Seventh Sunday after Pentecost.Yr B.-Br. Simeon

Homily preached by Br. Simeon e.f.o. at Springwood on Sunday 12^th July 2015

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Yr. 

Gospel:  Mark 6: 14-29

The death of John the Baptiser:

"Herod had sent men who arrested John, bound him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.”

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day, when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet.

He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.

HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? "HELP!"

He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice. Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?"   "Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"

"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"  "Yes, but who are you, and where are you?

"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."   "The Lord? You mean, GOD?"

"That's Me."
"God, please help me! I promise if, you'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life."

"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk."
 "Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."  "I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do."

"Okay. Let go of the branch.""What?" "I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go."  There was a long silence.

Finally Jack yelled, "HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?"

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

This  story of today's Gospel reading, is outside the account of Jesus’ own death, the most horrific stories in the Gospels.

Between Jesus’ sending off the Twelve on their first missionary journey and their return, Mark inserts the story of John the Baptiser’s death. At first, this narrative seems out of place – but the account of John’s death serves as an important benchmark for understanding the meaning of discipleship and the resurrection.

The works that Jesus and the Twelve are performing have reached the ears of King Herod himself.  Rumours have been circulating that the Baptiser has been raised from the dead.   Mark recounts the details of John’s martyrdom and burial which make clear that a new chapter of human history begins in Jesus, that God has set in motion a re-creation of humanity in his Son, that the long-awaited but little understood reign of God has begun.  John is the precursor of the Christ event, not the event himself.

In Mark’s Gospel, John’s death foreshadows the death of Jesus (just as John’s appearance at the beginning of the Gospel sets the stage for Jesus’ coming on the scene).  As John pays the ultimate price for “speaking truth to power,” Jesus will give his life for the Gospel he has preached.  A similar convergence of fear, cowardice, hatred and manipulation that leads to John's beheading will end in Jesus’ crucifixion.

Not lost in Mark’s narrative is the reality that discipleship/prophecy exacts a heavy price.  But God promises that he will raise up the life of his martyred prophet/disciple in the fullness of his reign.

Ridicule, isolation, rejection, even death, can be required of every one – even us – for taking seriously God's call to be his prophets and the work of discipleship.

We often react to the Baptisers in our midst as Herod does: We know in our deepest being that they speak wisdom and justice and we desperately want to embrace it in our lives — but when their words become too demanding and too challenging, when they require of us a conversion that is well beyond our comfort zone, when their call

subjects us to ridicule or isolation, then we find some way to justify doing away with them. Authentic faith, belief that means anything, requires the would-be disciple of Jesus to live the Word we have heard and seen, regardless of the cost.

Like Herodias, we hold grudges; we keep score; we remember who slights us and we wait for the right moment to get back at them.  The grudges we keep seldom have the tragic consequences of Herodias, who manipulates her own daughter’s charms and

her husband’s arrogant behaviour to destroy John the Baptist — but we’ve let our anger divide our families, we’ve refused to surrender our need for vengeance for the  

sake of reconciliation, we’ve held on to our resentments until we got our satisfaction.

But God’s grace enables us to put aside our disappointments and let go of our anger (however justified) in order to make reconciliation possible, to speak God’s Word of justice, to be the means of peace in our homes and communities.

God’s reign continues to be established in our own Jerusalem’s and Nazareth’s because of the prophetic proclamation of the Baptisers and Apostles and all who have taken on, with integrity and conviction, the role of prophet of the God of life and love in our own time and place.

Amen.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER. YR B. -Br Simeon

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

  Homily preached by Br. Simeon     Sunday 3^rd May 2015:  

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER. YR B.

Gospel:  John 15: 1-8

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower . . . I am the vine, you are the branches.”
“Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

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

From the music of the psalms to the engravings on the temple pediments, vines were a symbol of Yahweh’s many blessings to Israel.  In his Last Supper discourse (from which today’s Gospel is taken), Jesus appropriates the image of the vine to explain his eternal connectedness to his disciples, their connectedness through him to God, and their connectedness to one another.

In this today being the Fifth Sunday of Easter, we have today's Gospel reading of the vine and the branches. The gospel reading for this weekend records for us, perhaps, one of the best known and best loved sections in all of scripture. Jesus calls Himself the “vine” and us His “branches.” “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15: 5-6)

Jesus, the vine, rooted and grounded in His relationship with God the Father, supports and gives life to us, His branches. Without being connected to Jesus by faith, we would perish eternally, just like a branch cut off from its vine, plant or tree eventually dies!

Jesus tells us that the “Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15: 1-2) Out of His love for us and His desire that we be “fruitful,” the Father occasionally “prunes” us by disciplining us or by allowing distress and difficulty to come into our lives. God is not an angry, vindictive tyrant when such things happen to us; rather, “He trims [us] clean so that [we] will be even more fruitful.” (John 15: 2)

In Christ, we are “grafted” to God and to one another. The Risen One calls us to community, to be branches on the same vine, to realise our life in Christ is also life in one another.

We cannot live our faith in a vacuum: Unless Jesus becomes the centre of our lives, the faith we profess is doomed to wither and die in emptiness.

Our power, strength and life come from Jesus. He promises, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” Through our worship together, Bible study, scripture reading, private devotions, reception of the sacraments and our service to those around us, we remain in Jesus and He remains in us. We bear fruit and grow strong and healthy in the whole life of Christian discipleship

The Easter season speaks to us of the eternal presence of Christ in our midst, present to us in the Word we have heard and has taken root in our hearts.  Our faithfulness to the call to discipleship demands that we work to enable that Word within us to produce a “yield” of compassion, forgiveness, justice and reconciliation.  In the “fruit” we bear as "branches" of Christ do we glorify God the “vine grower.”

Amen.

Easter 2015 - Br. Luke

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached by Br. Luke at Blaxland on  Easter Sunday 5th April 2015: 

The Easter Sermon of St John Chrysostom,

Bishop of Constantinople: ca. A.D. 400

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Is there anyone who is a grateful servant? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting? Let them now receive their wages!

If any have toiled from the first hour, let them receive their due reward; If any have come after the third hour, let him with gratitude join in the Feast! And he that arrived after the sixth hour, let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss. And if any delayed until the ninth hour, let him not hesitate; but let him come too. And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, as well as to him that toiled from the first. To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows. He accepts the works as He greets the endeavour. The deed He honours and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord! First and last alike receive your reward; rich and poor, rejoice together! Sober and slothful, celebrate the day! You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden! Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one. Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Saviour has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it.

He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he said, "You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with. It was in an uproar because it is mocked. It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed. It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated. It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive. Hell took a body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see. O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!

Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!

Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

First Sunday after the Epiphany – The Baptism of the Lord-Br Andrew

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached at Warrimoo on Sunday 11th January 2015 smatterings of Br. Luke as gleaned by Br. Andrew: 

First Sunday after the Epiphany – The Baptism of the Lord

Readings

Genesis 1:1-5

Psalm 29

Acts 19:1-7

Mark 1:4-11

Genesis is a story of Beginnings that is what the word ‘genesis’ means, it is not a history of the beginning of the universe, it is a story about the first Beginning, it is Theology this time of the first Jordan:

Our world was once a ball of water with the Holy Spirit, the ruach hakodesh hovering over it, waiting to draw living beings from beneath its dark depths. 

Very much like the river Jordan, the new born earth was a source of cleansing and reconciliation, passing from within itself all manner of life forms, baptising them into life. A life which began perfectly. God said everything was ‘good’.

Even from before that first day when God created light before ever the sun set or rose, what God created was good.

From the beginning of that first day as evening became morning everything associated with that new born earth was declared ‘good’.

But then came ‘History’

“I don’t usually preach on Paul” or words to that effect Luke said last week when he proceeded to do just that.

“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” 

Paul has arrived in Ephesus to find disciples of John the Baptist.

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, ritual bathing was common to Judaism therefore when John had baptised  it was not by any name or into any name that he baptised them, nor into any creed; they remained Jews yet cleansed of their sins awaiting  the coming of Jesus. 

Though their reply to Paul was that they had been baptised into John’s Baptism, John himself would be the first to say that his baptism was not his own but God’s for as Paul reminded them, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.’ Subsequently they have been converted to the Lord Jesus, since, as per above it says that Paul arrived in Ephesus to find 12 disciples. So it is Paul’s words about the Lord Jesus, in whom they believed, who had come after John that must have inspired them to immediate baptism and to receive the Holy Spirit.

Notice, though, that Paul baptises them into the name of “Jesus”, not into the name of the “Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. Having done this the Holy Spirit descended upon them and they begin prophesying and speaking in other languages. Almost as a tag Paul adds that altogether there were about 12 of them – 12 new disciples of Jesus.

Jesus had come to John at the Jordan to be baptised by him, Jesus himself received the baptism of John, and from Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 3:14) we know that John demurred about the situation and said that it ought to have been the other way around. The Evangelist Mark uses it so that the Father can rend the heavens by the Spirit with the affirmation that Jesus is His own beloved Son – this same spirit which filled those disciples once they were baptised in the name of Jesus.

For those of us baptised by Trinitarian baptism we may have never experienced the ecstasy of speaking in tongues or prophesying but Scripture tells us that these experiences would not always occur (I Corinthians 13:8) and will cease altogether. We know by Faith that through baptism we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and hence become part of the Body of Christ and one with the Holy Trinity and one another as they are One.(John 17:11,22)

That Sunday we also heard about the differing sacramental traditions of the Roman and Protestant Churches, whether there are 7 or 2…

We believe there are 2, those in which Jesus participated in himself Baptism and Communion.

We also debated the differences between ‘Believers baptism’ and ‘Infant baptism’ that the former defines Church membership or is a Rite of Initiation and the latter marks a Rite of Passage. One depends for its upkeep – so to speak, on the child’s parents or family until they reach a conversion experience of their own and the other begins with that conversion experience.

It is almost but not quite like the Baptism of John and the Baptism of Jesus??