Getting things into perspective...and remembering to say thank you

During Lent & Easter we will be paying attention to some of the Psalms. Today, (March 18, Lent 4) we look at part of Psalm 107

Today’s Psalm invites us to

be people who are openhearted

and thankful to God

for all that God is and does for us.

Let us thank the Lord for his goodness.

Do we often or usually reflect on our lives

and explore what God is doing?

Do we take time to think about what and  how we pray

and how this might be being addressed?

There is the famous joke about the drowning man

A man is drowning in the sea.''Help me, Lord,'' he cries.

Just then, a fishing trawler comes by. ''Climb on board'' yells the skipper.

''No, no, no,'' says the drowning man. ''The Lord will save me.''

''OK,we will be on our way, then,'' replies the captain.

Two minutes later a rescue helicopter landed along-side the poor chap, and the pilot threw a rope into the fierce waves. ''I do not need any help,'' cries the breathless man, ''The Lord will come and rescue me.''

Moments later the guy drowns, and finds himself in heaven. On meeting God, the man weeps: ''Lord, I was waiting for you to rescue me from my watery tomb. Why did you not save me?''

God replies:'' You daft so and so. I sent you a boat and a helicopter!''

Our life with God can be rather like that.

We may cry out in desperation

but do we pay attention to the response?

This Psalm is reminding us that we should at least give thanks

The Psalms are full of this advice.

O give thanks to God, the Lord

The section we read today particularly  reminds us to be thankful

for the fact that God attends to us in our personal needs

for healing,

when we are grieving,

and when we are difficult circumstances

We often feel naturally inclined to do this

(Churches are never so full as in times of war and great disaster)

But we are being challenged

to do a little more than that.

To also give thanks to God.

So this probably means that we need to reflect some what  on what is happening in our life

that is all this psalm is about.

Certainly it is also saying

and as you see what God is doing

then give thanks!

You know, as far back as five centuries before the birth of Jesus Socrates, observed

The unexamined life is not worth living

The great spiritual writers in the Bible and in the Church tell us that as we examine our life,

and as we give thanks to God

we find a great spiritual storehouse

an energy, openness

and new generosity of  the Spirit.

This is what the disciples found Jesus was introducing them to.

We hear him saying to Nicodemus (in John 3) you need to look at this afresh, do it a new way

be born again.

And Jesus goes on to say how what god is trying to do is not to condemn us

but rather to set us free.

When you examine your life, when you give thanks to God

you take some control of your life.

You are set free.

You get to choose your destination

To determine the path

you become able to work out when you are walking in the wrong direction

and to do something about it

O give thank to the Lord for he is good

and in the midst of trouble

we are being shown how to get going again

Can we dare to do this?

Can we afford not to do it?

Do we really want reality?

Sunday 18th March 2012 is the 4th Sunday in Lent. Often called Mothering Sunday or Refreshment Sunday in the Anglican Tradition. Readings can be Numbers 21:4-9. Psalm 107:17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10 and John 3:14-21
(A self-portrait of Adelaide graphic artist, Denes Nagy, more of his work is here)


The trip back to the country town some years ago
where my father was buried
to bury the body of my mother (who died many years later)
Was quite demanding...but it had to be done!
And reflecting on it, it was good to do it.
Standing in the cemetery there was an eeriness
in which the ghosts of the past seemed tangible.
They were not the wandering ghosts of my parents
but rather the mixed feelings about what life had been like there
as I grew upSome of it, much of it,  was rather pedestrian,
you know the missed opportunities of my youth and so on,
rather more of it 
was recognising
some of the pain associated with that place,
and a key part 
embracing some of those who remained
and remembering 
how much they had meant to me, my parents and my wider family.
All this is the legendary stuff of funerals.
And why they present to us such a rich tapestry
of opportunity and experience.
At funerals we can go forward, inward
and emerge enlightened.
But of course, we can only do this if we permit ourselves
to enter into the experience,
and allow the encounter with that which threatens to destroy us to take place.

Snakes in the desertIn the curious story from Numbers 21
we read about an anthropologiocal phenomenon-sympathetic medicine-which is rather foreign to us, and yet strangely familiar
(we need to make the translation necessary for our post-modern times)
Plagued by poisonous snakes the people of Israel look set to be destroyed,
indeed some fo them die,
Moses makes a snake image and gets them to look at it.
they are invited to embrace that which would destroy them.

What ever we make of this there is a truth being proclaimed here
Though we often are tempted to flee those things that would destroy us
that is not usually the way to deal with it.
The experiences we have of death and funerals
remind us of this
These things don't just go away if you ignore them.
They come back to bite us!!

When I am lifted up.So Jesus identifies for us that this is more than just "sympathetic medicine"
it is in fact fundamental reality.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
is the focus example for all Christian people
of how we might live our life.
We deal with all that is evil
not by running away
--that only delays the inevitable--
but rather by confronting it head on.
We do not like this!
because it is difficult stuff.
The Cross is an invitation for us
to embrace suffering
and not run.
It proclaims God's ability to take
what looks like death
and give it eternal meaning
(I thank the wonderful priest-Donald Grey-Smith
for giving us this phrase at an ordination retreat
it has come back to me time and time again
...What seems like death...is the gate to eternal life)

What does this mean for me?We all know, basically, the truth of this in our lives
we are set free as we embrace this truth.
Jesus himself says "The truth will set you free"
There is more here than just a requirement to tell the truthBy embracing our suffering and those things
that threaten to destroy us
we find that the richness of God's mercy
acts for our good and salvation

even when we were dead through our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

and raised us up with him

and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

Does this give us courage to confront our own addictions?
Does it help us to venture into the arena of the hurt in broken relationships?Can we embrace the sadnesses and disappointments that we just wish would go away?
Jesus says to us from the Cross
When I am lifted up I will take you to myself
and convert there
your deathliness
to life.
So we need not fear.

A timely warningWe do not need to be crucified every moment of every day
this would be to misunderstand what is going on here:
Jesus picks his time
and prepares himself
but he does not neglect to act
he does not come back to be crucified next year...
and in a real sense
we cannot and do not achieve anything by our own suffering
we are rather entering into the mystery of what Christ does for us.
What looks like death
is in fact the gate to eternal life?
Will we run
or will we look up to our healing on the cross?

Declaring for God

During Lent & Easter we will be paying attention to some of the Psalms. Today, (March 11, Lent 3) we look at Psalm 19

This is a beautifully structured psalm.

Everything about creation speaks of God.

The Psalmist (who may or may not be David) tells us that every day

when the sun rises and blasts the earth

we see a sign of what God has done and is doing

The core of the psalm

Then at the heart of the psalm we are given some teaching about the Torah..the Law

Remember that the Law is

not about the instructions, the rules, the legislation & laws

but about how we order and live our lives

In fact the psalm tells us about the nature of the law

It is indeed Law-this wholistic way of life

it is decrees- what is declared to be true

Love your neighbour as yourself, forgive without end

it is precepts or principles and structures…take up your cross, those who want to lead must also serve, don’t lay up for yourself treasure on earth but in heaven, and

there are certainly commandments – we know for example about the 10 commandments ..don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, worship only God

& there are ordinances. Human society has rules and laws…don’t move your neighbours fence posts!

But perhaps of interest is this expression..

The Fear of the Lord…not about being frightened of God’s ways

but rather understanding that we are human and God is God

so often in the scriptures we see that we get into trouble

when we get this wrong.

While we see this is the Bible

let’s not imagine  that we don’t do this!

The Reward

We read that living like this brings reward

We are REVIVED, we become WISE, we are filled withg REJOICING, we are ENLIGHTENED, and this is how we know PURITY and RIGHTEOUSNESS

A pretty impressive list of rewards and benefits

Better than wealth

sweeter than honey!

The Benefits

What this wonderful psalm tells us is the benefit of all this

is an understanding about how to live our life well

to be kept away from error and the trouble of our enemies

and keeps us living well and innocently

There is a deep prayer that the way we live, pray and work will be acceptable

It is the invitation to build our life on the rock which is God

and to know God’s salvation and hope for our life.

May your words, your law, and my thoughts and meditations

build me on my Rock and my Redeemer

--------------------------

Take time to sit outside and enjoy the weather?

•                Give thanks to God for the beauty of creation

How can I live a better life?

•                It’s not about rules, it’s about the way we live.

•                What one thing could I do this week to better express the call to live righteously, obediently, faithfully. 

Core faith

Readings for Sunday 11th March 2012, Third Sunday in Lent: Exodus 20:1-17;Psalm 19;1Cor 1:18-25; John 2:13-22
While there is a lot of traditional reading in the scriptural reflections
the law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul....The Ten Commandments....Stop making my Father's house market place....God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdomThere is in all the readings a serious confrontation
of our complacency
and lack of faith.
There is here an invitation to re-imagine
our relationship with God.
Is this, we might ask, what God is asking each one of us to do right now?
Both as individuals and as a parish, perhaps even as a nation, and as a world.
One of the things that saddens me about elections
and political processes
is that we settle for considerably less than this.
Each time we assent to the doctrine
"Politics is the art of the possible!"
We are letting go of idealism and imagination.
Where, I want to ask, is the vision, the optimism, the hope?
And we so often settle for second best.


The Ten Commandments

Despite the fact that we often look at the Old Testament
in a negative way
and claim for ourselves
a superior "New" Testament.
We miss two important points:
1. We fail to see that the covenant of promise
which God makes with us
as summarised in the Ten Commandments
is a radical departure
from what had always been and what we somehow imagine
is the way of the world.
They set before us
a God who is personal
that is, he is "I" not "It"
who calls us not into some supernatural cabal
but into personal relationship.
God is not a power to be harnessed
for our own benefit
like some sort of witchcraft or magic
but rather an invitation to live life
in a powerful and holy way
which is what we are intended for.
What ever "ism" we may choose to use as a god
to run our life: captitalism, racism, sexism,
nationalism, materialism
God will not simply submit to being a sort of "guiding principle"
which some how imbues these other gods o with power
God stands aside from that,
transcends that
challenges and ultimately defeats
all these other gods.
The God of the Sabbath shouts out loudly
against being simply "useful"
and reminds us that God is interpreted
in God's own terms
and cannot simply be packaged.
"As God", one commentator puts it, "refuses to be 'useful'"
so the social commandments remind us,
"our human counterparts are not objects and commodities to be used"(Brueggeman in Texts for Preaching)
This is radical and important stuff!

The Cross
What Paul reminds us is that the Cross continues this tradition
of confronting us with the need to be rightly-oriented to God.
We so easily get it wrong.
Our energies are spent in money-changing,
instead of God-nurturing.
This critique is at the heart of Paul's message.
Everything we do is to be seen
through the truth of the message of the cross.
The Cross says God is not aloof from pain and suffering,
and that love is not about hearts and chocolates
but about death, forgiveness, and pain.

We don't get this. We want it to be otherwise.
So Paul is pretty blunt.
This is foolishness and a stumbling block.
It is what binds Christians together,
and also what sets us apart.

What to do?
This week you may like to take time
to be with God
and to open up your cross-life to him.
If you are not sure about what this means
then ask God to help you understand it more.
As you reflect on your life
ask yourself the question
"How does the Cross speak to me about this?"
My sickness, my grief.....My lifestyle, my sin
What is God seeking to draw from me at this time?
How might I respond?

Lord make sense of suffering and pain for me
Lord help me to know more of what it means
to stand at the Cross
and to boast only in that.
Lord let me love you more

Sticking to faith

During Lent & Easter we will be paying attention to some of the Psalms. Today, (March 4, Lent 2) we look at Psalm 22:23-30

We live charmed lives here in Australia

Many of our woes are imaginary,

we have good healthcare, good  food

a justice system that works.

Many people in the world,

and throughout history have been denied

what we take to be

basic rights.

These things are not perfect, but pretty good for most of us.

Our relationship with God is often caricatured  and characterized as fanciful and unrealistic.

It often seem to me this is superficial

and is done by people who do not understand

that we try to approach God,

we struggle with the religious

in order that we may understand life

and ourselves.

As St Augustine says (see last week)

our prayer to God is

Let me know you, that I may know myself

This Psalm that we look at today is an important one.

Psalm 22  , it is noted is quoted more often in the New Testament than any other Psalm

Principally, we hear Jesus  speaking it

from the cross

My God, my God  why have you forsaken me

and we hear other heart-wrenching stuff

“I cry out but you do not answer…I am attacked on every side by mad cows, lions and dogs”

This resonates with me. I feel like this sometimes

As though God is not there, as though my enemies are winning and I am losing.

This is is real human stuff

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me

And the section we read today

invites us to move beyond this.

All the woe is true

but there is more to it than that

(this is what Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens don’t get….I don’t want to belittle their scepticism, but I do want to suggest that to people of faith like you and me

there might be more here than meets the eye

Let us not be trite,

Christian faith is not about escaping the harsh realities of the world

But rather trusting that there is more in the promises of God

than the mind alone can comprehend.

So the Psalmist says:

Trust the promises of God.

What is happening to Jesus on the Cross at the greatest moment of despair

is that at the point when ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

is stripped away

there is and only GOD!

This is really hard!

Yet it is true.

We are invited to remember

the promises of God are true

Trust God!!!

Praise the Lord!

he does not despise those who are at the bottom of the pile

(he calls them the poor and the afflicted)

Let’s hear….God doesn’t  despise you…or me

We often feel like things are not working

but we are invited to trust.

What is God promising to you:

Security, healing, hope

There is also a greater promise…..

that if we trust this process

…faith in God rather than trust in humanity

…will spread to the rest of humanity, throughout and into the world

Psalm 22: 23-30

You who fear the Lord, praise him!
  

 All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
   

stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 
For he did not despise or abhor
   

the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
   

but heard when I cried to him.


From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
   

my vows I will pay before those who fear him. 
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
   

those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
   

May your hearts live for ever!


All the ends of the earth shall remember
   

and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
   

shall worship before him. 


For dominion belongs to the Lord,
   

and he rules over the nations.


To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
   

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
   

and I shall live for him. 


Posterity will serve him;
   

future generations will be told about the Lord