Life in the Spirit

Readings can include Acts 2:1-21; Ezekiel 37:1-14;Psalm 104:24-34, 35b;Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Although it is difficult to pick any of the events of the Easter mystery as the pinnacle or climax
in a real sense Pentecost is of great significance because it prepares us for our life as Christians
the gift of the Holy Spirit to the faithful and expectant disciples
is the gift of the Father to live the life that Jesus, the Word of God calls us to live.

The readings talk of many things:

    Renewal

    life being breathed into what looks as though it is dead

    Truth

    Peace 

    Joy 

And each of these deserves its own individual treatment.

Indeed this demonstrates to us that the Holy Spirit is not a quick fix...but is about God dealing with us comprehensively and completely.

Why would we expect anything else?

This is about the whole of our life and the whole of the world.

Indeed a prayer we often pray is 

Come Holy Sprit and renew your whole creation

So often we seem to think that God is just dealing with my little patch

It is about "the whole creation"

It is also about God dealing with us deeply

and not just tinkering in a titillating or superficial way.

This JOY that the Spirit brings is not merely an amusement or an entertainment it is about the absolute delight and sense of privilege that we know in being caught up iun the mystery of what God has been doing since before the foundation of the world.

It is perhaps the surest sign of the Spirit’s activity in our lives.

Where do you experience the deepest joy in your life?

It is a challenging question.

So often we mistake amusement for joy

yet often joy is about difficult stuff

about working through the challenging issues of life

and realising that although we are often confronted with danger, struggle, weakness

that the Joy that the Spirit brings transforms our life

This week

●Where has God given you the greatest JOY

●How can I nurture this

●What is God inviting me to be, know and do, by this active power and presence of the Spirit?

Moving on in faith

Readings for the Sunday after the Ascension (Seventh Sunday of Easter) May 24, 20098 Acts 1:15-26 Psalm 1,  I John 5:9-13 John 17:6-19

Now this can either be hard or easy!
Because, either the point of the physical removal of Jesus
that we call The Ascension
is an insurmountable obstacle to 21st century rational-scientific minds
or it is as easy as recognising
that in order to mature
we cannot go on having others
doing for us what we need to do for ourselves!
I opt to think, today, about the Ascension
in this latter way!

In the most obvious sense
God wants mature men and women.
People who will have depth and understanding
that is not achieved
by always stepping in making up for our inadequacies.
Any parent knows the truth of this.
Indeed anyone in any relationship whatsoever
needs to understand this,
we are not called to step in and make up
for the inadequacies, mistakes and failures
of others.
However well-intentioned,
this breeds immaturity and over-dependence,
rather than freedom, initiative
and sophisticated maturity.

There is a difference between supporting people in difficulty
and in not allowing people the opportunity to make their own mistakes!

The withdrawal of the physical presence of Jesus
rather than being an expression
of God's disappointment and heartbreak with the world
can and should actually be seen
as a statement of faith by God in you and me.
God believes that we have within us
the means to be effective people
God believes that we have within us
the means to be effective church
God believes that we have within us
the capacity to fail and to know that failure is not the end

This is what is going on

Two encouragements
This is something about the very nature of what relationship
with God is all about
We are not passive observers
of a world in which God is active
but we are ministers of God's presence to the world.

Now what does a minister do?
A minister acts on behalf of someone
So, a Minister of the Crown exercises authority of behalf of the Queen and the Government.
A minister of the Church
acts on behalf of God.
And we understand that Baptism
confers upon you and me
the responsibility
to be Minister of Jesus
We will say We are the Body of Christ
So Jesus can say to the Father...

I am no longer in the world but they are in the world.

Now this 'they' who he is talking about is you and me


We may feel as though this is too hard sometimes
Jesus prays for our protection
he prays that we may be united to each other
and that we may be filled with joy

He does not pray
that we should be relieved of responsibility
or taken out of the world.
But rather that we should exercise this responsibility

It is a great statement of the trust that God put in you and me
as ministers
to act with confidence in the name of the God who equips us for ministry.

May this be ours too

This week

• Can we look for opportunity to a faithful minister and commit ourself deliberately to God's care and protection as you seek to be more faithful
• Look at the circumstances in which we live and see where God is calling us to serve others.
  Pray deliberately for joy where ever we find ourselves to be

..

What ever we want!

Readings for Sunday May 17th, the 6th Sunday of Easter  Acts 10:44-48;  Psalm 98;, 1 John 5:1-6, John 15:9-17

St John in the section of the first letter that we read today

reminds us that we come to understand 

what life is about

and how things fall into place

by faith.

This is the victory that conquers the world,

our faith.

This is a seemingly innocent, even predictable, statement

which we may gloss over.

But it is also in a real sense the key.

We proceed to live life in a different way because of faith.

This is about a decision that we make to choose to live life in a deeper

more authentic way.

John hammers home Jesus’s bold assertion that everything flows out of the reality that God loves us.

It is not the declaration of rules and laws, but the reality of a commitment to live life in a radical and deep way

(Perhaps what Scott Peck called the “Road Less Travelled”)

So we are confronted again by the challenge to go out and bear fruit

and we hear the promise

that this fruitfulness will be undergirded by God’s provision of whatever we ask for 

and need to be fruitful.

Notice (as last week) this is not 

wish-fulfilment (the new bike syndrome)

this is purpose-driven   

God makes provision 

out of his love

for everything we need

to live the kingdom life

which brings us the promise of abundance

—–let’s not play games with God

thinking he is a slot-machine

—–we are trying to live the life of faith

so we are likely to need to pray for:

—–forgiveness, love, reconciliation, patience, generosity

much more important than 

a new bike, or even wealth

Abundant, eternal life

will in the end seek to draw out of us

a life of faith 

This is the victory that conquers the world...our faith

THIS WEEK

What do we want  and need  to live a life of faith?

What is to stop us asking for it?

Fruit of the vine

Readings for today, Easter 5, May 10th 2009 , can be taken from Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 22: 26-32, 

1 John 4:7-21, John 15:1-8

South Australians in particular appreciate this image of the vine that Jesus uses in John 15

It is a sumptuous and engaging image

and bears much thinking about, with reflection and prayer.

God wants us to be fruitful

he wants us not to have meagre lives

but abundant lives.

Some times we need to understand that fruitfulness comes about by a process of pruning

that is by cutting back

by curtailing ourselves

This process is for long-term fruitfulness

even though in the short term 

it may limit or even seem like it hurts

The passage from 1John reminds us that God’s sole motivation is  love for us

We are not the puppets of a dictator

we are the lovers of a God

who wants only our welfare.

DEEPER RATHER THAN SHALLOWER

All this prompts us to think that what is being suggested here

is deeper rather than shallower.

It is long-term transformation

rather than short- term titillation.

So when we read (as we do twice in this chapter) 

“ask what ever you wish and it will be done for you” 

we should realise that this is more than just wish-fulfillment.

God is seeking to respond to our deepest need.

I suspect that our deepest need is not to have more stuff or money

It is about attending to our need to be loved

and to love

In the end ...this will always be what we want.

However we name it, even if we have to begin with 

               “But I really want a new car!”

God is offering more than just to be Fr Christmas.

We know this because of John’s assertion over and over again

               God loves me! God loves you! God loves us!

So much so that he is prepared to confront death for us.

There is more being offered here than a new bike, a big house or a pile of cash.

THIS WEEK

Can you sit with the question...what do I really want?

Can we wrestle about that with God? (Why do I want more? Why do I need trouble to disappear)

What, God, are you offering?

Probably much more than we think!

Being a Good Shepherd

Readings for today, Easter 4, May 3rd 2009 , can be taken from Acts 4:5-12, Psalm 23 APBA p 243, 1 John 3:16-24, John 10:11-18

This comforting idea of The Good Shepherd

has appealed to countless generations of people.

Even those of us who don’t have a rural bone in our bodies

find it strangely comforting.

St John tells us that the difference between a Good Shepherd and the hired help

is that the good shepherd puts his life on the line for the sheep.

And we know Jesus’s care for us

in that he laid down his life for us.

And the moral point is (John tells us) 

that seeing how the Good Shepherd lay down his life

We ought to lay down our lives for one another

The Character of our relationships 

Is this how our relationships are characterised?

By the fact that we put our lives out there for those we love.

We don’t always get this right.

When we marry for example

we can make the mistake of thinking that our spouse is there to fulfil us.

The Good Shepherd idea would be that it is rather the other way around

We are there to see that our spouse is fulfilled

our life is at the service of those who we are called to love.

Not a recipe for being exploited

(indeed there should be a mutuality about this...it should go both ways)

THIS WEEK

we could give some constructive thought to where 

the Spirit invites us to ‘lay down our life’.

Is there someone whose life is our to care for?

How do we serve the other?

Interesting probably to think about those who we feel we don’t want to serve. What might that be telling us

The Good Shepherd is a challenge not just to a comforting image

but to a genuine disposition of our life.

The Good Shepherd lays down their life?

and 

Jesus, let me not a hired hand

show me 

how to truly care for others

as you do

that I may truly 

lay down my life

Open to the possibility

Readings for Easter 3, 26th April Acts 3:12-20, 1 John 2:15-17, 3:1-6; Luke 24:36-48

There are perhaps two ways we can approach the resurrection stories:
One extreme is that we see them as symbolical narratives of great spiritual truth,
that way we don’t have to worry about whether the nature of the events is factual
we take them for their symbolical value
The other is that we just take at face value what we have always been told
and again, don’t think much about what we are encountering.
Last week’s Gospel reminds us that we should do more than just park our brains
We have to grapple with inconsistency and doubt.
Luke, though, is at pains to point out
the physical truth of the experience.
This passage we read tells us
This is not a ghost!
This is a fleshly body. you can touch,
which consumes food.
It is the resurrected body of Jesus.
THE MIDDLE WAY

Death inevitably confuses us. This death no less than others has its degree of confusion
We ourselves are invited to steer the middle way and to try to understand
what it is about
We see Peter for example, and the other disciples having to grapple likewise
as they come to understand
that the death of Jesus has fundamentally changed their lives
Death does that.
We are not to look at it only symbolically or to disregard our doubts
but rather to struggle with what it means to believe.
Peter gets to the conclusion
that this resurrection has made the
power of Jesus
available through his disciples
and not just through the body of Jesus.

We are invited in Easter to grapple with the life of Jesus.

How and why is Jesus alive for you and me?
And what are we to do with that.

This week:
Pray for insight and faith to believe aright
Pray for faith to grow in the resurrection
Pray for courage and insight about how to use that power

Lord of Easter,

show me your living presence this and every day.
Grant me grace to know how to live

in the power of your resurrection

O ye of little faith!

Readings for this Sunday, Easter 2, 19th April 2009 Acts 4:32-37, 1 John 1:1-2:2, John 20:19-31

We would and do expect the accounts of the Resurrection experiences to be important parts fo the scriptural story.
They, after all. speak of what is at the heart of the Christian Gospel



that Jesus who once was dead
was encountered alive by the first disciples.
The stories are not straight forward
they are of course
sailing in uncharted waters.

We could make a couple of observations from todays readings:

ACTS: what ever else we see
the early church understood that things had changed
and there was a tremendous boost of energy
when Jesus was encountered alive
POINT: if we are wanting to focus our energies
then we look not to the empty tomb
but to the presence of the risen Christ
in our midst.

1JOHN: This is about seeing things as they are
God is light, and lights dispels darkness
We also need to be up front about where
we get things wrong
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves
But that is not the end
because God who faithful will and can forgive sins
and bring us into relationship with Jesus
POINT: This changes and deepens our relationship with God
and is an invitation to live with a new freedom

JOHN 20
We should expect Jesus to bring peace
in our relationships
and in our lives
And we also need to take this seriously
the story of Thomas
reminds us
that we are not required to park our brains
or arbitrarily dismiss our doubts
but rather that
in struggling with doubt
and inviting Jesus to deal with us realistically
we can move to a deeper and profounder encounter with God.


THIS WEEK

• Where is God inviting and challenging you to respond at this time?


• Where do you need peace? Where do you need light? Where do you grapple with doubt?


• None of this need be negative: rather it is the opportrunity to be a deeper person, more deeply committed and energised by the Holy Spirit of God

Celebrating Baptism at Easter

Easter Day, April 12th 2009. In our readings we particularly think about Mark 16:1-8 today
It’s always a great privilege
and very insightful thing to be able to baptise someone at Easter.
Easter is about new life and new beginnings
and baptism really invites us to adopt a lifestyle that is about Easter.
We affirm as we see Jesus
who once was dead, being declared to be alive
in a new sort of way
that this is the sort of character we want to live our life with.
We believe as Christians that this can only happen through faith in Jesus.
And so Jack and Catherine bring their daughter Marianne
to make that commitment on her behalf today.
She will need to learn how to practice this faith
and so Jack and Catherine, supported by Matthew and Wendy,
also promise to teach her by example
what it means
This is how children learn
by example.
But we are all given a clue
about the practice
by promising
three specific things
which remind us not only what children need to have explained to them
but also what we as Christians are called to reaffirm at this Easter time.
REPENT of your sins
This means that we need to stop doing the stuff that destroys us and others
Seek forgiveness and be forgiving.
REJECT SELFISHNESS in a world that is obsessed with ourselves
and what we can acquire
we reject the idea that people
achieve their full humanity by selfishness
RENOUNCE EVIL there is also bigger picture stuff
where we are seduced by ideas that people are disposable
or that we can exploit people as if they were to be bought and sold.

This is serious stuff
for Marianne.
We pray that Jack and Catherine will continue to do this.

And for each of us.
We renew our personal commitment
Don’t leave Church without it!!

Christus resurrexit! Don't be alarmed

Readings for today, Easter Day, can be traken from Acts 10:34-43, Is 25:6-9.Psalm 118, 1 Corinthinas 15:1-11, Acts 10:34-43, John 20: 1-18, Mark 16:1-8 (our selection is here)

Our Lenten pilgrimage is at an end
we find ourselves at the climax.
Mark's enigmatic account of what happens at the tomb
is an interesting challenge to the believer
those who go to look for Jesus
flee, in amazement and terror.
They are told by a young man ( who is perhaps an angel) "Do not be alarmed!"
What ever it is you are seeking
is not here at the tomb, it is elsewhere.
This seems to me (at the very least) good advice.
We have to move on from the tomb.
We have to get beyond what alarms us.
More than this it is a key part of understanding
what resurrection might be about.
It is certainly about trying to understand
what death is about
and death is often a point where we are
deeply ALARMED.
But it's not the only point at which we get alarmed.
We encounter death in our relationships
in our particular world views.
The message of the tomb would see to be
that we don't deal with death
by standing at the tomb.
As terrifying and amazing as this might be
(and it was for the disciples)
we are called to go elsewhere.
In this story the disciples are told to go back to the place
where they experienced life
It's called Galilee for these disciples
but may go by a different name for you and me.

Where are we experiencing the grave at the moment.
Don't be alarmed!
Go back to where you experienced Jesus
to where you knew true inspiration
and that things were right.

He is not at the point where we buried the body.
He has gone back to where he gives you life.

A present far too small

Reflection for Good Friday, April 10 2009. Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42

The great hymn of Isaac Watts often sung on Good Friday, When I survey the wondrous cross says in its final verse

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

I am often struck how some "religiously correct" versions change the original word
present to the more religiously correct word
offering
The two words don't mean the same thing, do they?
An offering is something that is required of us
it is our duty, our reponsibility
A present is an expression of love
and is given rather than exacted as a tribute.

Watts, I suspect, deliberately used the word present
and we should not use the word "offering" any more.

What this points us to
is that the story of the life and death of Jesus Christ
is not a remote religious tale
it is about the way we live our life.
It is in the world of 'presents' rather than 'offerings'

It is about how we live outside church
not inside
It is about present rather than offering

So Watts continues not with religious sentiment
but rather with the total commitment of life

love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all

thus all the things we know about Good Friday
and all the challenge that it extends to you and me
is not about what we do here
in this holy building
it is about what we do at work.
The forgiveness that we seek
is about the sins we have committed in our job.
It is about how we live in our families.
The amazing love that we are called to exercise
is to our wives and husbands, our sons and daughters,
our brothers and sisters.

Being religious is a good way of distancing ourselves
from the realities of our life.
It is an offerng rather than a present.

This year, let us go beyond that narrow formal duty...the offering
and instead be a present to God
committed in our life, where we are, where we live.

Love, so amazing so divine, demands nothing less.

The New Commandment

Reflections for Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2009 See: Exod 12:1-4, (5-10) 11-14; Psalm 116, 1 Cor 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31-35

Things come together on this day.
in the liturgy for this evening
we perform ritual washing as a reminder to be a servant,
and we celebrate with care the Holy Eucharist
remembering that this was the night when Jesus gave it to his disciples.
We then reserve some of the sacrament as a sign of the presence of Christ
and remove the ornaments from the church.
This is a symbolical reenactment of Jesus being taken out into the garden of Gethsemane, where he is ultimately arrested, stripped and beaten.
Things come together in the Eucharist.

The Command
We don't often think of it like this but the Eucharist (The Lord's Supper, the Mass...or however you call it) is a command
{This is where the word Maundy comes from...the Latin "mandatum" meaning a command.... we still use words like mandate and mandatory which have the same root}
Jesus tells us to break bread and drink wine, and remember him. We are to do this when we get together
And so Christians have done this for 2000 years.
Our experience is that as we fulfill Jesus' s command
so we experience Jesus amongst us.
The early Christians coined this phrase:
The disciples knew Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
As we fulfill the command we experience Jesus.

Tonight, we also read of another command
"Love one another as I have loved you."
And as Jesus says this he washes his disciple's feet.
When Peter protests he is told that this is the way we experience the fulness of life.
and Peter (over the top as ever) says: then wash me completely.
Jesus's command is that we should do what he has done
that we should serve others.

We are meant to make the connection between the two commands.
Eucharist is not just about ritual observance
it is about how we live our life.
Worship services are not what we are on about
they are rather an expression
of how we are called to live our life.
They are not the end in itself.

Our obedience to Chris't command to share the Eucharist
also commits us to obedience to service.

As Jesus goes out into the darkness of the Garden of Gethsemane
we are reminded that his call to follow him
will not be without its uncertainty and danger.
But in the end
we who know the truth of Christ
understand this invitation
to be a command that we embrace.
Each time we share the eucharist we are always
called to remember that we also called to serve

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.’"

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

Happy Easter! Sunday 12th April. We will focus on Mark's account of the Resurrection Mark 16:1-12

A Moment of Truth

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

March Chagall's White Crucifixion

This week is Palm Sunday , 4th April 2009. While there are many readings on which we could focus we will look particularly at Mark 15:16-39.

As Holy Week begins our hearts turn to the Cross
We have made a pilgrimage this Lent
as we have worked through Mark's Gospel
The flow of the Gospel is unremitting

• God's kingdom is here and now
• We are challenged to identify completely with Jesus
• We come to understand that in discovering who Jesus really is for us, we also discover who we really are
• It is in listening to his call, and trying to respond that we open ourselves to God's transforming power
• This journey requires, work, commitment, seriousness

Here, now on the Cross we see the climax of all this challenge
Jesus says to us:
I am an invitation to all people
to submit to the willof God
Knowing that there is no assurance of

• what the circumstances might be
• the troubles are that might emerge
• Indeed, we recognise that it might be quite hard.
• Perhaps even dangerous, certainly profoundly challenging

We trust that in the working out of this

All will be well....not all will be EASY

and that the fundamental reality of life

that in knowing Jesus we encounter God

• Listen to him
• Take up your Cross
• One thing more you need to yield to God

It is not that we are rewarded for being good, compliant
It is that at this place...Calvary
destiny. meaning, purpose and truth
are revealed

This week is Palm Sunday , 4th April 2009. While there are many readings on which we could focus we will look particularly at Mark 15:16-39.


As Holy Week begins our hearts turn to the Cross
We have made a pilgrimage this Lent
as we have worked through Mark's Gospel
The flow of the Gospel is unremitting
God's kingdom is here and now
We are challenged to identify completely with Jesus
We come to understand that in discovering who Jesus really is for us, we also discover who we really are
It is in listening to his call, and trying to respond that we open ourselves to God's transforming power
This journey requires, work, commitment, seriousness


Here, now on the Cross we see the climax of all this challenge
Jesus says to us:
I am an invitation to all people
to submit to the will of God
Knowing that there is no assurance of
what the circumstances might be
the troubles are that might emerge
Indeed, we recognise that it might be quite hard.
Perhaps even dangerous, certainly profoundly challenging
We trust that in the working out of this
All will be well....not all will be EASY
and that the fundamental reality of life
that in knowing Jesus we encounter God
Listen to him
Take up your Cross
One thing more you need to yield to God
It is not that we are rewarded for being good, or compliant
It is that at this place…
CALVARY
destiny. meaning, purpose and truth
are revealed

• THIS WEEK
  May this week be full of meaning Lord
  May I commit more fervently
  May I love you more
  

What must I do?

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 principle reading for this 29th March, 2009 the 5th Sunday in Lent is Mark 10:17-31, other readings include Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 119:9-16, Hebrews 5:5-14

It seems that there is both a universal and a particular message
in this story of Jesus 's encounter with a rich young man
The particular message for this man
is that there is one area in which he hold himself back
from God.
That he may do all sorts of other things right
but there is still
one thing more
he will not surrender his fondness
for this world's wealth and security
The general message is that for each one of us
is there is always
"one thing more"
it may not be money, or security
(it may...it is very seductive)
but we are not to hold anything back.

What is it that we are reluctant to hand over to God?

The young man, and the disciples have rightly identified
that this is hard.
Let us not be seduced by the image....how then can it happen?
What is beiong said here is that
WE cannot effect our own salvation
It is indeed impossible for us.
We will always be compromised
always seduced by some other thing.
Our faith must be and can only be in God alone.

We can have faith that all this will work out
but we may not quite understand how.
We are not called to understand.
Weare called to have faith!

Thomas Merton, who we have talked about
in recent weeks
reminds us that this is serious business
we are not playing games with God
(so often we do!)
we are trying to bring our real self before God
because it is the only self
that is known by God.
This young man comes to Jesus
he presents not his real self
but what he wants the world to think he is like.
"All these commandments I keep,
I am a good person"
But Jesus sees right through this,
as he does so often with people who seek healing.
"You need forgiveness!" he might say
"You have go to sort out your relationships".
No game playing.
It is not a reward exercise
in which we get a prize for being good
It is that when we are known by God
that our life is fulfilled, right, good.
Anything less is a game.
It is (as Merton says) a false self.
God only knows our real self,
the pursuit and promotion of the false sself
leaves us sad and unsatisfied.
This young man grieves
the disciples are profounbdly shocked.
But the affirmation is this:
This is God's work, and with God nothing is impossible.
Anything else is false,
at best a game, and at worst the road to hell.
Can Easter be for you and me,
this time of presenting the real-self to God?
Of commitment to Christ, that we know is right.
But we may be too frightened to let go
of one (or maybe more than one ) thing?
THIS WEEK
What 'one thing' is God inviting me to yield to him?
How can I do it?
Pray each day: LORD HELP ME TO BE REAL

Transfiguring power

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

For this Sunday, 22nd March, in the Diocese of Adelaide the focus readings will be Ephesians 2:1-10, Mark 9:2-13 (and Numbers 21:4-9)

[We have already reflected once on the Transfiguration story this year which marks the Sunday before Lent, this week we take opportunity to reflect as we look at it in the context of the flow of Mark's Goispel story]

Our experience of God is both natural and supernatural.
If we were to describe what our experience of God is like
we would no doubt find that we described some pretty mundane stuff.
How at meal times if we stop to give thanks
we can just be profoundly aware of the abundance that God provides for us each day.
How when we spend very precious time with people we care for
that often we are left with a sense of wonder at God's presence
Funerals, weddings, christenings... special but quite normal events
often leave us gob-smacked at their sense of power and God's given presence
in the very ordinariness but nevertheless authentic presence of God.
I am often struck at the Eucharist, which lies deep within our Anglican hearts;
the very Real Presence of the Lord God
as we gather together...two or three meeting in his name..

Equally well, I imagine if we were to have this discussion 
about how we encounter God
many would attest to experiences great and small
of the supernatural
These are important, but we make the mistake of thinking
that it is this supernatural experiences
which are what it is all about
and the natural encounters are secondary.
I rather suspect it is the other way around.
Jesus does not allow his disciples to enshrine the Transfiguration
and thus strip of its meaning.
Rather, Peter and James and John are reminded to keep quiet about it.
What is the purpose of it?
It is perhaps to reinforce and strengthen
what we discern through other spiritual means.
And what is reinforced

It is this....This is my Son the beloved
Listen to him
It is not that Jesus does not speak to us as we go through grief

or that when we talk carefully about forgiveness

and deal with issues of reconciliation, love and acceptance

it is that we are reminded that we need to Listen to him.

In particular Mark reminds us

that we are to listen to Jesus saying:

"If you are to follow, then you must take responsibility for your cross"

There is no cheap grace,

no good news without responsibility.

This is the Natural and the Supernatural teaching

Listen to Jesus

This week

• As you reflect on the week gone by, what has God been saying to you? How has Jesus spoken with and to you?
• This is a transfiguring voice. Our world will be different. What needs to change in my life if I am to respond in obedience?

Who do You Say that I Am?

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
In The Diocese of Adelaide on this 3rd Sunday in Lent, 18th March 2009, we are focussing on Mark 8:27-38

Does it really matter who or what we think Jesus is?
I have been privileged to rediscover Thomas Merton in the last few weeks, and as so often often happens with spiritual writers they speak afresh many years after first being encountered.
One of the things I hear Merton say is that we should take the search for God seriously,but that we should not become doctrinaire or dogmatic.
It is not that these things are unimportant, but that in the end it is our pursuit of God
and not our level of understanding
or depth of learning
that is the point.
This perhaps also points us to a truth about this question
that we encounter in this passage.
"Who do you say that I am?"
There are theologically and historically correct answers
but in the end what is being drawn out here
is more personal than that.
Merton says we should have "an awakened heart"
in order that we may be able to respond to God in love.

Jesus puts this differently by saying
If you recognise in me something that needs to be followed
a life that is authentic to God.
Then you don't just sit on that
You "take up your cross" and follow.

We all know Jesus
or know about him
if we are to follow then we need to act.
So how have you been going in Lent,
have you been able to listen and to act.
Is your heart a little more awake?

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"© Abbey of Gethsemani

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

Finding our deepest identity

[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]

This Sunday 1st March 2009 the focus reading is Mark 1:9-15. Mark's account of the baptism of Jesus

A lot happens in the first chapter of Mark. In the space of these few (only 7) verses...Jesus is baptised, he hears the voice of God, he goes into the wilderness and is tempted by Satan. John is arrested, Jesus goes back to Galilee and he makes a public declaration of what his ministry is about.

"The time is fulfilled 

and the kingdom of God has come near

therefore I call you to repent and believe in the good news"

It's a lot!

The Spirit affirms Jesus in the profoundest way possible

What ever it means, Jesus hears the voice of God saying

"You are my Son, and I love you, and I am well-pleased with you"

What does God say to you? What is God saying to me?

At our deepest level?

In Lent we are being invited to pay attention to God.

The idea of God speaking to us

is not without problem.

What do we mean by it?

It is not clear, for example, in this passage

whether Mark wants us to understand this as an external, audible voice.

Whether others might have heard it,

or whether this is just fanciful stuff.

I suspect if we allow ourselves to accept this passage,

not worrying too much about the mechanics of what is being addressed

that many of us would allow that God might be speaking to us

(heart-to- heart someone suggested to me during the week).

The wilderness

What unlocks some of this for us is that the same Spirit

who speaks this deep affirmation of Jesus's personhood

drives (a very strong word) Jesus into the wilderness.

This wilderness as we know, is an ambivalent place,

at once threatening (beasts)

but also where we are thrown back on total reliance on God.

It is as though Jesus not only has to hear the affirmation

but also then to go and appropriate it.

This needs the confrontation and threat of the wilderness.

It is not just nice words.

What might God be saying to you at this time of your life?

Can you take time this week to struggle with that a bit?

What don't I like about what God is saying to me?

Where do I resist? Where am I vulnerable?

Where do I deceive myself...about myself/about God?

It is out of this struggle

that Jesus comes to some realization

of what is happening!

The time is now, God is close

Things must change...I need to repent, to behave differently

(what will this mean for me today)

The time is NOW!

This Good News, if we are to believe it,

is for now

and will affirm us at our deeepest  level.

It will require some change,

and that we trust God for all that is necessary to effect it.

It is not without beasts,

but also with angels!

Do we trust God enough to enter into this?

THIS WEEK

• What is God saying to me at my deepest level (heart to heart)?
• Can I strip back everything and allow the wilderness to speak this to me?
• Will I decide to embrace the freedom that is being offered? To be free of sin? To live as one who tries to accept others? To embrace the possibility of failure? To trust only God?
• What is to stop me doing this now?

+

Just round the corner

Readings for Sunday 22nd February. 2009: 2 Ki 2:1-12; Ps 50:1-6; 2 Cor 4:3-12; Mark 9:2-9. The Last Sunday After Epiphany - The Transfiguration of Jesus

Well we have got to that point
where Lent is just around the corner
almost, but not quite, as late as it could be.
For most of the world, of course,
Lent means little or nothing.
Although in some ways like the great Moslem fast of Ramadan
Lent is probably less well known.
It is for Christians a time when we get our act together
There are many traditional ways of doing this
and they are not without merit
But let me draw yoiu attention to three of the more obvious ways
for Christians to "get their act together".
Prayer
At the heart of any Christian's life
is our relationship with God
so we will want during these 40 days
to try and strengthen that relationship .
like any relationship it is strengthened
through quality time.
If we want our relationship to get better then we need to commit to it.
Lent gives us a focus time...less than 6 weeks
so it is not a long commitment
and we find each year that it is worth it.
I suggest...three E's
Each day-make a commitment to pray at least once each day
The Lord's Prayer, a time of quiet or a short time to pray for someone special
Each week- as part of our commitment to build up each other
let's endeavour to make each of the Sundays in Lent
a time when we will be there
Extra- I do not think prayer is about volume or length of time
It is about "quality" time not "quantity"
So what I need to give during Lent
is extra quality.
This might mean making sure that we give proper attention and not pray on the run
It might mean keeping a little Lenten journal
or setting aside a deliberate time each week to just be together with God.

Giving
The one thing people often do know about Lent is "giving things up"
this giving things up...lollies, alcohol, meat, bread or what ever
breeds a little space and a little discipline.
It allows us to be more conscious of those who have not
and also to redirect some of our resources through giving

Certain 'traditional' support has often been highlighted

and they are worthy of our consideration.

Not so much 'what takes your fancy' as where do I feel the Spirit challenges me to be generous and give

• Charity


• The Poor


• Mission


• Jerusalem


• The Church

What appeals to you? Make it a special 6 week project.

Service
Our relationship with God is fostered through our care and service of others
Lest we think that Lent is a narrowly religious exercise
or even that Christianity is "narrowly religious"
we balance our spiritual exercises with our service and ministry.
This is the mistake that Peter makes on the mountain today
Seeing Jesus for who he really is ...the glorified one of God....
he doesn't know what to do.
We could think of a thousand things
let's tell others
let's inspire each other
let's commit to follow him to the end
But Peter says "No!! Let's build a shrine"
And Jesus has to say No!
There is suffering to be shared
there is work to be done.
So where will you serve this Lent.
I suggest that the words we need to guide us are these:

Personal
Responsive
& Unconditional

We need to respond in such a way that we are caring for a real person
and not an idea, or a bureaucracy
It will in a practical sense involve us with another person.
We need to be responding to real needs
That is doing what God want us to do
and not what we think we should do.
So often what we choose to do
serves our own needs
instead of those of others,
we do what makes us look good and successful
instead of what attends to the needs of another.
Finally our service should be unconditional.
We help a sick person go the doctor
so that they might get well
Not so that they might come to church.
We take food round to the family who have lost their father
because they need food
not so that they will do it to us in return.

Prayer Giving and Service.
Do not think you can do everything or the impossible.
Have a think about what you can do,
write it down
so you can promise yourself
and promise God

Do not be deceived into thinking Lent

is a pious few weeks, rather accept it as a challenge

to become mroe deply in love with God.

Readings for this Sunday the 6th After Epiphany, 15th February 2009 are 2 Kings 5:1-14 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Mark 1:40-45 Psalm 30
In this week's readings we see something of the application of
Healing, wellness, and wholeness
God wants more for us than we want for ourselves
The story of Naaman the leperthat we read this week
is a confronting one for all of us who think
we have our lives well under control.
Naaman is a powerful, successful man
and yet he is sick.
He has the sort of sickness
that people will not tolerate socially-leprosy
Quite what this was in his case is not clear.
we have rather poor attitudes
to leprosy
largely what we have been (wrongly) taught.
(see for example the life of Damien of Molokai)
Nevertheless it is something that would have taken
Naaman out of circulation,
perhaps by disfigurement
certainly because of ritual prohibitions
designed to prevent infection
---Primitive but effective---
Naaman, like many who become seriously sick,
find their life is taken over
and they are no longer free to do what needs to be done.
Naaman
the handsome,
the powerful,
the successful
is sick.
What to do?
He uses his connections to get to the doorstep of Elisha.
He will have done this sort of things many times before.
As a highly motivated person he is used to
identifying the problem
finding a solution
and effecting the operation.
This is how a highly successful person operates.
The only trouble is that sickness
is not a cash flow problem
it is not a stock shortage
or a management crisis.
If we are to be made whole
then we will need more than just management
or even skill.
We will also need openness to God
a fair degree of humility
and preparedness to change.
If you think about in-depth healing
or wholeness
we understand that there is more to it
Confrontation
so he is deeply confronted.
Elisha is not actually over-impressed by his status
he can barely come out of his house
he sends an underling to communicate with Naaman
and Naaman is not impressed.
Let us look at some of the things that Naaman does
which might expose some of the issues
he brings lots of money
but his healing is not going to be paid for by lots of money
he shifts the responsibility to another person,
In the process that person (the king of Israel) is deeply stressed
and he doesn't know what to do.
We often do this.
This is different from sharing the responsibility by inviting others to pray for you.
Healing will require that we open ourselves
not just that we get someone to do the slog for us
he needs to learn about simplicity, humility and obedience.
Elisha is very offhand with him.
He refuses to let Naaman think that this is the only problem in the world.
This is hard for us to endure.
In the end he is required only to be faithful to a simple process and to submit to that
he is seduced by the spectacular.

"‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the
name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!

Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of
Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a
rage.".

..when things do not go as he wants
then at least he demands spectacle
spectacle that shows he is pretty special?;
spectacle that shows God is taking notice?

Are you beginning to get the idea that there is a lot going on?
Naaman needs to confront a whole lot of stuff in himself:
Pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, lack of faith....
all of these things will be up for grabs
if we open ourselves to wholeness rather than just removal of symptoms.

Finally, the Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-45)
tells of another lepe the dialogue with Jesus says...
"‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’
There is (again) more here than waving of hands
the man is asking to be brought inside the ambit of Jesus's life and faith...
If you choose
and we are assured that Jesus does choose
But he chooses not just curing symptoms
but fulness of life
wholeness
not just a narrow healing.
To us Jesus says, I do choose...
but we may have to confront,like Naaman,
our pride, our lack of humility,
our notion of our own importance,
certainly our sinfulness
and be prepared to enter into the abundant life
that we are being offered.
...more coming