Choose life

Readings for the 6th Sunday after the Epiphany can include

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (Australian lectionary uses Deuteronomy 10) or Sirach 15:15-20 •

Psalm 119:1-8 •

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 •

Matthew 5:21-37

What are we to make of this idea

that even thinking about sin

might be as bad

as sin itself?

What Jesus seems to be getting at

in these little sayings:

Don’t just not be angry

Actually do something about it

Don’t just not commit adultery

deal with your inward thoughts

Recognise that you make some serious commitments

and that you need to stick to them

And even…don’t swear an oath

but let your word be of such quality

that it shouldn’t be necessary

to have legal compulsion to tell the truth.

This is the point at which, as the popular saying goes,

the rubber hits the road

or where we not only say the right thing

but we do the right thing.

Is this what people think of us?

Is this, indeed, what we think of ourselves?

or are we two-faced?

We often can rationalize this behaviour

(We don’t want to hurt people

we want to avoid trouble…so on)

But what we hear this morning

is rather consistent

with what we have been receiving

from this section of Jesus’s teaching that we call the The Sermon on the Mount

Your faith should be tasty…like salt

and it should shine out like a light.

Now we hear..

Don’t just say things

but actually ..do them!

And be aware of how you think!

Because your thoughts are probably a tell-tale of what’s really going on

Work for this week

What’s going on in your life?

In particular those secret places

where perhaps we are not up-front with others (or even ourselves)

The word of warning that we are getting here

is that even though we may be duplicitous

with others

and even with ourselves

that it doesn’t actually deceive God

and doesn’t often or actually do what we think.

Avoiding conflict doesn’t resolve it!

Putting on a masquerade

for the sake of public appearances

doesn’t actually make that come true.

Are we thus going to follow our Saviour in deed as well as word?

It is the image of jesus himself. He not only was a good person but his life was put on the line too!

I would even suggest that creating and sustaining the charade

is more damaging in fact than the problems it seeks to solve.

Avoiding conflict is probably more damaging than confronting it.

Suppressing our strong sexual feelings, would seem to be more damaging than actually dealing with them.

When we lose our integrity (our Yes/Yes)

We have lost something centrally and essentially human.

This week, let’s pay attention

to where God is calling us to

not only say but also to be and do our Christianity

This may be hard, probably will be

But we are called not to be wishy washy

But to be faithful…in word and in deed

Do you want a meaningful relationship?

The Cross takes us to the point where we have to let go!
What ever view we have about God
is likely to be tainted, partial, self serving and inadequate
The Cross takes us to the point where we have to let go of that.
What ever comfortable view of God we have developed
-it may be
that if we are good then God will do what we want
the Cross puts an end to that shallow conception
-it may be
that if we go to Church, say the right prayers then we will be in God’s good books
the Cross shows us that even religion will not protect us

-It may be that we think if we retreat to the bosom of our family
then we will be able to protect
and be protected
the important paintings and sculptures of Mary and the dead Jesus remind us that this is not true.
WHAT THEN SHALL WE DO?
The only truth is that weare not being asked to do anything
We are not constructing any scheme
but rather God is not giving us a plan, a scheme, a solution
but a relationship.
This relationship is with a person who has died
What we are invited to discover
is that if we dare to risk this crazy relationship
that this dead person
Jesus
will be experienced as alive.

As you are invited in a few moments
to say I turn to Christ
Do you want to encounter the living God?
This is what God is offering.
We do what we can to make this Jesus relationship work
We listen,-we talk-we listen a bit more
we visit, we spend time, we trust our friend
even sometimes when it is hard
but we stick with our friend

The first disciples discovered
that out of the haze
this Jesus who died
was alive
and is always with us
(we are not always with him)


What ever else we make of it,
it is a relationship not a scheme
or a system
that is being offered
as you say
I turn to Christ
Be sure that this is what is on offer
And commit yourself,
with all your heart
to that.

Lord have mercy

Isaiah 55:1-9

Psalm 63:1-8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9

(readings are changed from earlier in the week as the wrong ones were posted)

In this season we have something of a focus on the need for repentance
Oh, said my colleague, are you going to preach about sin again.
No, I said, I am going to preach about repentance.!
The subtlety may escape us but repentance is not only about sin.
Repentance is about lifestyle.
It is about how we choose to live our life,
and the way we choose to live our life is about more than saying sorry for the things we have stuffed up.
The Gospel reading reminds us of this:
First it breaks the connection that we often make between disaster and sin.
In modern terms we might ask: Do those who get blown up by terrorist bombers
get caught in that position because they have been particularly sinful?
Do those who suffer the consequences of earthquake do so because they have done something wrong?
The answer to these questions seems obvious to us when put like this.
These things happen!
There is not necessarily a particular cause or connexion.
BUT, says Jesus, that is not to say that we should therefore not care about how we live our life.
These events are not punishments
but they do help us to call to mind
that life is fragile
and that we need to live our life as though it might end today.
Bceause indeed it might!
The tragedy is not a punishment.
But the call to repentance is constant.
The call to repentance
And what exactly is that call?
We could suggest it has two parts:
a positive and a negative.
Paul reminds us that there are things we do wrong,
some of those (and I stress only some) are sexual immorality,
testing God...we might call that using the certainty of God's grace and forgiveness
as an excuse to sin....Ah well God will forgive us us any way
This is classically called the sin of presumption,
But there are many other things we know about too:
if we were to list sins that people commit
we could easily get a Top 10!
So Yes! repentance is about saying No to these things,
but it is more than this too!
It is saying No!, seeking forgiveness, and choosing to live life in a different way.
I am not only going to try and control my anger
I am also going to try and nurture patience!
I am not only going refrain from immorality
I am going to work towards developing faithfulness and maturity in my relationships.

Digging
We dig ourselves into difficult places
and we can start to die
or become unfruitful
The gardening image of the fig tree says this
certainly dig out the rubbish
but you also need to ruffle up the soil
add a bit of fertiliser
So our life of repentance is like that.
Certainly get rid of that rubbish
Confession, apology,seeking forgiveness, making amends
these are some of the things we might do
BUT
we need also to ruffle and fertilise
how do I deal with my anger, my greed, my tendency to be judgmental
my selfishness?
Can I think, pray, read discuss with friends how to attack these questions?
are there positive things I can do
that will enable deepening
a chance to be more fruitful.
My repentance will not just be about saying sorry
as important as that is
I need also to make decisions
about how I live my life.