Scripture Readings: Deuteronomy 18:15–20 | Psalm 111 | 1 Corinthians 8:1–13 | Mark 1:21–28
“Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable.” (Deuteronomy 18:19). Actions speak louder than words. And actions reveal what’s at work behind our words. We are now four weeks into the season after Epiphany, a time set aside for Christians to contemplate the Good News that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. It’s a time when we seek to better understand the huge implications of this Good News in our own lives, and for us to respond to what the story of Jesus reveals to us about the Living God’s plans for His broken but beloved creation… including overthrowing the forces of darkness, and bringing His light and New Life at last. Our Gospel reading this morning gives us a good glimpse… a good revelation of these words in action, as Jesus Christ confronts evil in a tangible way: casting out an unclean spirit, a demon, from a man in the congregation of God’s people at Capernaum. So far in St. Mark’s Gospel, here in Chapter 1, Jesus has not done much of what we might call the “miraculous”. Aside from the dramatic display during His baptism by John in the Jordan River, Jesus has been fairly low key: He was led by God’s Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan… but unlike the other Gospels, St. Mark doesn’t say much about that encounter. He then begins preaching about the Kingdom of God, and calling God’s people to turn around and repent… to believe in the Good News… as well as calling some fishermen to come and follow Him. But in today’s reading, St. Mark introduces the first real conflict in Christ’s mission… and St. Mark shows us that, from the start, there is absolutely no question about who will come out victorious in the end. Our reading takes place in Capernaum, a small fishing town in Galilee, with Jesus gathering for worship along with his fellow Jews in the synagogue one Sabbath. While there, Jesus began to teach, which is a common practice when God’s people gathered together. But St. Mark tells us that something stood out about the way that Jesus went about it: the people “were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (Mark 1:22). They had heard plenty of teachers and speakers before, but not like this Jesus of Nazareth. And while his words and teachings alone might have been enough to impress… they were about to see that Christ’s words are backed up by a power well beyond what they could have imagined. As it turns out, the actions of Christ speak even louder than His words… and show them to be the truth. Mark 1:23-24, “Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’” Imagine the scene: a gathering of God’s people, come to worship and to hear the word of the Lord together… not all that unlike what we do here at St. Luke’s each week… then one of their members… someone from their small community, disrupts the scene at the impulse of a demon… a spirit at odds with the will of the Living God. But this encounter in Capernaum is clearly no contest. This unclean spirit clearly sees exactly who Jesus really is… and even acknowledges His unique and divine identity: “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” And yet these true words are coming from a rebel… a spiritual being who has turned away from God’s holy purposes… and is at work undermining the New Life that Christ is bringing about. And so Jesus, the Holy One of God, sees through the cowering cries of the unclean spirit and confronts it. He orders the demon to be silent, and casts it out of the man. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case Christ’s actions confirm the truth of the words and teachings that He shared in the synagogue that day. St. Mark wants us to see that Jesus is not just a good speaker… or a wise teacher… but that He actually has the authority to back up even His boldest claims. That in Jesus, God’s good Kingdom has come near… and this King will not be defeated. The words from our first reading today from Deuteronomy Chapter 18 come to mind, where God promises that one day a prophet would come to God’s people… one like Moses himself, who stood alone before the Living God, and faithfully made God’s good will and ways known to His covenant people. A prophet with divine authority. In Deuteronomy 18:19, the LORD says: “Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable.” Through the Good News that St. Mark and the other Apostles have shared, we’re invited to see Jesus in the light of this promise: to recognize God at work in all He does… and to truly heed His words. This word of warning should give us pause as Christians today, inviting us to search our hearts and ask tough questions. Like, how much are we aligned to God’s Holy One in all that we do? Are we ready to heed all that Jesus has taught us? Or are we more inclined to follow the path of spiritual darkness… saying the right sounding things perhaps, but with hearts marked by rebellion… opposed to the rule of God’s good Kingdom? We know of course that there are forces at work in our world today, and within the worldwide Christian Church, that pay no real heed to Christ’s words and teachings… who claim to be part of His community, but who reject His ways, distort and misuse His message of Good News, and who undermine His authority as the Son of God and the only Saviour of the world. Again, actions speak louder than words. And our actions will reveal the truth of what we really believe. It doesn’t matter how many good sounding things we may say, or how many followers we may gather… if we don’t actually heed the words of Jesus Christ, then we’re in for some serious trouble. And if we do believe in Jesus… that He is God’s true Son, and our Saviour and Lord, then how might this truth change our choices? How can we live the faith that we claim to believe? Our second reading today from St. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth give us a real life example of what it looks like when God’s people take Jesus’ words seriously. Throughout this letter, St. Paul has been walking the Corinthians through a number of challenging dilemmas, as they figure out what it looks like to be faithful to the way of Jesus together. In today’s reading, St. Paul is trying to help them figure out what to do with food that’s been sacrificed to idols. In the Roman world, most of the meat sold in markets would have some connection to the local pagan temples. And for Jewish followers of the Living God, idols were a huge red flag… God had explicitly commanded Israel to make no idols, and not to worship them. God’s people were to be wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD alone… and this remained true for the early Christians, even as many Gentiles started to believe in Jesus as well. And while Gentiles may not have been bound to the Law of Moses like their fellow Jewish believers, having left their old pagan ways behind to follow Jesus, many of them would have had a hard time not feeling as though they were compromising their newfound faith if they ate meat they new had been offered up to gods that they had once served. So in Corinth, the Church was confused about if eating meat that may have been sacrificed to an idol was allowed or not. Would that be a sin against God? Or was it really no big deal? How were they supposed to act faithfully in this confusing situation… especially if they could not all agree on the answer? Jesus Himself had not specifically addressed this question. The Laws of the Torah seemed a bit more clear on the matter, but as St. Paul and others in the early Church had argued, Gentile Christians, like many of those in Corinth, were not strictly commanded to follow the terms of Israel’s covenant. Some clearly thought it would be wrong. While others clearly thought it wasn’t an issue. And so St. Paul set about, not simply to find “the right answer”, but to help them heed the words of Jesus their Lord, and follow His ways together… guided in part by these words: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1). St. Paul affirms that there really is only One Almighty God. No idol or other spiritual being can rival Him, and so they have no power over His people. From St. Paul’s perspective then, food eaten with gratitude to the Living God, regardless of its source, is ultimately not a problem… and so eating meat that had been offered up to an idol is not a sin in and of itself. But… St. Paul was convinced that what matters much more than our own liberty to eat whatever we want is that we actively love one another… especially those who don’t, or don’t yet, see things the way we do. “[T]ake care”, he says in verse 9, “that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” St. Paul goes on in verses 11-13, “So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. Who were these weak ones? Jewish believers scandalized by pagan idols? Gentile believers worried about being drawn back into their old ways? Both? St. Paul leaves it open, because the most important point here is not who’s right and who’s wrong, but how can we all walk in God’s ways together? In other words, how are we to love God and love each other, and put that love into practice through our actions? St. Paul knew the truth, and he knew well who he served, no matter what food he ate. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, “we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists,’ and that ‘there is no God but one’. Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” And because St. Paul knew where his loyalty lay, and took care to heed the words of Jesus his Lord, he understood what God really wanted for His people. For you and I today. On the night our Lord was betrayed, Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, then and now: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:33-35). If as Christians we don’t heed these words of Jesus, we know we’re on the wrong track, and headed for danger! Actions speak louder than words, and our actions confirm or contradict the truth of what we say. Jesus’ own actions speak louder than words… embracing the way of the cross… laying down His life in love for our darkened world… actions that backs up His words about God’s saving love in ways that challenge us all, again and again. His sacrificial, self-giving love for sinners is what He commands us and empowers us to put into practice together. This is the high calling of God’s people: to love as God Himself loves the world, through His Spirit at work in us. Unlike the Corinthians, our own issues today are probably not about food sacrificed to idols. But there are many questions we face that are just as challenging and even painful to sort through faithfully. Whatever these challenges may be, St. Paul reminds us that how we go about sorting through them really matters. It’s not just about being right about this or that issue… but about embodying the holy love of the Living God in all we do. If we refuse to learn to love one another… to extend God’s grace to those who are our sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ, we will not be prepared to truly share God’s love with our neighbours. So with the Holy Spirit’s help, let us learn from St. Paul how to heed the words of Jesus our Lord, and make it a priority to nurture love for our fellow believers in Christ, even when we might deeply disagree… so that all those around us might come to see, and believe in, and experience God’s love for them too… a love that’s powerful… and alive… and still at work in our world… a love which the forces of darkness can never defeat… binding us forever to the Risen King of Kings, and Saviour of the world. Amen.
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Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here: And our Songs this week can be found here: Scripture Readings: Jonah 3:1–5, 10 | Psalm 62 | 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 | Mark 1:14–20
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15). Repentance is a complicated word… one with lots of baggage for some of us. Reminding us of the times when people have used religion as a weapon to heap guilt and shame on our shoulders. Or when some twist faith into a formula… making it seem as though: “if you just say these words, in this way, then somehow God owes you paradise”… as if the Living God just wants us to “say sorry”, and then we can go about our own business. When this is how we think about repentance, no wonder so many feel so uneasy about it. But in the Scriptures, repentance is truly Good News… an integral part of the Kingdom of God, and a vital step forward in the pathway to life. And one could argue that our world could use a whole lot more repentance these days… learning to step back and change course… to acknowledge when we have got it all wrong, and do what we can to start making things right, instead of always shifting the blame elsewhere… digging in and doubling down on our actions that bring disaster… and writing off those who fail to live up to our own standards, whatever they might be. But to appreciate the life-giving role played by repentance… and to have the space and ability to practice it… we need to believe it will actually be received. That those we repent to will not just strike us down for our sins, but extend to us the forgiveness that we all need. Far beyond a tool to crush our spirits, or a formula to try and manipulate each other, or the divine… repentance is God’s gracious gift to us, as the Scriptures remind us this morning. Notice that in Mark’s Gospel, the very first words that Christ utters to the world is a call to repentance: “The time is fulfilled,” He proclaims, “and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15). Jesus then goes about inviting others to follow Him into this new reality… this new Kingdom way of life… unlike anything that they had known before. And in the Old Testament, the story of Jonah is one long invitation to repent, and to receive God’s gift of New Life… an invitation we’re going to explore together a little bit closer this today. Bu t before we do so, I have a few question for all of us: When is the last time you thought about the whole story of Jonah? Have you ever sat down and read the story from start to end? What is this prophetic book really all about anyway? Don’t worry if you’ve never looked at the whole book of Jonah before, because today is your lucky day! We’re going to read through the whole book of Jonah together this morning, and listen to its unique perspective on the good news of repentance… Good News for our world, and for us, God’s people today. For many people, the main thing that comes to mind when they think of Jonah is probably the bit about the whale… or more precisely, the “great fish”. Or maybe, from our very short reading today from Jonah Chapter 3, we might guess that it’s a fairly straightforward story about God’s good prophet telling the Assyrian ‘bad-guys’ in Nineveh to straighten up, and then they all fall in line. But while both these dramatic scenes are a part of the picture that this book paints for us, we miss out on the main message of Jonah… the Good News that it has for us and for our world, when we don’t step back and take into account the story as a whole, and how it all fits together. That’s why we’re going to read through the whole book of Jonah together today. Don’t panic though! One of the great things about Jonah is that it’s not a very long story. It’s only four short chapters, and about 1,300 words total in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. And while we could spend all year exploring this strange but powerful prophetic book, this morning I just want to highlight a few of its most important themes to reflect on together… specifically, how repentance fits into the work of the Living God in the world, and what it means for those of us who have responded to the call to follow Jesus Christ today. So this morning, pay close attention to who is repenting in the story… who turns their lives around to follow the ways of the Living God in the world… and who does not. The book begins with the LORD, Yahweh, the Living God who has revealed Himself to Israel sending the prophet Jonah to challenge the wickedness of the great Assyrian capitol city of Nineveh. Jonah 1:1-2, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” There’s nothing too surprising here. The Ninevites, and the Assyrians in general, were the “big bad guys” of the near ancient world… their empire made it their business to swallow up all of their neighbours, with unheard of levels of violence and brutality. From an Israelite perspective, if God was going to call out any nation’s wickedness, it would make sense to single out the Assyrians. But then something that is surprising happens. Jonah 1:3, “3 But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” Instead of following God’s clear instructions to challenge Nineveh’s great wickedness, God’s messenger takes off in the opposite direction… taking a boat to Tarshish… which is thousands of miles away at the other end of the Mediterranean Sea… just about as far away from Nineveh as an ancient Israelite could imagine. So from the start, it’s God’s own prophet… the one whose job it is to help others discover God’s good will, who has turned away from the LORD. It is God’s chosen messenger who it turns out now needs to turn around… to repent. Jonah 1:4-6, 4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.” Here's another ironic twist: it’s the pagan, Gentile sailors who see the signs of divine judgement at work, while God’s prophet is fast asleep, oblivious to what’s going on, and unconcerned it seems with avoiding disaster. And when he wakes up, his response is no help at all. Johan 1:7-10, 7 The sailors said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 “I am a Hebrew,” he replied. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them so. What’s going on here? In the face of what seems like certain disaster, Jonah claims to be a faithful servant of Yahweh, the Creator of Heaven, Earth, the Sea, and all that is… while doing exactly the opposite of what God said to do. Notice that at this point he has made no attempt at all to turn around, and seek God’s forgiveness and help, by the way… unlike the pagan, Gentile sailors around him. Jonah 1:11-17, 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17 But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Again, we find a dramatic reversal at work: pagan, Gentile sailors, not exactly an ancient Israelite’s model of morality, are seeking to do the LORD’s will, pleading to receive His mercy, and give their lives to Him in wholehearted worship. While God’s prophet, Jonah, insists instead on being thrown into the sea… to have his life ended rather than turn around and repent to the Living God. But instead of meeting his end right away, Jonah finds himself swallowed up by a great fish… a creature of the sea, the realm of chaos and death. Only then, when his own destruction seems the most clear, Jonah turns to the LORD, and we hear his prayer in the poem of Chapter 2: 2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’ 5The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head 6at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God. 7As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. 9But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!” Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land. God’s saving mercy finds Jonah, his utterly unfaithful prophet, at the end of his rope… and against all odds and expectations, the LORD rescues his undeserving servant. And here we return to our reading today from Jonah Chapter 3, and hear about how God’s flawed messenger finally does what he’s supposed to do, and then how Nineveh responds. Jonah 3:1-4, 3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Not much of a message, is it? “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Is this really all that God wanted to say to the great city of the Assyrians? There’s no mention of why the city would be overthrown? There’s no clear challenge of the wickedness of this violent, oppressive, self-centered empire? No mention at all of the LORD? And no mention at all of what could be done to make things right again? After all that trouble, once Jonah finally gets to Ninevah, all he does is call for their destruction. And in yet another ironic twist… this great wicked city completely turns around and repents. Jonah 3:5-9, 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8 Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” What an amazing reversal… an incredible change of course for the great enemies of Israel, and the most feared and wicked pagan nation they had ever encountered. With barely a warning at all, the people of Nineveh, even their King, humbly turn their lives around and seek the mercy of Yahweh, the Living God of all, that Israel knew and served. And what’s more, another amazing change takes place: 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. In response to the repentance of the Assyrians, God decides not to go through with His plans to undo them. Even the worst, wicked ones, it turns out can repent and find God’s forgiveness. Sounds like Good News to me, and a great end to the story. But that’s not how the story ends. There’s one more character who has not yet really turned around… Jonah. Chapter 3:10-4:3, 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. 4 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. 3 And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Here we finally see what was going on in Jonah’s heart… why he fled to Tarshish, and why he refuses to rejoice when Nineveh turns itself around: he wanted Nineveh to burn. He didn’t want them to be forgiven, to find a new path towards life. Jonah saw them as the ‘bad-guys’, as too far gone to turn around… and who needed to be taken out. And in his heart, Jonah accused God of being too willing to forgive. Complaining that the LORD was too gracious and merciful, too slow to act in anger, overflowing with steadfast love, and too ready to relent from punishing. The heart of God’s chosen prophet, His messenger, turns out to be completely unlike the LORD… and so he’d rather end his life then see his enemies find forgiveness. Think about this story in the light of our world today… with all the conflicts we see at work around us. Not just the open wars, that lay waste to whole cities and countries… but also to the many divisions that are tearing our world apart, in big and small ways. The communities, relationships, families shattered by self-centeredness, wickedness, prejudice, and rage. And think about how we Christians as God’s people today have become complicit in these conflicts too… seeing all those who oppose our ways of seeing things as the ‘bad guys’, who deserve to be taken out. Consider how even we the Church can easily be consumed with anger, hate, violence, and cruelty. Then think about God’s own heart. Think about His response to the truly wicked city of Nineveh… how He wanted, not their destruction… but that they would truly turn around and leave their old ways behind. That those who were destroying their neighbours would stop, and instead care for them, and build them up. That those who oppressed others, would instead humble themselves, and lift up the lowly. That all those who have hard hearts, and are eager to see the ruin of their rivals would repent, and come to share His divine mercy, forgiveness, and steadfast, saving love. And so, Jonah serves as an example of how even God’s chosen people, who have been called to become like Him… who claim to know and serve Him, and to walk in His holy ways, can completely turn our hearts away from God’s heart. And his story is a grand invitation for all of us to repent… to turn around and let His love guide us. But the story’s not over yet. How does God respond to Jonah’s anger? How does this story end? The LORD uses the rise and fall of a plant, a small bush, to drive home the message of His own divine mercy. Jonah 4:4-11, 4 And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. 6 The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” 10 Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” And that’s how it ends. With a question from God, and an invitation to share His divine compassion. If Jonah can care about the fate of a single bush, can’t God, the Creator of All, care about everyone? Even the fate of a city so wicked and turned about, that they seem too far gone to save? Can’t God care about… our enemies? Those you and I might see as beyond all hope? As undeserving of forgiveness? Can’t God long to turn their lives around by His rescuing love? This is the story that Jesus calls all His disciples to embrace, and to leave our old stories behind. This is the story of God’s great love for His whole lost and broken world, tearing itself apart, again and again… the story that led Jesus Christ to the cross… to die for us sinners, and to set us free from our wickedness… and rise again as the Saviour of the world. The book of Jonah is an invitation for all God’s people of all times… to turn around, and learn what it means to repent and truly follow the Living God: to share in His holy love, revealed to the world once and for all in Jesus Christ. A love that’s strong and wide enough to truly embrace everyone. Amen. Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here: And our Songs this week can be found here: Come & See Our World's Saviour - Sermon for the Second Sunday After Epiphany (January 14, 2024)1/13/2024 Scripture Readings: 1 Samuel 3:1–20 | Psalm 139 | 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 | John 1:43–51
“Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’” (John 1:46). Today we continue our journey through the Church Year, leaving Advent and Christmas behind… with Lent and Easter on the horizon… and entering the season after Epiphany… a time when we Christians explore the amazing implications of the Good News that has been revealed: that Jesus of Nazareth truly is God’s Son… and Saviour of the world. During these weeks, we will often reflect on the stories of people in the Scriptures who encounter Jesus, and suddenly see things that were hidden from them, about the Living God, and about themselves… and end up having the course of their lives changed forever as a result. In other words, this season invites us to reflect on the effects of God’s revelation in the world… what happens to folks when we come to know the truth of what God’s up to in our world… when we see and draw near towards His guiding, life-giving light. But another important truth, that might often go without saying, that this season and these stories highlight for us is that the Living God already knows all about our world. He sees all the good and the bad… and nothing at all goes unnoticed or unseen by Him. So, as we turn now to our Scripture readings today, and invite the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s good word to us and to our world, let us keep in mind that the Living God knows us all completely, the good, the bad… all of it… and He still invites us to draw near in faith, and find our life in Him. Our first reading today from the first book of Samuel might seem like a simple story about a boy learning to hear and respond to the voice of God... and it is. But it is also a powerful warning about the disaster that God’s people stir up when our eyes and hearts are closed off from our LORD, and when we disregard our calling to walk in His holy ways in the world. Alongside the simple and open response of the boy Samuel, this passage tells us of the unfaithful sons of Eli the High Priest, the set-apart family charged with guiding God’s people, and serving as the LORD’s righteous representatives, ministering in His Holy Tabernacle… the portable Temple where the LORD met with His people. But Eli’s sons, Israel’s leading priests, had become corrupt… serving, not God and His people, but themselves… giving in to their own greed and lust, taking advantage of others, and making a mockery of the Living God. Unfortunately, it’s not hard to find other examples in the history of the Church, including in our own day, of leaders who have abused their positions of trust to serve their own selfish desires… acting as though the LORD does not see or care about their wickedness, while pretending to be doing His will. But again, this is all contrasted with Samuel, a small child raised by Eli to serve in the Tabernacle. And even though Samuel knew so little himself, God graciously chose to speak through this boy, and make His good will known through him: not only exposing the injustice and evil at work in Eli’s sons, but in the days to come, working through Samuel to guide God’s people, and even to prepare the way for God’s own chosen King, David. This story reminds us that nothing is hidden from God, and He will not ignore the evil that even His people do. But it also invites us to follow the example of Samuel: open and responsive to God’s voice, even when we don’t quite understand… And willing to let the LORD speak and work through our lives so that His light can shine. Turning now to our Gospel Reading, we hear how Jesus invites a man named Philip to follow Him, and in response, Philip immediately goes to find his friend Nathanael. In John 1:45, Philip says “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” And when Nathanael dismissively expresses doubt that anything good could come from a backwater town like Nazareth, Philip doesn’t have all the answers… but he simply says to Nathanael: “Come and see!” Philip invites his skeptical friend to come with him, and experience Jesus for himself… to get to know the One, who as it turns out, already knows all about him. John 1:47-48, “When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you get to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ What follows is quite surprising: the prejudiced skeptic turns into an ardent believer… someone who sees Jesus as no mere rabbi, but as the Son of the Living God, and Israel’s promised King. Then Jesus goes on to say that Nathanael will see even more amazing things than this… that one day, he would see Jesus, the Son of Man, as the connecting point between the world and the Heavens… with angels ascending and descending on Him. This seems like a very odd thing to say. And it is. But it’s also a reference to a well known story from the book of Genesis when their ancestor Jacob, a scoundrel on the run from his brother after scheming to steal his inheritance, had a dream one night in the wilderness. And in that dream, Jacob saw something new about what God was up to in the world. Genesis 28:12, “And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” What seemed at times to Jacob like two completely separate realms, Heaven and Earth, were not cut off from one another: what happens here in the world, and in his own messed up life was not unknown by the Living God. When Jacob woke up, he named the place Bethel, which means ‘House of God’… which is another way to talk about a Temple. Hold onto that for a minute. We’ll come back to it later on. For now, notice what Jesus is highlighting here: that He knows all about Nathanael… his honesty, yes, but also his prejudice… the good and the bad… just like Jacob the scoundrel was known by God… and yet Jesus still wanted Nathanael to follow Him. To leave his old ways behind, and join Jesus in His holy mission to bring God’s life-giving light to the world. Remember the Good News of Epiphany: The Living God shines His light into the darkness of our world… to draw all people to Himself so that all may find new life in God’s Son: Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour of the world. Will we, like Samuel, be open to the voice of the LORD, even if we’re not quite sure what He’s up to yet? Will we, like Nathanael, let go of our old ways of seeing things, and let Jesus open our eyes to the work of the Living God in the world around us? Will we draw nearer to Jesus, our Saviour? Or will we turn away and draw back into the shadows? This leads us to our reading from the letter to the Corinthians. Throughout this letter, St. Paul the Apostle is trying to guide this new Christian community through all sorts of challenging changes in understanding and practice, that they all needed to make if they were going to stay true to the way of Jesus. He reminds them that the freedom that they have received in Jesus Christ does not give them a license to do whatever they want… like Eli’s sons, serving their own lust and greed, all the while claiming to be faithful servants of the Living God. Instead, he reminds them and us that in Christ, we are all called to share in a whole new holy form of life… one which calls all of us to let go of our old ways of seeing and doing things, and to humbly learn what it means to be God’s people in the world… set apart for Him in spirit, mind, and in body. In Chapter 6, St. Paul has a lot to say to them and us about the importance of serving God with all that we are… knowing that all that we do is now bound to the life of our Risen Saviour, Jesus. We don’t have a private life, cut off from the life of God. 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, “The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” He then goes on to say something truly amazing about how God is at work in the lives of His people: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” We are now called the Temple of God’s Holy Spirit… the place for His divine presence and power to dwell and be made known in the world. Not as a building, or an institution, but in our bodies… our day to day lives as believers. We are not our own, but belong completely to the LORD, graciously set apart for something that our world really needs… a true taste of God’s New Creation, already begun in Jesus Christ. Remember when Jesus tells Nathanael that he would see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man… Heaven and Earth united, like in Jacob’s vision at Bethel, the House of God? This is all Temple language, pointing to the hope of reconciliation, and a full reunion between God and humanity. But so often, when we God’s people, who have been called to live in the light of His holy ways, act instead like Eli’s sons, and serve our own selfish desires, we spread darkness deepen the divisions that keep on fracturing our world. But when we were at our worst. In our moment of deepest unfaithfulness and refusal to set aside our old ways for the sake of God’s Kingdom… when we humans rejected our Saviour, and crucified the Son of God… the beautiful world-changing reality that the Temple points us to took place once and for all. Heaven and Earth were reunited… bridged by Christ Jesus when His body was raised up on the cross… the Son of Man suspended before our eyes, midway between the world and the skies… giving His sinless life to reconcile our broken world, good and bad, to the Living God through His death. And offering that saving connection to God’s New Creation to us through His own resurrection. As Christians today, we are now a Temple people… those set apart by the grace of God to follow Jesus our Saviour, and to share in His New Life. God’s Holy Spirit has been given to us, to draw us deeper and deeper into His holy love, so that the reality of what Jesus has done for our world at the cross can take shape in our day to day lives. That means as individual disciples, we are called to grow in Christlikeness, giving ourselves to the leading of God’s Holy Spirit, so that we wholeheartedly in spirit, mind, and body begin to reflect the life of Jesus in every part of who we are and what we do. And this also means that as a Church… we are to be a community where God’s Spirit dwells. Where our relationships with one another reflect the life of Jesus… where we care for, and challenge, and serve one another in genuine faith, and hope, and holy love. And we do this not only to share in the blessings and joys, freedom, forgiveness that God’s Spirit brings… but to share in Christ’s mission to bring God’s rescuing light to our darkened world. So that those around us can experience… can “come and see” Christ’s new Creation already graciously at work in our lives, so they too can come to know the One who already knows all about them… the good and the bad… and still loves them enough to lay down His life and to save them by His blood. So, may the Holy Spirit of God truly dwell in us, and transform us all into a people set apart to share the life and light of Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Amen. Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here: And our Songs this week can be found here: Scripture Readings: Isaiah 60:1–6 | Psalm 72 | Ephesians 3:1–12 | Matthew 2:1–12
“In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (Ephesians 3:5-6) Have you ever had to really wrestle with a riddle? It could be one you tackle just for fun… a kind of riddle-game that humans have enjoyed for ages. I remember as a teenager, I played 20 Questions a lot with my friends; the game where you take turns thinking up a noun… a person, place, or thing… and everyone else has to to guess what it is by asking no more than 20 Questions. And I remember one time in particular when one of our friends had us totally stumped. No matter what we asked, we couldn’t get any closer to the answer at all. Eventually, we had to give up, and our friend gleefully revealed the answer: “It was a crack.” Not a specific thing itself, but a crack… which could be in anything! We were all blown away. We had never imagined the answer could be something so simple, and yet so unexpected. Riddles like this can be a lot of fun, even when they’re frustrating. But we also know that there’s lots of times when we’re forced to wrestle with puzzles and riddles for much more serious reasons. Like when we’re forced to work through a difficult problem, or navigate a confusing situation when the answers don’t seem to come so easily. I think most of us have had times like these too… struggling to make sense of truly puzzling circumstances, and how we’re supposed to handle them. It could be something we face at work, at home, with those we love, with our own hidden hopes of fears, for ourselves, our communities, or for our world. And sometimes, we can eventually work our way towards an answer. But then sometimes we get stumped. We hit a wall and can’t put two and two together. In those times, we need to have our eyes opened for us, our understanding deepened, our perspective widened… and then, sometimes quite suddenly, the picture becomes clear… the light has dawned, and we can see. That’s one way to think about an epiphany… a sudden realization of a truth that had been hidden from us. Or better yet, a sudden revelation that is given to us when someone else steps in and opens our eyes to help us see what’s really going on. Today we’re celebrating the Feast of Epiphany: a celebration of the revelation of Jesus Christ, not just as the familiar baby in the manger, but as the Son of God Almighty… as the King of all Creation… and Saviour of the World. For many of us, this is a familiar story… but we also know that familiar words can often conceal life-changing truths from our eyes. We get comfortable with them, and forget what they mean… and what they mean for our lives. Thankfully, our Scripture readings today can help to open our eyes again to the truly Good News of Epiphany, for us and for our world. First off, let’s take a moment to consider Isaiah’s Epiphany from our first reading: the revelation that despite how dark the world around us may seem, God’s life-giving light will come. Not just for the struggling people of Israel, but for everyone. Isaiah 60:1-3, Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. This passage is of course just a glimpse of the full prophetic vision and message God gave to His people Israel, to point them forward towards the hope of their restoration after the horrors of their Exile. And yet, the vision goes well beyond just hope for Israel… it begins to reveal their role in bringing new hope to the world, as the glory of the Living God… His mercy, and rescuing love… shines on and through them so that all nations can draw near to Him and encounter His new life along with them. And several centuries later, in St. Matthew epiphany we heard in our Gospel reading today, Isaiah’s message of hope is revealed to be taking on reality: God’s life-giving light for the world has come at last in Jesus Christ. The visit of the Magi is much more than a strange but interesting episode in Christ’s early life. It is a clear sign revealing the start of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: Gentiles, non-Jews from far beyond Israel’s borders have drawn near to pay homage to this newborn King of the Jews, even as the old king, Herod seeks to destroy him. Herod reminds us, after all, that we can seek out God’s light for some not-so-good reasons too. Many have used the Good News of Jesus as a cover to cloak their own ambitions, pride, and fears, and in King Herod’s case, a homicidal commitment to holding on to his own authority and power… slaying the children of Bethlehem to try to get rid of this newborn King. But we don’t need to be like King Herod for God’s life-giving and revealing light to shines on our lives… and even on any self-centered reasons we may have for seeking His Son. And the Good News is that His merciful light does not seek to condemn us, but to expose our twisted motives, so that we can let them go… so that we can draw near to Him in faith and receive His forgiveness, freedom, and grace. The Good News of Jesus is even for those of us who have been quite at home in the darkness… God’s light is for us too, drawing us out of the shadows like a moth… not to a flame, but to the life of His New Creation! And this leads us to our reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and to the Apostle’s epiphany that God’s light for the whole world has come… and it calls us to go! To be transformed by it ourselves, and take it to everyone. Like many devoted Jews in the first century, St. Paul had always imagined that God’s main concern was with His covenant people Israel. They were the chosen ones. They where the heirs of God’s promises. The Gentile nations might have a minor role to play, but they were the stars. But when St. Paul encountered the Risen Jesus, his eyes began to be opened to the truth of the Gospel… the Good News that God’s Messiah had truly come, and that despite His own chosen people’s betrayal, Christ had died and rose again for all. To reconcile, not just Israel, but all of humanity to the Living God. For the first time, St. Paul could see that God had sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world… and to change forever how we humans from all families and nations see and treat one another. Ephesians 3:5-6, “In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” In other words, there was to be no first or second class citizens in God’s Good Kingdom. There was now no essential boundary between Israel and their neighbours. In line with God’s promises through people like the prophet Isaiah, and all throughout the Holy Scriptures, God’s spirit has revealed that Jesus Christ came to reunite and reconcile the whole world to God, and to each other. Fellow heirs together. One diverse but united body. Sharing in the same promise… in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thousands of years later, this may not seem like big news to us. After all, we’ve heard the story of how the Gospel has spread throughout the world many times… and the vast majority of Christians nowadays are of Gentile heritage. What was once an epiphany for people like Isaiah, St. Matthew, and St. Paul must have lost its power to surprise and unsettle us, after all this time, right? Remember: familiar words and stories can still conceal life-changing truths. What might we be missing today that the feast of Epiphany can reveal to us? Many things, to be sure. But for starters, it shows us that we all have roles to play in sharing the Good News of God’s life-giving light with the world around us. And I really do mean all of us. Just as the door is now opened for all to draw near to God in Jesus Christ, so too all are invited to make this Good News known, and let it shine through our lives. In other words, the revelation that Jesus Christ died and rose again to reconcile the whole world to God and to one another… the Good News entrusted to the Church… can’t just be something we talk about, it has to take shape in our day to day lives. It has to shine through our interactions with those around us… with our loved ones, our acquaintances, and strangers. It has to penetrate our minds and imaginations… challenging us to let go of our old ways of navigating life, and to reconsider everything in the light of the cross and resurrection of God’s Son. It has to be something that we all respond to as God in His patience and grace empowers us to do… not looking at our own real limitations and losing heart, but trusting instead in God “whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we could ask or imagine.” After all, even St. Paul was blown away by the way God graciously uses those who seem completely out of place and ill equipped to shine His light and share His Good News with the world… having experienced this pardoning and empowering grace up close in his own story. The minister and scholar Joel Kok points out how strange and wonderful it is that someone like St. Paul, born Saul of Tarsus, would be chosen to serve in the role that he did: “Amazingly, it was God’s good pleasure to choose Saul the Pharisee to bring Christ’s name “before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15). As one who had violently persecuted the church and tried to destroy it… Paul saw himself as “the least of the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:9) and, in this passage, “the very least of all the saints” (Eph. 3:8).”[1] Yet even if he saw himself as the least of all the saints… meaning ‘the least of all God’s people in general’… St. Paul had begun to see that this would not stop God from working in and through his life in the slightest. Ephesians 3:8-10, “Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” It's God’s grace in Christ that makes the difference. Not our credentials. Not our skills, or abilities… or lack thereof. At times, we might also feel like “the least of all the saints”, but by God’s grace we too are called to share the Good News of Jesus through our whole lives, and with everyone. Like St. Paul, our hope isn’t in our own abilities, but in Christ’s own life and light at work in us… through God’s Holy Spirit, who can use our humble faithfulness and openness to Jesus to reveal the glory of His Good News, and New Life to our neighbours, and to our wider world. So no matter how dark things might get in the world around us, or how small and helpless we might feel when it comes to doing anything about it, may the familiar story of Epiphany keep our eyes open to this amazing truth: that in Jesus Christ, God’s light has already begun to dawn… that He has already given up His life at the cross to reconcile our darkened world to God, and He has already overcome the powers of darkness… rising again to bind us together in God’s own holy love. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the world has already brought God’s life-giving light, and He has called all of His people to share His light with His world. How each one of us are to do this day by day is a question we’ll all have to ask ourselves far more than 20 times… but as we draw near to our Saviour Jesus in faith, and ask Him to open our eyes, and our minds, and our hearts to what He has in store… trusting in His Holy Spirit to work in and through us… He will be faithful and show us the way. Amen. [1] Joel E. Kok, “Epiphany of the Lord, Years A, B, C,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Volume Two, ed. Roger E. Van Harn (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 320. Happy Epiphany! Although the feast of Epiphany was yesterday (January 6), at St. Luke's we're choosing to celebrate this important feast together on Sunday, reflecting on the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God and light of the world, and what this marvelous truth means for His disciples today. Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here: And our Songs this week can be found here: Adopted Into God's One Family - A Sermon for the First Sunday After Christmas (December 31, 2023)12/30/2023 Scripture Readings: Isaiah 61:10–62:3 | Psalm 148 | Galatians 4:4–7 | Luke 2:22–40
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” (Galatians 4:4-7). What comes to mind when you hear the word: “family”? Maybe you think of the images of your own relatives… partners, children, parents, siblings, and so on? And the joy-filled memories of times you felt surrounded by love and fellowship? Maybe you think of the pain that comes from feeling cut off from others… especially those you were once close to? Or maybe, like many people today, the idea of “family” feels like a mix of all this at once: heartache and hope, longing and belonging… chaos as well as communion? The truth is, families are complicated blessings: A good gift from God to be sure, but one which brings along with it all sorts of challenges… and which requires all involved to grow into, and to nurture, to bear good fruit. Now we know there are many reasons this time of year for us to be thinking about family. But we do so today especially because the first Sunday after Christmas is when the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family: a day commemorating the shared life of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, which began in Bethlehem all those long years ago. We remember that our Saviour didn’t just drop down from heaven, but was lovingly cared for and raised in a humble human community… with all it’s joys and challenges. We remember that the Word of God who spoke the whole Universe into being also listened and learned… was protected and provided for… was comforted and embraced by the trembling hands of a first-time mother, and an adopted father. Today we remember and rejoice that Jesus, the Lord of Glory chose a completely unlikely… far-from ideal family to share in… in order to adopt all of us messy families into His own… that is, the Church: the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic community of Jesus. Church communities are often called a family. And sometimes this can be meant quite literally! I myself grew up in a rural Church, surrounded by four living generations of relatives, and which had been founded by my ancestors going even further back. Many Churches still have these kind of deep roots, arising from tight-knit neighbourhoods. But on the other hand, with many Churches that’s not the case at all: communities of people who have had no real connection before. The early Christian communities were of course a mix of both. Many churches began when a family, or household would receive the Gospel, and commit themselves to Jesus. And in time, when they would then share the Good News with their neighbours, some of them would believe as well, and begin to worship with them. Especially in small towns, these were all probably people they already knew quite well. But there was another astonishing trend that took place even in the earliest days of the Church: people from completely different backgrounds… classes, cultures, and social spheres, who would NEVER have had anything to do with each other before, began to believe the Good News of Jesus… and to worship the Living God together, and even be baptized together into God’s new family. This may not seem all that strange to us today, but it would prove to be a wonderful, world-changing scandal for the Church: slaves and their masters, women and men, Jews, and Greeks, and others from all over the world were starting to be treated as equals… as brothers and sisters before God. Not just rubbing shoulders, but learning to actually share their lives, and to love each other. Of course, it wasn’t easy. And it went against so many of their natural and cultural inclinations. But it did become reality: humans like us learning to live as God’s family, not just in heaven, but right here on earth. But even this gift of the new Christian family was a complicated blessing. Many found joy in the Good News of Jesus, and brought their old friends and family with them into the Church. Many others would find themselves rejected by their loved ones because of their faith in Jesus… and would have to endure great pain and heartache, as Christ Himself experienced, and warned us would be the case. But this new community wouldn’t be dependent on our natural human bonds… our shared bloodlines, our social classes, our ethnicity, culture, traditions, or interests. Across all these barriers, we are bound together now by the Good News of Jesus Christ, and what He has done! And all of humanity can now be embraced and adopted into God’s family. Right before our second reading today from the letter to the Galatians, St. Paul makes this startling claim that reminds us all of what it means to be in God’s family: Galatians 3:26-29, “for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. In Christ. Trusting in Christ. Baptized into Christ. Clothed with Christ. One in Christ. Belonging to Christ. Nothing else can get us in, or keep us out, of God’s family. And St. Paul goes on: Chapter 4:4-7, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” Because of Christ Jesus, and what He has done, we can be adopted into God’s family… as full members, as heirs along with Jesus our Lord of God’s eternal kingdom. No matter where we come from, no matter how many mistakes we have made, or how hurt we have been by our world, because of Jesus Christ we can become true children of God, filled with His Holy Spirit, and sharing in the everlasting love of His Heavenly Father. This is what it means to be a part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church… this strange, messy, and complicated, but still blessed community of Jesus Christ here on earth. But as we know, the Living God doesn’t deal with ideals… but with our broken realities… in His mercy and love, making all things new. After all, the original Holy Family itself was far from ideal: Mary was a nobody, graciously chosen to receive a miracle… to conceive and give birth to God’s Son… but that blessed gift would bring all sorts of unlooked for complications with it. And Joseph would have walked away, were it not for a visit from the angel Gabriel in a dream… convincing him to put aside his suspicions and fears, and keep their family together. And Jesus Christ Himself set aside His eternal glory to take on our humble humanity, all in order to reconcile sinners like us to God. The Holy Family was complicated… but the Living God brought them together to bring about through them far more than Mary and Joseph could have imagined. And from the three of them would come the one worldwide family of God. We catch a glimpse of this along with them in our Gospel reading from Luke Chapter 2, when out of the blue they are given the prophecies of Simeon and Anna in the Temple… blessed and challenged by two elders led by God to embrace this young family, and share the Lord’s word with them: In Luke 2:29–32, holding the baby Jesus, Simeon says “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” In Christ, Simeon saw God’s salvation… for Israel, and all the nations… fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham, that through his descendant, “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3). And over the centuries since, God’s family has changed a lot. This little family… Mary, Joseph, and God’s Son, Jesus, would grow to become a truly worldwide community. Stretching not only across the Roman Empire, but across the whole earth. Sometimes we have done a good job of staying true to our calling, and our beginnings… of growing together as a community bound to each other by God’s holy love, offered to absolutely everyone through Jesus Christ His Son. And sometimes, we have failed pretty badly: becoming caught up in the old ways of the world… turning our hearts away from those who are not like us, cutting off those who come from a different class, a different culture… or who have different politics… forgetting that the Church, the family of God is so much bigger than we are, based on the Good News of Jesus, God’s Son, and what He Himself has done to adopted us all. And so today, with a new year on the horizon, one question I’d like to challenge us to reflect on is this: how can we here in Gondola Point better embody God’s One, Holy Family? How can we be Living Faith, Growing Love, and Sharing Hope here together in ways that stay true to the Good News of our adoption by God in Jesus Christ? Maybe we’re being called to nurture and grow in our existing relationships inside our Parish community… gathering together as brothers and sisters for worship, fellowship, and service? Maybe we also need to reach out beyond our own circles to embrace those we don’t really know yet: welcoming visitors… building connections with our Christian brothers and sisters from other Churches… including those from our neighbouring Anglican Parishes here in the Valley? Maybe we need to reflect on, and remember that the reason we belong to the Church at all, is not because of how good we may be, or how long our ancestors have lived here, or anything other than the Good News of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us… helping us start to see and treat everyone around us as those that the Living God longs to adopt as well. In Christ, God has opened the door for everyone to become our adopted siblings… to share in the complicated but world-changing blessings that come with being the children of God. And by His grace, may we grow into and nurture the gift of God’s Family for all here in Gondola Point. Amen. Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas can be found here: And our Songs for this week can be found here: Scripture Readings: Isaiah 52:7–10 | Psalm 98 | Hebrews 1:1–12 | John 1:1–14
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). Today we celebrate the truth of the story of Christmas… a message we have likely heard many times before: the story of the Living God taking on our humanity… born of the Virgin Mary… welcomed into the world, not by the high and mighty, in some imperial palace, but by humble farm hands… lowly shepherds huddled in a stable. We know this story, which stirs up in us many memories of Christmases past. It’s a story wrapped up with hope, peace, joy, and love… and which holds a special place in our hearts, which is one of the reasons why we keep returning to it year after year. But we know many other stories too… stories that the world around us is eager to tell. Stories of anxiety and despair. Stories of bitter divisions and war. Stories of sorrow, and drudgery. Stories of hatred and fear. These are the stories so many are living by. The stories we’re all too often drawn into ourselves. These are the words on so many tongues, used to describe our world’s story… where we are headed. But we know that there is another Word that will have the final say… a Word full of grace and truth. The Almighty Word that spoke all Creation into being… causing the cosmos to become a place of light and life, where once was only darkness. The Divine Word that has always been, and will endure always, without end. The Glorious Word that shines out, and even if no one sees or receives it… this Word’s brilliance will never fade. The Word of God that took on flesh to dwell with us: our Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is born. And He faced our frailty, our dangers, our sufferings… giving us hope. He is born. And He laid down His life for us at the cross… giving us peace. He is born. And He rose again from the dead… giving us joy. He is born. And He has bound us to the Living God forever… giving us love. He is born. Today, Christ Jesus the Word of God gives us the gift of Himself. And may this Word dwell with us always… filling our hearts and minds, despite the dark words still echoing all around us… filling our lives with the hope, and peace, and joy, and love that only He can give… and may this Word take on our flesh, speaking in our words and acting in our deeds… and making His grace and truth known through all that we do… turning us His people into His gift to bring God’s New Life to the world. May the Word of God, Jesus Christ, dwell with us this Christmas, and always. And may we receive Him, and believing in Him, become God’s true children, full of His grace and truth… always. Merry Christmas, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Scripture Readings: 2 Samuel 7:1–11, 16 | Luke 1:46–55 | Romans 16:25–27 | Luke 1:26–38
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). This morning we celebrate both the beginning and end of the fourth week of Advent… what a short week! I know they say time flies when you’re having fun, but in my opinion, cramming a whole week into less than 24 hours is a bit much! But regardless of how long or short we may want Advent to be, this evening it all comes to an end as we celebrate Christmas Eve, when Mary gave birth to the Son of God, Jesus the Saviour of our world. And though it may just last this morning, the fourth week of Advent calls us to contemplate something central… something essential to the story of Christmas, and for that matter, to the whole story of God: theme of Love – connection… communion… binding hearts and lives together as one. As we know, Love is often talked about in our society in a one-sided way… we say love to speak of our longing… our desires… our appreciation for something or someone. In this light, love looks like little more than a feeling or personal motivation. But there are of course other ways of thinking about love… like seeing it as a mutual bond… a commitment to the communion between persons… a community… in which all involved share in the blessing… being built up together, trusting one another even as we face the unknown. This is the kind of love that Advent invites us to reflect on… a love best expressed not by seeking out that which one person desires for themselves… but by offering themself to their beloved, trusting them to be faithful. This is the love that we encounter in Scripture… and which is at the heart of Advent, and Christmas… God’s self-giving love. That said, our first reading this morning from second Samuel might seem a strange place to begin reflecting on self-giving love… with all its talk about temples. But in the imaginations of the ancient world, including Israel and their neighbours, temples were the places where heaven and earth could meet… where the divine and mortal spaces overlapped, so to speak, and communion between them could be achieved. Temples were also the tangible places where one’s devotion were visibly put into practice. The focal points for communities to display their piety: It was where offerings were given to show gratitude. And sacrifices were made to seek forgiveness. Sacred places set apart to renew and restore the relationships between humans and the divine. And while temples were common place all over the Ancient Near East, before the days of King David, Israel did not have a temple of their own. At Mt. Sinai, the Living God had promised to be with His people, and graciously made a covenant relationship with them, akin to a marriage… a sacred bond. He would be their God, and they would be His people… and God’s own faithfulness and love would be the foundation for their life together. And as a tangible sign of God’s ongoing presence with them, wherever they would go, God had them construct the Tabernacle… a sacred movable tent… where the Ark of the Covenant would reside… where gifts and sacrifices could be offered, and where God could meet with His people… and where the people could come close to their LORD… experiencing up close His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, and His faithful love. And for centuries, God’s people in all of their wanderings had worshiped God in this mobile tent… as the One not bound to one place, but who dwelt in the midst of the community of His people. But after his rise to power, King David longed to establish a more permanent residence for the LORD of all. A grand house for his God… a Temple. Was this intended as an act of love? An expression of gratitude for all God had done for him… raising him up from his lowly and humble beginnings as a shepherd, to be the king of Israel? Whatever his intentions, as it turns out David’s desire to show his devotion to the Living God is completely outdone by God’s own devotion to him… promising to give him a great gift, not of a sacred building, but of a dynasty… a family destined to be drawn into God’s everlasting plan of salvation. 2 Samuel 7:11-16, “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.” God would build from David a chosen King who would reign forever… and would be in true communion with the LORD always… as father and son they would be… and this chosen king would build a true house for God’s name… an everlasting place where heaven and earth truly meet… where all can encounter God’s steadfast and faithful love. And though in time, David’s heir, Solomon, would indeed build a grand temple of stone in Jerusalem, where Israel would focus their worship of the Living God, that meeting place would not last forever… and would serve as a signpost pointing to the true place where heaven and earth would become one… the temple of the body of this promised offspring of David. What a gift God gave David. But he would have to trust God and take Him at His word. David would never live to see the fulfillment of this promise, and so many questions would be left unanswered. When would this promised one come? What would he do when he finally arrived? How would God bring all of this about? Questions that would have to wait until that first Christmas. And as we heard today, God’s promise would all come about through the body of Mary… a teenage bride to be, who to the world seemed like a lowly nobody… and who, like David before her, was graciously favoured by God and lifted up. And through Mary, the Living God, the Creator of the cosmos would take on flesh and be born among us. In Mary’s womb, the Son of God became the Son of Man, and Heaven and Earth became one… in Him. The Anglican bishop and scholar, N.T. Wright puts it well when he says that: “Mary becomes the temporary dwelling-place of the living God: the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the ‘overshadowing’ of the Most High, both evoke the temple-idea. This passage struggles to say something for which words hardly exist: that in Mary’s womb temple and king came together once and for all, that the scriptures came true in ways never imagined, and that God found at last the house, neither tent nor temple but flesh and blood, that would most truly and fully express his royal, self-giving love.”[1] What a gift God gave to Mary… but one that opens up all sorts of questions: How can this be? What will this promised child be like? What will He do? What am I supposed to do? But even with so many questions, and so much left unknown, we know Mary’s response: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). She believes, and opens her heart to the divine message of God’s gracious gift of love… to her, and through her, to the world. Mary chooses to trust God, and the world has never been the same since. These stories of David and Mary, along with all of the Holy Scriptures, invite us to reflect on the great gift of God’s self-giving love… and how we can share in it. We see how from the start, He makes the first move… and out does all our outward shows of devotion… how He longs to reunite our broken world to Heaven’s glorious life. And in Jesus, King David’s descendant and the Virgin Mary’s son, this is exactly what God has done… not just in Bethlehem, but all throughout Jesus’ life… bringing back those who are scattered and lost… binding up broken bodies and hearts… setting loose those who are bound by their shame, and sin, and fear… and giving Himself away at the cross to bring God’s saving, self-giving love to the world once and for all. Advent and Christmas remind us that at the heart of the story of God is God’s self-giving love… God’s commitment to His creation to do whatever it takes to renew the communion that Earth and Heaven were both created to share in forever. And of course, nowhere is God’s self-giving love more clearly displayed than at the cross, where David’s royal descendant would wear a crown, not of gold but of thorns, and where He would be exalted… not on a throne but on the cruel tree of death. And where Mary would stand by in helpless agony as her miracle child’s life comes to a brutal end before her tear-filled eyes. How could this be? Why would God allow this all to happen? So many questions left unanswered… at least until Easter… when the full glory of God’s gift in Jesus would be revealed in the resurrection… as the self-giving love of God breaks down every barrier that keeps us apart from Him. Here the words of St. Paul in His letter to the Romans, Chapter 5 verses 6-11: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” In Jesus, God offers us all the gift of reconciliation… no matter who we are, or what we have done, He has done everything to reunite us in His love. In Jesus, God has made the perfect sacrifice to deal with all of our sins… and bring us the gift of forgiveness, and the freedom to share in His New Life forever. Tonight we will celebrate the birth of this Jesus… God’s eternal Son who stepped into our messed up time and space to set us free… giving us nothing less than everything… His own life… His body and blood… to bring us back to true communion with our Heavenly Father, and to share His self-giving love with each other, and everyone. And like David and Mary, we too are invited to allow God’s self-giving love to reshape our lives. To open our hearts to His mercy and grace, and to be drawn even deeper into His own divine communion. There will always be many questions of our own about how God might bring all of this about in our own lives… but even so, we too can receive all that His love offers us… in faith. Trusting God, Father, Son, and Spirit, to be true to His word… and to open us up to His saving, self-giving love to work in and through you and I as well… giving ourselves wholeheartedly back to the One who gave Himself for us. And so, this fourth week of Advent… this Christmas… and every day of our lives, may the LORD give us the grace to respond to His gift of love in Jesus Christ our Saviour with these faithful words of Mary: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Amen. [1] N. T. Wright, Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible) Readings, Year B (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2002), 9. This morning we mark the fourth Sunday of Advent: a season of anticipation and preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, both in His birth at Christmas (which we will celebrate this evening, and for which you can find more At-Home worship resources below), as well as 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 fourth Sunday of Advent, we reflect on the theme of Love. Here is a great video from the Bible Project exploring how the Holy Scriptures help us to receive & share God's Love. Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent can be found here: And our Songs for this week can be found here: Christmas Eve Lessons & CarolsIn this sacred night we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who is Himself God-With-Us, wherever we may be. May this service of Lessons & Carols stir up within us the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love that God offers to us all through Jesus His Son. Our service of Lessons & Carols and Bulletin can be found here: Here are some links to the Carols listed in our service, found on Youtube: Christmas Day Sermon & BulletinHere is a word to help us worship
the Word-of-God-Made-Flesh, Jesus Christ, who is born this day. Scripture Readings: Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11 | Psalm 126 | Luke 1:46b–55 (Canticle) | 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 | John 1:6–8, 19–28
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Here we are at the third week of Advent already, with Christmas now just around the corner… awaiting the arrival of Christ Jesus our Lord, and reflecting with Christians around the world on what His coming means for us, and for our world. And as we know, this week we’re invited to contemplate the theme of Joy… to join in the spirit of celebration that the Good News of Jesus Christ inspires. And yet, as we also know, sometimes it’s really hard to celebrate. And although this has been true all throughout human history, in recent times there definitely seems to be a heaviness at work weighing down our world. A burden of worry, uncertainty, and seriousness… with so much seeming to be at stake, and so little sense of peace and hope. For many today, it’s hard to be lighthearted… inside and outside the Church. And so, the words from St. Paul which we heard today seem sort of strange and out of place… telling the Thessalonian Christians, and all of us believers through the centuries to “Rejoice always.” I mean, “pray without ceasing”? Sure. “Give thanks in every circumstance”? Well, that might be a challenge… but it still kind of makes sense. But “rejoice always”? Really? Why should we? And how can we rejoice always? Where can we find this kind of joy? We know that our world offers us lots of ways to pursue joy… or at least happiness: just buy more things. Enjoy more exciting or comforting experiences. Adopt this or that ideology. Surround yourself with people you get along with. So much or what drives our society is the unending quest for happiness. And sometimes, we Christians have got caught up in this game too. At times, we’ve tried to market our faith as this same kind of wellness activity… just another way for people to find fulfillment, and happiness. And as some critics of the Church have truthfully pointed out, there are plenty of people who twist the Christian faith and make it a tool to help those in power to stay strong, secure, and in charge… and to keep those who are vulnerable and weak longing for some relief, that never seems to come. But the Good News of the Christian faith is so much better than another means to make us happy. And the writers of Scripture like St. Paul, are not at all interested in turning the Good News of Jesus into a product to make us feel better… and make life a little less dreary. Nor is he trying to get us to put on a phoney smile… to “keep sweet”, no matter how bitter our circumstances may be. No, in tune with the whole story of Scripture, including our readings today, St. Paul is reminding us of the truly Good News of Jesus that we have come to believe… that in Him, the Living God is intent on lifting the crushing burdens off of His beloved creatures. In Him, the weights of injustice and oppression are being cast off from our shoulders… the wrongs will be righted… the broken-hearted will be embraced and their tears will be wiped away. In short, in Jesus Christ, God Himself has come to lift us up to join in His divine, and unending joy. Let’s take a moment to consider what we actually mean by Joy though. In general, ‘happiness’ can be understood as a positive experience of pleasure… of beholding beauty, having our needs and desires satisfied, and feeling connected to those closest to us. Understandably, we like feeling happy. We’re kind of hardwired to desire these kinds of things… to exist in and appreciate God’s good world. But as good as this kind of basic natural happiness can feel, it also can’t last. Our eyes are never satisfied by beauty. Our belly’s are never full of food, and so on. Eventually, the feelings of happiness we find in these things wane, and we’re left wanting more. And this is where our desires for beauty, satisfaction, and connection can get us off track. When we start longing for them in ways that feed our self-centeredness, greed, and lust. And these are all great fuel for consumerism… promising us that if we just keep chasing things that make us feel good, at least for a time, we’ll be happy, re-orienting our lives around pursuing fulfilment… or at least avoiding pain… boredom… isolation… anything that makes us feel less than the impossible ideal that we’ve been promised. But Joy is not the same as happiness… it’s not simply an experience of pleasure, but entails a lifting up of our whole selves… which certainly does feel good… but it also involves so much more than a momentary sense of satisfaction of desire, or alleviation of pain. Think of a time when you suddenly had a great weight or concern unexpectedly taken away. Or when fears that were hounding you were proved to be unfounded. When you found yourself surrounded by loving arms, when only moments before you had felt all alone. That’s joy. Joy is the lifting of burdens. The release of captives. The experience, not just of pleasure, but of hope, and freedom, and love all wrapped up together in a beautiful blur. And while moments of happiness can give us a temporary glimpse of joy, it can’t really compare with it. Joy is, after all, a gift, a gracious encounter we can’t manufacture, buy or sell, just received. So then, rejoicing is about being in tune with the truth of the universe… that is, that the Creator of all that is… seen and unseen… has not given up on us or on our world. That from the very start, the Living God has been reaching out in compassion and love to humanity… seeking our rescue and restoration… and inviting us to share together in His own unending joy. In our Scripture reading today from the Prophet Isaiah we heard a clear vision of joy being given to the oppressed and broken people of Israel… the good news that despite the devastation that they had faced, much of it the result of their own disastrous choices, the Living God simply would not give up on them. Isaiah 61:1-4, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” And trusting the good news of God’s enduring faithfulness and saving love caused the prophet to proclaim in verse 10: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” And in Psalm 126, the poet attempts to wrap their head around God’s faithful love at work in their people’s story, rejoicing in His divine mercy, even as they pray for rescue in the midst of their ongoing struggles. Let’s hear Psalm 126 again: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses of the Negev. Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.” And then, we have one of the most well-known prayers in the New Testament, the Magnificat, or Mary’s song… an outburst of joy, praising God for what He was doing… drawing her, as simply and lowly as she was, into the truly wonderful story begun so long ago… the story of God’s great rescue mission, coming now to a climax through the child still in her womb. Luke 1:46-55, “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.’” The prophet Isaiah, the Psalmist, and the Mother of our Lord… all living in tragic and uncertain times. All feeling the heavy weight of the world… and yet, all finding themselves lifted up. Caught off guard and elevated by the Good News of what the Living God was up to, in, and through, and all around them… and so, they rejoice… they receive the gift of joy that transforms everything. And so, St. Paul also calls us born many centuries later, to rejoice always… because of the Good News of Jesus… the Good News that even when we feel burdened and weighed down by the brokenness, of ourselves and our world, our Saviour has come, and He will come again… and through His Holy Spirit, He is with us even now… bringing the freedom, the forgiveness, the joy of God into our lives in all sorts of surprising ways, and working through us to bring God’s joy to all those around us too. And just like the Prophet Isaiah, and the Psalmist, and Mary, we too can receive and encounter God’s joy in the midst of our world’s messed up story… as we face our own serious struggles, and suffering… but even in these dark and doubt-filled moments, the Living God can touched our hearts too with the Good News of His saving love… and transform how we understand the story of our sad world, and what the Christ has done and is doing to raise it up. As Christians today, as those who have heard and believed the story of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ, maybe we need to get a bit more serious about joy. Not just about trying to make others happy, but serious about trusting in, receiving, and sharing the Good News of great joy for all people that the angels announced all those years ago in Bethlehem: the Good News that to us, and to us all, a Saviour has been born… Jesus Christ the Lord. And if this Good News can shine in our day to day lives, how might our perspectives and concerns start to change? How much less might we complain if instead of pleasure, we start seeking freedom, for ourselves and others, freedom from the burdens of guilt, and isolation, and despair? How much more would we find ourselves lifted up if we stop and consider that the One who holds our world… our universe in His hands is the same One who gave His life at the cross to rescue it from the power of death, and who was raised to make all things new? How much joy might we be filled with, regardless of our circumstances… even in moments of tragedy, uncertainty, and heartache, when we remember that our Redeemer is with us… that He has drawn near to bear all our burdens… “to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; …to comfort all who mourn…” (Isaiah 61:1 & 2b). What might it look like if we received with all seriousness the Living God’s gift of joy in Jesus? So, may the Good News of God’s Son, the Saviour of our world, shine in and through each one of us today. And may His Spirit empower us to rejoice always in the truth that He really has us all in His nail-pierced, and world-saving hands. Amen. Today we mark the third 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 third Sunday of Advent, we reflect on the theme of Joy. In addition to our Service of Morning Prayer and Sermon this week, here is a great video from the Bible Project exploring how the Holy Scriptures help us to receive God's Joy. Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon can be found here: And our Songs for this week can be found here: |
Rev. RObRev. Rob serves as the Priest-in-Charge at St. Luke's Gondola Point, and as the School Chaplain at Rothesay Netherwood School Archives
March 2024
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