Scripture Readings: Isaiah 43:16–21 | Psalm 126 | Philippians 3:4b–14 | ​John 12:1–8

“Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.” (Philippians 3:7).

Well, it’s been an interesting week, to say the least, hasn’t it? A week of worldwide uncertainty, and fearful predictions, as international trade and markets have been responding to the new round of tariffs imposed by the  administration in the United States. And as with any disruptive and uncertain situation, there’s lots of different ways people and nations are choosing to respond. Some are quickly scrambling to make deals and try to avoid even worse outcomes for themselves. Others are hitting back with increased trade barriers of their own… retaliating against what they see as deeply misguided practices that will hurt many people in the long run, and especially those who are already struggling, and vulnerable.

Lots of peoples’ sense of security is being shaken. Lots of economies and families are going to have to adapt and respond somehow, and honestly, it looks like many will face unnecessary suffering because of choices being made by a handful of people with political power.

On the bright side though, this is not a sermon about global trade, tariffs, and market practices. If you’re interested in that stuff, there’s plenty of other, much more qualified people talking about it these days, for better or for worse.

But I wanted to bring this stuff up in part because it’s on a lot of people’s minds… and also because it’s kind of an interesting example of how we humans can respond to disruptive events and people so differently. When our world gets shaken, for good or evil… when everything we hold dear and thought we understood is suddenly challenged and questioned… when brand new obstacles or opportunities are opened up before us… we have to make some choices about the ways we will respond… which is usually shaped by what we are most devoted to. 

And in our Gospel passage this morning, from St. John chapter 12, we see two very different responses of two of the earliest followers of Jesus to what He was up to.

Our passage takes place in a particularly tense part of the story of Jesus… as our Lord approaches Jerusalem, and the world-changing events of Holy Week draws near.

Just before this part of the story, Jesus had done something truly amazing, and deeply unsettling to many: in front of many witnesses, Jesus had raised His friend Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, back to life. St. John frames this amazing event as a sign of Christ’s power, and God’s Kingdom at work in Him. And in response to this, many people believed in Him… but many others did not. In fact, the religious leaders of the day, convinced that Jesus was upsetting too many things that they held dear, and undermining their spiritual authority, began to make plans from this point on to have Jesus arrested and executed.

And right after this story, St. John will tell of Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday… eagerly welcomed by crowds waving branches and praising God… a reception fit for a King… but as we know, in the week that follows, this King will end up on a cross. 

And right in the middle of this dramatic moment in Christ’s story… this movement towards the world-changing climax of the Gospel, we find our passage today. And we are given a powerful picture of what the Christian life looks like.

The story holds up side by side two followers of Jesus: Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve chosen disciples, and Mary of Bethany, the youngest sister of Lazarus. 

We’re told that Jesus visits their home in Bethany a week before the Passover, and while He’s there having supper, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with a very precious perfume, and wiped His feet dry with her own hair. It is an image of incredible humility, offering to Jesus, not simply a pleasant and expensive experience, but a gift intended to both honour Him, and make obvious her sincere devotion.  

And though we’re not told initially why she offered this gift, if we step back and remember the recent story of her beloved brother, the picture becomes a bit more clear. Jesus had just raised Lazarus back to life. He had changed their deepest sorrow to joy, and gave them hope beyond anything they had imagined. And so, moved by gratefulness and trust, she presents Jesus with a wholehearted act of devotion. Nothing was too precious now compared to Him.
And in this beautiful moment, with the fragrance of her precious offering filling the house, Judas speaks up, and we are given a glimpse of a very different way to respond Jesus, and what He is up to. 

John 12:4-6, “But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)” 

Not a very flattering picture, but in three short verses, St. John gives us quite a character sketch of Judas: 1) Judas is a traitor to Jesus… an unfaithful follower, who ends up betraying God’s chosen One; 2) Judas is a thief… motivated by greed, and self-centeredness, not the compassion and generosity that Christ Jesus calls us to; and 3) Judas new how to present himself as faithful and wholeheartedly devoted to the work of Christ’s Kingdom… He knew the right words to say, but he was a hypocrite… an actor playing a part, and not a devoted servant of God. 

And Judas, this traitor, and thief, and hypocrite, one of the twelve, looks at what Mary does for the One he calls Lord… and he calls it all a waste. He questions her wisdom, and tries to heap shame on her beautiful gift of love.

And from the outside… with a cool and calculated tally of coins and costs, what Mary did does look like a waste. Think of how much good could have been done with the money that perfume cost. Surely Jesus doesn’t need or expect this kind of extravagance, especially when there were so many people near by who were struggling and suffering. What Judas says does makes sense. 

But as St. John tells us straight up: Judas was ultimately selfish. He knew the right things to say, and the arguments that made him sound wise and responsible… but he was only devoted to himself… not to the poor, or those suffering, and as we see soon enough, not to the Lord.  
 
Meanwhile, Mary doesn’t say a word. She lets her actions tell their own story. And even if they are misunderstood, or misinterpreted, or maligned… and if she is accused of being wasteful, or careless… Jesus knows her heart! Jesus knew what she was offering to Him, just as he knew what Judas was holding back. And so Jesus received the gift of wholehearted love that she poured out for Him… honouring her actions as part of the preparations for His coming death. 

For this story is about more than Mary’s gracious gift, and Judas’ hardening heart. It is a story that points us to the events of Holy Week, and the great confrontation between the powers of darkness, and the Lord of Light… the moment when God’s own precious Son freely gave up His body and blood… His life at the cross, in what must have seemed in that moment as an unspeakable waste! 

I mean, think about it. Think of how much good Jesus could have done if He had just stayed away from Jerusalem that Passover week. How many more people who were sick and suffering could have been healed if He had made a few less enemies, and a few more powerful and important friends? How many people who were discouraged and oppressed could have been given freedom and hope had He just been a bit less worried about the Kingdom of God, and a bit more willing to ‘play ball’? 

Jesus could have done so many great things for people, and for Himself, if He had just been a bit more selfish… if He would have refused to offer up His life at the cross in our place. 

But no, Jesus instead let His actions speak for themselves… even if others would misinterpret, or misunderstand, or malign Him and the incredible sacrifice that He made… even if it meant paying a cost far greater than anything we could imagine… even if, to the eyes of the outside world, what Jesus did just looks like a shame, and a waste… God knows exactly what was going on that Good Friday, when Jesus poured out His life for you and me… and for us all. God knows the depths of Christ’s wholehearted devotion to the will of His Father in Heaven… and God received Christ Jesus’ gift of wholehearted love for us… even while we, just like Judas, were still all wrapped up in ourselves, and our self-destructive sins.  

And we know this. We know that Jesus’ gift of love was received, because three days later, God raised His Son again, rescuing Him from the power of death, once and for all, through His resurrection.

And this is what Jesus now graciously offers to us: the power of His resurrection. He shares with us His own victory over the grave… not so that we will not suffer, or have to go through times of uncertainty, or grief, or pain, but so that we can do so with the confidence that He has already faced death on our behalf, and come out the other side… that He lives now as our Risen King of Kings… that there is now absolutely nothing… not poverty, pain, the grave… or even trade barriers that can keep us from the saving, generous, life-giving love of the Lord, who gave His life to set us free from our sin, our fear, our shame, and to lead us into the New Life of God even now.

So like St. Paul, in our reading from Philippians today, let us not place our confidence and our hope in appearances… or in all the assets and honours we can count up, or try to amass for ourselves. Instead, let us press on towards the goal of the New Life of God’s Kingdom, trusting in the power of Christ’s resurrection… the power of His saving love that not even death or tariffs can stop. 

​And like Mary, may we respond to the incredible grace and love of Jesus Christ our Lord by pouring out our lives in thankfulness and praise to Him in wholehearted devotion… not just in our words, or in our times of worship, but in all of our actions… in everything that we do… holding nothing back from the One who gave everything for us. Amen.

​And our Songs this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Joshua 5:9–12 | Psalm 32 | 2 Corinthians 5:16–21 | Luke 15:1–2, 11–32

“Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Luke 15:31-32).

Our Gospel reading this morning is one of the most well known and beloved parables of Jesus. A powerful story told to help us understand and respond to His Kingdom work. This story has often been called the Prodigal Son… as prodigal means ‘wasteful’ ‘lavash’, or ‘recklessly extravagant’, in reference to the younger son’s completely careless use of his inheritance.

It's a story that stands out as a profound example of the radical nature of God’s mercy and love, and grace… a story that tells us that no matter how far we have wandered, we really can be welcomed home again. Inviting us to turn around again and return to the Father’s eager embrace.

But this parable is much more than simply a story about the depths of God’s mercy and grace. It’s a story about broken relationships, and reconciliation… about the restoration of the bonds between a father and his sons… but just as importantly, between the sons themselves.

In this parable, we are not simply being reminded of God’s great mercy and saving love offered to us… we are being called to respond to His mercy and love… in how we relate to those in our lives. Perhaps especially those we feel the most estranged and divided from.

And I don’t know about you, but I can think of very few other topics that are more relevant today than reconciliation… the coming together again of those who have been torn apart. Every day it seems, there’s yet more divisiveness and broken bonds in our world… fractured friendships, at the local, national, and international level.

The conflicts we face in life can be incredibly challenging. And it’s not always easy to know how to respond, or what we can do to move forward. But thankfully, in today’s parable we have been given a word from our Lord Jesus Christ not only offering us hope for our own forgiveness and grace, but also an invitation to change how we see and respond to this deeply divided world that we find ourselves in.  

In the first part of the parable, Jesus introduces us to a family of three: a father and his two sons. Right away, we’re told that the younger son demands his share of the inheritance, and then heads off to a distant land, where he wastes everything he had received, and is left with nothing. Now, the scandal here is not just about the younger son being careless with his money… it’s also about the shameful way that he treats his father, and the damage done to their relationship.

In the largely patriarchal and honour-shame cultures of the ancient Near East, fathers were the honoured head of the family. They were expected to be treated with great respect, and deference. And the same would go for the older sons, those who were expected to fill in for their father as head of the household once he dies. So when this youngest son rudely demands his inheritance right away, he isn’t just being impatient, he’s acting disgracefully… it would be like saying to his father: ‘I wish you were dead.’ And it suggests a complete break in their relationship… disregarding all that he had done for him.

But then everything blows up in his face. Disaster strikes, and the younger son finds himself in desperate straits. A famine strikes the land, and the son is left destitute. His new friends abandon him, and he’s forced to do degrading work with no hope of relief. And here at rock bottom, that’s when he comes to his senses, and he remembers that his father’s servants were much better off than he was now. 

Of course he knows that there’s no chance of making amends now and restoring their broken relationship. But maybe his father will have pity on him, and take him back as a hired servant. So he swallows his pride, and rehearses his apology… expecting to have to bear the full weight of his mistakes… and heads back home full of shame, but hoping against hope that maybe… just maybe… his father will be gracious enough to give him a job so that he will not starve. 

But as it turns out, the younger son does not understand the depths of his father’s mercy and love. 

His father sees him from afar… and he runs. He runs to his boy, and embraces him… and covers his mud-caked face with kisses. The son starts to recite his prepared apology, but the father doesn’t even wait to hear it. Instead, he calls for his own best robe, and his ring, marks of familial status and honour, to be given to his long-lost child… and then the father calls for a feast. 

And the youngest son is swept up in an amazing act of grace, and lavish love beyond anything he expected or deserved… or even dreamed of. Where he expected to find condemnation and shame, he is surrounded by compassion and forgiveness instead… a beautiful glimpse of the very heartbeat of the message of the Gospel.  

Can we identify with this son’s experience of being embraced by his father’s gracious love? I hope so!

This parable offers us a powerful image of God’s love, that Christians have looked to from the beginning to understand and express the kind of welcome we have been offered in Christ. This story often hits home when we have moments of conversion… coming to faith for the first time… or of reconnection… returning to the Lord after he have wandered away, and are suddenly made aware that God’s love for us is so much bigger than our brokenness… and so much stronger than all our guilt and shame… It’s like coming to life again: when everything seemed lost, suddenly we’re found and welcomed home.

But this parable is more than a powerful vision of our own forgiveness, and if we stop here, we are actually missing one of the most important parts of this story’s message. 

Because this story is not only about one son. It’s about a family. The parable tells us about another son. The elder brother. The one who was expected to be honoured, like his father. The one who never stepped out of line. Who never shamed his father, or his family, or wasted his inheritance. The son who worked hard and who always did what was expected of him. 

A son who, just like his younger brother, does not understand the depths of his father’s mercy and love.

His story picks up with the party already started. The older son comes back from a day of working in the fields, and he hears about the feast in honour for his long-lost brother. But unlike his father, the older son is filled with anger and deep resentment. And so, he refuses to join in the celebration. 

So his father leaves the party and goes out to find him.

When he does, he begins to plead with the elder son to join them, and the always obedient, responsible son responds by letting his father have it. Now before we look down on him, let’s think about his position. Let’s listen to his complaint. Luke 15:29-30,

“But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’”

‘What has this all been for?’ he says. ‘I’ve worked and slaved for you all my life, and for what? You’ve never blessed me like you bless this useless, horrible son of yours!’

Can we identify with this older son sometimes? Do we ever feel weighed down with duty… working hard to do what’s expected, but then seeing nothing to show for it? All the while, seeing other, completely undeserving people being lifted up? If you’ve ever felt this way… if you’re feeling this way today, you’re definitely not alone. And thankfully, this word from Jesus our Lord is for you… to bring you peace and hope as well. But this parable is also a challenge to us… correcting some assumptions that we all make from time to time about the true nature of God’s mercy and love, and how it works in our lives, and in our world.

One way to explain the older son’s point of view is to say that he is relating to his father with a basically 
transactional framework: ‘If I do this for you, you’ll do that for me.’ Of course, there’s a flip side to this too: ‘If I don’t do this for you, you won’t do that for me.’ This is a vision of the world where we all basically get what we deserve… and it deeply shapes how we relate to ourselves… and how we relate to the other people in our lives.

But the Gospel, the Good News of offers us another way to see both ourselves, and others… not based on evaluating what everyone does or does not deserve… but based on what the Living God has done for us, and for them too… through God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

And this parable… this story asks us all: ‘Do we truly understand our Heavenly Father’s mercy & love? How in tune are we with God’s amazing, saving grace for sinners of every sort?’

In the parable, the father seeks to share his life and joy with both his sons… not as a reward, but as a gift. As an outpouring of his own generosity, and willingness to embrace them both as his own. 

With the younger son, we see this clearly, as the father honours and welcomes his child home with unexpected ease, and overflowing joy… seeing his wasteful and wayward boy as one who has been brought back to life from the dead.

And with the older son, we see the father seeking him out, eager for his diligent child to come and share in his joy as well. And we also see the father patiently listening to his elder sons’ angry accusations… against his brother, and also against the father… but then gently challenging the older son’s assumptions… inviting him to adopt a whole different way of seeing himself, his relationship with his father, and with his estranged brother. Luke 15:31-32,

“Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

The son seems to have thought that his father had forgotten him… that he had been loved less, and neglected. But in the father’s eyes, that’s not the case at all! It’s not an either/or. He loved both his children, and wanted them both to share in his love together. 

But to do that, the elder son had to choose to make room in his heart and his life for his brother again. He would have to start to see that the new life of his brother mattered so much more than money, or honour, or his ideas about what anyone deserved. 

This story is an invitation to live by God’s grace. To receive His grace, and then to extend it.

And the story is left hanging. How would the older son respond? More to the point: how will you and I respond???
 
After all, this parable is not at all a hypothetical scenario. It is a word from our Lord Jesus Christ, challenging our own assumptions, and calling us to a deeper understanding of our Heavenly Father’s great mercy and love… one that will actually begin to alter how we relate to God, and to all those around us.

In other words, it’s pointing us to Jesus Himself… to God’s own beloved Son, our Saviour.

The One who went out to the lost, to the scandalous, the losers, the compromised, and corrupt, and called them turn around and to share in the New Life of God’s Kingdom… embracing them as His beloved sisters and brothers, not because they deserved it at all, but because of God’s own great mercy and love. 

And we know, Jesus was also rejected by those who were self-righteous… those who could not or would not recognize in Him the mercy and love of the Living God at work… and who were angry and scandalized that Jesus would claim to be so close to the Holy One, and yet still hang out with all the wrong kinds of people. 

But Jesus didn’t come to pick sides. He came to seek the lost, and to share God’s great mercy and saving love with everyone and anyone who would receive it. And He did this by taking our place once and for all at the cross.

Jesus gave His life for both the younger and the older brothers… for all of us, no matter which ways we have wandered from the holy ways of our Heavenly Father: through being shameful or self-righteousness… through our anger or our carelessness. Christ Jesus took on all the consequences of our world’s ungodliness… in every form it may take… in order to save and embrace us all… bringing us to Himself forever.

As St. Paul says in second Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

But here’s the kicker: what Jesus has done for us, He has also done for everyone else. That includes those who have hurt us, or who deeply frustrate us, or who give us reasons to be afraid. He doesn’t condone what they’ve done, or want it to continue. Far from it! 

But the truth remains that Jesus Christ gave His life for them too. And our Heavenly Father seeks to save them too. As much as we may want to at times, you and I don’t get to draw the lines about who gets embraced by the love of God.

But if we leave it there, we’re actually missing the biggest scandal of this story, and like the older son, we’re still left standing outside, refusing to come in. The real scandal of God’s mercy and saving love is that He wants us to share it with them too. Not to stand off at a distance, grumbling, but to be an integral part of how his love is made known. 

In other words: Jesus embraces us, so that, with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can embrace our estranged siblings too, and help them return to the loving arms of our Father in Heaven.

Or better yet, in St. Paul’s words: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-21).

Of course we know, that we can’t make people respond faithfully to this Good News of God’s reconciling love. And there is no guarantee that those we share it with will want anything we have to offer. And we can never try to force people who are estranged to be reconciled. It has to be a two-way street. In order for broken relationships to truly heal, there’s lots of healing, and listening, and rebuilding of trust that will need to take place. 
 
But as Christians, we have already received God’s reconciling mercy and grace, and are now called to share it with those around us in Jesus’ name… looking at ourselves and everyone around us, not simply from a human point of view, but as beloved sons and daughters that Christ Jesus died to save.

So how will we respond to all those around us today? That all depends on how we see them, and on our understanding of the mercy and saving love of our Heavenly Father. 

So may we see and treat everyone… ourselves, our loved ones, our neighbours, and even our enemies, in the light of the Gospel… the Good News of what Jesus Christ has done to seek out and save us all. Amen.  

Today marks the third Sunday of Lent, a sacred season for Christians to prepare in mind, body, and spirit, to follow our Saviour Jesus Christ to the cross, and the solemn commemoration of His betrayal, death, and resurrection at Holy Week.

Some of the traditional practices of the season of Lent include fasting, the study of Scripture, prayerful reflection, and generous almsgiving. 

To help us grow in our understanding and faith as Christ's disciples today, each week we will be sharing links to two videos from the Bible Project from their series on The Sermon on the Mount.

You can find this week's videos,  'Wisdom Within Laws About Oaths, Retaliation, and Enemy Love', and 'Warnings About Religious Practices' below: 

Scripture Readings: Genesis 15:1–12, 17–18 | Psalm 27 | Philippians 3:17–4:1 | Luke 13:31–35

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34).

How we respond to danger and threats says a lot about what we value… and what we trust in. 

At one level, this response to danger happens completely unconsciously. When threatened, our body’s self-defense mechanisms kick in to help us do what we must to survive… what’s sometimes called the ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ response to stress. Our bodies automatically prepare us to challenge the threats head on, to flee as fast as possible, or to temporarily seize up, in the hopes that the threat will pass us by. 

All of these biological strategies have their place, and are useful in certain circumstances. And all of us have different default reactions… ones we jump to more easily than others. But this physiological response is only part of our overall approach to dealing with dangers in life. Our will also plays an important role in how we react to threats.

When we have more than a second to think about what to do… when we have a chance to actually choose our next steps… and decide between all the pathways before us… that’s when our response to danger really reveals what we care about, and what we think is the best way to protect it.

Our reading today from St. Luke’s Gospel tells of a moment when Christ Jesus our Lord comes under threat: when He receives a warning that powerful people are out to get Him. And in this passage, we get a glimpse of both what our Lord Jesus is truly passionate about… and also a vision of what it means for us all to respond to threats and dangers from the point of view of God’s Kingdom.

Our passage begins with Jesus being warned by some Pharisees that the puppet-king Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, wanted Him dead. Now as you might remember, Herod Antipas’ father, King Herod the ‘Great’, had also sought to kill Jesus, when He was a child, after the visit from the Magi. At that time, Herod the ‘Great’ was threatened by news of a newborn King of the Jews, and ended up killing all the young boys in Bethlehem, but Jesus and His family fled to safety in Egypt. 

And now, like father like son, Herod Antipas sees the adult Jesus as a threat… someone who was causing trouble and upsetting his own vision for Galilee. We don’t have all the details of why Herod Antipas wanted Jesus dead… just that he did. And usually, when powerful people like that want you dead, that’s reason enough to flee.

And so some Pharisees, who have as a group had some confrontations with Jesus at this point, but who were not outright enemies yet, decide to warn Jesus to get out of town, and out of trouble. “Get away from here,” they tell Him, “for Herod wants to kill you.” (Luke 13:31).

What would you do in His place? How would you respond to this kind of warning?

Well, Jesus responds by doing something quite unexpected. He says He has His own work to do, work that Herod’s threats won’t stop Him from doing. And though He soon will be leaving Galilee, it’s not to flee away from danger, but to journey straight into the heart of it! 

Luke 13:32-33, “He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’” 

Right away, Jesus dismisses the ruler of Galilee as ‘that fox’… a cunning predator of small creatures, but not really that much of a threat. Then He lays out His own agenda: to do the works of the Kingdom of God. To drive away the dark spiritual powers holding us humans in bondage and fear… curing the sick, and bringing healing to people in mind, body, and soul. In short, Jesus was far too busy bringing God’s life and light to those who desperately needed it to worry about what Herod Antipas was up to… and more than that, He knew where the real danger lay. 

He knew His mission… and that His path would soon take Him to Jerusalem, whose name means ‘city of shalom’ or ‘city of peace’. 

Jerusalem… the home of the Temple of Yahweh, first built by Solomon, son of King David, and which was the central place of worship for God’s people… before the city was sacked by the Babylonians at the time of the Exile. But the Temple had been rebuilt when the Exiles returned, and this building had recently been refurbished and made great again by Herod ‘the Great’… the same one who also murdered the children of Bethlehem, to protect his own interests. Jesus knew His path would take Him from the largely rural and familiar region of Galilee, to this sacred but politically unsafe city.

Jerusalem was of course, the centre of Judean religious and political life. It was where the Chief Priests offered their spiritual leadership, and ritual practices. It was the headquarters of the Sanhedrin, the Council of elders who took charge of many aspects of the lives of God’s people in that region… and who would eventually form the plot for Christ’s false accusations, arrest, and death. And Jesus knew all this was coming.

For Jerusalem, the centre of so much of the drama of the Scriptures, was where many of God’s prophets were sent to call God’s people to repent… to turn back to God… but kept on facing rejection, persecution, and death.
Herod Antipas could not concern Jesus less. And so, in heading to Jerusalem, our Lord was not seeking to avoid danger… He knew He was walking straight into the fire! 

But why would He do this? What was His motivation here? 

It was certainly not to start a fight: to go toe to toe with the city’s powerful but corrupt rulers… to try and challenge their authority by overthrowing them with violence. 

And it wasn’t out of some effort to prove that He was impervious to threats or danger… bravely facing the abyss to somehow show off His courage and spiritual prowess.

Why does He say He’s going to Jerusalem? Because He wants to rescue them! He longs to spare them all from the fate that He knows they are in danger of embracing. 

In other words, Jesus goes to Jerusalem, despite all the dangers it holds for Him, because He loves them! Because God the Father loves them! Because He has been entrusted with God’s great rescue mission, and He will not be deterred from it. 

Luke 13:34-35, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” 

The image Christ uses of a mother hen gathering her brood is itself a beautiful one, but as the bishop and scholar, N.T. Wright highlights, in the context of coming danger, this image speaks of an incredible act of love. Forgive this long-ish quote, but I think it is worth it:

“Fire is as terrifying to trapped animals as to people, if not more so. When a farmyard catches fire, the animals try to escape; but, if they cannot, some species have developed ways of protecting their young. The picture here is of a hen, gathering her chicks under her wings to protect them. There are stories of exactly this: after a farmyard fire, those cleaning up have found a dead hen, scorched and blackened—with live chicks sheltering under her wings. She has quite literally given her life to save them. It is a vivid and violent image of what Jesus declared he longed to do for Jerusalem and, by implication, for all Israel. But, at the moment, all he could see was chicks scurrying off in the opposite direction, taking no notice of the smoke and flames indicating the approach of danger, nor of the urgent warnings of the one who alone could give them safety.” (N.T Wright, Luke for Everyone (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 171–172.)

Jesus uses the image of a mother hen putting her own body between her offspring and the dangers that would otherwise completely overwhelm them. It’s a picture of self-sacrifice in order to spare those who are loved even more than life.

And so, Jesus knows He is heading into the fire… straight into danger, in order to save His people. But how would they respond? Would they take shelter beneath His outstretched arms? Or would they scatter, seeking shelter and security somewhere else?

Centuries before Christ, we know Jerusalem fell to the armies of Babylon, and it was destroyed… just as many prophets of God had predicted… all because God’s people had turned away from the LORD, and rejected His holy ways.

And just a few decades after Jesus said these words, the powerful armies of the Roman Empire would again march through the city of Jerusalem, and bring it down… overthrowing a Judaean revolt, spurred on by charismatic, ‘would-be’ messiahs… who rejected the way of peace that Jesus Himself pursued, and calls us to followed.  

Although some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem had listened to Jesus’ call, especially after the Good News of His resurrection was proclaimed by the Apostles, starting in the ‘city of peace’, many of those who did not embraced violence and bloodshed, and thought that the sword was the best way to save their people. But in the end, Jerusalem was again overthrown, and its people scattered or slain. 

Of course, our world is full of threats and dangers. They’re not only found in Jerusalem.

So, when we feel like we’re in the fire… threatened, in danger… frightened… where do we run? What do we turn to? 
Facing the barrage of challenges of our day… many of us can be tempted to respond by looking for some sense of security by following a strong leader who we think will fight for us, and our own interests. Or maybe, we’re more inclined to look for ways to stay out of trouble… to freeze or appease those who threaten us… even if it means consenting to things that we know take us further away from God’s holy ways. 

As St. Paul warned us, in our second reading this morning, there are many at work in our world who really are living “as enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18), even if they claim to be our champions… those whose agendas and influence may seem to offer us hope, but actually lead us straight into the fire. 

But alongside this warning, St. Paul also gives us a word of hope: a reminder that our true citizenship is in heaven… that our real allegiance is not bound to any earthly state, or leader, but to the Kingdom of God… a Kingdom which we are called to serve here and now… while we await the return of our true Saviour, the Risen King Jesus… who alone is our assurance of victory and glory. 

And so, even if for a time we are threatened and must face many dangers, we believe that Jesus will raise us up… and so we can, and must seek always to stand firm in Him.  

And this is what Jesus calls us to do: to seek and find our shelter in Him. 

Not to entrust ourselves to all the foxes out there, who might promise us protection, but are just as likely to turn and devour us. Those who are happy to use us to get what they want, but who do not really care about our fate.

We are called to trust in His saving love… the love that brings the freedom of God’s good Kingdom to light, and forgiveness and healing to our lives in surprising ways… the love that led Him straight into the fire for all our sakes: choosing to endure the cruelty and shame of the cross in order to rescue… not just His friends, but even His enemies!

This is the love that Christ Jesus has for us, and for our world: God’s self-giving love, that sees even those who stand against us as beloved… longing to embrace us all and bring us safely together in His healing arms.

And so, as we continue our journey through Lent, at a time when many of us and our neighbours feel deeply insecure, and under threat, Jesus is calling us to trust in His sincere, self-giving love… and to follow Him. To follow Him to the cross, knowing that we’re not going to be spared our share of the dangers and fires of life… but trusting that whatever we face, Jesus our Risen Saviour is with us… and His saving love will see us through… and that, as we stand firm in our faith in Him, and put His love into practice, those around us can come to know where they too can turn to find true refuge, and come to believe in the rescuing power of His love. Amen.

Scripture Readings: ​Deuteronomy 26:1–11 | Psalm 91 | Romans 10:8–13 | ​Luke 4:1–13

“Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:12).

Today’s reading from St. Luke’s Gospel tackles head on what I’m sure is everyone’s favourite topic: temptation. That familiar experience of being drawn away from what’s really best for us, by what seems better… but leads to disaster. 

We all face them, temptations. Big ones and small ones. Ones that we can easily excuse giving into, and others that can shake us to the core, and cause all sorts of chaos in our lives, if we aren’t careful to resist them. 

And as we begin the sacred season of Lent, and prepare to follow the story of our Lord Jesus to the cross, our first leg of the journey calls us to revisit this strange but pivotal moment when Jesus Himself was tempted… how He endured and overcame the trials before Him, and remained faithful to His Heavenly Father, and to His Kingdom’s mission.

But unfortunately, I think it can be easy for us to miss the point, not just of this episode in Christ’s life, but also of this entire sacred season… especially when we are tempted to look at this story, and the whole journey of Lent as primarily some sort of process of self-improvement. As a time when we mostly focus on making ourselves a bit more disciplined, generous, and spiritual… practicing self-control, in order to overcome our own temptations.

But thankfully, the Good News is not really about how we can become slightly better people. It’s about what Jesus Christ has done for us all… when we had completely failed.

And so, even though there is much we can learn from Christ’s three trials in our Gospel Reading today, we are actually being offered far more than mere examples of how to avoid sin and resist giving in to our own temptations. And we’re also being given far more than an inspiring story of just how awesome Jesus is.

Rather, we are being invited to see this strange story as an early but essential victory in God’s great rescue mission: how Jesus is reliving the story of God’s people… a particularly challenging part of their story… but this time, instead of failing the test, and giving in, He gets it right!

This story from Luke Chapter 4 calls us all the way back to a pivotal moment in Israel’s story: to the story of the Exodus, and Israel’s journey through the wilderness. After being freed from slavery in Egypt, and passing through the waters of the Red Sea, the people of Israel were led out into the barren desert by God’s own divine presence… into a new and challenging situation where they would have to learn to trust Him… or not.

But as the story goes, right away the people begin to doubt the goodness and trustworthiness of the God who saved them… because He led them into the wilderness, where there’s not enough food and water to go around.

Of course, this was a pretty legitimate problem to have! They really do need food. They really do need water. Their situation required some sort of a response! But what would it be? They could have turned to the LORD, and sought His help, trusting in His steadfast love. But instead, they turned on Him in their hearts, and assumed that they really knew what was best for them.

And they weren’t the first people to make this mistake. All throughout the Scriptures, we see this familiar challenge taking place. Think of Adam and Eve in the Garden, where they doubted God’s word about the forbidden fruit. And think about Abraham and Sarah, distrusting God’s solemn promise that He would provide them with a son. Again and again, throughout the Bible, we find that our ancestors in the faith keep on failing to trust in the LORD. Is it then so strange that we see Israel in the wilderness falling into these same temptations? 

But even so, that doesn’t mean there was no other choice.

Yes, they were in a tough spot. But remember, God had already rescued them! God had delivered them from slavery, and shown them His power and glory. God had claimed them as His own beloved children. And had promised to be with them! To dwell among them, through all of their times of trouble. And God was leading them to a new and bountiful land, promised long ago to Abraham and Sarah, for their descendants… offering them real hope for the future that they could have never dreamed of, never mind achieved on their own.

In their story we can see the clash between what the Living God had said… and the challenges of their circumstances. And this kind of conflict required them to make a choice: to trust the LORD, or not.

And when we find ourselves in similar situations, with serious, and totally legitimate problems before us that we need to deal with, the same choice lies before us too. 

Will we trust the LORD, and place our faith in His goodness and steadfast love, even when it’s hard to see? Or will we turn our hearts away from Him, and try to do things our own way?

This is an important question for us to consider, but the Good News is not actually about what we will do. The Gospel is about what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for us!

Turning back to our Gospel reading, we find Jesus facing the same situation His ancestors did… reliving their crisis of faith in the desert, but with an entirely different result.

Like Israel passing through the Red Sea, Jesus goes through the waters of baptism in the Jordan River, where he is affirmed as God’s beloved Son by a voice from Heaven, and the Spirit’s anointing. And then, just like Israel, Jesus is led by God’s Spirit out into the wilderness, where He goes forty days without food, His very real hunger growing stronger day by day. 

Even though He really is God’s beloved Son, Jesus finds Himself facing a legitimate problem. His body needs food, and He feels it… and in that moment of great vulnerability, the Tempter arrives, and does his best to derail Jesus’ mission… just as the Tempter had done with Adam and Eve in the Garden… and behind the scenes, with Israel in the wilderness too… through the stomach.

But this tactic of the Tempter is not just about food. What he’s really seeking to do is to feed people doubt.

In the Garden, the Tempter asks: ‘did God really say that? Are you sure you can trust Him to give you what’s best? What about this amazing thing over here?’

And in the desert, the Tempter asks: ‘can the LORD really be relied on to give you what you need? You don’t seem to have enough, do you?’

And to Jesus, weakened with hunger, the Tempter asks: ‘if You really are God’s beloved Son, You can just take care of Yourself. There’s no need to lean on the LORD, or trust Him when things get really tough. Just use Your own power, and end Your needless suffering. That’s the most reasonable thing to do.’

But this temptation to doubt God doesn’t work with Jesus, who responds by quoting from Deuteronomy Chapter 8. Christ only says a few words in response, but I think having a bit more context makes things a bit clearer for us. 

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

We do not live by bread alone… our life comes from the LORD. Jesus passes the test by trusting in His Father.

In the next test, Jesus is shown a vision of all the Kingdoms of the Earth… which is what God promised to His Messiah… that His Chosen One would one day reign as the eternal King of Kings. But then the Tempter asks: ‘Why wait? Why worry about all the struggles and the hard road ahead?  Just bow down to me, and it can all be Yours right now! No need to bother about patience and faithfulness, or just bow to me and it’s all free!’

It seems to me that many today are quite tempted by this kind of offer. Even those of us who claim to be devote Christians seem willing to trade faithfulness to the LORD and His holy ways for a taste of political power, a sense of security, and influence over the culture.

For those who tend to think that the ends justify the means, this temptation can be very strong. I mean, think of all the good we could do if we were in charge! Just bow down a bit to the Tempter, and all we want is within our grasp! No need to struggle to do the right thing. No need to stand up against injustice, or oppression, or lawlessness.  We can seize the kingdom for ourselves! Take the forbidden fruit, and become like God… without having to bother to learn to let God’s love rule in and over our hearts.

Again, Jesus refuses to listen to the Tempter’s words. Jesus replies: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Luke 4:8). He chooses again to trust His Father in Heaven, and to do His will alone.

For the third trial, the Tempter again seeks to drive a wedge between Father and Son: ‘If you are God’s Son’ he says, ‘prove to it now to Yourself, and to all of God’s people! Throw Yourself down off of the pinnacle of the Temple in a divine spectacle, so that everyone will see and believe that You really are who You think You are! If You do, surely the LORD will save You, and not allow You to come to harm. Remove all doubt, once and for all. Put Your life completely in God’s hands! If He really loves You… won’t He keep You from all harm?

This is another big temptation for many today too… and maybe even for some of us here this morning: the temptation to question God’s love for us, when we are faced with suffering. I mean, wouldn’t God spare those He loves from having to go through times of great anguish and pain? Why doesn’t He send His angels to catch us when we fall, like in Psalm 91?

Well, I believe that sometimes He really does! We can and do receive divine help and deliverance, probably far more often than we realize. But that doesn’t solve the problem here… because sometimes instead of being lifted up without a scratch, we find ourselves falling flat on our face. Sometimes we end up really hurt, and frightened, and humiliated… and wondering if we have done something wrong to turn God against us, or if He ever even cared. 

And Jesus faced this powerful temptation too… even having the Scriptures twisted to test Him, and try to get Him to draw a straight line between God’s love and being spared all suffering: ‘if You really believe that God loves You, that God can be trusted, prove it! Put Your life on the line, so that everyone can see God step in and save You!
And once again, Jesus refuses to give in. Recalling the story of Israel grumbling against God at Massah and Meribah, He quotes Deuteronomy 6:16 “Do not put the Lord your God to the test…”

Trusting God does not mean making Him prove Himself on our terms, but of placing our lives completely in His hands, come what may. And being beloved by God does not mean that we will not suffer. Far from it. And we know this first and foremost because of another moment when Jesus must face this test again… not from the top of the Temple in Jerusalem this time, but on a hill outside the city walls… crucified… hanging from a cross for all to see.

Here we find Jesus enduring unimaginable suffering: betrayed by His friends, beaten by cruel soldiers, humiliated and shamed, dying alongside criminals… all while God’s people mocked Him with these words: 

Matthew 27:39-43, “Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads  and saying, ‘You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’’  ”

If You really are the Son of God, come down from the cross… and we will believe in You!

If God really loves You, wouldn’t He want to save You? 

But in this moment of extreme physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish and pain… Jesus again passes the test.

He stays on the cross, suffering in body, mind, and soul… enduring it’s agony ‘til the end… and doing what no one in all of human history has done, before or since: Jesus entrusted His life completely into the hands of God His Father, giving up His own perfect life in order to save all of us sinners once and for all.

The conflict that began back in the wilderness, and that continued all throughout His life, came to a climax at the cross: where, in spite of every temptation to save Himself, and seek a way to spare Himself the horrors of what lay ahead… Jesus believed completely in His Father’s love and it seemed to cost Him everything.

But as we know, in the end, Jesus was not put to shame! His trust in God’s love was totally proved to be true! He was raised again and revealed to be the Chosen conqueror of hell and the grave… the firstborn from the dead, and the first fruits of God’s New Creation!

By trusting in God’s rescuing, resurrecting love, Jesus became our Saviour: braking the power of our sin and shame, and atoning for all our unfaithfulness… opening up the way for us to follow Him into God’s new and unending life, filled with the same Spirit that was at work in Him.

So in our own moments of testing and temptation… when we feel weak, and powerless, and begin to doubt God’s goodness and love, let us trust in Jesus, our crucified and Risen Saviour! Let us turn our eyes to Him, and remember His faithfulness. Let us remember His promise to be right here with us, sharing His Holy Spirit with us, and empowering us to follow Him into His Kingdom.

And as we make our way together over the coming weeks through the season of Lent, let us remember the Good News that Jesus our Saviour is the One who overcomes all of our failures. He remained true to the end, and He remains true even when we His people may stumble and fall. So let us trust in Him! Let us lean on His strength, and His saving love… following Him with all we are and have, and placing our lives completely in His hands. Amen.

​And our Songs this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 58:1–12 | Psalm 51 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10 | Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21

Ashes to ashes… dust to dust.

These words are often uttered in the context of a burial, confronting us in the midst of life with our own mortality. They recall the tragic words spoken to Adam and Eve in the early chapters of Genesis, after these humans, created from the soil of the earth and raised up to share in God’s image, turned their backs on the LORD, and fell in their pride and folly. 

“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread 
until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; 
you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)

Ash Wednesday is an important opportunity for us to remember this sad part of our shared human story… for us to stop playing games, or glossing over uncomfortable truths, and to get real… to face our vulnerability, and sin head on… to recognize together that we are not just weak, but helpless in the face of death… that we are not just caught up in a broken system, but an active part of it as well… to remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall all return… that in so many ways, our world is still estranged from the will of our Heavenly Father… and far off course from His intensions… bound to futility.

I promise you, there is Good News here. I know this is heavy, and hard, but there is real hope being offered, even here. 

Which is more than we often encounter when we look around at our world today. Everywhere we turn, there seem to be plenty of reminders these days that we are helpless: constantly bombarded by news about the series problems our world is facing... especially all of the problems brought about by proud and powerful rulers, and the devastation they can cause… a climate crisis out of control, and little political will to do much about it… injustice seemingly given the green light, again and again, while the wicked seem to flourish.

But as we are tempted to despair, Ash Wednesday reminds us that all those who trouble the earth are dust as well. That despite all of their pride and folly, to dust we all shall return.

This is the common plight of humankind… poor or rich, kind and cruel, wise or fool… no matter how much we may long to experience life in all it’s fullness, we are all going to die.

The difference becomes: how will we all respond to this reality?

Will we just go on playing games and pretending? Distracting ourselves, or denying the fact of death, and the inevitable end of all our hopes and plans? Will we give in to fear, and desperately cling to whatever gives us some sense of comfort or control?

Ash Wednesday calls us to respond in a different way: with humility and faith… and facing the limits of our lives by trusting in the mercy and love of the Living God. 

Humility is not given very much attention these days, but it’s a vital Christian virtue. It’s connected to the word for “earth”… as in soil… dirt… dust… and it refers to that which is lowly… and openhearted… as opposed to being prideful, self-centred, and vain. Humility is not the same as self-consciousness, or shame, or a poor sense of worth… but rather the ability to recognize and operate within our limits… to be in touch with reality. And so, Ash Wednesday invites us to remember who we really are… with all of our flaws and faults… but instead of then falling into despair, to turn instead to the LORD in faith.

Yes, Ash Wednesday is a call to faith. An invitation to trust that, even though we are dust… we are called to turn our eyes to the Creator and Redeemer of the Earth, and to seek His mercy… not by pretending do be perfect, or especially pious, but drawing near as we really are, and humbly saying ‘yes’ to what He has graciously offered us: full forgiveness… true freedom… and new and everlasting life through Jesus Christ.

Ash Wednesday points us to Jesus, God’s perfect, sinless Son, who out of self-giving love stepped into all of our messes of ashes and dust, and took it all on His own shoulders… to set free all those oppressed by the injustice of others, and also ensnared by their own wickedness… to feed the hungry with the bread of His own body, and the wine of His blood, the true food from heaven that sustains and satisfies in ways beyond compare… and to cover up the nakedness of all our guilt and shame, wrapping us up in His own honour and glory, and embracing us as His beloved sisters and brothers… humbling Himself at the cross to lift up us creatures of dust, and fill us with His divine life and holy love. As St. Paul puts it: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Ash Wednesday reminds us of the Good News of Jesus Christ our humble and faithful Saviour… the Good News God’s life-giving love for you and I, and all of us creatures of ashes and dust… a love that alone can raise up the dead, and that will make all things new.

So may we respond to the invitation of Ash Wednesday: may we acknowledge our powerless. May we repent of our pride, and our selfishness, and sin. May we confess our need for God’s mercy, offered to us through the cross of Jesus Christ. And may we believe that His holy, reconciling, and life-giving love is what we all really need. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Psalm 51:1–12 | Hebrews 5:5–10 | ​John 12:20–33

“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24).
 
Happy St. Patrick’s day!
 
Quick question: How many of us here today have some Irish ancestry?
 
I’ve been able to trace members of my family back to Ireland in the 1800’s, but according to one of those genetic tests that are now available, I’ve only inherited about 1% of Irish genes. The Montgomery clan after all, were Scots who arrived in Northern Ireland, before eventually moving on to settle in Canada. Even so, I appreciate and treasure these small Irish connections… especially this time of year.
 
And I have some good news for everyone else here today who might like to be a bit more Irish than we are: we’re in pretty good company.
 
As some of us may know, St. Patrick himself wasn’t Irish! He was born in Britain, a province of the Roman Empire, on the frontier of their vast European territory, at around the time the Roman armies were retreating from this region, around the turn of the 5th Century.
 
So how then did Patrick become so connected to Ireland, and how did he come to be a seen as a Saint?
 
The earliest source of information we have about St. Patrick comes from his own hand, an autobiographical account of his story called the Confession of St. Patrick. He doesn’t spend much time at all in this account discussing his upbringing, or background, but he begins with a few simple words about himself and his most recent ancestors: “My name is Patrick.” He begins, “I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest”.[1]

But simply being raised in a family of Christian leaders didn’t seem to endear young Patrick to the faith. He mentions not really knowing the True God in his younger days, which is not the start many might have imagined for one of the most well-known saints of all time. But as we know, hearts and lives can change in all sorts of ways.
 
Which leads us to how Patrick first came into contact with Ireland: as a victim of human trafficking. Along with many others, Patrick was captured by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. He had his old life stolen from him, and was made to serve strangers, in a strange land.
 
According to his account, it was during his time of captivity and slavery that he began to reach out to God, and found as he did so that the Lord was reaching out to him with His divine mercy and grace. This newfound faith didn’t solve all of his troubles… but it did change Patrick’s own heart, and turn around his life in ways that he could never have dreamed possible.
 
After some time passed, Patrick recounts how the Lord eventually led him to freedom… aiding his escape across the wilds, and even providing him with a way off the island… guiding him to sailors who were willing to help this escaped slave return to Britain. All told it’s an amazing story, that we don’t have time to fully explore this morning, but I encourage you to look up St. Patrick’s Confession sometime soon, and give it a read.
 
Keeping things brief: Patrick returned to his old life, a freed man. And that’s where his story could have ended. But something significant had changed in Patrick’s life: his new awareness of God’s grace, God’s rescuing love, which found him when he was completely helpless and hopeless, had turned Patrick’s life around… and placed him on a new path.
 
Soon Patrick left Britain for what is now France, and prepared to become a priest, devoted to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and the Lord’s rescuing love with those in the world who, like his younger self, didn’t yet know the True God.
 
And again, the Lord reached out to Patrick… not this time to bring him freedom, but to work through Patrick to bring God’s freedom to others… specifically, to his old captors.
  
Patrick recounts how he has a vision, in which a man, representing his old Irish oppressors, begs him to return and live among them again. He took this as a call from God to go share the Good News of Jesus with the people of Ireland… asking Patrick to set aside all the plans he had made for his life, in order to share God’s rescuing love with those who he could easily had written off as enemies.
 
And so, choosing to follow the call of His Lord, Patrick goes back, and spends the rest of his days serving in Ireland… convincing their chiefs to give their allegiance to the High King of Heaven, Jesus the Risen Lord, and planting the seeds of faith to set their whole society on the path of the One True God.
 
Patrick would served there as a missionary and bishop, and though he faced opposition at times, he has been embraced by the people of Ireland as their patron saint for centuries… recognized as someone who followed the way of Jesus, and freely gave his life to share God’s saving love with them.
 
Of course, St. Patrick’s life is not just a good story, or a history lesson… it’s an example of the Good News of Jesus at work in our world… a work that is still ongoing, and which we all are invited to share in as well.
 
God’s work of transforming hearts and lives… of turning whole communities towards His holy ways… of drawing close all those who do not yet know His divine forgiveness and grace, and mercy, and rescuing love… of helping us die to ourselves, so that we can share the gift of God’s abundant and unending life in Christ.
 
We see this work unfolding in our first reading from Jeremiah, as God addresses His unfaithful people who had repeatedly broken their covenant with the Lord, and who were now headed for disaster and the horrors of Exile. But even this hopeless situation was not going to be the end of their story, because in mercy and grace the Living God promises to transform the hearts of His stubborn people, pointing forward to a day when they would be truly turned around and find new life in Him.
 
Jeremiah 31:33-34, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”.
 
God promises them a new covenant… a whole new way of life with Him, not written on stone, but on their hearts… that is, transforming their very desires and understanding… realigning them inside and out by God’s own rescuing love, and setting them free by His forgiveness.
 
This is the hope that Israel’s prophets bore witness to… a hope that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and that continues to shape the lives of those who will trust and follow Him.
 
In our Gospel reading this morning, St. John shows us something remarkable: after spending His life bearing witness to the children of Israel, now Greek Gentiles were beginning to seek out Jesus as well. Gentiles, members of the various nations all around Israel, who did not yet know the Living God… who didn’t have a covenant with Him, or follow His holy ways… the nations who had repeatedly oppressed and offended Israel, God’s chosen people… now even they were coming to Jesus, and begging for Him to meet with them.
 
The disciples don’t quite seem to know what to do. This wasn’t really a part of their plans. But by His response, we know that Jesus knows what it will take for the whole world, Jews and Gentiles alike, to meet with Him:
 
John 12:23–28, Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
 
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”
 
In order to bring to fulfillment His mission to rescue and reconcile the whole world to God, Jesus knew it would cost Him everything. He would have to die. To give up His life, like a seed buried in the ground, so that through His death we all might come to taste and be transformed by God’s New Life. So that our hearts might be changed for good. So that our own desires and understandings might be shaped, not by selfishness, but by God’s self-giving love… so that
we too might be set free from our own slavery to sin and shame, and instead to find true forgiveness and peace… not just with God, but with one another… as Christ gave His body to be broken at the cross to put our whole human family back together again… reconciling estranged communities, and even enemies, through His blood shed for all.
 
What Jesus accomplished at the cross, once and for all, has changed and will continue to change the world… and He’s calling you and me to take part in this… to truly be His people, now set apart to share in this new covenant, this new way of life made possible by His blood, shed not just for some, but for all the families of the earth.
 
And as our Lord said, if we are to serve Him, we must actually follow Him… not just to our ultimate destination, sharing in the joys of His everlasting Kingdom… but also following Him to the cross… sharing in His suffering here in this life… dying to ourselves, in all sorts of ways… through transformed behaviours, through faithful choices, through selfless sacrifice… and for some, even literal suffering for the sake of Jesus… all so that God’s Holy Spirit can bear His good fruit in and through us, to bring God’s rescuing love to our world.
 
St. Patrick’s story is one of God’s grace and mercy at work in surprising ways, bringing forgiveness, freedom, and new life to the people of Ireland centuries ago… all possible because God’s love had truly changed Patrick’s life, and God’s holy ways were now written on Patrick’s heart… and so he could follow his Master, die to his old life, and bear the fruit of faithfulness.
 
What about our story? Each of us here have our own journey… our own path where God’s love has reached out to us, and now calls to us to take up our part in making this rescuing love known to, and in, our world.
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And together as a Parish family, we have a shared path to take… and important choices to make, about how to answer the call of God to share the Good News of Jesus with those in our community. We may feel ill equipped at times… or too small, too simple, too insignificant to make much of a difference. But as St. Patrick’s story reminds us, God loves to work with those who seem hopeless and helpless, to make His surprising grace, and mercy, and forgiveness known to all who will trust in Jesus… transforming even our hearts and lives to share His love with everyone.
 
So like Patrick, may we entrust our hearts and lives to the Good News of Jesus Christ our Saviour. May we be willing to follow Him wherever He might lead us. May we be open to sharing His forgiveness and love, even with those who have hurt or wronged us. And may we die to all that keeps us from bearing the fruit that will last for God’s eternal Kingdom. Amen.   


[1] Confession of St. Patrick. Quote cited from the website St. Patrick’s Confessio: https://www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english#

And our Songs this week can be found here:

​For those who want to explore this theme a bit more in depth, check out their 7 Episode Podcast series discussing questions raised by these videos on the books of the Torah, found here:

​And our Songs this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Exodus 20:1–17 | Psalm 19 | 1 Corinthians 1:18–25 | ​John 2:13–22

“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’” (John 2:19).
 
Love knows when to say no.
 
Our first reading today dives right into the heart of God’s Covenant partnership with Israel, formalized at Mt. Sinai. After centuries of slavery in Egypt, with bodies, minds, and hearts shaped by unending hours of hard labour, and the cruelty of their oppressors, we meet Israel gathered in the wilderness, and on the cusp of a brand new way of life: graciously chosen by the Creator of All to be a set-apart people, dedicated to His divine ways, Israel was about to learn what it means for them to become God’s people together… to learn how they are to reflect His goodness, His character… His image in their lives, in all they say and do, so that all the earth might come to know the life-giving love of the Lord as well.
 
And the Ten Commandments, which we read this morning, form a key component in this covenant partnership…  laying down clear expectations of what it means to join God in this unique relationship.

Note that these commandments don’t just fall out of the sky. They are given within the context of a story. Not the story so many of us buy into… the story of: “if you prove that you’re good enough, then I’ll accept you.”
 
No, the Ten Commandments are a part of the story of God’s rescuing love already at work in the world… setting free the captives, lifting up the heads of the hopeless, and bringing new life into being. Long before they arrived at Mt. Sinai, God had already rescued Israel from Egypt. The Lord had already shown Himself to be their gracious Saviour, and revealed His compassion, faithfulness, and power, again and again.
 
No, the Commandments were never about winning God’s favour. They were a gift to His beloved children. An invitation to share in God’s own life in a whole new way… a gift that the people eagerly said yes too… at least initially. These Laws were a way for God to say: “This is the way you are to live as my already rescued people in this world… this is the way you are to treat one another.” This is the way the Lord was teaching His children how to love.
 
But why did they need to be taught how to love? Doesn’t love just come naturally?
 
Of course, people everywhere understand affection.  We experience longing for others, and some sense of loyalty to those closest to us. But even so, this doesn’t seem to stop us from setting our devotions aside to do whatever seems right to us in the moment.
 
And what’s more, there’s also the danger of letting our sense of devotion to those closest to us distort our responsibilities to everyone else… leading to what’s known as tribalism… the whole “us vs. them” way of seeing the world… and all the deep divisions we see at work all around us today.
 
This was all just as true back in Israel’s early days, but the LORD had other plans in mind, for them and for the world… longing to put His Good creation back on track. And so at Sinai, Israel would learn that to live God’s way it would required a commitment, not just to our own interests, or to our family and friends… but first of all, to the One Creator and Saviour of All, the Living God… and also a commitment to the wellbeing of the wider society: In other words, they were called to love God, and to love their neighbours too.
 
What does that look like? As a place to start, we have these Ten Commandments… Laws outlining the broad vision of what life looks like when we live it God’s way.
 
And interestingly, in order to make clear what it means to live and love God’s way, we’re basically told what we’re not to do…
 
You shall have no other gods before Yahweh, the LORD.
You shall not make idols, or bow down to worship them.
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD.
You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy by not doing any work on it.
You shall not murder.
You shall not steal.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not give false testimony.
You shall not covet anything belonging to your neighbour.

For something as supremely good as God’s holy laws to teach His people how to love and live together… the shape of life that He intends for His people and His world… that’s a whole lot of No’s. The only commandment in the list without a ‘No’ or ‘Not’ in it is number five: Honour your Father and Mother.
 
But as any good Father or Mother knows… a big part of learning to love, and teaching someone else to love, means knowing when to say no… clarifying the boundaries between what is good and life-giving on the one hand, and what is destructive on the other.
 
God’s love for Israel led Him to say No to them in very clear and intentional ways… not because He didn’t want them to enjoy life in all its fullness. Exactly the opposite! God knows that to fully enjoy the fullness of life means living in certain ways… and setting other ways aside… as individuals and as a wider community, it means being shaped first of all by His love.
 
A love that knows how to say no to envy and self-centredness… and that preserves integrity… a love that does not seize what belongs to others… that honours the bonds of marriage… and knows how to restrain violence… a love that lifts up those who have come before us, and have raised us up… a love that sets aside sacred time for everyone, regardless of wealth or status, to rest and be restored in body, mind, and heart… a love that seeks to rightly honour the reputation of the Holy One… that refuses to give our hearts and devotion to empty objects, but only to the Source of all that is good… a love that remembers the compassion, and faithfulness, and saving power of the Living God, and that prioritizes this relationship above all else, so that all else finds its proper place.
 
The Ten Commandments taught Israel, and teach us all, about the boundaries of love… what not to do, so that love  can flourish as it’s supposed to… so that we, both as individuals and as a part of a wider community, can put God’s love into practice, and have our lives transformed as a result.
 
Sadly, the story of Scriptures tells us that, even when given these good boundaries… these life-giving Laws of God… Israel kept on refusing to stay inside the lines. Over and over again, they broke the commandments, and stopped letting God’s love lead the way.
 
This leads us to our Gospel reading this morning, where we witness Jesus saying No to God’s people in a clear and dramatic way. Arriving at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem during the time of the Passover, the sacred commemoration of God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt long ago, St. John tells us that Jesus of Nazareth, who we know to be God’s Son, does something quite shocking and unexpected: He makes a whip and begins driving away those who were doing business… selling animals to be sacrificed within the sacred Temple courts.
 
Why does He do this? Why was Jesus so passionate and angry about people buying and selling animals in the Temple?  
 
Well, the Temple in Jerusalem was the one place in all the earth set aside for humans to approach the holy presence of the Living God. It was the one place where devotion to the LORD was most clearly expressed, where forgiveness of sins and reconciliation was pronounced over those who drew near. The place for all God’s people together to practice loving the LORD God with all their heart, and soul, and mind, and strength… to remember His holy ways, and reaffirm their commitment to the whole Covenant relationship…
 
And they had turned it into a market. A place more devoted to profits and convenience than to the Creator and gracious Saviour of all… commercializing the sacred covenant God had invited His people to share in… turning that sacred place meant to help Israel experience God’s saving love in their lives… and to make this love known to the nations… into a business... revealing where their devotion truly rested: in merely their own interests.
 
Has the Church gone down the same route? Sadly yes. Many times, and in many ways, we Christians have also forgotten what it means to love the LORD before all else… setting aside the things that lead us to life, and instead getting caught up in all sorts of self-centred priorities that keep us and those around us from drawing near to the Living God. Following the example of Israel before us, we too forget the good limits that God has placed on the lives of those who are devoted to Him.
 
Where do we need to hear God tell us No again today?
 
Back in John’s Gospel, we see Jesus is passionate, zealous for God’s ways to be embraced… for people, back then and today, to experience the truly life-giving love that God created us to share in, and share with our neighbours. And so, in the Temple, we see Him willing to stand up and say no to all that keeps us from this saving love.
 
And much more than that… we’ll soon see that He’s willing to lay down His life to offer this love to us, and to all.
 
In response to Jesus’ passionate display, those present in the Temple demand that Jesus give good reason for His disruption… they ask for a sign to prove that He has the authority to completely mess with their way of doing things. Essentially they say to Him: ‘What gives you the right???’
 
John 2:19-22, “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”
 
The sign of Jesus’ right to say No to the self-centeredness and sin of His people… the grounds for claiming the right to reorganize their whole community’s patterns of devotion, and their lives… is the sign of the cross… the destruction of the Temple of Jesus’ body, where Heaven and Earth are truly united as One in the flesh of God’s Son… a union which cannot be overcome, even by death… rising again on the third day.
 
With Heavenly authority, Jesus came to put God’s compassion, faithfulness, and power to work again to rescue us from ourselves… to break the power selfishness and sin held over us, and set us free to live another way… God’s way… for good.
 
With passion for God’s house… for the sacred ways we fragile humans were invited to draw near to our Creator and Savior, Jesus knows that sometimes love means saying no… and He knows that we humans can’t seem to stop saying no to God’s ways… turning away again and again to pursue our own self-centred desires.
 
And so Jesus, the true Son of God, who lived in complete devotion to the Father, wholeheartedly sharing His love, as the very embodiment of God’s holy Law in the flesh… He took up our place on the cross… bearing the full weight of the guilt and shame of the whole world on His shoulders…  receiving our just condemnation… and dying in agony to set us free.
 
The cross is the result of our rejection of God and God’s good ways… it’s our ultimate No to our Creator and Saviour, nailing His Son to the tree once and for all.
 
At the same time, the cross is God’s ultimate No to all of the ways that we refuse to live by His holy love… it’s God’s utter determination not to allow our self-destructive impulses to have the last say, and instead, to end them. Not by rejecting us in return, which is what we deserve. Not by seeking to crush us, or cow us with threats, or with reminders of our unworthiness.
 
But in self-giving love… a love that is able to say no to itself for the sake of others… Jesus offered up His life at the cross, once and for all… so that we all can receive true forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace through through His precious blood shed for us… and begin to say Yes to the New Life of God through His Spirit at work in us.
 
In many ways, the season of Lent invites us to place our trust in Jesus, and learn to say No to ourselves… which can be a struggle. But we do so for a good reason: to learn together to live God’s way. To love God’s way. The way that Jesus our Saviour does, who laid down His life to rescue us while we were still sinners… dying to liberates us when we were still slaves to our sin and fears and self-centeredness… offering His body to be broken on our behalf… letting His blood be spilled to atone for all our failures… and rising again from the dead to share His new life with us and with our world.
 
If we are to follow Jesus to the cross, and receive there from Him the new life that God has in store for us… what might you and I need to say No to today?
 
Not to earn God’s favour, or to ruin our fun, but to put into practice the freedom to flourish that Jesus Christ has already won for us?
 
These things might be easy for some of us to identify. God’s Spirit might already be prompting us to let go of some things that are keeping us from fully sharing in the freedom of God’s holy love.
 
But if we’re not sure, a good place to spend some time in prayerful reflection might be the Ten Commandments… and also look at how Jesus Himself sheds light on their true meaning in the Sermon on the Mount, found in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters 5-7.
 
As Holy Week draws closer, and we reflect on all that Jesus our Saviour has accomplished for us at the cross, let us remember that God’s limits are a gift to us… helping us learn when to say No to ourselves, so that we can say Yes to the life and love of God, and share it with everyone.
 
I’ll end now with these words from our Psalm today:

The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.
The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever;
the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.
By them also is your servant enlightened,
and in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can tell how often he offends?
cleanse me from my secret faults.
Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me;
then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Amen.