Second Sunday after Epiphany - Br Andrew

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached at Maroubra on Sunday 18th January 2015 smatterings of Br. Luke as gleaned by Br. Andrew: 

 




Second Sunday after Epiphany - year B

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”

Readings: 1 Sam. 3:1-10, Ps. 139, 1 Cor. 6:12-20,John 1:43-51

What do we know from the reading from samuel?

·                     The Lord's Word was 'rare' in those days or dear as Rashi puts it in the Hebrew Commentary, it was not falling to earth very often and neither were visions received often.

·                     "The Lamp of God had not yet gone out" was this the lamp in the Temple to indicate the hour the Lord began to speak to Samuel?

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ere the lamp of God went out; before the lights of the golden candlestick were put out, i.e. in the night season, or before the morning, when they were put out, as they were lighted in the evening, Exodus 27:21 Leviticus 24:3 2 Chronicles 13:11. 

Or did it indicate that though the Word of the Lord was rare in those days that the Lord had not yet abandoned Israel.

We decided that both were applicable.

Samuels bed was near the Ark of God and Eli slept in a room opposite the Holy of Holies to tend to it when needed, Samuel was his guide and ministered for him.

⁴Then the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ and he said, ‘Here I am!’ ⁵and ran to Eli, and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ But he said, ‘I did not call; lie down again.’ So he went and lay down (1 Sam. 3:4-5) 

As we have read, this happens three times before Eli realizes that it is the Lord calling Samuel and sends him to lie down and to speak the words written at the beginning of this Sermon. "Speak, Lord, your Servant is Listening"

Note that Samuel does not yet know the Lord which is why he can sleep in the Most Holy Place without coming to grief, why he does not recognize the voice of the Lord when he hears it, but now he is bid to listen and how different is listening from hearing?

Remember this child was given into Eli's care to serve God in the Temple as Hannah's bargain with the Lord for allowing her to conceive a son.

see 1 Samuel 1:11"And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”"

Right from conception  Samuel was destined to be a servant of God - and the awesome things God spoke to Samuel once he came and stood where the boy slept and spoke to him of the coming extinction of the house of Eli for the wickedness of the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, in their blasphemy and of their father for not rebuking them or removing them from the office of  priest.

“ In the deep silence of that early morning, before the sun had risen, when the sacred light was still burning, came through the mouth of the innocent child the doom of the house of Ithamar.”—Stanley, Lectures on the Jewish Church, Part I.

The seeming threat that Eli makes to elicit the truth concerning the fate of the House of Ithamar...

What else can Eli say except  Let the Lord do what seems good to Him.

Josephus tells us that Samuel was 12 when he began to prophesy , the Lord was with him and the Scriptures tell us that not a word of his ever fell to the ground.

The Calling of Nathanael

The story of Jesus calling Nathanael, better known as Bartholomew, sticks in our memory, mine especially under the wording of the KJV

"An Israelite in whom there is no guile."

Jesus calls Philip who recognizes him as the one promised by Moses in the Law and the Prophets - Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth and the response " Can anything good come out of Nazareth"

Nathanael's excited exclamation ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’upon hearing that Jesus "knows" him as an Israelite in which  there is no deceit, his innocent goodness in recognizing this description of himself, perceived by Jesus while he was as yet under the peppercorn tree.

The mysterious prophecy of Jesus that Nathanael will see angels ascending and descending upon the son of Man is reminiscent of Jacobs Ladder.

1st Sunday in Lent - Br Simeon EFO

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

    Holy Redeemer

In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order

Homily preached at Winmalee:

 by Brother Simeon  Sunday 9th March 2014
First Sunday in Lent

Gospel Mt 4: 1-11

“ Overcoming Temptation”

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

My topic today is "Overcoming Temptation." We are drawing upon the experience of Jesus, our supreme example. The story is told in Matthew 4:1-11.

The customary title for this Gospel passage Is “The Temptation of Jesus”. A better title would  be the “Testing of God’s Son”.  The concern of the passage is an exercise to test what Jesus  is made of– is he up to the task ahead of him – does he have the fortitude and strength to  undergo the hardship– is he up to the challenge – is he the right man for the job?

The implication here is the devil is working for God. Could this be true?  Does this go against the commonly held belief that the devil is an independent adversary who is diametrically  opposed to God?

This is the story of the encounter of Jesus with Satan. Satan attempted to get Jesus to put his own needs and potential concerns above the will of His Father. He wanted Jesus to act independently of the Father. He wanted Jesus to sacrifice His secure future for the present. Jesus met Satan's challenge by trusting His Father to do all things in His time, in His way, and with His result!

Very often, we are concerned supremely about the present. We are tempted to sacrifice our principles for a short-term gain.  Instead of giving in, we can follow the example of Jesus in overcoming temptation through trust in God.

He was a young man and was ready to embark on His public ministry. Satan sought to destroy His ministry. Satan often tempts people when they are beginning to do something for God. He tries to derail God's servants before they can accomplish His purpose.

Satan relentlessly tempts us throughout our lives, under different circumstances, and in a variety of ways.

We are not greater than our Master. As the Spirit leads us, we too will be tested so sorely, that at times we will wonder if we have correctly discerned the will of God. It will help us to see what Jesus said and did under these circumstances.

In the OT,however, testing refers to the process by which the covenant partner is scrutinised to determine his fidelity to God.  The most well known story  is that of Job. We initially hear that God is bragging about his servant Job and so Satan,the tempter or the tester, says to God that  Job is only faithful because he has  been blessed with good fortune.  The evil one says that Job  would surely  change his tune if things weren’t going so well.

So Satan asks God’s  permission to inflict suffering upon Job in a effort to make Job curse God. Reluctantly, God agrees to this request and the devil is given almost free reign to systematically destroy Job and his family.  In the end, Job never wavers and remains faithful to God.  Job passes the test and health and prosperity is returned to him.

Before Satan was given the task of testing people, God was the one who put people to the test. An early example of this was God testing Abraham to kill his son Isaac, or God testing the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years after they were liberated from Egypt.  In essence, God was testing these people to see if they  were worthy.

So why would we be surprised if Jesus had to under go some testing to see if he was fit enough to be the Son of God?  And that is exactly what we are told happened.  The Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to the testing site.  But  Jesus had an extra challenge.  He had to fast for forty days and forty  nights before his testing began. It was common in that period and tradition for people to fast that long.

We also understand that all of us are tempted to do a wide range of things, sometimes we give in and sometimes we don’t.  Our society scoffs at temptation.  Oscar Wilde once said, "I can resist anything but temptation” and "the easiest way to get rid  of temptation is to yield to it."

Temptation looks good.  It is pleasant.  It is very attractive.  We often trivialise

temptation because we believe ourselves self-sufficient. We think of temptation as the  acceptance of evil when it is far more often the rejection of courageous good.  We are so used to choosing what is easiest that becoming what God wants us to be doesn't even seem like an option.  Yet, we understand that only by facing temptation can we know of our ability to triumph over it.

The first temptation, to turn stones into bread, is often understood as challenging Jesus to misuse his miraculous power to satisfy his own hunger because he doubts God's provision.

The second temptation is a spectacular use of spiritual power.  Jesus  is taken to the pinnacle of the Temple and told to throw himself down because God would send angels to rescue him.  Turning from the physical needs of hunger to the spiritual realm, Satan uses this profound temptation to see if Jesus will use the divine shield  to maintain his own safety.

 Will  Jesus seek to avoid all pain, suffering and hardship?  When ever there is trouble will he call on Daddy to save him?  Will Jesus adopt the attitude that he is invincible?  That he can do fool hardy things throughout his life and not have to worry about the consequences of his actions:?  Jesus rejects this enticement .He chooses the harder road and we know where that journey will take him on Good Friday.

The third temptation is the one that still plagues most leaders in our world today. Political power–control of vast territories,empires and resources.  To be the most powerful leader in the world.

First century Jews were expecting a Messiah to be an earthly king, a strong military conquer or who would defeat the Romans and regain all of Israel’s ancestral homeland. A mighty warrior who would lay waste to Israel’s enemies and  rule the entire world bringing peace and prosperity to God's chosen people.

Jesus could have had all of this –fame,riches,power. He could have been the Messiah people wanted him to be.  All he had to do was bow down and

worship Satan.  I find it amazing that  we still use this language in our society today.  We often  describe people who seem to have it all as “selling their souls to the devil” in order to achieve their level of success.  The temptation is real.

Jesus passed the tests.   With all the energy he could muster, he emphatically cried out, “ Away from me Satan I will serve God alone.”

We too are plagued with similar tests.  For the most part we can avoid the temptations that would take us down an illegal or immoral path, it is the temptations that deal with positive things that cause us the most struggle.  Whether it is looking out for our personal needs, seeking an easy safe path or dreaming of wealth, position and status, we face the same struggles Jesus did.

Will we invoke God’s authority and power to achieve our own goals and desires?  Will we put God to the test?  Will we sell our soul to the evil one in order to achieve worldly profit? Or will we like Jesus, choose to put our trust in God alone and seek to serve God in all things?

Temptations are a fact of life.  Each personal experience of being challenged

by tests calls forth a profound inner experience that requires a faith response.

Isn’t our real prayer to not succumb to those temptations which will certainly come our way?

During this time of Lent, we are called to take stock of those temptations that we all encounter.  We have the opportunity to prayerfully consider what we are being offered and to ask God for direction. Will we choose immediate gratification in the things we crave?  Or will we be patient and trust that God will strengthen us for the journey and lead us on the path that is true?

My hope and prayer for each of us this Lent,is this:  That the Holy Spirit will lead us to that place where we need to be tested.  And once there, that God will give us the  strength and will to choose wisely so that we too will pass the test.

Amen.

Homily Ist Sunday after Christmas by Br Simeon

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Holy Redeemer  In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order Homily, 

29th December 2013, First Sunday after Christmas, delivered by Br Simeon EFO.

 Gospel:  Matthew 2:13-23

 "Where is God Now? ” 

 The Gospel reading this day after Christmas strikes a new tone for the season by dramatically leading us away from anticipation of Advent and revelry of the holidays to the tenuous and dark days between promises and their fruition. Threats abound, but God carefully orchestrates Jesus' earliest days according to Matthew.

 Though as an infant Jesus cannot act in his own defence, God's steady protection and Joseph's faithful obedience combine to ensure his safety in a world of danger. Even as potential disaster threatens Jesus, ancient prophecies come to life and guarantee Jesus' ineluctable mission. 

 You have to hand it to Matthew in the way he balances a sense of wonder for the coming of Jesus with the grimmer bits. First we have the angels, the shepherds and even the wise men and a guiding star…a good story, filled with awe and wonder and even with a touch of magic. 

Then suddenly Matthew switches the mood of his story from pure wonder to pure horror. Herod is furious. Learning that he has been tricked by the wise men, who, despite their previous promise, evidently have no intention of coming back with information about a potential king being born in the area, Herod now in effect throws his toys.  He flies into a rage and sends his soldiers to kill all young male infants in the neighbourhood. Joseph and Mary are warned and flee with the baby Jesus to Egypt. 


 Eli Wiesel was a noble prize winning author and a survivor of the concentration camp Auschwitz. In the book Night, he tells of his experiences in the concentration camps. In one chapter of Night he tells of witnessing the hanging of three men. 

These men had been part of an underground resistance and had been captured. One of the three men was nothing but a boy. When they were hanged the two large men died instantly but the boy because of his light weight suffered terribly as he slowly choked to death. The prisoners in Auschwitz were made to watch the execution. And through it all a man behind Eli Wiesel asked out loud, "Where is God now?" And as the boy suffered he asked, "Where is God now. Where is he?" 

The man was not asking for God's geographical location. He was expressing an unutterable frustration and feeling that God had abandoned them. Here was a young man, a boy, who had risked his life to save other people. How could God let these Nazis torture him? They were God's chosen people, and yet this was happening. Had God forgotten them? Where was God anyway? 

 We are all familiar with the story of the Three Kings. Those three wise men who follow a star to Bethlehem to worship the King of the Jews, Jesus Christ. But right on its heels is another story that is tragic and disturbing. King Herod in his evil love of power plots to kill this baby born King of the Jews. At first he plans to use the wise men to find Jesus and murder him. But the wise men are warned by God in a dream not to tell Herod but to go home another way. When Herod realised he has been tricked he ordered all the children killed who are two years old or under killed. 

He didn't conduct a house to house search to find the one baby he wanted dead. He didn't order all the boys killed. He ordered all the children killed. But God warned Joseph in a dream and Joseph fled to Egypt thus fulfilling other prophesies. Jesus was spared from this attempt on his life. Jesus was destined to die, but this was not the right time. So God intervened allowing Jesus to grow up and be revealed through his earthly ministry. The powers of evil tried to kill the Messiah before his time but God miraculously intervened. Isn't that just wonderful! God intervenes to save the Messiah while hundreds of other innocent children die. I don't know about you but there is a part of me that asks, "What about these children?" What about their parents and grandparents - their brothers and sisters? What about these suffering people? Its fine that God intervened to save one baby boy, but why didn't God intervene to save these hundreds of others. 

Where was God in this!? I am not the first to ask this question. Christians before have asked this same question and arrived at different answers. The ancient Christians gave special honour to these children. This event was called the "slaughter of the innocents." And because these children had died while Jesus escaped, they reasoned that these children were in a sense the first Christian martyrs and that they went straight to heaven and have a special place in God's kingdom. 

Where is God Now? Perhaps I have over looked a very important part of this story. This story is, after all, about Jesus, Emmanuel - "God with us." Jesus is at the centre of this story. So where is God in the slaughter of the innocents. 

Well, God was right there, in the middle of it. God was and is where ever people are suffering. Isn't that what the Christmas story is all about. God the Almighty came into the midst of our suffering and pain to bring comfort and salvation and to hang on a tree. Where is God now as thousands die in wars and or poverty. God is there with them. Where is God Now? 

We often look for God in the beautiful and pure. We look for God in decorated churches and fancy sanctuaries. And God is here because God is everywhere. In the Christmas season we look for God in fancy decorations, gold and silver objects, decorative candles. But today's Gospel reading tells us of another place to look. ``-If you want to find God, look for pain and suffering.

 If you really want to find out where God is go to the slums, he is there. Go to the AIDS wards and cancer wards; God is there. Go to the war torn parts of the world where children are being slaughtered. And you will find God there. Oh, you won't see God at first, but through Christ and the Holy Spirit, God is there. And while you are there looking for God, could you do me a favour? Why don't you lend a hand to bring some comfort and peace, then you will really see God. When you come face to face with the evil of this world and you ask yourself "Where is God Now." Remember that God is with us "Emmanuel." Amen.