why would He do this? I mean, isn’t the whole point of St. Mark’s Gospel story that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, God’s Son? Why on earth would Jesus sternly order His disciples to keep the truth about Him quiet?
 
I don’t presume to know the whole mind of our Lord, but I think one reason He did this is that the word “Messiah”, while true, and powerful, was also powerfully misunderstood. People knew the word “Messiah”… but they did not necessarily know the depths of what it meant… they had all sorts of ideas and expectations wrapped up with this word… ideas and expectations that as it turns out, were not based in reality.
 
Many imagined the Messiah would come at the head of a might army, ushering in God’s justice and judgment on the Gentile nations oppressing His covenant people. And with this popular vision in mind, some took up arms themselves, and used violence to try and prepare the way for the Messiah… serving him by slaying their enemies.

Others imagined the best way to prepare for the Messiah was to cut themselves off from the world… to avoid all of those unholy people around them, and strive to keep themselves pure. And yet others sought to reform their fellow Israelites, teaching them to strictly observe the Laws of the Covenant… as well as the traditions of the elders… so that they would be rewarded for their obedience, and remain securely on God’s side in the Messiah’s Kingdom.
 
Jesus knew that these ideas and expectations… these words that were shared among the people were powerful. Many had built their lives and the lives of their loved ones around these visions of what the Messiah was going to do. The word, if it got out, could spread like wildfire… but because so many people were confused about what God’s Messiah was really about… what He was really going to do… if the word got out too soon that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, there could be all kinds of unnecessary confusion and chaos… and instead of bringing the hope and comfort, and strength and light of God’s Kingdom, so many people would miss the whole point… the meaning behind His mission.

And so, it’s at this moment that Jesus does something new and unexpected… turning a corner no one saw coming: “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.” (Mark 8:31-32).
 
Jesus confronts head on all of the ideas and expectations the people and His own followers had about the Messiah… about what God’s Chosen One had come to accomplish. He tips His hand and reveals to them that His path lead to betrayal, suffering and death. And only then would He be raised and glorified. Jesus knew this would be the culmination of the whole story of God’s salvation in the Holy Scriptures, and turning point in the entire story of humanity. He knew that to save the world, God’s beloved Son would have to lay down His own life to rescue His enemies… to offer them God’s forgiveness, freedom, and new life once and for all.
 
But there was one problem: Peter could not handle it. There was no place in his imagination for a humiliated and suffering Messiah. God’s Chosen One was supposed to reign in glory, and overthrow His enemies… not willingly experience a shameful and agonizing defeat.
 
And so, Peter does the most logical thing: he tries to change his Master’s mind. He takes Jesus aside, and quietly rebukes Him… trying to guide Him… to encourage Him… to help Him see that there must be another way forward.
 
Peter tries to tell Jesus what it means to be God’s Messiah… and as we heard, it doesn’t go well.
 
 Jesus responds to the words of Peter with a rebuke of His own: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” (Mark 8:33). Jesus connects Peter, one of His closest followers, with the forces of darkness… with the deceptive enemy, who’s eager to offer enticing temptations to turn our backs on God and His ways.
 
These are harsh words, to be sure. But they are words not intended to simply tear Peter down, or fill him with shame… but to shed much needed light! To powerfully drive home the danger of what was really going on here.
Even though Peter may have thought he was helping Jesus, in reality Peter was trying to convince Christ to abandon His mission… to set aside His Father’s will, and save Himself instead… a temptation that could have been disastrous for the whole world, had Jesus given in to it. Despite Peter’s conscious or unconscious intentions, Jesus can see the evil one at work in the words of even his dear friend… a fire set alight by hell… and so our Lord publicly and powerfully rejects Peter’s vision of the self-seeking Messiah.
 
How often do we Christians today follow in St. Peter’s footsteps? Offering words that seem wise, but actually lead away from the Good News that we have been entrusted to share? How often do we see Christ’s name co-opted by those who wreak havoc in our world? Spreading hate, prejudice, greed, and all sorts of other destructive forces?
 
How often do we hear people who claim to be disciples of Jesus tearing down those around them, and using their words to seek influence, and to keep themselves feeling safe and secure?
 
Jesus had harsh words for St. Peter that day long ago. And sometimes I wonder what harsh words our Lord Jesus might have for us, His people today.
 
But the Good News is, that even when His words are harsh, they are always words that flow from His gracious love… words of rebuke, not to crush or condemn, but to turn us back to the right path, and to the light. Unlike the evil one, Jesus is not our accuser… but our advocate… the One who truly has our back! Offering us another way… opening up our imaginations to God’s way, and inviting us all to share in it.
 
And so, after He says a firm ‘no!’ to Peter’s idea of the Messiah, Jesus shows us how we can all say ‘yes!’ to Him, and share in what He is up to:
 
“He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38).
 
The Messiah came to give His life as a gift of love… to reconcile our broken world to God. He came to bring God’s life, and hope, and grace, and love to those who are lost. To set the prisoners free. To welcome the outcasts. To lift up the broken hearted. To forgive sinners.
 
But in order to accomplish all this, He had to deny Himself… deny His impulse to save Himself, and take up HIs cross… and lose His life… trusting the Father to raise Him up again. Jesus lived out these words… faithfully holding true to His Father’s love, and dying to save the world He spoke into existence from the destruction we keep on bringing on ourselves.
 
And then He rose again, overthrowing death itself, and blowing apart all of our ideas and expectations of what is possible… and inviting us to face our own suffering with an unshakable hope… the hope that even if we lose everything… the same saving love that raised Jesus from the dead will raise us up too. 
 
The word of the Gospel… the Good News of Jesus, the Risen Lord is powerful. It changes lives when we believe in Jesus, and what He has done for us all at the cross.
 
Which is why it is always important for us to remain attentive to this word and to what it means! To do all we can to understand the significance of our Messiah and His mission of saving love.
 
Peter knew Jesus better than the crowds did… he was right about His identity, but not about His purpose and goal. And we know that many Christians know things about Jesus… but seem to miss the big picture… why He came, and what He is calling us to do too.
 
But thankfully in time, Peter’s own life would be transformed by the Good News… he would come to know the fullness of God’s forgiveness and redemption through the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.
​
And we can too! It doesn’t matter if we’ve been following Jesus for a whole lifetime, or are just at the start of our journey with Him, we can all learn more about Him. We can all draw near with faith, and humility, and curiosity, to listen to His word… striving to better understand what He has done, and what He is still doing in our world.
 
We can do this in many ways, including intentional study… both alone and alongside others… learning together… teaching each other… guiding and correcting and encouraging one another as God’s Holy Spirit brings Christ’s words to life in our midst.
 
Words are powerful. And we know that our world needs to hear the words of hope and light and life that the Good News of Jesus gives. And so, may we draw near to Jesus, God’s word made flesh, and spend our lives listening to Him, so that we all can share the hope, and comfort, and strength, and light that He is with the world. Amen.

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

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

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 35:4–7 | Psalm 146 | James 2:1–17 | Mark 7:24–37

“Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5).
 
Have you ever been chosen last for something?
If you have, you’re certainly not alone.
 
As a somewhat timid and uncoordinated child, I can remember many a recess starting off by being among the very last to be chosen for a team. And then there were all those middle-school dances, when it seemed like everyone else was asked to dance, and I would be among those who were passed over… trying to hide the painful feelings that come with all rejection.
 
Thankfully, in the context of my whole story so far, these memories are actually pretty mild. They weren’t pleasant in the moment… but in the grand scheme of things, these were just normal instances of disappointment… something that everyone must face from time to time… and wholly unlike the ongoing damage and destruction caused by true partiality and outright favoritism.

Partiality… favoring one person or group over another, is an incredibly common practice… but it’s one which is also at the root of so many problems our society struggles with today, such as racism, sexism, the marginalization of the poor, the elderly, and those unable to advocate for themselves. So much oppression and suffering has been caused by human beings choosing to turn their backs on their neighbours. In many ways, partiality is the complete opposite of the kind of love God longs for us to share in.
 
This is why, as we heard in our second Scripture reading this morning, St. James speaks against it so forcefully, seeing it as a real threat to the integrity and vitality of the Christian Church, and as an assault on the Good News of Jesus Christ itself.
 
James 2:1, “My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?” He goes on to describe how the rich and the poor among them are being treated so differently… as if those with worldly goods were somehow more worthy of honour and acceptance in the eyes of God.
 
St. James goes on to remind his listeners that Christ has shown us another way of life… one that doesn’t simply follow the world’s patterns, but that is shaped by God’s gracious love.
 
James 2:8-9, “You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”
 
According to St. James, partiality is opposed to the love of God that we have come to know in Christ Jesus… the love that calls us to extend God’s compassion, comfort, and care to everyone.
 
But how does this all fit with those parts of the Scriptures that seem to suggest that God Himself plays favorites? If partiality is opposed to God’s love, than how are we to understand the role of Israel as “God’s Chosen people”? Or even more puzzling, how Jesus our Lord responds to the pleas of the Syrophoenician mother in our Gospel reading this morning? Is God actually showing partiality? Or is something else going on?

 Before we dig into this important question, I just want to make an important point: When we as Christians ask these kinds of questions, the posture of our hearts really matters! We can ask them in faith… seeking to grow in our understanding… humbly acknowledging the limits of our own insights, but still desiring to learn more about our Lord, and how to walk in His ways. Or we can ask them assuming that we can somehow pass judgment on our Creator… trusting that we are the ones who can rightly assess what is best, and that God must measure up to our standards.
 
One of these ways leads to wisdom. The other way leads to pride and foolishness. The Living God is not answerable to us. Nor does He ever need to defend Himself before mere mortals like you and I. And yet, in the Scriptures He shows us, again and again, that He wants us to know more about Him… to wrestle with deep questions about His character, and come out the other side with confidence in His goodness, His justice, His compassion, and His great love for our world.
 
And so, even though our Scripture readings today leave us with some challenging questions, they are there for our own good… inviting us to draw near to God in faith, to search Him closely for a deeper understanding of our Lord, and to learn how we His people today can faithfully walk in His ways.
 
Our Gospel reading today is from nearly halfway through the Gospel of St. Mark: the story of Jesus, the Christ… Israel’s Messiah, the Chosen anointed One… the Son of God. And throughout the first half of St. Mark’s Gospel, we can see Jesus engaged in a clear struggle… a campaign against the forces of darkness, the spiritual evil at work in our world, that has brought pain and oppression to so many, for so long.
 
He heals the sick. He casts out demons. He gathers disciples to share the Good News of God’s Kingdom at work in Him. He travels from town to town, changing lives as He goes… never settling down for too long. He forgives sins. He teaches in parables. He confronts religious hypocrites. To the amazement of His disciples, Jesus performs miracles that reveal God’s power at work in Him, like calming the waves of the storm, feeding thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread… and even raising the dead.
 
All of these acts were a part of His ministry… His mission… being sent from His Father to His people Israel… to the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, whom God had chosen long ago to be a people set apart to share in His holy life up close and personal… blessed in order to be a blessing… so that all the families of the world might be blessed through them.  
 
In short, Jesus was not simply wandering about the ancient world doing random acts of kindness. Jesus was at work bringing God’s Kingdom into the world, as Israel’s prophets like Isaiah had promised long ago.
 
Listen again to the words of Isaiah Chapter 35 which we heard read this morning. It is promises like these that Jesus was pouring all of His efforts into fulfilling. Isaiah 35:4-6,
 
“Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’
 
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;”
 
Despite the very sketchy devotion of Abraham and Sarah’s descendants spoken of all throughout the Scriptures, Yahweh, the Living God, would not go back on His promises to them. He would not forsake His people, even when they kept rejecting Him. And so, God sent His Son to save His covenant people, and turn their hearts back to Him.
 
But here in Mark Chapter 7, Jesus is approached by someone outside of Abraham and Sarah’s family… a Syrophoenician woman… a Gentile mother, desperately seeking aid for her daughter.
“Gentile” is one of those words we might hear in Church, understand it’s basic meaning, and forget it’s deeper significance for the bigger story that’s being told. In a basic sense, it means someone who was not Jewish. A member of “the nations”, in a vague, general sense. A Gentile was simply not ‘one of us’… they were ‘one of those other people, out there somewhere… doing who knows what.’ For most Israelites in Jesus’ day, Gentiles were the people out there in the darkness… while God’s people on the other hand, were the ones living in the light.
 
It's all a pretty common way that we humans keep organizing the world, even today: ‘Us vs. Them’.
 
Who are we tempted to see as ‘those other people’ today?
The people we’d rather not have around? The people we dismiss as backward, or ignorant, or downright evil?
 
Who are we willing to pass over, and who do we easily show partiality to, without even thinking about it? Uncomfortable questions we need to ask ourselves from time to time, and which this passage calls us to ponder.
 
Back in Mark Chapter 7, this desperate mother comes to Jesus and pleads with Him to do what? To do for her daughter what Jesus had already been doing for so many others: to set her free from the forces of spiritual darkness that were oppressing her. To cast out the demonic powers opposed to God’s Kingdom, that were making her life into hell.
 
Would Jesus help her? Or would He turn her away? If He came to bring God’s Kingdom into the world, was it only for a chosen few to enjoy, or for all? Was the saving love of God only for Israel, or was there room for ‘those other people’ as well? These are the questions that this passage calls us to ask, and wrestle with too.
 
Not just in these pages from the distant past, but in our own context. In our lives. With our own prejudices and partiality on the line. Imagine ‘them’ in this woman’s place. How would we want Jesus to respond to ‘their’ desperate pleas for His help?
 
However we may have wanted Him to respond, this is what Jesus actually says:
“Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (Mark 7:27).
 
Notice… He doesn’t say no.
What He says is challenging… but He doesn’t say no!
 
He says “Let the children be fed first…”
He has a responsibility… a mission to fulfill. He has come to bring the Kingdom of God to light in the midst of Israel, and His focus needs to remain on accomplishing this work. But He doesn’t say no.
 
He says “it is not fair to take the children’s food”… it’s not right to divert His energies and efforts that are intended to nourish the faith of those who are set aside as God’s own people… “and throw it to the dogs”, that is, to take something precious and treat it like garbage… left to be swallowed up by those who will eat anything… those who can’t see the true significance of what is being offered.
 
And yet… Jesus doesn’t say no to her. He doesn’t refuse to help. He makes plain the barriers already between them… but He doesn’t say no.

And she doesn’t give up. This desperate Gentile mother persists. She says in reply, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” (Mark 7:28). Sure, the dogs might not fully appreciate or understand the meal being offered… but neither do the children… and is it not right for the dogs to be nourished by what the children themselves treat carelessly?
 
This woman was not attempting to overthrow Jesus’ priorities, or get in the way of His mission… but she believed Him to be the best hope for her suffering daughter. She believed that Jesus had the power to rescue her child… and she believed in His willingness to do so… to offer compassion and mercy in her hour of need.
 
And she was right to believe all this, because when Jesus sees her faith, He sets her daughter free from the spirits that troubled her.
 
Why does St. Mark include this story in his Gospel account? What does he want us to see in this encounter between Israel’s Messiah and this desperate Gentile mother?

I won’t pretend to know everything it has to teach us, but I think part of its message for us today is that God doesn’t play favorites, but in His compassion and mercy He makes room for all who will draw near in faith… even those we tend to overlook or dismiss as insignificant.
 
This passage takes place at a crucial moment in the bigger story that St. Mark is trying to tell: the story of how Jesus, the Christ, Israel’s Messiah, the Chosen One… the Son of God was being sent to offer His life to His own chosen people… but most of them would end up throwing this precious gift away… rejecting Him like crumbs swept off from the table.
 
In short order, St. Mark will make plain that Jesus knew exactly where His mission would lead Him. Mark 8:31, “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
 
He knew that in order to fulfill the work the Father had sent Him to do… in order to save Israel, and bring about God’s Good Kingdom in their midst, He would have to die… to be betrayed by His own, and crucified as an outcast. Rejected completely. His body broken, and blood poured out at the cross. Jesus knew exactly how painful in mind and body and spirit all of this rejection would be… but He didn’t say no.
 
He didn’t say no, because He also knew that this is exactly how God would share His saving love, not just Israel, but with the world!
 
From the start, Jesus’ mission was much wider in scope than even His closest followers imagined. Though His focus was on reaching God’s chosen people, it was not out of favouritism, or partiality, but as the way God’s salvation could break through every barrier that we humans keep setting up between ourselves… working through one family in order to bless every family… every people and nation. 
 
God’s Son gave His life to the world through the rejection He faced from His own chosen people at the cross, so that God’s compassion, mercy, and saving love might be shown to all… Jew and Gentile… without distinction.

Jesus’ encounter with the Gentile mother in Mark Chapter 7 is then an early glimpse of what He was doing all along: first going to ‘the children’ of Israel, so that God’s saving love could be shared with all the nations. But by her persistent faith, this mother gave Jesus a chance to reveal His compassion and saving love ahead of time. Unlike His own people who would miss all the clues, she could see what He was really about: bringing God’s saving power and light into our darkened world. And in telling her story twenty centuries later, we are reminded that the Living God Christ reveals to us does not play favorites, but reveals His saving love to all who trust in Him.
 
But even more than that, this story calls for a response… challenging us all to reexamine our own assumptions about the limits of God’s compassion and care, and how we are to take part in sharing it. Who are we more likely to show partiality to, and who do we tend to ignore? How might God’s compassion and love set us free from these traps, so that we can truly love our neighbours?
 
Or maybe we needed to be reminded that even when we feel like an outsider… rejected or insignificant, Jesus invites us to draw near to Him in faith, and trust in His mercy and love for us as well. Maybe we need to be reminded not to give up on His mercy and rescuing love.
 
However the Spirit of God may be at work in our hearts this morning, may we all find fresh comfort and hope in the Good News that Jesus Christ God’s Son came to save not just some… but to give His life to save everyone and anyone who will trust in His love. Amen.

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

Scripture Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-9 | Psalm 15 | James 1:17–27 | Mark 7:1-23

​“But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” (James 1:22).
 
There’s a saying that seems to reflect a certain spirit of the age these days: that ‘rules are made to be broken.’ The basic idea behind this saying is that any kind of command, restriction, or limitation we face must simply be an oppressive obstacle to our ‘freedom’, which we should feel free to overcome, or just ignore.
 
Of course, rules really are restrictive by nature. They are meant to narrow down the possibilities of our actions,
but in doing so they can also bring to life many other possibilities that cannot exist apart from these necessary limits.
 
For all those bakers and cooks among us, think of how recipes… rules about ingredients and measurements… can help us construct even very complex meals… but only if we actually try to follow the directions.
 
For those of us who follow sports, what good would a game or a competition be if the athletes involved just ignored the rules of how to play and did their own thing?
 
Imagine living without rules… no traffic laws. No expectations for how to treat our neighbours. No safeguards to protect those of us who are most vulnerable? No one to say no to those with no concerns at all about the damage they will cause by chasing after their desires.  
 
Of course, sadly this is not totally hypothetical. There have been times and places throughout history when all the rules have been set aside… scenes of war and chaos… and it isn’t pretty! Rules are restrictive, yes. But the limits they offer us can be a real gift to us… helping us experience truly life-giving possibilities… that is, if the rules themselves are leading us into life.
 
Not all rules do that, of course. Some rules are actually intended to keep people trapped… or to oppress us, instead of leading us to the peace and freedom they claim to offer.
 
The truth is, it can be hard to know which rules are good for us in the long run, and which rules should really be left behind. So many of our ongoing and divisive political disputes today boil down to disagreements about which rules our communities should follow… which goals we should all be striving for… which ways of life are worth protecting and preserving, and which should be resisted instead.
 
We know sorting through all this isn’t always easy. But as Christians, we are not just starting from scratch either. We have already been entrusted with a way of life… a vision for the kind of life the Living God intends for His creatures. Yet we too can resist the restrictiveness of the rules God has given to us… seeing them as a burden and a barrier to a fulfilled life, instead of as pointing us down the path that leads to God’s blessings, for us and our world, that we could not experience alone.
 
Thankfully, our Scripture passages today call us to reflect, not simply on a list of rules we can either accept or reject according to our own wisdom, but rather they call us to reflect on the overall role that God’s commands play in our lives as His people… reminding us of what it means to respond to them faithfully… and the fruit that this obedience will bear in our own lives, and in the world around us.
 
In our first reading today from Deuteronomy Chapter 4, we hear the words of Moses, addressing God’s people, and reflecting on the covenant the LORD had made with them at Mt. Sinai… the clear parameters… the rules of this sacred relationship forged between Yahweh and Abraham’s family.
 
Moses reminds them that they are to live by God’s rules in the land they are about to receive. Deuteronomy 4:1, “So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.” These commandments were meant to guide and shape their shared life in the land… helping them walk in God’s good ways, and experience the blessings that they lead to. But there was another reason beyond their own benefit: by obeying God’s commands, they would be showing the rest of the world the blessing that they too can experience, if they draw near to the Living God in faith, and follow His ways.

Deuteronomy 4:5-6, “See, just as the Lord my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’”
 
In other words, if Israel would walk faithfully in God’s ways, they would become a sign to their neighbours, revealing God’s wisdom, goodness, power, and steadfast love that all are invited to share in. But if they refused to do so, the nations around them would miss out on this sign.
 
Following God’s commands, His way of life, is an integral part of sharing His saving love with the world. Faithfulness to Him draws us into His mission, and though it can be challenging, it leads us and others around us into life. Faithlessness, on the other hand… leads us all in a very different direction.
 
The rest of Israel’s story in the Scriptures gives us a clear warning here. Despite the words of the prophets continuously warning them to turn around and return to the ways of the LORD, God’s people kept pushing back against the commands Yahweh had given to them. And as a result, they end up losing their land, and are carried away into Exile.
 
And yet even so, God’s grace did not abandon them. In His great mercy, the Living God allows His people to learn first-hand where their lawlessness ultimately leads to, but eventually He led them back to the land… opening up the wonderful possibility that their descendants would remember His covenant with their ancestors, and walk again in His ways.
 
And so, although their story offers us a warning, it also offers us a vivid reminder that the One who gives us these commands is not a cruel uncaring dictator, arbitrarily making up rules for no reason! No, He is the Giver of Good Gifts… the Lord of Love, who longs for us to share in His blessed life… the One who can bring forth all sorts of unforeseen and beautiful possibilities in our lives, if we will trust in Him, and faithfully walk in His ways.
 
This leads us right to our second reading today from the letter of St. James, and his words reminding us that we can confidently place our trust in the steadfast grace of God.
 
James 1:17-18, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures”
 
The gift of God’s blessed life is not fickle or fleeting, uncertain like flickering lights or dancing shadows. God’s grace is completely consistent, trustworthy throughout the ages, carrying always a common purpose: to shape and transform those of us who trust in Him, so that we might become the first fruits… the starting point of His great work to transform the rest of His beloved creation… to bring His blessed, rescuing life and love, not just to a few, but to all who will receive it.
 
And so God’s commandments, God’s ways are a great gift to us, but one that we must also put into practice.
After all, it may be important to know the rules, but that won’t help us if we don’t actually follow them.
 
James 1:22-25, “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.”
 
God gives us the word, the Good News and the way of life that flows from it… a way of life intended to bless us, and to help us share this blessed life with all those around us. But we need to actually do what it tells us. It needs to take root in and influence our day to day decisions. Only then will it start to transform us into those who reflect the goodness and love of the Lord.  
 
This leads us at last to our reading from the Gospel of Mark, where we heard Christ’s confrontation with some of the experts on God’s laws: some Pharisees and Scribes, who were both deeply devoted to obeying the commandments of the covenant God gave to Israel… carefully and publicly putting them into practice… and watching to make sure everyone else did the same.
 
In fact, many of the Pharisees were so concerned about breaking God’s laws, that they created all sorts of other rules around the covenant to make sure they never got close to breaking them. These extra rules were often passed down, and followed just as strictly as God’s own laws, seeing this as as a mark of true faithfulness, even though they were not found in the covenant God had made with Israel… which led to the confrontation we read about this morning.
 
These law experts criticized Jesus and His disciples because they were not following the traditions of the elders; eating food without first washing their hands.
 
Jesus hits back with a withering critique, highlighting the hypocrisy that He sees at work in those who claim to be defending God’s ways, while twisting His commandments to suit their own purposes.
 
Mark 7:6-9, Jesus “said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’ Then he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!
 
Jesus then offers examples of how these experts on God’s laws would use pious sounding loopholes to avoid actually putting God’s commands into practice… showing that even if they thought they were committed to the covenant… to the rules God had given them, in truth their hearts did not belong to the Lord at all, but to themselves.
 
Jesus is here pointing out the hypocrisy of religious people using religion to serve their own purposes, instead of serving the Living God, and letting Him lead them into life.
 
This problem remains a temptation for many of us today. One example that quickly comes to my mind are all the politicians that make use of other people’s faith, and their religious commitments to build up their own following… arguing that, unless you sign up to their agenda, and support and vote for them, you can’t really be a faithful Christian.
 
But there are lots of ways that this temptation can be at work in our own lives too. Like when we follow the commandments we like… the ones that don’t challenge us to change our ways… and then ignore those that don’t suit us, as if they were dishes in a buffet to choose from, instead of essential ingredients in a recipe.
 
And as Jesus just showed us, we can even run into trouble when trying to follow them all… if we do so for the wrong reasons… if we are obeying the rules so we can compare ourselves to others, and try to prove how good we are. That’s like being so focused on the rules of a sport that we completely forget what the game is all about!
 
So if it’s so messy… if it’s so hard to figure out how to truly obey God’s ways, and faithfully follow His commandments, what are we supposed to do?
​
Well, as Christians our hope has never been about how we can sort through life’s challenges on our own, or how we can be sure to perfectly obey God’s laws in our own strength. We need something more than rules to follow… we need Someone to rescue us.
 
Jesus goes on to teach His followers that the uncleanness we should care most about comes not from the outside, but from within… and so, while rules about washing hands can perhaps point us in the right direction about the need to be clean, they can do nothing at all about the uncleanness already at work inside of us.
 
The point I am getting at is this: even God’s commands in the covenant are not an end in themselves… but a tangible, practicable invitation to trust in the Living God with our whole lives… teaching us to walk in His ways so that His goodness, and holiness, and saving love can take shape in us, and live in us, and live through us in the power of His Spirit.
 
Rules and commands, even from God, may be a good gift to us, but alone they are unable to cleans our hearts of sin. For that, we need the gift that God’s rules all point us to: the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life at the cross to wash away our sins by His blood, and who, through His Spirit at work in us, shares God’s blessed life with us, and with the whole world.
 
These are the life-giving possibilities that God’s rules open up for us: God gives us a way of life intended to bless us, so we can start to share this blessed life with others. God gives us this gift for our good, but we need to put it into practice to truly benefit from it. And while trying to follow God’s ways on our own does not save us, they will point us in the right direction: inviting us to keep placing our trust in Jesus Christ, whose perfect obedience and sacrifice of love alone can save both us and our world.
 
So as Christians, committed to the way of Jesus every day, and in all that we do, let us remember that the gift of God’s commandments call us to keep the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord at the centre our hearts and minds. For it is there in His death that Jesus put the entire perfect law of God into practice once and for all. And it’s there in His rising again to share His new life with us, that He shows us what these rules are all about: /as He breaks down everything that stands between us and His saving love. Amen.

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

Scripture Readings: Joshua 24:1–2a, 14–18 | Psalm 34:15–22 | Ephesians 6:10–20 | John 6:56–69 

“So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ ” (John 6:67-68).
 
How many of us here today find it easy to make decisions?
How many of us don’t?
How many of us are struggling to decide how to answer that question?
 
Whether we like it or not, life is full of decisions to make… of moments when we are forced to choose one option or path, and to leave behind all of the others.

For some of us, it might be a struggle when it comes to simply ordering food from a menu… or having to choose which route to take through an unfamiliar city. We might find it hard to choose who to vote for in an election… or how best to respond when a conversation suddenly takes an unexpectedly controversial turn… or how to treat our friends, and family members, and neighbours who make choices that we would never even consider.
 
Life is full of choices… decisions we have to make… some small, some much more significant. And our Scripture readings this morning invite us back into some of the most important, and life-shaping choices that we will ever make… decisions that influence every other aspect of our lives.
 
In our first reading today, we heard how Joshua, called the people of Israel together to make a clear decision about their allegiance. After the death of Moses, Joshua had been the leader of God’s covenant people, helping them follow the ways of the LORD, as they finally entered the Promised Land. But now, as Joshua’s own life was drawing to an end, he knew that the people once again needed to reaffirm their commitment to serving the Living God alone.
 
Joshua knew all to well the story of his people: how they kept turning their hearts away from Yahweh, the Living God, who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, sustained them through the wilderness, and graciously invited them to share in His own blessed life, if they would trust and follow Him.
 
Joshua saw first hand how fickle the people could be: quickly forgetting time and again all of the ways that the LORD had shown them His mercy, generosity, and steadfast love… and how easily they went back to their old sinful ways, serving their own self-centred desires.
 
And so, at the end of his life, Joshua calls Israel to once again make a definitive choice to serve Yahweh alone, and not to go after the other so-called gods, the spiritual powers worshipped by the peoples all around them.

“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15).
 
The choice is stark. There is no middle ground here, just two options: to be faithful to the Living God, walking in His ways, or not.

And how we respond to this choice shapes all other choices we make in life. It challenges us to re-evaluate all of our priorities. It calls us to reconsider so much of what we might otherwise simply take for granted. If our ultimate allegiance belongs to the Living God, than all of our choices, big and small, need to be made with Him and His ways in mind. It’s an ongoing acknowledgement that our whole lives now belong to Him.
 
And of course, this is a choice we don’t just make once… but over and over again. And not just with our words, but with our whole selves… our hearts, and minds, and actions as well.

In Joshua’s last days, the people of Israel said yes to his challenge to serve the Living God alone, but sadly, before too long they would fall back into their old sinful ways. And we too can say all the right things one moment, but still not remain faithful to the LORD in our daily lives.
 
What we need is not simply to make a choice, but to be transformed by a choice.  
 
This leads us to our reading from the Gospel of John Chapter 6, and the conclusion of a challenging conversation between Christ Jesus and the crowds that followed Him… a conversation where He claimed to be the Bread from Heaven, the source of God’s blessed life.
 
Jesus knew that many of those who were following Him did so, not because they really believed in Him, but because of the miracles He had done for them, like feeding thousands of hungry people with just a few loaves and fish.
 
Jesus knew that the hearts of these people were still serving their own interest and appetites… and so He pushed them to make a choice: to decide to trust in Him… to place their faith in Him as God’s gift of unending life… to not just be fed miraculous bread, but to give Jesus their full allegiance as God’s Messiah, the Son of Man sent to save them once and for all.
 
But sadly, many in the crowd that day chose to walk away from Jesus instead. They chose to trust in their own understanding, and not to believe in His words.
 
This choice lies before us too: are we simply interested in what Jesus can do for us? In the ways He can satisfy our desires, and help us achieve our goals? Or are we open to what He is offering us? Are we open to having our lives transformed by His invitation into God’s Kingdom? An invitation into a whole new way of life, centered not on ourselves, but on the holy love of God?
 
Jesus offers us Himself as the source of God’s own blessed life, and He invites us to believe in Him… to trust Him, and walk in His ways even when it’s hard. Even when we don’t understand. Even when no one else around us understands.
 
This is the choice that we Christians make every day: to place our trust in Jesus Christ alone. To entrust our lives, and our world into His saving hands, and to follow the way He has shown us.
 
After many of those who had followed Him turned back, our Lord turned to the Twelve Apostles and said to them: “‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:67-69).
 
As disciples of Jesus Christ today, we are invited to make Simon Peter’s words our own, and not only that, but to translate those words into action through all of life’s choices.
 
If we also believe and know that Jesus is the Christ, the Holy One of God, who alone has the words of eternal life, then are His words taking root and transforming the many decisions that we make from day to day? Do we consider His Kingdom’s priorities when we are making our plans? Are we open to making changes to our habits and behaviours as we learn more of His holy ways? Are we willing to go against the flow of those all around us when we know our Lord calls us to follow a different road?
 
Will we choose again today to give our full allegiance to our Saviour, or not?
 
At the cross, Jesus chose to suffer and died for you and me… and for everyone. And He calls us now to trust and follow Him… to live His way in the midst of a mixed up and combative world. But instead of simply giving in to the divisive and destructive spirit of the age, He longs for us to have our lives shaped and transformed by His truth, His mercy, His holiness, His compassion, and His self-giving love.

And no matter how chaotic and confusing the world around us might get, we can choose to stand firm in our faith, in the Good News that in Jesus, God has chosen us! He chose to give Himself to our world at the cross, laying down His life so that sinners like you and I might believe in Him and share in God’s unending life.

I don’t know what sort of choices you may be facing today… or the challenging situations you may be having to navigate. But as you seek a wise way forward, don’t forget where your true allegiance lies. Remember the Good News that God chose to share His unending life with us in Jesus Christ, inviting everyone to trust in Him, and to be transformed in Him. May this beautiful truth help to reshape all of our priorities, and may every choice that we make flow from His life-giving love. Amen.

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

Scripture Readings: Proverbs 9:1–6 | Psalm 34:9–14 | Ephesians 5:15–20 | John 6:51–58

Jesus said: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” (John 6:54-55).
 
Does anyone here remember the TV show Survivor Man? I used to watch it years ago, and recently stumbled onto it again. It’s a show where an expert survivalist heads out into all sorts of wilderness areas, places like the arctic, or tropical jungles, or deserts, and then they record their attempts to last a week all alone in these life-threatening situations.
 
One of the things that I think the show highlights pretty well is the importance of wisdom when it comes to surviving in the wild: of recognizing the potential of simple, everyday objects to help overcome big challenges… of understanding your surroundings, and the dangers that need to be avoided… of making good use of precious and limited resources… and of finding enough food to sustain life… which can sometimes be found in surprising places.
 
Apparently, over the years several people have actually credited this show with helping them to know how to survive unexpected emergencies that they had faced while in the wilderness. They may not have been experts, but they picked up enough practical wisdom from it to help them in their time of need.
 
One piece of this survival wisdom that stuck out to me was when the host warned of the dangers of something called 'rabbit starvation', or 'protein poisoning'. Have you heard of this? It’s what happens when you only eat extremely lean meats (like wild rabbit), that don’t give you enough fat content, and you end up really sick, or worse. It’s kind of tragic. You can think you are eating plenty of food that will sustain you, but end up not getting the true nourishment you need to make it through.
 
And this danger struck me as a problem not simply for those in wilderness survival situations, but in lots of areas of life. I mean, in so many ways we can think we are getting everything that we need, but instead, we can end up starving ourselves… missing out on something that’s essential to our actual survival.
 
Now hunger is something that affects us all… urging us to seek to satisfy our very real needs… but sadly, we don’t always have the wisdom to know the best ways to meet those needs.
 
And that goes for our spiritual hungers too… for the deep longings in us, whether we’re conscious of them or not… longings for meaning, and purpose, and truth… for community, for a sense of belonging… and for love.
 
How we go about trying to satisfy these deep hungers really matters… and tragically, it’s all too easy for us to settle for things we think will fill us up, and give us what we need, but that cannot truly sustain us.
 
Which is where the need for wisdom comes in. Wisdom involves knowing where to look for what will truly sustain us. And wisdom can help us to avoid the pitfalls, distractions, and dangers found in the wildernesses of our hearts, so that we can be prepared to take in and receive that which will bring us life.
 
 
And the biblical vision of wisdom, as it turns out, can be quite surprising. It’s not the same as common sense… insights that should be obvious at all. And it’s not the kinds of hidden knowledge possessed only by experts who spend years mastering it. No, biblical wisdom is presented as a precious gift, one that actively seeks out any who will be open to receiving it… regardless of how learned or simple they may be.
 
Biblical Wisdom… the kind needed for knowing where to look to find what we truly need… is not held up as a prize or reward we can earn or achieve on our own, but as a gracious gift of God, to lead us into life.
 
In our first reading today from the book of Proverbs, true wisdom is personified as a woman calling out in the streets, having prepared a wonderful meal to provide for anyone who will come and share in it… eagerly and earnestly entreating us to be open to it, and find life through it.
 
Wisdom says to us in Proverbs 9:4-6,
“You that are simple, turn in here!”
To those without sense she says,
“Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Lay aside immaturity, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
 
In this sense, wisdom’s not a body of knowledge, or a special skill set… but a summons… an ongoing invitation to turn to the LORD, the Living God, and find in Him all that we need in order to find life. In a word, wisdom tells us to place our trust in God to lead and sustain us.
 
And in our Gospel reading today from John Chapter 6, we hear our Lord Jesus Christ make the bold claim that He is Himself the One we are to turn to, in order to receive the gift of God’s life… referring to Himself as the wonderful, life-giving meal, the bread sent from Heaven to save and sustain us.
 
Christ came not to offer us tips and tricks to get through the tough times of life on our own, but He came to offer His very life as the gift that alone can keep us going… not just day by day, but forever.
​
Jesus tells us that He is the Bread of Life: the wonderful provision from God’s right hand, sent to meet the needs that we all have… the need for meaning, for a purpose, for truth… finding ourselves in Him, and that we are not simply intelligent animals, bent on mere survival, but the beloved children of God the Father, the Creator of all, and we are made to mirror and reflect His divine goodness and holiness into our world through our lives in all sorts of ways.
 
Jesus is the Bread of Life… meeting our needs for community, belonging, and love… assuring us that we are not simply adrift in a chaotic and cruel wilderness, destined simply to endure trial after trial on our own. No, in Jesus we find that each of us are deeply known and deeply loved, regardless of how many dangers we face, trusting that our Saviour remains God-with-us even in the darkest wilderness… and He calls us to place our trust in Him, again and again and again.
 
Of course, one tangible way that we do this… seeking to renew our trust in Jesus Christ, and all He has done for us… is when we draw near to His table in faith, and receive the gracious gift of His life, His body and His blood, shared together in Holy Communion.
 
At the cross, Jesus offered up His life once and for all to provide what we all need. Christ’s sacrifice of self-giving love became God’s way to set about healing our sin-sickness, to offer us forgiveness in His name, and to sustain us... sharing God’s own life with us, which is now at work in us through the Holy Spirit.  
 
When we come forward to share at Christ’s Table, saying yes to all that the Lord Jesus has done for us at the cross… and to all that He still longs to share with us who trust in Him… we do not need to be some sort of expert… or have our faith all figured out in order to experience the gift of His life. Far from it! It’s enough just to come to Him in faith… reaching out our hands to ask Him to give us what He knows we need… trusting in His saving love, even when we don’t yet understand.
 
The scholar Wesley Hill puts it well: “In the Eucharist, Jesus puts Himself in our hands so we know exactly where to find Him. In that moment, we don’t have to wonder whether God is for us. We know He is because we’ve just tasted His provision. He gives us His Son—His life-giving flesh.”[1]
 
Wisdom tells us to believe that Jesus Himself is God’s life-giving gift: the Bread of Heaven, offered to all who are hungry, so that all might be satisfied.
 
Just one more point to ponder: when our physical bodies are able to consistently feed on truly nourishing food, they are more likely to grow as they should. And when they don’t get to regularly receive what they need, things start to go wrong, just like with ‘rabbit starvation’.  
 
When we consistently feed on the spiritual nourishment that Jesus offers to us… His own life… it is so that our whole lives can grow into what they were always intended to be: growing more and more like Christ, through God’s Spirit at work in us, reflecting God’s goodness and holy love out into our world.
 
This is what St. Paul is touching on in our reading from Ephesians this morning, reminding us that when we draw near to Christ in faith to receive the gift of His life, it is so that His life might begin to transform our own.
 
Ephesians 5:15-17 “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
 
Saying yes to the gift of Jesus’ life invites us into a relationship that changes us… that calls us to intentionally make some changes as well. Jesus gives us His life… He invites us to take and eat, not only so that we can make it through another day, but so that His life… God’s true and unending life… can transform us… and our world.
 
Wisdom tells us to trust Jesus, and to let His life make changes in us… and through us.
 
We all have all sorts of hungers… as do our neighbours… which require wisdom to satisfy.
 
The Good News is that in Jesus, God has shown us, and all who will believe, where to find the sustenance we need.
 
Jesus Christ is the Bread of Heaven… the true food that not only meets our needs, but shares with us the life of the Living God, so that we can actually live His ways today.
 
And this is Good News, not just for those of us who already believe, and who receive together the Lord’s life given for all… it’s also Good News for the world around us that we get to invite to draw near as well… and even though we may not all be experts, we can all still get the word out any way we can about where we all can find the answer to our world’s deepest hungers… the Bread of Heaven: Jesus Christ the crucified and Risen Lord.
 
So this morning, may we draw near to Jesus our Saviour in faith, and receive from Him again what we all need: the gift of His life… the source of our salvation that alone can sustain us, and transform us… not just to help us all survive, but to share in God’s blessed life forever. Amen.


[1] Wesley Hill, The Lord’s Prayer: A Guide to Praying to Our Father, Christian Essentials (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 55.

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, & Reflection Questions this week can be found here:

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