Eternal Echoes

Growing from love, growing into love; Sermon blogging (Mark 4:26-34, 2 Corinthians 5: 6-17)

I don’t know how many of you are gardeners, Tim and I are newbie gardeners, we’ve always had gardens, but beyond pulling out weeds and cutting a bit of grass we’ve not done much until now. Then something happened, we were visiting friends for a meal, and they cooked us a lovely lamb steak on the BBQ, it was accompanied by fresh spinach, fresh new potatoes and fresh beetroot all from their garden! We tasted and we knew and we were hooked, the non gardeners became gardeners because we’d caught a glimpse of the joy of growing your own. In a sense we were converted, and all it had taken was a mouthful of fresh spinach! At that point the lamb paled into insignificance! The seed of desire for something new had been sown in us and supermarket spinach would now be a poor substitute!

 

The apostle Paul tasted something new, and changed, a much more dramatic change than a change from not gardener to gardener, he experienced a deep internal change, a transformation of heart and soul, mind and spirit, a change that opened his life to the extraordinary love of God in Christ, a love that he now describes as a compelling love….

 

What happened? Somehow Jesus had come to him in such a way that the knowledge of the love of God was firmly planted within him, and he would never be the same…

 

God’s love became his mission, his vision and his prayer; he wanted everyone to experience God’s love as rooted and growing reality in their lives, and in a lovely juxtaposition that all should know themselves planted into God’s love from where they could grow vigorously and healthily. Listen carefully to his prayer:

 

Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

 ^11-13All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don't let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

 ^14-19My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

 

Live in the fullness of God, full lives in the fullness of God, that is Paul’s prayer, it is the love of God that sustains and compels him, the love of God that is growing in him and from which he is growing…

God is love, his kingdom purposes are that his love should be shown and grown in his people, Jesus offers us stories, parables to illustrate the vibrancy and energy of this, reminding us it is God’s work and not ours he tells of the field planted by the farmer, the mystery and energy, the warmth and the wonder that cause the seeds he has sown to grow and sprout until the harvest is ready….

 

God is love, his kingdom purposes are that his love should be shown and grown in his people; Jesus tells us another parable, of how the smallest seed becomes the largest plant, growing and maturing until it is able to offer shade and shelter…

 

God’s love growing within, God’s love from which we grow, God’s love which when we receive it and allow ourselves to be planted in it works in and through us a wonder, a compulsion to share it for we have tasted and known ourselves to be held by something that is far better than spinach!

 

So what happens to us when we receive this love, when we begin to grow in it? Paul speaks of groaning and longing for something more, more because we realise that there is so much more, we have only put our toes in the water of the possibilities of God, our roots are baby roots, and the soil of his love is rich and deep, and every fibre of our being longs to plumb it’s depths, to receive of it’s riches….

 

Stop for a moment, ask yourself is this your experience? Do you know the love of God in this way? If not now is the time to ask him to plant you firmly into his kingdom by receiving again or maybe for the first time the love of Christ, whose love was planted and displayed so richly among us as he left heavens glories to be born in a manger, as he stretched out his arms on the cross giving his life that we might live, and mightily through the glorious power of the resurrection as he overcame death, offering his transforming possibilities to be at work within the brokenness ugliness and loveless-ness of this world. His love available for all as a free planting for our hearts….

 

That transformative work within will enable us to see the world as God sees it, to see others as he sees them, to live from a balanced centre, we have been given a fresh start, our old life is gone; a new life burgeons! A new life giving, love sharing life that offers others a taste of the love and life of God just as our friends shared with us the fruits of their garden.

 

As we grow we become a part of God’s solution in a world that is so much in need of love, of healing and transformation, and we don’t have to go far to encounter that need in our own lives, in our fellowship and families, in our communities and beyond. God’s plan is that we should grow into his fullness from his fullness.

 

Are we willing to be planted in him, are we willing for him to be planted in us?

 (Pictures by Tim)

Crying out for justice (sermon for Women's World Day of Prayer- Luke 18: 1-8 and Habakkuk from Ch 1&3)

Malaysia is a beautiful country, comprising of the mainland peninsular, Malaysian Borneo and a number of smaller and islands. It ranges from cooler mountains to tropical beaches, vast and advanced cities to smaller villages almost untouched by the years.

 

I am not reading to you from a tourist brochure, I was born in Singapore and brought up in Kuala Lumper; I was woken every morning by the sound of the Imam calling the faithful to prayer. I was aware through the people my father worked with that prayer was a vitally important part of the nations identity- obedience to Allah was the Malaysians duty.

 

Malaysia is also a cosmopolitan country, I attended the Garden School, an international school, and one of my class mates was the Sultans daughter! People of all races and faith mixed there but faith was never mentioned. And I honestly cannot remember seeing a church, though there must have been some. Today Malaysia celebrates its cosmopolitan nature, it is advance technologically and is on the surface a wealthy, successful, forward thinking country.

 

It is only since becoming a Christian as an adult that I became aware of the oppression and injustice and violence that we have just heard about through the voices of the women of Malaysia.

 

Oppression of faith- it is illegal to convert from Islam to Christianity.

 

It is illegal for Christians to proselytise, even talking about faith can be dangerous, and if misinterpreted and misrepresented could result in a fine or prison sentence.

 

Women are not treated as equals and; a few years ago a former Prime ministers daughter spoke out: She described Muslim women as second-class citizens who were held back by discrimination.

 

Malaysia led by Mahathir Mohamod was in the forefront of the international campaign to end white minority rule in South Africa.

But his daughter Marina has described Muslim women in Malaysia as subject to a form of apartheid - second-class citizens held back by discriminatory rules.

While she was speaking for Muslim women (who we must recognise are the majority) discrimination and abuse affect all women, violence and rape against women are treated lightly as offences- the judgement that they must have done something to deserve such treatment is evidence of systemic corruption.

The customary Malaysian greeting;  Selamat Datang – peace and welcome – is likely to turn sour in the moth of the speaker or the ears of the hearer when the ideal of peace and harmony is so undermined by corruption and greed, and sadly distorted when voices for truth and justice are silenced.

Their questions from this service should echo in our ears:

Do we take the risk and engage, or do we remain silent? Should we stay neutral?

They answer their own question:

We have come to understand that God calls us to be righteous citizens of our country. So we do have a role to play by speaking out against all forms of injustice’.  (rpt)

We have a role to play- these are brave words and they should challenge us! For they see their role not simply as needing to speak out once, but continually, raising their voices not only in protest but also in prayer.

Theirs is an ongoing call to cry out to the authorities in Malaysia, to the world (through events like this) and to God in intercession and complaint! The readings they have given us are full of faith and endurance and longing. They also contain a promise, and an assurance that God is not deaf to their plight, and that s/he will act!

Listen again to the words from Habakkuk 3: (The Message)

O God, I've heard what our ancestors say about you, 
   and I'm stopped in my tracks, down on my knees.
Do among us what you did among them. 
   Work among us as you worked among them.
And as you bring judgment, as you surely must, 
   remember mercy. (2)

Though the fig tree does not bud 
   and there are no grapes on the vines, 
though the olive crop fails 
   and the fields produce no food, 
though there are no sheep in the pen 
   and no cattle in the stalls, 
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, 
   I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength; 
   he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, 
   he enables me to tread on the heights. (17-19)

I will persist, the prayer of Habakkuk echoes in the prayers of the women of Malaysia, it echoes in their prayers, and as it does so it should challenge us! Will we speak out against injustice, will we speak out for them, pray for them; will we speak out about injustices that surround us, bankers being given huge bonuses whilst jobs in the public sector are being cut! Will we speak out for our youth when so many are loosing hope of ever being employed, will we speak out against potty decisions- such as broke councils spending £30,000 pounds on Commerative Jubilee mugs for Primary School Children, people in need being denied disability living allowance, abuse of our land, pollution and for the rights of the unborn, and that is just scratching the surface…

Will we speak out? Is it worth speaking out? The women of Malaysia say that it is. They offer us the story of the persistent widow as an example, encouraging us to bring our petitions before God- because God is not like the unjust judge who finally dragged himself out of bed just to rid himself of the widow. God is just and holy, and knows when the time is right:

Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. 

He will not drag his feet; he knows what we need….

But then the challenge, the challenge shown to us through the persistence of the widow, whose cries were heard, whose case for justice was vindicated;

How much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?"

How persistent are we in our cry for justice, in our care and compassion for the poor and the outcast? Have we heard and understood God’s heartbeat, are we in time and in tune with it? Do we want to be? Believe me I too am challenged by these questions, but we ignore them at our peril:

I am sure you have heard it said that a society can be judged on the way it treats its most vulnerable members.

And remember though Habakkuk cried “How long O lord”

God’s response was this:

“Look at the nations and watch— 
   and be utterly amazed. 
For I am going to do something in your days 
   that you would not believe, 
   even if you were told. 

God’s ways are not our ways, her/his thoughts are not our thoughts, and yet through prayer and persistence we can learn his ways, we can begin to understand her/his heart, as we draw close, as we persist, as we speak out s/he promises us gifts of wisdom and strength. And this we can know, s/he is with us always!

 

He is risen... the lamb becomes shepherd. Sermon blogging John 10:22-30 and Revelation 7:9-17

The excitement of Easter is over for another year, the services where we reflected on the depth and mystery of Christ’s passion are behind us, the Easter hymns have largely been sung and now in the fourth week of the season preachers like me are struggling with whether to put them into a service or not. The Easter eggs are eaten and we are all considering how to loose the few pounds we gained in eating them….

 

If we are not careful what we will be feeling is a huge anti-climax, all that preparation, and now with a few exceptions for we still look forward to Ascensiontide and Pentecost we are facing that huge swathe of the Christian year known as Ordinary Time…

 

And yet because of the resurrection our lives should be anything but ordinary, the whole story of Christ from end to end and ongoing through the church is extraordinary…

 

HE IS RISEN!!!

 

THE SPIRIT HAS COME!!!

 

Despite all of our difficulties and trials, despite our ordinariness we worship an amazing God, and through his life in us we should become extraordinary people, people with a story to tell as real as Mary’s was that first Easter morning, as real as Peter’s was when the Spirit was given at Pentecost, for our faith is a living faith. The wonder and mystery that God would choose to dwell amongst us, born as a babe in Bethlehem, the astonishing way that Jesus taught, healed and lived, the depths of love he revealed through the cross, and the sheer power that overcame death to bring about resurrection life should make us catch our breath and fall to our knees, and there is more for that Holy Spirit God’s gift, God himself was given to the church to guide, inspire and equip us ….

 

And this was not a one off, for his story is an ongoing story, told again and again until it becomes part of us, and it should infuse us with life….

 

But so often we find our feet trapped in the miry clay of ordinariness…

 

Time then for a vision to lift our eyes…

 

 

This passage from Revelation is set after a catalogue of suffering, terror and tribulation has been described in previous Chapters- multiply the series of disasters that cross our news screens week by week by several hundred and you start to get the picture. The picture was so terrible that it drew forth the harrowing question; “Now that the day of wrath has come, who is able to stand?” (Rev, 6:17)

 

And so we are given a vision to re-kindle the fire within us, a vision of the risen Christ, a vision white robed worshippers falling before him such is the depth and passion of their worship… and these robes are not insignificant, just as the Prodigal son was given a robe not simply to keep him warm but as a sign of restoration, his return to his family as a son not a slave so these worshippers are given robes, a sign that they belong to this place where every tear will be wiped away, and the “lamb that was slain will become the shepherd and guide them to the waters of life…”

 

This is rich imagery, imagery that we may find helpful and may find difficult, a lamb who becomes a shepherd is an impossibility for all but God…

 

To see Jesus as the lamb is challenging, and yet that is the picture we are offered here, it reminds us of his sacrificial love, reminds us that he endured the cross for us, reminds us of those images we may want to turn away from…. but it also reminds us that he overcame, for he is here, the lamb has become the shepherd once more, the resurrection was real!

 

HE IS ALIVE!!!

 

And so the words of our Shepherd come to us freshly infused with life: “My sheep know my voice” he says in the gospel reading… “My sheep know my voice…”

 

Just think about that for a moment, how many people’s voices do you instantly recognise? A loved one calls and does not need to say who they are because you know them, and they know that you will recognise them…

 

“My sheep know my voice.”

 

And yet I wonder if we do… if despite the fact that we may have heard the stories over and over, that we could tell them easily, I wonder if we recognise his voice today? Do we know how to listen to him, to really listen for him as he speaks deep into our lives through the Holy Spirit? Do we have a relationship with Jesus in which we feel secure, protected and personally known?

 

Ask yourself that question again; do I have a relationship with Jesus in which I feel secure, protected and personally known?

 

For that is God’s plan for you, you are one of the reasons that Jesus endured that cross, and it is from that secure place of being personally known that you can become a part of his revelation to the world, for sheep who know their Shepherds voice dwell in a place of safety.

In Jesus' day, real sheep were in constant danger of being snatched away by thieves and wild animals.

So the assurance that the metaphorical sheep of Jesus' followers - us - will not be snatched away is powerful.

The implication that there are "snatchers" should not be overlooked. We face many real internal and external threats to our relationship with God. But NOT from God.

I think the plain message of Jesus is that this assurance is extended to all of creation with no one and nothing left out. We may get life wrong, others may harm us, accidents and disease may take our life, but nothing will snatch us out of the caring, restoring, life-giving hand of God.

This is the God who clothes his followers in white robes.

This is the God who will wipe away every tear from our eyes…

This God is so deep and so high that his plan and purpose is too much for us to take in, and yet he knows us intimately, loves us unconditionally, and calls us to follow him….

And in following we can know him, can learn to know his voice, can live in the truth that he is risen, and that truth can and should find its way into every fibre of our being bringing us to life in him.