Second Sunday after pentecost.year B.-Br Simeon

Homily preached by Br. Simeon at Springwood: Sunday 7^th June 2015: 

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. YR B.

Gospel:   Mark 3:20-35

When Jesus’ family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”

In the Name of the One God, +Father, +Son and +Holy Spirit. Amen.

A chauvinistic husband and his godly wife were preparing to have breakfast when the wife asked, “why do I always have to make the coffee?”

The husband answered, “because you’re the wife, that’s your job.”

The wife replied, “well, the Bible doesn’t say it’s the woman’s job to make the coffee, it’s the man’s!”

Taken back by this, the husband demands to see where in the Bible it states that he should be the one to make the coffee.

“Well, here it is”, the godly woman replied, “Hebrews!”

A central theme of Mark’s Gospel is how Jesus’ hearers (especially the Twelve) fail to comprehend the deeper meaning of his words and actions. The wild charges made by the scribes and the apologies offered by his family in today’s Gospel indicate just how misunderstood Jesus was by those closest to him.

In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus’ family thinks he is mad and the religious leaders think Jesus is possessed by demons.  The kingdom of God has come near but those who have watched Jesus grow up and those who have religiously guarded the commandments of God to the Jewish people, are now accusing Jesus of either being deranged or in the grip of Satan.  What began as good news, has now, very quickly in the gospel of Mark, turned into bad news.

First, the Jesus who calls his disciples to be a united “house” and community is dismissed by his own “house” as “out of his mind.” Apologising for his exorbitant claims about himself and his challenging their most cherished traditions and revered institutions, his family attempts to bring Jesus home.

Second, the Jesus who cast out demons and cured the sick is charged with being possessed himself.  The scribes cannot grasp the single-minded dedication of Jesus to the will of God without the “filters” of their interpretations and direction; hence, he must be an agent of Satan, the prince of demons.  (Remember that whatever the people of Gospel Palestine could not understand or explain was considered the work of “demons.”)

Third, the Jesus who comes to be a vehicle of unity among God’s people calls on his hearers to be united in faith and spirit in him in seeking God’s will in all things. The Gospel Jesus destroys the barriers created by race, culture, wealth and social status.  He speaks of a new, united human family: the family of God.

Jesus the “lunatic” comes to heal us of what is, in fact, our own “lunacy” -- the lunacy of allowing pettiness, pride, anger, prejudice, and self-centeredness to alienate us from one another, the lunacy” of exalting “me” at the expense of others’ basic necessities, the lunacy of constantly grabbing as much as we can as fast as we can while many on this planet have nothing.

Sometimes we act out of a self-centeredness that is of “Satan” and not out of the compassionate spirit of the Gospel Jesus — and, without fail, the “house” we have built on a foundation of self-centeredness collapses in anger and hurt.

If a house that is a real home is to stand, it must be constructed out of forgiveness, humility, and generosity; to build it of “cheaper” materials, to compromise the integrity of the structure by placing one’s own interest over that of the family is to invite disaster.

Jesus’ life is testimony to the reality that the “power” of “Beelzebub” cannot heal or restore or re-create — only the Spirit of God can bring about such transformation.

Jesus comes as the means of unity among God’s people, to reconcile humanity to God and to one another, to instill a deeper understanding and appreciation of our sacred dignity as being made in God’s image. We are called, as the Church of the new covenant, to seek in every person the humanity we all share that comes from God, the Father of all and the Giver of everything that is good.

Amen.

Second Sunday after Pentecost - Br. Simeon

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached at Winmalee by Br. Simeon

Sunday 22^nd June 2014: 

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Gospel:  Matthew 10:24-39

“Do Not be Afraid”

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

I recently read the story of a Priest who arrived in his new Parish and, on the first Sunday preached a wonderful sermon. On the second Sunday, he again preached a wonderful sermon, but it was the same as the week before. On the third Sunday, there was another repeat of the same sermon. One kind person quietly said to the Priest after the service, ‘It was a good sermon, but that’s the third time you’ve preached it.’ ‘I know,’ replied the new minister, ‘When I see some evidence that you actually heard it, I’ll change it!’

I wonder if you know what the most repeated command given in the Bible is? It’s actually repeated three times in today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 10.24-39) and is the command, ‘Do not be afraid.’ I'm told that this command is actually found 365 times in the Bible, one for every day of the year. I haven’t checked that out for myself but you can find quite a bit of debate on the internet about whether or not it is the case. Whether that is correct or not, the fact remains that that “Fear not” or “Do not be afraid” is the most frequently repeated command in the Bible.

This seems strange in a passage where Jesus gives lots of reasons why we should be afraid:

•   the effect of his message he says will be division within families (vs 34-36);

•   there are powers abroad in the world which can destroy both body and soul (v 28); and

•   everything that we do, including those things done in absolute secrecy, at some point in the future, will be revealed and no longer be secret.

The world is split- Jesus seems to be saying between those who takes God as master and teacher and those who take Beelzebub or the powers of evil as master. No pupil is greater than his teacher, no servant greater than his master, so who we follow and who we serve defines who we are. Those who take up their cross, follow in Jesus’ footsteps and lose their lives for his sake are his disciples; those who do not take up their cross, do not follow in his footsteps and try to gain their own life are not. The divisions will run even through families with sons and fathers, daughters and mothers, daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law all making different choices and being on different sides of this divide.

It all sounds pretty scary to me but Jesus was preparing his disciples for the kind of world they would live in following his resurrection and ascension. A world in which those living in Jerusalem would experience the Roman army destroying the Temple and Jerusalem itself and a world in which those in other parts of the Roman Empire would experience persecution for sharing the good news of Jesus.

Transpose these words and that setting into Zimbabwe or Iraq at present and you can glimpse the force and realism with which Jesus is speaking. We are not in those kinds of situations currently, although a combination of recession, peak oil and climate change, could make our experience of life here in the West much more conflicted in future. But, even though we are not in that situation now, the new way that Jesus established of being God’s people still divides opinion and actions. If people genuinely follow his way, the somewhere down the track division is bound to be experienced.

In that kind of a world what reasons are there for us not to fear? The first reason Jesus gives initially seems strange.

“… the first reason  (verses 26-27) is that a time will come when everything will be uncovered. Everything that is presently secret will be made known.

Why should that mean they don’t need to be afraid? Lots of people would regard the imminent disclosure of their most private thoughts and words as a further reason to be afraid, not as a reason to throw fear to the winds. Jesus seems to be assuming that what will come to light on that day is the disciples’ loyalty and faith; they will be seen to have followed Israel’s true Messiah, the world’s true Lord. Their patience and perseverance will emerge into the light. What may have looked like obstinacy or even arrogance will at last be seen as what it is, a resolute determination to follow the Lord of life wherever he leads. In other words, truth will out, justice will prevail, and those who have lived with integrity and innocence, despite what the world says about them, will be vindicated. That, rather than a quick God-will-look-after-you message, is what Jesus is ultimately offering.”

Then Jesus goes on to give us what are some of his “most striking promises about the detailed love and care of God, not only for every one of his creatures, but for every hair of their heads.” God is actually “the one that we do not have to fear. Indeed, he is the one we can trust with our lives, our souls, our bodies, everything.”

We often pick up on an important misunderstanding in the way that we often translate and understand Jesus’ words here. In verse 28, the Good News translation of the Bible says that we should be afraid of God “who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” For me personally, I would say  that is a mistranslation of Jesus’ words. It is the powers of evil that can destroy both body and soul in hell.

The whole force of Jesus’ argument is actually that God cares for each one of his creatures from the sparrows to human beings knowing us intimately and does not want any of us to perish.

 “God is the one that we do not have to fear. Indeed, he is the one we can trust with our lives, our souls, our bodies, everything.”

Precisely because God can be trusted with everything, our allegiance to him matters: allegiance to Jesus must come top of every priority list. Comfort comes with challenge but the challenge of Jesus’ sayings, is “matched by the remarkable promises he makes to those who accept them and live by them:”

“He will ‘own’ us before his father in heaven. Those who lose their lives will find them.” “You are worth more than a great many sparrows; so rest assured that God knows and cares about the details of your life, even as you face the temptations and dangers which so easily surround you.”

As followers of Jesus, we are bound to expect attacks at all levels. But we also need to learn and trust that the one we are serving is stronger than the strongest opponent we will ever meet.

Amen.

6th Sunday of Easter preached by Br. Simeon.

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached at Winmalee on  Sunday 25th May 2014: 

 SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER. Year A.

Gospel:  John 14: 15-21

“ If you love Me”.

Almighty God, by whose power we are created and by whose love we are redeemed. Guide and strengthen us for Your service, that we may live this day in love for You and one another; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Language is a funny thing.  When you look at words, how they're formed, what they mean, it is interesting to see how they came to be.  There are words that are long and words that are short.  We have words that are easy to pronounce and words that are not easy to pronounce.  One word in the English language is 28 letters long, antidisestablishmentarianism.  It's a word that you won't hear a lot.  There's even a 45
letter word, but I won't go there to begin to try to pronounce that word.  But there is one word that is not a long word; rather it is only 2 letters long. The word is “if”.  It is conditional.  It indicates that should you do this, then you will receive that.  It requires action, usually on our part, to receive the intended results that we desire.

That is how Jesus begins His discourse here.  He says, “ If you love me, you will keep my commandments”.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we don't love Jesus.  Because of our sinful nature, we want absolutely nothing to do with God.  We utterly despise Him and everything that He stands for.  We can't love Jesus on our merits or work, and we surely can't keep His commandments.  That should be the end of it all.  We don't want God, we hate God, and we despise God.  So in turn, God should not want us.  God should hate us.  God should despise us.

Bur that is not the way it is.  God chose to love us when we were unlovable in our sin.  Through His great love and mercy, He gave to us His only-begotten Son.  By the work of Jesus Christ, we have been given the gift of Jesus and His forgiveness, won for us on the cross.

Jesus knows that we cannot love Him.  God knows that we cannot love Him, yet that doesn't stop them loving us. God love us when we were unlovable and promised Jesus.  Jesus loved us when we were unlovable and gave Himself to us and promised the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We have been promised , “ I will never leave you nor forsake you”.  Here, Jesus tells us, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you”.

Really?  God would promise us a Saviour for breaking His one command of not eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil?  Jesus would give to us Himself even when we are incapable of doing what He says, “ You therefore must be perfect,

as your heavenly Father is perfect”.  Speaking for myself, I know that I’m not perfect.  And speaking for all of you, I know that you're not perfect either.  None of us are perfect, nor has there been anyone who is perfect, except for Jesus Christ.  He is the on and only who has ever been or ever will be perfect.  You and I are far from perfect.

In fact, we are so far beyond perfect that the only thing you and I should receive is death and damnation.  Yet, despite all of that, God still loves us.  Despite our grievous sins, God still loves us enough to send us a Saviour.   Despite our grievous sins, Jesus still loves us to send us the gift of the Holy Spirit for the building up of our faith.

Through the gifts of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, Jesus continues to come to us, just as He says He would.  Through these simple and ordinary means of water, bread and wine, Jesus gives to us that which we need most – His forgiveness, His life, His salvation.  He gives to us freely and gives out of His great and abundant mercy.

Test We are His disciples, and because we are His disciples, He promises to keep us in His care and does so through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  However, there is one problem with that as well.  On account of our sin, we fall short of keeping God's gifts as we should.  We neglect to be in God's Word, both privately and corporately.  We do not hunger and thirst for the Sacrament which Christ gives of His own body and blood.
We do not love our neighbour as we should.

There is a reason for this: “ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
From the greatest to the least, we all have sinned; we all have missed the mark.  But the Lord knows that the only way we can even begin to keep His gifts holy and sacred is if we receive help, so He sends another Helper, another Advocate.  The Holy Spirit is our second advocate.  He helps us in our weakness.  He especially helps us by taking what is Jesus' and showing it to us.  He helps us by giving us the truth, the true knowledge of God, and by actually remaining not only alongside us, but in us, for “ He dwells with you and will be in you.”

It is through this Helper, through the Holy Spirit, that you and I are given the miraculous gift of faith, faith not in ourselves, but in God who is the One who makes promises and keeps them.

Christ promises to keep His disciples  in His care by coming to them directly.  How does He come to us?  He comes in the ways that He has promised – through His Word and through His Sacraments.  The writer to the Hebrews says, “ In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old through the prophets.  But now, in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.”  He comes to us through His body and His blood, in a meal that we feast upon for the strengthening and nourishing of our faith.

To have Christ means that we have the victory over sin, death and the power of the devil. Having Christ, then, is to live in faith.  And when we have Christ, we also have the Father.

Jesus didn't just say that He loved us; He showed His love to us.  He kept us. He kept us from being destroyed by sin when He died for you and for me.  He kept us from being destroyed by death when He rose for us, and He keeps us today in His Word and in His Spirit.

By Christ and His actions for you and  me, He has shown the love of God to us, and because God has loved us, now we are able to love Jesus, because He has removed from us all of our sins and made us holy by His blood.

Amen.

Br. Luke EFO

Sermon Extra 6 - 6th Sunday of Easter

John Chrysostom

6^th  Sunday of Easter Sermon Extra

Gospel

John 14:15-21

1. Homilies of Chrysostom   John Chapter 14

John 14:15-21

2. The Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt

"I Will Not Leave You Orphaned..."

I took my car in to get the oil changed a couple of days ago.  Things were a little slow at 8 a.m. on a Friday morning and Alex, the man who checked me in, was full of stories which he was eager to share. It was clear that this one in particular is one he is particularly proud of and it took neither prodding nor invitation to get him to tell it to the handful of us waiting for our cars to be serviced.

Read on….....

Better late than never

Sermon for 6th Sunday of Easter written by Br. Luke EFO, Preached by Br. Simeon

Last Sunday after Epiphany or The Transfiguration - Br Luke and Br Andrew

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

 Holy Redeemer

In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order

Homily preached at Winmalee on 2nd March 2014

by Br. Luke written by Br Andrew

Light and Cloud transfigured Him - for extra notes go to What does Messiah Mean?

Readings

Old Testament reading Exodus 24:12-18

Epistle 2 Peter 1: 16-21

Gospel Matthew 17:1-9

These are musings derived from a now dim recall of the Sermon preached by Br.Luke on the Feast of the Transfiguration, 2nd March last.

I have linked to the readings to assist with your understanding my cloudy recalling of the Light shed that day on the beginning of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem.

The following week would be the first Sunday of Lent, the beginning of the Churches' Penitential Season; 40 days in length. 1

In the first reading we join Moses on Mount Sinai during another 40 day period,

The appearance of the LORD’s glory was like devouring fire on the mountain top. Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and ascended the mountain; and he was there on the mountain forty days and forty nights and his face became so dazzlingly bright in God's reflection that it was forever after veiled. His purpose there to receive the Commandments and the Law, to return with them to the Children of Israel, who, waiting below, had witnessed him entering the cloud, had seen the dazzling lightning of God's glory.

“And when Jesus died on the cross the veil in the Temple was rent and no more is humanity separated from God...”

It was but six days after Peters confession of Faith that Jesus took him along with James and John, with him up an high mountain by themselves, perhaps mount Tabor- there, like Moses he was transfigured before them, not just his face but his entire being. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.  Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

The response of Peter with his foot shaped mouth indicates that at least he recognized the other two as Moses and Elijah, representatives of the Law and the Prophets, but how, was there a Midrash identikit accompanying the oral tradition?

Thinking that the time was now at hand Peter wanted to settle everyone into booths. While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And see, a voice came out of the cloud, which said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” When they heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.  Jesus touched them and they raised their eyes to find themselves alone with him.

As they made their way down the mountain Jesus promised them not to say anything about what they had seen until after He had risen from the dead. They certainly listened since we certainly don’t read that they did speak of it before the appointed time.

 Indeed, later in his Epistle Peter says

 “For we did not follow cleverly devised fables,” but of prophecy, being moved by the holy Spirit when we revealed to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, but we were actually eyewitnesses of his splendor For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my much-loved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Peter then adds one doesn’t choose prophecy the Spirit chooses you.

In our passages that day Old and New Covenant have met to fulfil the Law and the Prophets in Jesus Christ, witnessed by the children of Israel and by the Disciples of the Messiah .Cloud and fire have played their part in transfiguring the face of Prophet and Messiah and Peter, the Rock upon whom is built the Church has heard from out of the mouth of God Almighty, that he who is to die is Son of God indeed. It is an awful thought!

Our Psalm on the day, Psalm 2 is one of the Messianic Psalms and in reading it we find another face of the Messiah – the Messiah of the third temptation of Br Simeon’s Sermon last week.

⁷ I will tell of the decree. The LORD said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.

⁸ Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

¹⁰ Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

¹² Give sincere homage to the Son,^‡ lest he be angry, and you perish on the way,

for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

1. Information: - The number forty had great symbolic meaning to the Jews and today among Christians and Muslims as well.  The number forty to the Jews is a number that, when used in terms of time, represents a period of probation, trial, and chastisement (not to be confused with judgment which is represented by the number 9).

As the product of 5 and 8, it also signifies grace (5) ending in revival or a new beginning (8).  Thus, when 40 is referencing a period of probation, it also often coincides with the meaning derived from the factors 5 and 8.  When it relates to enlarged dominion or extended rule, then it is related to the factors of 4 and 10, with 4 representing the creation of something and 10 representing perfection and completeness.

Daven Hiskey, August 2 2010,today I found out.com, The Biblical Expression “40 Days and 40 Nights” Just Means a “Really Long Time” Copyright © 2012 -Vacca Foeda Media, accessed 13 March 2014,<web://todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/08/the-biblical-expression-40-days-and-40-nights-just-means-a-really-long-time/