PETER’S PRAYER

Reading: Psalm 23, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30, Acts 9:36-43,
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church, Tartan Sunday, April 25th 2010

Amongst the many writings that the great Scottish Reformer and shaper of Presbyterian belief, John Knox, left to the church, are words that he wrote about prayer. In a document titled “A Treatise On Prayer” he offers his beloved Scottish congregations ‘A declaration what true prayer is, how we should pray, and for what we should pray”

“Prayer” declares John Knox, “Is an earnest and familiar talking with God, to whom we declare our miseries, whose support and help we implore and desire in our adversities, and whom we laud and praise for our benefits received.”

Our Scripture from Acts gave us the dramatic account of Peter praying for Dorcas (also known as Tabitha)… a prayer that results in her being restored to life.

Now I'm not expecting that if you follow John Knox’s advice or Peter’s example that you will literally raise the dead. I would jump for joy if that did happen, but I'd also be kind of wary, because those sorts of things don't normally happen in Scripture unless God's got something huge about to take place. I do though want to share with you some perspectives on prayer that both John Knox’s words and Peter’s actions place before us in the hope they encourage us in our own prayer lives.

Firstly, notice that in order to pray Peter empties his environment of all distractions.

John Knox writes in his Treatise on prayer that “We should choose for our prayers such places as might offer least occasion to call us back from prayer”. Acts 9:40 tells us that when Peter went in to pray with Tabitha he told all the mourners that they were to leave. “Peter put all of them outside”.

Jesus taught the disciples, (Matthew 6:6) “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” In our lectionary passage today from John 10:27 Jesus says “My sheep hear my voice.”

To concentrate on God we need to shut out the other voices. We need to make a space for private time with God. We need to schedule such times, because if you wait for them to come along, they won’t.

That space can be anywhere. We can drive the car to some isolated spot and park a while. We can take a warm bath and lock the door behind us. If we are a night owl we can make time after everybody else has gone to bed. If we’re a morning person we can give ourselves some space before everybody gets up.

At other times, in the business of the day, we can just keep the one liners going back and forth. In a service of worship we can join with each other in prayers and concerns... that’s important as well. But it’s not a substitute for a ‘One on One’ time for you and your God to get things sorted.

God blesses us as we develop a relationship with Him. If we’re not talking and we’re not listening – then we are not developing a relationship. And sadly we will be missing out on much God would wish to give us. Make time for prayer.


Secondly, notice the reverent atitude Peter has towards God.

Our text tells us “he knelt down and prayed”. Peter humbly falls to his knees and seeks God's will. By contrast we often come to God with a shopping list, as though God were Santa Claus, dispensing presents to good girls and boys. We treat God as some benevolent Bob the Builder who can fix everything...

“I know Lord, I haven’t been doing to well… no let’s be honest.. I’m in it up to my neck right now… I know it’s my fault… but.. well... if you just answer this prayer, I promise I’ll never miss another service in church for the rest of my life.. I’ll say the Lord’s Prayer every day... and I’ll even be nice to people ...I’ll double my offerings…what do you say… we got a deal?”

We are not called to be 'Bargain Basement Believers', haggling with God to get the most blessing for the least personal cost. That’s not prayer. That’s not the sort of conversation a parent enjoys with their child. That’s not building a relationship with God. Nor does it give God the rightful place in our lives.

John Knox in his Treatise instructs that we should remember “In whose presence we stand, to whom we speak, and what we desire”; that we are “Standing in the presence of the omnipotent Creator of heaven and earth”.

There's something humbling about bending the knee or bowing down. It's worshipful. It's a posture of submission. It shows reverence. A glance through the Book of Revelation reveals Jesus as One whom before the whole host of heaven bow down, worship and declare "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain". To bow before Him is the right response to make.

Notice how we need to make time for prayer.
Notice how we need to approach God in the right attitude.

Thirdly, be aware that if we neglect to pray we will not be able to do God’s will.

John Knox comments that to neglect prayer is the most odious sin of them all. To put that in plain English ... a Christian life without prayer really stinks! In his own words; “Oh, why cease we then to call immediately upon His mercy, having His commandment so to do! Above all our iniquities, we work manifest contempt and despising of Him, when by negligence we delay to call for His gracious support.”

When our lives are prayer-less they become powerless and dispirited. When there is no communication with God, then any claim to be doing the will of God, other than in a vague sense, is nothing more than self flattery. We need to make time to pray. We need to approach God with reverence. We need to recognize that the prayer-less life is a powerless life.

Fourthly, we should not put limits on what God can do!

I am not under the impression that when Peter walked into the room where Tabitha's body lay, that he walked in with the idea, "Right, what I'm going to do now is raise the dead." I believe that he emptied himself and listened in his spirit for what God was saying. Again we're back with John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me".

What Peter didn't know... indeed what Tabitha's friends and family didn't know, was that God was about to do something huge. It was amazing that Tabitha should have been restored to life, but there's an even bigger thing unfolding.

If you read on in the story, you'll see that Christianity is about to make a radical departure from Judaism. Up until this time, God... the One True God, had been the God of the Israelites. The God of Abraham, Jacob and Moses. All that was about to change. Christianity was about to go worldwide! And one of the key figures in that change is going to be Peter. He's going to be right at the center of things.

Peter needed to be reminded who was in charge. That, whatever his feelings and inner turmoil, his life was in the hands of one greater than all. That God was still the God of miracles and that throughout the changes that were coming down the line God would be right with him in all His resurrection power.

When we pray we never know what may come of it. John Knox after he had fallen foul of the authorities ended up as a galley slave on a French ship. Rather than abandoning his faith and giving up he began working on a personal confession of faith and an account of his dispute with the Catholic Church. These works formed the basis of the Scots Confession, a document that was to change a whole country and define the political and religious life of Scotland after its adoption.

Many had written John Knox off and thought they had seen the last of him. Reflecting on the importance of prayer in his deliverance he writes “And therefore I dare be bold in the verity of God’s word to promise, that, notwithstanding the vehemency of trouble, the long continuance thereof, the despair of all men, the fearfulness, danger, distress and anguish of our own hearts, yet if we call constantly to God, that, beyond expectation of all men, He shall deliver.”

John Knox assets that when we pray God goes beyond our expectations. Peter discovered afresh in the raising of Tabitha that the life God promised truly was beyond anything he could have imagined.

As in our day we seek to see our own lives and the life of our church spring into new life, let us realize that it will never happen without prayer.

• In our personal lives let us carve out a place for prayer.
• When we pray let us approach God with reverence and the awareness of His majesty.
• Let us be aware that that a prayer-less life is a powerless life, that to not pray is not an option.
• Let us not put limits on what God can do but rather simply seek His will in every situation knowing that He is our Savior, our Deliverer, our Lord and our King.

Both the disciple Peter and the reformer John Knox bear witness that with God nothing is impossible. Inspired by such faith may we seek to be faithful disciples in our own day and time. Amen.

Rev. Adrian J. Pratt

The Full text of John Knox's 'Treatise on Prayer' can be found at the following web address: http://www.reformation-scotland.org.uk/articles/treatise-on-prayer.html

HIS WAY

Reading: Psalm 30, John 21:1-19, Revelation 5:11-14, Acts 9:1-6
Preached at Baldwin First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, on April 18th 2010

Our reading from the book of Acts spoke of the conversion of Saul, a one-time persecutor of the church, who became, after a light blinding experience on the Damascus Road, an evangelist, theologian and defender of the Christian Way.

It is to Paul’s hand that we owe many of the great theological letters that make up our New Testament. Whilst scholars debate as to which letters he actually wrote and which were written in his name by others, even those not directly attributed to Paul are full of his influence.

It was in Paul’s writings that some of the great thinkers of the Christian Centuries found their inspiration, including the Reformers to whom the Protestant tradition owes so much; scholars such as Martin Luther and John Calvin.

Verse two of chapter nine in the book of Acts describes the early Christian church as the people of the Way. The word “Way” (In Greek, hodos ) provides a motif around which the story of Paul’s conversion is told. Saul asks the high priest for "letters to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any who belonged to the Way (Greek, hodou), he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."

Later in the passage, Ananias speaks fearfully of ‘Paul’s way’. He knows Paul only as a persecutor of the Christian church. He’s heard terrible things about him. God tells Ananias that he must go to Paul, because God was preparing Paul for a mighty work. When Ananias reaches him, he lays hands on him and speaks to him of the Lord Jesus who had appeared to him in the ‘way’ (again in Greek, hodoi) in which he was going.

It’s an intriguing use of words.

The picture is of Saul being on his way, in his way, against ‘the Way’.

And then… God intervenes.

A blinding light reveals to Saul that being on his way, in his way, meant that he was heading the wrong way. That his way, was a way against ‘the way’ that things should be.

The geographical region in which Paul had this spiritual change of heart is one where the hot air of the plain meets the cold air coming off the mountain ranges. That sort of weather pattern can create violent electrical storms. The word used to describe the voice that Saul hears is the Greek word ‘phone’ (from which we derive the word tele-phone) and can be translated as either an audible voice or the sound of an inanimate things such as musical instruments or thunderclaps. Maybe Saul got caught in a storm!

We know that Saul is struggling with his convictions at this point in time. The hatred he has against the people of ‘The Way’ had become obsessive. It was a week long journey on foot around, 140 miles, from Jerusalem to Damascus. His only companions were the officers of the Sanhedrin, whom as a Pharisee, he could have little to do with.

He’s been unnerved by Stephen’s vision of heaven being opened. Those he has been persecuting have responded in unexpected ways, offering him forgiveness, praying for him, speaking of God’s love. They didn’t act like people full of great wickedness. Never mind the possibility of a storm outside Saul’s life, there was a huge storm going on inside of him! Up to a point we can explain how Saul was ready for a change.

But how do account for the fact that he happened to be right there, on that road, at that time, in that storm, with a storm of emotions going through his mind? How do we explain how the impression these things made upon him was so dramatic that it completely turned him around?

How do we explain how he is given direct instructions concerning the intervention of Ananais, who would come to him in three days time, remove his blindness and give him the counsel necessary to become, not simply a follower of Christ’s way, but a leader and an apostle on a level with the disciples who walked with Jesus during his earthly ministry? The only logical explanation was that he had encountered God.

Saul on his way, in his way, against “the Way.”
Then God intervenes.

But what about us? Whose ‘way’ are we in? Where are our lives heading? Whose kingdom are we building? What can take us from heading our own way to a place where we are living God’s way? We see certain things taking place in Saul’s life that turned him from going his way to following God’s way. In verse 4 we find the words "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

God’s call comes in a very intimate and personal way. Saul was his Hebrew name, Paul his Roman name. He hears his Hebrew name being spoken twice over. This repetition is an indication of the concern God had for him. Then comes the rebuke. “Why are you persecuting me?” It is a question that forces Saul to see that what he was involved in was wrong. Before he would ever be a saint, he had to acknowledge that he was a sinner.

We need to know that God is calling our name. Over and over and over again. We live in such an impersonal world. We can sometimes get the idea that God is an impersonal God and not really concerned about us. No more aware of that are we then we are going through the storms.
It matters not whether those storms are outside of us, like the light from heaven that struck Saul down, or whether the storm is inside of us, like that Saul was experiencing as he struggled to understand what was going on with those crazy "People of the Way".

We need to know that God understands and cares and can help. That God has a personal interest in the way our lives are going and can and will intervene to help us go the way that is best for us, the way of God's love. We don’t need to be walking down a road towards Damascus to find that conviction. We don’t need a blinding light and an audible voice. We can find that assurance as we read the Scriptures and turn ourselves towards God through prayer and active participation in the service and worship life of our church.

If we make it our way, to orientate our lives towards God's way, then we will discover that God has a depth of concern for us that we had not previously recognized. Through making the most of the opportunities for worship and learning and serving and fellowship that our churches provide, then we will hear our name being called and we will want to respond!

At times the voice of God may come as a startling rebuke. "Why do you persecute me?". Saul’s initial reaction was to ask, "What do you mean, persecute me? Who is this speaking? I don't understand!".

Rebellion against the claim God makes on our lives, be it in a small way or in a big way, is still ‘a way’ we need delivering from. Sin, whatever form or variety it takes, (and for sure it does takes many forms and many varieties) is still the stuff that Jesus died on the cross to deliver us from. There is no deliverance where there is no recognition of personal shortcoming. To spiritually move forward, we need the transforming power and the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Are you starting to see the challenge this reading places before us? We can this morning walk out of this church determined to go on our way, in our own way, and consider very little what Christ's way for us may be.

Or we can consider that this time of worship is a time when God is calling our name. We can take this opportunity to consider the way our life is headed. We can make this a moment for resolving to get our lives in tune with God. We can resolve, here today, that whatever comes our way, we are going to try and handle it God’s way, seeking His will and seeking His glory!

Saul’s confrontation with Jesus on the Damascus road was a turning point in his life. As God confronts us with that story this morning, let us seek to live our lives in God’s way, in the way of the Holy Spirit, in the way of Jesus Christ. Let us come to the table laid with bread and wine and seek for God to direct us in the ways of His Kingdom.

What it boils down to is this. We can go our own way, in our own way and do it all our way. Do that and it will eventually lead us the wrong way. Or, here and now, we can come to God and pray that we want to live only … in His Way! A way described elsewhere in Scripture as the better way, the higher way and as the way forward. His Way.

And to God’s name be all glory and honor and power!
Amen.

Adrian Pratt

A QUESTION OF OBEDIENCE"

Reading: Psalm 118:14-29, John 20:19-31, Revelation 5:1:4-8, Acts 5:27-32
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church on April 11th 2010

It is the early days of the Church. There has been an explosion of enthusiasm, a growth in numbers. People are impressed. Well... not all people. The holders of the religious keys of power the Sanhedrin are not impressed at all. They are alarmed. They have had Peter and a number of other disciples thrown into jail. But in the night, a miraculous deliverance takes place and Peter and the disciples are back on the streets teaching, healing and preaching.

The Sanhedrin summon Peter and the disciples to come before them and advise them to stop proclaiming their message about Jesus. "We gave you strict orders (did we not?) to stop teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man's blood upon us." It is a sticky situation. How does Peter handle it? He tells them how it should have been with all of them; "We must obey God rather than man".

Around us today are many voices that seek for us to abandon our religious ways. Peter gives us a model of how to respond in the face of calls to compromise our faith: -
· We seek to be faithful to God.
· We seek to bring glory to God by proclaiming the gospel.
· We seek power to witness through God's Holy Spirit.

1. We seek to be faithful to God.
We sometimes speak of people holding strong convictions as being people of principle. The principle of Peter's obedience is his desire to be faithful to no other voice than the voice of God. He was well aware of the implications of such obedience. He had witnessed first hand the arrest, death and crucifixion of Jesus. He knew that there were those who would not stop at taking his life in order to prevent the growth of the Christian church.

In our particular age and culture the problem is not so much hostility, as it is apathy. For increasing numbers of people religion is simply not on the agenda. They would not think of belonging to a church and have decided that such a practice is not for them.

They can see no benefit or purpose in being part of a worshiping community. They have better things to do on Sundays. There are newspapers to read, cars to wash, kids to take to sporting events, golf games to be played, boats to sail, shopping malls with sales not to miss... and in any case their time is limited. Why on earth would one want to give up the little recreation time they have to spend time in some boring old church service?

Now before we point the finger at anybody else we should examine ourselves. Our beliefs are sometimes kept so private that when people discover we are part of a church they will say, “Gosh, I never thought of you as the religious type!” The faith we profess is not professed in a way that anybody seems to notice.

Our lifestyles are no different to our neighbors and we often make the same mistakes as our neighbors. We are aware that if there were a 'Good people in our Community' competition there are many folk on that list who never darken the door of a place of worship or profess any allegiance to any faith. There are some great people who never go to church, many of them amongst our own colleagues, friends and families.

So it is a double whammy sort of situation. There is an apathy out there concerning religion and then the fact that the way our religion shows itself in our lives is not particularly impressive. We don't leave church Sunday morning and go out and walk on water, raise the dead and perform great wonders backed up by powerful testimony of God's grace, in the way the likes of Peter and Paul are pictured in the Book of Acts.

So what can we do? I suggest that what we can do is stay faithful to God as best as we know how. Many will not notice. Those that do won't be impressed. We will continue to make as many as mistakes as we are different people. We are people saved by grace, not through our own efforts, and often our own efforts will obscure that fact! But, again, I suggest that the way forward in an age of apathy is remarkably similar to the way forward in an age of opposition. We say, as Joshua said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). We seek to be faithful to God.

However there is, as Christians, a particular task that should engage us that we would not expect a person outside of the church to be engaged in. This also comes out of reading from the Book of Acts.

2 We seek to bring glory to God by proclaiming the gospel.

The thing that set the early disciples apart was their sense of purpose. They were obedient to God for a reason. They believed that God had called them to witness to the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ and to grant an opportunity for others to experience repentance and salvation. When challenged as to why they were doing what they were doing Peter replied “The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had Him killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him at His right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things...”

It may sound like stating the obvious but the purpose of the church is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. To witness to Christ's death, resurrection and ascension and to share with others that through what Jesus has done new life, hope and wholeness can come to people’s lives. This is something we do through our words, through our actions, through our giving, through our worshiping, through our praying, through our singing, through our private lives and through our public lives. We are called to be witnesses to Jesus Christ.

We are only a church in as much as the message of the grace of God, the love of Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the central theme of our existence. Without that we are simply a social club or civic organization. There's nothing wrong with social clubs and civic organizations, but they are not what Jesus came to build. He gave to Peter a commission to build the Church through faith in His name and through the grace He would provide. That's why Peter was in trouble before the Sanhedrin and standing before them saying; “We must obey God, not man.”

Our charter, our commission, our purpose is found only in and through Jesus Christ and the proclaiming of His love to the fallen and broken world in which we live. Lose that and we have lost our purpose. Seek to be obedient to that call and we have a purpose that unites us together with fellow believers of every denomination, geographic locality and ethnic group throughout the world.

But how... in the face of an apathetic world… and through lives that we know are less than they could or should be… and in the midst of the weekly demands of paying the bills and maintaining a building and keeping it all together… how do we recapture that focus and move forward?

3. We seek power to witness through God's Holy Spirit.

Peter and the earliest disciples found the strength to be obedient to God's call through the power of God's Holy Spirit. In the very last part of our reading Peter testifies to the work of “The Holy Spirit that God has given to those who obey Him.” (Acts 5:32).

The Churches work is a Holy Spirit guided and empowered task. Always has been, always will be. Without God's Spirit as our source of power and motivation we are simply not up to the task. All our words and actions and worship and striving are a waste of our effort unless they are indwelt and anointed by God's Spirit.

Only the Holy Spirit can bring people into a relationship with God. Only the Holy Spirit can enliven people’s minds to their need of Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can breathe life into tired structures and despairing hearts.

The next great festival of the Church after Easter is the festival of Pentecost. Until Pentecost happened and the power of the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples gathered together in an upper room they were powerless and fearful, without purpose or plan for the future other than to wait and see what happened. After Pentecost, we see the birth of the Church. We see those same disciples enlivened to serve God in new ways they had never dreamed of.

And it is not because of who they were... they were still the same people who often made mistakes, who knew their own faults as much as they knew others and who didn't always get along... their strength came from the activity of God in their midst. As they opened up to God through prayer, through receiving His Word, through seeking to be obedient to His call amongst all the other calls on their lives, the Holy Spirit came and they were empowered to serve.

Wherever people seek to be obedient to the call to proclaim the gospel, the Holy Spirit still comes. Because such is not a task we can do without God. It is God's work and we are God's people when we allow God to work though us and amongst us, with thanksgiving on our lips and joy in our hearts.

In the midst of a changing and often confusing world God calls us to be obedient. To listen for His call, to proclaim the gospel of His Son and rely on His Holy Spirit. The challenges we face in our time are not the same as those faced by the early church, but they are just as real.

• In the face of an apathetic culture we are called to stay faithful to God.
• In the midst of the many calls on our time and our resources we are called to find our meaning in proclaiming that in Jesus Christ new life and hope have dawned for all people.
• In the light of our own powerlessness and inability we are called to remember that though we are weak, the love of God is strong, and we are to find the power to witness through God's Holy Spirit.

Let us pray for one another that as we share together in the life of this small corner of God's Kingdom we will be obedient to the call of Jesus Christ and be faithful witnesses of His love to all those around us. Amen.

Adrian Pratt

Surprise Surprise (Easter Sunday)

Reading: Luke 24:1-12
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church, Easter Sunday 2010

On this Easter Day I would like to think about Luke's account of the Resurrection.

"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".
(Luke 24: 2-4)

I wonder if any of you enjoy a good mystery story? a "Whodunit?" Or even a game of Cleudo? I have a mystery for you. It happened one Sunday morning.

A man went to bed on Saturday night, set his alarm to go off at the normal time and went to sleep. Sunday morning BRINNNGGGG, off it went as usual and (as usual), he stretched, he yawned, he dressed, had a bowl of cereal, a piece of toast and a glass of Fresh Orange for breakfast, then wandered down to the corner store to get a Sunday Newspaper.

On the way to the store (Which was the other side of the railway tracks) he watched for the 8:55 train to go past. But the crossing barriers were up and no train was in sight. He wandered across to the corner store and found it was closed. He thought about hammering on the door, but hesitated in case the owner had been taken sick or even died! So home he went, with no paper.

He drove down to church for the service at 10:00 and arrived twenty minutes early. He waited and waited and nobody came. He waited till twenty minutes after ten and then got back into his car, turned on the radio and solved the mystery.

(The solution: It was October and time to put the clocks back an hour. He only realized he had neglected to do so, when the radio announcer gave out the time.)

Have you ever been in a situation where things just didn't add up? When it's almost like, everyone else knew a secret, but nobody told you? It was a bit like that for the women on the first Easter morning. They had seen Jesus cruelly murdered and went to His tomb, hoping in some way to persuade the soldiers to move the great big stone that blocked the entrance, so that they could prepare the body with spices, as was the custom in those times.

When they get there - no soldiers - and the stone had moved.

This wasn't the way things were meant to be. Luke tells us "They found the stone rolled away from the entrance." It was a big stone. Bigger and much heavier than, let's say our communion table.

Now imagine if last night we had locked the doors, prepared the church for this morning’s service and then come back this morning and found the table had been moved into the narthex. Where’s the bread and wine? Who would do something like that? What does it mean?

You'd walk in here, look around, walk out again, scratch your head, hum and hurr and be totally puzzled. It's always a mystery when things get moved or go missing. Luke tells us of the women who discovered the stone rolled away, "They went in; but they couldn't find the body of Jesus".

Many moons ago I was playing in a band, and before we could play anywhere we had to set up all our gear. Amplifiers, P.A. system, Drums, all that stuff. It was messy work getting it out of the van. So I used to carry around an old sweater that it didn't matter much if it got messed. This sweater was one of those hand me down things. My sister (Who is 8 years older than me) had it first, then it got passed to my brother, and eventually, years down the line, it came to me.

After one concert we were putting all the equipment away and loading it up, but there was one thing missing. Was it my flashy guitar? The drummers expensive new 'Paiste' Cymbal? A microphone? No....my mangy old sweater! We looked high and low for it and could only reach the conclusion that some one had taken a shine to it and decided to add it to their wardrobe.

You can understand somebody stealing something of value, but it would be strange for some one to steal some thing that would be of little use.

Like a dead body for instance.

The woman on the first Easter Sunday looked around the tomb, but they couldn't find the dead body. You can imagine them, going in, looking around, going out, "Are you sure this is the place?" Luke records, "They stood there puzzled about this".

Puzzled they would be. Matthew tells us that it was because the authorities were worried about something like this happening that the tomb was being guarded by soldiers. And the women knew the disciples hadn't stolen the body, because they were all back home, hiding up together, afraid to go out unless the same fate awaited them as had befallen Jesus.

Remember our little mystery at the beginning? How it was only when the man switched on the radio he found out that time had changed?

At the first Easter, the women found out that the ‘times they were a changing’ when they were confronted by messengers of God who told them Jesus had been raised. "Why are you looking amongst the dead for one who is alive? He is not here. He has been raised! Remember… what He said to you... The Son of Man must be crucified and three days later rise to life"

And the women DID remember! And everything started to make sense again. What a glorious moment in time that was. At the moment in time the message grasped them and for the rest of their lives they would tell all who would listen:

“Christ is Risen; He is Risen indeed!”

Around fourteen years ago, not long before we departed from the shores of Great Britain to move to the United States, Yvonne's family threw a party for Yvonne's now passed into glory mother. They got all the relatives from all over to come to a particular hotel, and Yvonne’s mum knew nothing about it. Well, when she walked into that room, saw a few faces she recognized, then a few more and then everybody, well her face was a picture of joy! Something we’ll always treasure and remember. A truly delightful, joyful, moment.

On British television they used to have a Television show called "Surprise, Surprise". It should of won a prize for some of the worst lyrics of a theme song I've ever come across, having a line that went:-

"Surprise, Surprise,
The unexpected hits you -
between the eyes"

The program was all about reuniting people, making their dreams come true and it was very much one of those programs you needed a box of tissues nearby, because invariably it brought a lump to your throat.. full of moments of… well… surprise.

But nothing can compare with the joy that Easter declares. The joy that greeted the women as the realization of the resurrection gripped their hearts. The realization of all that the resurrection represents;

• That love can conquer hate,
• That life can overcome death,
• That light can triumph over darkness.

When that resurrection realization "Hits us between the eyes"
life is never and can never be the same again!

Of course there will always be those, who like the first disciples at first did, dismiss the whole thing as nonsense. There will be others, who, though amazed, will struggle with their doubts before they let that joy get a grip of them.

For ourselves, let us allow the message of new-life to transform our lives - at this moment in time - in this place. As we gather around a table laid with bread and wine that represent the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ let us recognize that this is a table bathed in resurrection light, that this is a feast to remember… not a dead hero…. but a living savior, not a tragic defeat but a glorious new beginning! Let us pray that resurrection joy will grip our hearts today!

“Christ is Risen - He is risen indeed”

AMEN!

"God’s gifts for God’s people” (Maundy Thursday)

Readings: Exodus 12:1-14, Luke 22: 14-30
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church on April 1st 2010

From the Book of Exodus we heard of the institution of the Passover. You remember the story. The Israelites are led out of Eygpt, but only after a series of plagues have desolated the land. The final of those plagues was the death of the firstborn children as the angel of death passed through the land.

The Israelites are told to mark their door posts with the blood of a lamb, a sign to the angel of death to pass them by. The Eygptians die, but those Israelites who have obeyed Moses instructions live. Hence - the Passover - a celebration of the people’s deliverance.

We come to remember a Passover meal that took place in an upper room shortly before Jesus was murdered. It is at this meal that Jesus made clear to His disciples that His hours of greatest confrontation were about to take place. In the coming hours they would witness betrayal, personal failure, injustice, and the death of one they had come to love.

He was about to become their sacrificial Lamb. Through His blood their salvation would be secured. Through His sacrifice a door was to be opened into the presence of God that none could close. Through His sufferings they would learn that God stood with them in their sufferings. Through His act of abandonment and self-sacrifice they would learn that the way to glory was the way of giving themselves in service to the will of God.

So during the supper He takes bread. 'This Bread' he explains "Is my Body". A body they would witness being tortured, broken and pulled apart. A body they would see hung upon a tree on a desolate hillside amongst thieves. A body that would be held by cruel nails to a cross that he Himself had been too weakened by His tormentors to carry.

Broken. How well this word captures the events that were to follow. Broken promises. Broken hearts. The breakdown of trust. The breakdown of truth, the lies and compromises that took place at the hands of rulers and people alike. The breakdown of confidence and hope and faith that took place in the disciples lives. The vision of the Kingdom. The great triumph of love they thought they would see. When they witnessed the crucifixion they felt within themselves an overwhelming darkness that caused them to deny and abandon all that they once held dear. They knew what being broken was about.

This table is a place both for the broken and to be broken. We are bid to come to this table as we really are. With no pretence or presumption. Without self- pride or justification. Come, not declaring our independence, but seeing our dependence, our need, and our inability. We are bid to come in our brokenness to one who declares, "I am broken for you".

Luke tells us that it was at this supper the disciples fell into an argument as to which of them was the greatest. John tells us that Jesus showed them; by taking a towel, a basin of water and washing their feet. The way of the kingdom is not the way of the world.

At this supper Jesus also pours out the wine saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Tonight we don’t come to celebrate Passover. We come to a Maundy Thursday Communion. This is not the Old Covenant. This is the New Covenant. The Old was a shadow of what was to come. The New is the fulfillment.

In the Old Covenant, the Passover covenant, it took the blood of a lamb to save the people. In the new Covenant, Jesus offers His blood that people may be free. At the start of His ministry Jesus is recognized by John the Baptist with the words, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”.

In the Old Covenant, it was the death of the sons of Egypt that prompted the release of the captives. In the New Covenant it is God’s Son, who offers Himself, that we may be free from sin.

The Old Covenant required innocent victims to be sacrificed, the lambs and the firstborn sons. In the New Covenant Jesus becomes the victim who is both the lamb and the firstborn son.

In the Old Covenant it was the blood that averted the angel of death from touching the firstborn sons of the Israelites. In the New Covenant Christ offers His life, “that whosoever believeth in Him, may not die, but have eternal life.”

Passover commemorates the delivery of a particular national and ethnic group, at a crisis point in their history, at a particular geographic location. Our communion celebration has no boundaries of nationality, history or geography. In a once and for all act, Christ died upon the Cross of Calvary for our salvation.

The Bread represents a broken body. The wine represents a New Covenant. These are God’s gifts for God’s people. Jesus calls us to remember Him in this way.

So we will lift high the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. We will feast upon the Bread of life that our spirits may be refreshed and souls renewed. Tonight the bread and wine point us towards the sacrifice of Good Friday. On Easter Day they point us back to the cross and will remind us that love is stronger than death.

Above all things, these symbols of faith are given that they may bring the presence of Jesus to our lives. They are given that the Holy Spirit may live in our hearts and that we may live in Christ. These gifts are given to nourish us and sustain us on our journey of faith.

It is in faith that we come. Faith enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Faith that what we do tonight has significance far beyond words. Faith that the love of God is greater than our sin and the life of God is more powerful than death.

Taste and see that the Lord is good!

ON THE EASTER ROAD (5) "Lotion Devotion”

Reading: Isaiah 43:1-21, Psalm 126, Phillipians 3:4-14, John 12:1-8
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church on March 21st 2010

How do you define success? Is it what kind of car a man drives, what kind of clothes a woman wears, or what kind of house a family lives in? With God, it’s not what kind of car a man drives; it’s what kind of man drives the car. With God, the issue is what kind of woman wears the dress and what kind of family lives in the house. 1 Samuel 16:7 tells us, people look on the outward appearances, while God looks on the heart.

Our reading from John’s gospel gives us an instance where outward impressions and spiritual integrity are sharply contrasted. On the positive side we have Mary, whose understanding of what Jesus was to face and selfless devotion to Him stand as a testimony to faithfulness. On the negative side stands Judas, who gave the appearance of being a disciple yet many times actively opposed the work of God.

There are two people in Scripture who kissed Jesus. Judas kissed His face and then betrayed Him (Luke 22:48). Mary kissed His feet (Luke 7:38) then served Him. The genuine sacrifice and service of Mary was a stinging rebuke to the selfishness of Judas (John 12:3-6). Immediately after his sanctimonious statement of concern for the poor Judas went out and agreed to betray the Savior for the price of a slave.

A recent book “The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene” (by Doug Batchelor) contrasts the stories of Mary and Judas. This is how he pictures the events: -

“Because all eyes were transfixed on Jesus as He spoke, no one noticed when Mary softly slipped into the room and knelt quietly by the Master’s feet. She had been breathless with fear, but now kneeling at His feet, a familiar peace settled over her. She sensed that she was safe under the everlasting wings of the Almighty. Mary silently prayed that Jesus would approve of her deed of love. What the others thought was of no consequence to her

With loving tenderness, she broke the seal on the alabaster flask and poured some of the contents of precious oil liberally over Jesus’ feet. Jesus did not even flinch. He simply paused in His discourse, smiled to acknowledge to Mary that He was aware of her act of service and sacrifice, and then continued His conversation.

As the fragrant oil ran down Jesus’ feet, a drop spilled onto the tile floor. Realizing that in her haste she had forgotten to bring a cloth or towel to evenly spread the ointment, Mary removed the shawl covering her head and, without a second thought, released her long, luxuriously rich brown hair from the ties that contained it. Then she began wiping His feet, spreading the oil with her hair”

“Judas, pretending to be indignant, protested under his breath-just loud enough for those seated nearby to hear. “What a tragic waste of resources!” he exclaimed. “Why, this oil could have been sold for more than three hundred denari.” Then, as an afterthought to cloak his own greedy designs, Judas added: “Of course, the proceeds could have been donated to the poor!” Some of the other disciples nodded in agreement. What Judas’ peers didn’t know was that his selfish heart had felt keenly rebuked by Mary’s liberal generosity.”

Isaiah 43:18 tells us “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

Plainly, Judas did not perceive it. But Mary did, and how! Most scholars suggest that this is the same Mary that Jesus had delivered from seven demons in Luke 8:2. Before she met Jesus, Mary had a life that was broken, and helpless. Like a senseless monkey caught in a trap, her choices had held her captive. But Jesus had set her free!

John tells us that in the house that day, sitting at the table was Lazarus, the one Jesus had bought back from the dead. Mary had been a witness of that amazing event. She knew the power of Jesus to save her from her own circumstances and knew He was so much more than that.
She knew that God was doing a new thing and that events were taking place around the life of Jesus were authenticating the claims being made about Him, that He was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Indeed the Hebrew word “Mashiyach,” which is translated Messiah, and the Greek word “Christos,” which is translated Christ, mean “The anointed one”.
In ancient times, Israel’s priests and kings were ceremonially anointed with oil as a sign of official appointment to office and as a symbol of God’s Spirit and power upon them. Moses anointed Aaron with oil to consecrate him as Israel’s first high priest (Leviticus 8:12-13), and the prophet Elisha commanded his servant to anoint Captain Jehu with oil to seal him as king (2 Kings 9:3).

When Mary took a pound of costly perfume, made of pure nard, and daubed the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair it was an act of tremendous significance. We read that, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

It was an act that could be not ignored by any of those present. In Marks account of the events Jesus explains, “She has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her." (Mark 14:8-9).

As he headed towards Jerusalem, the betrayal and the cross, Jesus was being ceremonially anointed as King, Priest, and Sacrifice!

There are numerous lessons from Mary’s life we could draw from this story. In order that we see the challenge, allow me to present some of the issues by way of a couple of questions.

Is our devotion to Jesus Christ cheap or expensive?

There have always been those within the Christian Church who want it all for as little as possible. There have always been those who consider that they are adequately expressing their faith to God by giving to God their leftovers rather than their first fruits. For them Church = Charity = Cheap.

Such are worthy spiritual descendants of Judas who considered Mary’s worshipful, lotion devotion an unnecessary infringement upon their personal finances. In a way such are even worse, because they do not consider the money they withhold from God should be given to the poor, they spend it on themselves.

In Britain, when somebody went on an extravagant spending spree, we used to call it ‘Splashing out’. People would splash out on an extravagant gift for their partner, or some surprise for somebody that meant a lot to them. They would spend more than was logical or reasonable, because their motivation was one of love. Have you ever done that for somebody? You have?

Ever done it for God? Is your relationship with God of such a nature that you are prepared to extravagantly throw your whole self into it, no matter how much it costs? That’s how it was for Mary. She splashed out that rich ointment all over Jesus feet, rubbed her hair in it, “Hang the expense, I love this guy!”

We can sing all these hymns about our devotion and thankfulness to God for His amazing Grace, our gratefulness to Jesus for dieing on the cross for us, but it’s all just cheap little empty words about our commitment to God until it costs us something. So I ask again, “Is our devotion to Jesus Christ cheap or expensive?”

This leads me to a second question.

Have our lives really been touched by the Grace of God?

Mary’s extravagance stemmed from her experience. Her experience of God’s deliverance was a rich one, and she expressed it through a rich act of devotion. She knew she had been saved. She could look back and say, “You know people, if Jesus hadn’t broken into my life, I would still be in a living hell”. She knew the destructive power of evil upon her own life, first hand. She’d been abused, demonized, treated as a nothing… and then Jesus had come along and she was free.

She was so free that she didn’t care what anybody thought of her lotion devotion. She knew this was something she was doing for God, and if you didn’t like it, that was your problem.

Traditionally Presbyterians shrink back from emotive displays of faith. We don’t do altar calls. We don’t go in for tearful testimonies and tambourines. We put a lot of stress on decency and order. We are people of the mind… maybe more than we are people of the heart.

We believe, and I think rightly so, that God is to be worshipped with brainpower and conscience and understanding and through practical service, not in blind faith and ignorance. As we observe some of the abuses and emotional manipulation by which some are coerced into religious dependence within other branches of the church, we believe we have rational reasons for our religious reticence.

But heaven help us if those reasons are simply a cloak for a lack of a genuine experience of the Grace of God. Heaven help us if there is never a tingle or bubble of excitement in us as we consider the work of salvation that Jesus died for us to receive upon the Cross of Calvary. Heaven help us if the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a power that is outside of our lives and has nothing to do with the decisions we make in our daily lives.

It need not be so. As we approach Easter we are reminded that we have the greatest message in the world, and the greatest Savior in the Universe. The love of Jesus Christ has not lost one drop of it’s power to renew and recreate, to take what is empty and make it full, to take what is broken and make it whole, to take what is ugly and make it beautiful, to take death and turn it to life.

Mary knew that. Her life was truly touched by the Grace of God. She could give so much, because she knew she was loved so much. Such knowledge, such experience is not for Mary alone, but can become ours as we consider the witness of the cross, as we throw our lives upon the mercy of our Savior, as we seek for our lives to be renewed and energized through the work of the Holy Spirit.

If we realize just how much God has done and is prepared to do for us, then we will see that even the most extravagant act we could dream up, would just be a pale shadow in comparison to the blessings we have received.

Have our lives really been touched by the Grace of God?
Is our devotion to Jesus Christ cheap or expensive?

Such are just two of the challenges that Mary’s act of lotion devotion places before us.
May the Spirit of God act within our lives as we consider such things.

Adrian Pratt

ON THE EASTER ROAD (3) "Beware of the Trees!”

Reading: Isaiah 55:1-19, Psalm 63:1-8, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church on March 7th 2010

One bright and breezy morning when I still lived in West Virginia I took the dogs for a walk. But as I walked the clouds began to gather and the wind grew stronger. Hmm. Better move along a bit faster. There was a clap of thunder and a few raindrops. I hurried through the trees down the path back to the house. The wind was increasing in strength and the trees were waving wildly.

Suddenly, an enormous crack and an old tree broke in two and the vast part of it landed right on the path in front of me. If I had been a few more steps forward it would have landed on top of me. Had it done so it would have caused some major damage and I probably wouldn’t be here to tell the tale. It certainly shook me up.

It’s strange what goes through your mind when these things happen to you. I almost shouted, “Ha,Ha, you missed me!” but then figured that the wind that continued to blow through the trees might decide to take another shot.

As I later reflected on the experience, I mused that if the tree had fallen on me, would people think it was a judgment from God for some sin committed, past, present or future? Or will people presume I got away without the tree hitting me because I was living a pastor’s life? Or was this some kind of warning that if I didn’t look out, then I would be in serious trouble?

Or was it simply that one of the trees in the woods had grown old and brittle and just happened to fall as I was walking by, and the fact that it either hit me or missed me was completely void of any significance whatsoever. It just happened.

It raises the question that philosophers and theologians have wrestled with for years. Do things on earth happen because of the will and ordering of God or is the whole of life just a messy jumble of chaotic unrelated happenings?

We like the idea of order. We like to think that we are masters of our own destiny. That if a + b = c then a + b will always = c. We are comfortable with the idea that good things happen to good people and that bad things happen to bad people. We like to think of life as a journey with some point and meaning to it, and like to believe that God has a plan for us.

But if that plan includes trees falling on us, then we’re no longer so convinced of our logic. We don’t like things we can’t explain. We know that people others consider bad often get good things in life and some tremendously good and noble people go through the worst of situations. This is exactly the dilemma that our gospel reading places before us.

The disciples are confronted with two tragic situations. One is an incident in which Pilate slaughtered a group of Galileans with the result that their blood was mingled with that of their sacrifices. The other incident is the collapse of a tower in Siloam that had fallen and killed eighteen people. The first was an atrocity, an act of political violence. The second appeared to have been the whim of fate.

Whilst nobody in the account gives voice to the idea that any of the victims were being punished for their sinful lives, Jesus senses that, somewhere in the back of people’s minds, they harbored the notion that people only got what was coming to them. That if they had been truly good, or had been more careful, then such tragedies could have been avoided.

The logic behind this idea is fairly straightforward.. If God has a will, and that will is for the good of all people, then if bad things happen to them, they must have messed up somewhere along the line. (Or if it wasn’t they who messed up, then maybe it was somebody else in their family who had, and they were just caught in the crossfire).

Jesus tells them they are seriously missing the point. None of those who died were worse sinners than any of those who were standing there listening to his words right then. Their lives were not cut short as a punishment from God. God was not in the business of randomly picking off victims to satisfy his wrath.

Jesus refuses to be drawn into the question that we all ask when tragedy comes. The tragedy that such events as the earthquake in Haiti raises for us. The question “Why?” He did at other times warn about the dangers of reaping a bad harvest in our lives if the only seeds we sow into it are those of sin. Yet about these acts, which seem to belong in the realm of chaos rather than order, He chooses not to speak.

Instead He warns. ‘That wall that fell on those people? Do you realize something similar could happen to any one of you? Those people Pilate murdered, that could have been you who had become tangled up in events that led to your demise. Life is uncertain. Death? Now death is a 100% certainty. That’s where you are headed. And after death comes the judgment.’ Then He stings them with this thought. “I tell you; unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did” (Luke 13:3).

He uses the calamities to serve as a warning. Life is very fragile. Try as we might, none of us can protect ourselves or those we love from every danger: disease, traffic accidents, crime, emotional disorders, and random violence. Such things are just as much a part of our landscape today as they were in the times of Jesus. Any one of us may find ourselves standing before our Maker without a moments notice.

The second part of the lesson, the parable of the fig tree, speaks of the grace of God. Yes, life is tremendously uncertain, (that’s the bad news), but the good news is that God is always giving us chances to start over again, even when our lives appear to be heading down the wrong track.

In the agricultural society Jesus lived in, land was precious. An unfruitful tree could not be allowed to take up space that could be occupied by a fruitful one. So, in the story, the man tells his gardener to cut it down. ‘Not yet’ says the gardener, “Let me nurture this one for another year, and we’ll see what it produces. If it’s still nothing, then we’ll cut it down.”

Putting the two parts of our lesson together, both the warning of judgment that came from reflecting upon tragedy, and the promise of Grace that appears in the parable of the fig tree, the message appears along these lines: -

That life is a precious gift that comes without a guarantee. Bad things happen at random. You just never know when an old tree may be plotting to squish you. But don’t despair. Make the most of every day by living with your heart turned towards God.

In the words of a quotation I recently came across, ‘Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody’s watching.’ Or to quote Carl Sandburg, “Time is the coin of our lives. We must take care how we spend it”.

We spend time now around a table where themes of judgment and grace draw together in the shape of a cross. We see how the One who calls us to repent, took upon Him the judgment we deserve for our fruitless lives. We see how the love of Jesus offers to us another chance, another day, and another year to live in the light of God’s grace.

Through sharing in bread and wine we empower ourselves to face the days ahead, whatever they may hold. We are empowered, not simply with renewed hope, but by the inner presence of the Holy Spirit, who reaches down into our hearts and desires to reach out through our lives to touch others.

I invite you to share this bread and wine,
and as you thank God for the Gift of Life,
pray that we may live our lives in a way,
that brings honor to God’s name.


Adrian Pratt

ON THE EASTER ROAD (2) "FOXES, HENS AND CHICKENS"

Readings: Genesis 15:1-18, Psalm 27, Phillipians 3:17-4:1, Luke 13:31-35
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church on February 28th 2010

On the Easter road this morning, our bible reading makes reference to two animals that are well known throughout the world. The fox and the hen. Jesus describes Herod as a fox . He then goes on to picture God's love as being like that of a Mother hen that wants to gather her brood under her wings.

Then he brings us into the picture. And it's not a flattering image. We, like the people of Jerusalem, are the stupid chickens, who break the mothers heart, because rather than shelter under her wings, we run off and play with the fox! "Jerusalem, Jerusalem" speaks Jesus in great anguish, "How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under wings, and you would not have it!".

The Fox, The Hen and the Chickens.

THE FOX

One of my favorite cartoons doesn't have a fox, a hen or a chicken in it, but rather a coyote and a roadrunner. "Mi-Mi Vrooom" the road runner speeds by, whilst the Coyote unpacks yet another device from "Acme" to try and get that bird for his dinner. No matter what he does, the roadrunner escapes, and the coyote ends up going over the side of the canyon and into the dust.

In our scripture Jesus is the one forging ahead that can not be stopped. He will preach. He will cast out demons. He will heal. And He will see his mission through to its conclusion. He proclaims "I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day" (Luke 13:33). And nobody can stop Him. So a message is sent to Herod, the fox (or Coyote if you prefer), that is along the lines of "Tell him (and all who think like him) that all their devices and plans can not hold back the work of the Kingdom".

Every person that has ever truly sought to follow Jesus soon discovers a simple truth. There are a lot of foxes out there. There are a whole host of things that will try and prevent us from walking the Easter Road. There are many things trying to crowd in on our lives and cause us to falter in our commitment, put a drain on our faith and which clamor for our time. And no matter how hard we may say "Mi-Mi" or "Vroom" we are not the roadrunner and often times get bogged down on the journey.

The bible consistently depicts evil as something dangerous and predatory. Nothing to flirt with, but a vicious animal. In Genesis 3:1, Satan is pictured as a serpent, a snake. In Genesis 4:7, evil is said to be crouching at the door, waiting to pounce. 1 Peter 5:8, tell us that the devil prowls around, like a lion, looking for those he can devour. Matthew's and John's gospels talk about the wolf that comes to snatch away God's sheep. (Matthew 7:15, John 10:12). In Revelation, evil is described as a plague of locusts or scorpions and the Devil as being like a "Great Red Dragon with seven heads and ten horns" seeking to devour God's children. (Revelation 9:1-11 &12:3). Herod is pictured as a sly, cunning and destructive fox.

So take care as you walk down the Easter Road. It's a jungle out there. But don't be afraid. The purposes of Jesus can not be stopped. The 'Herods', the foxes and the coyotes destiny is down in the canyon, biting the dust. Those things God is seeking to bring about in your life will come to pass, so long as you keep your eyes fixed on Him. When temptation comes, saddle up the Roadrunner and get out of there! When discouragement or disaster strikes, focus your anger on the problem, not on God who can get you through the situation. Set your heart on following Jesus. Take care, there are foxes out there.

THE HEN

Of the many images the Bible gives us of God, here is one of the tenderest. Jesus speaks of the compassion of God in this way. "How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings" (Luke 13:34). When wanting to speak of the ability of God to nurture and protect, Jesus uses an image of motherhood.

I saw someone wearing an apron in a church kitchen, that had the message, "Hug a Presbyterian today" written on it. This "mother hen" image pictures God as the one who wants to throw loving arms around us and give us a big hug. A God who knows of the dangers out on the road and wants us to travel through life under wings of protection and compassion. A God who seeks our growth in the things of the Kingdom.

One of the characteristics of the mother hen is that when her chicks are threatened by a fox, she will protect them, even if it means giving up her own life to do so. Jesus was going to Jerusalem with a purpose in mind. To finish the work that was His destiny. To die on the cross of Calvary.

"I must journey on" He declares. Back when He was a child and went missing on the families journey to Jerusalem, he told His parents, "Did you not know that I must be in my Fathers house." (Luke 2:49). Near the commencement of his ministry He said, "I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God... for I was sent for this purpose (Luke 4:43). He taught His disciples, on a number of occasions, "The son of man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." (Luke 9:22, 17:25, 24:7,26).

Jesus must complete His work. Otherwise the New Covenant would never happen. A new relationship with God would not be possible. People would be stuck for ever with the idea that God is one to be appeased with blood and sacrifices, rather than a God of motherly compassion who wants to get the Kingdom children together and give them a big hug!

The desire of God for God’s children is like that of a mother hen towards her chicks. But that's not the whole picture this passage gives us. There are also;

The Chickens.

Maybe you've seen the "Back to the Future" movies with Michael. J. Fox. The one thing that gets him mad in those films is if his opponent calls him "Chicken". Our passage this morning calls us "Chicken". Not in the sense of being cowardly, but in the sense of being stupid. We're the sort of chickens who, when they see the fox coming, instead of running to mother hen, we go running to the fox! Mother hen is there waiting to shield us and protect us and comfort us, but we go off in a different and dangerous direction.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, I would gather you together... but you will not have it"

Jerusalem was a lot more than a geographical location. It was the heart and soul of God's people. So often in the past God's people had rejected those God sent to bring His love. It would be no different when Jesus walked through the gates.

God's messenger has come and showed us life in His teachings, in His death the way to peace and to salvation, but the message is still being rejected. And the results are still the same - our house is left empty, we feel we are on our own to face life’s choices, we face life’s problems alone and bear the consequence of rejection.

As people of God, we are all 'Jerusalem'. We are all those whom God wants to offer a big hug, but we push loving arms aside and go off on our own. William Barclay writes; 'Nothing hurts so much as to go to someone and offer love and have that love spurned. It is life’s bitterest tragedy, to give ones heart to someone only to have it broken. That is what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem.; and still he comes to (people), and still (people) reject him. But the fact remains that to reject God's love is in the end to be in peril of his wrath." To reject God's love is to be a stupid chicken running for the fox!

When life hits hard, there is something in us that runs from God rather than to Him. It is partly due to us blaming God for the things that happen to us. "Why did you let this happen to me?"; "Why didn't you stop this coming my way?" Christianity isn't about avoidance. It's about taking all the garbage life throws at us and creating something beautiful out of it. It's to do with finding the strength to go on. No-one had to deal with more undeserved suffering than Jesus. And no-one, except God, knows how to take death and turn into resurrection, to take defeat and make it into a victory.

The fox and the hen. Two very different images. If you are a chicken it's a bad thing to get those pictures confused in your mind. May God grant us the gift of discernment, so that we can know what are the wrong choices and know which are the right paths to follow. When we're hurting, may we have the sense, not to go chasing after solutions that will ultimately cause us more harm than good, but to become, like Jesus suggested, a little child, climb up onto the Saviors knee, let Him give us a big mother hen hug, and then get on with our lives.

Let us move down the Easter Road, maybe not quite as speedy as the Roadrunner, but with confidence, that as we seek to live as children of His Kingdom, He will, through the empowering of His Holy Spirit, grant us the strength to see the journey through to its joyful destination.


Rev Adrian J Pratt

ON THE EASTER ROAD (1) TEMPTATION

Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-16, Romans 10: 8-1, 3Luke 4:1-13
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church on February 21st 2010

This being the first Sunday in Lent we are once more on the Easter Road. Along the Easter Road we will encounter many different experiences and learn many different lessons. That road leads us today into the realms of temptation.

We all know about temptation. We pray every time we say the Lord's prayer that we shall not be led into it. But our Easter road, just like our lives, leads us there time and time again.

Now there's nothing intrinsically wrong with temptation. It's how we handle it that makes the difference. We are given in Luke's gospel a picture of how Jesus dealt with the three challenges that the Devil threw in His path. Let's follow Jesus into the desert and think about how we face our challenges.

BREAD INTO STONE.

Jesus was in a desert feeling very hungry. I sense that the way both European and American cultures are right now, people are in a kind of spiritual desert, and many are hungry for some kind of spiritual nourishment. In such a situation, the thought of some kind of "Instant Supernatural Fix" can be most tempting.

The temptation the Devil throws at Jesus is along the lines of. "C'mon Holy One. You've got the power. Turn the stone into bread and be fed. An instant Supernatural Fix is the answer to your cravings". In reply Jesus answers that it is not for any man to be nourished only on bread. When Scripture elsewhere expands that verse, it tells us that we need also the Word of God.

The Word of God is not a narrow concept meaning only the written words of a few sacred books. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. Creation is one of God's Words to us. The love that flourishes within relationships can be another. And like any relationship our spiritual relationship with God can not be obtained in an instant. The blessings of God are not just something we can switch on or off. Discipleship is a life long commitment.

Being baptized, whether as an infant or an adult, does not mean we are today following the path of discipleship. Being confirmed doesn't make us a disciple. Joining a church some years ago doesn't mean we are being faithful today. Having a memory of a day when we went forward at a Revival meeting, asked Jesus into our heart, and resolved to follow Him, doesn't mean we are seeking to follow Him now. We are called to have an ongoing every day walk with Jesus Christ. There are no one time, instant supernatural fixes.

To be truly Christian, to be one of the disciples of Jesus Christ today, depends on where we are in our walk with God in the present tense. If we are living on the bread of past experiences, (however meaningful they may be), we are not living by the Word of God.

There was one disciple amongst the twelve who believed in quick fixes. He heard the call and followed. Like the others he had a marvelous testimony. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon his life as He worked alongside the other disciples in mission. He was admired and respected by his colleagues. They trusted him enough to take care of their money. His name? Judas Iscariot.

Somewhere along the Easter Road, Judas got the idea that turning stones into bread would be a good thing. He decided that he didn't need the Word of God, but a little bread could be useful. Jesus was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver.

Don't rush spiritual things. That seems to be one of the problems Judas had with Jesus. Things weren't moving along as quickly as he had hoped for. So he took matters into his own hands and paid a terrible personal price for doing so. Avoid the temptation to seek for quick supernatural fixes. Love God and love your neighbor. Just doing those two things will take the rest of your life.

IT'S ALL YOURS.

The Devil next offered Jesus power and dominion over all the Kingdoms of the world, if only Jesus would bow down and pay homage to him. Jesus again counteracts the Devil's lies with a Scriptural quotation. "You shall do homage to the Lord your God; Him alone shall you adore." For me this temptation talks of the danger of compromising upon what we believe in order to get what we want.

We are all people with needs and desires. There are things that we want and things we know probably wouldn't do us much good if we had them. It is as though we have an angel on one shoulder directing us the right path to follow and a little devil on the other telling us to take the opposite road.

Every one of us at every stage of life, in so many areas of life, are faced with the temptation to get what we want by compromising on what we believe. It's about the things we do and say. It is so easy to come out with negative things about people rather than offer words that might encourage or help them. It's about how we spend our time and spend our money. It's about every day decisions and the grounds we make those decisions upon.

Every time we compromise we are playing into the Devil's hands. We are saying, "Sure I'll do things your way if it gets me what I want right now." It is not enough to "Always let our conscience be our guide". Sometimes what feels so right can be so dreadfully wrong.

"So look here, Jesus" says the Devil, "All the kingdoms, all yours. All you've got to do is bend the knee… just this once and give me a bit of respect". "No Way" is the reply of Jesus. "Worship God and God alone. Pursue the things of God’s Kingdom. Don't set your heart on the things this world can offer. There are higher things and higher principles to chase after"

Let's see if God's really all God's made out to be.

Jesus is taken to a high tower. He has Scripture quoted at Him and then is challenged; "Why don't you throw yourself off and let's see if the angels really will come and rescue you like God promised. You know He can do it. Prove it to yourself". In reply Jesus says "Don't put the Lord your God to the test".

Why do we presume so much on the love of God? I think it is partly because we lose sight of the fact that our sins not only harm others but destroy ourselves. We are not immortal. We are not superhuman.

There is a saying that goes, "It's all right what you do in life as long as you don't hurt anybody else". That's not true. In Gods eyes it is not all right to do things that hurt yourself or that divorce your life from the influence of Christ’s love. We are all special to Him. It's presumptuous to think otherwise. It makes a nonsense of His love if we saddle ourselves with the thought that somehow our lives don't matter or that our sins don't count in the eternal order of things.

Habits and self destructive behavior become so ingrained in us that we don't even recognize them as sin. That's a dangerous way to be. The tragic thing about the disciple, Judas Iscariot, was that he failed to see the consequences of his betrayal. He ended his life a destroyed and broken man. He lost sight of the love of God

Presumption is dangerous. We are not to put God to the test. If we stubbornly pursue a course of life that God's Word tells us is not right then it will lead to trouble. It may even lead us to the point that we have so deceived ourselves that we see ourselves as beyond God's reach. It is not that God can't help us. It is not that His power is unable to change us. It's just that sin is capable of blinding us to that possibility. No wonder Jesus tells us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation".

Conclusions

Discipleship, walking the Easter Road, is a life long adventure. The tempter tells us otherwise. "Turn the Bread into Stones" he says, "Find something that can offer you an instant supernatural fix. That's all you need to get by." Don't listen. There are no quick fix options to being a Christian. It's an every day walk with Jesus that matters.

To be a disciple we face daily choices. One voice whispers "Do it this way" another tells us, "No, do it that way". Don't compromise on what you believe to get what you want. Let God's Word and the inner voice of the Holy Spirit be your guide.

To be a disciple we must not be presumptuous of God's Grace. The temptation is to see how far we can go with doing as we please and still stay within the love of God. Be careful. You can push to far. If you persistently refuse to learn, refuse to see, refuse to hear, then you create a person who has not learnt, nor can see, nor can hear anymore the loving call of Jesus saying, "Come to me, be forgiven, be made new".

Temptation. It touches us all. It's not something we should go out looking for. By the Grace of God may we make the right choices. May we know His Word well enough to counter the Devils lies. May God, by God’s Grace, lead us through the desert of our own temptations and towards the celebration, of His Risen life.