Getting it right

The 24th Sunday after Pentecost(Propert 31)
Joshua 3:7-17, Ps 107:1-9; 1 Thess 3:5-13; Matt 23:1-12
The tantalising headings
Act in faith
Moses died in sight of the Promised Land
but that did not mean God had deserted the chosen people
or had become unfaithful.
As we explored last week
God's business is unfinished
and we capture this sense today
the life of faith goes on
even when the leaders, the motivators, the giants
...we call them saints...
have died.
Indeed we treasure and name this tradition
the communion of saints.
So Joshua takes responsibility from Moses
and his first task is not to bemoan the death of Moses
but to move on in faith!.
We pick up the ark and move on,
and it is our expereinece that the life of faith
moves from one generation tot he next.
Where ever we find ourselves in the life of faith
let us note the challenge of the current generation

• too big a job, too few resources
• the leaders of today are not like the leaders of the past
• things have changed
• we can't make ends meet

and move on.
We walk, not by sight but by faith
In God,
who is faithful to us.
It is easy to give up
but this is nto the walk of faith.
Where ever you find yourself to be
I urge you to walk on

How can we thank God enough for you
Heaven knows, Paul had a lot of difficult situations to deal with.
He points the early churches to a key Christian principle
Always do things in community
Understand that we are in this together
and you will understand a key principle to the life that God has given us to share
So we read that his steadfast prayer for the Church in Thessalonika is this:
...may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another
and for all, just as we abound in love you.
Gee! Those people who we try to share the community of faith with
can be tedious, difficult and boring.
They are often wrong, and plain dumb!
It will ever be so.
They no doubt say the thing about us.
So our prayer is that we may change and be kinder
and holier
and that we ourselve may be blameless.
Let us not pretend that everything will just slot into place.
We will struggle with each other
and with ourselves.
And in doing so
we will find that the promise of God is true.
Where two or three are gathered together
There am I
right amongst you.
Be faithful to the spirit of the Gospel
Finally let us recognise how easy it is
in the name of faith
to be distraced by irrelevance
...proper protocol, the right words and behaviour,...
learn what is important
and what is peripheral.
And that at the heart of it
God will be faithful to us.
So the wheel has turned full circle!
Practical implications

• We need courage to trust God and act

this does not necessarily come easily
and will need to be prayed about and practised

• We need to trust the community of faith that God has given us,

this too requires prayer and practice.

• We need to develop an intuitive sense of what is good, kind, and God 's will
• and trust God's Spirt

this too requires prayer and practice