Do We Know Who Jesus Is For Us? Demons Do!

 “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

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B:

4th Sunday after Epiphany Year B

Do We Know Who Jesus Is For Us? 

Demons Do!

 Gospel Mark 1:21-28

This week, the Lectionary calls us to the Book of Deuteronomy (18:15-20), the last book of the Torah.

We read; "Moses said to the people: 'Your God will raise up for you a prophet like myself, from among yourselves ... to him you must listen." As Christians we see these words fulfilled in Christ who came to serve and liberate others from whatever weakness, struggle or bondage they may find themselves in. In the gospel today (Mark 1:21-28) we discover that Jesus is not just a prophet like Moses, but far more than that. Mark tells us that Jesus had an authority in his teaching that went beyond that of the religious leaders, and even beyond Moses. In his power to heal and liberate the demonised man, Jesus reveals his divine authority. It can be tempting to take our experience of Christ and use it for our own ego glory, as if we are somehow better than others because we know Christ. The glory of God that is revealed in Christ is authoritative and powerful, but it is the power to serve, and, an authority to liberate.

Modern people tend not to like this type of story and dismiss it as fabrication or try to psychologise it away. Some will try to defend it and the sceptical reject it. We need to distinguish between the phenomenon and our interpretation of it. Often, I have felt the fear of something mysterious outside my ability to understand. It is not that these things like Jesus exorcising a demon do not happen, they do, but how do we interpreted with our western frame of reference. We have our conditioned prejudices,   that close us to certain truths and open us to others. All this changes the nature of how we read the story. We may not want to admit that our culture defines us, and what we can see. Still, we are able to say something about the events in the synagogue of Capernaum.

There is no question whether this happened. The witness of Mark is that it did happen. Now and then some people believe this, and some people do not. We are called to believe, to trust the report. It is not a question of what or how it happened. within our 20th century bio-medical healing model it is often unclear how healing occurs. In this paradigm we treat symptoms, but the healing is something else. The question we need to ask is; what does it mean? In the social setting of Capernaum and Galilee people are powerless, held in place by culture and convention with little or no opportunity to change. In the synagogue evil sits in the midst of holiness. The scribes have no authority.

Jesus comes with something new. Our experience of catharsis is that it is so often temporary or a violence against others and not real freeing or cleansing. In Jesus we see a real cleansing power that drives out the uncleanness that invades even our holy places. If we are honest all of us, are somehow powerless and enmeshed in the context of our existence. As we worship we have luxury that most of the world cannot afford. We are destroying ourselves environmentally. We often feel powerless, caught in the structure of where we are. Any attempt at change can cause deep pain and fear to arise and excuses to be made as we flee from the truth of the prophet. We need Christ with his new teaching and new authority, to break the bonds which hold us fast. His true healing brings together our many parts into a beautiful wholeness.

Jesus' new teaching is a truth which breaks into the pain and powerlessness of our personal conditioning and cultural structures. It heals our cultural structures and our separation from God and offers to make our social structures a supporting place to be, a place to be at home, rather than a prison of delusion and deception. One kind of "evil spirit" which we discern more easily today is the cry that can burst out of us or others when we are mentally unwell. It alienates us because of the separation and fear it causes us and others. In our culture, we tend to think of mental illness only in bio-medical terms− brain drug levels out of balance. However, much of what is experienced is a rupturing of relationships, a wounding of soul. Often this rupturing (dis-ease) is the key issue for healing. Drugs can sometimes restore the balance very quickly. However, the recovery of self-esteem, the trust of self and others, and the regaining of trust from others, is a much slower and more difficult task; and communal integrity is not so easily restored.

The healing Jesus gave to the demonised man was the weakening of the forces of his isolation. Something has to break into the void between and in us. In Mark, it is Jesus' resurrection. When our sickness is terrifying, and there is deep psychological pain, we need to let go of our security and reach out to an unpredictable other to find resurrection freedom. If we long for God’s reign to be seen in us, and happen through us we will have to let go of having things done “our” way. Yet, when we embody Christ’s liberating grace, by choosing to serve and live Christ's gospel values, the authority of Jesus can be most clearly seen in us.

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, year B-Br Luke

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached by Br. Luke at Blaxland on Sunday 8th February 2015: 

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, year B

Readings:

Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-11; I Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39

" As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them."(Mark 1:29-31 NRSV)

And then they came from everywhere to be healed by him

Jesus cured many people of various diseases and cast out many daemons, and remember what we said at Bible Study last Thursday about Jesus silencing the daemons, he silenced them and cast them out. Mark says again “He would not permit the daemons to speak” and every time he cast a daemon out, he said to the daemon “be quiet, and go! He always said that, when the daemons spoke, he would not let them say who he was, people might think – well, why won't he let them speak? Was he frightened of them, no of course not, what he doesn't want is for them to start telling people who he is because at this point in time he is beginning his ministry and later on he doesn't want the events that unfold to be brought forth more quickly, which is obviously what Satan wants, so they cannot interfere and disrupt his plans, his mission, so he said ‘be silent’! And when God says ‘be silent!’ what do you do? Be Silent.

I won’t speak about Isaiah, this morning because we will do that along with the Psalm at our Parish Bible Study on Thursday.

(Holy Redeemer Christian Community does Bible Study by Skype at 7.30pm AEST each Thursday)

I am going to go to someone many people don't like very much– our friend Paul

“If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel!

What is he saying? It’s no good me going look at me aren't I wonderful I’m proclaiming the gospel! No! Just because he does it doesn’t mean he can boast about it, and say how good I am. You can't puff yourself up and make yourself important:

‘I am such a good Christian for preaching the gospel’- because you have an obligation to do that as a Christian- so you can't run around saying ‘I’m such a good Christian, look at me I'm preaching the gospel’. No, being a Christian is about doing.

We have the obligation to preach the gospel, St Francis of Assisi said how do you proclaim the gospel, you can do it in the way you live, you don’t necessarily have to use words, he didn't actually say it in those words, did he Andrew?

The intention behind whatever the words he did say was– “Preach everywhere, if necessary use words” In other words what Paul said is that ‘I have an obligation on me to proclaim the gospel’ so I am doing it. If I do it for my own will I have a reward, but it is not for his own will because he had been subject to the commission. He is following the command given to him by Christ. 

Later in the gospel, in what comes to be known as the Great Commission Jesus says to the disciples go out and make converts of the whole world In other words go out there and spread the Message, spread the Good News, and we all know what the Good News is, the message of the gospel in its fundamental form, God is Love, as John said in his Gospel, he couldn't have made it any plainer, God is Love! 

The whole message of the Christian Gospel is Love and Reconciliation to God.

We are reconciled back to God through the action of Christ.

Paul then says this really complicated thing:

“To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law.” [1 Corinthians 9:20b NRSV]

He is not under the Law! What is he talking about? He has these lovely convoluted arguments, he does that all the time, what he is simply saying is that he is not under the Law, but what law is he referring to here? He is referring to the Mosaic Law, he is referring to the Jewish Law, he is not under the Jewish Law anymore he is not under the Mosaic Law, why not?  Because he is under the Law of Christ and we know that the church in Jerusalem decided that Christians were not bound to follow the Mosaic Law, which is why many Christians are not circumcised.

If we had to follow the Law of Moses every Christian male would be have to be circumcised; because we do not follow the Jewish Law there is no obligation on us to be circumcised which is one of the things discussed by the church in Jerusalem where it was decided that Christians were not bound by the Mosaic Law.

I am not under the Law but for those Jews who are under the Law I will act as though I am under the Law  so that I don’t frighten them, don’t scare them away and I can convert them to the Message of Christ by them understanding that I understand the message of the Law. Which is why he said “To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some 

(1 Corinthians 9:22 NRSV)

In other words Paul is saying he will do anything that is required for him to preach the gospel to convert people to the Faith; what is conversion to the Faith? Bringing them the knowledge of God’s love and the gift of Reconciliation… So it is not really that complicated when you start to unpick him; and you don’t worry about he argues this and then he argues that etc. that is his rhetorician style, the way he was taught to argue.

I want to go back briefly to Mark and then we will stop.

All night Jesus had been healing and casting out daemons so he must have been somewhat tired, I know I would be very tired, wouldn't you?  

”In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35 NRSV)

Now that is the other pattern that Jesus followed, you remember that on many, many, occasions after Jesus had preached, after he had done a lot of work like this he retreated to a cave, to a mountain top, a deserted place to a boat to wherever and he prayed. Going to reconnect himself with the Divine, to recharge his batteries, as it were… not that he needs to from the divine perspective but in his humanity, his human body he did. That’s why we find that in the early church the earliest monks went to the desert, we now call them the Desert Mothers and Fathers, they went and they lived, literally, in the desert but they didn't live in Monasteries’ as we know them they lived very much like the Carthusians do, they each had their own cell and came together for meetings. 

That is the pattern of the Desert Mothers and Fathers:-the very earliest type of religious communities would go to the desert, mimicking what Jesus did, he had gone into the desert, stayed in the desert prayed in the desert, where it is different is that the monks and the nuns don’t come back, once they had gone into the monastery in the desert they didn’t come back out again. We Franciscans do come back.

And then Simon Peter says we’ve been looking for you, where have you been, everyone’s gone, what have you been doing? 

Jesus says come on let’s go to the next town, he doesn't even answer them, he doesn't say, “Well this is what I have been doing” …My job is to preach the gospel, proclaim the message, to visit the Synagogues and cast out daemons, come on, let’s go, and off he goes and on to the next town.

Paul is mimicking Jesus, isn't he? Preach Convert, next town. Preach Convert, next town.

I am often asked what is the difference between a friar and a monk. It is Very simple a monk takes a vow of stability and obedience to a Community, the same for a nun, and goes to the Community and lives there and doesn't leave. They go to that Monastery, wherever that might be and that is where they spend the rest of their life. They may move occasionally from monastery to monastery or from place to place but by and large it is to the one Community and one Monastery and that is where they stay.

Dominicans and Franciscans are called Friars and that is because they are mendicants and what we mean by mendicants is that the vows we take are to the Order and so we can be sent anywhere in order to do the Work of the Order, so in some ways a friar is more like Paul who goes from town to town and place to place preaching, converting, next town and so on and so forth and that’s what Francis wanted brothers, who were out and about.(Sisters couldn't go out in those days, for their own protection they had to remain in the monastery otherwise they would be raped and all sorts of things, so they remained inside and are Enclosed Orders.) The Brothers were out and about because that was what Francis wanted.

Francis was following Paul, who Paul was following? Jesus, who was Francis Following? Jesus.

Recorded and transcribed by Br Andrew

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany year B - Br Simeon

Homily preached by Br Simeon at Blaxland on  Sunday 1^st February 2015:  4^th SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. Yr B

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Gospel:  Mark 1:21-28

The people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes:  “What is this? A new teaching with authority.  He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a “show and tell” assignment of bringing something to represent their religion.

The first child got in front of the class and said, “My name is Benjamin and I am Jewish and this is the Star of David.”

The second child got in front of her class and said, “My name is Mary, I am Catholic and this is the Crucifix.”

The third child got up in front of his class and said, “My name is Tommy and I am Baptist and this is a casserole.”

Today’s gospel reading tells us that on the Sabbath Jesus and His disciples attended the seaside synagogue at Capernaum. There Jesus began to teach and “the people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as One who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” (Mark 1: 22) The Jewish rabbis (teachers of the law) claimed authority by quoting famous rabbis of the past. Jesus’ teaching was different because He didn’t need to claim the authority of others. He was (is) the authority HIMSELF!  He is equal with His Heavenly Father in every way. He was with the Father from before the beginning of creation. He, Himself, is the Creator of the world. All scripture (Old and New testaments) point to Him. He is the author of Life. As He said of Himself, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” (Matthew 28:18)

For the poor Jews of Jesus’ time, the scribes were the voices of authority, the final arbiters of the Law in which God had revealed himself. Their interpretation of the Law was considered absolute.

While Jesus was teaching with this “divine authoritative power,” a man “possessed by an evil spirit cried out, ‘What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are – the Holy One of God!’” (Mark 1: 23-24)

 Jesus refused to let the evil spirit speak further because it was not yet time for Jesus to be revealed as the Messiah. Jesus refused to let the people of the synagogue be confused by the deceptive mixture of truth and lies which were being uttered by this evil spirit. By His, almighty, divine authority, Jesus commanded the spirit to be silent and to come out of the man! Immediately, it happened – just as Jesus had commanded!

“Demons” are encountered several times in Mark’s Gospel. Anything that the people of Jesus’ time could not understand or explain, such as disease, mental illness or bizarre or criminal behaviour, were considered the physical manifestations of the evil one -- “demons” or “unclean spirits.”

Both demons and scribes are silenced in today’s Gospel.  Jesus’ casting out the unclean spirit from the man possessed, silences the voices of the demons that plague humanity.  In his compassionate outreach to the poor and sick, Jesus “silences” the scribes by redefining the community’s understanding of authority:  whereas the “authority” of the scribes’ words is based solely on their perceived status and learnedness, the authority of Jesus is born of compassion, peace and justice.  The casting out of the demons and his curing of the sick who come to him are but manifestations of the power and grace of his words.

Note that the people of the Bible viewed miracles differently than we do. While we, in our high technology, scientific approach to the world, dismiss miracles as some kind of disruption or “overriding” of the laws of nature, the contemporaries of Jesus saw miracles as signs of God's immediate activity in his creation.  While we ask, How could this happen?, they asked, Who is responsible?  Their answer was always the same: the God of all creation.

Those who witnessed Jesus' healings, then, saw them as God directly touching their lives.

True authority is propelled by persuasion, not by force; effective leadership is a matter of articulating a shared goal rather than warning of the consequences of failure.

Jesus’ “authority” inspires rather than enforces, lifts up rather than controls; he sees his call to “lead” as a trust, as a responsibility to serve others by revealing the God who calls us to compassion and mercy for the sake of his kingdom of peace, instead of a God of judgement and vengeance.

Authority comes not from power to enforce but from the ability to inspire.

The ‘unclean spirit’ that Jesus casts out of the poor man in today’s Gospel serves as a symbol of the voice of evil that sometimes speaks within us -- the voice of revenge, self- centredness, self-righteousness, greed, anger.

We can be “possessed” by “demons” who discourage us and trouble us with fear when we consider the unpopular position that we know is right and just; or the “demon” of rationalisation that falsely justifies actions -- or inactions -- we know in our heart of hearts is contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. The compassionate Jesus of  today’s Gospel speaks to those "unclean spirits" as well, offering us the grace and courage to cast them out of our minds and hearts forever.

Amen.

Third Sunday after Epiphany - Br Andrew

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached by Br Andrew at Blaxland on Sunday 25th January 2015 

11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,

12   and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work.

Readings:Jonah 3:1-10; Psalms 62:5-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 ; Mark 1: 14-20

The readings tie together rather well together this week, they all share the common element of expectancy standing tiptoe on the boards of judgement drawn nigh.

Hold that thought: today is our inaugural service here in Blaxland, like a mendicant friar our little community has been wandering down the mountainside and now we stand tiptoe upon the boards of excitement awaiting what the Lord has install for our Community here.

How do we see ourselves? As a rather disgruntled Jonah erstwhile of Whale city, a reluctant prophet who believed he knew the Lord would have mercy on Nineveh whether he prophesied against it or not? Well if we do why bother being here anyway?

God has no hands nor feet but ours nor a mouth with which to express himself and that is why down through the ages he has often called ordinary people such as Amos who was a sheep herder and a sycamore fig farmer to be his prophets; we might, for the sake of it go as far as to call them his ‘forerunners’, because Jonah was a forerunner. We are Forerunners, we go before.

Do we understand what Paul means by “I mean?” I have never been quite sure myself and sometimes, between you and me, neither does he. However we may understand Paul if we read him as that in knowing that in God’s time the end is but a hairs breadth away we must put all our effort into getting out the message of God’s impending judgement and the amazing and priceless gift of Salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection available to all who will accept it.

Those who speak of Judgement are not generally favoured since we often wish to focus only on the mighty Love and mercy of God rather than the why. Why did Jesus have to die if not to save us from something?

The LORD said ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’

The wickedness of Israel and the world continued to rise up to God until in the latter days, the end times God sent His son  our Saviour Jesus into our World to die and to become the final atonement for sin the great fountain of God’s mercy welling up and overflowing, enough for everyone to drink of. We are his chosen ones called to carry his good news to those around us, and at home wherever we live.

The disciples Jesus called to help him were people similar to us, they had businesses or worked as fishermen in other’s businesses, they did not have the equivalent of a Jerusalem University B.Th., and we know they came when they were called rather than dithering about as often happens when we receive the call from God and don’t immediately like the idea of it.

This Calling came for them just after John the Baptist, the one called the Forerunner had been arrested and Jesus said that the  ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.

Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee where he knew he would find Simon, Andrew, James and John at their work, Simon and Andrew left their boats sitting there while James and John, who were mending nets left their father Zebedee with the hired men and they all followed him. Jesus invited them to come with him and he would make them fish for people.

Perhaps it was precisely because they were fishermen that Jesus called them since they had some idea of the wisdom of fishing, Piscine Psychology perhaps?

Gathering others to Christ just doesn’t happen, as we know, and we need to apply everyone’s skills and expertise. Jesus spent three years training his disciples to do with people what they had done with fish their whole working life.

How shall we begin?

This board we are standing on, is it a Diving board or a Board walk is evangelising more akin to swooping into town like a Mission, a Billy Graham visit such as the one in April-May 1978 which I attended with my family at the Randwick race Course. Many people gave their lives to Christ then and were introduced to local churches in their areas.

Jonah walked through the city of Nineveh as Jesus walked by Lake Galilee though it is Paul who was both the circuit preacher and the Missionary.

There is a role for both the hands on and the distance ministry, the full front on one off and the slow and steady presence.

We pray to God.

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.

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??

Second Sunday after Christmas - the Epiphany of Our lord - Br. Simeon

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Holy Redeemer

An ECCA Parish

In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order

Homily preached at Warrimoo on Sunday 4th January 2015:

The EPIPHANY of OUR LORD

Gospel:  Matthew 2:1-12

“Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem; “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?  We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

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.

Welcome, friends, to 2015 and to what is in all truth my favourite celebration of the ecclesiastical year – namely, the feast of the Epiphany!

Surely one of the great stories of Christmas is the story of the visit of the Wise Men from the East. Wherever the story of the birth of Jesus is told, so too is told this delightful tale of strange men from some faraway land who brought gifts to the baby Jesus.

The story of the astrologers and the star of Bethlehem are unique to Matthew’s Gospel.  I noted in my preparing my sermon,  that Matthew does not call them kings nor does he give their names nor reports where they came from -- in fact, Matthew never even specifies the number of magi (because three gifts are presented to the Child, it has been a tradition since the fifth century to picture “three wise men”). In stripping away the romantic layers that have been added to the story, Matthew’s point can be better understood.

A great many First Testament ideas and images are presented in this story.  The star, for example, is reminiscent of Balaam’s prophecy that “a star shall advance from Jacob” (Numbers 24: 17).   Many of the details in Matthew’s story about the child Jesus parallel the story of the child Moses and the Exodus.

Matthew’s story also provides a preview of what is to come.  First, the reactions of the various parties to the birth of Jesus parallel the effects Jesus’ teaching will have on those who hear it.

 Herod reacts with anger and hostility to the Jesus of the poor who comes to overturn the powerful and rich.  The chief priests and scribes greet the news with haughty indifference toward the Jesus who comes to give new life and meaning to the rituals and laws of the scribes.  But the magi -- non-believers in the eyes of Israel -- possess the humility of faith and the openness of mind and heart to seek and welcome the Jesus who will institute the Second Covenant between God and the New Israel.

Secondly, the gifts of the astrologers indicate the principal dimensions of Jesus’ mission:

gold - is a gift fitting for a king, a ruler, one with power and authority;

frankincense - is a gift fitting for a priest, one who offers sacrifice (frankincense was an aromatic perfume sprinkled on the animals sacrificed in the Temple);

myrrh - is a fitting “gift” for someone who is to die (myrrh was used in ancient times for embalming the bodies of the dead before burial).

Epiphany calls is to a new vision of the world that sees beyond the walls and borders we have created and to walk by the light which has dawned for all of humankind, a light by which we are able to recognise all men and women as our brothers and sisters under the loving providence of God, the Father of all.

The magi’s following of the star is a journey of faith, a constant search for meaning, for purpose, for the things of God that each one of us experiences in the course of our own lives.

What we read and watch and listen to in search of wealth, fame and power are the “stars” we follow.  The journey of the magi in Matthew's Gospel puts our own "stargazing" in perspective, calling us to fix our search on the “star” of God’s justice, peace and compassion.

Amen.