Measuring God's Love

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.



How do we measure God’s love?


Well, how do we measure other things?


We could try a measuring cup. What is the volume of God’s love? Believe it or not, there is a psalm which talks about that very thing. It’s a psalm that I’m sure you’ve all heard before and might even be able to recite.

Listen and see if you can catch where it talks about the volume of God’s love. You might recognize psalm 23.

Psalm 23 NRSVNRSV
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

Did you catch it?

My cup overflows!

No matter how large a cup we use to try and measure God’s love, it will run over.


So let’s try something else. Maybe we can use a measuring tape? What do you think? Can we measure how long or how wide or how high God’s love is?

Oddly enough, there’s a psalm about this too. This one is psalm 108.

Psalm 108
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. Give victory with your right hand, and answer me, so that those whom you love may be rescued. God has promised in his sanctuary: "With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter. Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph." Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies. O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless. With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.


Did you get it this time? “For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” We would need quite the tape measure to reach that high, and even then, we wouldn’t have one long enough to measure God’s love.


One more try. Maybe we can measure God’s love using time. We can measure time using a watch or a stopwatch. We can measure how long it takes to drive from here to Sydney. We can measure how long we sit at the table for supper. Someone might even be timing how long I stand up here preaching. So can we use a watch to measure God’s love?

Do you think we have a psalm for this? -- We do! It’s psalm 103. I’m not going to read the whole thing because it is fairly long; just the verse about measuring God’s love.

Psalm 103:17
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children.

You got that one? Good. It’s pretty hard to measure even one everlasting on a watch, let alone two.


So if we can’t measure God’s love in a measuring cup, or with a measuring tape, or even with a watch, how can we measure it?

John 3:16 NRSV
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Is that a love you can measure?

I don’t think so. But we can experience it. We can feel that love every day. And when we feel God’s love for us, we can share it with others and it will never run out. We will be so full of love that it overflows from us. It reaches far beyond us. It has always been with us and will always be with us.


I’m going to leave you with one more verse about God’s love. This one is from Ephesians.


Ephesians 3:18-19 NRSV

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Amen.

Is God in the earthquake?

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tornados, draughts – all of these are called acts of God.

What does this mean?  How are they acts of God?

Where is God in any of these?

1 Kings 19:9-13  (NRSV)

At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away."  He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;  and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Is the earthquake the act of God?

We are tempted to look at it this way.  Just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, in times of trouble we enter our own wilderness.  We are tempted to look for a reason that God is punishing us or why God is punishing them.  We are tempted to blame and judge, even if it means judging ourselves.

Where is God in the earthquake?   Where is God in the tsunami?

Elijah went into a cave and God asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

If Elijah had done what God told him to, he might have seen God.  God is not in the earthquake.  God is in the people who help others after the earthquake.  God is in the survivors, gathering together and working together to find others.  God is with those who are in pain, with those who mourn.  They are never alone.

Where is God in the earthquake?

God is in us as we respond to help.  God is in us as we send financial support through our church and in other ways.  God is in us as we support our government’s efforts to help.  God is in us as we pray for those directly affected.

Let us pray,

O loving Creator, bring healing and hope to those who, at this time, grieve, suffer pain, or who have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

We remember those who have died and we pray for those who mourn for them.

We pray for those who have been affected as the tsunami spread across the Pacific.

May we all be aware of Your compassion, O God, which calms our troubled hearts and shelters our anxious souls.

May we pray with humility with our troubled and struggling brothers and sisters on earth.

May we dare to hope that through the generosity of the privileged, the destitute might glimpse hope, warmth and life again.

Through our Saviour Christ who lives with us, comforts us and soothes us.

Amen.

Who is Jesus anyway? Or is that the right question.

I speak to you in the name of the one true and living God. Amen.


Have any of you ever heard of the “Jesus Seminar”?


Well, the Jesus Seminar is a group of Biblical scholars who try to identify the historical Jesus. That is, they read through as many sources of the Bible as they can, and try to figure out what was actually said by Jesus, what was said about Jesus, what was said about what Jesus said, and what has nothing to do with Jesus at all. They search for who Jesus was.


When I first looked at our gospel reading today, it reminded me of the Jesus Seminar.

Who was Jesus?

Was he like Moses? Did he bring us the new law?

No, the only law Jesus brought us was the great commandment, and that wasn’t new. Jesus just talked about how the great commandment sums up the rest of the law. If we follow the great commandment, we are living the Truth which lies behind all of the Torah – God’s Law.


Well, if he was not like Moses, then was he like Elijah? Was he the new prophet?

No, Jesus did not tell people what was in their future. He did tell people what was in his own future, but this is not how the prophets operated. Jesus did point out what was wrong in his society, like the prophets, but he did not pronounce impending doom for God’s people. Instead he said that he was there to save God’s people. If he had been a prophet, he might have told them how they could save themselves.

Not Jesus.


Okay, if Jesus was not the bringer of the new Law and Jesus was not the new Prophet, who was Jesus?

Well, here is a summary (from Wikipedia) of what the Jesus Seminar says about Jesus.

The seminar's reconstruction of the historical Jesus portrays him as an itinerant Hellenistic Jewish sage and faith healer who preached a gospel of liberation from injustice in startling parables and aphorisms. An iconoclast, Jesus broke with established Jewish theological dogmas and social conventions both in his teachings and behaviours, often by turning common-sense ideas upside down, confounding the expectations of his audience: He preached of "Heaven's imperial rule" (traditionally translated as "Kingdom of God") as being already present but unseen; he depicts God as a loving father; he fraternizes with outsiders and criticizes insiders. A mortal man born of two human parents, Jesus did not perform nature miracles, die as a substitute for sinners nor rise bodily from the dead. Sightings of a risen Jesus were nothing more than the visionary experiences of some of his disciples rather than physical encounters. (Wikipedia, 5/3/11)

Did you get all of that?

Jesus was a Jew influenced by the Greeks. Jesus was a teacher and a faith healer. Jesus did not agree with the common Jewish teachings of his time. Jesus was a human being. He was the son of God in the same way that each of us is a child of God. Jesus did not perform miracles. Jesus did not rise from the dead.

Hmmm – that’s very interesting, but it leaves my heart cold. I do not hear God speaking to me through this image of Jesus. I respect both the intelligence and the work of those involved in the Jesus Seminar, but I believe they are asking the wrong question entirely.

They are trying to figure out who Jesus really was. I think there is a much more important question to ask.


Who is Jesus?


Two thousand years ago there was a man who preached a gospel of social justice. He was willing to die for that message. He died for us!


Jesus is very much alive in my life. I feel his presence in my everyday life. I look for his guidance when I’m unsure of what to do. When I do not follow his guidance, I end up sad and unfulfilled.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, is only three days away. As we journey through Lent, I ask you to join me as I try to answer this question for myself.


Who is Jesus to me?


Jesus is very much alive.

Thanks be to God.

The Ever Shrinking List of Laws, or We're Growing Up

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


Last week I was all set to talk about what it means for us to be the salt of the earth. If any of you want to read it, it is online and I have printed several copies of it that you can take home. For a while I thought about giving that sermon today, but it just doesn’t fit with the readings.

Most Sundays our readings have a central theme, but it’s not very often that that theme is so obvious.

“If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.”

“Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.”

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’”


Have you figured out the theme yet? – Following God’s rules.

Can anyone tell me how many rules there are?
- Ten Commandments
- The Great Commandment (Summary of the Law)
- 613 Laws (Mosaic Law)

Our Old Testament readings from Sirach and the Psalms tell us that it is possible to follow the rules. They also tell us that God knows when we keep them and when we break them. This reminds me of Santa. (sing) He knows when you’ve been sinning. He knows when you’re at peace. He knows if you’ve been bad or good. (stop singing) Well, you know the rest. According to these readings, god is happy with those who keep his laws.


In our Gospel, Jesus tells us how we should interpret the laws. Following the letter of the law is not enough. We need to look at what the law was intended to do, and then we need to follow it not just by our actions, but in our hearts.


Then our Gospel gets scary. “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.”


Is Jesus telling us that we should blind ourselves to avoid sins such as lust and greed? Is Jesus telling us that we should maim ourselves to avoid stealing? Or muting ourselves so that we cannot lie?


No!


Jesus is telling us that he knows we are human. Jesus is telling us that he knows we will be tempted to sin and that sometimes we won’t be able to resist. Our reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians talks about this too. “And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh.”


We are human beings. We are not perfect. We will be tempted. We will fall short of the Law.


So what are we supposed to do?

Step 1. “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.”

There are things in our lives that we know tempt us into sin. Our first step is to remove the temptation. For example, I know that in our house there are times when every one of us wants to choose what program is on TV. The temptation is to fight over it. How could we remove this temptation?

- Get rid of the TV.
- Take turns choosing.
- Make a schedule.

I’m sure you can think of your own temptations. I’m also sure you can come up with some ways to remove or at least reduce those temptations.

Our reading from First Corinthians leads us to step two. “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.” Have you noticed that as we move through the timeline of the bible the lists of rules get shorter?

- 613 Mosaic Laws
- 10 Commandments
- 1 Great Commandment

Does this remind you of growing up? When I was young, someone else made all of the decisions, at least the important ones. My parents told me what I would be doing and when I would be doing it.

As I grew older, I was given a list of things I could do and things I couldn’t do. These rules were more like guidelines that helped me make sure I did what needed to be done and avoid things I shouldn’t do. (Not that I always followed the rules.)

Finally, I moved out and was expected to be able to make my own decisions.


Well, that’s where we are now. That’s what the Great Commandment is about. It’s not about getting rid of the old laws. It is about being trusted to know in our hearts what is right and what is wrong. We’ve grown up. Every one of us knows what is right and what is wrong, but we are still human. We will be tempted. This is okay. This is how God made us. What is not okay is to keep going back to our temptations. Jesus is telling us that we need to learn from our mistakes and to stop repeating them over and over.


All of our readings tell us that with God’s help, we can get better at it. We can avoid sin. When we work at it and trust in God, God is well pleased.


Thanks be to God.

You are the Salt of the Earth

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


You are the salt of the earth!!!!


Jesus speaks to us just as clearly now as he did 2000 years ago. You, Christian, are the salt of the earth.

What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

Well, salt serves several purposes. What happens when we add salt to food? It tastes better. It brings flavours to life. What happens when we add too much salt? It becomes bitter. It loses all flavours except saltiness.

Salt – essential for all animal life. Too much salt – deadly. Dries out the body.


So if we think of ourselves, and all Christians, as salt, what does that say about us?

We have an essential role in the world.
We bring out the natural flavours in the world. We help the world to understand love.
If we lose track of our purpose we can do terrible things. Just think of what “Christian” explorers did throughout the world. The horrible things done in Christ’s name did not stop there. They still happen.

Too much saltiness is not only deadly to others, it loses its appeal. It no longer draws us to eat. This has happened to our church as well. Our gospel tells us that when salt loses its taste it is good for nothing and must be thrown out. Well, we’ve been there. But we didn’t throw anyone out, they just left.


How do we become salty again?

Our gospel talks about that too.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and in gives light to all the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”


This year I believe we have made good progress. We have done a good job of becoming “more salty.” We have shown our light to others. We need to keep doing it.

We also have to be careful. It is easy to look at our lives, at our church, and see only what hasn’t worked. When we focus on our failures, our light gets dim. When we use our failures as an excuse to not try something else, our light goes out. It is overwhelmed by the darkness.


So as we move into our annual meetings, starting today, let’s look at where we have succeeded. Let’s build on our successes. We can let our light shine. Our church can become a beacon. Not because this building will be seen in our community. This building is not the church. You are.

And you are the salt of the earth!

John the Baptist - the First Example of our Christian Calling

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


”After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”


Whew!!! What a mouthful.


John the Baptist tells us that he is not the Messiah. He is not Elijah. He is not the prophet (or Moses).

So who is he?

John the Baptist also tells us that he is the one who has come to prepare the way.


“After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”

I think this confusing sentence is the key to what John means.


“After me comes a man.” Jesus was born about one month after John. Jesus is also the “Son of Man” which in Hebrew is Adam or in capital letters MAN.

“Who ranks ahead of me.” John is telling us that Jesus will be a much more important spiritual leader than John, himself, is.

“Because he was before me.” Jesus is the Word made flesh. The first words in the Gospel of John, the Gospel from which this story comes, are “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Jesus, although he was born after John the Baptist, existed long before John was born.


That’s a lot to pack into one sentence. That’s what it meant to John the Baptist … but what does it mean for us?


There is a central part of our Christian faith which we call our statement of faith. In its shortest form it is three very short sentences. You are welcome to join me in saying it.

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.


Our statement of faith says tells us that we are just like John the Baptist.

Christ has died. … “He was before me.”
Christ is risen. … “He ranks ahead of me.”
Christ will come again. … “After me comes a man.”


So if we are the same as John the Baptist in this way, maybe we are like him in other ways.


John was called to prepare the way of the Lord.

So are we. We are called to make the world a better place. We are called to work towards the Kingdom of God. When the time is right for the Kingdom of God, Jesus will come again.

John was called to witness to the Truth.

This is exactly what we do when we proclaim the Gospel. Whether we do this by our words or by our actions, we are being witnesses to the Truth of Jesus Christ our Lord.


John was called to give up his life for his beliefs. He was a martyr.

We are also called to be martyrs for our faith. Most of us will not be called to die for our faith, but there are other kinds of martyrdom. We will all be called to make hard choices. We will all be asked to make sacrifices, to forgo luxuries, to serve when it would be easier not to, all in the name of God. This is martyrdom.


This is a large order. God is asking a lot of us and none of it is easy.

So how do we do it?

We have one clue in the last verse of our Gospel today.

“He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).”

Simon is the brother of our very own St. Andrew the Apostle. Simon’s example can help us to follow Christ. Cephas in Hebrew or Petros in Greek translate a rock in English. “You are to be called Simon the Rock.”

Simon was called the Rock because he had an unshakable faith, not only in God and Jesus, but in his friends and in himself. Simon never tried to do it alone. He worked with his fellow disciples. He encouraged them and built them up. He led them by his example of faith and devotion. If we follow that example, we will fulfil every part of our calling to prepare the world for the Kingdom of God.

Thanks be to God.

Jesus Baptized? -- Why?

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


Why did Jesus need to be baptized?


John the Baptist said “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?” Then Jesus answered “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”


Well, that clears everything up. Jesus’ answer makes perfect sense.

--- Not ---

Now we just have something else to figure out. What does Jesus mean by that?

First we need to know what baptism meant to Jesus.

Before this time, baptism was a Jewish ritual of cleansing. You would be baptized every time you became “unclean” by doing something like touching a dead body so that you could enter the temple and worship.

Second, we need to know what righteousness is. Being righteous means to be in right relationship with God.

So by being baptized, someone would become ritually clean, or, in other words, righteous.

But Jesus says that he is being baptized to fulfill ALL righteousness. Ordinarily someone would be baptized to fulfill their own righteousness only. I believe that Jesus is telling us that his baptism was to make EVERYONE right with God. This is one of the great moments of salvation which we can find in the life of Jesus.


This is a “Thanks be to God” moment.

But it is only the first part of what the Baptism of our Lord is about. Our Gospel doesn’t end there.


And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”


And in that moment, Christian baptism was born.


Was Jesus changed?

Sort of. Jesus did not become something different from what or who he was before being baptized. What changed was that he was revealed to be the Christ. It was a moment of transfiguration. In that moment, God showed John his divine grace.


So what does that mean for us today?

What happens when we are baptized?

Are we made righteous? No, Jesus already did that for us in his own baptism. Jesus was baptized to fulfill ALL righteousness.

Are we changed in some other way?

Sort of. We do not become different people. We don’t suddenly become God’s beloved. We are already that.


What does happen is a moment of transfiguration.

That means that what was hidden become clear to us.

Just as with Jesus, the spirit of God descends upon us, not to change us, but to wake us up.


God marks us as his own; as his sons and daughters.


God shows us that we are beloved.


God tells us that with us, he is well pleased.



Nothing has changed, but at the same time, everything is different.


Thanks be to God.