Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost-Year B - Br Simeon & Br luke

 Homily preached by Br. Luke at Springwood Sunday 13th September 2015

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. YR B.

Gospel:  Mark 8: 27-35

Along the way Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?”  Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ . . .”

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.

This week's reading is quite interesting and even a bit odd. It shows how Our Lord teaches those who believe in Him and is quick to correct those who follow when their human thinking gets in the way.

Caesar Philippi was a bazaar of worship places and temples, with altars erected to every concept of the divinity from the gods of Greece to the godhead of Caesar. Amid this marketplace of gods, Jesus asks Peter and the Twelve, “Who do people say that I am? . . . Who do you say that I am?”  This is a turning point in Mark's Gospel:  Until now, Mark's Jesus has been reluctant to have people believe in him only because of his miracles.  Jesus talks, for the first time in Mark’s Gospel, about dark things ahead: rejection, suffering, death and resurrection (concepts that the disciples are unable to grasp).

In this incident (recorded by all three synoptics), Peter immediately confesses his faith in Jesus as the Messiah -- the Messiah of victory and salvation. But when Jesus begins to speak of a Messiah who will suffer rejection and death, Peter objects. Peter’s reaction is ours, as well:  We prefer to follow the popular, happy Jesus, the healing and comforting Jesus – but we back away from the suffering, humble, unsettling Jesus of the cross.

Every moment we live, every decision and choice we make, every good thing we do is our most revealing and telling response to the question, Who do you say I am? Our love for family and friends, our commitment to the highest moral and ethical standards, our willingness to take the first step toward reconciliation and forgiveness are, ultimately, our true confession of faith in Jesus Christ as the Love and Word of God incarnate.

Only in “denying ourselves” in order to imitate the servanthood of Christ do we experience the true depth of our faith; only in embracing his compassion and humility

in our lives do we enable the Spirit of God to renew and transform our world in God’s life and love.

We cannot belong to the company of Jesus unless we embrace the Crucified One’s spirit of selfless servanthood; we cannot stand with the Crucified Jesus unless we unconditionally and completely love and forgive others as he did; we cannot hope to share in the victory of the Risen Christ unless we "crucify" our fears, self-consciousness and prejudices that blind us from seeing him in the faces of every human being.

So my friends, I stand here before you at this pulpit and my question is to you and of course for me today...Who do you say that Jesus is? Of course, he is the Christ. But what does that mean to you? Do you want a Jesus for anything other than what he is? Are you looking for Jesus the healer? Who will always cure your diseases? Are you looking for Jesus the therapist? Who will help you work out all your “issues”? Are you seeking Jesus the job-provider, Jesus the child-rearing-advice-giver, Jesus the marriage counsellor, a Jesus who comes to simply solve your problems and answer your questions? Then you will not find him.

But in his word, and in his sacraments, you will find Jesus who is the Christ. And a Christ of the cross. A Jesus who suffered and died, for your forgiveness, a Jesus who rose from death to guarantee you life, a Jesus who ascended to heaven to rule for you there, and a Jesus who will come again to bring final victory and peace. A Jesus on his terms, not ours. A Jesus who deals with sin, the root of all our other problems. A Christ that we need, not that we think we want.

Nor do we come to this answer on our own. It is God who shows us, leads us, and brings us to faith by his Spirit. He gives the answer that we confess. We confess, like Peter, in our words, who Jesus is and what he has done. “Jesus Christ, God’s only Son our Lord… who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, died, was buried, descended into Hell, rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, sits at God’s right hand, and one day will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Asking the right question is important. So is getting the right answer.
“Who is Jesus?” “He is the Christ.” “What kind of Christ?” “A Christ of the Cross – a Saviour from sin – your saviour and mine.” Good questions, and good answers – all given by God.

Amen.

Written by Br Simeon

Preached by Br Luke

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, year B - Br. Andrew

Homily preached by Br Andrew e.f.o. at Springwood on Sunday 23rd August 2015

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Just frivolity:

I shall share with you something my mate Fr Dave Smith of Holy Trinity Dulwich Hill mentioned in his sermon last week which might clarify things in the end.

He said “Now, in case you’re not familiar with the different understandings that exist between the different Christian denominations when it comes to the Eucharist, the best way of remembering the distinctions, I think, was that given to me by my old mate, Tony Campolo (the great Baptist evangelist) who put it this way:

• In the Catholic understanding, the bread mysteriously becomes the body of Jesus and the blood mysteriously becomes His blood

• In the Anglican understanding, the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine, but to the person who consumes them in faith they become the body and blood of Jesus.

• In the Baptist understanding, he points out, the bread remains bread, and the wine magically becomes grape juice!”

At any rate, if you’re a good Catholic, you may well make an immediate association between this dialogue and the Eucharist – a sacrament that had its origin, you’ll remember, in the ‘Last Supper’ between Jesus and His disciples”

In this the fifth and final interlude of John’s Gospel within this part of the Markan year I intend to state the Non-conformist-middle point of view concerning the understanding of Jesus discourse at Capernaum.

While most agree that the event of the Feeding of the 5000 itself was representative of the first Holy Communion that is where the agreement ends. Protestant Commentators and Theologians such as Matthew Henry and Calvin, agree that Jesus’ teaching in the Synagogue was not about the Sacrament or Ordinance of Holy Communion / Eucharist. Therefore the true meaning intended by his words “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him.” John 6:56 are of a Spiritual nature and the instruction concerning His Body and Blood is to be understood figuratively.

Note there is no mention of wine.

Calvin commented that this discourse doesn’t relate to the Lord's Supper, but to the perpetual communication of the flesh of Christ, ["De la chair de Christ."] which we obtain apart from the use of the Lord's Supper. Communion alone does not grant us the Eternal life Jesus speaks of unless those that do so also follow His Words. It has been said by the theologians that they are saved who do not receive the Holy Communion and they are lost with it because it is not in the slavish keeping of the Holy Communion by which we are saved but in participating in this perpetual Communication of the flesh of Christ.

Matthew Poole writes, quote  “Feeding is to be meant believing in him; only here is a clearer discovery than was there in John 3:16-18, of the true object of that faith which justifies, namely a Christ crucified, for that is signified by the flesh and blood mentioned.”, end quote. While Albert Barnes draws our attention to the meaning ‘dining together’, had among the Jews, it was expressive of sharing in or partaking of the privileges of friendship.  The happiness of heaven and all spiritual blessings are often represented under this image, see Luke 14:15, “One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’”

Poole also comments on the terrible and awful notion that Jesus intended us to take his words literally and speaks disparagingly of the Council of Trent and goes on to comment that the situation demanded Jesus use the figure of eating and drinking because that was the subject of the  discourse; because the Jews were very proud of the fact that their fathers had eaten manna; and because, Jesus had said that he was the bread of life, it was natural and easy, especially in the language i.e. the specific words,  which he used, to carry out the illustration, and say that bread must be eaten in order to be of any use in supporting and saving men.

At the murmuring of his disciples  at such ‘hard sayings’ Jesus asks them “Does this cause you to stumble what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” John 6:62, a change of subject?

No, far from it, an illustration that points to the following year when Jesus would be crucified, dead and buried, rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. Meyer in his original language commentary uses these words “Will not this impending sight serve to offend you still more” for “Does this cause you to stumble” and says of it that he whom they believe to be mortal to Ascend into heaven is just as preposterous as literally and actually eating his flesh and drinking his blood. But for those future readers who have formed erroneous or heretical Eucharistic conceptions who are already aware that Jesus is God –They are to understand that their practices and understandings have gotten out of hand because the Son of Man has ascended in his flesh and is not here to be feasted upon.

The crux of this communication Jesus is making both to those in the Synagogue and to us is that Jesus intends all that he has taught them to be understood in the Spiritual context 6;63 “ It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.”

When we and John’s readers, contemplate the spirit we are drawn past the Ascension to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit is given but  John’s subjects remain ignorant indifferent or curious and eager to understand. When those who partake in the perpetual communicating of the flesh of Christ have received this Spirit they will be taught by the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father has sent in the name of Jesus, who will teach them all things and will remind them of everything Jesus had said to them. They will find a deeper meaning than the carnal one as they compare manna from heaven and the Ascension of the Son of Man and will know that Jesus did not intend that the Holy Communion or the Communicating of the Flesh of Christ to be carnal but spiritual.

Any mother will tell you of the amazing experience of ‘quickening’ when she begins to know  her child is truly alive and developing.

This quickening by the Spirit is what brings us to Spiritual birth and keeps us alive in Christ if we “obey his word we will never see death." John 8:51

And "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” John 14:23

Next verse

But this is conditional on a person being called to perpetual communication of the flesh of Christ (to faith) by the Father for we do not choose God but he chooses us. For faith in Christ is the gift of God, and coming to him, is due to efficacious grace, and is not the practice of man's power and free will. It is truly the will of the Father that all who see Jesus and believe in him may have eternal life; and he will raise them up on the last day. John 6:40

From the pulpit commentary - Christ does not give the hunger, but the bread. From the beginning he saw the existence of the appetite after the bread which he came to bequeath. John 6:40

St Peter gives us the climax “We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  After declaring there is nowhere else to go.

This Jesus in whom we believe is the very Son of God without whom we can live and so we feed upon Him in our hearts and by this we mean the continual communication between Him and His Body of all he is and has been to us while in the flesh and all he is now in Heaven.

And we keep his Holy ordinance as the New Covenant in His Blood because he asked us to but before hand or certainly at some time we need to harken to the voice of the Father and be led by him through sanctifying Grace into the eternal communication of love between  ourselves and Christ, of the communication of his flesh. United to His Body through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Ascension of 'The Lord' Year B: Following the Footsteps of the Spirit.

“Moses said to YHWH, “But, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence,either before or since you have spoken to your servant.” Ex 4:10

Ascension of 'The Lord' Year B: 
Following the Footsteps of the Spirit.

What is the meaning of ascension for twenty-first-century friends of Jesus? We do not have monarchs; our cosmology doesn't allow us to believe in a three tiered universe with God and Jesus at the top; our understanding of God and nations is more inclusive than the writers of the psalms would allow. The 'Ascended' Jesus calls us to go beyond the boundaries of the temple and Jews, to ALL peoples and nations, beyond geography and physics. Ascension draws us to practice walking with mystery, without understanding; it focus us on the physically absent Jesus and the invisible present Spirit. Ascension encourage us to let go of what preceded our story and look forward to the next one. The story of Jesus' life on earth is concluded but his influence continues in us and through us. And there is that statement that Jesus will return in a similar way. How does Jesus come to us? Does Jesus "come again" NOW? People have become impatient and many even left the church because of sermons on ‘heaven up there’ –but scripture does in fact call us to see the world differently where love of neighbour and God’s compassionate love come together.
Today’s feast tells how the early church understood the resurrection and coped with the now apparent absence of Jesus who showed himself sporadically. One theme in the Acts of the Apostles (1:1-11) reading is the promise to the disciples, ‘You will receive power’. Jesus’ absence led to questions as to where he went. Who will guide them now? What do they do next? But when Jesus says that they will 'receive power' he saying that they will love as he loved; that they would have the power to make the Kingdom of God present in the world by their love for the hungry, the naked, the powerless and homeless; in resisting those who dominate, exploit, and treat others unjustly; by giving their lives for others; by persevering in the face of difficulty and opposition; by doing things they never thought possible.
We find the Spirit's Power at work in a Jesus disciple like - Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen (December 28), when the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even...When a poor man came in sight, gath'ring winter fuel... The good King asks his page where the poor person lives so they can take meat and wine for him and his family to eat. Page and monarch forth they went. Forth they went together. Through the rude wind's wild lament and the bitter weather. As the king and page go through the snow storm the page becomes frightened by the strength of the storm. Sire, the night is darker now and the wind blows stronger. Fails my heart, I know not how, I can go no longer. During the past six weeks of the "Easter Season' we have seen how the 'Footsteps of the Spirit' have been seen in the lives of the first apostles and can be seen in us as we exercise the power to love given us by Christ. The power of the Spirit helps us carry on the mission of Jesus like the 10th century King Wenceslas – a way that involves compassion, respect, sensitivity to peoples needs. These footprints bring the presence of the Kingdom of God (Mark 16:15-20), seen when our relationships are based on 'the signs' of equality, compassion, respect and freedom (better than picking up snakes). These footprints become flesh when we work at overcoming inequities. These footprints are seen as we try to embody what is at the heart of God: an option for the poor. What must be the anguish in God’s heart who longs for Afghanistan, Pakistan Libya, Syria, Iraq and other places of suffering – to walk the footsteps of peace? The witness of any disciple of Jesus is to use the 'Spirit's Power' to love, by working for justice so that peace can be a reality.
Despite difficulties of the weather, the good King Wenceslas with deep faith and fearless in the face of the snow storm invites the faith-faltering page to walk in his footsteps. Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread thou in them boldly. Thou shalt find the winter's rage, freeze thy blood less coldly. As we all journey as disciples we find that we need others to remind us that as individuals we don't have it all but together we can have it all. So, In his mater's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted. Heat was in the very sod, which the saint had printed. Therefore, Christians all, be sure, wealth and rank possessing. You who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing. Jesus is among us and working in a creative, liberating, and supporting partnership with us. If we want to find God we have to look in the places where the Spirit works in people creating, liberating, and helping. We cannot look to Jesus to do, what is now our responsibility. Jesus has left his footprints like good King Wenceslas for us to follow in. Let us walk the talk.

Third Sunday of Easter-B-Br Simeon

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

  Homily preached by Br. Simeon at Maroubra on Sunday 19^th April 2015:  
THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER. YR. B

Gospel:  Luke 24: 36-48

The two disciples told the eleven and their companions what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you . . . These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you -- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”

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.

It’s not enough that the tomb is empty. It’s not enough to proclaim, “Christ is risen!” It’s not enough to believe in the resurrection. At some point we have to move from the event of the resurrection to experiencing the resurrection. Experiencing resurrected life begins with recognising the risen Christ among us. That is the gift of Easter and it is also the difficulty and challenge described in today’s gospel.

Today’s Gospel is the conclusion of Luke’s account of Jesus’ first post-resurrection appearance to his disciples. The two disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus have returned to Jerusalem to confirm the women’s story of the resurrection. While they are excitingly telling their story, Jesus appears.

Luke goes to great lengths in his Easter accounts to make clear that the resurrection was not the fantasy of crazy zealots nor is the resurrection story a plot concocted by the disciples who somehow managed to spirit the body of Jesus away (according to Luke’s account, the disciples themselves had not gone near the tomb themselves or even expected any kind of “resurrection”).  In the details he presents here, Luke is countering the arguments forwarded to explain away the resurrection myth.  There can be no mistake:  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a reality, a reality in which all of the Scriptures find their ultimate fulfilment.

For Luke, the power of Jesus’ resurrection is realised in the way it “opens” one’s heart and mind to understanding the deeper meaning of God’s Word and to fully embracing the Spirit of God.  In our faith and trust in the Risen Christ, we become “witnesses” of the mercy and forgiveness of God.

In the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, God reveals in a specific moment of

history, in a specific location on earth, the limitless and eternal love the Father has for

his people.

God continues to make the miracle of the empty tomb present to us in the caring, compassion and love we receive and give -- the love we have witnessed in the suffering of Christ, a love that is victorious even over death.

In today’s Gospel, the Risen Jesus challenges his disciples -- and us -- to recall what he taught and what they had witnessed.  The Easter miracle is God’s assurance that love and forgiveness, even in the most difficult situations, are never offered in vain; in learning to cope without losing hope, in learning from the painful realities of life and in accepting the lessons learned in God’s Spirit of humility and patience, we become capable of growth, re-creation, transformation -- and resurrection.

Just as the Risen Christ asks the Eleven for “something to eat,” he asks the same of us today in the cries and pleas of the poor and needy among us.  In imitating his humble compassion we, in turn, discover meaning and purpose that “feed” our own hunger for meaning, for fulfilment, for God in our lives.

Easter faith opens our eyes and hearts to realise God’ hand in every moment of time, transforms our attitudes to realise the need for God’s compassion and forgiveness in every human encounter, lifts up our spirits to hope even in the face of life’s most painful and traumatic moments.

Amen.

Words, Water and Wilderness!

Torah Scroll

“Moses said to YHWH, “But, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence,

either before or since you have spoken to your servant.” Ex 4:10

Lent 1B 2015: Words, Water and Wilderness! 


This week we begin the season of Lent which can help us to celebrate the very heart of our faith - the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a time for penance and of hope. It is a time when we reflect upon the profound meaning of the word "covenant". The word covenant is an ancient word that speaks to the power of a promise spoken and made between two persons. In the Christian scriptures, God is the one who always takes the 'initiative' to make covenant with humans. We take up the Noah story in Genesis (9:8-17) after the Flood and read the words; "See, I establish my Covenant with you, and your descendents after you; and also with every living creature ..." and of Jesus taken by "The Spirit" into "the wilderness" (Mark 1:9-15) where he experienced temptation.
As in the time of Noah, the sights and sounds of evil are present in our society, seen in our exposure to the wilful abuse of one human being by another; the night time TV dramas that celebrate and act out violence against persons. The emphasis on sexual images does violence to the fully human nature potential in people. The documentaries on the events of war and atrocities, political corruption and commercial greed, can lead us feeling numb and down hearted. What about God's tolerance for the evil of human kind? God saved eight people from the evil generation around them by means of water. God saves us from the evil generation around us by means of water and Spirit through Baptism.
I have often wondered what thoughts ran through Noah’s mind after the flood, as he surveyed the scene before him. Did the destruction, loneliness and isolation terrify him? What did he think of the God whose divine power seemed to have caused such destruction? The Genesis text gives us only the basic details. What about Jesus, alone in the wilderness, with only "wild beasts" for company, was he to lonely, and frightened by his isolation? Mark’s account doesn’t give us any of the details. There is no reported conversation with Satan. We are left to fill in the blanks for ourselves about Jesus’ self-encounter. This type of self-encounter encounter can happen during Lent as we enter our lonely interior landscape. "The Spirit" can 'drive' us if we are willing into the wilderness through our practices of fasting, self-denial, and prayer. In our "secret" prayerful quiet times, we will find all that we tend to avoid through our busy frenetic routine days, that can hide our deep anxiety, insecurity, and fearfulness. Our authentic prayer can reveal our deep helplessness in the face of our sin and the chaos of the world in which we live. It is no easy work to make sense of the past or to face the claim that God has put on our lives through our baptismal covenant.
The good news of scriptures is that this is not the end of the story. The message of the Noah and Jesus story is not centered on either the chaotic devastation of the world or of the Satan (accuser) who threatens to undo us. It is centered on the promise and power of the One who not only created this world and called "it good", but the One who promises to protect, sustain, and restore the world and ALL who live in it. We can feel at times despair and doubt as we face our weakness, with temptations within and fears without. However, God remains loyal to the disloyal; faithful to the faithless. The "rainbow" sign says, that God’s intention for his creation is to end the cycle of violence and retribution with love and compassion. God is with us in our wilderness and like Jesus we are given strength beyond our own and "the angels" to care for us. Lent challenges us to come to terms with the fact that though devastation and the isolation of wilderness are far from God’s original intention for creation, it is through these terrible, harsh realities that God brings forth new life. The "rainbow" represents an unconditional promise, of God’s willingness to limit God’s power and freedom for the sake of the life of the world that God so loves. It is in the self-denial of the wilderness that Jesus confirms before God, his identity and the mission of life through death that flows from it.
The scripture readings of lent will remind us that being drawn through death for the sake of new life. They will lead us to a greater understanding of God’s compassionate presence, promise keeping, and self-denying love for a broken world proclaimed on the cross. When we enter into our personal lenten wilderness, we too can experience the power

Easter Sunday - Br Simeon

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Holy Redeemer

In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order

Homily preached at Winmalee on

20th April 2014:      Easter Sunday, by Br. Simeon

Gospel:  Matthew 28: 1-10

“ Power and wonder of the Resurrection ”

Eternal God, on this most holy of days, stir up your Holy Spirit within us that are gathered here this morning, so that your words to us would lead us to be faithful always to your way, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Today, we must visit a tomb.  That seems a bit strange.  Most people don’t enjoy going to graveyards.  Among our list of favourite things to do, no one places, "Visit the mortuary."  Yet, as Christians, we chose to visit this tomb and to visit it often.

The tomb that we seek to visit is not just any tomb.  It is the tomb of our

Saviour.  This is the place where the body of Jesus was once laid.  Strange how sweet this place is to us.  Surely, it is not like the tomb of others. There was weeping here once, but no longer.  There was sorrow here once, but no longer.  There was hurt here once, but no longer.

The women going to the tomb that morning were not going there to celebrate a resurrection. No, they were going to finish the burial process, for on Friday afternoon there had not been time to properly prepare Jesus’ body. For them it was not going to be a good day.

They were not thinking springtime thoughts about flowers bursting forth from the earth, or caterpillars turning into butterflies, or new born baby chicks breaking loose from eggs. None of those thoughts entered their minds because you see they were in the middle of the Easter story.

What they saw and heard that day was an earthquake shaking the earth, a stone being rolled away, guards being so frightened that they became like dead men, an angel appearing, and last but not least, Jesus talking to them as they rushed back to tell the disciples that the tomb was empty and that, can you believe it, Jesus was going to meet them in Galilee.

He was going to meet them in Galilee, how could that be, after what happened to him on that Friday. They did not know how Jesus was brought back to life, but they believed it happened, just as we believe it happened. It was going to be a good day after all.

The early disciples witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They could not forget the open tomb and His pierced hands, and wounded side. The living Christ had a powerful and profound effect on them. The people who went to the tomb on that first Easter morning testify to the power of the resurrection. They were in awe and wonder. This sermon reminds us to revisit the empty tomb each Sunday and remember the wonder of it all.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ caught His followers completely by surprise.  The resurrection came as a wonderful surprise to the disciples. It is very evident none of the disciples were sitting around at the tomb waiting expectantly to see Jesus alive and worshipping Him.

Like the disciples being moved, in awe and wonder;  for us, Easter not only moves us, it touches something deep down inside of us. We encounter God's wonder, that feeling of surprise and awe aroused by something strange and unexpected. It's what Mary Magdalene and the other Mary felt when they learned that Jesus had risen. They departed "quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy" (Matt. 28:8). They were astonished. They went to the tomb expecting to find a dead man in need of embalming. Instead they found an empty tomb. Jesus was alive. That fact, while strange and unexpected, was wonderful and exciting.

One can't experience Easter without wonder. The trouble is that we don't feel wonder any more. Wonder is rare, especially as we grow older. The catch phrase of our culture is: "Been there. Done that." We are spiritually and emotionally not alert. We are a people saturated with analysis, explanations, and experiences - but void of wonder. G.K. Chesterton wrote, "The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder." It is that wonder and mystery of the resurrection that we want. And once we experienced it the most lavish purchase or the most thrilling experience can never substitute for it. For when God touches you, you know it. You can't explain it. You experience it. You feel it. It goes right through you.

Wonder begins in the presence of Jesus. Regardless of our geography or status or age, where the Lord is present, that place is alive with wonder. As we become more aware of God's presence we become more filled with wonder. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary felt it. It was a power, a vibe that went right through them. When they saw Jesus their only response was to fall at his feet in worship.

When you and I encounter the living Christ, our only response is to celebrate his presence. That's Easter. It is the presence of Jesus that moves us and touches us deeply. It is the rocking experience of Jesus' triumph and the relational experience of Jesus' presence. It becomes an experience to imagine that God will be present in our lives to roll the stone away from our hearts. Easter makes us want to fall at Jesus' feet in gratitude and praise for what he has done. That, my dear friends, is something you don't explain and never forget. You experience it. You feel it. It goes right through you. Christ is Risen, He's Risen indeed!

Amen.

Passion Sunday - Br Andrew

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Holy Redeemer

In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order

Homily preached at Winmalee on Sunday 13th April  2014 by Br. Andrew

Did God the Father forsake Jesus Christ?   As stated in Matthew 27:46?

Passion Gospel

Matthew 27

Yes, God did forsake Jesus and this is why it was necessary:

In his letter to the Romans Paul explains that when we sin we separate ourselves from God, (3:23) he turns his face way from us because He cannot look upon sin and the ultimate penalty for our sins, our “wages” is death.(6:23)

If we had chosen the first passion Gospel today we would have heard the passage telling us of Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane; we would have heard him say "My Father, if this cup can't pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done."

When Jesus took our sins upon himself, when he took responsibility for our sins and agreed to receive our wages of death God the Father had to turn his face away from his beloved son and forsake him until the penalty was paid. In putting all our sins behind his back God forsook his son. This was the cup Jesus feared to drink.

The most terrifying thing that Jesus faced when he made Atonement for our sins was to be separated from his Father, to be loved less than the world for which he was sacrificed as we read in the Gospel of John chapter three; “16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

To be abandoned by his Father not only in his flesh but also in his Spirit :- during the three hours of darkness Jesus spent dying on the cross the Trinitarian relationship was fractured. In turning his face away from Jesus in hiding our sins behind his back, the eternal Word turned also – leaving the incarnate one no more human than anyone else except that he was the most perfect human being that ever lived, the only sacrifice fit to justify us before the heavenly courts.

It was an unimaginably terrifying experience, I cannot think of words to describe what could have happened. Reading the accounts of the Passion in the Gospels and our readings from Isaiah and the Psalm place words into the mouth of an otherwise silent Christ to grant us insight into the turmoil that raged within his heart and mind as he struggled to surrender himself to his Father’s will.

From the clamour of the crowds Jesus heard his own words thrown back into his face, those crucified with him, with the Pharisees Elders and scribes reproached him ‘You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself!’ ‘He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God’.

Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?" That is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? "They gave him vinegar to drink and waited for Elijah to come and save him,

Jesus has drunk of the cup from which he feared to drink and has been deserted, abandoned by God; - Finally Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit, he gave his life for us; it was not taken from him.

In Philippians chapter 2 verses 7 and 8 St. Paul speaks of this unimaginably terrifying experience as an emptying, an act of obedience unto death.

We know that at this point that Trinity is restored since earlier in the Record of the Passion in Luke chapter 23:43 we read that Jesus told the good thief; that today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Matthew records earthquakes with rocks splitting in two enabling the opening of the tombs of long since dead Holy ones who witnessed in Jerusalem after Jesus’ own resurrection. These resurrections were symbolic, showing that the resurrection of Christ is the resurrection of the race --.the witnessing in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection – that he is the first born from the dead.

[The veil was the heavy curtain which hung between the holy and the most holy places in the sanctuary. By excluding from the most holy place everyone except the high priest, who was the only one allowed to pass through it, and then only once in the year, it signified that the way into the holiest -- that is, into heaven -- was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing (Heb. ix.7, 8).]

But the moment that Jesus died, thus making the way manifest, the veil was appropriately rent in twain from top to bottom, disclosing the most holy place to the priests who were at that time offering the evening incense in the holy place.

If anyone is aware of attempting to keep God out of the way behind a veil in their mind it can’t be forever, putting off the decision to commit their lives to him by accepting the salvific death of Christ and his resurrection to eternal life…

We do not know the day or the hour…

5th Sunday in Lent - Br. Luke

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Holy Redeemer

In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order

Homily preached at Winmalee on Sunday 6th April  2014

Gospel John 11:1-45


I guess I should have been more careful with the selection of the hymns for this morning.  Perhaps I should have chosen that old gospel song “Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones”. That would have been more appropriate, given the reading from Ezekiel.

But have you noticed there are couple of things in the reading this morning they are all about resurrection.  They are all about people being raised from the dead. Ezekiel is raising bones from a slain army. I wonder how those families of those slain people would have reacted had they seen his people back alive again. But there he is with the power of God raising what are essentially skeletons back into human life.

There is Jesus with Lazarus in the tomb raising him. I guess he is different because he has only been dead four days, whereas the Army’s been dead a lot longer. But the same thing raising them up from the dead. And the reading there from St Paul’s for the mind of the flesh is death the mind of the Spirit is life. So the theme through these through three readings is morning is all about resurrection.

It’s also pointing us toward the power of God. Because the only person who can raise people from the dead is God. And so all three readings today are pointing towards that. Of course what happens in a couple of weeks’ time is Easter. So it is pointing us again to the event that is coming in two weeks. The resurrection of Christ.

I want to just have a little look at Romans. Now you all know that St Paul is not one of my favourite people; but I want to have a look at Romans. Because Paul is talking about the difference between Spirit and flesh. So when we are thinking about people being raised from the dead being resurrected, we instantly go aha physical resurrection with thinking of bodies and flesh and people moving around and talking like we are, in this room today. But St Paul is talking a little bit differently he is talking about the Spirit. Now the resurrection from the dead can’t happen without the Spirit.

God told Ezekiel that it is the breath of God that will go into the bodies and make them alive. He is talking about the Spirit. If you read in Genesis it was the Spirit of the Lord that moved the face of the waters. And I think if you go back to the Hebrew it actually says the breath of God that breathes across the face of the water. If we look at the gospels, Jesus is often called the Word made flesh. So it is God’s spoken Word that is becoming flesh. Here we see that it is the Spirit is the thing that ties it all in together.

St Paul says those who are in flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. He is telling us very, very clearly that it is God’s Spirit that we have to have dwelling within us. Doesn't matter so much what the flesh does it doesn't matter how we see the flesh it is life that comes from the Spirit. And that’s why Jesus says to the Apostles on a number of occasions ‘receiving the Holy Spirit. And what does he do when he says that he breathes on them. And when the bishop consecrates the oil of chrism what does he do? He breathes on the oil of chrism which then sanctifies it. It’s the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Just remember it’s the Spirit. When we come to Easter and we talking about the resurrection the same thing is going to happen. It’s the Spirit of God that raises Jesus from the dead.

If Christ is in you the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. We going back a couple weeks ago. Remember we had that reading where Paul was talking about the sin of body leads us to death. The judgement of the law is sin and death. He’s talking about the body. Not the Spirit, but the body. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The Lectionary compliers have done it again. They do it all the time. They point us back to Ezekiel, again reminding us here in St Paul and then Jesus is talking the same thing when he raises Lazarus from the dead. I always have a bit of a giggle I am afraid when I think of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Just imagine what it would be like the tomb opened, the smell must've been horrible, and it comes out all wrapped up. He must've been shuffling because he was all bound up in cloth with a veil over his face. So he would have had difficulty seeing.

But what is important in this story is a couple of other things not just the Spirit. The family Mary and Martha and all the people that were with them were weeping because Lazarus had gone. Lazarus had died. We haven’t got the earlier part in the story in today’s reading where Jesus delays his departure to see them. So that in a way he knows he’s dead. Jesus waited for him to die before he went and in part of the reading that we missed Jesus tells us that Lazarus died so that Jesus can raising from the dead. Remember that last week we had the blind man who got his sight back and Jesus said he wasn't he was born blind because he was a sinner, he was born blind so that I can demonstrate the power of God and heal him. Jesus is saying something similar in this passage from John. That Lazarus has died so that I show you the glory in the power of God.

The interesting thing is that he challenges Martha and Mary. He says to them do you believe, and they say yes. So Martha says when Jesus tells her to open the tomb, it’s going to be smelly. Jesus said didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see God’s glory. He’s reminding them that he has that power. But he is also reminding them that it is of the Spirit that dwells within us and within Christ which then raises Lazarus from the dead. And they are a witness to the power and glory of God.

Right at the end of the gospel passage of course many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him. And then there is always that sting in the tail isn't there: Some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done. Now we can be fairly certain they went going to go to the Pharisees and say wow isn't he great, isn't he amazing, isn't he terrific. No they going to say look what he’s done now. No they are dobbing on him because we all know the Pharisees don’t like him and neither do the Sadducees like him at all.

In some ways we are like the Pharisees and Sadducees on occasions. We can see all the miracles that Jesus does. We can see in our lives what is happening. We can see the Spirit moving. It is often said you don’t see the hand of God until you look back. When we are going through a crisis or something at the time we don’t actually see the Spirit working. It’s when you stop and reflect and take a fresh look backwards, then you say ahh there is the hand of God at work. So when we doubt and we do doubt because we human. Now I imagine that at some point Ezekiel may have doubted that the bones could be brought back to life. We know, because we can see it, that some of the people gathered there didn't believe that Lazarus will be brought back to life.

So when we have our natural human doubt that something can’t happen, we’re being a little bit like the Pharisees. Because we are looking for evidence, we’re looking for proof that it won’t work. We desperately wanted it to fail, because then we are justified in what we were doing, or not doing, as the case may be. And remember as Christians the Spirit dwells within us so we have to do what we have to do and follow the two great Commandments. Which are love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbour as yourself.

It’s always that last one that makes it difficult. Loving God can be hard but it’s the second one which is the killer. So when we don’t love our neighbours as ourselves, then we are being like the Pharisees and Sadducees. When we see the miracles around us, we need to remember always that it is the Spirit living within us.

We can rely on God, we can rely on Jesus. Because as he said to Mary and Martha if you believe you will see. There is time to doubt, because then you are like the Pharisees. Just remember to be like Martha and Mary and not like the Pharisees. And St Paul reminds us that the Spirit dwells within us. Grasp onto the resurrection and onto the love of God, which flows from the Spirit. Amen.