First Sunday after Trinity Mark 2:23-3:6 Deuteronomy 5:12-15What was the Sabbath made for? We are reminded in Deuteronomy that the Sabbath was instituted as a day of rest, as a holy day to the Lord our God, but the rationale given in Deuteronomy is a bit different from the way it is mentioned in Exodus 20. Here, in Deuteronomy, the people are reminded that they ‘were slaves in Egypt, and that the Lord their God brought them out from there with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord God commanded them to keep the Sabbath day.’In the passage from Mark’s Gospel, it is the Pharisees who object to Jesus’ disciples plucking heads of grain as they were going through the grainfields on a Sabbath. In their eyes, the disciples might have been doubly at fault: travel and work (walking further than necessary according to Sabbath principles, and harvesting) being against the Sabbath rule. The very fact that they were there to observe, may of course raise the question why they had ‘travelled’ the distance on the Sabbath themselves…. They might have thought that what with all the different astonishing things that Jesus had been doing, he and his disciples needed watching. Mainly, I suppose, to see if this Jesus, who was such a different teacher, was a proper, loyal Jew. In his reply, however, Jesus doesn’t respond to that implication, but he simply summarizes the story of David who commandeered food for his soldiers (1 Samuel 21:1-6) when they were hungry, which is a detail that the story doesn’t say but is implied: ‘David entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Keeping the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments, and through centuries of Jewish teaching, as well as the prophets, this had been reinforced down the generations. It was even one of the things that set the Jewish people apart: it reminded them that they were God’s people. Jesus, more than anybody else, would know this. In fact, in his reply to the Pharisees’ criticism, he doesn’t deny that they are not observing the Sabbath. Instead, though, he pleads that there are special circumstances and a scriptural precedent in David’s story. Jesus’ words are also saying something else: by referring to David and the incident mentioned, he puts himself in the same league as King David, and more: assuming the title ‘Son of Man’. His words, ‘The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’, refer to the new Kingdom now breaking in. In other words, Jesus is assuming his authority as God-given, for the purpose of the redemption and the renewal of humankind. He, as the Messiah, as the true representative of humanity, reshapes the rules, in the light of the work of salvation that he was about to perform. This work is to be God’s mighty act in the world on behalf of its people, as a new Exodus, as a new rest for a new creation. What is the Sabbath for? It is a gift of God to his people, to remind them of who he is; so that we may know how much he loves us and honour him. Amen.
Trinity Sunday John 3:1-17 Romans 8:12-17We were all born. Whether it happened a long time ago or fairly recently doesn’t matter. As soon as we enter into the world, we are a part of it as living and breathing human beings. Most of us have a birth certificate to prove the date and place, with the name that we have been given. But we don’t carry it around all day to prove it. The fact that we’re alive is more important than a piece of paper that mentions it. Last week we celebrated the birth of the Church, Pentecost. It was that first Pentecost, after Jesus’ Ascension, when the promised Holy Spirit came upon the disciples as they gathered, which gave ‘birth’ to the Church, the Body of Christ on earth. So what about our proof of being ‘reborn’ in Christ? How do we give evidence of our existence as living members of the Body of Christ, reborn through faith?Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who came to visit Jesus by night, was challenged about this. He was a religious teacher. But it took some reassessment of his spiritual understanding for him to see why he could not be complete without the renewal inside him by the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Baptism with water was already an ‘outward sign of an inward grace’, of a turning towards God, recognising him as Lord. But baptism by the Spirit, or being born of the Spirit, takes our faith to the next level. Those words of Jesus that he says in John 10: ‘I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly’, are an expression of the same thing. It’s not enough to have an academic knowledge of the divine; you need to make it your own, in your heart, to allow faith to have an effect on your life. That’s where the evidence lies; not just on paper but in the way you live your faith. Paul talks about that, in his letter to the Romans, saying: ‘So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.’ In Judaism, God was already known to the people for who he is as Almighty, the One True God, but through Jesus, God becomes their Father. And through the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they can have a relationship with him and the Trinity. In that famous Rublev Icon, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the figures are placed around the table in a way that invites the onlooker in. No more distance, but relationship and intimacy, between us and the divine, who has been revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three persons, one Holy Trinity. As mind-boggling as it may seem, that is what God invites us to! We may wonder how all this happens. Some Christians have a dramatic spiritual experience that comes like a flash of lightning and that makes God’s presence known to them very distinctly. For others it’s a much more gradual process, more as dawn followed by sunrise rather than a light-switch moment. It doesn’t matter which journey one travels in that way, as long as it leads to the completeness of being ‘born of water and the Spirit’, as Jesus says to Nicodemus. The signs of life that we project as re-born Christians should be the proof that we have been made new in Christ. Those signs are love, kindness, generosity, humility, patience and self-control. We can’t show that to others on paper! We can’t just wave about our baptism certificate – rather, we should wear it on our sleeve, as it were. That way, obviously, we are alive in Christ, as it makes a difference for all to see. So let’s be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Then we can show the world that we’re really alive, in the way we are connected to God, the Three in One, as he guides us into the ‘heavenly things’. Amen.
Pentecost John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Acts 2:1-21 Ezekiel 37:1-14Pentecost is here! Also called Whit Sunday, for the traditional colour of white as a symbol of baptism, and for the witness of Christians to their faith as enabled by the Holy Spirit. It’s all about the Holy Spirit as the theme for celebrations today. ‘Come Holy Spirit.’ This is the prayer for the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ global prayer movement that has run from Ascension Day until Pentecost. You may wonder why it is that short. Shouldn’t prayers be a little more extensive, a little more about the things on our hearts? I guess that many prayers, if not most, are indeed longer than just three words. But then, there are also many prayers that simply say: ‘Lord, please help’. And that is just as valuable. But for this particular time of prayer, ‘Come Holy Spirit’ is the essence of what we have been encouraged to pray. It may be that when we pray these words, they then lead into others; some about the things that occupy us the most, and that we are asking God’s intervention for. And the issues we offer up to God in prayer may well be according to the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer, beginning with the acknowledgement of who God is and praising his name.After all that, we are now at the end of the aforementioned global days of prayer, as today is Pentecost. So, the celebration of the arrival of the Holy Spirit is here! It is in fact, the birthday of the Church! So, Happy Birthday! The readings from John’s Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and the prophet Ezekiel are all about the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls him the Advocate; the one who speaks on behalf of and for God’s people, but who also is the ‘breath’ of God who brings to life that which was dead. As Advocate, the Holy Spirit comforts and challenges. He also protects and sometimes even prods the Church into action. All so that the truth be known and God is glorified. This is given a most remarkable turn in Ezekiel, when he records the vision of the valley of dry bones. Ezekiel records his vision as a conversation with ‘the spirit of the Lord’, who takes him to the middle of a valley full of dry bones saying: ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ And Ezekiel answers: ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then, through the prompting of God, Ezekiel prophesies and in different stages, the bones are dressed with flesh and finally breath comes into them and they are brought back to life. All, ‘so that you will know that the Lord has spoken and will act.’ it says. In John’s Gospel, Jesus announces the coming of the Holy Spirit, earlier referred to as the Helper, by now calling him the Advocate. Why Advocate? It has the connotation of a court of law, and of judgement. Well, there was something of a suit of law going on: God versus the world, or more to the point, versus evil; for God loves the world. And yes, Jesus came to deal with the problem of sin, doing for us what we could never do for ourselves to make us right with God. The Advocate comes when Jesus has gone up into heaven, so that he will be the one to prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement, says Jesus. The vindication of Jesus through the Resurrection and Ascension is the sign that sentence has been pronounced on evil. So that, in terms of a law suit, the Advocate is to prove that the world is in the wrong. There is more: ‘When the Spirit of truth comes,’ says Jesus, ‘he will guide you into all the truth. He will take what is mine and declare it to you.’ That is why the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Advocate, is also a comfort. The world thinks it has justice on its side. But God has said something else through his Son. It is his amazing work of salvation that has proved the world wrong and reset the balance. The Holy Spirit testifies to the truth and works in and through the Church to speak the living Word of God. There, then, is also our challenge. For we need to be open to the Holy Spirit, so that our love for God may remain real and steadfast. The fire that the disciples saw on that first Day of Pentecost, should be kept alive in our hearts, or we become empty shells. In Thy Kingdom Come, there is a reference to an African Study Bible which puts it like this: ‘No one likes to eat stale food or read twenty-year old newspapers.’ Bishop Anthony Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, says, ‘We want fresh food and current news. Let us not give to God a love that is stale and cold. The Lord longs for the churches, as he longs for us, to be all we are meant to be, all we can become in the power of the Holy Spirit. On the first Day of Pentecost, the disciples who, like us, had been praying since the day of Christ’s Ascension, got far more than they ever imagined. The wind of the Spirit carried them into the streets of Jerusalem to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. The fire of the Spirit began to change them from within, giving them new gifts and enabling them to do new things and conquer old temptations.’ So, how can we share better the fire of God’s love, and live as new people, fully alive? Amen.
Seventh Sunday of Easter John 17:6-19 Acts 1:15-17; 21-endThe period between Ascension Day and Pentecost is only 9 days but they are important in the life of the Church. They are a liminal space – an in-between time; a space of waiting. Waiting can be difficult. It can be full of expectancy – like the time to wait for the arrival of a loved one – but also anxious, like the time of waiting for the result of a medical test. We can be advised to use the time of waiting well; to make preparations and to continue to live positively. But that is not always easy, especially if bad news is threatening. But waiting still has to happen; it is part of life and we know it. In the Gospel reading, we find the final prayer of Jesus before his arrest. It is a prayer that focusses on his friends, the disciples, who have been with him for a long time and who will have to witness his journey to the cross. It is also a prayer that honours the Father’s name; something that Jesus has been about all along during his ministry. Jesus is making good use of the time he still has with his friends and through his prayers, he helps them to later understand his work of salvation with the promises for the future that will support them in their witness. They needed that very much. These promises include the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Comforter, who would direct and assist and protect the disciples all the way through in the building up of the Church. But how and when, they could not know until it all happened.And so we come to this final prayer in John 17, when Jesus refers to making known the name of the Father and praying for his friends in the days to come. He is asking that they be sanctified in truth. This means that they are protected from the evil one, so that their witness and proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ through them may be kept safe and sound, and that they will be trustworthy in it. This will include times of waiting. Of course, from that moment on, the disciples did not know how long they had to wait for anything that was to happen. They didn’t know, for instance, that the time between the Ascension of Jesus and the arrival of the promised Holy Spirit would be nine days; it could have been much longer or a bit shorter. All they knew from the teaching and prayers that they had heard from Jesus, was that it would happen, and that the Holy Spirit would come. So, what did they do? As we read in Acts, they prepared. They gathered and prayed. They were not passive but active, even working out who was to replace the one among them that they had lost, so their number would be complete. And then the day of Pentecost came. We are also waiting for the day of Pentecost. In this liminal space, we have several tools to prepare for it anew. One tool is the worldwide prayer movement called Thy Kingdom Come. There is a booklet with reflections for each day, to help us go through the time of waiting, so it becomes infused with expectation and anticipation. We can set these days apart to pray, individually and together, for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that more people come to know the life-transforming love of God. These may include five (a suggested number but it could be any of your choosing) people who do not yet know the love of God for themselves. The hope is that this journey from Ascension Day to Pentecost becomes a time of refreshment by what we learn; and that we be inspired to meet with God in a new way. So, what are you waiting for? Amen.
