Free at last

Readings for Sunday 27th June the 5th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 8 in the season of the year

• 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 and Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 •
• 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 and Psalm 16 •
• Galatians 5:1, 13-25 •
• Luke 9:51-62

It is for freedom that we have been set free
this inviting gambit that Paul sets out at the beginning of the 5th chapter of the letter to the Church in Galatia
is deceptively simple.
But it is worth clinging on to.
Most of us find it slips away all too easily.
It is not so much that we are enslaved
or locked up in prison
or even that we find our rights curtailed ny the State
(although all those things can be true)
but rather that we actually surrender our freedom.
This idea is perhaps graphically illustrated in a person like Nelson Mandela
who was imprisoned (as we know) for political reasons in apartheid ridden South Africa
What ever we may make of Mr Mandela's particular cause,
it is his decision whilst in jail that he would no longer carry the burden of imprisonment
that points us to the reality of this truth of the Gospel.

It is for freedom that we have been set free.

Mandela came to realise that as long as he hung on to the bitterness and hatred
of his captors
that the rocks and stones that he was being required to smash
were indeed smashing him.
The prime example of this sort of attitude is Jesus himself
who could have condemned those who condemned him
and justifiably

Yet he steadfastly refuses to do.
We hear Jesus saying....Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.

The key
It is for freedom that we have been set free.
This seems to be a key to understanding
how we lose our freedom
and become diminished as persons.
We lose sight of what we are doing.
Nelson Mandela regained sight of what needed to happen
and reclaimed his freedom.
But look at those apostles in those little vignettes today
Realising that they have been given power by Jesus
.....when they face opposition from people who disagree
their response is ....Should we use our power to zap them?
Jesus will not be sucked into this sort of vortex.

or to those enthusiasts caught up in the thrill of the moment
who want to throw everything to the wind
and make grand gestures.
Jesus says.....True freedom comes not from grand gestures
leaving home, making loud proclamation,
fine sounding phrases
But True freedom comes when
realising the consequences
you embrace the future
and the difficulties.
When faced with challenge and barrier
to those things we have found fundamental
instead of turning round and backing off
we keep our shoulder to the wheel
and press on.

True freedom,
and it is for freedom that we have been set free
will have consequences.
it requires commitment
it requires that we not give it away

it will change our hearts
and grow the fruit of the Spirit
(this indeed will be a test of whether or not we are on track)
So much of what we hear as 'gospel'
does not seem to foster: patience, goodness, kindness, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness

which are the hall marks of true freedom.

Some ideas, then, to explore this week

Where is God calling me to be free?
Have I allowed myself to be enslaved by hanging on to attitudes of bitterness and hatred that far from satisfying me are actually destroying me?
How do I need to open myself to the ministry of reconciliation which might set me free for this?

Talk to Jesus about one area of your life where he is calling you to be free?
What do you need to do to begin today?

A new start

Readings set for this Sunday can be taken as listed below. These are for Sunday 20th June 2010 also called the 4th Sunday after Pentecost or Proper 7

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a and Psalms 42 and 43 Galatians 3:23-29 Luke 8:26-39

Most of us do not easily identify with the idea of being possessed

If we believe in it at all

it is something that happens to someone else who is not quite right in the head,

who is severely stressed, perhaps even a religious nut.

If we think, though, of what the idea of being possessed is all about

and lay aside the demonic and supernatural stuff

we can easily appreciate what 'possession', 'oppression'

...perhaps we call these things OBSESSION

is all about.

We lose control to an external force

we hand it over and instead of being free

we are enslaved

we no longer drive our lives rather we are driven.

Does this sound familiar?

Yes, it does.

We can all readily identify places where we are driven rather than we drive.

Easy examples are addictions: alcohol, food, drugs or anything which begins to become the complete focus of our attention.

Those are the sort of things that affect them

We are perhaps less apt to name the things to which we are addicted by which we are obsessed You might take time to ask the question What drives my life? Where have I handed over control :

to my own desires to have everything under control

to my need to have more and more possessions

to my desperate need to be liked by everyone

or any one of the myriad of other things that possess us

Their name is legion!

What to do?

The reading from Galatians for today (here) tells us about the change that has changed the relationship between God and humanity.

In terms of that discussion it reveals how we have been transferred

from a relationship with God bound by formal rules and legislation

which Paul argues is a kind of slavery and imprisonment

even in a religious situation there is not freedom and we need to be set free.

We are set free by coming into relationship with Jesus

this is relationship as opposed to contract.

It is not an arrangement whereby we are give a handbook and a set of rules

rather God gives himself to us and this sets us free.

We should not be surprised then as we see the possessed,

the oppressed and the obsessed

encounter Jesus as we read about in this morning's Gospel

their lives are transformed we are set free.

So this man, possessed we are told by a multitude of demons

being drawn into relationship with Jesus is delivered.

This is for you and for me the truth too.

We need to note that this confronting opression is not necessarily an easy thing.

Pigs hurtle off the cliff!

as we rid ourselves of a lifetime of addiction/possesssion

do not expect that the drivers will go without a fight.

This week

Ask the Spirit to show you where you have handed over control of your life

Talk to Jesus, in order to open and strengthen the relationship.

What does he speak into your situation?

Pray for the courage to be set free

Lord speak my name and set me free. Amen

King of the Cross

The strongest Christian image is that no doubt that of Christ on the Cross. On this feast of Christ the King one of our key insights is that the crucified Jesus wears a crown, and has a sign on his cross...The King of the Jews

Readings this Sunday are for the feast of the Reign of Christ. sometimes known as Christ the King. The last Sunday of the church's year. John 18:33-37 for Sunday 22nd November 2009

For we Christians there is a certain irony about this notion of kingship
which we ascribe to Jesus.
First it is old-fashioned.
Although we here in Australia do have a monarch. That monarch has only symbolical power.
If she were to choose to try and exercise the power that she allegedly has
the whole political system would explode.
At its very best it reminds us that leadership is not about being the boss
it is about being a servant.
And although Queen Elizabeth II lives an opulent and privileged lifestyle
most of us realise with even a cursory glance
that she is also tyrannised by the idea of monarchy.
In the blatant exposure that the famous are subjected to
we see that being a ruler
has not protected the things she hold most precious,
no doubt her family
from all the woes and troubles of life.
Rather the reverse.
Second, if we turn to the bible and look at the notion of kingship presented there
we see that it was an experiment that was predicted to fail.
And which did!
Samuel, seemingly against his better judgment, is persuaded to anoint Saul king
but he predicts that this change of government will end in disaster.
Though it is not without its high points
Samuel's prophecy is proved tragically true.
The kingship is a cause of pain and heartbreak,
of injustice and sorrow
to the people who God calls to follow him.
So, it is not suprising that the idea of kingship
even though it be Jesus who is our king
is not one without problem.

Christ the King
Indeed the clearest picture we have of Jesus is not enthroned on a throne of glory
but on a cross of wood
above which Pontiius Pilate has placed a sign
INRI - "Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Ivdaeorvm."
Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.

Confrontation

There is something profoundly confronting about what is being said here

which is easy to overlook or mistake

We can take the sort of 'high moral ground' lesson

Like the one I just made about her majesty the Queen.

Kingship -is -a -form - of -radical -servanthood

(and that is certainly true)

But more is being expected of us than just moralism.

Or we can take the line

that life invites us to die to ourselves

(and this too is true).

But are we also being invited to see that Jesus's way of living life

is about confronting death and not being cowed by it.

Another way of viewing the atonement.

Not that God demands some sort of appeasing sacrifice

so that He will get over his (quite rightly justified) anger.

But rather that the Cross is an act of freedom-making.

How easily we forget this.

We seem to always think that the cross invites us to be crucified again.

We don't hear (maybe don't want to hear) that the enthronement of Christ the King

has set us free so that we don't have to attempt to do the impossible.

We cannot die for our sins, or for anyone else's

and we don't need to.

Everything that need to be done has been done.

Have we thus spotted the characteristic of kingship that is displayed on the throne of Calvary.

The king dies to set his subjects free.

If we are called to live our lives in that spirit

then the question that we ask is not ...how can I make up for the things that I have done wrong

but how can I set other people free?

Does what I do set myself and others free?

How easily we put demands on people which enslave them

Expectations on our families that tyrannise rather than set free

Conditions that we place on our relationships

that in effect say ...I will only love you if you do what I want of you.

This is not true kingship that sets free

It is dictatorship that enslaves.

This week

As we look at our lives:

Do I accept the freedom that Jesus has won for me? Freedom to know forgiveness. and freedom to forgive?

Are things that I can that set people---family, friends, associates---free rather than enslave? Can I give myself so that others might be free? What small thing can I do for someone this week that will give them greater freedom?

The servants of Christ the king, we, are not cruel masters; we are freedom fighters.

Embrace that freedom

Being set free-for freedom

Readings for Sunday 30th August 2009, The 13th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) :Song of Songs 2:8-13; Psalm 45; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8,14-23

It is good to be challenged.
On TV these days we are challenged all the time!
There are endless game shows, Australian Idol, Temptation, Survivor
in which there is challenge.
But these days I often just find the News challenging!
Some days...Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Al Qaeda, Bombings, bank hold ups
Plane crashes, global warming, petrol, endless political drivel and infighting...... the news comes on and I feel my heart sink.
I often don't want to be challenged with so much stuff that I can do nothing about.

Today's readings remind us that there is about life a sense of challenge
which is good and right
and if we are not to be overwhelmed by it
we need to focus on the meaningful challenges

Right relationships
The curious passage in The Song of Songs
is a an invitation to see that our intimate relationships
are called to be exciting and thrilling.
Many of us settle into a passive neutrality in our closest relationships
as though this is what God intends for us.
At least this passage reminds us that
there may be more that is possible
and we need perhaps to respond to the challenge
to seek depth
than to avoid the challenge and risk of getting close to another person.
This is not always easy!!

Responding to challenge.
James remind us there are certain challenges that we need to watch out for in relationships
and he names some key principles:

• generosity---which he sees as an inspired choice that we make about the character of our life. We choose to be generous


• we need to listen rather than speak---this again is a choice that we make about the way we conduct our relationships


• be slow to anger---another choice.Often we think of anger as something that overtakes us, that we have no control over. But james in suggesting that we be slow to anger is saying . We choose whether or not we are angry.


• Other choices her talks about are : turning away from wickedness, and putting into practice with our lives what we say with our lips
  

It is important to get the force of all this.
The challenge is to make choices in our lives which put the gospel into practice
and not just mouth platitudes.

Jesus puts this another way when he talks about the competing interests
of religion and the heart.
In a major thrust of his teaching he reminds us that it is not the rules and regulations of religion
that is important
it is the affairs of the heart.
In the end the bad and good that we get caught up in
comes about from the decisions of our heart.
This is not popular stuff.
But it is reality.
Wickedness, evil, sin...however we name it..
comes about from choices we make and not accidently.

Accidents do happen!
I hear you say
and the consequences of accidents can be dire.
But what we are concerned with is not what accidently happens
but what deliberately happens.

Whe St Paul says to early churches
"It is for freedom that we have been set free" (cf Galatians 5)
he is not making the claim of some political manifesto
but rather a statement about God's intentions for humanity
...that we might be free to choose to do God's will
rather than to be pushed about by our own selfishness and sin.
In classical theology
we understand this to mean that we cannot actually do this
without the grace of God given to us through the life death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
To be free from anger...we need Jesus
to be a truly generous person...we need Jesus
to be lovign and caring...we need Jesus.

We fail in so far as we think we can do this of ourselves.
One of our Prayer Book collects says...we have no power of ourselves, to help ourselves
we are reminded that we need to allow God to dwell within us
and to reach outside of our inward looking self
if we are to be as God intends us to be

This week
Perhaps this is "tough love" or a reality check.
Stop copping out and blaming others for behaviour:
meanness, hurtfulness, poorly controlled anger, spite, and all other manner of sinful relationship stuff
take ressponsibility and choose to be free.
We cannot do this without Christ.
So our prayer this week?

Lord make us free
as Jesus himself is free.
Free to love you radically
and put aside our sinful ways. Lord make us free. AMEN

Steep learning curve

Readings for Sunday April 6, 2008 the Third Sunday of Easter: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; I Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35 (please note there is also a reflection on Luke 24:13-35 below) APBA also includes Matthew 28:1-10 in today's alternatives

It took a while for the first Christians to understand
just what was going on.
Gradually they began to understand
what it meant to encounter the living Christ.
Gradually they started to piece together
what God might be doing
through the life and death of Jesus.
So we see Peter standing up at Pentecost
and proclaiming (at some risk to his life)
that "We all crucified, this Jesus"
And THIS JESUS is the one who we have all been waiting for
He is both Lord and Messiah.
He is the one who God has anointed to effect change
fundamental change
to the world.
They were on what we call jargonistically
a steep learning curve
Having to learn a lot of new things
and get a lot of changed understandings
in a very short space of time.

Peter's message is perhaps more theological and scriptural
he says

You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

They are rich words

You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

that speak about a new found freedom
which is at the heart of what resurrection is about.

What we might learn
is, I think, that we are called to grow into this experience
of resurrection
and it takes time and reflection.
It is, indeed, as the disciples pay attention to what is going on,
that the mystery begins to be understood.
And they learn that it is not
knowledge that they are to acquire
but a way of life that they are called to adopt.

How might we go about this?
The key belief about the resurrection
is not in some bizarre resuscitation story
but in the reality of Matthew's tradition
where we read in the very last verse of his gospel

Jesus says to his disciples:
'And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'

It would be easy to dismiss this as pious funereal rememberings
in the face of the death of a much-beloved friend and leader
until we also realise that the stories are narrating the changing experience
of the disciples.

We do this through paying attention to the movement of God
in our ordinary life
what else can we do?
The disciples realise that Jesus is with them as they gather for worship,
as they break bread, in the Eucharist and in their fellowship,
he is also there as they reach out to others in need
both physical and spiritual.

This happens as we, too, pay attention
we see God is with us
and that God's hand touches everything
both ordinary and extraordinary

Perhaps each day, a couple fo minutes
sitting on your bed
before you sleep
look back and see where God has been moving.

Maybe too on the weekend, a quiet moment on Saturday or Sunday
think back through the week gone.
Where can I see God acting,
where have I turned my back?

The disciples discovered as they experienced the risen Christ
their world changed
that is the invitation for you and me too.
Pay attention to it,
and join and enjoy the steep learning curve.

Where

God who is rich in mercy out of his great love
even when we were dead through our sins
makes us alive together with Christ.

The right thing

The readings for Sunday 22nd July, Proper 11 of Year C are :
Amos 8:1-12 and Psalm 52, Colossians 1:15-28,Luke 10:38-42

I guess that no one other than the sociopath wants to do the wrong thing!
But we also seem to have a bit of difficulty doing the right thing.
St Paul at one stage is so frustrated with all this that he protests
It is almost as though the more I try to do the right thing
the more likely I am to do the wrong thing.

he says in Romans 7 for example

¹⁵I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ^{...he goes on in verse 18 .......} I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

This is quite a complex, yet real argument about our inner struggle with sin
and our difficulty with doing right
The key to doing right is understanding that it will not just happen accidentally
It will be a decision we make
and which we stick to.
Unless we decide to do the right thing
it will not just turn up out of the blue.

The lessons point us to various dimension of that
Amos the prophet does not shy away from
telling the people that they have not done what is right.
he suggests, what we all basically know to be true,
that we actually know what is right, merciful and just.
For Amos wrong has come about because the people have
chosen to NOT do it.

you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land,

Yes, when we not only ignore the plight of the needy
but we also exploit them
make no mistake
we are not doing what God wants.
This sort of wanton abandonment of what God wants
will bring about a famine
not so much of of food and water
but of the living Bread and of the Word.
When we choose not to act as God's people
we starve ourselves of the very food
that will keep us spiritually alive.

How to do right
Paul's teaching is clear for us
we do what is right by keeping
Jesus at the Centre
of our life and faith
The work of reconciliation in us happens
as we continue secure in our relationship
with Jesus
who is as Paul says
The image of the invisible God.
We see the will of God made visible in Christ.
This is why the other picture we see is the contrast of this morning's Gospel.
Two sisters,
Martha and Mary,
who pay attention to Jesus in different ways.
What ever else we may make of this story
there is perhaps a warning here for us
of what is a great danger
for us.
Let us not make the mistake
of thinking that extreme busy-ness
is the same thing as doing God's will.
We are often guilty of this.
We mistake busy-ness
for faithfulness.
So the point of the story
is that Mary who sits
at Jesus feet
is doing the right thing.
This rankles us somewhat,
as indeed it rankles her sister,
we have sometimes sat at meetings
and said this to each other.
So careless are we with what is committed to us
that we make the mistake of thinking

• that doing anything is better than doing nothing
• that activity is always a sign of doing good
• that paying attention to what God wants of us is a waste of time

This is not what we are getting this morning
Quite the reverse.
the lessons perhaps help us to see the great dangers in these attitudes
when we do not pay attention
when we do not know what it is that Jesus wants us to do
then we are not actually so much
in danger of being diverted
as in peril for our life.
and on the threshold of sin.

We make choices all the time

the choices that as Christians

we seek to make 

should be God's choices

How sure are we that the choices we make

for our own convenience

for our own comfort

out of our own busy-ness

are attentive to what God wants?

We recognise what God wants

in our openness

to what Jesus wants

are we so busy fussing around

that we do not take the time to listen

So listen now...

Today

and each day

can there be a time in your daily prayers 

(do you indeed pray?)

to ask the question

if there is one thing that you want me to hear today then what is it?

Lord, this week

let me put aside the busy-ness that I so easily find 

which fills my life

and let me hear you speaking

and give me courage to respond.

Oh Freedom

Readings for Sunday 1st July 2007 the 5th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 8 in the season of the year
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 and Psalm 16
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62

It is for freedom that we have been set free
this inviting gambit that Paul sets out at the beginning of the 5th chapter of the letter to the Church in Galatia
is deceptively simple.
But it is worth clinging on to.
Most of us find it slips away all too easily.
It is not so much that we are enslaved
or locked up in prison
or even that we find our rights curtailed ny the State
(although all those things can be true)
but rather that we actuallu surrender our freedom.
This idea is perhaps graphically illustrated in a person like Nelson Mandela
who was imprisoned (as we know) for political reasons in apartheid ridden South Africa
What ever we may make of Mandela's particular cause,
it is his decision whilst in jail that he would no longer carry the burden of imprisonment
that points us to the reality of this truth of the Gospel.
It is for freedom that we have been set free.
Mandela came to realise that as long as he hung on to the bitterness and hatred
of his captors
that the rocks and stones that he was being required to smash
were indeed smashing him.
The prime example of this sort of attitude is Jesus himself
who could have condemned those who condemned him
and justifiably
steadfastly refuses to do.
We hear Jesus saying....Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.

The key
It is for freedom that we have been set free.
This seems to be a key to understanding
how we lose our freedom
and become diminished as persons.
We lose sight of what we are doing.
Nelson Mandela regained sight of what needed to happen
and reclaimed his freedom.
But look at those apostles in those little vignettes today
Realising that they have been given power by Jesus
.....when they face opposition from people who disagree
their response is ....Should we use our power to zap them?
Jesus will not be sucked into this sort of vortex.

or to those enthusiasts caught up in the thrill of the moment
who want to throw everything to the wind
and make grand gestures.
Jesus says.....True freedom comes not from grand gestures
leaving home, making loud proclamation,
fine sounding phrases
But True freedom comes when
realising the consequences
you embrace the future
and the difficulties.
When faced with challenge and barrier
to those things we have found fundamental
instead of turning round and backing off
we keep our shoulder to the wheel
and press on.

True freedom
and it is for freedom that we have been set free
will have consequences.
it requires commitment
it requires that we not give it away

it will change our hearts
and grow the fruit of the Spirit
(this indeed will be a test of whether or not we are on track)
So much of what we hear as 'gospel'
does not seem to foster: patience, goodness, kindness, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness

which are the hall marks of true freedom.

Some ideas to explore this week

Where is God calling me to be free?
Have I allowed myself to be enslaved by hanging on to attitudes of bitterness and hatred that far from satisfying me are actually destroying me?
How do I need to open myself to the ministry of reconciliation which might set me free for this?

Talk to Jesus about one area of your life where he is calling you to be free?
What do you need to do to begin today?