Scripture Readings: Acts 11:1–18 | Psalm 148 | Revelation 21:1–6 | John 13:31–35

“The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” (Acts 11:12a).
 
I’ve never really been one for telling jokes. Some people are, and they have a whole host of jokes stored up, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Not me. But I did learned one joke as a child and that has always stuck with me. Here it goes:
 
‘What’s the difference between an elephant… and a loaf of bread? Well, if you don’t know the difference, I’m certainly not sending you to the store to buy a loaf of bread!
 
Sometimes distinctions matter a lot. But sometimes, we want to draw lines and build up barriers that end up actually getting in the way of what matters even more!
 
Our Scripture reading today from the book of Acts recounts the story of one of the biggest changes and challenges to the status quo that the first generation of Christians had to face: as the Holy Spirit of God led them to let go of a familiar and distinctive way of living… a way of seeing themselves, as well as all those around them, to become something new.

Our reading comes from a watershed moment in the story of the Christian Church, as St. Peter carefully defends his controversial choices and actions as an Apostle of Jesus Christ… actions that would come to have truly world-changing significance.
 
Following the Holy Spirit’s lead, St. Peter had opened up the fellowship of the Church to welcome in non-Israelites… baptizing a family of Gentiles, and embracing them as full brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Now this may not seem like a big deal to us today, especially as most, if not all of us here this morning are Gentiles ourselves… descendants of families that cannot be traced back to the patriarchs of Israel. But this was an incredibly big deal for the early Church, which was an entirely Jewish community to begin with… one centered on a band of Galilean Jews, who bore witness to the Risen Lord Jesus of Nazareth, whom they proclaimed to be Israel’s Messiah, the Christ… God’s chosen one sent to rescue His people from their sins.
 
But as we heard, God Himself had worked through St. Peter to radically challenge some of the basic assumptions that were widely held by these first members of the Church, specifically assumptions about the age-old distinction between Jews and Gentiles.
 
Without belabouring the point… St. Peter tells his fellow Jewish Christians how God’s Holy Spirit led him to go with some Gentiles “and not to make a distinction between them and us.” (Acts 11:12). And how, in response to his visit and his message, these Gentiles received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit as well. Finally, St. Peter says to his critics “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:17).
 
And despite their own expectations, and reservations… the Jewish believers confronting St. Peter back in Jerusalem fell silent. They had a choice to make: to cling to their old ways, and the clear distinctions that had made so much sense up to this point… or to follow God’s lead, and to take part in this new thing His Spirit was inviting them to share in.

Thankfully, they chose the latter. Verse 17, “they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’” (Acts 11:18).
 
What happened here was nothing less than a complete paradigm shift for the Church… a radical reorganization of their understanding of God’s story, and their place in it. Suddenly, they were no longer just a part of their own community’s religious renewal movement… a glorious restoration of Israel in their unique role as God’s chosen people. Now it was starting to dawn on them that God wanted even the Gentiles to share in the new life of Christ’s Kingdom… that God was actually after a world-wide restoration… giving the gift of repentance that leads to new life to all other nations as well!
 
I don’t think that many of us are used to thinking of repentance as a gift, but the first Christians did. Repentance in Scripture doesn’t simply mean apologizing, or feeling bad for the wrong things we’ve done, even though it might, and often does involve these things. No, repentance means ‘turning around’… a clear change in direction, and action.
 
And so, we can be given the gift of repentance when God opens our eyes to our need to turn around, and do something different… to change… to leave behind our old ways, and start to move towards the new life God has in mind for us.
 
For a long time, faithful Israelites had looked on their Gentile neighbours as those headed straight for disaster… as those who had embraced all sorts of foolishness and evil… especially in their worship of idols. And the Prophets had often accused the kingdoms of Israel and Judah of becoming just like their Gentile neighbours… of turning away from the Living God, and breaking their sacred covenant with Him to live as His faithful people… warning that this path would lead them to the horrors of Exile… which is exactly what happened.
 
But God had mercy on them, and eventually, the survivors of Judah were brought back to their own land, where many became very concerned about allowing themselves to be influenced by their Gentile neighbours once again. Add to this the fact that Judah was repeatedly being oppressed by hostile Gentile Empires… Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and finally Romans. Is it any wonder that in the first century, most Jews, including Jewish followers of Christ, looked at their Gentile neighbours as enemies… as obstacles to God’s good Kingdom?  
 
And yet, all through the Bible… and even in the words of the Prophets that had some pretty harsh words for the Gentiles at times… God’s word holds out hope for the nations… and He consistently points forward to their restoration and healing alongside Israel.
 
But for the early Jewish Christians, who had for so long imagined themselves to be God’s main concern… and had understood the saving work of Jesus Christ to be primarily about them… it was startling to suddenly see that God was doing something much bigger through Jesus than they had recognized: God was fulfilling His promises not only to rescue and forgive His covenant people Israel… God was reaching out to rescue and forgive everyone else too… reaching out to save even the Gentiles through Jesus, Israel’s Messiah… turning them around to share in the gift of God’s new life as well… breaking down this ancient barrier, and uniting them… in Christ.  
 
And of course, this is the key: it is through Jesus Christ that God is reaching out to both Jews and Gentiles… reconciling them to Himself, and to each other through Christ’s saving love at work at the cross… dying for the sins of the whole world, and rising again to bring about God’s New Creation… God’s new beginning for everyone who puts their faith in Jesus.
 
And this was the heart of St. Peter’s message to the Gentiles that the Holy Spirit led him to visit. He told them the story of Jesus, and that story changed their lives for good. Let’s turn back to Acts 10:34-48, to hear the message that St. Peter shared that fateful day:
 
“Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’
 
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’  So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.”
 
There is so much here to explore… but I’ll try to keep things focussed, and draw our attention to verse 43: St. Peter says “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

First of all: everyone. Peter and the prophets proclaim that this gift is open to everyone! There are no essential distinctions between who can become a Christian, and who cannot. Absolutely everyone is invited… to what? To believe.
 
And this is now the only distinction that’s made: everyone who believes in Jesus Christ… those who respond to the Good News of His story… of His life, and death, and resurrection, and coming return… and place their trust in
Him receives forgiveness of sins. Not as some religious hoop to jump through, but as a gift… as a new story to live by, a new direction to follow… a new freedom from our old sinful ways, and freedom to live God’s way, through His Spirit at work in us.
 
There is no partiality at work here. God is not playing favourites, or choosing sides. St. Peter tells his Gentile hosts that they too can take part in Christ’s Kingdom… that they can receive God’s forgiveness, and share in His new life offered to all in Jesus’ name. And they believe it… and God’s own Holy Spirit is poured out on them, just as it was on the Apostles at Pentecost.

Faith in Jesus the risen Lord had united Jewish and Gentile believers into one family. Both now were being turned around to share together in the story of God’s saving love.
 
And this is our story to share in too. The story of the Christ’s own Church throughout the centuries: of God’s saving love reaching out to all nations… to everyone, without distinction… so that all of the unnecessary and tragic divisions we humans keep creating can be torn down… and God’s gift of repentance and forgiveness can turn us all around to share in His new life together in Jesus’ name.   
 
This is our story. But sadly, so often we Christians have forgotten what our story’s all about. So often we have given into the temptation to divide the world up into ‘us’ and ‘them’… and fooled ourselves into believing that God’s good Kingdom is really about our own priorities and plans. There are all kinds of examples of this divisive behaviour throughout the history of the Church, but I think that one of the most tragic, and disastrous distinctions we Christians have made is when we turn against each other.
​
When we turn our backs on our fellow believers… and refuse to have anything to do with our brothers and sisters in Christ… and keep on fighting amongst ourselves, while the world around us watches.
 
From the start, Jesus Christ came to rescue and reconcile us all to God, and to each other. To share His holy, life-changing love with everyone… forgiving our sins, and leading us into a whole new Spirit-led life together. But again and again, we His people keep failing to follow His Spirit’s lead, or obey His clear commands… and then we sit back and wonder why the world around us doesn’t seem all that interested in what we have to say.  
 
But even so, Jesus our Lord has given us all a clear calling. He’s made an important distinction to help His disciples stay true to the heart of our story… and to draw all peoples to Himself:
 
John 13:34-35, “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.”
We Christians are called first and foremost, to love one another! This is where it all begins!
 
To love one another. Not just some perfect, ideal community… but the real, everyday believers we share our lives with. To love one another as Jesus our Lord first loved us: practice offering each other grace… assistance… encouragement… honesty… patience… forgiveness… and hope… everything that He has already shared with us.    
 
This is how the world around us will come to know the Good News of God’s saving love: when we Christians put His love into action… when, with the Holy Spirit’s help, we truly try to love one another, in our words and actions.
 
Because honestly, if we Christians aren’t trying to love one another… even imperfectly… why should our neighbours believe anything we say about the life-changing, saving love of God? But if we are striving to share God’s love… starting with our fellow believers, and building from there… our neighbours will start to see God’s own power at work in us, inviting them to draw near and receive this gift as well.
 
As Christians today, we are commanded to love one another. Not only those gathered here at St. Luke’s, but all those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, and seek to walk in His ways. We will not always agree. And there may be some important distinctions that we have to hold onto for now. But that cannot stop us from seeking to share the love of Jesus Christ with one another in any way we can.
 
And this may mean we need to repent of some things… turning away from our old ways that lead us farther away from God’s will for us… or tearing down some of the unnecessary barriers that we have built up over the years.  
 
If we are to take part in Christ’s Kingdom work today… and help our world come to know the Good News of Jesus, and God’s saving love offered to absolutely everyone in His name… we need to do all we can to put that love into practice. With the Holy Spirit’s help we really need to love one another. And that’s no joke. Amen. 

Scripture Readings: Acts 9:36–43 | Psalm 23 | Revelation 7:9–17 | ​John 10:22–30

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” (John 10:27-28a).
 
As you may have guessed by the sheep-themed language in some of our readings this morning, today is Good Shepherd Sunday... where we recall that Christ Jesus is not simply the crucified and Risen King of Kings and all Creation… He is also our Good Shepherd, the One who cares for us, and nurtures us, and leads us together into God’s New Life. It is an image of the Living God’s intimate understanding, and investment in the lives of His people… and it reminds us of an important aspect of our relationship with Him:
 
If Jesus is our Good Shepherd… we His sheep are to follow Him.
 
Shepherding is not like the kind of farming where the livestock are kept in protective pens, and just wait around until their fed. Shepherding is free range… open to the wide world, with all it’s surprising joys and dangers…
 
Shepherding relies on the care and diligence of the shepherd, who knows what the sheep really need, and where they can get it. But it also relies on the sheep trusting the shepherd… and constantly paying attention to where the shepherd is leading them. To live, the sheep need to follow.
 
And for thousands of years, God’s people have used this image to think about how the Living God relates to us: He does not invite us to just sit around waiting to be fed, while sheltering behind the walls of our pen. He invites us to trust Him… to trust that He knows what we truly need, and where to find it… and that, as we make our ways through the wide open world, with all of it’s surprising joys and dangers, to trust that God loves us, and He will not leave us… and He longs to lead us to share in His New Life… but we need to stick close to Him, and follow Him every step of the way.
 
This morning we read Psalm 23 together, an ancient Hebrew poem explicitly calling God our Shepherd, and praising Him for His steadfast love and guidance… an enduring source of comfort and hope in times of distress and uncertainty.

As we know, God’s people have faced many times of distress and uncertainty over the centuries. Times when we could not see a way forward. When we did not seem to have enough of what we need… or when our sense of security and peace was being shaken. When we faced the shadow of death.
 
And as we know, many today, both inside and outside of the Church, are feeling overwhelmed by the distress and uncertainty that our world is facing these days… and many of us are finding it really hard to know where to turn for help.  
 
Thankfully, our Scripture readings this morning offer us all an invitation to trust in God’s steadfast love, and in Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd, to guide us… and to give us what we really need to share in God’s New Life.
 
In our Gospel reading today, we hear about an encounter Jesus had in Jerusalem around the time of the feast of Dedication… which we know better as Hanukkah.
 
This was a celebration that highlighted the victory of God’s people in their war against their Greek oppressors… with the Maccabean led revolt of devout Jews recapturing Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, which had been desecrated… events that had occurred in the centuries between the Old and New Testaments.
 
For a sense of the general mood that this festival stirs up, think of the American Independence Day, the Fourth of July: joy and patriotism, combined with a sense of national destiny, and blessing… all wrapped up together with a message of military victory.
 
But in Jesus’ day, Judea was not independent… it was under the thumb of the Romans, another pagan Gentile Empire, even greater than the Greeks before them. Imagine for a moment the mood of a Fourth of July celebration if somehow America was taken over by some other nation. Imagine the tension… the sense of frustration… and maybe the rising anticipation that someone would come along again to lead another revolt and win independence again.  
 
I say this because this is how many people felt in Jesus’ day. They knew God had good plans for their people. They knew they had once before thrown off their pagan oppressors, and that God had promised to one day raise up a descendant of King David’s line to rescue God’s people once and for all… and to establish God’s Kingdom on earth… and they were eager for this new King, this Messiah to get to work. To gather his forces, and overthrow their enemies, and show the whole world that God’s people will be victorious. They were wanting a military Messiah… but then Jesus of Nazareth came along.
 
And Jesus messed with a lot of their expectations about what God’s King and God’s Kingdom looked like: He performed amazing signs and miracles that showed God’s power at work in Him… but He also said and did things that did not mesh at all with the vision they had for their future. One minute, He would be feeding thousands of hungry people from just a few loves of fish and bread… (just imagine how well He could provide for Judean armies in their fight against Rome with that kind of power!) but the next minute He’s talking about being the bread from Heaven… and that to have God’s life, we need to eat His flesh and drink His blood… or He’s forgiving people who were clearly caught in their sins… or He’s confronting the influential spiritual leaders of God’s people.
 
And so, in this passage, during the patriotic celebration of the Dedication, as He walked through the Temple courts, and some Judeans “gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’” (John 10:24). Stop messing around, and speaking in riddles. Are you the Messiah, they ask, or not?
 
Maybe some of us can identify with the people asking Jesus this question. When we look around our world… at the deep divisions, distress, and uncertainty, shaking not just our corner of the world, but seemingly everywhere… we might be wondering: ‘OK Jesus, what gives? We need a Saviour right now. Are you the One we can trust to get us through this mess? Are you really God’s chosen King? Or should we be following someone else?’
 
But Jesus responds to this question in a way that turns the table around on us all. Instead of saying yes or no, He drives home the necessity of faith.
 
John 10:25-30, “Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
 
You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
 
For those willing to see, Jesus had already tipped His hand. His works… what He had been busy saying and doing told the whole story… but that story wasn’t the one that they wanted to hear. In other words, Jesus was the Messiah… but not their kind of Messiah… and unless they could let go of their own expectations, and listen to Jesus… and learn from Him what God’s Kingdom was really about, they were going to miss out on the real victory.
 
What began as their demands for an answer, Jesus turns into a question for them, and for us all: Will we listen to His voice and follow Him, wherever He will lead... or not?
 
Like a good shepherd, Jesus leads His sheep somewhere… away from where they are, and towards where they need to be. Will we listen to His voice, even when we’re not sure where He is leading us?
 
This is not an abstract question, but one that we as Christian disciples today… as individuals, and as a parish family need to keep asking ourselves again and again throughout our lives: are we still listening to our Shepherd’s voice? Are we actually trying to obey Him, and walk in His ways? Or are we content to just wander off on our own… or to follow some other voices instead?
 
This is of course a real danger for us as Christians: there are many who want to claim that Jesus is their Shepherd… but they don’t want to go where He’s leading them.

They might be happy enough if He will keep giving them green pastures and quiet waters, but are not so sure about walking through those valleys of the shadow of death… or of sitting down to eat with enemies all about the place. They might be more eager to start a fight, and force their own vision for the future on those around them.
 
But Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is leading us somewhere… He has His own destination in mind for His people… one that will challenge and change us all so that we will begin to become something we cannot become on our own:

Jesus our Good Shepherd is calling us His Sheep to become more and more like Him.  
 
This is where we turn to our first reading today from the Book of Acts Chapter 9, where we see St. Peter following closely in the footsteps of the Risen Lord.
 
In this story, which takes place in the days after Pentecost, St. Peter is summoned to the house of an elderly believer named Tabitha, who had been sick, and had died before Peter’s arrival. When he gets there, he is greeted by mourners, but puts everyone outside, and prays… and then he calls Tabitha to get up, and she does. She comes back to life.
 
Now this story is amazing in its own right. But if it sounds a bit familiar, that’s because St. Peter is simply doing what he had seen his Master do before him. Peter was following Jesus’ lead.
 
The book of Acts is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke, written by the same author, telling the same extended story… and back in Luke Chapter 8, we see Jesus summoned to the house of a father whose daughter had been seriously ill, and who had died while he was on the way.
 
Luke 8:49-56, “…someone came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.’ When Jesus heard this, he replied, ‘Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.’ When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.”
 
And now St. Peter, having seen first hand the resurrected Lord Jesus, and having been sent by Him into the world to share the Good News, and to care for God’s people… and having received God’s own Holy Spirit at Pentecost… follows Jesus by doing what He did: He calls his sister in Christ Tabitha back to life.
 
Once, Peter had followed Christ out onto the waves… walking out on the water with His Master. Doing the impossible, not in his own power, but through his faith in Jesus. And now, Peter was carrying on Christ’s own work… Christ’s signs and wonders were revealed through Peter, so the world could see that the Risen Lord Jesus really is the Saviour we have all been waiting for. That Jesus has achieved God’s victory, and even death cannot defeat or get in the way of His Kingdom.
 
The significance of this story from Act’s Chapter 9 is that the same Spirit of God that was at work in Jesus, is now at work in His Church… and now, in and through His people, Jesus is continuing His Kingdom work in the world.
 
This is where He’s leading us. This is the journey that Jesus is calling us to travel as we follow Him.
 
By God’s Spirit and grace, the sheep are being remade in the image of their Shepherd. Calling us to take part in the work of His Kingdom, and empowering us to live His way in the world. Not necessarily with signs and wonders like St. Peter, but there are lots of ways God’s Spirit us at work in our lives: freeing us from guilt and sin, so that we can also forgive others, like He did. Stirring up our hearts with compassion to care for the needs of those around us who are in trouble. Standing up for the truth, even if it puts us in conflict with those who would rather give in to popular lies. Loving our neighbours, and even our enemies, instead of insisting on our own way.
 
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.”
 
As we listen to Him, and follow Him, He gives us the eternal life of God… the hope of the resurrection, and God’s New Creation, which He shares with us even now… by re-creating us His sheep to be more and more like Him.  
 
And as we listen to Him, and follow Him, and become like Him… God’s Holy Spirit works in and through us to  confront the world around us with the same choice we had to make: will they trust in and follow the One we are following? Will they believe and join the flock, or not?
 
We can’t make that choice for them. But we need to recognize that, as the Christian Church today, Christ Jesus is graciously calling our neighbours, our friends, our family, and even our enemies to follow Him through us!  
 
We the Church today are how God’s steadfast love and new life are to be made known and shared with the world. We His sheep, transformed by the life of our Good Shepard, are the way He has chosen to draw all peoples to Himself… not just those like us, but people from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9). 

So with this all in mind, let us listen to the voice of our Good Shepherd! Let us not go running off ahead of Him, or wander away from His side. Let us not lag behind… lingering when He calls us to move forward.
 
And instead, let us actively acquaint ourselves with Jesus… seeking to understand how the Apostles and Prophets tell His story throughout the Scriptures… taking time regularly to pray for His guidance and presence in our daily lives… putting into practice His way of life… following His teachings in all we do… trusting that, when we do, that Jesus our Lord is leading us where we truly need to go… and helping us become what we need to become… and working through us to help others in our distressed and uncertain world come to know His saving love as well. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Acts 9:1–20 | Psalm 30 | Revelation 5:11–14 | John 21:1–19

“Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” (John 21:5-6).

This passage holds a special place in my heart, and it also played an important role in my decision to move to the Maritimes and become an Anglican.

As some of you know, I grew up in the Free Methodist Church, a branch of the Christian Church that’s more concentrated in Ontario and further West, and that would have some similarities to the Wesleyans. And when we moved to Toronto so I could study at Wycliffe College, an Anglican seminary, I was in the process of pursuing ordination as a Free Methodist pastor. But as graduation approached, a challenge was becoming apparent: there did not seem to be any Free Methodist pastoral positions available for me to serve in. At the same time, I had come to really appreciate the Anglican Church throughout my studies at Wycliffe, and some of my classmates and professors encouraged me to consider pursuing ministry as an Anglican. 

As I prayed and wrestled with all this, I spoke to a wise leader in the Free Methodist Church, and they reminded me of this story, and that sometimes God leads us in surprising directions: “Try casting your net on the other side of the boat”, they said to me “and see what God brings up.” And to make a long story short, here I am with you at St. Luke’s. 

I can honestly say I would never have imagined that my path in life would lead me to where I am now. But I am so glad that it has, and I thank God that He knows how to get us where we need to be.

God often calls us to do things that seem very different from what we had expected. It might seem strange, or risky, or frightening… but if we will listen… if we choose to do what He asks of us… if we will let His will take charge, and change us… and place our lives completely in His hands and trust Him, that’s when all sorts of new and surprising possibilities begin to arise.

And that’s what our Scripture readings today are inviting you and I to do: to place our trust in the Risen Jesus… to let go of our own expectations for what comes next, and to follow His life-changing lead.

In our reading today from the Gospel of St. John, we hear about the final appearance of the Risen Christ to some of His closest disciples. This story takes place sometime after Christ appeared to Thomas, and the others, convincing them that the resurrection was real… that their Master really was God’s Messiah… and that He had been raised to new life in a way that would change the world forever.

But now what? 

I mean, what happens now for them? What were the disciples themselves supposed to do now that Jesus had done something so world-changing? In John’s Gospel, it’s not quite clear what the Risen Jesus expects Peter and the rest to do. 

And so, in this moment of uncertainty, Peter speaks up: “I am going fishing.” He says, and the others follow his lead. Peter goes right back to what he was doing before Jesus called him. Ever wonder why? 

Well, we don’t know exactly. The text doesn’t say. But as this episode unfolds, it might be worthwhile to remember what happened the last time that Peter and Jesus had spoken face to face in John’s Gospel: that is, the night of the Last Supper, just before our Lord was betrayed, arrested, and crucified.

That night, Jesus had told His disciples that He would soon be leaving them. 

John 13:36-38, “Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.’”

And as Jesus predicted, Peter denies His Lord three times. Overcome with shame, he then hid himself and wept bitterly. And the next time we hear of Peter, he’s racing to the empty tomb… and then, he’s in the upper room at Easter when the Risen Lord appears beyond all hope!

But where does this wonderful turn of events leave Peter himself? His story has been left hanging.

At one point, he had been pretty confident that he could be a faithful follower of Jesus. He seemed sincere when he claimed that he would willingly lay down his life for his beloved Master… but then he had failed. He had backed down. Three times he had denied that he even knew Jesus. Now what was in store? There’s no resolution of Peter’s failure… that is, until the Risen Lord Jesus Himself brings home to him the power of God’s life-changing love.

As we heard, Peter goes back to his old ways catching fish… but with no luck at all. Then a voice from the shore calls out for those in the boat to do something new: 

John 21:4-6, “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” 

Doing things their own way got them nothing. But simple obedience led to a miracle. The nets were so full of fish, they could not even bring them into the boat. 

Peter eagerly swims to shore, and finds Jesus preparing a meal for them to share, over a charcoal fire. I mention this detail because the only other time that charcoal is mentioned in the New Testament is when John’s Gospel describes the fire that Peter and the soldiers were warming themselves by when he denies Jesus. Imagine what was going on in   Peter’s mind this time, warming himself beside another charcoal fire made by the very Master he had let down. 

After the meal, the Risen Lord Jesus addresses Peter directly, and He gets right to the heart of the matter. John 21:15-17, “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’  A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’  He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’ ”

Three times Peter denied that he knew Jesus when our Lord was facing the cross. Three times the same crucified and now Risen Jesus looks at Peter and asks him: ‘Do you love me?’ Three times Peter replies ‘Lord… you know that I love you.’ What is going on here?

In a word, Jesus is confronting Peter with an opportunity to be reconciled. To receive His forgiveness for what is most likely Peter’s biggest regret of all time. Christ doesn’t heap shame on Peter for denying Him, or make harsh demands upon him. No, our Lord gently but directly invites His less than faithful disciple to draw near to Him again… to reaffirm his love for His Lord, who not only wants to forgive, but to also transform those who trust in Him.

Each time Peter responds to Christ’s question, our Lord tells him to do something: to feed Christ’s lambs, to tend Christ’s sheep, to feed Christ’s sheep.

And in doing so, He’s giving Peter exactly what he needed: a new purpose, and vocation. Out of renewed love for His Risen Lord, Peter was being called to care for the rest of the flock… the rest of Christ’s family. His devotion and love for Jesus was being reinforced, and directed towards the new Church community. Jesus takes his faltering follower, and turns him into a shepherd. He forgives him. He reaffirms him. And He entrusts him with a high calling. But He also warns Peter that this new life will also come at a cost. 

John 21:18-19, “‘Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

Peter had a choice to make here: he could have once again gone back to fishing. He could have said no thanks to the high calling our Lord had entrusted him with… knowing that, if He accepted it, that would mean sharing in the sufferings of His Lord… surrendering his own independence, and in time following Jesus His Lord by faithfully facing death as well. 

Peter had a choice. And we have a choice too. When we falter and fail… when we don’t know what to do… we can just go back to our old ways… and keep on casting our nets the ways that make sense to us…or we can draw near to Jesus, and receive from Him the forgiveness and new life that He offers us all.

Yes, Peter had messed up, but Jesus had not given up on him at all. And thankfully, Peter listened to Jesus’ voice, and answered His call to follow Him. And in that moment, over breakfast by the shore, Peter’s life changed forever.

In our reading from the book of Acts, we see two more people that the Risen Jesus confronts, and listening to His voice changes both of their lives too.

Our passage tells the story of Saul of Tarsus, an infamous enemy of the early Church. He was a devout Pharisee, who saw Christians… or members of “the Way”, as they were called at the time… as a dangerous threat to God’s faithful people, and so Saul tried his best to get rid of them.

His zealous persecution of Christians caused most of them to scatter… to leave Jerusalem, and set up new church communities all across the eastern Roman Empire. Fully convinced of the rightness of his cause, Saul gets permission from the higher ups in Jerusalem to head to Damascus and have any Christians there thrown in jail.

But as we heard, on the way the Risen Lord Jesus stops Saul in his tracks. He sees light from heaven suddenly all about him, and hears the Risen Lord, confronting Saul for persecuting Him by persecuting His followers. 

Now that’s something to think about, isn’t it? How we treat those who belong to Christ, is how we treat Christ Himself. I wonder how many disputes and divisions in the Church would happen very differently if we took this truth a little more to heart. But back to the story.

Saul is blinded, and led to Damascus. This was not at all how he had imagined his journey to Damascus was going to unfold. Waiting there for three days for news of what to do.

Imagine being in his shoes… or sandals, I suppose. One moment you’re eagerly on your way to arrest some dangerous troublemakers, and the next, you’ve lost your sight, and have been told to wait with no clue when that waiting would end… or what was coming next.

Then again, I know for some of us it might be pretty easy to identify with Saul. When something in life hits us hard, and suddenly we can’t see a way forward anymore. And we have no idea when all the waiting will come to an end, or if it will ever improve. To his credit, Saul’s response in that time was to pray and fast. Not to give up and give in to despair, but to direct his full attention to God… in the hopes that, in God’s time, the answers would be given.

And it was. But not to Saul. No, instead, God draws into the story an unlikely messenger to come to Saul’s rescue: a believer named Ananias… one of the same Christians in Damascus that Saul had been on his way to arrest. 
This is who the Lord wants to work through to change Saul’s life around… and to change Ananias as well. 

Acts 9:10-12, “Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

This all sounds great for Saul. But understandably, Ananias is not too keen on the Lord’s plan. He protests that this Saul of Tarsus is not to be trusted. 

Acts 9:13-16, “But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
 
Despite Ananias’ misgivings, the Lord knew all about Saul… all about the harm he had done to His beloved followers. Jesus knew all too well the pain and the grief Saul had caused… as we already heard, when Saul was persecuting them, Jesus Himself was being attacked.

But even so, Jesus had plans for Saul… plans to change his life for good. And to work through Saul to change the world. 

But to be clear, the suffering that Jesus mentions is not meant as a punishment for Saul… but as a sharing in Christ’s own suffering for the sake of the Good News. Saul, or Paul as he is later known… becomes an incredibly devoted Apostle of Jesus, and in a letter to the Christians in the city of Philippi, this is what he will say about suffering: 

Philippians 3:7-11, “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Like Peter, Saul would also come to see that following Jesus would mean facing hardship and suffering… but even so, Saul was convinced that it was all well worth it! 

And so when Saul receives his sight, he makes the choice to be baptized into Christ… to let go of his old ways, and devote himself completely to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord.

But before we wrap this sermon up, there’s one more person who made a life changing choice in this story: Ananias. This disciple from Damascus was being asked to do something difficult and dangerous: to listen to the Lord’s voice, and extend help to his enemy. To trust that the Lord knows exactly what He’s doing when He tells us to bless those who persecute us… and to forgive those who trespass against us… to not seek out revenge, or let bitterness become a barrier keeping those around us from encountering God’s grace. To know that God’s saving love for us is meant to work through us as well… often in the most surprising ways. 

And thankfully, like Peter, and Saul, Ananias obeys the voice of the Risen Jesus… and suddenly the man he once feared and mistrusted became a beloved brother in Christ. 

And this is how our Lord loves to work: turning all our expectations upside down… lifting up those like Peter who falter and fail, and transforming them by His mercy and love to care for others… confronting those like Saul who are on the wrong track, and inviting them to take part in His own mission of sharing God’s love with the world… and calling those like Ananias, who are hesitant and fearful to be open to extending God’s hospitality and healing love even to our enemies.

Who knows what the Risen Lord Jesus has in store for you and I here at St. Luke’s. But whatever it may be, let us be eager to obey His voice. 

Let us be willing to cast our nets on the right side of the boat at His command… to be open to the unexpected challenges and blessings that He has prepared for us… to face days of uncertainty and waiting with patience, and confidence in His saving love. And may His life-changing love work through us to change His world for good. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Acts 5:27–32 | Psalm 118 | Revelation 1:4–8 | ​John 20:19–31

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31).

Anyone excited for the election tomorrow? 

I know many of us are probably sick of discussing… or worse yet, hearing other people discuss politics these days, especially since things have gotten so divisive and outright nasty in recent years. 

But whether or not we are excited about tomorrow’s election… and regardless of which party ends up in power this time around… the fact remains that whatever happens will have some big implications for our whole country moving forward. For better or worse, what happens tomorrow will play a part in shaping not only our own lives as Canadian citizens, but also shaping our communities, our shared values and way of life, and our nation’s relationships with the wider world. 

But as big as tomorrow’s election day may seem, we celebrated something far more significant last Sunday: the resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

That marvelous event of the first Easter marks the most radical turning point of all time… the incredible intervention of the Living God on behalf of His beloved but broken Creation… Christ’s great victory over the powers of sin, and death, and all the forces of spiritual darkness… by giving up His life at the cross, and rising again from the grave.

That moment marks not just the end of the old ways of the world… a dramatic break with the past, but it also marks a brand new beginning… a new way of life that we who believe in this Good News are now called to take part in.  

After all, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just something wonderful that happened to Him. It is God’s new Creation… God’s new beginning breaking into and transforming the story of our world, and the new starting point for how you and I are to orient our lives.

In short, the resurrection of Jesus challenges us all to rearrange our whole lives… our hearts, our minds, our actions, and our interactions with others around the beautiful truth that: Christ has died. Christ is risen. And Christ will come again. To become an Easter People… not just once a year, but always. 

And that means more that simple saying ‘yes’ to these words, and then moving on. It means spending a lifetime exploring and working through the real implications of this beautiful truth. It means seeking to better understand what it looks like for us to live as Easter People today.

And while that’s not something that we can fully accomplish this morning, we can at least begin to reflect on what it means to become Easter People by turning to our Scripture readings this morning, beginning with the Gospel of John. 

St. John Chapter 20 gives us a wonderful account of the risen Jesus appearing suddenly to His closest disciples, who had been hiding themselves away in fear. But the risen Jesus comes to meet them in their time of fright and confusion, and shatters their old way of seeing the world… inviting them into the brand new thing that God was doing. He reveals Himself to them. He offers them His peace, along with the message and ministry of forgiveness. And then He shares the Holy Spirit with them, and commissions them to be His witnesses in the world… sharing the Good News of His resurrection with everyone. 

But then we find out that Thomas missed out. Alone out of the disciples, Thomas wasn’t there that first Easter to witness the risen Christ first hand. And so he refuses to believe, until he can see for himself that it really is true. He says unless he sees Christ’s hands and feet, and His pierced side… until Thomas can be assured that the same Jesus that he had faithfully followed, and knew and loved… the same Jesus that He saw die… was now alive again, as the others had said. 

And that’s because Thomas wanted to believe in the truth! Not just to accept a hopeful story… but reality. He wanted assurance that he wasn’t just going along with what he wanted to be true… Thomas wanted to be sure that Jesus really had been raised again.

Because, if it hadn’t really happened… if it was just a good story, and nothing more… then nothing’s really changed. Then the world is still the same. And all our sins, and death, and the powers of darkness in our world are still holding us captive.

And so, Thomas refuses to believe that Jesus had risen again unless he can be convinced by the same evidence that had convinced his fellow disciples. In other words, he’s not some radical skeptic… after all, everyone knew that dead people stay dead… Thomas just wanted the same life-changing experience that the others had had. And thankfully, he’s not disappointed.

The risen Jesus visits His disciples again the next Sunday, and He then invites Thomas to believe… to be a witness to the Good News that, even though Jesus had died, He really is alive! That everything really has changed! That God really has dealt with our sins, once and for all. That death has been defeated, and that the dark spiritual forces at work in our world have been overthrown by the power of God’s saving love, who has raised up His Son forever. 

In John 20:27-29, Jesus turns specifically to Thomas, his beloved disciple and says to him: “‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’” 

Thomas sees and he believes, and he is given a new beginning. And Jesus says that those of us who have not yet seen, and yet believe… that means you and me… are blessed. 
  
And for St. John, this is the point: that we might come to believe… and be blessed by the new life that He has received, and offers to us. John 20:30-31, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

Being Easter People begins by believing in the resurrection of Jesus. Even though we will still have all sorts of questions, we can choose to trust that this Good News is true. It will take a lifetime of seeking to grow in our understanding of what this all means, for us and our world, but it all begins when we, with St. Thomas and all the other Apostles, turn to Jesus and acclaim Him as our Lord and our God as well. 

And although this invitation to believe in Christ’s resurrection is personal, thankfully, it’s not something that we’re meant to have to try and figure out all alone. And that’s because being an Easter People is not simply about our individual faith… it’s also an invitation to belong to God’s redeemed community: the Church.   

And here is where we turn to our second reading today from the book of Revelation… a powerful, but often misunderstood vision offered to Christ’s people throughout the ages to help reframe how we understand all of creation and human history… past, future, and especially the present… so we can better understand how to live faithfully here and now for Jesus the Risen Lord, even when everything else seems to be falling apart all around us.

And here, in the very first verses of the Revelation, we are reminded of what actually makes us an Easter People, the Good News of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord: 

In Revelation 1:4-6, we hear John begin the book with these words: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
 
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

There’s a lot packed into these opening words, but I’d like to draw our attention to what John says about Jesus Christ, and also what John says about his fellow believers. 

Jesus is the faithful witness… the firstborn from the dead… and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Clearly, the Risen Christ, who died, rose again, and reigns at God’s right hand is centre stage. But then John shifts to the Risen Christ’s connection to His people: He loves us. He set us free from our sins by His blood. And He made us to be a kingdom… priests serving His God and Father. 

Now, I don’t know of any strictly personal, one person kingdoms. And the whole idea of priests in isolation from others makes no sense at all. Kingdoms and priests require a community… people bound together around a shared reality. A common location, identity, and allegiance.  

And our reading from Revelation reminds us that the Risen Christ is creating a new community… set free and forgiven so that we can live as Easter People, serving Him and walking in His holy ways… bound together by our belief in the One who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and true ruler of all creation. 

Easter People start with belief in the resurrection of Jesus, and then find that we now belong to a worldwide community that the Risen Lord has redeemed: the Church.

So far so good. But as the book of Revelation, the whole of story of Holy Scripture, and the history of the Church makes clear, this new beginning as Easter People will be anything but easy. Especially when trying to live in the light of the Good News of the Risen King puts us in conflict with the claims of those who are still resisting His reign. 

Which leads us to our first reading from the book of Acts, where we are reminded that being an Easter People means being willing to be different… and even face suffering.

The story in Acts Chapter 5 takes place in the days after the Risen Lord Jesus returns to the right hand of the Father, and sends the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Apostles are then empowered to serve as Christ’s faithful witnesses… no longer hiding in fear, but boldly sharing the Good News of the Risen Lord with all of Jerusalem. 

But soon enough, the people who had crucified Jesus tried to silence His followers too, and the Apostles found themselves facing some serious political pressure from those in power. Just before the passage we read, they were arrested and thrown into jail. 

But that night, God sends an angel to rescue the Apostles from prison… and instead of seizing the moment to run away and save themselves, the angel tells them to keep on sharing the Gospel boldly in the Temple… witnessing to Christ’s resurrection, and that’s what they do. 

In the morning, the religious leaders who had them arrested are shocked to find them preaching in the Temple again, and they have them brought before the council, and warned not to keep preaching about Jesus. 

Acts 5:29-32, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Rather than back down in the face of serious and powerful opposition, the Apostles stand firm in their faith, and refuse to pretend that Easter morning never happened… to act as though Jesus had not changed everything through His resurrection… even though it would mean enduring the ill will of those who wanted the world to stay the same. 

________________

Our three Scripture readings today have reminded us of some pretty important aspects of being an Easter People:
It begins by believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We then belong to His new redeemed community, the Church… where we are called together to begin living differently, to make choices every day based on the reality of the resurrection of Jesus… even if it means suffering.

Believe. Belong. Be different.  How do these speak to us today?

How does our belief in the reality of the resurrection of Jesus challenge the kinds of ways that we act, and talk, and think, and treat one another… the decisions we make every day? 

What does it mean for you and I to belong to God’s redeemed community? Not simply to seek after our own interests, but gather with one another so that we can take part in the life of the Church… learning to love one another, to remind each other of God’s forgiveness, and mercy, and grace, and saving love, again and again. To know we are not alone, but are surrounded by sisters and brothers bound together by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How are we being called to be different today? To stand out in how we exist in our daily lives, whether in private or public? To be willing to say no to the things or the people that pull us further away from our Saviour’s side… even if it means standing up to those who misuse worldly power, and suffering for Christ’s sake? 

These questions are just the beginning. But as Easter People, beginnings are nothing new. Every day as Christians, we get to celebrate the Good News that in Christ Jesus the Risen Lord, the Living God has changed everything for good. That God’s new beginning has already begun. That even though many around us still place their faith in things like politics and power games, we can face the future with hope, whatever may come, because we know that Christ has died… Christ is risen… and Christ will come again. Amen. 

Scripture Readings: Exodus 12:1–14 | Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 | 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 | John 13:1–17, 31b–35

“…Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

On this sacred night, we remember and in a real sense re-live the story of the ‘Last Supper’: the turning point in the dramatic story of Holy Week… the last precious moments that Jesus our Lord spends with His closest disciples before His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. 

Tonight, we remember the powerful and precious gifts that our Lord has given, not only to those who personally shared in that time in the upper room, but to all who would follow Him.

We remember His new and great commandment: that we are to love one another, just as He has first loved us. 

We remember the shocking way He demonstrated this love… by humbly washing their feet, and commanding us to do the same.

We remember how He invited His disciples to experience a very familiar celebration and story in a whole new way… 
Telling us to take and eat… to receive bread and wine as His own blessed body and blood of the new covenant… and so find ourselves taking part in the Living God’s greatest act of saving love.

That night, Jesus our Lord and His disciples celebrated the Passover… a sacred meal remembering the new beginning God created for His people Israel, many centuries before. Once they had been oppressed slaves in a strange land, with no hope of finding freedom for themselves. But God had compassion on them. God came to their aid. God broke the power of Pharaoh, once and for all, and with a might arm, God set them free to be His people forever.

And this act of saving love transformed Israel’s story. God set them free, not so they could wander about aimlessly through life… but to be His beloved children. He set them free so that they could come to know His grace and His glory up close, and so start to live no longer for Pharaoh, or even for themselves, but for their merciful Creator and Saviour. Putting His holy ways into practice, as a light shining into a darkened world. 
​
But remembering this calling wasn’t always easy. They faced all sorts of distractions, and threats, and temptations that sought to take hold of their attention, and draw them away from their Saviour’s side. 

And so, to help them remember… to keep the story of God’s saving love alive throughout the centuries, God gave them the Passover meal as a perpetual sign… passed down for generations, to remind them not only of what the LORD has done for them… His might acts of salvation… but also to remind them of their new calling as His people in the world. 

This sacred meal became an ongoing invitation for His beloved children, to remember their place in the story of His saving love.

And many centuries after the Israelites were set free from slavery in Egypt, Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover meal together… remembering and celebrating what the Living God had done for their ancestors long ago. 

But rather than simply retelling the past, Jesus points His followers forward to the new and surprising act of God’s saving love that was about to happen through Him! God was again about to delivering His people, not just from a deadly plague, or the dominion of Pharaoh… but from the terrible powers of sin and death, and the forces of spiritual darkness at work, around and inside of us. And this victory would not be achieved through the sacrifice and shed blood of a lamb, spread across the doorframes of a house… but through the sacrifice of Christ’s own life… His own body broken, and His own blood shed upon the wooden beams of the cross. 

And so tonight, all these long centuries after the Last Supper, we are reminded that the saving love of the Living God leads us to the cross… to what Jesus Christ our Lord has done there to save us, and our darkened world.

And now every time that we gather around Christ’s table, not only in Holy Week, but Sunday after Sunday, we do so in remembrance of Him. We remember His faithfulness, when all of us had faltered. We remember His compassion and mercy, for sinners, when our own hearts had run cold. We remember that Jesus has given us the gift of Himself, His own life, once and for all… and as unworthy as we are, He still invites us to share in His new life, again and again.

But we must remember all this for a purpose: so that, with His help, we might truly live as Christ’s people today. That we might be set free to allow what He has done for us to actually begin to change us… so that His saving love will be free to do its good work in and through us.

So that we might be set free to live Jesus’ way in the world! When others are fighting over status and power, to lay down our selfishness and pride, and instead begin to practice faithfulness and service. 

To not only receive His gifts of forgiveness and grace, but to start to extend them as well… choosing to share these gifts with those in our own lives… even those who frustrate, and insult, and betray our trust. Not condoning evil, or allowing it to simply run amok and go unchecked… but choosing, as Christ Jesus our Lord did, to stand against it, and even suffer for righteousness, rather than to give in to hatred, cruelty, or the temptation to condemn our neighbours. 

And when those around us are driven by their fears, real or imagined, to fend for themselves, and only look out for their own interests… we are called to remember what Jesus our Lord has done for us all at the cross… so that we can be set free from fear to love one another as Christ Jesus first loved us. 

This is a high calling indeed. And like the Israelites before us, it can be easy for us to get distracted, or led astray, and so forget what this sacred night is all about: to forget what Jesus our Lord came to accomplish… not just for us, but for our world. 

To forget that, despite all the darkness at work… and there’s still a whole lot of darkness at work these days, to be sure… to forget that Jesus Christ gave His life at the cross to share God’s saving love with sinners like us… to set us all free from our slaveries to selfishness, and prejudice, and fear, and sin… to set us all free when we least deserved this precious gift… to set us all free to share in His holy love… to be a worldwide community marked by His life-changing mercy, His generosity, and His grace. 

And the way our darkened world will come to know of God’s saving love is through us. Through you and me. Through those who still believe the Good News of Jesus Christ… who have received His forgiveness and grace offered to all of us at the cross… those who are willing to be drawn into His story year after year, week after week, again and again… to allow our lives to be shaped and transformed by His faithful life, and death, and glorious resurrection. 

In a moment, I will invite anyone who is willing to come forward to have their feet symbolically washed, remembering the tender, merciful and faithful love that God has shared with us in Jesus Christ, and that He now calls us to share with one another. But whether we come forward, or remain seated tonight, may we all always remember what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us, and our world. And by the Holy Spirit’s help, may we faithfully respond to what He has done, by putting His saving love into practice. Amen.

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.

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.  

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.

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: Exodus 34:29–35 | Psalm 99 | 2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2 | Luke 9:28–43

“Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone...” (Luke 9:35-36).

Have you ever had a truly life-changing experience? 

If so, what made it so impactful? How did it change your life? Was it like a light switch? Suddenly shifting everything in an instant? Or was it more like a seed, something that takes time and attention to grow and bear fruit?

Looking back on my life so far, I think I’ve had my share of amazing experiences… moments of wonder, surprise, fear, and insight that seem to have left deep impressions on how I see the world, and respond to my circumstances… for better or for worse.  

And although I’ve had a few ‘light switch’ moments, the experiences that seem to have had the biggest effect on my life are the ones that I’ve spent time and effort remembering… and reflecting on… exploring the meaning and implications of what happened, and then choosing to change how I act, again and again in response to it. 

Today, we Christians celebrate Transfiguration Sunday: the amazing moment when Jesus Christ was revealed to a few of His closest disciples in all His glory, as the Chosen Son of the Living God.

In many ways, this part of Christ’s story can bring us to the edge of our imaginations… pulling back the curtain a bit and giving us a glimpse of reality often hidden from our human eyes. We’re told that Jesus climbs up a mountain with three of His followers, Peter, James, and John, and while He is praying, His appearance is suddenly changed before their eyes… and his clothes become dazzlingly white. And then, two of ancient Israel’s heroes of the faith, Moses and the prophet Elijah also appear in glory beside Jesus, and begin conversing with Him.  

Now I don’t know about you, but even my most powerful and memorable times of prayer and worship have never come close to this kind of experience. And clearly, this mountaintop moment made an impression on the three disciples who witnessed this change in their Master. 

But this story is about much more than a private epiphany, or spiritual experience that took place thousands of years ago. It is a story that’s meant to be transformative for everyone who hears it, including you and I. For the Transfiguration of Jesus not only reveals who He is, but it also calls us to do something in response to this revelation… to let our lives be changed by it.

But before we dive right into our Gospel Reading this morning, let’s take a moment to remember and reflect on our First Reading today, from the book of Exodus.

Our First Reading today takes place at a crucial, life-changing moment in the story of Israel. Yahweh, the Living God, had seen the oppression of Abraham’s descendants in Egypt under Pharaoh, and had sent Moses to Egypt as His messenger, to set His people free. In an amazing revelation of God’s power and glory, Egypt was overturned by ten mighty plagues, and Pharoah’s once mighty army was washed away in the Red Sea… while the people of Israel were led safely out of Egypt into the wilderness. And this dramatic departure is where the book of Exodus get’s it’s name… after the Greek word for exit. 

But they weren’t just delivered from Egypt with no destination in mind. God set them free to become His Chosen people… to enter into a covenant, sacred relationship with Him, no longer living as slaves, but as His beloved children… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, reflecting His goodness, and love out into the world. And so, God led Israel up to a mountain in the wilderness called Mt. Sinai. And there, Moses went up to meet with God, and receive from the LORD their divine instructions on how to live as God’s people. The commandments that they were all to listen to in order to be transformed by God’s holy love. 

But even as Moses was on the mountain top with the LORD, the people rebelled against the God who had saved them. They built a golden idol to worship, and abandoned the commandments of the LORD that they had promised to follow. 

Even though they had witnessed first hand the glory and power of God, when He delivered them from Egypt, their lives still needed to be transformed if they were to truly be God’s faithful people.

Thankfully, God does not give up on them. Moses intercedes on their behalf, and the LORD spares His unfaithful covenant partners… and makes a way to dwell with them, despite their wickedness and sin. God gives Moses the plans for the Tabernacle, a sacred tent where God’s holy presence would remain at the centre of Israel’s camp, moving with them throughout their wanderings, and where God would receive their sacrifices as a way of repairing their already strained relationship. 

And in our First Reading, which takes place after the golden idol episode, we hear that when Moses comes down from meeting with the LORD on Mt. Sinai, his face shines, reflecting the glory of the Living God among the people. The Israelites could see that, after spending time with the Living God, Moses was changed… he shone with God’s own divine glory …and it unsettled them. 

There’s a whole lot more we could say about this passage from Exodus, but at this point, it might be best to move on to our Gospel reading from Luke Chapter 9, and see where the story goes next.

St. Luke tells us that, like Moses before Him, Jesus also ascends a mountain to meet with God. He goes up to pray, but not alone… Peter and James and John join Him. And while He prays, something changes… or at least, the three disciples experience their rabbi in a new and glorious way: His appearance changes, and His clothing shines… and He's seen talking with two famous (and long dead!) messengers of God, Moses and Elijah, who each had their own divine encounters with the LORD on mountain tops. 

Imagine being one of those three disciples in this moment. Imagine seeing the teacher you had followed… the One you were convinced would bring about God’s Kingdom… suddenly transformed in glory before your eyes, and chatting with visitors from heaven. Even if you were confused, and unsettled, and afraid, would you want it to last? Would you want to keep the curtain pulled back, just a bit longer, and see just a bit more of this glorious reality? 

When we’re in the middle of life-changing moments, at least the good ones, it’s easy to want them to last… to try to hold onto them, and preserve the experience of wonder, or connection, or joy that we have received. 

And that seems to be what’s going on in Peter’s mind. He doesn’t want this moment to end. Luke 9:33, “Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said.”

I really appreciate that St. Luke tells us that even St. Peter didn’t understand what he was saying. Sometimes we all don’t fully grasp what’s going on, or the right way to respond, and it’s good to know that we’re in good company when that happens to us. But looking a bit closer at what St. Peter blurted out in light of our reading from Exodus might help shed some light on the significance of this story for you and I today. 

The word translated here in English as “dwellings” is the same word for tent… or tabernacle… calling to mind the Holy Tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build at Mt. Sinai so that the LORD could dwell in the midst of His people as He led them through the wilderness, as well as make possible a way to atone for their sins. 

Yes, Peter was a bit mixed up on the mountain top, but his impulse in that moment was to go back to that famous moment at Mt. Sinai, and look for a way to keep these three glorious servants of God, Moses, and Elijah, and Jesus, with them. And suddenly, through his confused words the whole story of God’s relationship with Israel is being highlighted: how the LORD saved, and bound Himself to His people, so that they could share in His glorious life.

And there’s more! Remember what Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about? Verse 31: “They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” The word “departure” here is the Greek word “exodos”… calling to mind the most significant, and transformative act of God in Israel’s history, delivering them from oppression, and leading them out of slavery to become something new… His own holy children.

And with this famous Exodus in mind, we’re now told that Jesus would soon have an exodus of His own, not out of Egypt, but in Jerusalem… the city of David, where first the Holy Tabernacle, and then the Temple of God dwelt… the centre of power for Israel’s leadership… the high priesthood, and the political and spiritual authorities… the scribes, and the elders. In this intense moment of prayer, Jesus was being prepared for some new act of God’s deliverance that He would bring about… opening up a new way for His people to be set free, and share in God’s glorious new life.

That sounds a lot like good news to me. And honestly, so many people in our world are truly longing for a glimpse of freedom, and relief, and a chance to experience new life. Whether we’re thinking of war-torn places like Ukraine, Gaza, or Sudan… or those living under the growing threats and political tensions of our day… or the crushing pressures of poverty, discrimination, anxiety, and tribalism… tragically, the only vision of reality that many around us see is pretty bleak.  

In times like these, where can we turn to find hope? How can we help our world to find hope too? What kind of help can we offer our neighbours? What can we do to change what’s going on? 

To find the answer, we must turn back to our Gospel Reading, and hear what happens after St. Peter’s remarks. 
Luke 9:34-36, “While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone…”. 

These words stand at the centre of the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus, and they serve as a kind of anchor for our entire lives as Christians: The Living God singles out Jesus of Nazareth as His Chosen One… His Son. And God then tells us to listen to Jesus.

Listen to Him about what???

Well, about everything, really. About how to live God’s way today. About what it really means to be God’s faithful children… reflecting the goodness and love of the LORD out into our world, serving as a new kingdom of priests, and holy nation, drawn from every corner of Creation. About the need to stay alert, and resist the tempting voices that call us to abandon our calling. About the promise of sharing in God’s glorious new life if we stay true to the end. 
Just as Moses came down from the mountaintop meeting with God to give God’s people a new way to live, Jesus has come down and opened up for us all a way to share in God’s blessed new life. And we are commanded to listen to Him. Not just to hear what He has to say, but to obey. To take to heart, and put into practice His words in all we do.

This is all true in a general sense. But in St. Luke’s Gospel, there’s a much more specific context for this command to listen to Jesus, which is made clear when we consider the last thing Jesus says before this part of the story. Luke 9:18-27,

“Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’  They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’ 

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’ 

Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’” 

Are we listening to Jesus? Do we really take to heart what He just said to us? That the only way He would fulfill God’s great act of deliverance would be to be rejected, to suffer and die, and be raised again? And that, if we want to follow Him, we too must let go? That we must say no to ourselves… to our fearful commitment to our own survival above all other considerations? That we too must be prepared to take up our cross… to be rejected, and ridiculed, and suffer for the sake of Jesus? That if we focus on saving ourselves, we’ll be lost… but if we lose ourselves for Jesus, we’ll ultimately be secure. Are we listening to Jesus, even when He says things like this?

If not, who are we listening to? What other voices are we following? Who else is guiding our actions, and shaping our values, and calling for our loyalty? Who else do we believe has our best interests, and the fate of our world at heart? 
 
As we know, there are plenty of voices out their offering us easy answers, or telling us what we want to hear… and there are voices trying to tear us down, so we will just get in line, and give in to their demands.

But these voices can’t compare to the Good News that Jesus alone has brought about: the Good News of God’s saving love, offering forgiveness, and freedom for all who will come and follow Him. 

Listening to Jesus… trusting in Him is a truly transformative experience… one that requires our ongoing attention, and honest commitment… but which is worth far more than what it may cost us. Placing our faith in Jesus, and what He has done to deliver us and our world at the cross… actually listening to Him… and engaging with all the challenges of our day by choosing, again and again, to stay true to Him, is an incredibly powerful activity… revealing God’s goodness and love to our neighbours that  desperately need even a glimpse of this healing, and help, and hope at work in our world. Not because we have all the answers, but because God’s Holy Spirit is at work in us!

As St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” 

The Transfiguration of Jesus is more than a strange episode: it is an anchor for us in the storms of life. A reminder that, despite how things might appear at times, Jesus is not just an inspiring historical figure from long ago, far removed from our troubles and concerns… He is the Chosen One, the Beloved Son of the Living God, sent to deliver us once and for all, and whom we are called to listen to and follow throughout our lives. 

As we seek to listen to Christ’s voice, and follow Him… we know it will mean letting go of much that we might rather hold onto. We know it will mean taking up our cross, and suffering for His sake. But we also know that He graciously gave up His life at the cross to deliver us, and our world… and that He rose again to bring God’s blessed new life to us, now and forever. 

Like St. Peter, we might not always know what to say or do. At times we’ll be confused, or scared, or frustrated by the ways our world is operating. In times like these, may we again entrust ourselves to our Saviour: May we listen closely to the call of our LORD, and obey Him, even when it means going against the flow… and may we believe that as we do so, the Holy Spirit of God is also at work, transforming us to become more and more like Jesus our Saviour… who is still working through us to bring God’s great deliverance to those around us. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 6:1–13 | Psalm 138 | 1 Corinthians 15:1–11 | Luke 5:1–11

“But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”… Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’” (Luke 5:8, 10b).

Have you ever felt particularly unequipped to do the task before you?

It’s a horrible feeling. Literally the stuff of nightmares. I mean, has anyone here ever had that dream where you’re about to take a test you hadn’t studied for? Or give a speech you’ve not prepared? It’s not so fun. You feel exposed. Panicked. Paralyzed. And hopefully it doesn’t drag on too long before you wake up and realize it’s not real.

But then again, sometimes in life, we really might find ourselves in those kinds of situations… ones we never planned for, and feel completely unqualified to tackle… for whatever reason… leaving us scrambling, or maybe just tempted to run the other way.

If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re in good company. And reading through the Bible, again and again, we witness stories of people who find themselves drawn into circumstances they never imagined, or prepared for… and feel completely ill-equipped to handle. In fact, our Scripture readings this morning all touch on times when the Living God calls on some pretty unlikely agents to take part in His Kingdom plans.

In our first reading this morning, we heard an account of what happened when the prophet Isaiah was granted a vision of God’s heavenly throne room. Suddenly finding himself surrounded by the glory and holiness of the Almighty One, Isaiah feels overwhelmed with guilt… deeply conscious of his own sins, and the sins of his people. 
Isaiah 6:5 “Woe is me! I am lost,” he says, “for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Now sin is indeed a big problem and obstacle in our lives… distorting our desires, and undermining our ability to love God our Creator, and to love our neighbours all created in His image. Suddenly faced with the incomparable goodness of the Living God, Isaiah becomes keenly aware of how unholy he and his people are… and how utterly unworthy he is to be so close to the Lord of All.

But what happens next? Does an angel announce to Isaiah: “Hey it’s no big deal… you’re only human… give yourself some slack!” 

Not quite. We hear instead that a seraphim, a spiritual servant of God reaches out and takes a burning coal from God’s alter, and touches the coal to Isaiah’s lips.

Now I’ve never kissed a live coal, but I can’t imagine that it was a pleasant experience. But then the seraphim says to Isaiah: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” (Isaiah 6:7).

Can you see what happened? The LORD knew Isaiah’s situation, that he and his people were of unclean lips. But God makes him clean! God doesn’t ignore, but rather deals with the guilt and sin that stood in Isaiah’s way from being a part of God’s Kingdom work in the world, and among his people. The process was painful perhaps, but it did prepare Isaiah to participate in God’s mission… which in this instance meant speaking on behalf of God to offer a profound warning and word of judgement against his proud and wayward people.

What about our own sins and guilt? Those distorted desires at work in our hearts, and minds, and our choices that take us far from the holy ways of the Living God? We know that God won’t ignore them, but do we believe that they are too big for the LORD to deal with? 

Isaiah’s story reminds us that God really can make us clean, no matter our baggage or background. The question is, will we trust Him and humbly draw near so that He can do so? 

Turning now to our Gospel reading, and St. Luke’s account of Jesus calling His first disciples. After teaching the crowds gathered on the shore from Simon’s boat, Jesus tells them to head out a bit deeper and cast their nets again for a catch. 

Now, this might seem a bit strange: an itinerant teacher telling some professional fishermen how to catch fish. I mean, this was their livelihood. This was the work they knew best. Fishing was what they were the most prepared to do.

But even with all their experience, and skill, they had come up empty. And now, Jesus tells them to try once more. “Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’” (Luke 5:5)

Simon Peter set aside his pride, and listened to Jesus… and witnessed a miracle. They ended up catching more fish than two boats could handle… far more than anything they had expected… convincing Simon that this teacher Jesus was somehow in touch with the power of the Living God… and like Isaiah, this filled Simon Peter with a deep sense of his own unworthiness. 

Luke 5:8, “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’”

But rather than distance Himself from Simon Peter, this self-confessed sinner… Jesus does something far more drastic: He invites Simon to follow Him, and take on a whole new mission: “Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they [that is, James and John] had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:10-11).  

Think about this for a moment. Simon Peter, and James and John had their own lives going already. They had their own hopes, and dreams, and plans. And in an instant, Jesus disrupts all of that, and invites them to join Him on a completely unknown journey.

These fishermen… are called to become fishers of men… and eventually to become key leaders within His Kingdom movement… drawing many other people into the story that Jesus was unfolding before them.

Talk about ill equipped! They had absolutely no experience as rabbinical students… or in group management, or public speaking, or anything like it! And as Simon Peter makes plain, they weren’t even particularly pious or holy. And yet Jesus calls them to follow Him… and they do! They drop everything and discern in Him something much more important than they had imagined for themselves. After all, someone who could help them catch that many fish… what else could this Jesus do?

It’s easy to forget, when we hear these familiar but distant stories, that the very same Jesus who called Simon Peter and the others that day by the sea shore, is the One who has also called you and I today… open to disrupting our hopes and plans, while inviting us into something far greater than we could have ever imagined for ourselves.

And like Simon, we often feel ill equipped for this… that we don’t have the right disposition, or training, or time, or whatever else we think might limits us. But these things don’t really seem to bother Jesus all that much. He constantly calls the ill equipped, the humble, the hurting, even the lost into His Kingdom work, and He is constantly accomplishing far more than they could ask or imagine in and through them.

That is because Jesus Christ the Risen Lord empowers us to accomplish whatever He calls us to accomplish. He is the One who makes us able to do what He calls us to do. Not with some magic wave of His hand… but most often through a journey with Him of discovery and trust… and of letting go of all the things we think are important, but that keep us from sharing in the work of His Good Kingdom.

And what is that, exactly? What is it that Jesus is calling us all to do? What are we signing up for when we say yes to following Him, not just once, but always?

One way to sum it up: is to live in and share His story… the Good News of Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son who gave His life and rose again to cleans and reconcile the world to Himself.

This is what we heard in our second reading this morning from First Corinthians, the centre of St. Paul’s understanding of what the Good News is all about: 

1 Corinthians 15:3-8, “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” 

This is the story! The Good News for our world articulated in the ancient Creeds of the Church… the climax of the entire narrative of Scripture, and the anchor of God’s people, keeping us bound to our loving Saviour in the midst of our world’s vicious storms.

Jesus really came to us in our moment of weakness… bound by sin, and ill equipped to live God’s way. And Jesus really died for us, taking our cross onto His own shoulders, and bearing the burden of our sins, in order to make us clean, and to set us aright again. And Jesus really rose again from the dead, snapping the power of sin and the grave, and opening up the way for us to share in His eternal life. 

And Jesus really appeared, more alive than ever before to the apostles, and many others after His resurrection. These everyday, ordinary people He had called to follow Him long before, had now became first-hand witnesses to the power of God’s saving love, by raising Jesus from the dead. 

And this Risen Jesus really calls you and I to believe this story. And not just to believe it, but to live it out in our own contexts. To live as people set free from our sin and guilt by His precious blood. As people invited to take part in His story, and journey, and Kingdom work all around us. To become His witnesses today, helping those around us catch a glimpse of God’s power and saving love. To trust in Him to provide what we need to accomplish His will for our lives, and get to it.

Maybe you’re still feeling ill equipped to answer this call. To trust that Jesus has really dealt with your sins at the cross, and that He has a place for you in His Kingdom.

If that’s the case, then take a moment to remember St. Paul’s story. No one would have thought that Paul would one day become a herald of Jesus, proclaiming to the world that Jesus really was the Messiah that Israel had been longing for, and also the hope for all nations.

Now unlike Peter and the other disciples, Paul actually was pretty well equipped: he was trained in rhetoric and skilled in communication, at least in writing, which were very valuable and useful skills in the ancient world. Paul had a deep knowledge of the Scriptures too. He studied under an esteemed rabbi, eagerly learning the significance of his people’s history. 

And Paul was an effective man of action, and leadership. An entrepreneurial spirit, we might say… taking it on himself to defend the faith of his ancestors. He was a devout keeper of Torah… the teachings and law of Moses, as well as the traditions of the elders, set up to keep people like Paul as far from sin and guilt as humanly possible.

With so much to Paul’s credit, why did I say he would be the last person that anyone would imagine being an ambassador for Christ’s Kingdom, sharing the Gospel all around the ancient Roman world?

Because, as we know, despite everything he had going for him, Paul was also an ardent enemy of the Church. He believed Jesus of Nazareth to have been a false teacher, and that Christ’s followers were a plague on his peoples’ efforts to stay true to the Living God. And so Paul passionately persecuted them. He had them arrested and thrown in prison, and even sought to chase after those who had fled Jerusalem and arrest them too.

That is, until Jesus called him too… Stopping Paul in his tracks, and confronted him… changing his path forever, and drawing him into the Kingdom of God for good.

Now it was a years long process for Paul to go from persecutor to preacher and then apostle of the Gospel. But sure enough, Jesus called even His passionate enemy to be a part of His good Kingdom.

And if Jesus could call someone like Paul… and deal with all of the obstacles standing in Paul’s way… and do far more than Paul ever imagined… working through him to share the Gospel story, the Good News of Jesus the Risen Lord with the world… what’s stopping our LORD from working in your life? Or in my life? In the life of our parish family?

There’s a lot of challenges facing us these days. Lots of pressures, and fears, and struggles that we and our neighbours are having to face. And we might be feeling pretty ill equipped at times to tackle them, unsure of how people like us could help bring God’s healing, and hope, and help to light in the lives of those around us here in Gondola Point.

But the fact remains: Jesus has called us. Jesus the Risen Lord has invited us to trust Him, and by His Holy Spirit, He really can make us able to do His work in our world today. And so, may God give us grace to draw near in faith to Jesus, the Risen Lord, that He may cleans us of our sins, and empower us to walk in His ways. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 1:4–10 | Psalm 71 | 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 | Luke 4:21–30 

“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Last Sunday, as we explored the first part of this episode in Luke Chapter 4… the story of Jesus’ first sermon in His hometown of Nazareth… we spent some time reflecting on the importance of remembering our story…the story of the Good News of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ our Saviour King… especially when we are facing times of great confusion and distress. And we looked at how, as Christians today, it is essential that that we keep the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s saving love at the forefront of our minds, and that we stick to this story ourselves in our day to day lives. 

This morning, we get to see a bit more of the story of what happened that day in Nazareth: we see that this same Good News that Jesus announces offers us not only great comfort… but profound challenges as well… confronting all of those who will listen with the life-changing implications of God’s Kingdom, and what it means for us to share in it. 

This story takes place, we are told, in Nazareth, our Lord’s hometown, where He would have been well known to many. This was where Jesus had grown up. Where He was surrounded by people who had known Him all of His life. And He knew them too. He knew their stories… what made them all tick, and how they saw the world, and their place within it.

And so, when Jesus stood up in the synagogue that day, He really knew His audience, and what they needed to hear… the Good News of God’s saving love that He had come to share.

Luke 4:16-22, “He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 
because he has anointed me 
to bring good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives 
and recovery of sight to the blind, 
to let the oppressed go free, 
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 

They all spoke well of Him. They welcomed His words of comfort… reminding them that their pain and afflictions were well known to the Living God… that the Lord had not abandoned His people, and that the long awaited time of deliverance was at hand. He had given the hope and apparently greatly impressed His hometown crowd.
 
And if He had just stopped there… there would have been no problem that day, as far as the people of Nazareth were concerned. I mean, He had said what they wanted to hear… stirring up their hope, and reminding them of God’s great compassion and mercy. What a perfect place to stop. 

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He went on to seriously challenge their assumptions about God’s Good Kingdom… in short, that it’s not just for them!

Luke 4:22-23, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 

He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 

Now this first part of Jesus’ response deserves a few words before we press on. I mean, what happened? We just heard that everyone spoke well of Him, and were greatly impressed by His words. One minute He’s talking about proclaiming Good News to the poor, then He’s putting words in their mouths. Why does it seem that Jesus suddenly turns on them?

The key seems to be that Jesus knew they did not really believe the words He had spoken… that is, His bold claim that Isaiah’s words were about Jesus Himself, and His mission. 

Sure, they had a place for Isaiah’s promises in their hearts, but even as they praised His presentation, and welcomed the comfort Jesus offered them, they only saw Him as Joseph’s son… the boy they saw grow up… one of their own. And as the old saying goes, “familiarity breeds contempt.” They thought they already knew all about Him, and so their hearts were not open to what Christ claimed God was now doing in their midst through Him. And so, even though they spoke well of Jesus, in their hearts they were already rejecting His message.

And again, Jesus does not stop there. No instead, He shines a big spotlight on part of the story of God’s people, that it seems they’d much sooner forget. 

Luke 4:24-30, “And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” 

Now I’m really thankful that none of you here at St. Luke’s have ever responded that way to one of my sermons… especially as there’s a pretty big river right over there that you could easily throw me into. But think of that for a moment. Think of how drastically… how violently these people reacted to Jesus’ words. Just a moment ago, they were all speaking well of Him. Now they were filled with rage, and ready to take His life! What in the world was going on in the synagogue that day?

Well, in a word, Jesus was challenging their story… their understanding of the world, and their place within it. But He was doing so by reminding them of two well known episodes from Israel’s past… from the days before the Exile, when many of God’s people had turned away from the Lord’s ways, and instead were following the desires of their own hearts.  

He reminds them of the widow from Sidon… whose son had been miraculously rescued from death by the prophet Elijah. And He reminds them of the story of Naaman the Syrian… an enemy general, struck with leprosy, but miraculously made clean again as he humbled himself, and heeded the words of the prophet Elisha.

These two stories were well known, and found in 1 Kings Chapter 17, and 2 Kings Chapter 5. But why did Jesus bring these stories up here? What was He seeking to show the people of Nazareth?

These two Gentiles, the Sidonian widow, and Syrian general, serve as clear representatives of the typical enemies of God’s people! They belonged to those ‘godless outsiders’… and were threats to Israel. And yet, God reached out to them both in mercy… touching and transforming their lives by His saving love.
 
Both received mercy, and healing, and hope, even though they were never a part of the people of Israel… even though they were the “so-called bad guys” of the story. 

But as all of Scripture reminds us, the Living God’s mercy and saving love cannot be bound by our borders, or walls, or divisions. Which is something that God’s people, including many of us Christians today, really struggle with.

Jesus knew that His own people in Nazareth did not really believe in Him, and so they would not receive Him… just as their ancestors had turned from the Lord all those long years before in the days of Elijah and Elisha. And so, by reminding them of their whole story… of God’s great compassion and rescuing love, not just for them, but also for those they despised and saw as their enemies…  Jesus was intentionally challenging them to change… to repent, to believe, and to return wholeheartedly to God’s holy ways… which also meant to let go of their prejudice and hatred for their neighbours… even their hostile ones… and to learn to love like the Living God does.

The scholar and theologian Miroslav Volf makes this strong and challenging connection between receiving God’s grace and love, and sharing it, even amid the messiness of our all too often strained and broken relationships with our neighbours: 

“Inscribed on the very heart of God’s grace is the rule that we can be its recipients only if we do not resist being made into its agents; what happens to us must be done by us. Having been embraced by God, we must make space for others in ourselves and invite them in – even our enemies. This is what we enact as we celebrate the Eucharist. In receiving Christ’s broken body and spilled blood, we, in a sense, receive all those whom Christ received by suffering.” [Miroslav Volf, Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2019), 130.]

These words arise from Miroslav Volf’s considered commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in the context of his reflections on the devastation experienced by his fellow Croatians, and neighbouring nations as a result of the brutal 1990’s civil war in the Balkans. As a Christian, caught up in the very real conflicts tearing our world apart, learning how to live God’s way by loving our enemies is no minor thing. All too often, we might rather take offense, like the folks did in Nazareth long ago, at the mere notion that God might love “those people” too… whomever they might be… or even worse… that if we’re to follow Jesus, that He might just be calling us to learn to do the same.

Who is it that we find it hard to imagine God caring about today? Who are the people who shake up our stories? Who seem to see the world so differently, and act in ways that make us anxious, alarmed, or outright angry? How can you and I possibly begin to learn to love our enemies at a time like this? To not fall in line, and just pick a side, but to actively seek to share God’s love with everyone?

Well, it certainly won’t be easy.

Remember that Jesus’ friends and neighbours responded to the Good News of God’s love for everyone by trying to throw Him over a cliff. And His deep commitment to the Good News of God’s love for our broken, divided world would lead Him straight to the cross.

But remember as well that the same saving love of God changed everything when Christ Jesus rose again… revealing that true life flows from God’s self-giving love, through the power of God’s Spirit now at work in us… and that all of our sad divisions and hatreds don’t stand a chance in the light of God’s Kingdom. 

When we really remember our story… which is Jesus’ story…when our minds, and hearts, and actions are recentred around what He has done for us all, once and for all at the cross… it challenges us. It changes us. It calls us to repent of our prejudices… and hatreds, and hand over our hard hearts to the Lord, to be renewed and remade to be like His through and through.

And in our second reading today, in the famous passage from 1 Corinthians 13, we get a glimpse of the new way of life that the Risen Lord has opened up for us:
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends… And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the crucified and Risen One challenges us to love those we find it really hard to love. To do good to those who make our lives so much harder. To bless those who deliberately vilify and even attack us. And to pray for those who seek to misuse and manipulate us. This doesn’t mean going along with what they are up to, or stepping aside while they hurt us or others in our world. Far from it. But it does mean that even when we have to stand up against others, we must remember that they too are beloved by God, who longs for us all to turn from our sins, and learn to love... to live alongside one another without contempt, suspicion, and hatred in our hearts… offering all those around us what we have all received at the cross: God’s great saving love. 

And when we struggle to do so, let us return to the story of Jesus Christ our Saviour King… and in prayer, let us remember that God’s own Holy Spirit is at work in us and that it’s Him that makes it possible for us to live and love like our Lord. 

I’ll end now with one more quick word from Miroslav Volf: “We who have been embraced by the outstretched arms of the crucified God open our arms even for the enemies – to make space in ourselves for them and invite them in – so that together we may rejoice in the eternal embrace of the triune God.” [Miroslav Volf, Ibid., 132] Amen.

Scripture Readings: Nehemiah 8:1–10 | Psalm 19 | 1 Corinthians 12:12–31 | Luke 4:14–21

“And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:20-21).

What’s your story?

We all have a story we live within. Whether we think about it much or not, we all tend to see our world, and our place within it, not simply as a random series of moments and events, but as a story… a narrative that connects all of these moments together… giving them a greater sense of meaning, and direction… and helping us make sense of our pasts, our present, and our future… a sense of where  we’ve come from, and where we’re headed. Of the challenges we’ve faced, the friendships we’ve forged… and the hopes and fears ahead of us.

And we don’t only have our personal stories… we have our communal stories too. The stories that shape our relationships, our families, our neighbourhoods… and our nations. St. Luke’s has a story… a way of understanding where have we come from, and where are we headed now.

We also share in the stories of Southern New Brunswick, the Maritimes, and Canada… as well as all of the other places we’ve lived, and the groups that we have belonged to. 

We all have a story, a way of seeing our world, and our place within it. And right now, a lot of our stories, and those of our neighbours are being shaken up by events far from our home, and by people that we’ve never met… people intent on spreading their own stories about the world… using fear, and prejudice, and selfishness to try to seize as much of the world as they can for themselves.

And it can be really frightening and disheartening when our stories get shaken up… when others challenge the way that we see ourselves and our world… threatening our hopes for the future, and filling our hearts and minds with new uncertainties and worries.

And as unsettling as this can be, we also know it’s nothing new. Bullies and tyrants have always been making use of their own stories to try to crush the wills and intimidate those who might otherwise stand in their way. Propaganda and outright lies have long been spread to reshape how everyday people understand the world, and our place in it… twisting the truth to convince us to just go along with their plans.

For some light reading, I’ve recently been working my way through the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich… an account of how the Nazi Party rose to power, and then eventually fell apart. According to this author, it seems that so much of their so-called success came about through blatant belligerence and outright lies offered again and again until most people either agreed with them, or gave in under the pressure and just went along, trying to appease the insatiable self-centred greed and pride of those driven by their terrible quest for power.

Eighty years later, we might see a few parallels with some current events at work. I don’t think there’s much need to get into specifics, or focus on stoking up fears. I bring this up mainly to make this point: how do we chose not to get swept up by these kinds of stories? To not let them reframe our understanding of our world, and of our place within it?
How do we not give ourselves over to the lies of tyrants on the one hand, or on the other hand, how do we not become so fixated on them, that we spend our days paralyzed by fear, or frantically trying to distract ourselves, and regain some sense of control?

I believe that one of the most important things we can do in times like these is to remember our story! 

To remember that, regardless of all the lies and the threats that the tyrants of today may say, and whatever they may do, we have received truly Good News that they can never undo. Good News that offers to us all a very different vision of our world, and our place within it. The Good News that the Living God alone is Lord of all, and His Good Kingdom will never end.

Our first reading this morning from the book of Nehemiah, takes place at a crucial moment for the people of Judah. They had just recently returned from Exile in Babylon, and had begun rebuilding not only the buildings, and structures of their ancient homeland, but were starting to rebuild their whole way of life as God’s covenant people.

Remember, the people of Judah had lost everything. Decades before the days of Nehemiah, the Kingdom of Judah had been devastated. Most of the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding region had been deported by their proud and powerful neighbouring nation, the Empire of Babylon. The Holy Temple of Yahweh, the Living God had been desecrated and destroyed. Their kingdom and royal line had been overthrown. The Promised Land that God had swore to give to their ancestors had been completely overrun by their enemies. 
 
We might see some more parallels here to many other stories both in the past, and today. Think of Poland in 1939. Or Eastern Ukraine or Gaza today. Places where entire communities have just been wiped away by war. And think about those who continue to make use of outright threats of violence, or other forms of oppression and exploitation to try to gain power for themselves. 

But then, against all expectations, the Empire of Babylon fell… and it fell hard. God did not allow them in their pride and quest for greatness, to carry on forever. They were overthrown suddenly by their neighbours to the East: the armies of the Medes and Persians. Suddenly, the terrible might of Babylon was shattered forever.

And just as unexpectedly, under the Persians, God’s people in Exile were offered the chance to return home… to go back and rebuild Jerusalem. Not quite the same as before… not with the same level of independence, as they were now part of the Persian Empire. Moving forward, their story had changed. They had been greatly humbled, but lived now with a renewed sense of hope that God had not given up on them.

What happened when the Exiles returned is a pretty long story. But our reading today from Nehemiah tells of one of the incredibly important steps they took: retelling and remembering their story… God’s story.

After centuries of unfaithfulness that led up to the Exile, and then decades of living under the shadow of Babylon, and their proud and idolatrous propaganda… the remnants of Judah needed to be reminded of the truth… they needed to recall the real story of the world, and their place in it. A counter-story to the ones that all those around them were telling: the story of the Living God, and their special role within His hope-filled work in the world.

Nehemiah 8:2-3, “Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.” 

Now the English word “law” here is the word “Torah”, which means not just ‘law’ as in a list of rules… but “teaching” or “instruction”… and it is also the name for the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy… which is not so much a collection of laws as it is a story… a narrative account of how God’s people came to be… a story of how God chose them to be a community shaped by His holiness, goodness, and love… a story of their own repeated failures to stay true to the Lord, and also of His great mercy and forgiveness, and unending faithfulness. 

And it’s a story that pointed forward to the prophets, and to God’s promised Messiah, and His coming Kingdom… a story that held out the hope of all nations Jew and Gentile alike, bound together, not by fear, or pride, or greed, but by the Living God’s saving love.

This was the story that God’s people were called to remember, and to live out, even when everyone else around them thought they were foolish, or mad. This story called them to live faithfully, choosing to stay true to God’s holy ways, even when it meant fighting hard against the cultural currents that kept pushing them the other way.

To be God’s people, they needed to know their story, and to stick to it. To place their hopes and faith in what God was up to, and let this story continue to reshape their vision, and their actions day by day.

And so, the practice of retelling the story of God was passed down over the centuries… developing into the practices of reading Scripture together in synagogue week after week… retelling God’s story so that His people could continue to live it out. To keep their hopes alive, and their fears refocused, and kept in perspective, preserving their faith despite all the stories to by the many Empires that rose and fell all around them.

And several centuries after our reading from Nehemiah, as St. Luke tells it, Jesus of Nazareth comes onto the scene, entering His hometown synagogue, reading the Holy Scriptures, and claiming that the time has finally come for the key part of God’s great story to be fulfilled.

Turning to the Book of Isaiah Chapter 61, Jesus reminds those present of the true hope at the heart of their story: the Good News that God’s deliverance has drawn near, and that His Kingdom has finally come.

Isaiah 61:1-2a,
“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…”
 
These are the first words in St. Luke’s Gospel that Jesus preaches, and they mark the beginning of His public ministry. But shockingly, He claims this word of hope has now been fulfilled. This Good News is not simply talking about some far off future… it is for today! In Him! Jesus places Himself at the centre of God’s story… that He is the fulfillment of God’s promises to rescue God’s people, to bring to them the Good News of God’s salvation… the source of new life to those who seemed powerless, abandoned, and forgotten.

Next week we’ll look a bit closer at this claim, and at the people’s response. For today, it’s enough for us to remember that this is the Good News of our story too! Jesus Christ really is the centre of God’s Story, and in Him, we see the living heart of what the LORD has done, and is doing. 

And it’s a story of saving love, through and through. Setting aside all earthly honour and glory, Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son humbled Himself. He faced head on the fears and the struggles of His people. He bore their sorrows and pain, and brought help and healing and hope to those sitting in darkness… and freedom to those bound by sin and evil… and He gave up His life at the cross… allowing Himself to be ridiculed, shamed, and brutally tortured to death for all to see… crushed by the power of Rome.

And yet, God did not abandon His Son to death. Three days later, Christ Jesus rose again from the grave, overthrowing the powers of hell, once and for all. And He still lives! And even now, He reigns alongside the Father. And He will return to set our world right again, once and for all. And when He does, every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that He as Lord.

This is where our story’s headed. This is the Good News that we have come to believe: that Jesus Christ alone is Lord. That our Saviour King shall reign forever. And no matter what the vain kingdoms of the earth may say or do, this truth will never fail.

And today, in our own lives, we Christians are called to continue remembering this story, and to stick to it. And in our second reading today from the first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul gives us an important example of what it looks like to live out this story.

St. Paul spent many years travelling about the Eastern Roman Empire, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ among people who were largely convinced that the tyrant Caesar was Lord, and establishing Church communities where new Christians could begin to live God’s ways together. 

St. Paul worked hard to help these confused Christian communities come to understand the massive implications of the Good News that they had received… and to live out the story of the Risen Christ. 

From his letters, we know that the Church in Corinth was deeply divided. There were filled with factions and infighting… and busy arguing over which party was more spiritual, more important, more powerful, and so on. 

Sadly, these disputes have more that a few modern parallels within the worldwide Church, as many of us Christians today still struggle with the impulse to turn away from each other… to cut ourselves off from each other, and spurn those who are different from us.

And so, one of St. Paul’s tasks was to help them (and us) to see that it is precisely in learning how to love and embrace one another that we are living out the story of Jesus. This is how we share in, and show the world, what the saving love of God looks like, by putting His saving, reconciling love into practice with one another. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” 

St. Paul goes on to speak about how different members of a body are all still mutually dependent. They may be very different in function, appearance, and even honour, but are all working together in harmony for the benefit of all. 

In our world, so many keep turning against one another… fighting for supremacy, and despising those who are different. But Jesus our Risen Lord has commanded us to follow Him on another way. Which is why we must always remember our story! 

Remember the Good News of what God has done in and through Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to Himself, and to draw all nations together into His eternal Kingdom. 

We are called to remember that God does not show favoritism, but intends to unite all peoples to Himself through His Son Jesus. We are called to remember that the Lord opposes the proud, and lifts up the lowly, and that kingdoms founded on fear, and hatred, and greed can never endure. And that the one Spirit of God can bind us together even despite all our differences.

We remember this story, our story, every week when we gather for worship. When we confess our faith by reciting the Creeds together. When we read the story of Scripture together, as part of our worship gatherings, or as we study the Bible, together or in private. We remember this story when we pray the prayers that Jesus our Lord has given to us… when practice the new way of life that He has opened for us… when we receive the gift of His body and blood in the bread and the wine we share together at His table. 

Our story is Jesus’ story. And so, when we find ourselves shaken by what’s going on in our world, let us remember His story… the Good News of God’s saving love. And whatever challenges we face, today, or in the days to come, thanks be to God we know where His story is headed: and that His Good Kingdom will never end. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 43:1–7 | Psalm 29 | Acts 8:14–17 | Luke 3:15–22

​“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 
I have called you by name, you are mine. 
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, 
and the flame shall not consume you. 
For I am the Lord your God, 
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1b-3).

How hard is it to ask for help? 

I guess it depends on the context, doesn’t it? Personally, I know there are lots of times when I can find it pretty easy to ask for help. Like when I’m in an unfamiliar store, and looking for something specific. In that instance, I’d much rather just ask someone else for directions than waste my time wandering around.

Of course, there are other times when asking for help seems a whole lot less easy… like when I think I already know how to do something… or when I want to prove, either to myself or to those around me, that I am capable and strong enough to handle the challenge I’m facing all by myself. That’s when my pride certainly gets in the way of asking for help. 

Or when I simply don’t want anybody else to know what I’m going through… when I am too ashamed to share my struggles… and worried that others will think less of me, or look down on me if I let them know about my weaknesses. That’s when shame stops me from reaching out.

Now we all have our own times when, and reasons why we might find it really hard to ask for help. But the reality is: there are some problems we will face in life that are just too big for us to face alone.

The Good News is, of course, we don’t have to face them alone! We are not simply left to fend for ourselves in this life. Our Saviour stands with us always. 

Today we Christians celebrate the Baptism of the Lord: retelling the story of how Jesus Christ, God’s Son chose to step into our shoes… wade into the waters that threaten to overwhelm us, and share the lot of us sinners… to save us.

The Baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of His earthly ministry… His first steps along the path to become the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. 

But long before Jesus stepped into the Jordan River… long before He was born of Mary… the Living God had been preparing His people for Christ’s arrival... revealing Himself not only as their Almighty Sovereign, but also as their Divine Helper.

The whole story of Scripture depicts Yahweh, the Living God, as the One who longs to rescue the oppressed… to bind up the broken, lift up the lowly, and set the captives free. And all throughout Israel’s story, God proves to be their faithful deliverer. The One who comes to their aid, and who refuses to abandon them, despite their many mistakes… allowing them at times to face the grave consequences of their sins, but at the same time, always eager to step in and show them His mercy and steadfast love.     

And this is the context for our first reading from Isaiah 43. God’s people had been in the Promised Land for several centuries… enjoying God’s great generosity and divine protection from their enemies. But despite this, Israel had also turned away from the Lord in their hearts, and in their daily lives: worshipping idols, perverting justice, oppressing the poor, and refusing to walk in God’s holy ways. Much of the writings of Isaiah make it clear that Israel had made a big mess of things, and so they would have to face some big consequences: Exile was coming. God would allow His unfaithful people to have everything taken from them… their land, their possessions, their communities… and they would have to live as strangers in the land of Babylon.
 
But even so, Isaiah shared the Good News that God would not abandon His people. Far from it. And in today’s reading we hear God’s words of promise, that despite all of their sins, the Lord Himself would deliver them. 

Isaiah 43:1-3, “But now thus says the Lord, 
he who created you, O Jacob, 
he who formed you, O Israel: 
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 
I have called you by name, you are mine. 
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, 
and the flame shall not consume you. 
For I am the Lord your God, 
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

And further down, verses 5-7, 
“Do not fear, for I am with you; 
I will bring your offspring from the east, 
and from the west I will gather you; 
I will say to the north, “Give them up,” 
and to the south, “Do not withhold; 
bring my sons from far away 
and my daughters from the end of the earth— 
everyone who is called by my name, 
whom I created for my glory, 
whom I formed and made.”

With these words, and many more like them, God called His people throughout the Old Testament to trust in Him, and to turn back to Him, even when they’ve completely messed up everything… God Himself would be with them. He would stand by them… and not forsake them. He would come to their rescue. 

And so, many centuries after God’s people returned from Babylon, and tried to rebuild their lives in the land… at the right time, God sent John the Baptist to prepare His people for the arrival of their Saviour King. John’s ministry of baptism at the Jordan River stood as an invitation for God’s people to seek the Lord’s forgiveness… to seek out a new beginning, a fresh start, both as individuals, and as a renewed community.

It was a call to humble themselves. To let go of their pride and acknowledge that they all really needed God’s help. To confess that they could not turn their own stories around alone. That they needed His salvation.

And it was a call to own up to the brokenness of their own lives. To publicly own the fact that they had really messed up and sinned… falling far short of the glory of God, and His holy purposes for His people. It was a call to face their own guilt and shame, and bring themselves honestly before God seeking His mercy.

John was calling God’s people to draw near to the Lord again, and to stop playing games… to show up as themselves… as those in desperate need of help, turning to God with their whole lives in the hopes that He really would save them.

That invitation echoes down to us today as well. In whatever mess we may find ourselves in… in our times of distress and desperation, we too are called to draw near to God… not as we wish we were, but as we are… with our worries and weaknesses… with our mistakes and failures… we are invited to trust, and turn our eyes to the Lord, and to wholeheartedly seek His help.

But as we read on in the Gospel, we find that God offers us so much more than the help we might ever have expected, or dare to ask for… and nothing could really prepare us for the surprising scandal of what happens next. 

For Jesus Christ, God’s perfect, sinless Son, does not just come to the river to pardon and extend forgiveness to those who turned to God in faith. That would be wonderful enough… but He does so much more! 

He steps into the waters Himself. Jesus identifies Himself fully with those who had turned their backs on God, and rejected His holy ways. Jesus wades into their messed up circumstances and chooses to make them His own. He doesn’t stand by while His people and His world struggle to stay afloat… in His baptism, Jesus binds Himself to those who are drowning, doomed, and completely dependent on the mercy of God alone to deliver them.

And John doesn’t miss the point, or the scandal of it all, which is why in St. Matthew’s account, John is so confused by Jesus’s actions.  John knows that Jesus doesn’t need to turn Himself around to be at one with God like everyone else… and that in fact, it’s John himself that needs to be set free by God’s Messiah… the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

But Jesus knows that this is how God’s great deliverance will be made complete: by binding Himself completely to sinners, so that they can be saved in and through Him.

And Jesus is right! This is God’s will for His beloved Son. And as Christ is baptized, John sees “the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22).

In this moment of public humility, but also incredible compassion and grace, stepping into the place of us sinners, Jesus is fully in line with the heart of His Father in Heaven, and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Living God, the Triune Lord is completely on the same page: choosing to be bound to our broken world, to become it’s blessed Saviour.  

Of course, Jesus’ baptism is just the beginning of this great act of deliverance… a journey that would lead to the crisis of the cross, where Christ joins Himself not only to desperate sinners seeking forgiveness, but to those already condemned to die… to be plunged into the depths of the grave for their sins… to become like them, lifeless, and completely powerless to rescue themselves. At the cross, Jesus binds Himself to us all, to our world at its very worst… choosing to lay down His life… to die bound to us… so that we might be raise up with Him.

Jesus trusted that His Father’s saving love was far more powerful even than death, and that His Father would not abandon Him, but would raise Him up again.

And the Good News of the Resurrection is that Jesus was right! After three days in the grave, God the Father raised up His Son as the new beginning of a New Creation… no longer susceptible to sin and death… but set free forever.

And this is the New Life that Jesus had opened up for us, and offers to us all in His name: to share in His death to sin, and also to share in His glorious New Life, now and forever.

And in light of Jesus’ baptism… His act of love, binding Himself to us in the waters of the Jordan River, and ultimately at the cross… our own baptisms bind us to Him in faith… as our tangible response to what He has already done for us at the cross to save us, and to unite us to Him, and to all God’s people, creating a renewed community, committed to living here and now as His beloved children.

This is not possible for us all on our own. But it is possible by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, working in us to bring about God’s new life, and helping us to walk in His ways… binding us to Jesus, and setting us free in Him.

The practice of baptism for disciples of Jesus today is not simply something that we do ourselves… sort of a religious rite of passage… something we just go through, because that’s what’s expected of us. Baptism is a gift for God’s people… inviting us to be open to God’s life-giving Spirit, once and for all… to spend all our days trusting in what Jesus has done for us at the cross, and in the mercy and saving love of the One who is now our Heavenly Father as well.

In a moment, we will have the chance to respond to all this by affirming our faith using the Baptismal Covenant, found on page 158 of the Book of Alternative Services… reaffirming our wholehearted commitment to the One who bound Himself to us in mercy and love.

And in the days to come, may we believe that even in our deepest struggles and trials, God will not leave us alone… He has bound Himself to us, so that we might be rescued in Him.

May we trust that what Jesus has done for us is far more powerful than all of the messes and mistakes we have made, and that in Him, God really has come to bring us the help we all really need.

May our lives reflect this wonderful reality. May these not be merely words that we repeat, but by the Holy Spirit’s help, may we continue to be transformed by this Good News. 

May we be set free from the pride and shame that keep us from seeking help to live God’s way in the world. 

And may the saving love Jesus, shared with us when we were at our very worst, turn our lives around, so that we can share His saving love with those in our lives. Amen.