Audio recording of a message on Psalm 88.

Here is a link to an audio recording on a sermon of mine on Psalm 88 "Honesty in prayer in the midst of despair"  It's relevance in the face of situations we have been facing in New Zealand recently...

if you want a text version here is a link to the post on my blog. 

I mention someone having mental problems but that should be 'medical problems'... for which I apologise. 

The Blessed problem: Bleesed are those who persue righteouness (Matthew 5:

I have found it very hard to get down to working on a message this week considering what happened in Christchurch last Friday. As I said in the prayer I wrote for today like many of us  I’ve been wrestling with shock and grief, my emotions have been going every which way. I’ve wrestled with wanting to show care and compassion while still having to get all the things that need to get done…done.  Balancing tears with tearing around like a mad thing… When really I just wanted to find a place of solace and just process things…ask questions and wonder about where we are at as a society, and what’s in our hearts and  that even more difficult question… what about my own heart? What about my own attitudes?

I’m not saying that today I will bring deep social analysis  but It’s helpful that we are looking at JesusBeatitudes, using Scott McKnight’s framework

Threeblessings for the humble poor, which we looked at last week

Three blessings for those who pursue righteousness, that we are looking at this week

And threeblessings on those who make peace, which we will look at next week.

Like last week I feel what we are looking at today is relevant and important

As I said last week its important

 that in the face of hatred and violence, we speak of Christ’s love and welcome.

 In the face of cursing the other so vilely, we speak of the blessing of seeking righteousness and mercy.

In the face of Human brokenness we speak of God’s salvation and wholeness,

 in the face of sorrow and grief and disbelief we speak of how faith can make a difference.

In the face of how could this happen in New Zealand, we say our hope is in God’s kingdom Come

In the face of evil we proclaim that ‘the kingdom of God has drawn near…’

Its important

Because as we’ve seen people’s response of compassion, care and consolation, support and standing alongside, responding to evil with good, we glimpse a hunger and thirst for righteousness, we see showing mercy, there is a hope of a pureness of heart … maybe just a little taste of Jesus kingdom vision for humanity…

NT Wright introduces his section on the beatitudes in his commentary “Matthew for everyone” by talking of an old black and white film made about breaking the sound barrier.

In the film the test pilots risk their lives to go faster than the speed of sound, about 756 mph, only to have their aircraft shudder and become uncontrollable and dangerous and deadly. In the movie one pilot suggests that by simply reversing how they use the controls, not pulling back to go up or pushing forward to go down,  they will be able to correct the problem, (don’t ask me to explain the physics behind it I can’t and after all it’s the movies) and of course in the movie this is what one brave pilot does and it works…

When Chuck Yeager, the man who broke the sound barrier is asked if this is how it happened, he insisted that it wasn’t. The plane shuddered for a while but it all calmed down as he continued to accelerate. But it does illustrate what Jesus is doing in the beatitudes. With the kingdom of heaven drawing near everything has changed and how things work is totally different, totally counter to our cultural expectations and understandings…  NT Wright sums it up by saying in these apparently simple words “Jesus is taking the controls and making them work backwards.”

We shouldn’t be surprised by this as Matthew tells us that Jesus message was ‘repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has drawn near”. Repent means to turn around, from our own ways to God’s ways.. and the beatitudes and the whole sermon on the mount expound that turn around… they turn the world upside down and show us a new way to live…in Christ, through Christ…or as we’ve been saying in this series… It just maybe Jesus turns things right way up… The way they should be… as we pray each week ‘thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’

Let me just unpack these three blessing a little.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, according to Scott McKnight, are those whose appetite is focused on God’s love and seeing God’s will and God’s justice which  are expressions of that love lived out.  He says “their appetites, instead of being sated by the pleasures of food, sensualities, passions and lusts, are satisfied only in communion with God, knowing and doing God’s will and seeking the welfare of others.”.  You can see this longing in Mary’s Magnificat and Zechariah’s hymn of praise in the bringing of Luke, you see Moses learning it in the hard realities of leading God’s people. It is there as you watch Peter and John and even Matthew himself leave everything they have and follow Jesus, in Paul once he is aware of who Jesus is finding his aspirations and hopes as a Jew now rooted and fulfilled in Christ. That hunger and thirst says Jesus is blessed because they will have their fill. They will find it in Christ.

This beatitude is also one of the ones that Luke uses in the sermon on the plain, and again his is more immediate and focused on poverty and suffering, he says blessed are those who hunger and thirst now for they will be filled later. And we could think that Matthew is simply spiritualising it, but again the blessing for both is the same they will find their fill in God’s Kingdom. A future hope as they sit down to the marriage feast of the lamb, when the kingdom is consummated, but also a now hope as that hunger and thirst for righteousness is expressed in seeing God’s love and justice and mercy shown to the least and the lost.

Those who show mercy, is almost totally self-evident, it is those who have experienced God’s merciful love , who empathize with it and show mercy to others. The ultimate example is Jesus, “father forgive them they no not what they do” as he dies on a cross to pay the penalty for all we have done wrong. But it is the good Samaritan in Jesus parable who interrupts his own journey to care for the fellow traveller who had been robbed and beaten, again we see that in Jesus life, and the gospel seems to be Jesus compassion and mercy shown in interruption after glorious interruption. The blessing again is that they will receive mercy.  Ultimately mercy from God, but also they will experience it and see it in even the smallest of peoples caring actions, even amidst their own pain and suffering.

Finally, pure of heart, or single mindedness that will not be put off its goal or purpose, by any distraction or discomfort, derogatory remark or danger, not even the threat or presence of death. The writer in Hebrews show us Jesus as the ultimate example of that ‘for the joy that was set before him Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Maybe we get it that old protest song and spiritual “we will not be moved” rooted in the scriptures in the affirmation of someone whose life is wholeheartedly focused on God and his word “like a tree planted by the riverside”. We hear it in Jesus challenge to not be concerned by what we eat and wear, but to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness’.

In Jesus day there were many who sought the righteousness of God, the pharisees are an example of that and this beatitude speaks to their religious observance to say that God was looking for something beyond just the purity of the hands, outward observance… public display of piety and looking for a change of heart… the pharisees pursuit lead to exclusion, seeing people as outside and away from God’s love, the pure of heart embrace and welcome in…

That leads us to look at these three blessing through the eye of Jesus news of welcome into the Kingdom and welcome because of the Kingdom.

While it was easy to look at the first three beatitudes through the lens of wonderful news… we can struggle with these three. It is easy to slip into the frame work that we need to be like this to earn God’s blessing…. We need to hunger and thirst for righteousness, then God will bless us, we need to be merciful, then we will receive God’s mercy, we need to be pure of heart, then we’ll see God, if we are not doing those things then we’ll were outside God’s blessing… it’s the attitude that Henri Nouwen says will keep us running Helter Skelter… that he describes as “the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder weather we are going anywhere in the long run…” This he concludes… “is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death.”

We can forget that instead of the way of spiritual death, Jesus blesses us with more hope than we could ever imagine. The wonderful news that this blessing will happen because God will do them- they are gracious and undeserved, it is the presence of God with us, in Christ, that means they have already started to happen… in Christ God has shown us his love and mercy and his justice and righteousness and in response to such love that love becomes our focus, we hunger and thirst for is righteousness in and through us, God’s mercy inspires us, everything else in life flows out of that love.  

These three beatitudes also speak to our wider society, in a timely way. One of the core values of western society is the pursuit of happiness. It is enshrined in the American declaration of independence as an inalienable right, ‘the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. That pursuit of happiness was designed to cover basic ideals of justice and freedoms and dignity. In Mcknight’s commentary he reflects on some of the ways that hs come to be viewed in society… Happiness is a subjective feeling good about oneself and one’s life and one’s situation. It is dependant on circumstance.  It is the right to be happy and it is achievable now, it’s about instant and constant gratification. The pursuit of happiness is based on what we have and it can become a never ending ‘hedonistic treadmill’. We find happiness in comparison with others, we are happy when we have more … but this diminishes as we compare ourselves with those who have more “comparison is actually the thief of Joy’… I also wonder if how detrimental it is when one group compares themselves to another in what they do or do not have… white supremist think there slice of the pie is being taken by other minorities… It can be seen as genetic and medical, some have a disposition to feel happy others struggle wrestle with a disposition more inclined to being morose.

The focus of our society has become chasing the blessing, whereas the beatitudes tell us that happiness is not about feeling good it is about being good. It is based on the pursuit of righteousness and justice. Of course in our very polarised society even how we think of those terms is diverse and divisive. For Christians and our contribution to our society it is defined by Jesus and shaped by that relationship with Jesus that we are welcomed into… It does not relate to the observable condition of our life but rather love for God, love for self and love for others.

The controls kind of work backwards, we seek justice and righteousness and we reap true happiness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will be shown mercy

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God

An invite to find our fulfilment in responding to God’s great love for us, to be captivated by God’s justice and mercy.  The basis of blessing others is  as we live that out in following Jesus, it is how we over come evil with Good.  

prayer of thankgiving confession and supplication... sunday a week after the terror attack in christchurch

Loving God,

As a nation this week we have come together to grieve

We have experienced the pain and suffering expressed in psalm 88:18

‘you have taken from me friend and neighbour

Darkness is my only friend’

We have been wrestling with shock, our emotions going every which way

We have wanted to show care and compassion but had to keep going,

Simply getting the things that need to be done…done

Mixing tears with our normal tearing around like mad things

In the face of it we turn to you for comfort and help

We life up our voices to you Our rock and our refuge

We thank you for your great love for us

We acknowledge we all are made in your image

Made for relationship with you,

That each human has dignity and value because of that

We acknowledge we are broken and sinful

That we turned away from your light and allowed darkness to flourish 

We thank you that you did not turn away from us

You sent your son into this world as its true light

In Jesus we beheld your glory, full of grace and truth

We have seen the depth of your great mercy for us

In the midst of the worst of our inhumanity

You gave your son for our forgiveness and salvation

In Christ his life death and resurrection, is fresh start and new life

We thank you that you have come to dwell in us by your Holy Spirit

You are our comforter and our guide

You are making us into your new people,

As we walk with the spirit you produce Christ like fruit in us

You enable and empower us to show your love to one another

You are with us to witness to the hope we have in Christ

To see people come to follow you, in all nations everywhere

We acknowledge that we are not finished products

That we are sinful and do wrong things

We have been confronted about evil and hate and unlove in our nation

We know those things dwell within us as well

And we pray that you would forgive us Lord

And renew a right spirit within us

Thank you again for your mercy and love

Thatas we confess our sin you are righteous and just and forgive us

You wipe the slate clean

We pray the love and care and compassion we have seen this week

May not simply be grief induced by may be a step towards genuine peace and care in this country

We pray for the families and friends of those who have died

May they now comfort in the midst of their mourning

We pray for the Muslim community in New Zealand that they will feel safe and welcome

We pray for those still injured that they may know your healing hand

We pray for medical staff for your guiding hand and presence

We pray for our police and emergency workers

That they may experience your presence and know peace and healin

We thank you our leaders, political and cultural and religious

People who in the face of sorrow and terror have given hope,

Who have helps show us how evil can be overcome by good

We pray you would fill us with your spirit afresh this morning

To be able to share your love and our hope

To the glory of God father son and holy spirit Amen   

audio of message 'It's a new day Whangarei' at St Andrew's Whangarei

On February 17th 2019  I had the privilege of speaking at the first combined service for the three Presbyterian parishes in Whangarei who are planning on combining half way through this year into a new multi-campus church, single entity. I was doing a very Presbyterian thing...'preaching to a call' which means that I was in the process of working out if it was God's will that we(my family) move to Whangarei and I take on the position as senior Minister at St Andrew's and head up the merging of these three parishes into something new and exciting an missional...

 Since then in our Presbyterian way... the parish councils up in whangarei and the congregations have voted and extend a call to me and I have accepted it and will be heading to take up a position in New Zealand's winterless north in May, ironically just in time for winter...

The message was posted on my blog in text form, and is on the St Andrew's website in two parts (Must have talked too long)…

here are the links

Part 1
Part 2

The Blessed probelm: The Humble Poor (Isaiah 55:1-5, 61:1-3, Matthew 5:3-5)

 In light of what happened in Christchurch on Firday… I really struggled to know what to say this morning… But I’ve decided to preach a modified version of what I had prepared. I pretty much finished it and jumped in my car to go and do something, turned on the radio and  heard that horrific news…

I’m going to speak of the Jesus first three beatitudes… remember we were going to explore Jesusbeatitudes using Scott McKnight framework in his commentary on “the sermon ion the Mount’

 Three blessings for the humble poor, which we will look at today,

 three blessings for those who pursue righteousness, which we will look at next week

and then three blessings on those who createpeace. 

It’s important we do that… its important

 that in the face of hatred and violence, we speak of Christ’s love and welcome.

 In the face of cursing the other so vilely  we speak of blessing the humble poor with such grace.

In the face of Human brokenness and depravity we speak of  God’s salvation and wholeness,

 in the face of sorrow and grief and disbelief we speak of  how faith can make a difference.

In the face of how could this happen in New Zealand, we say our hope is in God’s kingdom Come

In the face of evil we proclaim ‘ repent...the kingdom of God has drawn near…’  

Let me tell you a story… the story of ‘big John’… it’s not my story  Nikki Gumble the creator of the Alpha programme tells it, he said…

“‘Big John’ had been living on the streets of London for over ten years. Before that he had spent over nine years in prison. Most of his teeth were missing. He was addicted to methadone. His nickname on the streets of London was ‘Big John’ because he was a big guy who had once boxed for the Army.

‘Big John’ walked into the night shelter for the homeless at Holy Trinity Brompton. He came with his friend ‘Little John’. ‘Big John’ loved it and appreciated all the young people who cared for him. He started coming to church. He came on Alpha. He encountered Jesus. He was filled with the Holy Spirit on the Alpha Weekend. He came off the drugs. God turned his life right around – from despair to joy.

He started telling his friends on the streets about Jesus. Each week he would turn up at church with more friends. His nickname, on the streets, changed from ‘Big John’ to ‘John the Baptist’!

One of the guys he had met on the Alpha weekend was in the property business and found him accommodation. A dentist in the congregation volunteered to replace all his missing teeth. He has been reconciled with his mother and his daughter and he now has a relationship with his grandchildren, whom he had never met before.

Nicky Gumble finishes that story by saying…

“Following Jesus is life-changing. He constantly turns people’s lives around.

He turns despair into joy (Psalm 30:11).”

Blessed are the poor of spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the land

When you start looking at all the scholarship and commentaries round these beatitudes the questions that come up are what does it mean to be blessed? Is it a future hope that will only be realised when the Kingdom inaugurated…started, with Jesus will be consummated by Christ’s return? Or can we expect something in this world, in our time… with its inhumanity, poverty, pain and suffering… Then who are the poor of spirit? is Matthew spiritualising Luke’s blessed are the poor to make it more palatable? Who are those who mourn? Who are these meek or gentle people?  and how can we define what the blessing Jesus proclaims on them means… and you know they are good questions it’s good stuff, its challenging and its helpful… But one of the things I found most helpful was Scot McKnight’s reflection that the best way to understand who Jesus is talking about and what this blessing means is to look at the people who meet Jesus in the gospel narratives, and in the wider New Testament story.

We see an answer in who Jesus meets and how their lives are changed. Those ostracised and impoverished because of disability and ailment, are seen as individuals important to God, and Jesus brings healing and wholeness. Bartimaeus at the end of john’s gospel, by the roadside on the outskirts of Jericho, blind and begging, who the crowd tell not to bother Jesus. Who Jesus hears, stops to listen to, asks him ‘what do you want? And then in response speaks healing. The leper, unclean and isolated from human touch and only able to survive on the charity of others, whom Jesus touches, and makes well and restored to his community. Likewise the women with bleeding she is healed and reconciled to her community.  We see it in outcasts welcomed back… Matthew the tax collector…  The Samaritan women, who comes to the well in the middle of the day. Who Jesus asks to help him, who he converses with on a theological level. Who Jesus tells he has living water to give…Who then goes and is able to share that with her whole community? This week I received an email from a friend which was an article re-examining the story of the women at the well. In it the writer wondered if we hadn’t seen the Samaritan women through our own cultural bias, her having five husbands as a sign of a lose life. The article suggested it was more likely that her story was that she was unable to have children, and that as a women she would have needed to be married in her society, but when her inability to have children meant she was quickly divorced. She was shunned by the other women who feared that somehow her barrenness was contagious, she didn’t have children to send to the well... You know if that was the case isn’t it kingdom of heaven that the childless women in encountering Jesus would be like the mother of the church in Samaria. Even the centurion, the roman oppressor whose love for his servant leaves him devastated and is willing to humbly come to Jesus with great faith… is welcomed and blessed.

Peter and John meet the cripple at the gate beautiful, looking for alms, expecting God’s people to be generous and Peter says ‘gold and silver have I none’ but in the name of Jesus be healed. The book of James, which is seen as a commentary on the sermon on the mount, where James tells the church not to show partiality to the rich and important, making the poor and those with low socio-economic status stand at the back… sort of like the  ‘go to the back of the bus’…  of American segregation.

We could go on to talk of the ‘big John’s and countless others who meet Christ and know that blessing. I watched a report about Kiwi’s on the mercy ships in Africa on Sunday Night. The reporter started by saying it was the most human of desires to help others, and told the story of a surgeon and a nurse and a young woman from New Zealand serving on the mercy ship. Helping the sick and impoverished In Guinea. Doing this amazing work then half way through as a patient was being prepped for surgery and the nurse prayed with her the reporter almost reluctantly said Oh and this is a Christian charity… but here again is an expression of the kingdom of heaven… blessing the humble poor.

Those who mourn. The widow at Nain in Luke 7, whose world emotionally and economically and socially was devastated by the death of her son. She is doing the thing a widow should do burying him with a service that would declare her trust in God, even when it was all falling apart. Jesus comes and raises her son to life. The widow who gave al she had two small coins, who Jesus held up as an example of faith, not pity.  Widows in the early church in Jerusalem some of whom were being discriminated against because of their Hellenistic background, they were Jews with a more Greek background, and the early church setting up a group to ensure that all were justly treated.

The meek is hard for us to understand so maybe a quick definition is essential, because we see it as weak or submissive, but it is not it a willingness to endure injustice, and deprivation with an alternative vision of the common God, and a just society, and won’t be put off that vision by adversity and opposition, and will not resort to the using the means of their oppressors to accomplish their vision. Jesus must have been mind-blowing for his disciple Simon the zealot, who was from a political faction that advocated armed rebellion against the Romans. Again an example of the wonderful welcome and transforming power of the kingdom. Into that meek mode step Simion and anna, who were poor and had suffered, but who longed for the Kingdom and rejoiced when they met Jesus as he was presented a week old in the temple. Mary as well a faithful poor Jewish Girl willing to go through the danger of being put aside and stigmatised or even killed, in obedience to God. Her song, the Magnificat picks up and is a prelude to the beatitudes in declaring the reversal and renewal and hope of God’s kingdom come near.

When you think of the meek inheriting the land, you get the idea of the nonviolent protests of Ghandi in India and the civil rights movement in the states. I couldn’t help but think of Martin Luther Kings jr final speech that echoes the meek inheriting the land… when he sees himself like Moses, that he had been to the mountain top and had looked over and seen the other side…  seen the land… seen the fulfilment of their quest for equality…”he may not get there with them but he said My eyes have beheld the glory of the coming of the Lord… the kingdom of heaven breaking into the unjust systems of his time and day. You over come evil with good…

You know in the end I could have simply finished after the story of ‘Big John’ as it speaks to us of the welcome of the kingdom of heaven for all who are the humble poor. That in Christ we can be meet at our point of need and be made whole. That is an offer open to all... 

But it also speaks to us about the fact that once welcomed in to God’s Kingdom we too become part of that warm welcome, the transformation and blessing that Jesus has for the humble poor. big John and we and the world around us experience that love that welcome and that blessing in the way we see other human beings and treat them as the people God loves and seeks to bless and we are prepared in our service and generosity, our care and witness, our prayer and our proclamation, our seeking of justice and righteousness… to be part of that blessing… in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer based on Psalm 34:5 after a dark day In New Zealand

It is hard after a tragedy like the unprecedented Mosque attack in Christchurch to lead God's people in Sunday Worship. We are blessed and helped to have the great tradition of the psalmists who have gone before us... Psalm 34 and 35 which details the pain and sorrow of the exiles possibly with the destruction of Jerusalem and the horrors it would have entailed etched in their memories... But still with hope in God's goodness and faithfulness... 

God

It is hard to praise you today, it feels so dark around us

 It is hard to pray today, our words fail us and only tears well up

We are shocked, and unable to comprehend, Our hearts full of sorrow,

Evil has touched our land, hatred has raised its murderous head,

Fifty kiwi, Muslims at prayer, senselessly slaughtered in Christchurch

Like the psalmist dragged from Jerusalem’s ruins we are downcast,

Our souls are disturbed and heavy within us,

Like the psalmist we turn to you, and we cry our in our pain  

We know you hear our prayers and listen to our cry,

In these dark places, through all of life we know you are faithful

It is hard to praise you, but we do, you are our hope.

You have made all things Good,

But we turned our back, we went our own way,

We disobeyed and became broken and sinful

But You did not give up on us

You sent your son into this broken and hurting world

Not to condemn but to bring new life

Jesus spoke and showed the grace, love and justice of your kingdom

Dying on the cross he paid the price for all we had done wrong

Being raised to life again, new creation happens as we trust in you

 you dwell with your people by your spirit

You are with us, able to being comfort and care,

You are for us, wanting to bring your light in our nation

By your spirit empowering us to share your love

Holy God,

We confess, our sin

We do not love as we should

We do not seek your justice and righteousness with all our being

We don’t like it but those seeds of hate are in us all

We pray you would forgive us and our nation, New Zealand

That you would restore a right spirit within us

Righteous God,

Thank you that you are faithful and just

Thank you that when we confess our sin you forgive and restore

Fill us afresh this morning with your Holy Spirit

Enable us to welcome and to love all people in Jesus Christ

To seek reconciliation and justice in this land

To witness to the hope we have in you

Compassionate God,

We bring our hurting land before you,

We pray for the families and loved ones of the victims, that may know comfort

We pray for the injured and those fighting for their life,

 we ask your hand to be on them and with the medical staff treating them

We pray for the Muslim community in this land, that they will know peace

We thank you for our police and emergency workers

They have selflessly served, to protect and to care

 reacting with training and adrenaline, and as they know come to terms with the horror they have witnessed we pray for their care and consolation

We pray for our nation, that while we all have been attacked by this

That from it might develop a greater sense of togetherness and compassion

Do not let racial hate and extremism win, we pray that evil will be overcome by good 
to the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, 
Amen

The Blessed Problem: A quick Introduction and overview (Matthew 5:1-2)

Annie reminded me that when I first came to St Peter’s seven years ago,  I started my ministry here with a series of sermons on the beatitudes and Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. It was great that she remembered.

The fact that we’re looking at them again doesn’t mean I’ve run out of ideas. It’s not like with TV… ‘there is a gap in the programming so let’s rerun F*R*I*E*N*D*S again, or M*A*S*H yet again.’ We’ve worked our way systematically through the gospels in those seven years, amidst other books and so we are back to Matthew again.

It doesn’t mean I’m just going to rehash those old sermons, although as I’ve reread them I though I was a more confident preacher back then, now as I’ve come to look at Jesus teaching I am aware of just how wonderful and deep and challenging these passages are, and preaching on them and opening them up for us is daunting.

The reason why the sermon on the mount is so important for us, hasn’t changed, more than ever I am convinced that this teaching of Jesus on the kingdom of heaven is of utmost importance to the Church. It’s been called the manifesto of the kingdom, As a good friend of mine in Rotorua would say, its important because in it Jesus calls us to keep the main thing the main thing. The rediscovery of what is contained here has been the basis of reform and renewal time and time again for the church. St Francis of Assisi, was said to have read the sermon twice a day, and it was the core of his faith and lifestyle and his move to reform the whole church in the twelfth century. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and pastor who was arrested and killed by the Nazis towards the end of the second world war and whose book ‘Discipleship” is still the best volume on Jesus Sermon said this…

 “The restoration of the church will surely come from a new kind of community, which will have nothing in common with the old but a life of uncompromising adherence to the Sermon on the Mount in imitation of Christ. I believe the time has come to rally people together for this.”

We have an aversion in our day to getting radical, being radicalised is a negative we equate with terror cells and jihadis and  we are afraid of them, even bungling ones … just an aside wouldn’t it be amazing if Christians in New Zealand sort to help Mark Taylor…that would be love your enemy in action… can you imagine this hard core guy being shown such Christian love… that’s the radical we want… to be radical is to again base oneself of the founding principles of a movement in our case the radical love and call to love of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

We are going to work through the beatitudes over the next few weeks, follow the helpful groupings that Scott McKnight uses in his ‘the story of God bible commentary series’.

 Three blessings forthe humble poor, which we will look at next week,

 three blessings forthose who pursue righteousness, the week after,

and then three blessings on those who create peace. 

Before we look at that today, I want to give a real quick over view of the sermon on the mount and put it into the context of scripture and Matthew’s Gospel. That may sound dry and academic, but it is anything but… I think it sets the scene, its like a spectacular sunrise on a gorgeous new day.

Let’s put it into the context of Jesus ministry.

In the chapter before the sermon, Matthew had told us of Jesus ministry in Galilee. After his baptism and temptation in the wilderness, he had come preaching ‘repent for the Kingdom of God has come near’, he went about gathering a community together who would be the basis of that kingdom and live it out, he called the disciples to come and follow him, and he healed the sick of all kinds of diseases, he demonstrated that God’s Kingdom had come and the unjust pain and suffering of this world were going to be reversed by that. When we come to the Sermon on the Mount, people are aware that the Kingdom has come, that this Jesus is the messiah, that is what Matthew has been showing us. Jesus teaching in the sermon on the mount is his expounding of that core message repent for the kingdom of Heaven has come near.

 The beatitudes are the declaration of the blessings of that kingdom. It is the proclamation that the Kingdom has drawn hear. It is the good news to those who suffer in this world but who long for and hold onto God, that things have changed, because Jesus, God’s anointed King, has come. Brett Johnston preached on Luke’s list of the beatitudes about a month ago and talked of them being the reversal of what this world considers to be blessing and setting things right side up. NT wright translates blessing as ‘Wonderful news’. The blessing of the poor and those who hunger and thirst and who suffer for righteousness is not in their condition but in who Jesus is and the inauguration of the kingdom of God. 

The rest of the sermon is that repent message. Not be sorry for all the bad things you’ve done, but what it means to live in response to the good news of the Kingdom, how that kingdom is going to be manifest through this beloved community Jesus was drawing together to follow him. How the blessings that Jesus proclaimed were going to be partially fulfilled by the way in which God’s new people lived generously and lovingly in that kingdom, as they await its total consummation, when Christ returns.

We often simply see the first two verses of this chapter as a geographical summary, to set the scene for us. Jesus sees the crowd, he sees the opportunity to teach them and goes up onto a hill and sits down, and his disciples gather round because they get the idea of what he wants to do. On one level that is that’s what it is, it where we get the Sermon on the Mount from, but it also for Matthew puts what Jesus is doing into the context o the wider biblical narrative.

Matthew had been painting a picture of Jesus fulfilling the story of Israel. He had gone down to Egypt and come back up, he had gone through the waters of baptism, like the red sea he had been tested in the wilderness and come through victorious and now as the crowds gather to him, Matthew presents us Jesus as the new Moses, the law giver. Moses went up on to the mountain at Sinai and received a revelation from God, what we call the Old Covenant, and taught Israel what it meant to be God’s people. Jesus going up on to the mountain is an affirmation of Jesus bringing fresh revelation from God, like Moses, revelation that does not do away with the old but which fulfils it. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus teaching is presented in five big blocks, in his gospel layout Matthew is saying here is the new Torah, the new way to live in the kingdom.

Jesus sitting down is the posture that the rabbis would take when they taught, so for Matthew Jesus is taking that authority to teach the people. Unlike the rabbis who referred to other authorities specifically Moses Jesus authority to teach comes from who he himself is, God’s chosen king, the messiah.  Matthew will finish his account of Jesus teaching by saying the people were amazed as he taught as one with authority. The teaching on the kingdom of heaven cannot be separated from the one who is giving it. Matthew is not simply telling us that Jesus is a good teacher but he himself as the messiah has bought about the new reality that he is calling his followers into.

To fully understand the beatitudes and he whole sermon we need to be aware of the hopes and expectations that people had about the coming of God’s king. I another simply geographic description in chapter 4 about Jesus leaving Nazareth and going to galilee, Matthew sees Jesus fulfilling a prophesy from Isaiah of a light coming to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali” which was the place that first experienced exile from the land in the Old Testament. AS Jesus proclaims his beatitudes behind that are all the expectations and promises that are found in Isaiah and the other exilic prophets as they look forward to the restoration of Israel. A place of peace and plenty where no one will have a need, where all will be welcomed to Jerusalem to worship God. The beatitudes pick all that up and say that with Jesus coming they are starting to come true. Scholars often compare the beatitudes in Matthew with the beatitudes in Luke’s gospel, and that is helpful and we will do some of that. But I also think that to understand the beatitudes and the intent of the sermon on the mount, we need to compare it with Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah in Luke 4, which is like Jesus declaring his mission statement.

 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,     because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

That passage goes on to speak of God’s comfort for those who mourn in Zion.

What does all this mean for us.

Firstly, the beatitudes are this wonderful amazing welcome to all into the Kingdom of God. Specifically, those who the religious people of Jesus day saw as being outsider, or in no way blessed by God. The poor the sick, the lame the broken and the hurting, those beset by difficulty and tragedy, even though despite those things they still longed for God help and love. At the heart of the Kingdom of heaven is the great offer of God’s love and grace.

Sometimes we think of the Beatitudes as a list of qualifications for God’s blessing. To be blessed by God we need to be more like this, and we forget that it is a proclamation of good news, the blessing is god’s welcome and love and care and consolation. I love matt Woodley’s translation of the word blessed, he says its congratulations your on the right path, rejoice… God offer of grace is for you.  We can forget that at the heart of the gospel is God’s offer of grace and love and welcome to us. We want to jump right to the how do I earn it. You know in the old testament we can often read the ten commandments as a to do list to earn God’s favour and we can forget that they come some twenty chapters into the story of God redeeming Israel out of Egypt, fulfilling God’s gracious promises to their ancestors. It is about how do we respond to the gracious love and saving activity of God, not earn it. It’s grace you are loved and invited in by God, the broken will be whole, our poverty met with the resources of god’s kingdom, our sorry comforted by God.

The second thing is it invites us to see people through the eyes of the kingdom of heaven, through Jesus eyes.  Last week we talked of how the world sees whose blessing, they see those who have it all together, and those who have it all those who are prominent and important. But the beatitudes calls us to see the people we might not consider as blessed with dignity and not as being marginalised but important to god and his kingdom. The rest of the sermon shows us how to show that dignity and love. AS we work through the beatitudes we are going to keep those two things very much to the fore.

A Prayer of thankgiving based on Psalm 30:8-12

A I sat down to write a prayer for sunday worship my reading for the day was from psalm 30:812. So I used it and the fact that we are working through the beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12 as the basis for my prayer. 

The prayer may seem a bit flippant... But I'm not a natural dancer... but I can identify with the language the psalmist uses... I'm naturally rather melancholy in my personality but I can affirm that God has lifted the mourning and given me joy.

I love singing, and I've learned to sing for church, but I can't carry a tune that well and I'm pitchy and I'm always looking for my keys But I can affirm the Psalmists desire for his heart to sing God's praise and not stay silent... all because God has heard my cries for help and salvation... and answered.

As with all the stuff I put on my blog feel free to sue what you find helpful and not use what you don't. 

Some of us God, have got two left feet

You haven’t blessed us with grace or even a sense of rhythm,

While for others the moves just seem to flow

But with the psalmist we all can affirm

‘you have turned our sorry into dancing’

There are things in our life that cause the deepest sorrow

We see it in the dark places around us and within,

Life’s a rollercoaster of great happiness and heart felt grief

But with the psalmist we all can affirm

‘You removed our sackcloth and ashes and filled us with joy’

We may not have the best pitch and key, or keep a tune

Some of us may just simply croon

While others voices are clear and pure

But with the psalmist we all can affirm

‘Our hearts will sing your praise and not be silent’

We raised our voices in prayer to you

We cried out in need of your mercy

We wondered if you would even hear us

But with the psalmist we all can affirm

‘that you are faithful, you hear and are our help’

In Jesus your kingdom broke into our world

The poor, those who mourn, the meek are blessed

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness receive their fill

The peacemaker and the merciful are embraced by you

Those who suffer and are persecuted are held in your arms

In jesus, there is light in our dark

Water in the driest deserts within

Food in a famine of meaning

Hope in the face of death and despair

Healing and wholeness for our brokenness

In your death, there is forgiveness for all we have done wrong

There is reconciliation with God and one another

In your resurrection, new life and fresh creation

In your spirit’s presence, leading for life as we walk with you

Empowerment to love and to serve

We have so much to thank you for God,

A place to belong and a family that cares

A purpose and mission as we witness of Christ’s resurrection

A call to humble service and compassion

Your steadfast love new every morning

Some of us God, have got two left feet

You haven’t blessed us with grace or even a sense of rhythm,

While for others the moves just seem to flow

But with the psalmist we all can affirm

‘you have turned our sorry into dancing’

Lord Our God we praise you forever…

the exploding Blue Heron... a metaphor

I went for a walk at Tahuna Torea, a bird sanctuary on the banks of the Tamaki estuary and came across a Blue Heron in the walking though the water. I started taking photos of it reflected in the still morning waters. then the most unusual thing happened the heron exploded. No it didn't blow up literally, but suddenly all its feather were ruffled and it was all out of sorts.

I had to stop and think, as well as thinking I had some great photo's I think I'm often like that Heron, quite and reflective then something small happens and suddenly... boom... maybe its being a diabetic or getting older and more stressed by things. But the experience was a sort of metaphor and a word from God... Peace is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit as is self control... something I think we are constantly having to grow ripen and mature in our lives...

Jesus right side up Kingdom... the beattitudes and blessing the Children... (A short message on Matthew 5:1-12, Matthew 19:13-15)

We had a brain storm about what messages we are told about who is blessed in this world? some of the things that came through were health, good looking, wealthy, no stress, good safe community, intelligent, important, significant...

Then we read Jesus and it seemed to be so different. Almost as if the whole thing was turned on its head...

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is totally counter culture to our world’s views understanding of things. We think it’s the people who have it al together, or have it all in terms of wealth, health, looks and ease who are blessed and happy…. But Jesus lets us know it’s the ones on the margin, in need who the world might look down on or write off that find blessing in God’s love for them.

People call it God’s upside down kingdom… or just maybe it is God’s right way up kingdom it’s just that we are not used to seeing it that way.

Perhaps in New Zealand we are able to understand that… Let me illustrate what I mean.

What is missing off this world map?

The short answer is well…We are.  And there is a disturbing trend recently of leaving New Zealand off world maps.

In fact John Oliver on his Show Last Week Tonight, poked fun at New Zealand’s recent campaign, which even included our Prime minister, complaining that we are often left right off world maps.

Oliver suggested a fix for us, which was this cut out map of New Zealand that he made available on twitter, that could be printed off cut out and glued on to any and every offending map. We will not be left off again…

When you look at most world maps, if we are there, we are down the bottom and off to the side, like we are insignificant and unimportant, marginalised.  Maps were mainly printed and published in Europe, and they are placed up the top and in the middle. It’s a political and historical decision as much as a geographic one as it’s in the place of prominence and importance..

Just like map’s printed in China are more likely to have china at the centre. To do that in this case you end up with stereo Greenlands.

We are not used to such maps as this one , which has corrected the problem… Right. This is Peter Jackson’s Middle earth world map… New Zealand is up the top in the centre, where we should be, “ On top of the world Ma”. We know it should be like that but somehow it just does not seem right as we are used to it being the other way up. Now Jesus is not talking about New Zealand per sae, the beatitudes tells us what things are like in the Kingdom of heaven. Where things that are wrong are put to right. The poor and the marginalised are helped and welcomed in, the meek, the peacemakers those who thirst and hunger for righteousness are fulfilled, the mourner is comforted. In that there is hope and grace, and challenge and a call for transforming the way in which we live and treat others and seeing our world changed, put right way up.

Jesus blessing the children in our reading from Matthew 19… Is also a great illustration of what the Kingdom of God is like and Jesus affirmation of who is blessed. The disciple we’re trying to keep the children away from Jesus… as Michael Wilkins says they thought that children had insignificant societal status and are interrupting what they considered Jesus more important task of proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven. But As Jesus says that Kingdom is for such as these… The little ones are loved and cherished by Jesus and he takes the time to bless them.

The ones who didn’t count or were marginalised or not seen as ‘in’ or blessed by the religious leaders and wider of society of Jesus days, and suffered depredation and want because of it, are the very ones that God’s kingdom is for. That are blessed because of it. Both by being invited into a relationship with God in Christ, that will have a final fulfilment when that kingdom is consummated and experience its blessing now in God’s provision and the care of God People.

In our recent parish review the three things that gave us as a leadership the most hope was that the three areas people were most positive about our church were that we are a welcoming community, that we are intergenerational, which we aim for in our blended worship style, and that we included and valued children and young people, that we are Kids Friendly…

That is important for our church today and into the future. Most people become followers of Jesus before they reach the age of 19… Just to illustrate that how many people here see their relationship with Jesus starting in their childhood.

 The big challenge from that review and from the beatitudes is that there was concern that we do not have a strong ministry to the poor, or a strong enough commitment to seeing justice in our community.

So today Kids know that you are welcomed and loved by Jesus, it is his pleasure to bless you. We love and value you here, we appreciate you sharing your talents and giftings with us. It’s great when people of all ages come into the church there is that warm welcome to all from you guys right there,  we welcome you involved in leading us. In fact Jesus says we need to be more like you… NT Wright sums that up by saying

 “Jesus simply relishes the young life, bubbling up like water from a fountain and refusing to be quenched. Because that is what God’s kingdom is like- full of new and unpredictable life. Little children, adventurous, eager, ready to be drawn into stories and drama are just the kind of people the kingdom is for.”