8 November 2009 23rd Sunday after
Pentecost The heart of religion
What is at the heart of religion. Is it belief? Is it worship? Is it
belonging? Is it social action?
One of the quirks of human nature is that we can so easily see
faults in others, but not in ourselves. In today’s gospel we quickly
see fault with the Pharisees—their prayer life doesn’t match their
actions. On the one hand they follow the religious rules absolutely,
yet on the other hand, they exploit widows. It seems that their
prayer is just a pretence. Are they more interested in being seen
and being admired than actually doing something.
Are we like that in some ways? When we pray for our church to grow,
and yet don’t invite others, is that pretend prayer? Is it the same
when we pray for someone to be healed but don’t assist in any way?
Is it the same when we pray for the poor but continue to plunder the
earths resources? These are tough questions for us to ponder… and
harder to act upon.
The widow places her whole living, all be it two cents worth, into
the treasury, a giving not of 10% but of 100%. She is commended by
Jesus. This raises a whole lot of questions—How is it that a widow
gets to that level of poverty? What unrealistic expectations do the
priests place on the widow? What will she live on now? But Jesus
doesn’t address these questions. He addresses the question of faith
and commitment. Others give out of their excess, and it has no
impact on their lives, reflects little commitment, costs them
nothing. Do we give out of our excess?
If the heart of religion is a matter of following the rules, then it
is a depleted faith. Religion has at its heart a transformation of
the person. We come in contact with the Holy God, not to please God
and so win God’s favour, but rather to enter into a depth of life
that is not possible otherwise, to experience the mystery of the
spiritual life that is just within our reach and with our line of
sight. The Pharisees (and we?) don’t see that yet, but the widow
does, and gives her all to sustain it.
Trevor Burt
1 November 2009 All Saints Raising from death to life
[Listen to Trevor speak
about how we are all saints]
Why are we celebrating All Saints Day? Traditionally, the
commemoration of martyrs occurred on the anniversaries of their
deaths. However, for all those whose death-dates were unknown, a
commemoration for "all the martyrs" was established perhaps as early
as 359AD. So this feast day is nearly as old as Christmas, which
began in the 4th century.
By the 7th century, this feast had begun to include non-martyrs as
well. The use of November 1 for this feast is first recorded in
England in the 8th century when it was transferred from May 13 to
November 1—after the harvest so that there would be sufficient food
in Rome for the pilgrims.
The word ‘saint’ means ‘holy’. A saint is a holy person. Something
holy is something special. Holy Communion is a special meal. The
Holy Bible is a special book. How does a person become holy?
In the Old Testament something or someone becomes holy when they are
consecrated, or they come in contact with another holy thing. In
those days only a few people, such as priests, could come in contact
with holy things and with God. Jesus changed all that and made it
possible for all to come in contact with God.
A key activity that makes us holy, or special, is baptism. Here we
come in contact with God, or rather, the other way around—God comes
in contact with us. In baptism as we symbolically pour water on the
outside, inwardly God’s Spirit is poured into us. We are filled with
the Holy Spirit.
Becoming a saint is something God does. It is a gift from God, where
God sets us aside, makes us special, and empowers us to be God’s
agents of love and healing in the world. Being a saint has nothing
to do with our worthiness or ability or achievements. It is a free
gift.
Today we celebrate that wonderful gift. We celebrate all who have
been called and set aside to bring God’s life in all fullness.
Trevor Burt
25 October 2009 Twenty First Sunday
after Pentecost The gift of insight
[Listen to Trevor talk
about the gift of spiritual insight]
As often is the case, Mark’s stories have both a physical and a
spiritual meaning. This is so with the story of the healing of blind
Bartimaeus. The restoration of physical sight is accompanied by
spiritual insight. What is the spiritual lesson for us today?
Two weeks ago we had the man who had kept all of the commandments
from his youth and who had many possessions — an obvious sign in the
first century that he had been blessed by God — but he is not able
to part with his possessions. He is not able to follow Jesus. In
today’s text, we have a man who is blind and a beggar — obvious
signs in the first century that he was a "sinner" and not blessed by
God . However, the blind beggar throws off his cloak (v. 50) —
perhaps his last and only possession, and is able to follow Jesus.
Last week we had James and John seeking positions of honour at
Jesus' side when he enters his glory. In today’s text, we have a man
who is sitting by the side of the road, perhaps "sitting in the
gutter" asking not for a position of honour, but for wholeness.
Bartimaeus’ immediate following of Jesus along the “way” is in stark
contrast to the disciples who still seem to be spiritually blind.
We could see ourselves both as the blind man, in need of the divine
miracle so that we can be saved and follow Jesus on the way; and as
members of the crowd who need to see the blind man in a new and
different way. Rather than seeking to keep the poor and disabled and
needy away from Jesus, are we not called to share the news about
Jesus with such people who are on the "side of the way" — the
outsiders. Do we believe that Jesus calls them to his side? If so,
we need to share the news. Do we believe that Jesus has called us to
his side? It means leaving everything behind and following Jesus,
which from Jericho means an uphill road to the cross in Jerusalem.
Trevor Burt
18 October 2009 St Luke, evangelist
and teacher Servant of all
[Listen to John preach about
greatness and service]
When a small child asks her parents if she can have a puppy, the
parents know she has no idea what she is asking for. The puppy will
grow. It will need feeding and walking. It will change their lives.
In the same way, the disciples do not know what they are asking for
when they ask Jesus for the place of honour. The leadership Jesus
has in mind leads to suffering. It means serving others. Not just
members of their group, but everyone.
This can happen in our congregation as well. We say we want to grow,
but do we realise what changes that will press upon us? Are we
willing to embrace the disruption and disturbance that may cause?
A maintenance congregation, when faced with change, asks how this
will affect the members, and will avoid conflict. A mission
congregation asks how this will affect non-members, and will take
risks.
At this point in the gospel the disciples just don’t get it—they
don’t understand Jesus’ servant leadership, they don’t know what
they are asking for, they won’t take risks. All that changes after
the resurrection.
An individual seeking power in a community or organisation can be
destructive. In contrast, Jesus’ form of power, power that serves
others, can build community, but it can also be self-destructive.
The kind of resilience that is needed to bring about change can
cause all kinds of disruption in a settled community.
I commend our Church Council on its mission-based decision, after
months of deliberation, to install solar panels on the church
building. There is some risk in the step, and the council members
had to grapple with that. This step will hopefully be an inspiration
to others to live more sustainably. We will have integrity to
encourage others along that path. We will be contributing to the
call to care for creation, and save money along the way.
This puppy will grow, and we’re prepared to feed it.
Trevor Burt
11 October 2009 Nineteenth Sunday
after Pentecost The cost of following Jesus
[Listen to Trevor speak
about the barrier of riches to our growth in faith]
We tend to call someone ‘good’ if they don’t do bad things. That is
what makes a person morally good. Today’s gospel challenges us to be
good Christians, and that is something considerably harder than
simply behaving well. It also means being actively good, doing
good things.
Jesus often talks about money, and usually in terms of the negative
impact it has on our lives. The key question arising from today’s
reading is: How do we use what we have?
The rich man who came to Jesus was seeking eternal life. He was
morally good, but Jesus soon turns from that and lists the
commandments that are associated with action. Is this not an
illustration of the seed sown among thorns: “But the cares of the
world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come
in and choke the word, and it yields nothing" (Mk 4:19).
Where financial resources are limited, the only way a person can
become rich is if someone else becomes poor. The only way a poor
person can become richer is if the rich person forfeits some wealth.
Religion can be seen as our attempt to get God on our side—by using
the right words, or praying the right prayers, believing the right
doctrines, worshipping the right way, or living the right life.
Jesus challenges the rich man and us—keeping the commandments does
not give us eternal life, nor is wealth a sign of God favour.
In following Jesus, in following his way of life, we are called to
be generous saints. How far can we go long this way before our
limited generosity becomes an impediment to our growth and
effectiveness as Christians? How hard it is for the wealthy to enter
life!
Impossible, in fact, without hard work, personal sacrifice and
commitment. Impossible without God’s help.
And perhaps that is the point. Following Jesus is not an extra
burden or hobby we take on. It is a radically changed way of life.
Trevor Burt
4 October 2009 Eighteenth Sunday after
Pentecost God’s will for women and children
[Listen to Trevor speak
about how God in Christ honours all people, including women and
children]
We are so accustomed to women and children having a voice and place
in modern society that we can fail to see how big a change
Christianity brought to the early church communities in this area.
The key Gospel passage from Mark this morning appears to
We tend to think of marriage today as a union between two
individuals. In Jesus’ day it was more like a uniting of two
families. Divorce in our day is the separation of these two
individuals. In Jesus’ day divorce was a separation of families and
had much to do with dishonour.
If a woman dishonoured her husband, he could divorce her. But in
pursuing divorce, the husband dishonoured his wife’s family. Thus
divorce led to all manner of interfamily disputes. The wife was a
non-person in this.
The Old Testament allowed a man to divorce his wife on the basis of
finding ‘something objectionable’ in her. When asked by the
Pharisees if it was legal to divorce, Jesus said that in marriage
‘the two become one flesh’. Marriage is a ‘blood’ relationship, not
a legal one, and so cannot be legally dissolved. Jesus’
interpretation entirely changed the status of women in marriage.
Marriage was no longer a man taking possession of a woman, but a
relationship with mutual responsibility.
This same inversion of status happens in the next story of Jesus
with children. Children are non-persons in Jesus’ society, totally
dependent upon, subject to, and possessions of, their father. Jesus
blesses the children and asserts that their underlying relationship
is with God, not their father. Thus Jesus challenges the adults to
be dependent on God in the same way children are dependent on their
earthly father.
God’s will is that all persons in society, no matter what their
earthly status, share in God unending and unconditional grace. To
live this out in our lives is costly—the subject for next week’s
sermon.
Trevor Burt
27 September 2009 Seventeenth Sunday
after Pentecost Temptations to sin
The Gospel message today is quite strong, supported by shocking
imagery, signifying that it is an important message to grasp: Jesus
is not calling us to self-mutilation, but he is saying that our
efforts to root out sin in ourselves needs to be as rigorous as it
takes, even if it means appearing like a fanatic.
Mark Twain once said, “Many people are bothered by the passages in
Scripture they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed
that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are the ones I
do understand.”
I don’t know whether he had a particular passage in mind, but this
one would have been a good candidate. This passage, especially
verses 42 - 48, are among the most difficult and confronting in
Mark’s gospel.. There is nothing hard about understanding what it is
saying, but working out what to do with it is another matter.
Someone jokingly said that you can always recognise a church where
people are genuinely committed to obeying the literal meaning of the
Bible because they all have only one hand, one foot and one eye!
There are, I think, a couple of keys to getting our heads around
this passage. The issue in the first part is how we are to judge the
actions of others. The issue in the second is how we are to judge
ourselves. The standard is quite different.
Jesus goes on to give his extremely confronting advice about how to
judge ourselves. You can be generous in your assessment of others,
and give them the benefit of the doubt, but when dealing with
yourself, eliminate all doubt. You can overlook the shortcomings of
others if they’re not causing any great harm, but when it comes to
yourself, get the knife out.
It is important to get the stumbling blocks out of our own path, but
don’t do it by throwing them into someone else’s path.
Nathan Nettleton (taken form the internet)
20 September 2009
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Becoming Servant of all
We leap in today’s gospel from chapter 8 to 9 and miss some
significant events. For some reason the disciples just don’t seem to
get who Jesus is:
1. They don’t understand the Transfiguration (9:2-8)
2. They fail to understand Jesus' comment about "rising from the
dead," yet these disciples were with Jesus when he raised a
twelve-year-old girl from the dead (5:35-43). And they had just come
down from the mountain where the dead were alive (9:9-13).
3. The other disciples fail to cast out an evil spirit (9:14-29).
Now they receive a lesson on greatness. How does Jesus define
greatness? The one who is great is least of all.
What does it mean "to be least of all?" This is illustrated
powerfully by the child. Because our cultural view of children is of
innocent cuties we miss the shocking element of Jesus' actions.
Perkins (Mark, The New Interpreters Bible) writes: “... the child in
antiquity was a non-person (cf. Gal 4:1-2). Children should have
been with the women, not hanging around the teacher and his students
(cf. 10:13-16). To insist that receiving a child might have some
value for male disciples is almost inconceivable.”
Jesus treats children remarkably well. He treats them with the same
recognition as adults. Shocking stuff indeed!
Juel (Mark, Augsburg Commentary) says: “In ancient culture, children
had no status. They were subject to the authority of their fathers,
viewed as little more than property. Membership within the community
of the faithful will involve giving status to those who have none.
Accepting such an unimportant member of society in Jesus' name is
equivalent to accepting Jesus. And accepting Jesus is equivalent to
accepting God. Hospitality is to be extended to the most unlikely,
thus challenging traditional notions of status. This is the kind of
servant Jesus challenges us to be.
Trevor Burt
13 September 2009 Fifteenth Sunday
after Pentecost Finding life through Jesus
[Listen to John Dunnill
speak about Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ]
Churches throughout Australia are celebrating Back to Church Sunday
today. At St Columba’s we join with the many churches to welcome
back to our congregation friends of St Columba’s and others who have
been away from the church for a while. It is wonderful to have you
with us.
The gospel reading today features Peter’s confession in the pagan
city where he says of Jesus, “You are the Christ”. The story is
preceded by a partial healing of a blind person. This mirrors many
characters in the gospel who only partially understand who Jesus is
and only partially follow.
When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, the
disciples simply answered the things they had heard. They could not
yet ’see’ who he was.
Peter is also one of them. Although he makes a clear declaration of
who Jesus is, he only partially understands what Jesus is to do. It
will be some time yet before Peter fully ‘gets it’. Perhaps our
insight into who Jesus is only partial as well.
The confession happens in a city dedicated to an emperor who is
considered to be divine, Caesarea Philippi. Peter’s confession
stands in contrast to this other worldly declaration.
The confession happens outside of a synagogue or church. It is one
thing for us to make our confession of faith in church, and it is
another thing altogether to make that declaration outside the
church.
The greatest threat to Christian faith is not evil, but good. Good
people don’t need Jesus. The Scribes and Pharisees don’t need him.
They are good enough. But the Christ way is not a matter of being
good, it is a matter of making a difference, a path that leads to
suffering. Peter wanted Jesus to avoid that suffering. Peter later
wanted to avoid it himself. Do we partially follow the Way of
Christ, the path of suffering?
Trevor Burt
6 September 2009 Fourteenth Sunday
after Pentecost God is for everyone
[Listen to
Trevor talk about how God is for everyone]
Last week we heard how Mark in his Gospel brings us to a crisis
point and moment of change. The change was to remove the Jewish
purity laws that were a barrier to the Gentiles joining his emerging
church.
This was an enormous hurdle, and each Gospel handles this crisis
quite differently. It is here we begin to see how well Mark crafted
his gospel.
In chapter 6 Mark relates the first story of the feeding of the
5,000. The place is Jewish territory. The images are very Jewish,
including the 12 baskets, symbolising the 12 tribes of Israel. We
then have chapter 7 where Mark has Jesus effectively dispense with
critical purity laws, “Jesus declared all foods clean” 7.19. Now we
come to the outworking of that change which is both confronting and
inspiring.
The scene moves to Gentile territory where Mark has Jesus first
uphold the traditions of the elders, going so far as to apparently
verbally abuse the gentile woman by referring to her as a dog. Then
out of compassion Jesus breaks the purity laws and traditions and
heals her child.
Next is the healing of the deaf-mute man. Is this suggesting that we
are deaf to God’s grace, and mute to share grace with others?
The second big feeding occurs, of the 4,000, this time in Gentile
territory. All the Jewish imagery is gone from the story. Seven
loaves are blessed and 7 baskets collected, a number echoing the
wholeness of creation, and the 70 nations of the whole world.
The bread may well symbolise God’s grace, which is now available to
everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, female and male, prostitute and
saint.
Who is excluded, then, from God’s grace? Try sitting in a public
place and consider who would be welcome at our church. Who could we
invite? Who would we invite? Who would we not welcome and why?
‘God is for everyone’ is the message that shouts at us from the
pages of Mark’s Gospel. Generosity of our heart is at the centre.
Trevor Burt
30 August 2009 Thirteenth Sunday after
Pentecost Cleanliness and Godliness
[Listen
to Trevor talk about being clean by the grace of God]
After spending five weeks reflecting on Jesus bread of life, we now
return to Mark’s Gospel, to a text where the Scribes criticise Jesus
and his disciples for their eating practices.
Why is it that we go about turning guidelines into rules? They start
out as good common sense and in time become unbreakable regulations.
We see this process illustrated so well in the Judaism of Jesus day.
There were oral traditions about washing of hands, for instance,
that were set up to safeguard hygiene. But as people asked about the
‘right’ or best way to wash hands, so the traditions got expanded.
The rules became both rigid and difficult. Before meals and between
courses, hands had to be washed, and in a certain way—with fingers
pointing upwards with water running to the wrist. The minimum amount
of water to be used was two egg-shells full. The water was to be
kept in special stone jars, that had been used for no other purpose.
There were then all kinds of rules about what make the vessel
unclean, and how to restore its cleanliness.
To fail to follow these traditions was not simply to be physically
unclean, but to be unclean in the sight of God.
To fail to clean the hands properly was to be vulnerable to demonic
attack, and therefore open to poverty and destruction.
Jesus reacted to these multiplying rules, which devout Jews followed
so carefully, yet these same Jews failed to love one another. They
failed to follow the first commandment.
Sometimes we can get caught up in all the rules and regulations, and
find ourselves drifting from the more important things in our lives.
Work overtakes family. Family overtakes prayer. They all overtake
rest. Life is soon out of balance, and our priorities seem to be in
the wrong things.
Jesus calls us back to the core things in our life.
Trevor Burt
23 August 2009 Twelfth Sunday after
Pentecost Jesus bread of life. 5. Words of Eternal Life
[Listen to Trevor speak of
the crisis of faith and how to overcome it with a leap of faith.]
In this fifth and last sermon on Jesus bread of life, we come to a
crisis. The crowd could neither accept Jesus nor his words. Why?
The ‘Jews’ complain, first because Jesus said he came down from
heaven, and then because he said he gave his flesh to eat.
The first scandal is that Jesus claimed holiness. The Jews say
something like “How can he say he came down from heaven—we know who
he is, a commoner. We know his parents”. They expected a holy man to
come in quite different packaging. Certainly not like this.
The second scandal is that his words were too demanding, too
inconvenient: “Work for food that endures to eternal live. Believe
that I come from God. Eat my flesh and drink my blood. No one comes
to me unless the Father grants it. My words are spirit and life.”
Al Gore, in his attempt to bring to the world the realisation that
humanity is contributing to an environmental crisis, used the title
“An inconvenient truth”. The same title could equally be applied to
the inconvenient truth Jesus brings to the crowds who follow him.
John’s Gospel was written some 65 years after the death of Jesus. It
records not the words of Jesus, but the reflections of the community
of faith. John has put into dialogue from his understanding of who
Jesus is, placing on Jesus’ lips profound statements that are hard
to accept. That does not mean they do not contain truth. They do.
What truth is found here?
The chapter began with a miraculous feeding of 5,000. It moved to
Jesus saying he is the bread that has come down from heaven, and
then on to say the bread he gives for the life of the world is his
flesh. He then concluded by saying unless you eat this flesh you
have no life in you.
Peter alone, and for the first time in the Gospel, expresses faith
in Jesus for the right reasons—because Jesus comes from God. Jesus
is source of eternal life, his words and person are life.
Trevor Burt
16 August 2009 Eleventh Sunday after
Pentecost Jesus bread of life. 4. True food, true drink
[Listen to Trevor speak
about why John speaks about eating Jesus' flesh and blood]
We have been exploring the long chapter in John’s Gospel about
Jesus, bread of life, and today we come to the section that talks
about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. What is going on
here?
Few things are more offensive to the human mind than eating human
flesh and drinking human blood. In the Old Testament eating flesh is
a hostile act. Drinking blood was strictly forbidden. Yet in today’s
Gospel passage we hear the words, “Unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have life within you.” It
is no wonder the thought of feeding on Jesus raised controversy
right from the beginning.
This whole passage is about the Eucharist, and it is about life.
Just as eating ordinary bread gives us life, eating ‘living bread’
gives us abundant life. Flesh and blood are symbolic of the whole
person, and in the same way, bread and wine which have become his
body and blood symbolise the whole person of Jesus. Partaking of
Jesus in the form of bread and wine is a key way of partaking of
abundant life found in Jesus.
Jesus refers to God as Father in this passage. One of the things
that sets Christianity apart from other religions is this relational
term we use when referring to God. It parallels the relational term
Son when referring to Jesus. Our relationship with the Father is
found through the Son.
It is through the Eucharist, the sharing of Jesus, that the Father
establishes and maintains an abundant life-giving relationship with
us.
When we eat bread and drink wine, these elements literally become
part of us. They are taken up into the cells of our body. In the
same way, when we sacramentally feed on Jesus, he becomes a part of
our own being. The abundant life the Father offers in the Son
becomes ours.
Earlier passages refer to believing in Jesus the bread of life. This
passage balances that with feeding on Jesus the bread of life. Word
and sacrament are the two main ways of nurturing abundant life.
Trevor Burt
9 August 2009 Tenth Sunday after
Pentecost Jesus bread of life. 3. Living bread from heaven
[Listen
to Trevor talk about how Jesus is the living bread of life]
John records an amazing saying: “Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of
life’”.
What is this bread? We know bread was the basic food in Jesus’ day.
It nurtures life. Without it many would starve. It is equivalent to
rice for Asians and potatoes for the Irish. When Jesus says he is
bread, he is not the topping, the jam, the special thing we add to
the bread to make it interesting. He is the everyday sustainer of
our bodily existence.
What is life? Life is more than existence. When some says, “I don’t
have a life,” they mean that life is boring, restricted, empty. They
are simply existing. The life Jesus brings lifts us from mere
existence to fullness of life. He is the constant sustainer of our
cerebral life.
Jesus does more than sustain existence and enrich life. Whoever
comes to Jesus “will never hunger”. People hunger for many
things—acceptance, status, wealth, love. Jesus, the bread of life,
provides a spiritual satisfaction that cannot be found in
hoarding temporal things.
Even more than this, “if anyone eats this bread, they will live
forever”. The Gospel is speaking here of eternal life, which means
living fully in the present, not just in the age to come. The
promised life is an ongoing experience. Jesus is the ongoing
sustainer of our spiritual life, our faith.
How do we ‘eat’ this life sustaining, life enriching, life securing
bread?
Three answers emerge. First, we feed on Jesus by feeding on his
words. The Bible and prayer are the two primary ways we hear Jesus
speak to us. Second, we are fed by believing in Jesus. Simply
trusting in Jesus is enough to enrich our life, and bring peace, joy
and fulfilment. Third, we feed by sharing in the bread and wine, Holy
Communion.
Thus we feed and are fed in body (bread, wine), mind (Bible, prayer)
and spirit (belief, faith). Feeding on Jesus the bread of life
addresses our whole being.
Jesus, bread of life. Much better than miraculous manna.
Trevor Burt
2 August 2009 Ninth Sunday after
Pentecost Jesus bread of life. 2. Food which lasts
[Listen to John
Dunnill speak about spiritual nourishment though Jesus, bread of
life. Read more in Columba
Comments.]
Last week in the beginning of John Chapter 6 we heard the story
about how Jesus fed the 5,000 with barley bread. Now the story moves
on to a dialogue about bread from heaven. What is this spiritual
food?
In the dialogue Jesus addresses some common misunderstandings.
1. People come to have their needs met, but temporal things
fail to satisfy. Once their physical needs are met, the people fall
away. Instead God seeks relationship, that is where satisfaction
lies.
2. People come looking for signs, which in John’s Gospel are the
miracles. Signs point to something greater. People get caught up
with the signposts, the miracles, rather than following where the
sign points.
3. People think they have to work for the spiritual food. Such food
is a grace gift, given freely by God.
4. People think they can control Jesus. They demand he give them the
living bread. Such food comes by simply trusting in the provider.
John contrasts the bread that fills the crowd’s stomachs with
spiritual bread that nourishes life. The allusion to the Eucharist
is strong. The bread and wine that is blessed nourishes and
strengthens us, but it is not the only spiritual bread we receive.
The signs point to Jesus, the message and the messenger, the bread
of life and source of life. Miracles will come and go. Bread lasts
only a time in the stomach. But living bread lasts forever: Jesus,
as the living bread, is with us always. Spiritual nurture, the bread
from heaven, enriches and changes us, making our life fuller.
So the bread from heaven, the spiritual bread, is both Jesus
himself, God’s free gift to us, and the life that he brings, again a
grace gift.
How do we get this living bread? The clue is found in Jesus’ words:
“Whoever comes to me…” Spiritual nurture is found in relationship.
It is OK to seek Jesus to have our needs met, and to enjoy miracles.
The things that last, though, are relationship, trust, belief.
Trevor Burt
26 July 2009 Eighth Sunday after
Pentecost Jesus bread of life: 1. Loaves and fish
[Listen to
Trevor speak about possibility thinking. Read Columba Comments]
We begin a five week reflection today on Jesus, bread of life,
drawing on the remarkable chapter 6 of John’s Gospel. What is the
meaning of this miraculous feeding of the 5,000?
The whole episode can be summarised in two words—grace and glory.
Chapter 6 is the second major ministry section of John. The first is
in chapter 2, the miracle of water changed to wine. Common to both
miracle stories is the incredible abundance of God’s provision.
Abundant grace. It is no accident that the two stories deal with
bread and wine, the grace elements of communion by which we are fed
and strengthened today.
Note that it is a little boy who offers what little he has, barley
loaves (food of the poor) and small fish. It turns out to be
abundantly more than enough. The crowd are not only fed, but
satisfied, full. Fragments are collected afterwards, not just
scraps. Abundance!
It causes us to reflect: What gifts do you bring which, if used, if
released, will enrich not only the Body of Christ, not only the
community we serve, but you as well? When God’s grace is added to
your small offering, imagine what is possible!
Curiously, amongst this crowd that John calls “disciples”, meaning
learners, some do not believe. Why are they following Jesus? To have
their needs met. They want to be fed, but don’t recognise who Jesus
is. They want to take him by force and make him king—a person who
provides for all their needs: security, peace, food. They fail to
recognise the Messiah.
It causes us to reflect: Who is Jesus for us? Is he a person who
meets all our needs, or the divine presence calling us to follow and
commit? Will we turn away when our needs are no longer met?
Jesus reveals his glory to the 12 when he walks on water. He greets
the fearful disciples saying “it is I”. In John’s Gospel this is the
divine name, “I am”. The disciples are slow but committed learners!
Trevor Burt
19 July 2009 Seventh Sunday after
Pentecost Making demands of Jesus
[Listen to Trevor explain
why mission is central to who we are as church]
Christianity has a mission to the world, and that mission is the
most basic reason for the existence of the church. Our mission is to
share God’s love. Is that what we are doing?
One is struck in the passage from Mark how the crowds continually
sought out Jesus, to the point where Jesus and his disciples
struggled to find rest.
The apostles (literally, the ones who are sent) return from their
mission to the villages reporting all they had done and taught. This
term apostle is not a title in Mark’s Gospel, but a descriptive term
that applies to us. We are sent people. Some religions like Judaism
do not have a missionary impulse, but Christianity does, or should
have.
Modern day apostles (and that means us) are sent out to share God’s
love, often against our will, by the God who has called the church
into being.
A church that lives for itself alone is a contradiction. It is a
church that may have the right message, but doesn’t share it. It has
the calling to bring wholeness but refrains from doing it. It builds
walls instead of breaking them down.
The crowds that followed Jesus made demands on him because they
wanted their needs met—physical, emotional and spiritual. The risk
of needs-based evangelism is it can create a passive, demanding,
needy church. People can end up using the church, using each other,
using God.
We are all guilty of using people to some extent, but that shouldn’t
stop us trying to change. That is why we have to be outward facing,
sharing God’s love not only with each other, but with people outside
the walls of the church.
We may well make demands of Jesus and his church, but he makes equal
and greater demands of us. How shall we respond?
Trevor Burt
12 July 2009 Sixth Sunday after
Pentecost Spiritual blessings in Christ
[Listen to Trevor speak
about our abundant spiritual blessings.]
In the weeks gone by we have been hearing how Jesus healed all
manner of conditions. Now we hear of a servant of God, John the
Baptist, suffering execution because he spoke out. Following Jesus
does not always bring health and happiness. What, then, are the
blessings of following Christ?
St Paul begins his letter to the Ephesian church with a wonderful
statement of praise to God, and begins that statement with this
wonderful line: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places.” (1.3) . St Paul then goes on to list some
of the spiritual blessings:
1. Chosen to be holy and blameless—to be Christ-like
2. Destined to be adopted as children of God—close to God
3. Rescued and forgiven—free from slavery to sin
4. Revealed God’s mystery and will—we know God
5. Inheritors—all things spiritual are ours
6. Sealed with the Holy Spirit—the pledge that we belong.
Two children are being baptised today—something more than a splash
of water and uttering of words. It is the beginning of a journey
into holiness. It is belonging to a worldwide family which embraces
all manner of spiritual blessings. It is being rescued and released
from the traps in life that oppress and diminish us, like
unforgiveness and selfishness, lying and greed. It is entering into
a mystery that is both unfathomable and glorious. It is being given
the gift of the Holy Spirit that assures that it is all real.
So in a very real way, these two infants today begin to share the
abundant spiritual blessings God so freely offers to us all. Praise
the Lord!
It is these spiritual blessings that drive us on beyond being
observers or admirers of Jesus, to being followers and sharers in
his suffering.
Praise be to God for the riches of God’s grace.
Trevor Burt
5 July 2009 Fifth Sunday after
Pentecost Finding the person of peace
[Listen to Trevor speak about
how to find the person of peace.]
Jesus was rejected in his hometown, despite his works of power. Why?
Jesus is described as a tekton (Gk.), a carpenter, or more likely, a
builder, a worker with his hands. In Greek-Roman culture such a
worker was towards the lower end of the lower classes, lower than a
peasant worker. Here Jesus, by his teaching and works of power, is
overstepping his social status, perhaps bringing dishonour to his
family, and offending people.
Increasingly Jesus is rejected by people closer to him—first the
Pharisees (Mk 3.6), then his hometown, and later his disciples.
Familiarity with Jesus can be a stumbling block to seeing who Jesus
actually is, and more importantly, hearing and responding to his
message.
If people see no value in Jesus, they will neither listen to his
message nor seek his help. It is this openness that is important,
not faith.
In the 20 or so miracles in Mark, only two affirm the faith of the
healed person, the vast majority do not mention faith, and some
describe the lack of faith of the recipients of the miracle. Faith
and prayer do not make miracles happen. God heals; our task is to be
open and respond.
Jesus sent out the 12 who moments before he had chided for lacking
faith. It seems the best qualification for being sent is not ‘strong
faith’, but willingness. The 12 take nothing with them, thus living
what they preach—not self-sufficiency, but dependence on God; not
religious strength, but faith. Religion is about power—conquering
and converting. Faith is about love—serving, suffering, self-giving,
forgiving.
Who do the messengers stay with? Those who reject the messenger,
miss the message. They stay with those who are open and respond. Why
waste time with those who reject you!
In Matthew’s version the 12 greet these receptive people with peace
(5.12) and so we can describe these welcomers as ‘people of peace’
So our task is to find people of peace, and share to Good News with
them.
Trevor Burt
28 June 2009 Fourth Sunday after
Pentecost Hope in our hour of need
[Listen to Trevor speak about
how Christ beings hope into people's lives]
Last week we looked at the story or Jesus calming the storm. In the
two miracles we hear in today’s Gospel the theme of fear and faith
emerges again. If fear is the opposite of faith, how do we overcome
fear?
Jewish ears would have heard in these two miracle stories an
overwhelming theme: uncleanness. In Numbers 5:2-4 three things were
considered bad enough to exclude a person from society—leprosy,
bodily discharge, and contact with a corpse. Two of these ‘big
three’ causes of ritual uncleanness are represented here with the
woman with an issue of blood, and the dead girl.
Both Jairus’, the child’s father, and the woman express fear—Jairus
not wanting to trouble Jesus, and the woman not wanting her unclean
condition to be exposed. Both overcome their fear and exercise
faith, which in this case means belief in action. They act on what
they believe.
Both the woman and the girl are made unclean by their disease and
death. That means anyone who comes in contact with them becomes
unclean, and that includes Jesus. Jesus is touched by the woman and
takes the child by the hand. Contact doesn’t make Jesus impure.
Rather, he turns the convention on its head and his contact restores
the unclean (and therefore unholy) to wholeness.
A consequence of being declared unclean is that relationships are
fractured—with God and with one another. Unclean people are isolated
from synagogue worship and from society. Yet both the woman and
child are referred to as ‘daughter’. This signals restored
relationship.
Faith can mean setting aside our fear of bothering people, of
uncleanness in others and in us. Faith can mean not letting
obstacles get in our way like bodily discharge, and death and
whatever else causes an ‘ugh!’ response in us. Jewish laws (and
society) isolate people, Jesus (and his church) restores people.
That’s how we bring hope.
Trevor Burt
21 June 2009 Third Sunday after
Pentecost The calming presence of Christ
[Listen to Trevor speak
about how to handle the storms of life]
The story of Jesus’ calming of the storm is like a parable. It says
more about the disciples’ lack of faith than Jesus’ power over
creation.
Just prior to this story Mark has a series of parables about
growth—the sower, the hidden lamp, the growing seed, the mustard
seed. But in this story, the disciples lack faith and are afraid.
Mark’s church lacked faith when he was writing. Perhaps this story
was an attempt to counter this unbelief. The trip to “the other
side” for Mark could represent the mission to the Gentiles, the
people who lived ‘on the other side’ of the lake, the people who
were different.
The storm may represent the storms in the early church as they
sought to “make disciples of all nations”.
These days we don't have to go anywhere to get “to the other side”.
The “Gentiles” are our neighbours. But what a storm it can create
when a congregation makes an intentional effort to reach out to the
unchurched, to the people who are different.
Jesus was the non-anxious presence in the middle of the storm.
Perhaps we as Christian individuals and as the church are called to
be like Jesus, a non-anxious presence in the middle of the storms of
life—financial crisis, climate change and more.
It seems like God doesn’t care, asleep in the stern. We, like the
disciples, cry to God for help, and no help arrives. God could act
miraculously and take away the struggle. Or God could do nothing and
allow us to learn how to embrace struggle, as Jesus himself learnt
how to embrace pointless pain, fruitless toil and endless struggle.
By learning how to struggle, we are more prepared to take risks and
make an attempt to go to the other side, to reach out in love to
those who are different. The boat (=church?) is not a luxury liner
but a leaky vessel. God uses even people who lack faith to make a
difference.
Trevor Burt
14 June 2009 Pentecost 2 Thanksgiving for the Institution of the Eucharist
Today we celebrate a little known feast in the Anglican Church in
Australia called ’Thanksgiving for the Institution of the
Eucharist’.
In the Church of England it is known as "The Day of Thanksgiving for
the Institution of Holy Communion (Corpus Christi)”. The Latin words
mean Body of Christ. It is a Western Christian feast, and its
purpose is to honour the Eucharist. It is usually held on the
Thursday after Trinity Sunday to associate it with Jesus'
institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper on Maundy
Thursday.
In the Roman Catholic Church the feast is known as the ‘Solemnity of
the Body and Blood of Christ’. It first came into the liturgical
calendar through the persuasion of the thirteenth-century
Augustinian nun Juliana of Liège. Juliana, from her early youth, had
a great love for the Eucharist, and always longed for a special
feast in its honour. This desire is said to have been increased by a
vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having
one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a feast.
The Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion and the Lord’s Supper,
is central to Anglican worship, where, except on rare occasions, it
is celebrated as the principal service every Sunday.
The consecration of bread and wine within the rite recalls the
moment at the Last Supper when Jesus gave his disciples bread,
saying, "This is my body", and wine, saying, "This is my blood.”
While theologians through the ages have argued over the effect of
these words which are recalled by the priest over the bread and
wine, what is clear is that those who take part in the mystery of
Holy Communion are fed spiritually.
Eucharist means ‘thanksgiving’. The service itself is a
thanksgiving, which includes confession, the ministry of word
(reading of scripture, sermon) and prayer (intercessions). These,
along with the sacrament, strengthen us for ministry and mission in
the world.
We have a mission plan. It is nowhere near as courageous as St
Columba’s plan, but it is a start.
St Columba was somehow motivated to leave everything behind in
Ireland, make a treacherous crossing of the ocean with a few
companions, and set foot in the hostile land of Scotland.
He settled on the Isle of Iona, where he re-established a monastery.
From there he and his companions made peaceful journeys into the
tribal lands of the Picts (painted people), the fierce warrior
tribes, and brought the Good News of Jesus first to the leaders, and
then to the people.
Who would dare follow in St Columba’s footsteps?
Yet that is what we are doing, although the risk to life and limb is
of a quite different order of magnitude.
Our mission at St Columba’s, which is printed at the bottom of the
page, dares us to live the Christ-life in the tribal lands of our
local community. And it is not easy. It may be easy to welcome
people who are like us, and are loveable, but what about welcoming
those who are different, or unloveable? It may be easy to follow the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit when it suits us, but what about when
it calls for self-sacrifice and unconditional forgiveness? It takes
effort and commitment to worship God, to learn about Jesus, to live
the Good News and share God’s love.
The risk is to our settled, comfortable lives, and the battle is in
our hearts and heads.
Our mission plan is helping us to follow St Columba. He is a model
and an inspiration. Like us, he wasn’t Christ-like in all he did and
said. God uses flawed people to further the Good News. Well, praise
God for that, otherwise who could serve God in this wonderful
mission?
Today is a day of celebration and anticipation. May our God, who is
able to do far more than we can imagine, inspire us for mission.
Trevor Burt
St Columba's Anglican Church
150 Northstead Street, Scarborough, WA 6019
08 9341 3861 scarborough (at) perth.anglican.org
