The Word This Week

The Word This Week:

Job 23:1-9, 16-17 and Psalm 22:1-15 OR
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 and Psalm 90:12-17
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31

Thoughts on the Word:

This week I want us to do something a little different.  I am not going to preach on the Gospel reading this week – though what I want us to do is Gospel focussed.  This week I want us to take our time and read through the Psalm.  Psalm 22 is for me on of the most beautiful, and yet horrible pieces of scripture there is.  It is beautiful in that it is a piece of prophecy written hundreds of years before Jesus, which foretells his sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of the world.  It is horrible for the same reason.

What I am going to do is post the Psalm in its entirety below (our reading for this week is supposed to only be the first 15 verses, but I want us to reflect on this as a whole.).  Next to it I will provide some other scriptural references for us to ponder as we read the Psalm.  What I hope is that we gain an insight into the mind of our saviour, into his suffering and into his joy, and that we also begin to understand fully that our salvation through the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross was a part of the plan from the very beginning.

Take your time with this, and remember that the Psalm was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born – and yet God’s plan for salvation is evident even then.   Please let me know if this is as helpful and enlightening for you in your faith journey as it was for me the first time I put these pieces together.  You can comment on this post or via our facebook page.

I pray that the Lord will richly bless you and yours this week.

Daryl.

**Sadly the formatting doesn’t carry through properly on mobile devices – this is supposed to be a side by side comparison so if you can view it on a PC screen I encourage you to do so!

The Word This Week:

• 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 and Psalm 24  or
• Amos 7:7-15 and Psalm 85:8-13  and
• Ephesians 1:3-14  • 
• Mark 6:14-29

Thoughts on The Word:

Mark 6:14-29

14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

17For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

This week’s Gospel is one of those readings many choose not to preach on.  It is a hard thing to read – I mean what message, what good are we to take from the beheading of an innocent man? What can we take from this horrible murder?  We can take a warning – a warning about the perils of putting our own ego above all else.  You see that is what happened here in this story – the reason John the Baptist is killed is for no other reason than to maintain the egos of Herodias and Herod.

Herodias was angry because John was pointing out that her marriage to Herod was immoral.  This was unacceptable, how dare he say that she was immoral! What would people think of her if this man kept going around saying that what she did was wrong – after all, they were calling him a prophet – people were listening to him, and respected what he said… no this wouldn’t do he needed to be stopped – and permanently.

Herod, it seems was a man of compromise – he wanted his wife to be happy, so he had john arrested but he wouldn’t kill him – we are told he feared him, as a righteous and holy man.  It seems though the Herod’s fear and his acknowledgement of John as a righteous and holy man was not enough when his ego was tested as well.

As the tail unfolds we see Herod becomes so enamored with his step daughter (his niece) and her dancing.  He is so pleased that he offers her anything she wishes – even half of his kingdom! The girl seeks her mothers counsel and returns with her mothers demand for the head of John.  Now Herod finds himself in a bit of a pickle – what can he do? He promised her anything she asked for in front of all these guests – what would they think of him if he didn’t keep his word? The might lose respect for him – they may even stop fearing him as their king! This would never do – he couldn’t be seen to be weak.  We are told that he was greatly grieved at the decision – he didn’t want to kill John – yet his grief was not enough to overcome his ego.

Herod gives the order – he makes the decision that his own pride – his own position and power is more important than the life of this righteous and holy man.

There is a message in all of this for us.  How often do we choose to put our own ego, our own pride ahead of God? How many times do we choose not to share the Gospel with people because we don’t want to be seen to be one of those Christians.  after all it might be embarrassing – it might make us the target of ridicule.  You see every time we put our own pride first we commit the same sin as Herod.  We may not be killing someone right then and there, but we are committing the same act of placing ourselves, and our own ego in a position above where we place the Holy one of God, and by refusing to share the Gospel we may just be robbing someone of their opportunity to learn of Jesus – and that may well cost them more than their physical life – it could cost them their eternal life. 

I have been guilty of this sin on so many occasions – and the troubling thing is that I have often justified my actions by saying to myself something like ‘they don’t want to hear it anyway – they might nod and smile but they won’t really listen so why embarrass myself?’.  I look back now and I wonder if I have contributed to the loss of someones soul through putting myself and my ego above the Gospel.  It is something I may need to answer for on judgement day.  What about you? will you be able to stand up on judgement day and say ‘I always took every opportunity given me to share the Gospel’?

Let us then renew our commitment to God and to the Gospel.  Let us commit ourselves to always share the Gospel – to ‘preach the Gospel always…’, in the words of St Francis of Assissi.  Let us not fall into the trap of Herodias  and Herod by being concerned with protecting our own egos at the expense of the righteous and Holy one of God. 

God bless you this week.
Daryl.

The Word This Week:

• Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 65:17-25 
• Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 
• 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 or Acts 10:34-43 
• John 20:1-18 or Luke 24:1-12
  

Thoughts on the Word:

Luke 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Alleluia! Alleluia! He is not here, but has risen! Alleluia!

Today we celebrate the most important thing in the history of all time.  We celebrate the raising to life of Jesus of Nazareth – the Christ, and king.  Now there are so many things we could talk about with regard to the resurrection – we could discuss the importance of its conquering power over death, and what that means  for all of us who have placed our faith in Jesus… hint it means that death will have no hold on us just as it had no hold on Christ! We could talk about the significance of the crucifixion which lead to the resurrection – that moment in time when Jesus took upon himself the sin of the world and opened the door to a life in relationship with God for all those who seek it. 

What I want to talk about though is the people who Jesus surrounded himself in his life, his death and his resurrection.  Jesus, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, did not surround himself with nobility, he did not surround himself with upright individuals who were well respected.  He did not surround himself with the righteous, but weak sinners.

Jesus closest companions along the way were a band of manual workers – fisherman – tax collectors, and even lower in the social order than tax collectors – women. Jesus opened the door to salvation to all of humanity, and to demonstrate that all were welcome, and that all were loved, he chose the weak and oppressed, the sinners and the poor to be his witnesses.  Nothing speaks of this more than the role that women played in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

We discovered in our 4th Sunday of Advent readings (Luke 1:39-55) in December that the first proclamation of the the coming of the Messiah who will redeem Israel, and indeed the world, is anticipated and proclaimed, not by archangels or high priests or emperors or even ordained preachers. Rather, two marginalised, pregnant women—one young, poor, and unwed, the other far beyond the age to conceive—meet in the hill country of Judea to celebrate (and possibly commiserate about) their miraculous pregnancies.

Yes, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings is first acknowledged and proclaimed by two women…  Two women who were no doubt the subject of much ridicule and stigma – Mary after all was an unwed pregnant teenager – consider how today’s comparatively liberal society still denigrates and looks down on women in the same situation, and then consider how it would have been for her living in ancient Jewish society where such a situation was not just embarrassing – but shameful.  Likewise consider how society still treats women who have reached their mature years without ever having had children – there is, shamefully in today’s world still a stigma, a  view that these women, are incomplete – not real women, or that they are simply selfish.  Imagine then the views expressed of barren Elizabeth, who had not born any children, in a society where family and heirs were how your worth were expressed – Where a woman’s worth especially was determined by how many sons she bore her husband. 

Yet it was these two, ostracised, marginalised women whom God chose to bring the final prophet of the old covenant – John – and the fulfilment of that covenant – Jesus – into the world. It was these two women  who first proclaimed the coming of the King!  We see in this account the first tearing down of barriers to the Kingdom, the first signs of what the coming reign of Jesus will be like.

When we move forward to the cross, we find that at the foot of the cross, it is predominantly women who remain with Jesus, along with the Apostle John.  Then we come to the tomb on that Sunday morning, and who do we find going to the tomb – before the Sun has risen?  Yep, it is those who are the weakest, and most powerless in the society that yet again are chosen to be the first to hear, and then first to proclaim the news – Jesus is not in the tomb, He is risen!

Again and again Jesus chooses those who society would say are not worthy. Again and again God blesses those who are not the well to do, not the rich, not those that society would deem to be ‘worthy’ of association with God.  So how does this relate to us today?

Well, let me break this to you gently – you aren’t worthy.  Neither am I – in fact not one person on this planet is ‘good’ enough to get into heaven.  We can never – ever- earn our way into the eternal presence of God through our own actions, because we all sin – and even one sin means we cannot enter his presence. 

Now, for the good part – just like the women in Jesus life, whom society deemed to be not worthy of real respect, and little more than objects, but whom Jesus deemed to be so valuable that he entrusted them with the greatest of honours, to be the first to proclaim his birth, to be present at his death and to be the first witnesses and proclaimers of his resurrection.   Just like these women you are valuable in his sight, you are worthy of his love, and you can be redeemed and have your sin wiped away so that you can get to live eternally in the presence of God after all.  All he asks is that you place your faith and hope in him. 

I pray that you have had a  blessed Easter celebration, and that your coming week is a good one.

Daryl.

Ok, time to fess up.  Part two of our family journey to health is actually a completely selfishly section dedicated to me.  I didn’t drag to crew into this part, because at the time, I didn’t think they needed it.  Quitting sugar in all it’s ‘evil’ forms, apart from a few treats from grandparents and the morning tea table at church, made a great difference in our lives, and I thought we’d implemented all the changes we needed to for the family as a whole.  Life could go on with “normal” food, so long as it wasn’t packed with fructose. 

(I forgot to mention last week, that while dropping sugar seemed to make a difference in the kids behaviour, that was probably something to do with the preservatives and un-pronounceable ingredients in a lot of those foods.)

So now for the selfish actions.  I’m completely ok with this by the way.  It’s perfectly alright to do something for yourself!

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ”  John 6:35
This is a truth for which I am forever thankful.  Jesus is the bread of life everlasting.  A life which I am confident I will have.  However, the bread you find in the supermarket, well it turns out, it’s not for me!

By cutting out fructose I lost 5kgs in about 5 weeks.  Then I didn’t loose any weight for about 4 weeks.  Then I started putting weight back on.  Not. Happy. Jan!  Something else has to change.  About the same time I heard about Christine Cronau.  Her family were featured on a TV show as being on a “Butter Diet”.  Everything she said fitted well with what I’d learned from David Gillespie, but she gave me another thing to focus on.  People who’ve been on many diets over the years may have done damage to their metabolism.  This means that simply cutting fructose probably isn’t going to bring a great change in weight.  She suggested looking into lowering carbohydrate intake.  This was a bit of a bummer for me.  Chips, pasta, rice, BREAD, all the cheap things we’d been using to fill us up, were on the list of things to reduce.  But, I had to do something.  In the 6 years since getting married, I’d managed to gain 20kg.  TWENTY KILOS!!  I can’t even really blame the kids for that.  I didn’t gain a lot during pregnancy, I seemed to accumulate weight in between pregnancies.

As I didn’t see any reason to stop the rest of my family from enjoying pizza, pasta, toast, sandwiches, all the foods they enjoyed, I cut back carbs for myself.  I lost another 5 kgs in about 5 weeks, putting me about 7kgs down from my start weight, because they just wouldn’t stay off!!  And what do you think happened?  The kilos started creeping back on!  Argh!!  What gives?  Never fear, there will be a third installment to this journey, and currently I’m 16kgs under my start weight, so I think it’s working!!

Cutting back carbs, essentially all grains, starchy vegetables etc, I lost something else that I wasn’t expecting.  I lost the brain fog I’d been living in for years!  Mental clarity, complete thoughts, the desire to learn new things, all returned!  This may have also been due to the increased vegetable variety and volume I was consuming.  Depression has also been an issue for me for a number of years, but since taking this particular step, I haven’t had one bout.  I’m not claiming that diet is the answer to all depression, but it’s worth looking into.  We recently watched a DVD called Food Matters which has a lot to say on the matter, and which helped clarify for me that this completely selfish thing I was doing, was the best thing I could possibly be doing for myself, and for my family.  Please note, I don’t ascribe to all the views shared on the Food Matters DVD, but it has a lot of great info and I do recommend you check it out.

Do you have something you do just for yourself?  Families are wonderful, but everyone needs to step out and take time for themselves from time to time.

The Word This Week:

• 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 and Psalm 130  OR
• 1 Kings 19:4-8 and Psalm 34:1-8  
• Ephesians 4:25-5:2  • 
• John 6:35, 41-51

Thoughts on the Word:

John 6:35, 41-51

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

In today’s Gospel we continue our reading of John 6, which focuses on the idea of Jesus as the bread of life.  Jesus re-iterates his contention that he is indeed the bread of life, he brings to the attention of his Jewish audience that their ancestors ate manna in the desert (while grumbling much as the crowd before him was!) but that manna did not stop them dying.  He contrasts himself with the manna, by declaring that by eating this new bread, which comes from heaven they will not die! 

What he says next though is something that as we will see next week causes much disillusion in the crowd.  He says that the bread that he will give is his flesh.  Now the allusion to the Eucharist here is inescapable, Jesus gives of his flesh and blood for all of us, and in the Eucharist we gather to partake of that body and blood.  But more on that next week!  This week I want us to focus on the broader meaning in Jesus’ words.  Jesus in declaring he is our bread of life, is calling us to follow him, he gives us the clearest example of what living a life of dedication to God looks like.

A life dedicated to God leads to one not only declaring God’s love and forgiveness, but living it! Jesus calls us to ingest the message of his life, death and resurrection, to absorb it and use it as our energy source.  He calls us to make his life, death and resurrection a part of us.  Jesus means for us to eat of him, for all people in the world to taste his goodness, to be filled with his mercy, to believe that the Father has sent him among us, so that filled with the bread of heaven, his promise to raise us up will be our destiny*.

So with Jesus we as Christians must stand for the weak against oppression, we must confront hypocrisy, we must declare love – true love which is honest and confronting to be the force which guides our lives.  If we have truly taken Christ into our hearts, and made him our energy source (our bread of life) then we must live as he did.  By becoming one with Him we become one with the Father, and the Spirit also.

Have you eaten of the bread of life?  Is Jesus your energy source?

God bless you this week.
Daryl.

* I took this sentence from a sermon by Amy C. Schifrin here: http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/aktuell-index.html

The Word This Week:

• Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4 
• Luke 1:68-79 
• Philippians 1:3-11
• Luke 3:1-6

Thoughts on the Word:

I remember as a child my eager anticipation at the coming of Santa Claus, I would diligently go to bed early on Christmas eve, and be up as early as I thought I could get away with … often times it was still dark when I would sneak out into the lounge room and begin to rummage through the presents looking for mine… What had the big red fella brought me this time?!… Christmas was a joyful time for me, I have some wonderful memories of water fights and back yard cricket on Christmas day, and some great memories of time spent with family and friends.  However it also always had a time of disappointment… that moment when you realised – that’s it, I don’t have any more presents. It is easy to see why people don’t think there is any need for Jesus in Christmas nowadays, we as a society have turned it into a cultural celebration of getting rather than a commemoration of giving.  When I look back now I wonder how much more joyful it could have been if the real meaning of Christmas had been a part of our celebrations, if only I had understood then that Christmas meant that I could accept a gift that would last for eternity…

It is an amazing thing, when you consider the gift which Christ gave us on that very first Christmas.  He gave us himself in human form – in the words of St Paul, he ‘humbled himself’, in order to be born as one of us.   Jesus we must remember was already a part of the Trinity, he was in Heaven, where he had been for eternity – and he chose to become one of us and be born as a human baby in order that he might reconcile us to God.  He knew before he came what the end result would be also – can you imagine the amount of love it takes to make a voluntary choice to remove yourself from a place of eternal bliss, where there is no pain, no suffering… to make a decision to to leave that existence to be born as a helpless infant, knowing that you would grow – going through all the pain, suffering and temptation that all humans go through – and knowing that your reward for this choice would be the tortuous death of crucifixion… what a love is this… and what a gift!

In this week’s readings we see that much preparation went into the offering of this gift… John the Baptist was born with the specific purpose to prepare the way for the Lord, the same Lord which his father sings of in our reading from Luke 1.  Isaiah foretold of his coming and of John’s role in preparing the way…  There was much thought that went into this gift, and much pain and suffering in its delivery.  Yet all we are called to do is accept it – no strings attached.  If we accept this free gift of love offered to us by God, we become not only forgiven – but we become heirs and inheritors of the Kingdom! 

Why then I wonder aren’t more of us who have accepted this gift like John? Why in this world of consumerism are we not proclaiming the Gospel louder than ever? Why, brothers and sisters are we not preparing the way for the Lord?   We have been given a gift – a gift of love greater than anything we could imagine – and we have the ability to pass that gift on to those around us… what is great about this gift is that when we re-gift it we also get to keep it! 

So, as we continue on our journey of preparation for the coming of the Lord – let’s be voices crying in the wilderness of consumerism ‘prepare the way for the Lord’. Let’s ensure that Christmas is not just a happy time of ‘getting’ let’s proclaim the message that it is a commemoration of the giving of the greatest gift ever – what better time than now could there be to give someone the gift of salvation through Jesus?

I pray that the God whose love far surpasses our understanding will richly bless you and yours during this continuing time of Advent.

Daryl.

The Word This Week:

Proverbs  22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 and Psalm  125 OR
Isaiah  35:4-7a and Psalm  146 AND
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark  7:24-37

Thoughts on The Word:

James 2:1-17
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in,and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’,have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.For the one who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’, also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.
 
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?If a brother
or sister is naked and lacks daily food,and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

This week I want us to look at the passage of scripture from James.  It is one of my favourite pieces of scripture!

James begins by making clear to us that baseless discrimination is not acceptable for followers of Jesus. We are not to make judgements about a person based on their outward appearance.  You see the people of James’ time were much like the people today! They were judgemental, and treated those in society who were in greatest need with disdain.  Those who had power and influence – i.e. wealth – however were worthy of the highest respect and honour!  Now James wants to make clear a concept that is as radical today as it was then – all are equal before God!  It doesn’t matter how much money you have, or what your clothes look like.  It doesn’t matter if you can put $1000 in the plate at church or a penny, and it doesn’t matter if you are influential and respected or are disdained by society and pitied.  In the Kingdom of God all are equal, and for us to pass judgement against another believer because of their social status (or any other baseless form of discrimination) is a grave sin. 

What James calls us to do then is to be gracious and show mercy – i.e. to follow the example given to us by the one we claim as our Lord! We have been saved by the grace and mercy of God, and nothing more! How dare we then pass judgement on our brothers and sisters, when we are in receipt of such grace! James calls us to live a life after the example of Christ!

What James wants us to understand is that our faith is not just a matter of intellectual assent to the reality of Jesus.  It is not just enough to say that we believe, and then not act out that faith.   No, for James faith is a verb – it is an activity – not just an understanding or acceptance.  

Now many over the past two thousand years have tried to argue that this portion of scripture indicates that our works contribute to our salvation, that we are not saved by faith alone, but by faith and works or even siply by works alone!  Howver that is not what James is saying.  The message that we are to get from this is that genuine faith in Jesus is an active and living faith – it is not a one time event of accepting Jesus as our Lord and saviour and then sitting back and relaxing! Jesus calls us to follow him, and James is trying to make it clear that this means active participation in the Kingdom.   

Is your faith an active and living faith?

I pray that you are richly blessed this week!
Daryl.

One of my favourite songs as a child was “Fat Baby” by Amy Grant.  I’ve put a clip at the bottom of this post…do enjoy the 80’s clothing!  I have a memory of singing along to this song as it played on cassette in our car.  Mum and I were travelling home from an open garden somewhere.  I was probably 9 or 10 years old.  At the time, I really had no idea what the song was about, but I thought it was a funny subject to sing about!  The gist of the song is this.  You can’t stay a spiritual baby forever, you need to grow up in order to have a real relationship with Christ.  Take responsibility for growth.  Don’t expect to be spoon fed for the rest of your life.  Oh, Amy said it much nicer than that, it really is a catchy song. 

Having a baby is exciting, but you sure don’t want your child to stay a baby forever!  For the adult in the relationship, babies take a lot of work.  There are glimpses of real connection but for the most part, there are months and months of a one sided relationship.  There is also the joy of watching the baby grow, develop new skills and explore their world.  That’s when it starts to really get exciting!  You move on from offering a completely liquid diet and start offering some texture and chunks.  They start to get physically mobile and you cheer!  They start to walk and you are bursting with pride.  They fall down many times before they get the hang of it.  And all the while, you’re there with them.  Watching, guiding, cheering, supporting.

The stage is similar in your spiritual life, except it involves less mashed veggies!  God is there with you, watching, guiding, cheering and supporting, and so are your Christian brothers and sisters.  The  bonus here is that you have a say in how fast you move on from the spoon fed stage.  There is a time for listening and accepting what you’re told, but God doesn’t want you to follow him blindly.  God wants a real relationship with you.  He wants you to question, discuss, debate even!  He wants you to share with him when you are happy and when you’re not.  He wants you to cry out to him when you feel like all is lost.  He wants to hear you praise him when you see a beautiful sunrise/newborn  baby/volcano.

Do  you feel like it’s time to grow in your relationship with God?  There are a few simple things you can do.

1.       Commit to regularly reading your bible.  It takes about 28 days to form a new habit, so start by promising yourself (and God) that you’ll read every day for 28 days.  Choose a time of day that works for you and schedule it in.  Ask God to help you remember.  If you’re home with young kids, early morning before they’ve woken, or during nap time are good times or if you’re still mentally alert, after you’ve got them in bed.  If you’re out in the workforce, perhaps your lunch break would be a good opportunity, or on the bus during your commute (provided you aren’t the one driving!!)  Pray before and after reading.  Just a simple prayer will do.  Ask God to speak to you through his word.

2.       Regularly attend church.  Here you will not only be able to hear preaching on God’s word and spend time praising him, but you’ll also meet and have a chance to form friendships with other Christians.  It really is important to be a part of the body of Christ, and it’s much harder to do if you’re on your own all the time.

3.       Join a group.  If you aren’t already studying God’s word with others, now would be a great time to start.  Ask a leader of your church to suggest a group which might be good for you.  Regularly meeting with a small group to study the bible, share and pray for each other, is a wonderful encouragement.

4.       Pray.  Spend time with God.  Talk to him and give him a chance to talk back.  You can’t have a deep relationship with someone you hardly ever talk to.  God is ready to work with you on this relationship!

I would love to hear about your spiritual growth, past or present, and have the opportunity to pray for you.  Do you have any other advice for those who are ready to stop being Fat Babies?

The Word This Week:

Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17

Thoughts on the Word:

1 john 5:1-6 (NRSV)

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

John 15:9-17 (NRSV)

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Today I want us to consider a message that is consistent throughout the both our reading from the 1st letter of St John and our Gospel reading (and also consistent throughout the entirety of scripture). Our consistent message in both readings is that our love of God is demonstrated through obeying his commandments.  So how does that sit with us as Christians who are not under the Law but under grace as explained by St Paul (Romans 6:14)? Well let’s consider for a moment what being under grace means, and why it does not free us from our obligation to follow the commandments of God.

The grace of God is what saves us from the consequences of our sin.  It is through the grace of God alone that we are saved, and we receive that grace through placing our faith in the redeeming work of Jesus.  The Grace of God is granted to us through faith in order to cover our sins – we are forgiven for for trespassing against God’s commands.  It is something that we often take for granted – we hear Christians say it all the time -‘I’m forgiven’, ‘I’m saved’.  The problem is we don’t often take the time to consider the fact that if we are sinners that need forgiveness, then there must still be a code of law in effect which we sin against.   The commandments of God haven’t gone anywhere, they are still in effect.  Jesus himself told us that he did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil them (Matt: 5:17).  We must remember then that the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross did not remove our obligation to follow the Commandments – what it does is cover our transgressions when we fail to follow them, it enables us to to enter the Kingdom of Heaven on the basis that Jesus opened the door for us through His redeeming sacrifice, and not through our own works.  This is important because it is not possible for us to fulfil any of the commandments of God completely, all of the time. 

Now some will say ‘well hang on, I have never killed anyone, so I have fulfilled that commandment’ or ‘I have never cheated on my husband/wife, so I have fulfilled the commandment around adultery’.  However when you understand the commandments fully and the way in which God judges them, you will begin to realise why Jesus sacrifice was so important.  Let us examine the two commandments I just mentioned. 

We will begin with murder, lets read Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:21-26 (NRSV):

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable       to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you               insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So           when you  are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,               leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your           gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand               you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get               out until you have paid the last penny.

Jesus tells us something very important here. While we may not ever actually physically kill someone, we are found guilty of transgressing this command through acts of anger.  When we are angry and wish someone harm, or insult them, or call them stupid or worse, we are guilty of transgressing this command in our hearts.  The standard of God is perfection – to uphold the command perfectly would mean to never even express anger or hate for someone – when we fail to reach perfection we are guilty of breaking the command in it’s entirety.

If we continue reading Jesus gives us similar advice around the commandment on adultery : Matthew 5:27-32 (NRSV)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman         with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it         away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right         hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole         body to go into hell. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to             you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and                     whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

We see again that the standard is absolute perfection and that even one lustful thought renders us guilty of breaking the entire command – whether we actually physically commit the sin is irrelevant, God judges our heart, and we are guilty of committing the sin in our hearts when we think …what if? or in the Australian ocker bloke language ‘she’s alright, I wouldn’t mind a piece of that’.  Of course this typical Aussie bloke statement raises a few other problems in treating women as merely sex objects rather than our gift from God – Think about that – Genesis shows us that Women were given to men as a gift – a gift of companionship, partnership and love.  When we as men treat them poorly we sin gravely as not only do we fail to love as God as commanded, but we also dishonour God through failing to care for the great and wonderful gift that he gave us, but I digress…

So now we see the very reason that Jesus’ sacrifice was necessary, we flawed human beings – the inheritors of a flawed and sinful nature, are incapable of fulfilling the commandments in their entirety, and as a result we could not enter the presence of God in eternal life, without the redeeming work of the cross.  So why then does Jesus tell us to follow the commandments?  Why is it that we see our love for God framed in such a way that it is through following the commandments that we encounter and honour God?

It is explained for us by St Paul in Romans 6:1-14.  In summary St Paul tells us that if we are followers of Jesus, then spiritually we have died to sin.  Through baptism into faith we are buried with Christ, our old sinful nature is killed, and we are raised to new life with Him.  For us to knowingly continue to sin then (i.e. continue to disobey the Commandments of God) does not make sense.  We are dead to sin spiritually and raised to new life, so we are called to express this new spiritual reality, practically in our daily lives as well. 

When we put our faith in Jesus we are called to repent of our sin – to repent  means to not only say sorry but to actually turn away from it.  If we turn away from our sin by definition we must turn back to the commandments.  Jesus summed up all of God’s commandments for us into two seemingly simple to follow commands – to Love God with all our heart, mind and soul – and to love our neighbour as ourselves.  I say they seem simple because in reality they are quite difficult in fact they can be a burden, at least for those who have not put their faith in Christ.  However when we do that, when we understand that through putting our faith in Jesus we will not only be forgiven for our failure to fulfil the commands, but we will also be given the grace and support of God to better follow them, the commandments are no longer a burden. In fact rather than being a burden,  through them we conquer the world (and with it the temptation to sin)- as John points out  to us in his letter.  

In the Gospel reading John goes further, and gives us Jesus’ words around following the commandments.  Jesus tells us that by following His commandments – just as he has followed his Fathers commandments, we will abide in Him, and He in us.  He gives us a new command – to love one another as He loves us. The next statement is profound – Jesus tells us that if we follow his commandments we become his friends.  We are no longer servants (or slaves in some other translations) through putting our faith in Him, by dying to sin and demonstrating this faith and love through following him, we are raised to new life and become friends with God. 

As friends of God we no longer have a subservient role in the relationship, but we gain a companion, a confidant, we gain the greatest and most loyal friend we could ever hope to have, a friend who’s love for us is so powerful that He willingly lays down his life for us. 

So lets remember as we move forward with our week that we are dead to sin, called to follow His commandments, which are not burdensome, but bring us the great joy through friendship with the one who crafted the universe from nothing, and lay down his life that we might live.

Have you become friends with Jesus and through Him been granted eternal life? If you would like to learn more about how to become a friend of Christ please let me know through the comments or via the contact us page.

The Word This Week:

Job 1:1, 2:1-10 and Psalm 26  OR
Genesis 2:18-24 and Psalm 8
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16

Thoughts on the Word:

Mark 10:2-16 (NRSV)

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.


This week’s Gospel reading can be confronting in for people in a world where almost half of all marriages end in divorce, however it is important that we not shy away from what Jesus is telling us here.  What Jesus is telling us about marriage is extremely important, especially in a climate where the institution is coming under increasing attack around the world, and even in some quarters within the Church.

Marriage in the eyes of Jesus is a sacred union, which inseparably joins a man and a woman in a bond that is established by God.  It is not something that can just be idly dismissed, and in fact Jesus warns that those who do divorce and remarry commit adultery.  Now, in the corresponding passage in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 19) we see that there is one exception – sexual immorality (ESV) or unchastity (NRSV) is suitable grounds for divorce.  Thus we see the importance placed by Jesus on the role and place of sex as a gift within a marriage, it is a special part of the bond that God establishes in marriage,  and so integral to its foundation that it is the only reason provided for the permanent dissolution of a marriage.  In today’s society however the number one reason given for divorce is not the unchastity of their spouse – it is ‘irreconcilable differences’.  Put simply things get tough, and people decide its easier to divorce than to fight for their marriage, after all it is all about ‘me’ in the modern world – why should ‘I’ compromise, why should ‘I’ sacrifice some of ‘my’ happiness for the benefit of my husband/wife.  Narcissism is the chief cause of marriage failure in today’s society (in my humble opinion).

So how do we reconcile world where the divorce rate is so high, and where a good proportion of those sitting in the pews on Sunday are divorced and in many cases re-married to Jesus condemnation of divorce?   Some people claim that divorce and remarriage puts these people in a constant state of sin, for which the only remedy is to reconcile with there original spouse, some churches even refuse the sacraments to people in this position.  This in my view demonstrates both a lack of compassion and a lack of understanding of plain logic.  If someone divorces and remarries it is safe to assume that they will consummate that new marriage (and in today’s world it is sadly likely that the relationship will be consummated before the marriage), once that happens – once either party to the original marriage commits adultery, a valid reason for divorce is raised, and a valid divorce occurs in the eyes of God.  Now this does not make it ok that people get divorced, and it is not a justification for it – it simply shows that the sin of divorce is not an ongoing one, that it is a single event, for which a Christian can repent and move forward from. 

I wanted to establish this aspect about the sin of divorce, that it is an event and not an ongoing state, because divorce and remarriage are often raised as an example of Christian hypocrisy by those who advocate redefining marriage to allow for the union of same sex partners.  It is argued that if divorced and remarried people are accepted in our churches, even in leadership roles, despite their state of ‘ongoing sin’ then we lose all credibility to refuse to allow same sex marriage, as even if we consider these people to be living in a state of sin – it is no different to the remarried heterosexuals.   Of course when subjected to the logic I outlined above this charge fails.

What advocates of same sex marriage (even those within the church) seem to miss is Jesus’ very clear defining of what constitutes a marriage in the eyes of God :  ‘But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” ‘  Jesus gives us a clear definition of marriage here by quoting from Genesis, a marriage is quite simply the joining as one a male and a female.  There is no room for any other interpretation here – Jesus is clear about what a marriage is.

What also seems lost on people is the importance of sex.  As I stated before sex between a married couple is considered to be so sacred, so fundamental to marriage, that abuse of this gift is the only grounds for divorce provided by Jesus.  Now given the importance placed on sex and the consequences of sexual immorality, is it reasonable to conclude that it would be acceptable in God’s eyes to change the definition of marriage to include homosexuals who unrepentantly practice a form of sex which is repeatedly condemned and declared to be immoral throughout scripture?

Now I will no doubt come under some pretty heavy fire for this sermon, I will be labelled homophobic, a bigot and probably worse.  The truth is however I am not a homophobe – I have no irrational fear of homosexuals.  I am not a bigot, and I do not wish any harm on any homosexual.  I simply wish to acknowledge that marriage is a construct of God, designed for a man and a woman, that as the foundation of family it is also the foundation of society, and it should be protected.

It must also however be honoured and given its rightful place by Christians.  We must elevate marriage back to the sacred space it belongs and stop treating it as something that can be discarded when things get tough.  Jesus viewed marriage as a sacred bond established by God, do you? 

God bless you this week.
Daryl.