Sunday 20 April 2025: John 20:1-18

Our reading starts with Mary Magdalene going to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark. So I want you to imagine for a moment what she was going there for. What was she hoping to find? What purpose did she have in mind? Well. we are not told that in this passage, but we find the same passage in the Gospel of Mark where we are told that the women who went to the tomb, had spices to anoint Jesus’s body and on their way to the tomb were even wondering who would help them to roll away the stone that would have been in front of the tomb entrance. Now this is an interesting fact because it tells us that Mary and the other women really cared for Jesus and wanted to make sure after His death that His body was cared for in the usual way and prepared for His burial. However, this also tells us that, even though Jesus had been preparing the disciples for what was going to happen to Him and that on the third day he would rise again, they were not convinced. They had doubts. Otherwise, they would have realised, even without seeing that Jesus’s body by the morning of the third day would no longer have been in the tomb. Even though Mary loved Jesus, and had spent lots of time with Him, she doubted what He had told her. How could it be true, after all they had seen Jesus die on the cross? So when Mary and the other women arrive at the tomb to find the stone rolled away and an empty tomb, their first thought is not confirmation of what Jesus told them (that He was to be raised to life), but that that someone had moved his body. Do we sometimes have doubts? This is only natural, after all we are human. But we are told that, because we believe even though we have not seen, we are blessed. When Jesus talks to Thomas after His resurrection He says in John 20:29, ‘because you have seen me, you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

So Mary’s first thought was not that what she was witnessing was Jesus’ resurrection. No, her first thought was that somebody had moved Jesus’ body, or stolen his body. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” Imagine yourself in this situation. Mary had lost Jesus, she was grieving and just wanted to go to do the last thing for Jesus that she could, to anoint His body and prepare Him for burial. They were worried about how they would access the tomb considering how heavy the stone would have been, but instead of being faced with a difficult situation of how to get to Jesus body inside the tomb, they were now faced with an unimaginable fact, that Jesus’ body was gone. What reaction do you think you would have had? Are you quick to make assumptions about things? Do you doubt easily? Do you trust in what the Lord tells you or do need more proof before making your mind up? Doubts and assumptions are what make us human, normal reactions, after all even Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples had doubts.

Proverbs 3:5 says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.’ Sometimes we do not understand, which is why we need to trust in the Lord.

Mary runs to tell Simon Peter and John what she had seen, or not seen, at the tomb. When she arrived, she may have been out of breath, she may have been full of emotion, upset at the prospect that someone had stolen Jesus’ body and she just blurts out that someone has taken Jesus’ body out of the tomb. She did not know this for fact. Yes, the tomb was empty, but that does not mean that someone removed it, and of course we know that not to be the case. But that was Mary’s first thought, and she imparted this knowledge to the two disciples. Now their reaction is quite interesting because they did not say to Mary to calm down, ask her whether she was sure. They just reacted to what Mary said and immediately began running to the place where Jesus had been laid to rest. They had taken what Mary had said at face value, instead of remembering back to what Jesus had told them would happen. They ran to the tomb with an assumption.

Now let’s take a look at what happened when they arrived at the tomb. They were running, trying to beat each other and John outran Simon Peter. But when John arrived at the tomb, he did not go in. Why? Why did he stay outside of the tomb? Was he afraid of what was in there? Was he doubting what his eyes were telling him? Verse 5 says, ‘He bent over and looking in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in’. We are told in verse 9 that, ‘They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.’

When they looked into the tomb, they saw that the grave clothes were arranged not how they were expecting. If someone had moved the body, either they would have taken the grave clothes with them, or the clothes would have been discarded in a haphazard way. But these were arranged, as though they were where Jesus body had been, but had then risen. That would have been convincing proof to the disciples that Jesus had in fact risen from the dead. We are told that, when they saw this, they believed, even though they did not understand.

Are we, as Christians, expected to understand everything? No, of course not. If this was the case, then true believers would be reserved only for the best, most educated theologians. Even then, those individuals would not know everything. No, we have to trust in the Lord that He will reveal to us what we need to know, and send the Holy Spirit to help us to understand.

John 14:26 says, ‘But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything.’

Our understanding comes from a variety of things. Firstly, there is the truth, the Bible. We can read and digest the Bible and begin to acquire knowledge about God. Then there is our experience of God, which at the time we may not understand or even recognise. But sometime later, when we look back, it can make sense and we understand. Then there is the Holy Spirit, which when we allow the Him into our heart, this can help us to gain a better understanding of God, His message and our purpose.

Proverbs 3:5 says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.’

We cannot trust in our own ability to learn, read, acquire knowledge. This comes from God. Are you trusting in the Lord with all your heart, or are you leaning upon your own understanding. We may all have things in our lives right now that require our faith. We can spend time analysing our situation and become discouraged. We can feel abandoned; I am sure like Mary did on that first Easter morning. We can make assumptions about ourselves, others or our situation. Have you ever assumed something would happen, only to realise that all that time spent worrying about a bad outcome did not happen. When we follow God as our shepherd, we have to trust in Him instead of fretting and worrying about things. 1 Peter 5:7 says, ‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.’

So, Mary did not listen to what Jesus had told her and had made an assumption that someone had moved Jesus’ body. Verse 11 says, ‘Mary stood outside the tomb crying.’

Why was she crying? Surely this was a triumph? Jesus had risen from the dead as He had promised. He had overcome death. But Mary was expecting the worst, she was assuming the worst, when in fact in reality the plans that God had for her were wonderful. Instead of being the worst situation, this was actually the best situation. The absence of Jesus’ body in the tomb is the most wonderful, glorious thing that could have happened. If Mary had gone to the tomb, found Jesus’ body and been able to anoint Him, that would have been a day of sorrow. It would have meant that all the hope that the disciples and we have in Jesus was futile. Mary failed to see beyond the empty tomb. Her desire to see the Lord was so great that she then could not bear to leave the tomb and so sat outside crying. She had such a passionate devotion for Jesus that she did not want to leave. Even though Mary was experiencing great pain and sorrow, she longed to see the Lord. I wonder why she peered back into the tomb. Did she think that perhaps she had not seen clearly before, or did not want to believe that Jesus’ body really was not there. Whatever the reason, it was her persistence to be near to Jesus that she saw the angels and eventually was the first one to encounter the risen Christ. Simon Peter and John had been in too much of a hurry to see either the angels or Jesus. They simply wanted to rush back, but in their haste, they missed something wonderful. Do we sometimes rush our time with Jesus? When you spend time with the Lord, do you sometimes try to rush through your prayers or devotion for lack of time? In doing this we may miss something important that the Lord wants to tell us. We need to pause and listen to hear and understand.

So, after seeing the angels, Mary then encounters Jesus, but does not realise that it is Him. She again makes an assumption that, because it is early in the morning, the person who asks her why she is crying must be a gardener or something. After all, who else would be hanging around that early in the morning? In her persistence to want to see Jesus’ body, she even asks Him where He has taken Him so that she herself can go and retrieve His body. She has such a strong devotion that she is willing to do anything.

Finally, Jesus calls Mary by name, and at this point she realises it is Jesus. However, Mary makes another assumption. She assumes that the risen Jesus has simply come back to life, as Lazarus did. Did she assume that He would just continue His earthly life as before. Surely if this was the case then at some point Jesus would need to die again. No, Jesus explains to Mary that His resurrection means something quite different, and in fact that He will be going back to His father.

I wonder how Mary must have felt when Jesus called her name? The Jesus whom she thought had died and then had his body stolen so that he couldn’t even be properly prepared after his death. What an awesome moment must that have been for Mary, to be grieving with no hope one minute, to a sure hope and deep joy the next? This is the power of Jesus, that He can turn sorrow into joy. He can bring hope where there is no hope. He can bring clarity where there is confusion. He can bring truth where there is doubt. One word from Jesus turned Mary’s morning around. Imagine what He can do for you. You just need to stop, listen and have faith. He is risen. He is risen indeed.

Sunday 13 April 2025: Philippians 2:1-11

Our Bible passage is one of the most profound in the Bible because it reveals both the humility and exultation of Jesus. The Apostle Paul calls believers to adopt the same mindset that Jesus displayed; one of selflessness, obedience, and ultimate glory.

Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison in Rome. It was to thank the Church at Philippi for the gift they had sent to him and to encourage them in the faith by showing them the true joy that can only come from knowing Jesus.

Paul was often concerned to promote unity in the Church, and the early verses of our reading point to that concern. He describes for us the mind of Jesus, which is a willingness to give up rights and personal privileges, and take a lower place.

The cross of Jesus can heal the division of Christians wherever we are. It wipes out all the petty differences that we make among ourselves. The cross takes away our illusions and removes the pride that makes us think we know better than even God Himself. That is something we can focus on as we approach Good Friday.

All of us in the Church have a responsibility to promote unity. When we look at Jesus and ask the question: “Is Jesus divided?” The answer is obviously “No”. The body is one, but has many parts. All the parts of the body, though many, are united together. We can also say that, when we believe in Jesus, we believe in all of Him. Not a part or parts, but the whole of Him. There can be no division to it.

Looking around us, we can of course be disappointed that more in our local community do not demonstrate their belief in God by joining us for worship each week. But, despite that, there are still faithful people here that make up the body of this Church. Each one of us brings something a little different from another. We all come from different backgrounds; our experiences of life are never quite the same; there is a richness in our diversity.

But there are times when all of that may not quite be enough. There might be times when our opinions and our differing perspectives could bring disunity. There might be times when our desire to follow a particular way could cause division.

So, we come back to our need for focus on Jesus. We must use our differences responsibly whilst valuing all that others can bring into our lives. That’s when our togetherness will make us stronger. And when we focus on Jesus and His way, division and disunity fade away like the morning mist. 

When everyone decides to put the way of Jesus first; that is what brings harmony in a congregation. That is always the unifying factor in a church, and that is the mindset that Paul encourages us to adopt; the mindset that does not consider ourselves as the most important thing.

Paul urges believers to adopt the mindset of Christ. Jesus, though fully God, did not cling to His divine privileges, but willingly took on the form of a servant. His incarnation was not a loss of deity, but an addition of humanity. He chose to humble Himself, experiencing as a result, the full depth of human suffering and submission.

Our Bible passage calls us to reflect on what is in our own hearts. In a world that encourages us to put ourselves forward for personal gain, Jesus' example teaches us to lay aside all pride and ambition to instead embrace servanthood. True greatness is found in humility and sacrificial love.

Jesus’ humility was not just an outward appearance, but a reality of the way He lived and who He is. He obeyed the Father’s will to the point of death – even the most shameful and excruciatingly painful way to die, crucifixion. His obedience was not passive, but intentional. He willingly took all our wrongdoing on His shoulders and, in doing so, took the punishment upon Himself that we deserve.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to obedience as well. This means surrendering our will to God’s will, trusting that His ways are higher and better than our own. Whether in small daily choices or in life-changing decisions, we are to walk in submission to His Word, just as Jesus did.

Because of His obedience and sacrifice, God raised Jesus to the highest place. He has been given the Name above all names; the Name at which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. This moment of universal recognition of Jesus is inevitable, because all of creation will one day know and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, but it will either be in joyful worship or in fearful realisation.

The reality is that Jesus could return at any moment, and so even we need to ask ourselves if we are prepared and ready. Do we truly believe and trust in Jesus, do we repent of our sins, or are we just paying lip-service to those things whilst enjoying the ‘niceness’ of church? We should make sure that, on that day, we are among those in joyful worship.

The exultation of Jesus assures us that humility and obedience are never in vain. Just as Jesus was lifted up in glory, we too, if we are His followers, will share in His victory. God honours those who humble themselves before Him.

This passage challenges us to examine our own lives. Are we reflecting the humility, obedience, and trust that Jesus demonstrated? Are we living for His glory rather than our own? As we think on the verses of our Bible reading, may we be inspired to embrace the servant-hearted nature of Jesus, knowing that in due time, God will raise-up in joyful exultation those who walk in His ways.

Let us strive, then, to have the mind of Jesus – a mind of humility, obedience, and unwavering devotion to the glory of God the Father. 

Sunday 6 April 2025: Colossians 3:1-17

Living as Those Made Alive in Christ

Paul has three key messages in this passage. The first is that we are told to set our hearts and minds on things above. Paul reminds us that we have already been raised to new life in Christ, which happened when we were converted and accepted Jesus as our Lord. Because we are in Christ, Paul says set our desires on things above and make our focus on things above. In this life we live, nearly everything we are confronted with, focuses our minds on things that are the ‘here and now’. If you think about it, we get news alerts straight to our phones encouraging us to read it, we are enticed to scroll through social media in case we miss something, we may feel that we need to provide immediate responses to messages or emails that we receive. All of this detracts from what Paul encourages us to do which is to not focus on earthly things but on things above. This is the message Paul was writing to the Colossians who were being drawn into worrying more about the rules and rituals of the here and now.

But what are the things above? Have you ever thought about what Paul means by this? It is all about Jesus, it’s all about Jesus and making Him the centre of our focus and energy and attention. When Paul says to the Colossians that they should not set their minds on earthly things, he is not suggesting that they should favour the spiritual world over the physical world, he means that, as we go about our everyday life, make Jesus the centre of everything we do. Even when this is the most mundane of tasks, we should make Jesus the centre because He should be our life because Jesus is everything and as Paul described ‘Christ, who is your life’.

What do you say is life? What is most important to you? Some people may say that family is their life, or their career is their life, but as Christians, we should answer this by saying that Jesus is our life. He should be the main focus in everything we do. Earthly things are only temporary. Eventually, at some point, it will all come to an end. If you are at work, at some point your career will come to an end, either when you retire, leave, or sadly pass away. Its temporary. All those years spent working hard and putting work first will be gone. If sport is your life, your team may come and go. But what Paul tells us is that Christ is our life, and we should set our minds on Him because when that sports game you so looked forward to gets cancelled, or your career has stalled, Christ remains, and He is your life and your hope that He will appear with us in glory. We have that promise that we have been raised with Him, we are with Him now and we will be with Him in the end. So, it’s no wonder that Paul tells us that we should focus on Him.

Now you may be wondering how you can focus your heart and mind on Jesus. Well, there are things we can do such as spending time in His presence, praying to Him, reading about Him in the Bible, or singing hymns of worship about Him.  

Paul then goes on to give us some very practical advice on how we can put to death our earthly nature. Paul is talking about the physical and mental temptations that we find ourselves faced with in this earthly life. But Paul urges us to put these to death, get rid of them, prune them from our lives. If you are a gardener at all you will know what I mean about facing those persistent weeds. We need to continue to pull them up and get rid of them every few weeks to stop them from coming back and choking up the plants. This is what Paul is talking about when he talks about getting rid of the sinful natures that are constantly trying to creep into our lives. The things Paul talks about; anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language, as well as lying must be pruned out, just like the weeds. Paul urges the Colossians to put these things to death because they are the sort of things we may have done before we were with Christ, but now we need to turn away from these things because it can ruin our life with Christ.

Paul then goes on to talk about the qualities that we need to adopt as being children of Christ. It’s like the identity of Christians. We are all different, but in some aspects, we are all the same, because as Christians we have all clothed ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. We are distinct and can be seen apart from others by these qualities. The fact is that we should pour out forgiveness and love, even if we need to bear with each other, because perhaps we irritate each other, but with Christ we can be patient and loving.

As a follower of Jesus, Paul urges us to set our hearts on things above, not on earthly things, things that come and go. Rid ourselves of all the things that are sinful in our lives; malice, anger, slander, and instead clothe ourselves with compassion, humility, forgiveness and love. Imagine a world where everyone took note of what Paul writes and did this. That we all love one another, we reconcile and forgive one another, that we make amends. We are called to immerse ourselves in Christ, to make Him the centre.

Sunday 30 March 2025: Isaiah 66:12-14

Today is the day set aside for us to give thanks for our mothers and for the gift of motherhood. Our reading from Isaiah encourages us to think about the comforting love of a mother.

We are all made in the image of God, both men and women. So, as image bearers of God, we reflect some of God’s qualities and attributes. But we are a pale reflection, like the moon reflecting the light of the sun. There is no comparison between the radiance of the moon and the sun, because the sun outshines the moon a million to one.

But a full moon reflecting the light of the sun on a clear night, is still a beautiful sight to behold.

In the same way, mothers are a reflection of some of the most incredible qualities of God. And comforting is one of them.

The key verse in our reading, verse 13 says, ‘As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.’

When we read or hear that verse, what do we think of?

If you are a mother, you might think of your child, and how you have held him or her and wiped away their tears. If you are a father, you may think of your wife comforting your children. After all, children invariably go to mum when they get hurt – and that’s okay. Somehow, mum makes it better, because she comforts her child using instinctive gifts that come from God.

Some of us might think back to when we were hurt as a child, and our mother put her arms around us, and we just knew everything was going to be alright. A mother’s tender touch, her soft voice as she whispers in our ear that everything is going to be okay. Her arms that hug us tight tell us of her comforting love.

I’m sure that’s the kind of picture God wants us to have, because that’s the kind of comfort He has to give. Even if we didn’t have a mother who did those things to comfort us as a child, God is here with us today and He wants to wrap His arms around us and tell us that everything is going to be okay.

That is the kind of God we have; a God of comfort like a mother comforting her child. Comparing God’s comfort with that of a mother’s, tells us He has an intimate understanding of the needs and emotions of those who turn to Him. God's comforting presence implies a restoration of hope and peace for those who seek Him.

The context of our reading is to show God's response to genuine repentance. The comforting nature described in verse 13 is part of God's response to those who repent and turn to Him.

Thinking more broadly about the way in which God uses motherhood to demonstrate his fatherly love for us, I wonder if you remember the words from Luke’s Gospel where our Lord Jesus was speaking to His mother from the cross? He said, "Woman, behold your son," indicating John the disciple. Then, to John: "Behold your mother." John was of course not Mary's biological son, but Jesus, addressing her as ‘woman’ rather than ‘mother’, then assigned her to John as his spiritual mother.

Despite His own pain and anguish at that moment, Jesus had regard for His mother, giving to her what every mother needs, a son to guard her and keep her, and to John what every son needs, a loving, understanding mother.

John accepted the responsibility and took Mary into his own home. What a wonderful revelation this is of Jesus' understanding of our humanity, and of God’s purpose, in showing His comforting concern for the needs of mothers, sons and daughters.

It is perhaps the act of comforting that we can most easily associate with motherhood. Through that outward display of care and tenderness, we can see a reflection of Christ-like qualities. And we can take this further by reflecting God’s love and the life of Jesus in ourselves and in others.

We are surrounded by people in need; people who, in varying degrees, are hurting in their lives. Recognising those needs, and responding to them with comfort and love, is part of what I believe is required of us.

God surely intends for us to bring His comfort into our human lives. We can do this in very practical ways by finding out where people are hurting, and by understanding the level of need – be it in our homes, our neighbourhoods, our church communities, or wherever our lives touch others.

And we should ensure that the nature of Jesus is the example we use, rather than our own nature with its multitude of weaknesses. 

Motherly love is characterised as everlasting and faithful as a further reflection of God's love. Human love is conditional, but the godly person ministers to others, not for self-satisfaction or gain, but that God may be glorified in His creation. This is their lifestyle and their life's goal. In the process of comforting, we learn genuine tenderness, compassion and sensitivity.

What we have learnt, and then demonstrate, can become an example to others. We can all become mother-like in the way we interact with other people, whether or not we have directly experienced the wonder of the reproductive process.

In comforting others, we are loving Jesus; the cup of water given to the thirsty in His name is our gift to Him. By bearing fruit in every good work, we increase in the knowledge of God.
 
Spiritual motherhood, then, is perhaps the level of maturity intended for every Christian. Recognising the lives of others as being God-given, can help us to respond with comfort and love. God intends us all, male and female, mother or father, son or daughter, to share the attributes of His Son, Jesus, and to demonstrate them in our daily lives. 

By the example of Jesus’ mother Mary, we may teach family, Church and society the beauty and dignity of serving, comforting and loving in order that Jesus may live in us and among us. When we learn to live in this way, we will become a living, vibrant mother to humanity's needs.

And so, we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for our mothers, past and present, and we praise Him for the eternal gift of mothering to us all.

Sunday 16 March 2025: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

The Ministry of reconciliation

We can explain Christian reconciliation by thinking about two friends who have had an argument. A good relationship that they once enjoyed has been strained and they now stop speaking to each other, and gradually over a period of time they have become strangers. It is possible that they may be hostile to each other, even and outwardly cold. But then one day something changes which makes the friends think about the old friendship they had and the good times they once shared. All it takes is for one of them to maybe pluck up the courage to pick up the phone and make contact. They begin to talk and the pride and resentment that they once had begins to fall away and they apologise to each other for things said long ago or things done, that they can put aside their differences and peace is restored. The two friends embrace and enjoy spending time together once again. Now let's think for a moment and consider that in that situation what if only one of the friends was at fault and one was completely innocent. What if it was the friend who was innocent who is the one who began the reconciliation, the one who apologised first, the one who came to the other friend with open arms. This is what Christian reconciliation is about. This is what it is like when God reaches out to His sinners.

Reconciliation involves a change in some way, but a change on our part, not on God’s part, for God is always the same and always remains perfect. But what happens in Christian reconciliation is that God changes us. As Paul writes, ‘The old was made new’. That is what happens to us on the inside when we are reconciled to God.

The way in which God reconciles us to Him was through His son Jesus Christ. We can see that in verse 18 of our reading where it says, ‘All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them’.

In fact, it was while we were enemies of God that He chose this time to reconcile us to Him through the death of Jesus on the cross. You might be wondering why we need to be reconciled to God, but the fact is that throughout history our relationship with God has been broken, but broken through our sin not God’s. Because God is holy and blameless. Our sin acts as a barrier against us and God, but when Jesus died on that cross that acts as a bridge between us and God, allowing forgiveness and justification by the grace shown through faith in His Son. God’s grace nurtures us and changes us to be the image of Christ. It's that change that Paul is talking about when he says in verse 17, ‘Therefore if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come; The old has gone the new is here’. We are a new creation in God.

When we think about the Bible story it's really all about how we are reconciled to God. Adam and Eve started in the Garden of Eden as friends of God, unashamed of their nakedness, living hand-in-hand with God and each other, but when Eve bit that apple and offered it to Adam, that's when sin entered the world and the relationship with God was broken. We became enemies of God and started choosing our own ways, our own paths, and live in hostility towards ourselves and to God. Scripture in the Bible records a constant battle where God is reconciling us to Him, but we continually run away and God pursues us. We're all scattered as sheep, but God sent His Good Shepherd to guide us in. We hid in the darkest parts, but God sent the Light of the World to be our true light. We were dying through thirst, but God sent a living water that would mean we would never go thirsty.

Let's take a reading from Colossians 1:21-22 where Paul writes, ‘You were his enemies separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without fault’.

And now as those who are reconciled to God, we have been given a great responsibility as Paul writes in verses 19 and 20, ‘And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God’.

So not only are we encouraged to accept the invitation from Christ to be reconciled to God but we are to encourage others to also take up that wonderful offer.

There is a passage of scripture that has been on my heart all week and it can be found in a number of different verses in the Bible. It can be found in Joel 2:32, in Romans 10:13 and in Acts 2:21. The verse is: ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’. So that means this reconciliation that Paul was talking about is not reserved just for a special few, it's not reserved for those who consider themselves holy, it's not reserved for those who live in particular circumstances. This invitation to call on the name of the Lord is open to everyone. When the Bible was written this would have meant that the message given to gentiles and Jews at the time was the same. It didn’t matter their background, where they were born, whether they were a Jew or gentile. We all are able to call on the name of the Lord and be saved. We are all able to be reconciled to God and we are all able to receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Sunday 9 March 2025: Psalm 51

Lent is a special season of the church year. We are entering a period of self-reflection; a time when we are called to close examination of our relationship with God, and of our weaknesses and shortcomings; a moment when we can seek to realise that we are utterly lost without the grace of God.

Psalm 51 is one of the clearest examples of repentance in the entire Bible. Countless broken sinners will have found these words a profound expression of their deeply felt need for God’s mercy and forgiveness. The confession that David makes can help us to examine our own excuses, our half-hearted repentance and our lack of sorrow for the things we do that keep us from a right relationship with God.

But David’s words also demonstrate the role of hope within confession. And this psalm can help us find a way of dealing with guilt or a sense of distance that our wrongdoings place between us and God.

Whenever we undertake close work like reading or writing, or sewing or a fiddly repair of a small or delicate item, invariably we will use a lamp, a torch or a spotlight to help us see clearly what we are doing. In the same way, as we go through this period of self-reflection and examination, we should use the light of Jesus to help us identify what is wrong and to put things right. That is to say, we should compare our thoughts, words and actions to those of Jesus, and match them up where the link is broken. Lent is a season to examine ourselves in the light of Jesus.

The very process of self-reflection is difficult enough. We all lead such busy and hectic lives that it is hard to find the time to stop and reflect. When we do, we may not always like what we see.

Perhaps we compare ourselves to others who seem so much more holy than us; or we compare ourselves to people who really seem to have it all together; or we might even compare ourselves to those who we judge to be worse than us in order to make ourselves feel better.

But as we examine all those attitudes, we might conclude that they are driven by a deep-rooted fear: a fear of being uncovered or found out; or a fear of understanding ourselves as we truly are. And maybe we don’t want others to know who we really are? Perhaps, we don’t even want to know ourselves as we really are?

Yet we are aware that God knows us better than we know ourselves, and that realisation might bring its own sense of fear.

David had been living in denial. He had refused to acknowledge the depth of his sin in having Uriah killed. Uriah was the husband of Bathsheba with whom David had committed adultery. The seriousness of his behaviour had not dawned on him until Nathan the prophet came to him and confronted him with the severity of his sin.

You might remember the story from 2 Samuel 12 in which Nathan tells David a parable about a rich man who steals the lamb of a poor man to feed a guest. The rich man had huge flocks of his own but, in his selfishness, he took the only thing of any value to the poor man: his lamb.

When Nathan told the story, David was so angry about the behaviour of the rich man that he said, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Then Nathan confronts him with the terrible truth: “King David – you are that man!”

David is confronted with the reality of who he is, and so Psalm 51 is written by him out of that experience of pain, of being found out. It is the moment of realisation, and he speaks to God with a clarity of honesty during his confession.

As we reflect on his words in Psalm 51, so we can think about our own need for grace from God.

The first thing we note is our need for mercy. Verse 1 says, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” There is nothing we can do to cleanse ourselves. We cannot eradicate our sinful nature.

We might try over and over again – and, for some of us, life is a continuing pattern of working towards self-improvement – but ultimately, it is our reliance on God that counts, as David infers in verse 10: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Only God can give us a pure heart. Only God can give us a steadfast spirit.

Secondly, the truth is that we can never know true happiness until we are restored into a right relationship with God. David writes in verse 3: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” No matter how we may try to ignore our sinful nature, it is always with us. Quite simply, we can run – but we can’t hide.

We know who we are and we know what we have done, but we can’t turn back the clock and make it right. When we look in the mirror, we see ourselves as we are. We cannot escape our past failings any more than our past successes, because we are the sum of all our decisions.

Thirdly, the reality is that sin against others – and sin against ourselves – is ultimately sin against God. David had sinned against Uriah. He had sinned against his own people. He had sinned against Bathsheba. He had sinned against himself and yet, in verse 4, he was wise enough to say to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”

God is the Lord of creation. If we refuse to recognise His Lordship, we are sinning against Him and we will face the consequence of judgement.

So, Lent is a time for self-reflection and examination. But that is not the same thing as saying that Lent is a time for negativity and a sense of helplessness. It is a time for honest reflection; not a time for collapsing under the weight of our own guilt. Psalm 51 helps us to move deeper into that self-realisation. David combines a realisation about himself with very real hope for the future.

When we come to terms with who we are – full of imperfections and doubts – it is at that point that we are able to relax into the love of God. And then, when we do relax into that love, we realise the Good News of the Gospel. As David says in verse 13, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.”

And finally, with David, we are brought to praise and worship. Verse 15 says, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” That is the journey that we go through during this season. We begin at verse 1: “Have mercy on me, O God”. We are confident, though, that if we make this journey with honesty and a willingness to submit to Jesus, we will arrive at Easter morning with David in verse 19: “Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you”.

Our prayer today might be that God will give each one of us the courage we need to look within ourselves, attend to what we see and develop a sense of realisation so that we can experience the joy of reconciliation with God. That is the Holy Lent to which we are all called.

We come into the presence of the Lord through His Son. When we allow Jesus’ death and resurrection to purchase our forgiveness from God, we are counted as righteous. Our sins are forgiven because Jesus has already paid the price for them. Only then can we have peace with God. 

Sunday 2 March 2025: Matthew 17:1-9

The Transfiguration

We know that the trip up the mountain and the transfiguration took place six days after Jesus and His disciples went to Caesarea Philippi where Peter declared that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus predicts His death.

Matthew 16:21-23 says, ‘From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Jesus has spent time preparing His disciples for the fact that He was going to go to Jerusalem and would suffer, be killed and would be raised back to life. But here we see Peter rebuking Jesus saying that this shall never happen to Him. Jesus’ response is to call Peter ‘Satan’ for trying to get Jesus to choose a different path from the one He is describing.

Now six days later we see Jesus with Peter, James and John. Were they specially selected by Jesus to witness His transfiguration or did they just happen to be with Jesus when it happened? Was there a special purpose in ensuring that Peter got to witness the transfiguration to get Peter to listen and understand what Jesus had been telling him? Had Peter been only focusing on the death part that Jesus had been explaining that he had failed to understand the resurrection part? Whatever the reason that Peter, James and John were with Jesus, they got to witness something truly magnificent.

We are told in our reading that Jesus led them up a high mountain. We are not told in scripture what mountain it was, but it is interesting that many encounters with God take place on mountains. Moses went to Mount Sinai to speak with God and received the Ten Commandments; Abraham went up a mountain when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac; and, Elijah encountered God on Mount Carmel. So, it appeared that big things happened on mountains where God was encountered. He did important things on mountains.

Climbing a mountain can be hard work both physically and mentally, but when we get there, particularly if it is a clear day, the air will be clearer, we can see for miles and miles and there is a sense of peace and tranquillity. We know that the effort we put into the journey is worth the results at the end. Is this similar to our journey with God? Are we too on a journey up a high mountain to meet God? What hills and obstacles are we trying to overcome to meet God? When we focus on God, focus on making it to the top of the mountain to meet with God. This is when things can become clearer, and we open our hearts to the Lord and receive a sense of peace and tranquillity.  

So, Jesus, Peter, James and John had made the big journey up the high mountain and now let’s take a more detailed look at what happened.

Verse 2 says, ‘There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.’

Being transfigured means to be transformed into something more beautiful or elevated. Jesus is described as having a face that shone like the sun, and His clothes becoming as white as the light. Up until this moment, Jesus’ body had been veiled in a body of flesh. He looked like any ordinary man; nothing special about His appearance was recorded in scripture and most likely He would look very similar in stature and appearance as many men around that region. But now, Peter, James and John get to see the transfigured Jesus whose face and clothes become radiant like the sun and dazzling white light. This was a visible manifestation of His deity. The scene could be regarded as a preview of what Jesus will be like when He comes back to establish His kingdom and all who see Him will be left in no doubt that He is the Son of God, the King of Kings.

After Jesus was transfigured, we are told that Moses and Elijah appeared next to Jesus and were talking with Him. In this account it is not recorded what was being said, but in Luke’s account we are told that they were speaking with Jesus about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Considering how monumental this meeting would have been, it is quite telling that there is no detailed recording in scripture about what was said. This could be because what was said was not important, but the real significance is in the presence of Moses and Elijah. They are both great figures from the Old Testament, but they can be considered here in this reading as representing two very different things. Moses, having been the one to receive the Ten Commandments represents the Law and Elijah represents the Prophets. Here we then see both sections of the Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets) pointing forward to the suffering that Christ would make on the cross and the glory that would be to follow in His resurrection.

Peter was clearly moved by the experience and recognised Moses and Elijah for who they were. He sees how important it is and immediately wants to capture the splendour of what is happening by suggesting that they set up three tabernacles (or booths), one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. The sentiment was there, and it showed that Peter was not frightened by their presence, but we then hear the voice of God declaring once again (similar to the time when Jesus was baptised), ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!’ God was declaring that Jesus is not equal to Moses and Elijah, Jesus is Lord over all. He is the beloved Son.

On hearing the voice of God, the disciples are terrified, and they fall upon their faces. They look to the ground; they are terrified that they may see the face of God. In Exodus 33:20 it says, ‘You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’ Is this why the disciples fell on their faces so that they would not look on the face of God if He appeared? But what they failed to realise is that Jesus is God, so they had technically already looked into the face of God through Jesus. Jesus, in His compassion, knows they are terrified and tells them not to be afraid. Jesus comforts them in the same way He comforts us and tells us not to be afraid. No matter how scary something may be, and some of you may be facing some truly scary situations at the moment, Jesus encourages us to look to Him and to not be afraid. He has got us.

One purpose of the transfiguration was so that the disciples in the inner circle, those closest to Jesus, could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus was. He went through a dramatic change in appearance so that the disciples could plainly see His glory and understand. They knew He was the Son of God, but now they could see it and truly comprehend it. Was this moment key to ensuring that they also could gain reassurance about what was ultimately going to take place with His coming death and resurrection? The old covenant was about to be completed, and a new covenant was going to replace it.

This life-changing event for Peter, James and John was one of those moments where they had no control over it. God was in control. Sometimes in life we too face situations where we are not in control. There may be things that happen where we have no choice and what is happening seems to change the whole course of our life. All we can do in these situations is face up to the reality and pray for the strength, guidance and peace to get through it.

Life is complex and can be very tough. Jesus was about to face the toughest of times, but in knowing His identity and future glory we see Him coming down from the mountain fully accepting the path laid out for Him by God. He embraced the will of God in total obedience. How willing are we to meet God on our own mountain, listen to Him and obey His will? Do we descend the mountain as willing servants of God, or do we just want to hide away and stay on the mountain hiding away in the clouds? Even though there are things that happen in our life where we have no choice, we do actually have a choice. We can face them on our own, or we can face them together with God.

So finally, I want to focus on the importance of what God said on the mountain. God simply said, “Listen to him!”.

Do we sometimes struggle to hear Him. Do we sometimes not listen to Him? Are we sometimes so distracted by other noises and distractions around us that we tune out? Are there any voices or things that you hear that you have had to tune out of in order to listen more closely to Jesus? It could be that you have had to stop listening to the voice of others or turn away from advice that you have been given in order to hear the wisdom of God more clearly. Perhaps listening to Jesus has meant that we have had to unlisten to something else? Or perhaps we are so caught up in talking to Him, telling Him about our troubles, our anxieties, or asking Him for things, that we forget to listen to His reply?

Through the transfiguration, Jesus was revealed to His disciples and to us that He is the one and only Son of God. The Son who laid down His life for us, who took on the burden of our sins. He is our guide, our comforter, our shepherd, our counsellor, but as God said, we have to listen to Him. 

Sunday 23 February 2025: 1 Corinthians 3:10-23

There was a teacher, a scientist and a politician who were arguing about which of their professions had the most profound effect on human history.

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First the teacher gave his point of view, “Without teachers,” he said, “Humanity would never learn, grow and be challenged to seek bigger and better things, so my profession has clearly had the greatest impact on human history.”

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Then the scientist replied, “You wouldn’t have anything to teach if scientists hadn’t first worked so hard to figure out the mysteries of the universe. Before we came along the world was complete chaos, but our discoveries brought order from this chaos. So, clearly my profession has had the biggest impact.”

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Finally, the politician chipped-in, “True,” he said, “But who do you think created the chaos in the first place?”

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Last week, we looked at the first nine verses of chapter 3 in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Now, we have moved to the second half of that chapter by looking at verses 10 to 23.

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Corinth was a bustling port city that was known for its pagan influences and decadent lifestyles and, on occasions in past months, we’ve examined together what it means to be a follower of Jesus whilst living in that type of hostile environment.

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But the chaos that this letter describes isn’t just coming from the world outside the Church, it is also coming from inside, as the people in the Corinthian Church are fighting amongst themselves and doing great harm to their mission by being so divided and argumentative.

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Through it all, Paul is trying very hard to refocus the Corinthian people. He is seeking to bring them back to the core truth of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit.

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Last week, Steve Morley told us about the metaphorical babies in that place whom Paul described as mere infants in Christ. Those early disciples had become too attached to the various teachers and leaders, and had formed loyalties – or cliques, perhaps – that were threatening the unity of the Church.

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Paul told them their approach was all wrong. Apollos, Peter, and Paul himself each had a part to play, like workers in the field. One works the ground, one sows the seed, another waters the field, but it is God who makes things grow.

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What a good reminder that is for us in the Church today, because Paul helps us remember that the Holy Spirit needs to be at the heart of all we do. If it is anything else, then we are settling for less than the Church can truly be.

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So, in today’s passage, Paul changes his metaphor from babies and infants to construction. And in so doing, he warns the Church to be careful how it builds on the foundation laid when Paul planted it. “Jesus is the foundation,” he says. “By the grace of God, I laid that foundation, and now someone else is building on it.”

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“But be careful,” he says, “don’t build on that foundation in ways that do not place Jesus at the front and centre.”

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Paul even goes so far as to remind the Corinthians that a day is coming when the work they do as a Church will be judged by God. If we know anything at all about building or construction, we will probably know that it is subject to regulation and eventually there is going to be an inspection. If we use cheap or inferior materials, we will be found out. The inspection will be thorough and we won’t get away with anything. If our work passes inspection, fine; but if it doesn’t, our work will be torn out and started again.

That’s exactly what happened with our electrical system here. Since the church was built, regulations have tightened significantly and some of the installation was below current requirements. Worse, some of the workmanship also appears to have been sub-standard. The recent inspection exposed all those problems, and some of the installation had to be torn out and started again.

Paul says it’s the same in the Church that we call ‘the people’. Jesus is the foundation. His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection; these are the rocks on which we build that Church.

Everything we are and everything we do must fit into the pattern provided by Jesus. Are we building our lives on the only real and lasting foundation, or are our foundations the soft and crumbly type that come from desires such as wealth, security and success?

So, our Church must be built on Jesus as its foundation, and we must not hold to any other human leader or worldly wisdom. Jesus will inspect our work and evaluate our contribution. Good work will be rewarded, whist unfaithful or inferior work will be discounted.

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As a Church, we should always be holding the work we do before God with open hearts, asking Him to guide us in the things He has for us to do, and to help us let go of the things that aren’t from Him. It is often that ‘letting go’ part that churches can really struggle with sometimes.

But, turning to verses 16 and 17, let’s see what Paul has to say about our role in the Church: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives among you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

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Paul is reminding us here that the Church is not a mere social service agency. It is the very dwelling place of God; we are the very dwelling place of God.

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This language relating to the temple would have been especially meaningful for the Christians in Corinth who came from a Jewish background, but even the Gentile Christians (that is any Christian who wasn't formerly a Jew) would have at least had an inkling of what Paul was getting at here, because a temple is where God dwells among His people.

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In the Jewish faith, God resided in the Holy of Holies, a sacred inner room of the temple that only the High Priest was able to enter, and even then, only once a year. But now, with the death and resurrection of Jesus, and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we have become the temple of God.

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Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that they were a unified assembly. They were not to see themselves as independent individuals or having competing interests.

Paul was emphasising the intent of Jesus’ prayer which is set out in John’s Gospel, chapter 17, verses 20 to 23, where it is written: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Perhaps, renewed reflection on this prayer might encourage us to examine where we, ourselves, can take action to strengthen our relationships with fellow Christians? Anything we can do in this respect will work to make the Church more attractive to those contemplating a relationship with God.

That is why Paul is so passionate about the Church, and why he is so insistent that we need to do away with anything that hinders our mission in Jesus. Everything we do as a church should be covered in prayer, asking God to help us take on the things that are of Him, and to help us let go of the things that are not.

And we might be surprised where He leads. That can be good. That can be rewarding, fulfilling and uplifting.

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The things that we do in our own wisdom and of our own accord; those things will ultimately come to nothing. But the things to which God directs us, the things that He then empowers us by His Spirit to do; they are the things that bear fruit in wonderful ways.

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And that’s what we want for our Church here at Ingaway, isn’t it? To see this electrically-sound, humble yet solid, church with a short but rich history of prayer and service, led by so many faithful men and women of God, be the foundation on which God will build by leading us into new and exciting expressions of mission and ministry.

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That mission and ministry must be centred on Jesus, surrounded by prayer and built-up in God-honouring ways that bear fruit for His kingdom.

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So, as I close, let us reflect again on the warning that Paul gives to those Corinthian believers. He was warning them that, if worldly wisdom holds them back from God, it is no wisdom at all. God’s way of thinking is far, far above ours. He knows all the futile thoughts of the ‘wise’. The Corinthians were boasting about the wisdom of their leaders and teachers. Their pride made them value the presentation of the message more than the message itself. 

Therefore, we are not to put our trust in anyone or anything but God to direct us on the path to salvation. Let Jesus be our guide and let Him lead us into our future mission and ministry together with faith, hope and love. 

Sunday 9 February 2025: Epiphany 6 – Isaiah 58:3-9a

Have you ever wondered why you come to church? Is it to please God, to worship and praise Him? Is it because you like singing the hymns or listening to the message? Do you come out of habit? Do you come because you feel guilty otherwise? Do you come to please others or feel a sense of duty? Our motivation may be a combination of all of the above. In our readings today we are going to look at what God revealed through Isaiah about what He really wants from our worship, and that Jesus urges us to let our light shine through.

Isaiah’s message was a hard hitting one for Israel at the time and is a hard-hitting message for us today. The people of Israel took great pleasure and glory from going through the many religious rituals, acting as though they are truly obedient to God; to His word. But in this passage, we hear that they actually accuse God of being indifferent to their worship. They complain that they go through the hardship of fasting but God does not look their way. They appear humble before God and yet He does not even appear to notice what they are doing. Was this their motivation for their dedication to carrying out their daily rituals, fasting, putting on sack cloth and looking sad? What were they hoping? That God was going to give them a big fat reward for being so obedient and faithful?

Is this what we are hoping for in God? When we come to Church, when we pray, when we worship, are we doing it to gain favour with God? What about the person who found something better to do today? Does that mean that they are out of favour with God and He is looking down on them a feeling disappointed? Does God need us to come to church?

Let’s look at what scripture tells us about the purpose and value of worship.

Matthew 18:20  ‘For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’

One purpose of us gathering together in church, or in small groups or Bible study is to feel close to God. It is to draw near to Him, to hear His word, to receive His grace and to allow His spirit to move us. There may be times when we feel God’s presence more than at other times. God promises us He is always there with us, but perhaps we feel closer to Him when we are doing something purposefully to draw near to Him, such as worship and prayer.

Worship to God, coming to church, encourages us to keep God’s commandments, obeying God and turning away from evil. Spending time in the presence of God, listening to God, taking encouragement from other Christians, all serves to help us keep obeying the Word. Jesus said that worship to God is not about the acts and rituals we carry out, the things others can see us doing, the eloquent prayers, or singing amazing worship songs. True worship to God is from the heart. People can honour God from their lips by saying the right things or singing the right notes, but true worship comes when our hearts are also in the right place.

John 4:23  Jesus said ‘But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such worship to him.’

The Jewish people in Jesus’ time had reduced worship to the outward forms of rituals and ceremonies. They truly believed that if they kept to the letter of the law, carried out all the rituals, adhered to everything that was written in their religious acts, that they would find favour in God. But Jesus saw straight through them. He knew that their acts of worship were little more than just going through the motions. They were worshipping, but physically not spiritually. What they did was all focused on the outward appearance, and not on inwardly in their hearts. While their bodies were bowed down before God on the ground, their hearts were not right with God. They were not looking after others, and they were oppressing those seen to be less worthy than themselves.  

Matthew 15:8-9  “‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”

Worship to God involves service. This could mean making sacrifices, holding festivals or serving God in other ways. But in this passage God accuses His people of self-gratification. They take advantage of their workers, they end up having fist-fights with others and therefore God knows that even though they carry out their acts of worship, their hearts are not where God needs them to be. In this passage from Isaiah, it is clear that the type of fasting or worship that the people of God are doing is not the kind that counts. It is not a matter of the physical posture or outward display of fasting that God wants, but the true spiritual meaning behind the act.

Matthew 6:16-18  “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

God wants us to be obedient to Him, to worship and honour Him, but not for show. Fasting has no merit as far as salvation goes. God does not promise to save only those who carry out certain rituals. It holds no special standing before God. However, it does have value as far as self-discipline goes, but we are told is a matter between the individual and God.

Our collective worship also serves to help us to learn God’s Word, to grow in our faith and gain a better understanding. We learn from each other.

Romans 15:14  ‘I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of good ness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.’

It is not all down to the people who lead from the front, we can learn from anyone. This is the value of belonging to a small group or Bible study group where we can delve deeper into the Word and unpack the message through discussion with each other.

Church is also a community where we can make friends, feel a sense of belonging and build up a support network. It is important that we connect with fellow Christians. Coming to church is not just about the service itself but also about the fellowship we share with one another over a tea or coffee at the end. This is the time when we can learn more about each other and offer each other prayers.

So, we have looked at what God does not want from our worship, now let’s go back to the second part of our reading which focuses on what God does want from us.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

There is a shift in this part of the reading from what is happening to what God wants to happen. He does not want His people to be worshipping Him only to receive His favour; to be alive physically but dead spiritually; to be more concerned with ourselves than others; to be more concerned on how we appear outwardly to how we are inwardly.

God wants our service, worship and fasting to be accompanied by compassion; to ensure we treat others justly; to release those who are oppressed; to support food banks to help feed those who are hungry; to support charities that provide shelter for those who are homeless; to donate cloths to charities to provide clothes for those less fortunate; and, to help our brothers and sisters in any way we can. We can learn more about this from what Jesus said.

Matthew 6:1-4  “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Our motivation for helping others, in the same way that we talked about earlier, should not be about the outward impression this gives to others, but to do the Will of God. When we follow His command to treat our neighbours as ourselves, this should be for God’s purpose not for our glory. We should not parade our good deeds to show others how righteous we are. What we do for others, how we treat others, is how we treat God.

Matthew 25:42-45  ‘For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’”

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”

Towards the end of our passage, Isaiah says that when we do all of this, when we follow the command to treat our neighbour as ourselves, to love one another as God has loved us, 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus calls us to be the light of the world. He spoke of Himself as being the light of the world in John 8:12  ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’

We are not the source of light, Jesus is. He is the light that shines in the darkness. Our behaviours, our heart, our motives and our actions reflect the light from Him. Just as the moon reflects the light from the sun at night to shine bright, so too do we shine Jesus’s light into the darkness of the world.

The final words of Isaiah’s message are: ‘Here I am’.

Isaiah was fully aware that God’s people were being disobedient to God’s purpose. They were going to church, carrying out religious rituals and fasting just to expect God to notice them and reward them. Their eyes were downcast and inwardly focused as opposed to looking up towards God and outwardly focused on those around them. But, the truth is that none of us live up to the calling of Jesus. We all have our faults, we all fall short of what is expected, we can all do more, we can all do better. But we have Christ. The gift of Jesus empowers us in our service and worship. And it is through Christ that we have the sure knowledge that God hears us and is with us.

John 14:6  ‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’

Jesus loves us and is here to forgive us. He unites Himself to us and gives us that route to God. God is always with us, but maybe we don’t always see Him, hear Him or feel Him. God is immediately available to us though when we demonstrate genuine compassion and love. God says, ‘Here I am’. 

Sunday 2 February 2025: Epiphany 5 – Micah 6:1-8

To get people to pay attention to his message, Micah invites us to imagine a courtroom drama. And who doesn’t like courtroom drama?

The plaintiff, that is the one bringing the case, is the Almighty. The well-to-do of Israel are the defendants. Micah is the judge. The mountains and the hills sit in the jury box.

God opens by essentially asking: “Why are you the way you are? What have I done to you that you continually go against my Will, allowing injustice, and not caring for the poor?

The defence seems to act like a petulant child: “Here we go again! Lord, you are never pleased. Whatever we do is never good enough. What’s it going to take? Do you want more sacrifice? How much is enough? Do you want sacrifices of oil? You wouldn’t be satisfied with rivers of oil. You want the rams. How many? Ten thousand? How about child sacrifice? You still wouldn’t be happy.” The reply sounds childish. 

But, of course, God is not happy. The people of Israel have not kept the covenant which He established on Mount Sinai through His servant Moses. 

In ancient treaties, a king would often call upon the gods as witnesses to the covenant. God, of course, does not do that; He calls upon the mountains and the hills to bear witness in that jury box. And they would do the job well because it was in the high places that the people had built pagan altars and had sacrificed to false gods. The mountains and the hills can, therefore, judge whether the covenant has been kept or broken. 

Notice, in verse 3, the questions God asked of His people: “What have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me.” Although we’ve just considered their petulant response, the people would never be able to answer those questions properly because God had done nothing wrong. In fact, God had been extremely patient with them. He had always lovingly guided them and had given them every opportunity to return to Him.

In verses 4 and 5, the Lord reminds His people what He has done for them. He brought them out of slavery in Egypt and gave them great leaders such as Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

It was at the campsite of Shittim by the River Jordan that the people received God’s guidance about how to live, and at another campsite called Gilgal where the people renewed their covenant with God. These two places represented God’s loving care for His people and His willingness to protect them. But now, Micah’s words demonstrate how the people had forgotten the covenant and had turned away from God.

If we are ever tempted away from God, how might we answer if He asked us, “What have I ever done to you?” In the same way that God reminded His people of the great things that He had done for them, we would do well to recall all the great things He has done for us, and to be thankful.

God continued to be kind to His forgetful people, but their short memory and lack of thankfulness condemned them. When people take God’s gifts for granted, they become self-centred and self-reliant. So, it is important to remember God’s goodness and to thank Him. Remembering God’s past protection will help us to recognise His current blessings and provision.

The people of Israel tried to appease God with sacrifices, hoping He would leave them alone. But sacrifices and other rituals are not what God wants; God wants changed lives. And so it is that final verse of our reading, verse 8, that provides the key. He wants His people to be fair, just, merciful and humble. It is impossible to follow God properly without His transforming love in our hearts.

People have tried all sorts of ways to please God, but God has made His requirements clear; do what is just and right, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

So, now we know what God requires of us. It’s simple. Be a decent human being. And there are three things: do justice, love kindness and mercy, and walk humbly with God. Let’s break that down in a little more detail.

First, justice. And justice comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘to make right’.

Where we hear the word ‘justice’ perhaps our minds take us to thoughts about the law and legal systems. But we can also think about making things right in our families, in our church, and in our community. Is there someone that we need to try to make things right with? Do we intervene when someone is being mistreated? When we deliver justice and make things right in our circles of influence, we set a mighty example for those around us.

Next, kindness and mercy. And who doesn’t love those qualities? Maybe we could call it ‘being nice’. But perhaps we should challenge ourselves to go beyond being nice? During our encounters with others, could we stop and think about what would be the kindest or most merciful thing we could do in that situation?

To be truly kind to others, we have to think about some of the great teachings of Jesus, such as the command to love others as we love ourselves, or to forgive in the way that we have been forgiven.

Niceness is pleasantries. But, sometimes, kindness and mercy involve things that are not so pleasant. Kindness and mercy might involve being compassionate and empathetic in a difficult circumstance; trying to understand what someone needs in a moment of crisis.

What this requirement is telling us to do is what God has already done for us. God has been faithful, so we should be faithful to those around us. God has forgiven us, so we should forgive those who hurt us. God has shown us His patience, so we should display patience towards those around us. God has not held anything back, loving us completely, so we should likewise love others completely. God has intervened for us in our time of need, so we should be there for others when they need us.

What does God require of us? Loving Kindness.

Finally, humility. Apparently, the word humility has its roots in the word humus – not the food – but it has to do with staying grounded. Humility doesn’t insist on its own way. In our walk with God, we can remember His grace, and recognise it all around us. We should forget self, and instead look for direction.

When we walk humbly with God, when we are connected to Him, we are more likely to meet those first two requirements of justice and mercy. Walking humbly has to do with opening ourselves to His Word and His love. When we do, we can achieve the real greatness of living.

Then we can look forward to that day when God will unite again with us in Jesus. Justice will be served, and life will be given in one bold and awesome event. The sacrifice of our first-born would not be enough for that, but God’s first born – His only Son – was and is. So, let’s thank God for Jesus! 

Sunday 26 January 2025: Epiphany 4 – Matthew 4:12-25

We learn at the start of the reading that John is now in prison and Jesus headed out from Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, which was an area of Galilee, where He started preaching about repentance and that the kingdom of heaven had come near. This reading then takes us right back to the passage in Isaiah 9 where verse 2 says, ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.’

The gentiles living in Galilee will see the light, that is Christ, who will light up the world. He will turn their dark world into day. It is so much easier to see in the light. Everything is clearer and brighter. This is what it is like with Jesus. What once was darkness, is now light.

So, while in Capernaum, Jesus starts looking for John’s old disciples with the purpose of calling them to follow Him; to call them into service to support His ministry and go out and start calling others to follow Him. Jesus recognises that He can’t do all this on His own, that He will need the help and support of others on His team to get the job done. Jesus is deliberately seeking Andrew and Simon, for as we know they were not two random fishermen that He happened to stumble across as He was strolling along the shoreline. Jesus had already met Andrew when He was with John as his disciple. Jesus already knew them and was seeking them out in the same way that, whether we have been called to follow Jesus or not, He already knows us. He knows what we like and what we don’t like; He knows how many hairs we have on our head (or not as the case may be).

Jeremiah 1:4-5 says, ‘The word of the Lord came to me, saying “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;”’

So, Jesus has Andrew and Simon in mind as He is walking along the shore, and He has not forgotten them. He is out seeking them in the same way that He seeks us.  

This scene is likely to have taken place early in the morning for the fishermen most likely would have been out at night fishing, as this was the time when they would be more successful at catching fish. But as we know from other Bible readings about this encounter, they had not had any luck and, by the morning, they had caught nothing in their net. They would have been tired, disappointed and I can imagine very dirty and very smelly! Not really the kind of situation you want to be in when you first meet the Messiah. If it was us, we would want to have had a wash, done our hair, be wearing clean and nice clothes. But Jesus does not care for these things. He is not interested in what we are like on the outside; Jesus only cares about what we are like on the inside.

In Matthew 6:28 Jesus says, ‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.’

So, in all their rawness, tiredness, and unpreparedness, Jesus seeks out Andrew and Simon and calls them to the most important role they would play in their lives.

If you read the account of the calling of Simon in Luke 5:1-11 you will read that Simon did not want to believe who Jesus was. His brother Andrew kept telling him, but when Jesus asked him to throw down his nets one more time, he had little faith that Jesus was the Messiah and therefore could make miracles happen. But on Jesus’ insistence, he followed what Jesus told him and saw the miracle unfold before his eyes. Upon realising his mistake that he had not trusted Jesus, Simon fell down at Jesus’s feet feeling unworthy and declared his sins. But Jesus saw beyond Simon’s inadequacies and sins and simply asks him to drop his nets and follow Him.

Jesus does the same with us. He does not wait until we are perfect to invite us to follow Him. We do not have to wait until we have gotten rid of all the sin in our lives to be worthy to accept Jesus into our lives. After all, that is why He came; to help us repent of our sins and turn away from anything wrong in our lives. He helps us through that. We all have things in our lives that we are ashamed of. Things that we don’t want to admit, things that we keep hidden. Maybe we compare ourselves to other people and think others are so much more worthy than we are. Why would God want us? Why should Jesus call us to follow Him? What have we got that we can offer Him? Maybe we even have doubts that we can put down our own nets and follow Jesus? We may feel reluctant. We may worry that we will not be able to live up to the expectation of being a follower of Jesus. What if we mess up? What if we sin again?  

Jesus came to rescue broken and dying people. He did not come to only gather the best bits and leave the rest. He came to delve all the way to the bottom, to the weakest and most broken among us. No one is beneath the love of God.

Jesus is patient with us. He does not have some great expectation that like Simon we will be called by Him and immediately get up, leave our jobs, our homes and our families and follow Him. Jesus gently calls us where we are, and he calls us to have a lifetime relationship with Him. A relationship that grows over time and gets stronger and stronger the more time we spend in His presence. Of course, there are some people who have a sudden epiphany moment, where they perhaps hear the voice of God calling them and are immediately transformed, but I would suggest that for most Christians this maybe happens gradually over time and eventually you realise that you love the Lord.

Amazingly, Andrew and Simon walk away from their nets, their boats, and the big catch they had just caught to follow Jesus. This is the power of Jesus’s call. There was no big argument, no big sell. Jesus did not promise them lots of money, or fame; He simply asked one thing of them, and that was to follow Him.

This is what Jesus asks of us. He does not ask us to do anything that we do not want to do. He does not put big demands on us. Of course, that does not mean that we may have to do things that we do not feel comfortable doing, that puts us out of our comfort zone. It is simply that when we follow Him and are called to be a disciple of Jesus, we are changed on the inside, and with the power of the Holy Spirit we are then empowered to do so much more.

Andrew and Simon were called to no longer fish for fish. but to fish for people.  

“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” That was what Jesus asked Andrew and Simon and that is what He asks of us. Follow Him and also bring others to follow Him.

Jesus calls us to a life of fishing, going out there and seeking others to also follow Him. But remember that God is the gatherer of people, not us. He simply does it through us, and according to His plan and His schedule. God is in the driving seat not us. We can go fishing, talk to others about Jesus, lay on events to invite people into the church, but ultimately it is Jesus who calls them and determines whether they jump into the net or not. The timing of that rests with Him.

Sunday 19 January 2025: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

The start of our reading tells us that Paul’s letter actually had a co-author. We first hear about him is chapter 18 of Acts, and he has one of those Bible names which is really difficult to pronounce. It is Sosthenes.

The story of how Sosthenes became this letter’s co-author is an important one, because he and Paul were adversaries in a legal dispute. While in Corinth, Paul had upset the Jewish community. After being removed from a synagogue, Paul set-up a competing Christian synagogue next door. To the dismay of the Jewish community, their synagogue ruler followed Paul to the new location. So, they elected a new leader who brought charges of sedition against Paul on their behalf. Those Jews were no doubt trying to have Paul arrested and perhaps executed, just as the Jews of Jerusalem did to Jesus.

But it didn’t work, because the case against Paul was dismissed as a religious dispute which had no standing in a Roman court. The members of the Jewish synagogue then turned against their newly-elected leader who had brought the charges, and beat him in front of the court building. This beaten leader’s name was Sosthenes.

Imagine the scene this way: Sosthenes is lying in the dust, bruised, bloodied, and beaten by his own fellow Jews. The Romans won’t help him. The members of his synagogue won’t help him. So, it is then that a hand reaches down to him and a voice says, “Sosthenes, let’s go home and get you cleaned up.” It is, of course, Paul. C. S. Lewis once said, ‘almost everyone is in favour of forgiveness until they have to do it themselves’. Yet here is Paul forgiving the one who has trespassed against him.

Paul made sure that the first line of his letter to a conflicted congregation – a congregation whose healing he wanted to affect through his words – included the name of Sosthenes. Notice how he leads by example. The man who brought him to trial is now a brother. That’s what Jesus can do! If Paul can call Sosthenes a brother, then all the Jews in Corinth could be united in the love that is found in Jesus.

And what about here, where we live? Have we forgotten the power of forgiveness to bring love and joy amongst us? The hard part is often the first part – we have to honestly own up to our own sins and the sins of others. It may not feel ‘nice’ to do so, but the end results are far better than feeling nice, they are positively divine. If we could be genuinely forgiving of one another in our church families and beyond, would that be attractive to this cynical world that we live in? I think it would!

And all this comes from just the first verse of this letter! Paul then goes on to deliver his thanksgiving to the new disciples of Corinth, but not exclusively so, because his opening greeting suggests his words are for all followers of Jesus everywhere – and that includes us! So, we should pay attention to whatever he said to the Christians in Corinth, because those words extend to us.

The new disciples there had all the gifts necessary to live appropriate Christian lives, and to stand as witnesses against the paganism and immorality of Corinth. But they needed Paul’s encouragement to use those gifts effectively and to work together in unity as disciples of Jesus.

Paul sets out his hope for them in the thanksgiving he gives in verses 4 to 9. He guaranteed those believers that God would consider them blameless when Jesus returned. And that guarantee was not because of their gifts or accomplishments, but because of what Jesus had already done for them through His death and resurrection.

That guarantee is, by extension, also available to us, and all Christian disciples wherever they may be. All who believe in Jesus will be considered blameless when He returns to gather His people into His Kingdom. The problems in Corinth are mirrored by the problems of today, and though we must tackle them bravely, they are not the whole story. We must keep our focus on the prize that, if we have faith in our Lord, we have been, and will be, saved.

Paul started our reading by pointing to forgiveness. He ended it by pointing to Jesus.   As disciples for the current age, we would do well to remember Paul’s encouraging and foundational words as we strive together as one family in serving our Saviour. 

Sunday 12 January 2025: Baptism of Christ – Matthew 3:1-17

John the Baptist was so named for he preached in the wilderness of Judea, which extended from Jerusalem to the Jordan. John’s message was one of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

Verse 2 says, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near’.  

John was declaring that the King would soon appear and that because He would not want to reign over people who cling to their sinful lives, they must change direction, turn their life from their former ways and confess and forsake their sins.

We first met John the Baptist when his mother Elizabeth and Mary were pregnant at the same time and when the mother’s met, John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb. However, the role John played in God’s story was prophesised about by Isaiah over seven hundred years before he was even born. Isaiah 40:1-5 says:

‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

John was the voice calling to the wilderness (which was Israel) that had become dry and barren. John’s message was that, in order to prepare for the coming of the Lord, the people of Israel needed to make right anything that was wrong or sinful that may hinder the coming of God’s kingdom. They needed to repent and be cleansed to make them clean.

We learn a little about what John was like in this passage from the descriptions about him. He wore coarse clothing and ate honey and locusts. In other words, John was so consumed by his mission that the normal pleasures of life, such as nice clothing and good food to eat did not bother him. His sole mission was on spiritual things and bringing his message to as many people as possible. And they came from all over to hear his message, to confess their sins and to be baptised.

However, with the Pharisees and Sadducees, John knew their true nature and that even though they came, they were not sincere. John could see right through them. He knew that even though on the outside they appeared to keep the law and be very devoted, on the inside they were corrupt, hypocritical and self-righteous. They were like two sides of the same coin. Can we recognise this perhaps in ourselves or people we know? Do we put on a mask for how we want others to see us but on the inside we may be different and have different thoughts? Perhaps we have judgemental thoughts or feel self-righteous? These are the things we need to repent for, to ask for forgiveness about.

In preparing the way for Jesus, John goes on to explain the difference between the baptism he is offering and the baptism of the Messiah.

Verse 11 says, ‘I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’

So what does this mean and what is this difference that John is talking about? When we baptise with water, this does not have any special properties, it doesn’t contain anything other than H2O. Baptising with water is ceremonial and has no cleansing power to wash away blemishes or sin. However, the symbolism of baptism with water is such that the person being baptised is repenting of their sin and asking for forgiveness on their journey to salvation. They are making a public declaration to the world that the old sinful self has been replaced and they are now alive in Christ. Jesus and His disciples were all baptised with water and then baptised new believers as they carried out their ministry. However, John did not have the authority to forgive sins, but he was getting them ready to be forgiven when the Messiah came. John proclaims that the one to come would be more powerful and more worthy.

Baptism with the Holy Spirit that John is describing is distinctly different from the type of baptism that John was offering. John’s baptism was one of preparing for the forgiveness of sins, but the baptism Jesus would offer, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, is the beginning of a new covenant where God’s Holy spirit would fill believers and those who accepted Jesus, empowering them to live a life pleasing to God.

Being baptised in the Holy spirit is a separate experience from salvation and water baptism. It is being fully immersed in the Spirit and becoming one in Him. It is a baptism that is not automatic, but is given by the Father to those who ask.

Acts 8:14-16 says, ‘When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and john to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptised in the name of the lord Jesus.’

God promises us that, when we allow Him fully into our lives and our hearts are living completely for Him, our lives will be immersed, and we will be baptised in the Spirit of God. This brings a boldness to be God’s witness throughout the earth. It is available for everyone.

John 7: 37-39 says, ‘On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified.’

Jesus placed a great deal of importance on baptism, after all He walked a long way from Galilee to the Jordan, about 60 miles, in order to be baptised by John. Therefore, His followers today should also see the importance of this act. However, John tried to protest about baptising Jesus, suggesting that it would be more appropriate for Jesus to baptise John. Jesus did not deny this, after all why would Jesus who is without sin, need to repent for His sin, but Jesus simply repeats his request stating that it is to fulfil all righteousness. In other words, it is to perfectly keep the law.

Jesus was sinless and without stain, so John was simply saying ‘why do you need to be cleansed of your sin since you have no sin?’ After all you would not wash something that was already clean. Baptism for Jesus was a ritual, symbolising the way in which he would fulfil all the righteous claims of God against the sin of man.

Jesus was showing His followers that He wanted them to be baptised, and He did this by being baptised Himself. He didn’t need to do that, but He wanted to, to lead by example.

Jesus’ baptism signified a change in His life. It was from this point onwards that Jesus started His public ministry which started with the wedding at Cana when He turned water into wine.

Verses 16 and 17 say, ‘As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”.’

A few weeks ago, we heard about the prophecy from Isaiah 9 where the Word of God brings the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together in one piece of scripture – ‘And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor (Holy Spirit), Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Jesus).

Here, the baptism of Jesus is a hallowed occasion where all three members of the Trinity are evident. The beloved Son, Jesus being baptised, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and the Father’s voice heard from heaven pronouncing His blessing on Jesus. This occasion as mentioned earlier, is so important that it is included in some form in all four Gospels.

For those looking on, they would have been left in no doubt about who Jesus was. He was the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah whom they had been waiting for. The baptism of Jesus was a turning point in His life. He accepted who he was and what He needed to do and commenced His ministry from this point onwards. But it was also the public marking of Jesus as the Christ. This is the one who John the Baptist was preparing the way for.

The baptism of Jesus gives us an important message about who Jesus is, what He came for and what we need to do in response. Jesus is the Son of God, sinless and without blemish, but in taking on the sin of the world, Jesus was baptised to repent for the sins of all men. He has taken them all on Himself, repented of them fully and took them to the cross. This is so that every day, every sin we have, can be forgiven.

Repentance is a good thing, and Jesus wants us to keep any promises or new year resolutions we make, not to make us more lovable to Him, for He loves us regardless, but because He loves us. Sin is destructive, tears people down, breaks relationships, harms others. I challenge you to think of a sin that is not destructive in some way or another. God loves us and therefore like parents who want the best for their children, God wants the best for us. He doesn’t want us to live in sin because it is destructive. God wants us to live in harmony with others, to love one another, to live healthy lives. Whether you have already broken those new year resolutions or not, God still loves you. We can never exhaust the love of God, He will never grow weary. His embrace is there, and He is always there to help us. We do not have to worry that one failure keeps us from his goal, failures are all part of being human and the very reason that we need Jesus. 

Sunday 5 January 2025: Epiphany – Matthew 2:1-12

Surely, one of the great stories of Christmas is the visit of the Wise Men from the East. Wherever the story of the birth of Jesus is told, so too is told this delightful tale of strange men from some faraway land who brought gifts to the baby Jesus.

Every children’s Nativity play has included them – Joseph, Mary and Jesus in the middle, shepherds to one side and the three Wise Men to the other.

The Wise Men were given names – Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar – and they were made saints. And I’m told that if you go to the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, there are relics alleged to be the remains of the Wise Men in a shrine behind the high altar.

This is where ‘Epiphany’ comes from – not from Cologne – but from the Wise Men. Epiphany is celebrated on 6 January, but as this is the nearest Sunday to Epiphany, we are celebrating it today. The Epiphany is an ancient Christian feast day and is significant in a number of ways. In the East, where it originated, the Epiphany celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. But it also celebrates Jesus' birth.

The Western Church began celebrating the Epiphany in the 4th century where it was, and still is, associated with the visit of the Magi – the three wise men or kings – to the infant Jesus when God revealed himself to the world through the incarnation of His Son. 

So, who were the Magi? It is said they were the professors and philosophers of their day. We are told they were highly educated scholars who were trained in medicine, history, religion, prophecy and astronomy. They were also trained in what we would today call astrology – that is, working out human destiny according to the alignment of the stars to our birth sign. 

So, for someone whose birthday is today, they would be a Capricorn and their positive characteristics, supposedly, would be: practical and prudent; ambitious and disciplined; patient and careful; humorous and reserved. On the negative side, they would be: pessimistic and fatalistic; miserly and grudging. In theory, Jesus is a Capricorn. Do those characteristics describe Him?

His horoscope for today says: this period is ideal for strengthening relationships and exploring new career prospects. Financially, there is potential for increased stability, and you may find new ways to manage resources effectively. Health-wise, maintaining a balanced lifestyle will be crucial.

Well let’s face it, it’s a new year and those kinds of thoughts could apply to pretty much anyone of us, couldn’t they really?

Nowadays for Christians, astrology is definitely not something to follow with any degree of seriousness. But in the beginning, astrology was connected with mankind’s search for God. The ancients studied the skies in order to find the answers to the great questions of life – who am I? why am I here? where am I going?

Just as there is a difference between Felixstowe and Folkstone, there is a difference, of course, between astronomy and astrology. Let’s not get those two things mixed-up. Astronomy is the science of the study of the stars. The Magi were experts in both astronomy and astrology and claimed to be able to work out the future. The important thing for us to know is that they were highly influential in Persia. They thought deeply about life and, consequently, it is perfectly legitimate to call them ‘wise men’.

But why had they travelled so far from home? It was a journey of many miles from Persia to Israel. Why had they made such a treacherous journey?

They had come to see the baby born to be king of the Jews. They knew a baby had been born, but they didn’t know where. They knew He was a king, but didn’t know His name.

The Magi would have swept into Jerusalem with pomp and circumstance. Very likely, they would have brought with them a full military escort along with their servants. The total party could have amounted to some 300. No wonder all of Jerusalem was buzzing. No wonder they had no trouble gaining an audience with Herod. That shows their importance. 

And we all know what happened next. Herod asked the Magi to go to Bethlehem as his representatives, to find out where the baby was, and report back to him so he could go and worship Him. But Herod was up to no good and, for all their wisdom, the Magi believed him. But why shouldn’t they? If they had come so far to worship the child, why wouldn’t Herod do as much himself? They had no reason to suspect his motives.

At this point, something unusual happened. As the Magi set out for Bethlehem, which was only around six miles south of Jerusalem, the star they saw in the east suddenly reappeared. The star went on before them until it came and stood over the very home where the baby Jesus was. That was necessary because, although they knew the child was in Bethlehem, they didn’t know where in Bethlehem, so the star led them to the right house.

That does not sound like any natural star. It sounds like a miraculous star created by God to lead the Magi to a particular place. And, no doubt, they rejoiced; the end of their long, hard journey was near and they were about to meet the new born King.

So, if the Wise Men could find Jesus, then so can we. Think of how many barriers they had to cross to get to Jesus. There was a cultural barrier, a distance barrier, a language barrier, a racial barrier, a religious barrier, not to speak of a hostile king and indifferent religious leaders. It wasn’t easy for them to find Jesus, but they did.
 
If God can use a star to reach those pagan astrologers, then He can use anything to reach anybody. Sometimes we despair that our friends and our communities may never come to know Jesus. But this story ought to give us hope. Our God is infinitely creative in the things He can use to break through to people who seem to be so far from Him.

If the Wise Men offered Jesus gifts fit for a king, then so should we. It’s good to remember that the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas time did not start with Santa. It started with the Wise Men. Often, we get so caught up in giving and receiving that we forget where it all began.

It is good to give gifts to each other; it is even better to give gifts to Jesus. It is good to show our love to those close to us; it is even better to show love to the One who loved us first. This, surely then, is the central meaning of the story.

The final verse of the hymn ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ says this:

What can I give Him
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part.
Yet what I can, I give Him – 
Give my heart.

This year, and every year, and all through the year, like the wise men, we are invited to Bethlehem. So, let’s go – and offer ourselves to Him.