The mulberry tree - courage to live

Reading for Sunday October 3, 2010: Lamentations 1:1-6 and Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137 • 2 Timothy 1:1-14 • Luke 17:5-10-The 19th Sunday after Pentecost

It is worth making sure that the little section of gospel that we read this week

includes before and after so Luke 17:1-10

should fill out the whole story

It tells us two straight forward things

First, we are to have faith.

Second , we are to go about our ordinary business.

It is interesting that these two ideas are juxtaposed

because it reminds that it is not a question of

faith OR day to day to life

But a reminder that both go hand in hand

In the centre of the passage (vv 5-6) we read

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.

It seems clear from the context that Jesus is expressing some disappointment at the apostles' lack of faith

And it is easy to be distracted by what he says

thinking that what Jesus is saying we should aim for

is to be miracle workers.

I don't think if we look at the whole passage that this is the guts of what he says.

He says first of all...

Don't cause other people to stumble

and he particularly says

Don't cause the little ones to stumble.

We might wonder who these 'little ones' are

it's possibly more than children, but it certainly includes children,

Then he says you must forgive those who repent,

every time they do so.

What we are seeing here is just a simple day to day application

of what it means to live the life of faith

...care for the "little ones" who are vulnerable

and put the forgiveness of sins into practice.

Then at the end of the section (vv 7-10)

he gives a couple of example about how slaves and servants

should not expect to be treated with kid gloves

we should do...what we ought to have done

So there are two little ideas.

Faith is practised, and transmitted to the young

It is about putting things like forgiveness into practice

And there is the reminder that what we, as God's servants, are required to do

is to do what we ought to do.

Caught in the middle

In between these there is a little chip from Jesus

‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you'

Jesus is chiding his disciples fro not actually having faith.

If you had just a little bit ..he says...things would be different

He is not saying the life of faith is different from your day to day life

rather he is saying, I suggest,

that your day to day life is to be lived out in the spirit of faith

and it will bear a different and abundant kind of truth!

Forgiveness, caring for the 'little ones'

even going about what we 'ought to do'

are not put aside

so that we can live a different life

called FAITH

but they are rather the very vehicles wherein faith is worked out.

THIS WEEK

We might look at what it is that we do day to day

and ask God to show us where we can be more faithful

As Paul writes again to Timothy this week

we hear Paul telling Timothy to go about his day to day duties

and to not be afraid to see this as faith.

What we can expect is that if we do this even with the tiniest little bit of faith

then it will be abundantly, wildly fruitful.

Where can we allow God

to show us that our work

our family life

our duties

our joys and our burdens

are acts of faith.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can be more faithful

in what you ought to do.

And as Paul says, to have the courage to it

for God did not give us a spirit of weakness

but a spirit of courage to be faithful.

A poem for the Celebration of the Feast of Christ the King

Aeterni Christi Munera

The eternal gift of Christ our king
invites me to tie my child’s sandal
and to encourage her
to leap small buildings

The eternal gift of Christ our king
invites me to dare to love
badly
but to dare to do it any way

The eternal gift of Christ our king
invites me to step into the traffic
with a body of one my friends
following in a hearse

The eternal gift of Christ our king
invites me to accept myself with love
not with indulgence
but with love, and perhaps a little care
Such is the eternal gift of Christ
who doesn’t seem to think of himself
as a king

Stephen Clark
November 2006

The Feast of Christ the King is kepton Sunday 22nd November 2009

Courage to trust

Readings for Pentecost 4 (Proper 13) Today; Sunday 28th June include: 2 Samuel 1:1,17-27;Psalm 130;2 Corinthians 8:7-15; & Mark 5:21-43 (This week's reflection was also discussed during Lent)

The Gospel passage is not without its difficulties

Two accounts of people being healed. We often get sidetracked by the fact that the woman with "the issue of blood" as the KJV euphemistically put it is ritually unclean .

I think this was probably the least of her worries!

In different ways people come to Jesus seeking healing. Jairus comes as a man of prestige and religious standing seeking help from someone who is not socially acceptable 

Jesus! 

The woman, I think,is a destroyed person whose sense of personal worth is so low that she cannot even come and front Jesus face on. 

Part of the message that Mark is communicating here is that it doesn't matter who you are 

that Jesus is open to all. More than this, because he is inviting people to respond out of faith 

we recognise that faith requires risk 

Jairus risks his reputation the woman risks being knocked back again. 

What do we risk to be challenged by the Gospel, 

or have we so controlled our experience that we have taken all the risk and challenge out of it.  

Faith will inevitably invite us to move out of the zone where we control everything 

(because we recognise in reality that nothing is actually ours to control) THIS WEEK 

Where does God invite me to trust him and him alone? 

Do I have the courage to do it? 

To risk my reputation/failure or what ever? 

Pray to trust God alone

Faith and risk

During Lent we will be following a local series of lections.If you are looking for the Common Lectionary References try here Revised Common Lectionary

The focus reading in Adelaide Diocese this week is Mark 5:21-43

This passage is not without its difficulties

Two accounts of people being healed.
I am interested that our study notes point us to the fact that the woman with "the issue of blood" as the KJV euphemistically put it is highlighted as ritually unclean .

I think this was probably the least of her worries!

In different ways people come to Jesus seeking healing.
Jairus comes as a man of prestige and religious standing
seeking help from someone who is not socially acceptable
Jesus!
The woman, I think,is a destroyed person
whose sense of personal worth is so low
that she cannot even come and front Jesus face on.
Part of the message that Mark is communicating here
is that it doesn't matter who you are
that Jesus is open to all.

More than this because he is inviting people to respond out of faith
we recognise that faith requires risk
Jairus risks his reputation
the woman risks being knocked back again.
What do we risk to be challenged by the Gospel,
or have we so controlled our experienec
that we have taken all the risk and challenge out of it.

Faith will inevitably invite us to move out of the zone
where we control everything
(because we recognise in reality
that nothing is actually ours to control)

THIS WEEK
Where does God invite me to trust him and him alone?
Do I have the courage to do it?
To risk my reputation/failure or what ever?
Pray to trust God alone

Readings for Sunday April 27, Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 17:22-31 Psalm 66:8-20, I Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21,


I sometimes jokingly say that we should be careful about what we ask for in our prayers
and particularly when we pray for God to send the Holy Spirit
or to renew us, or something similar.
Because my experience is that that is exactly the sort of prayer---for the Holy Spirit---
that God is likely to answer!
So, don't pray for renewal unless you want to be renewed.

What might 'renewal' be like?
It seems to me that renewal is likely to be about truth
that when the Spirit of renewal comes
it is going to be the Spirit of Truth.
It will therefore be drawing us towards God and showing us what God is like.
In the process of doing this
one might expect we also discover what we might be like.
This classic sort of movement
leads us to say...as traditionally Christians have said...
the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin.
This is not, I think, some vindictive nasty process
but true one.
We will know and be known.
it is in a sense our life's work:
to understand the truth of what it means
to be made in God's image.
The truth draws us on
to move away from sin
and towards the light.
In this process, too,
we will also uncover the truths of God's world.
The eternal truths can often be spoken with our lips
and may take a little while to appropriate into our lives.
How easily we say "God loves you!" and yet do we believe
that God wants the best for us
and for everyone
and how do we imagine that might work itself otu in our lives.
To me, for example, it means that there is here
a command to ensure that others
are goign to be able to experience God generosity
and share in the bounty of the creation
it will mean, maybe, that I need to work to challenge
my own selfishness and greed
and to stand against the aggressive greed of individuals and institutions
which is the cause of so much poverty.

Truth will mean that I try to conduct myself
with honesty, openness and integrity.
That I value these things about myself
and I treasure the vulnerable gifts that others
may choose to share.

The Spirit will lead us into truth
implies that this will take time.
And we need patience and diligence.


The way of the Spirit
LORD GRANT THAT I MAY BE OPEN TO THE TRUTH
GIVE ME PATIENCE, WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING
THAT I MAY BEAR THIS PRIVILEGE
WITH JOY, AND EXCITEMENT.
GIVE ME COURAGE TO SERVE YOU.
FATHER OF LIGHT, SON OF MERCY, SPIRIT OF TRUTH. AMEN

reviewing the situation

Readings for 30th September 2007 Proper 21

can be taken from:

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 and Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 (or Amos 6:1a, 4-7 and Psalm 146) &

1 Timothy 6:6-19 & Luke 16:19-31

What sort of heart do you want to have?

Most of us think that people who are soft-hearted are weak,

yet we don't want to be thought 'hard hearted'.

When we look at the way God deals with his people in the Old Testament

we see both of these sides

he is sometimes hard because the people constantly turn away from him.

But I don't think that is the predominant way we see him,

rather time and time again

God is persuaded to NOT punish his faithless people.,

Here this morning right at the end of Jeremiah remonstrations we read quiet words,

sealed by a notary and stored in a vault

thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

that is, God promises after almost a whole book of despair and disillusionment

that he will re-establish his covenant promise.

God will be tender-hearted towards his people

and not cruel and vindictive.

The curious story of the Gospel reminds us that

unlike God

we are often not tender or soft hearted at all

we are often hard hearted

Worse than that

we just don't care.

It is role-reversal story of Lazarus and the Rich man

( one of the seven familiar stories to us from literary tradition)

A poor man, Lazarus, who has been ignored and brutalised

during his lifetime

is called upon to be kind

to a rich man who has simply ignored him.

[This is not, I would suggest

a commentary on what happens to us after we die.]

It is, like all the parables of Jesus,

an invitation for us today.

To change

to stop being hard-hearted

and start being tender-hearted.

The tragedy of the way this rich man (now cast out) has treated Lazarus

is not that he has been particularly harsh

it is that he has ignored him

which is a different sort of harshness.

He has stepped over his suffering

every time he has driven out of the house.

This is what gets us too.

It is not that habitually we are unkind or uncaring (by and large)

it is that we choose to ignore.

This is more subtle and more serious,

to combat it

it requires

that we actually choose to act differently

to not just step over the problem

and/or pretend it is not there.

We have to choose to be people

who are not disengaged

who will try and make a difference

visiting Churchman Steve Chalke said this week

somehow over the course of the 20th century, post-Wilberforce and friends, the church began to shrink and it began to shrink back from active public service into its own buildings and as I often say, has spent, in the UK at least, the last kind of 80 years singing itself to death. I've nothing against singing and songs and I think music and art is a part of the richness of what the church is, but we moved indoors and we've been entertaining ourselves to death,

I think he has a point

one of my major concerns for us,

for the church

is that we have ceased to be a vibrant, caring, world changing community

and chosen to be inward looking & self-indulgent

"singing ourself to death".

The warning of this parable

is that this is exactly what this rich man chose to do

and it is the wrong choice.

It is the choice of apathy and carelessness

In the end it is hard-hearted and cruel.

We do not have to do everything

We do have to do something

At the very least we have to respond to what is lying at our doorstep.

What is the need that God is asking you to respond to,

what is the need that God asks us to do something about?

This week

• We ask ourselves the brutal question--where have I become hardhearted?
• Where can I respond to genuine need?
• Pray for courage to do it!

Freedom to choose

Readings for Sunday 5th August, Proper 13 Year C, The 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Hosea 11:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21

Here is a short YOUTUBE reflection on this reading

Almost everything we do is critiqued or chastened by something else.
This parable reminds us of that.
With the best will in the world
everything can be cut short by death.
If we knew we were going to die tomorrow then we would behave quite differently today.

But there is also a more subtle undertone
we act out of mixed motives
We are often unaware of what these motives are.

I am conscious, for example, that sometimes
when disagreeing with people
that they change their stance
almost imperceptibly
so that by the time we finish our exchange
we end up in agreement
even though nothing has changed.
[-Sometimes it is the reverse that is true and we started off agreeing
and end up disagreeing
-or it's me who does the changing]
What is going on here?

Well, of course a major driving force is how we feel about the person with whom we are interacting
Most of us don't like being disliked
so sometimes we change what we say:
to avoid that
or we modify what we say so it doesn't sound like we are disagreeing.
We have a freedom to choose
but often we are not aware just why or even what we are choosing

This week's readings invite us to look beyond the obvious
and try and get to the core.
So Hosea reminds God's people unremittingly
how much God loves them
and how often they have turned away.
Time and time again, God says,
My people are bent on turning away from me!
His message is that this sort of behaviour
is its own judgment,
it causes separation from God.
But he also reminds us that coupled with this
is the sense of God's persistence.
God persists with us
even when we turn from him.

The Gospel has one of those curious encounters too
where Jesus is confronted by someone who does not want truth or equality
but rather advantage through their relationship with Jesus.
Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me
On the face of it this seems fairly innocent
but these things seldom are.
It begs the questions
about all sorts of things that may need to be resolved.
And Jesus refuses to play this sort of game.
How often do our prayers smack of this
..Lord do this for me
it is obvious what needs to be done...
Pretty impertinent really
and usually fairly dishonest.

Instead Jesus reminds his listeners about the importance
of getting priorities right
and making the right decisions,
of being honest and clear about motivations.
Maybe, he suggests, we have to ask ourselves a strong question
to focus us
If I was going to die tomorrow....what would I do today?
You see we are so very good at either putting this sort of thought off
or of deceiving ourselves.
What strong question can you ask yourself today
that will set things in the correct context?
If I was going to die?
If I never see this person again how will I spend my time with them?
If I am struck dumb tomorrow what will I say today?

Paul reminds us too that we are often driven by inner darkness
impurity, passion, evil desire and greed
and that if we are to be Christ's
then we have to choose to do something about the malice, slander and abuse
and all those things which are wrong.

This is the realm of choice.
The choice to be free
or the choice to be something less than that.

Can we focus these questions today?

Lord if today
I die, what will I do,
If I never see this person again how will I spend my time with them
If I am struck dumb tomorrow what will I say today.
Lord grant me the wisdom to know
and the courage to act.

YOUTUBE for today