Paul | The Irreverent Reverend

Easter 6: Loved to Action & Obedience

“St Paul Meeting Lydia of Thyatira” by Edward Irvine Halliday. (1902-84)

Acts 16:9-15

John 5:1-9

Easter 6

25/5/25

If you can remember back to last week, I ended my sermon with, ‘The old commandment is to love one another. The new commandment is to love one another as Jesus has loved you. It is by this that everyone will know that we are disciples. It is stunning to think that if the first disciples had not bothered to do this, then the church likely would have shrivelled and died on the vine 2000 years ago. This love came to make all things new.

The task remains the same – we are to love as we have been loved. Go into the world, into work or families and to neighbours and show them God’s love.’

In this week’s readings we see how love is shown by Paul and his companions to Lydia in the city of Philippi and by Jesus to the man laying at the Pool of Bethesda. We also see how these people respond to God’s love. Lydia and her family were baptised and the man picked up his mat and began to walk. This is the focus for today; how we respond to God’s love.

Lydia, the merchant from Thyratira, was on a business trip 300 miles from home. It is not clear if she sold purple dye or purple cloth or what exactly she did. Whatever it was, she was marketing a luxury product to the wealthy elite. Lydia was clearly a woman of means, agency and authority. There are no men in this story — no husband, father, son, or brother, for example. Maybe she was divorced or widowed. After her own conversion and baptism, Lydia commandeered her entire household to be baptised, meaning she employed servants. Perhaps her “household” also included extended family members.

Lydia had all the trappings of success. Yet she was found outside the city gate next to the river for a prayer meeting with a group of other women. She listened to what Paul was saying and the Lord opened her heart. The Lord only opens hearts that are ready to receive.

She then opened her home, a sign of wealth, as it was big enough to accommodate Paul and his companions (at least three are named). Immediately after Lydia’s conversion, Paul mentions other prominent women who came to believe. Lydia is honoured by being the first European convert to Christianity and her house was the first church in Europe.

What looks like a chance encounter on the river bank was a divine appointment between a woman with an open and seeking heart meeting a man whose life had been turned upside down by the resurrected Jesus.

In contrast to Lydia’s story, we have the man at the Pool. He is unnamed and of no significance to anyone. No family, no friends and this has taken a psychological and social toll as well as physical.

This is reflected in his non-answer to Jesus’ question; do you want to get well? I think the more pointed question that Jesus is asking is: do you really want to get well. Or are you happy with the way things are; sitting pool-side with the feeble excuse that someone always gets in before you.

We know that to be in any way physically or mentally flawed in 1st century Jerusalem was a bad thing. In the absence of family to care for you would be destitute and assigned to a life of poverty. Notice that Jesus does not wait for an improved answer from the man. He tells him to ‘stand up, take your mat and walk.’ He does and begins to walk.

There is no further mention of him in the Gospel which leaves us hanging. What happened to him? Where did he walk to? Was there anyone waiting for him anywhere?

Life off the mat was likely going to be much harder for him. Literally no more lying around and waiting for others to help him out. He was going to have to learn to live in a whole new way.

Both of these stories demonstrate that no one is beyond the reach of God’s love and healing. There is no one He will not go to and/but there needs to be a response. Lydia’s heart was open and she used her gifts and talents of hospitality to help Paul. The man was obedient to Jesus’ instruction to get up and off the mat. Both their lives were changed in their encounters.

How do we respond to God’s love? We are to have faith, belief that Jesus is the Risen Christ, the Son of God and that salvation comes through Him alone. We are also called to a life of service, of action and obedience that reflects that love. It might be a public life like Lydia with influence, wealth and authority; or maybe in obscurity like the man formerly of the Pool of Bethesda.

Either way, we are found and loved to action and obedience.

Eternal God, who gives good gifts to all people, and who grants the spirit of generosity: Give us, we pray you, hearts always open to hear your word, that, following the example of your servant Lydia, we may show hospitality to those who are in any need or trouble; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Advent 1: Watch & Wait

1/12/24
Advent 1 – Year C

Jeremiah 33:14-16
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36

Happy New Year!

No – I mean it! Today is New Year’s Day on the church calendar. Forget about January 1st December 1st is where it is at.

In this season of Advent, we remember again the coming of Jesus in human form as we repeat stories of that first Christmas. We also look ahead to His coming the second time at a time known to God but not us. We wait in hope and preparation for God’s arrival to make sure we recognise Him when he comes. In preparation for that we can pray that this Advent is a season of hope, relief and watching.

Hope. Who doesn’t need a little bit of hope today? Hope is like a light shining in a dark place. The Bible has a lot to say about hope:

Psalm 42 – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
Psalm 62 – For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from Him.
Psalm 71 – But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.
Romans 5 – Endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
1 Corinthians 13 – Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

We need hope because when we give up on hope, we give up on life.

The prophet Jeremiah had a difficult job; it is almost hard to believe that this reading came from him. Jeremiah was the prophet of doom and his book is one of the most depressing in the Bible. His calling set him apart from his friends and neighbours because they simply did not want to hear what God had to say through him. Jeremiah had hard messages to give the Israelites about the destruction of Jerusalem; this weighed heavily on Jeremiah. Yet in the midst, we have this beautiful piece full of hope and trust.

At this point in his life, Jeremiah has been put into jail by his own King for being right. The enemies of Jerusalem are attacking the city, as Jeremiah said they would. Jerusalem is still standing but it will soon fall into the hands of Babylon.
Sitting in prison, Jeremiah is suddenly filled with hope. Jeremiah knows that restoration will come after the exile – this is what he is talking about when he says, ‘the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.’

If the people wait, watch, endure and try to see the hand of God at work, they will be preparing themselves and the people for the time when ‘Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety.’ This would have been a mystery to the people listening! This is hundreds of years before Jesus arrived. This is still a mystery to people today; people in our families and friend groups who are not interested or do not know about what it is to be saved.

Jeremiah gives us an incredible example of human faithfulness that will not renounce God, come what may. Jeremiah brings good news too: whatever happens, God is God and God is for us. Even Jeremiah, who was the darkest of the prophets, has moments when he can see beyond the immediate destruction of his people to a time when they will again know that God has not abandoned them. He (Jesus) will execute justice and righteousness.

Secondly – Relief.

Just think for a moment about the last time you felt relief from a situation. That overwhelming sense of ‘this is over!’ or ‘well that wasn’t so bad’ or ‘thank God that passed me by’. Advent brings relief – the weary world rejoices!

Paul has been worried about the Thessalonians to whom he is writing. Paul got so worked up about it that he sent Timothy to visit them and he has come back with good news. The letter to the Thessalonians is an expression of Paul’s relief and joy for these new Christians. ‘How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?’ (verse 1 asks)

Paul’s prayer is that they will use their time to prepare for their final meeting with God. There is no time to waste, every minute is vital according to Paul. He wants the Thessalonians to grow and abound in love for each other, to have their hearts strengthened in holiness so to be blameless before God at the coming of Jesus.

This is a big part of the Advent journey; are we ready for the great return? If we are ready then we will know relief when he comes back. However we should not get too comfortable while people around us do not know the Good News.

There is a verse in this reading that really stuck out to me. Paul wants to see the Thessalonians face to face and ‘restore whatever is lacking in your faith.’ What is lacking in your faith at the start of this Advent season?

Thirdly and finally; Keep watch. We need to prepare for Jesus’ return. This means taking the promises of God seriously. Where are our priorities towards God right now? Is he 2nd place behind our distractions and self-interests?

Luke tells of the signs that are coming in the sun, moon, in the stars and on earth. There will be distress among the nations and confusion in the seas and the waves. This passage is different from the rest of Luke. Luke tells the wonderful stories of the shepherds and sheep, the stable and the manger; it is Luke who tells the story of Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Luke now gives us this rather frightening story of the Son of Man coming in on a cloud with power and great glory. The seasons are going to change and we need to be ready to change with them. Not only that, we need to watch for the signs of the coming of Jesus. This is not an easy task! We need to pay attention to the world around us, pay attention to what God might be saying to us.

The fig tree is the key to all three of today’s readings. Just as we know how to watch for the signs that mark the changing of the seasons, we need to be trained to watch for the return of Jesus.

Jeremiah and Luke talk about seeing the signs in times of turmoil. Paul is speaking into a situation of growth and joy with a tone of urgency. We too need to wait with intelligence, noting the signs, paying attention in situations of joy and relief while in turmoil too.

During Advent we are reminded that God is at work and draws us into His coming action. God is the prime mover, the initiator who is always present on the scene before we arrive. We need not worry or work under our own steam. By spending time with God, he will reveal what He is doing in our lives and the wider world. It is then that we can begin to recognize him.

In Advent, we are waiting for God’s arrival and we need to recognize him when he comes. We wait in hope, we wait for relief as we watch for God – both now and in the not yet.

Happy New Year!

Trinity 13: To Whom Can We Go?

Great crowds followed Jesus as he preached the Good News, 2004 (w/c on paper) by Wang, Elizabeth (Contemporary Artist);

25/8/24
Trinity 13

Psalm 84
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:56-69

We have finally reached the end of John 6 as today is Sunday five of five. I have mentioned the various threads and themes that run through this rather carb-filled chapter over the last few weeks. At each turn, Jesus is ratcheting up what is at stake for both that early crowd and for us now.

One golden thread running through this chapter are the words very truly and believe. Jesus is telling us very truly to believe in Him. I spoke last week about how the way we trust in things and people can influence how we trust God.

We all have our own ways of coming to trust things and people. Maybe some of us trust the wrong things or don’t consider the things we trust until they prove themselves to be untrustworthy. Maybe some of us set the bar so high that we trust almost nothing and no one. Jesus wants us to trust him; for anything and everything, all the time and forever. He died for us; his death and resurrection is a very clear indicator of his willingness!

Those first listeners did not yet fully appreciate what Jesus meant about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The response from many was, ‘this teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ Jesus has challenged his listeners on everything from their extensive rules on food preparation and eating to what happens (or does not happen) when they die. Jesus has thrown down the proverbial gauntlet with his final question, ‘do you also wish to go away?’

Jesus was giving them and still gives us that choice. To follow Jesus or not is a choice; the ultimate one. Christianity is based on making that choice; being a Christian is not an automatic event, it does not just happen. There is a lot of talk in various magazines and websites about being a ‘cultural Christian’.

A quick internet search with some AI help: A cultural Christian is someone who identifies as Christian but may not be religious and may not have a personal relationship with Jesus. They may have been influenced by Christian values and culture through their family background, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up. They may also identify as cultural Christian because they believe that attending church, being baptised, or being a good person makes them Christian. For cultural Christians, religion is something they add to their lives to make things better.

This sounds rather good. Religion should make life better. Most of us want to be good people. Unfortunately this is the pinnacle of achievement for many; not the basic starting point. Just behave and all will be well.

However, at some point in this life we all have to make a choice to follow Jesus or not. Follow Jesus. Not cultural Christianity. These are the values and virtues; not salvation. It is salvation, eternal life with God that is at stake.

The people Jesus puts this question to in John’s Gospel are not newbie followers. These are people who have heard the teaching, seen the miracles, followed him around, maybe some were healed, they were certainly all loved by Jesus.

Often the discussion around salvation and the saving work of God turns to ‘what about those people who never hear about Jesus’ or people of other faiths. This is the modern day approach to the redirection that Jesus faced when his parentage was questioned in John 6. Personally, I do not worry about those who have never heard as much as I do about those people who hear the teaching, have been to church, know something about God and yet choose not to believe.

I think of some of my cousins, my friends, people I have worked with in the past. The only people who cannot or will not be saved are the ones who put themselves beyond the reach of God. God does not put people beyond his reach; people put themselves there.

It is sometimes an hourly, daily, moment by moment decision to choose God and live fully as the people we were made to be. It is hard work. You might notice that Jesus does not make it easier! He doesn’t make excuses or argue back when his followers take offence and claim it is too hard. He is not offering a lighter version. Many disciples left, not just a couple or a few. Many.

Debie Thomas, the American essayist wrote, ‘What does it mean to choose God? According to Jesus, it means eating his very essence, taking the incarnation so deeply into our own bodies and souls that we exude the favour of Christ to the world. It means doing what Jesus did and living as Jesus lived. It means turning the other cheek. It means loving our enemies. It means walking the extra mile. It means losing our lives in order to gain them. It means trusting that the first will be last and the last first. It means seeking God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. It means denying ourselves. It means the cross.’

What is amazing in the closing of John 6 is that Jesus had any followers left. Maybe the real miracle of the bread and fish story is not that the multitudes were fed but a handful of those stuck around when he finished teaching. By asking them, ‘do you also wish to go away?’, those who are left are free to walk away.

It is an uncomfortable question. Imagine Jesus asking it with sadness and compassion as He knows that some will walk away. He knows what is asking them. He wants them to know that his love is a freeing love. I find this an uncomfortable question because sometimes I want to say yes.

Yes I do want to go away. I want to quit, I want to be more comfortable, pick an easier, less demanding, less costly, more culturally acceptable version of the Gospel. However, I know that there is no lighter version. It just does not exist.

In the final verses of Ephesians 6, Paul is telling his readers to get ready for the battle. War was a frequent reality then so this language would not have been strange or off-putting. Paul is putting the struggles of small Christian communities as a cosmic battle against supernatural evil. The people are to stand firm and not run away. They have been given the equipment they need.

We too need to stand firm, ready and rooted, if we are to choose Jesus, choose real Christianity. Not only stand firm, but use the equipment we have been given properly. It is sort of like PPE, great to have but only gives protection if used correctly. It means understanding the truth of the Gospel, being ready to proclaim it, being faithful when the arrows come, and knowing the word of God.

We also need to know, like Peter, that Jesus has the words of eternal life. Who else is there to go to? Nothing and no one will ever satisfy us like Jesus does.
We are called to make that choice over and over again. When we come together to celebrate Communion, this is what we are doing. Coming back, choosing again the one with the words of eternal life. Feeding on Jesus is our only hope.

Trinity 11: The Bread of Unity

11/8/24
Trinity 11

Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51

Throughout the month of August we are stuck into John chapter 6 which begins with the feeding of the 5000 on a mountainside in Galilee. This crowd witnessed the miracles Jesus had been performing. They began to follow him and the disciples around with curiosity and in hope of another free lunch after Jesus met the physical hunger of the crowd in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.

Next, Jesus walked on the water through a storm in the dark of night to the fear and amazement of the disciples. There is no mention whether the storm stopped or not; what seems to matter is that the disciples’ fear was dissipated when Jesus reached them. One of the beautiful things about the Christian faith is the amount of creativity and imagination it requires of its followers.

The next day, the hungry crowd is back for more fish sarnies but none are on the menu. Jesus tells them not to work that food that will perish but the food that endures for eternal life. The heart-breaking and beautiful proclamation of ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whosoever believes in me will never be thirsty’ follows. This is where we start this morning.

At each turn throughout John 6, Jesus is ratcheting up what is at stake. He is making it clear he is not just a miracle sandwich-maker or a favourite history teacher as he corrects the beliefs of Jewish people listening to and arguing with him. Jesus is reminding them the bread that came down from heaven after they crossed the Red Sea was given to their ancestors came from God; Moses was only the means of delivery. This would have been difficult for the Jews to hear. Their beliefs were firmly held, rules were rules and needed to be followed.

We are living in a world right now, in a country right now where people are hearing things they do not like and reacting. Firmly held beliefs, however right or wrong, or extreme to either end are being challenged. It feels very unsettling and knocks our security. Riots over immigration, Facebook posts decrying the cut to the winter heating credit for pensioners. I am a Canadian so will not comment on the US election. Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Gaza. This is a sad state of affairs.

What can be done? Imagine for a moment that we took Paul’s instructions in the letter to the Ephesians. Paul is instructing the churches to focus on God and for the new believers in Jesus to to live in the light of Christ with specific moral commitment, to conduct relationships in the right way.

We spoke the truth to our neighbours instead of lying to them?
Paul says it is okay to be angry but do not sin. Be angry in the right way about the right things; the true injustices of the world.
Do not steal. Get a job and work honestly.
Share with those in need.
Don’t gossip and slander other people with either your tongue or your thumbs – let your words be graceful and kind.
Put away bitterness, wrath and anger, slander.

How about we be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you.
Live in love and Jesus loves us and gave himself up for us.

This is the world that all children, all of us should grow up in!

Maybe there are better ways to resolve differences and challenges to beliefs. Jesus is trying, I think, to expand their thinking and believing about God. Some of the crowd are willfully determined not to understand. Have you ever met people like that? They are not stupid or unintelligent, they are willingly incapable of seeing any other point of view. The crowd tries to divert the question by turning attention to Jesus’ family (son of a poor carpenter) and ‘who does he think he is?!’

Jesus is offering the crowd something better. Eternal life. Like all offers from God, we are free to turn it down or not recognize it at all. We can choose dust and ashes over the bread of life. Jesus knows this. We choose death rather than the life we were made for. Jesus chooses death too. He chooses to be in our death. He chooses to be the bread of life who dies so that we may live.

We need to choose life. We have all been given physical life; of course. We have all at some point experienced birth. Some more recently than others. There is more to life than just what we can see, touch, smell and experience. Again, back to imagination and creativity! We need to choose life because one day death will come. It is not the end of life but the start of eternal life, safe in the everlasting arms forever.

We all need to be fed spiritually. This is what we are doing in Communion. In the breaking of the bread we are receiving our bread for the next stage in the journey. We are choosing the bread of life over the dust and ashes. Jesus is the bread of life. May we choose this bread always.

2nd Before Advent: What Are We Supposed to Do?

The parable of the Talents,
Stained glass executed by Clayton & Bell, London,
For St Edith’s Church, Bishop Wilton,

19/11/23
2nd Before Advent

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Matthew 25:14-30

We seem to be in in-between time on the calendar; both the church and in life. The days are shorter and darker. The weather is grey and miserable. Remembrance Sunday has passed.

Have you put up the Christmas decorations yet?
When should you do that without judgement?
Has the Christmas pudding started?

We seem to be waiting around for the next thing. There is a vagueness to everything. You come to church and we are faced with these seemingly dire readings all about the end times and gnashing teeth. Is that what we are waiting for?!

Both Paul writing to the Thessalonians and Matthew’s account of Jesus’ parable speak to the return of the Lord. The second coming of Jesus. This is what we are preparing for during Advent; God’s return. Yes we spend time preparing and celebrating the birth of Jesus. The bigger picture is God’s return for the second time. Not many people spend much time considering or imagining this event.

After the resurrection everyone (the gospel writers, Paul and the disciples, members of the new church) thought Jesus was coming back imminently. Yet here we are two thousand years later, still watching and waiting. Like the Thessalonians, we do not know the day or the time. Paul and Matthew are concerned with what people do in the meantime. Paul encourages the Thessalonians to put on the breastplate of faith and love, a helmet for the hope of salvation. Paul wants them to encourage and build each other up.

Jesus is coming back, and it matters what was done in his absence. This is true for us too, how are we doing in the meantime? Are we being foolish or wise, investing, hiding or squandering?

Matthew 25, like many of Jesus’ parables, can be read on several different levels and it needs careful attention. As a reminder, Matthew has this parable set in the last days of Jesus’ life. Generally people say some really important things as the end of life nears. This is not an easy parable nor is it made any more comforting by the times we find ourselves living in.

We could read this parable as a call to do more with what God has given us. It does not matter how much (think time, money, gifts, resources) we have been given, just do more with it and be smart about it. Again, if we do not use it, we will be punished.

The tension here is that, given the current situation with post-Covid, cost of living among many factors, many people cannot volunteer or contribute their gifts for the service of others as they may previously have. Should they be made to feel guilty? Punished for what is beyond their control? There is a difference here between inability to help and serve and being unwilling to help and serve.

In Jesus’ parable, the man (master) is going away for an unknown amount of time. He calls his servants and gives them each a talent of silver; but he does not give them any instructions about what to do with the talents. Why not? The man knew his servants, he had worked out what each would do with the talents given.

Through the actions of the first two servants who invested their talents, we can see that they knew their master. Even without explicit instructions, they knew what was expected of them and what would please their master. It is doubtful that these two slaves understood the motivation of their master but possibly suspected that this was some kind of test.

The third slave and the master know each other too. There is dislike and mistrust between them. The master does not trust this slave as much as the others. The slaves’ response is to focus on the negative, what he did not have, did not get and blamed the master for that.

The master replies by pointing out that the slave did not try, did not seek out what he (the master) wanted. Instead of trying to please or get to know his master, the slave gives up and buries the talent. When the master returns to his home, the third slave knows that trouble is coming so tells his master what he thinks of him. This slave had decided a long time ago that nothing would please his master so gave up trying.

Many people can relate to the third slave, that nothing they do is ever good enough, so why try? This is applied to God too. I’ve heard things like, ‘God has never bothered with me, so why should I bother with him?’ or ‘if God is so good, then why did x, y, or z happen?’

Questions like these often come from a place of deep hurt and carry some honesty. However, many people who tend to blame God for their misfortunes, do not seek after him in the first place. Assumptions about who God is and what He is like are often wrong and based on circumstance and feelings rather than knowledge and relationship.

When it comes to talents, by this I mean our gifts and skills; they have come from God. They are given to be used, we are stewards of them, not the owners. The owner is God, and he expects us to use his gifts wisely. Gifts, like the silver talents of the slaves, increase with use. To use them wisely and to the glory of God, we need to know the giver, the true owner of these gifts. God has a genuine and vested interest in what we do in his name.

If we seek to know God and his will for our lives, we do not need to worry about the outer darkness. We are all going to have to account for what we have done with what has been given to us. It does not matter how much; this is not a competition.

If you feel that God was stingy or somehow passed you by when handing out your gifts, seek him, ask him! God knows you, knows your capacity, He also loves and understands you. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to: ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’

The problem is not that Jesus did not know the slave or does not know us. The problem is that the slave, and us, do not fully know who Jesus is. We need to work to correct this imbalance. This is my prayer and hope for this upcoming Advent season; that we will find time and effort to deepen our relationships with God.

For the other slaves and for us, knowing Jesus is a positive, life-giving, life-affirming experience. It is an ongoing and ultimately loving relationship with the Father who loves us more than we can ask or imagine, who gives good gifts for the benefit of all. Let us not waste what God has given each of us, we can work together to build each other up. We can seek the Lord while he may be found, we need to build each other up for the day of the Lord in coming.