Pentecost X (Proper 12 B) [John 6:1-21] (29-Jul-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, Biggenden Lutheran Preaching Place, St John's Anglican Church, Biggenden, 2pm, and Woodgate Lutheran Preaching Place, Woodgate Community Hall, Woodgate, 5pm.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today in our sermon, we’re reading from John chapter 6, which we’re going to be reading from for the next few weeks. At the beginning of this chapter, we have our reading for today, where we read about Jesus feeding the 5000, and walking on the water, and then for the rest of the chapter, we read about where Jesus goes to Capernaum and teaches the people there that he is the bread of life.

So let’s read the beginning of our reading where it says: After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Last week, we were reading the account from the Gospel of Mark, where we read that Jesus took his apostles on a little retreat, after they had been very busy going about in pairs, preaching all over the place, preaching repentance, casting out demons and anointing the sick. At the same time, we also read that John the Baptist had been beheaded, and so Jesus and his apostles received some very sad news, which had an emotional effect on Jesus. Also, in John’s Gospel, we read that this event happened not long after Jesus had been preaching to the Jews, who were trying to kill him. What he had said to them would have angered them more.

And so, as all these events come together, Jesus calls his apostles to come across the lake with him so that they can have a rest, and recuperate, and prepare themselves for the next part of their work and ministry.

However, once Jesus and his apostles had crossed the lake, they didn’t seem to have a moment’s rest, because the crowd had followed them there. Jesus spends many hours there, healing the sick and teaching them many things.

And so we read: Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

We see here how Jesus says to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip is an apostle that isn’t often mentioned, but he is mentioned quite a lot in the Gospel of John. We read at the beginning of the Gospel of John, that Philip brought Nathanael to come and meet Jesus. We read also that some Greeks came up to Philip later and said to him: Sir, we want to see Jesus. And then, later on, on Maundy Thursday, on the night when Jesus was betrayed, Philip says to Jesus: Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. We read: Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? This is a very significant conversation that Jesus has with Philip here, where Jesus gently reprimands Philip for not recognising that Jesus and his Father were one. In our reading today, Jesus manifests his divine power by feeding these 5000 people, and walking on the water. And the fact that Philip is mentioned here is important, because he should have learnt from this event that Jesus was true God, together with the Father.

So we read that Jesus says to Philip: Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat? It’s funny here—Jesus is almost playing a little game with Philip. Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw the crowd. And now, Jesus wants Philip to have a look around and examine the situation. Where are we to buy bread, so that these people eat? Have a look, Philip, and tell me just how much bread there is around here! Not much! Have a look, Philip, and tell me just how close the shops are! They’re a long way away! Have a look, Philip, and tell me just how many people there are! There are thousands of people here!

This passage is a wonderful encouragement for us, especially when we find ourselves in a time of life where everything is at a crossroads—and Jesus has this wonderful way of pushing you to notice just how desperate you are at a particular time in your life. And it’s strange that when Jesus is about to work an amazing and wonderful comfort, he first sends us off to count our own provisions, and shows us just how few resources we really have. We might look at our world or our country and wonder where it’s heading—and we look at our own resources, and we see just how little we have, and we realise just how powerless we seem to be. We might look at how things are going in our own town. We might look at how things are going in our own family, or our church, or whatever. We might look at our bank account, and we wonder if we’re going to be able to survive financially if this or that happens. And it seems very much, sometimes as if Jesus says to us, “What are you going to do?” “How are you going to feed your family?” “How are you going to pay your mortgage?” “How are you going to make ends meet?” “How are you going to keep up with the cost of living?” Many young people are particularly worried about these kinds of questions today, as they begin to realise that after going to school, and getting good grades, and going to TAFE or trade school or university, or whatever they do, they are guaranteed absolutely nothing. But it’s not just money matters where people are like this—wealthy people also find themselves in desperate situations, situations which money just can’t solve. Sometimes we find ourselves in a very desperate time of our lives, where we just don’t know how things are going to work out. But Jesus has brought this information to our attention, just as he said to Philip and said: Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat? And nevertheless, as Philip starts to panic and to worry and to become anxious, trying to answer in his head the questions, “What on earth are we going to do? How are we going to fix this insurmountable problem?”—it’s almost as if there is a little smile on Jesus’ face, as John tells us, [Jesus] said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. The same goes for us, whenever we find ourselves in a particularly desperate situation in our life—Jesus knows what he will do.

Something that we often forget when we read the feeding of the 5000, is that in the Old Testament, a very similar miracle was performed by the prophet Elisha, but it was on a much smaller scale. Elisha fed 100 men with 20 barley loaves. Now Philip looks out and starts to count the number of people, and he says: Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. A denarius was the amount that a labourer would get paid in a day. So if you can imagine that Philip is talking something in the realm of two-thirds of a labourer’s yearly income. In Australian money today, that’s somewhere around $30,000. Philip is basically saying that $30,000 worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to eat a little. Now, we are told that there are 5000 men there, and that’s not counting the women and the children. So let’s say that every man who was there has a wife and at an average of 2 children: that makes at least 20,000 people, if not more, which means that each person would have less than $1.50 worth of food. We all know that $1.50 in Australia today doesn’t buy much food! A person would hardly get half a sandwich for that price.

But then along comes Andrew, and he presents the reality of the situation. Philip has tried to work out the sums, but then of course, nobody has a spare 200 denarii lying around! Philip’s arithmetic doesn’t solve the problem at all. Andrew says: There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?

There are two things that strike me about these five barley loaves and the two fish. The first is this question that Andrew says: But what are they for so many? Andrew recognises just how insignificant these things are. They are just a drop in the ocean, and from a human point of view, it just looks useless. But the second thing is that these loaves and fishes belonged to a little boy. It was not mayor, or some important person, a prominent figure, who had this food. It was just a little boy. Maybe his mum had sent him off at the beginning of the day with a packed lunch, or maybe the little boy had caught the fish himself.

But in all of this, Jesus doesn’t just show to Philip and Andrew and the disciples how little they all have, but he also shows them the great weakness of their faith. Sure, there’s thousands of people here—sure, it would take over 200 denarii to feed them all—sure, we only have 5 loaves and 2 fish, which is a meagre amount of food to feed so many people… but, there’s something they haven’t mentioned: Jesus is there. And he makes all the difference.

We read: Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much greass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

In the Gospel here, it mentions that there were 5000 men. Now, sometimes of course, when we use the word “man” it can mean either a member of the human race (like when we say, “mankind”) or a member of the male sex. Here, the evangelist is speaking of 5000 men, as in members of the male sex. In Matthew’s Gospel, he says: And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Now, I’ve often thought it to be a little bit odd that the evangelists should record it like this. Why does the evangelist count 5000 men? Why not say, 20,000 or 30,000 people, and count all the men, women and children together? Well, there are a couple of clues to this in our reading. One is that is says that there was much green grass in the place. There was green grass because it was springtime. How do we know that? Because a few verses beforehand, it said that it was the time of the Passover, which was held in springtime, around March or April in the Northern Hemisphere.

Now, there’s a connection between this event and the Passover, because in the book of Exodus, when the people of Israel were about the leave Egypt, God says that every man must go out and get a lamb for his household. Each man has to do this, for each household, for each family. And so, in the same way, when the evangelists count the men, it is simply an old-fashioned way of counting the households, or the families. So just as at the time of the Exodus, each Jewish family in Egypt had a lamb roast dinner with bread and herbs, and painted the lamb’s blood on their doorpost, here in the reading, Jesus himself is feeding 5000 families who have come to meet him at Passover time. He is their Passover lamb, and one day he will be killed on Good Friday, at Passover time. So what we learn from all this, is that Jesus doesn’t just provide here for 5000 people, but for 5000 families. Jesus shares not just our individual concerns for ourselves, but he also shares our concerns for our families who we might worry about. In 1 Peter 5, we read that we should cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Here in our reading, we read that we should cast on him not just our anxieties about ourselves, but the anxieties that we have about our families, because he cares for us, not just individually, but also for our families and loved ones.

You might also remember that the first temptation that Satan attacked Jesus was to turn stones into bread. Here, Jesus does something similar—he doesn’t turn stones into bread, but he multiplies the bread and the fish so that there everyone who is there is fed sufficiently. He performs this amazing miracle, not because he wants to feed himself or because the devil asked him to show off, but because he wants to have compassion on this crowd. He shows to us his great love and care not just for us as individual people, but also for us as part of families and crowds, when we share our sufferings and our problems with other people. Jesus is able to help us altogether, just as he is able to help us individually.

Then we read: When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Here we see the great power of Jesus, but also the great weakness of sinful people again. Isn’t it strange? Jesus had performed many, many miracles. Sometimes they had accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath, and all sorts. But now, when he performs a miracle which effects a large crowd of people, and a miracle where he feeds them and makes them nice and full and fat with food, then all of a sudden they are greatly impressed, and say: This is indeed the Prophet! And they want to come and take him by force.

You might remember in the Old Testament when Pharaoh appoints Joseph to be second-in-charge over Egypt, because Joseph interprets the Pharaoh’s dreams and comes up with a plan to save up grain so that there will be plenty in the coming time of famine. But what would have happened if Joseph had performed a miracle like the one Jesus performs here? Jesus did not propose to the people a plan to save up for the famine, but he showed to them his great power to overcome famine, and so they thought that if Jesus were their king, they would always have plenty. But then this is not why Jesus came. He did not come to this earth simply to make our bellies fat, and to give us an easy life here on this earth with no troubles. And so he escapes, and goes to a mountain by himself.

And so we must also remember this: when we find ourselves in a difficult time in life, and what we have looks so insignificant, we should commend the little we do have to Jesus, and trust in him to provide for us and for those in our care. But also, we should remember that Jesus will provide for us only as it serves to benefit his kingdom and our souls. He wants to encourage us, but he is not an earthly king. He is not simply the person we turn to for our earthly needs, when all the other earthly means let us down. He is our God: he is a Passover lamb, and then he shows us in our reading too, that he is the Lord of heaven earth, who is even able to walk across to sea to meet us in our needs. But as soon as we want to snatch him, and just have him as our earthly king, who just gives us stuff and food and things that we want so that we can be comfortable in this life, he will run away and hide, and let us fend for ourselves for a while. We are not the gods that he worships, but it is the other way around. He is the Lord of heaven and earth, and he even plants his footsteps on the sea. He is our Good Shepherd, who leads his sheep, and provides for their every need, who has died on the cross, and laid down his life. And he has risen from the dead, and gives the forgiveness of sins, and promises the wonderful gift of eternal life. And so we commend ourselves to him, and all the little that we have, and all the great needs that seem to be in front of us that we just don’t know how to solve by ourselves.

But this is Jesus—and he knows exactly what he will do. Amen.

Dear Jesus, we thank you for providing us with all the daily bread that we need, and you have never let us be in want. We commend our worries and our anxieties to you, knowing that you care for us, and our loved ones, and we ask that you would encourage us and lead us along the path to our heavenly home with you. Amen.

Pentecost IX (Proper 11 B) [Mark 6:30-34, 53-36] (22-Jul-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our reading today comes from Mark chapter 6, which we’ve been reading over the last few weeks. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus is rejected in his hometown of Nazareth; then he sends the twelve apostles out on a mission trip; and then we read about the imprisonment and beheading of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist is six months older the Jesus, and he is often called the “Forerunner”. John the Baptist’s death also points forward to Jesus’ death. John throughout his whole ministry was pointing to Jesus and saying, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And when he is beheaded, his death also points forward to Jesus’ coming crucifixion.

But in Mark chapter 6, in between the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth and the recount of the history of John the Baptist’s execution, we read about the mission trip of the twelve apostles. We read about how the apostles went out and preached repentance, they cast out demons and they healed the sick. All their provisions were to come from the generosity of the people who welcomed them. And Jesus gave them specific instructions if people rejected them, to wipe the dust off their feet at the door. So this was a very intensive time for them, and the disciples’ activities became very well-known and famous. We read: King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. King Herod even thought that maybe John the Baptist had come back from the dead—he recognised that Jesus and his apostles were all preaching the same message as John. King Herod had a bad conscience about killing John. We read: Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. And so when Herod’s step-daughter asked for John the Baptist’s head on a platter, we read: The king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. So we read about this event with Herod and John the Baptist because we read that King Herod had heard about the twelve apostles, and what they were doing.

So now, we come to our Gospel reading for today. It must have been a tremendously fruitful mission trip for the apostles. They would have been received with great joy, and at the same time, they also would have been received with tension and opposition.

So we read: The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. This is a really wonderful verse. Just think what the apostles must have wanted to tell Jesus! I often think of them here all piling over each other to talk to Jesus, all excitedly, and all at once, and Jesus tells them to settle down, and talk one at a time, just like a bunch of children! And this gives a tremendous example for us too: that at the end of a time of busyness, or at the end of a day, or at the end of a week, what should we do? We should return to Jesus and tell him all about it. Sometimes, we need to tell Jesus some things where we sinned, and he can then speak his forgiveness. Sometimes, we need to tell Jesus which things were difficult and hard, and that we didn’t feel as though we did them properly. And we commend ourselves to him to learn from him how to do something next time. Sometimes, we are happy and encouraged about something, and we go to Jesus and thank him for it.

Now, this mission trip of the apostles and the beheading of John the Baptist must have happened at a similar time. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read about how John the Baptist’s disciples also came to Jesus at this time and told him about the John’s beheading. And so there must have been a real coming together of both the twelve apostles, and John’s disciples to tell Jesus about the events. There must have been incredibly exciting news from the twelve apostles, but then incredibly sad news from John the Baptist’s disciples. And John’s execution would have been very worrying for the disciples as they realised that King Herod didn’t have their back, and wasn’t batting for their team.

So what does Jesus do here? He doesn’t send them out again yet. He doesn’t just send them back into the lion’s den, or to retaliate. He says to them: Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. Jesus has had a debrief with his disciples, and listened to everything that has happened, and now it is time for them to rest. He takes them on a retreat. The apostles need to be refreshed and recuperate, they need to recharge their batteries. It’s a bit like surfing—the disciples realise that the times are hard and their necks are on the line. It’s like being caught in a rip, but instead of fighting against it, and trying to swim in against the rip, Jesus lets them float far out to sea, so that they can then carefully swim back in for the next stage of their ministry.

And this also gives us a wonderful example, and there is incredible wisdom in it. When we work hard, we also need to take time to rest and to prepare for the next part of our work, especially when it comes to spiritual work.

A few weeks ago, we read about the event where Jesus calmed the storm, and where he simply woke up and with a short, sharp word, he stilled the wind and the sea. And also, he put at rest the disciples’ hearts, since they feared desperately for their lives. So here in the reading he takes the disciples, and he says to them, “You’ve been doing some hard work, and now it’s time for you to refresh and to rest.”

We read: For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognised them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

Now, what must the disciples have thought when this happened? Here Jesus has taken them across the lake so that they can all have some time of refreshment and relaxation. We read that the disciples didn’t even have enough time to eat. Maybe Peter or some of the other disciples were thinking of going on a nice sea-side trip, just like going to Tin Can Bay or Woodgate, or somewhere. Maybe they imagined themselves having a nice siesta on the beach in the sunshine with a cool drink in hand! And then they get across the other side of the lake, what’s there? The crowd! They followed them there. So much for their rest, so much for their refreshment, so much for their sea-side holiday!

In fact, we read that there were five thousand men there, and that’s not including the women and the children! There were five thousand families there! And then Jesus made the disciples to go around with the loaves and fishes and feed them all. So much for the rest! Is Jesus really a harsh-taskmaster? Is he a slave-driver to his disciples? Is there really no rest for them?

This is where the real heart and centre of the reading comes in. We read: When [Jesus] went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Here is the compassion that the crowd needs, and here is the rest and the refreshment that the disciples need: And [Jesus] began to teach them many things. There it is. A rest for the disciples did not mean putting their feet up and doing nothing. The rest and refreshment that Jesus had prepared for his disciples came through his living and life-giving words, and only through his word.

Now, this brings us back to the Third Commandment, which says: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. The word, “Sabbath”, or in Hebrew, “Shabbat”, means “rest”. And it connects back to the creation of the world, where we read: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Now, when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, this day of rest became a special day of worship for the Jewish people, that on the seventh day of the week, on Saturday, they were not allowed to work.  Christians don’t observe Saturday as a matter of law anymore, because after Jesus died and rose, the ceremonies of Jewish worship no longer apply. But out of freedom, we come together on Sundays to commemorate the day that Jesus rose from the dead, just as we read about in the book of Acts, where the disciples gathered together on the first day of the week.

Now, sometimes people have misunderstood this law, as if it is simply prohibiting work on one day of the week. Amongst Jewish people even today, for example, in Israel, elevators in high-rise buildings don’t operate on Saturdays because it is considered to be work. In the old days, some Christians were very strict about Sundays too, as if people were required to sit around in a straight jacket all afternoon.

However, the reason why this commandment is here is not simply to stop people from working, but to stop work in order to come and listen to God’s word. Luther says in his hymn on the 10 commandments: Cease from all the work you do, so that God may work on you. That’s what happens when Jesus teaches the crowd and his apostles many things: he is working on them, and that is the real rest and refreshment.

Now we Australians love our relaxation time. People like to go for walks, go fishing, have a beer, go on holidays, put up our feet at the end of the day… From the face of it, it looks like Australians are the most faithful nation in the world when it comes to not doing anything on Sundays. But this isn’t what Jesus is talking about. In our country, leisure and relaxation is one of the greatest idols – it’s OK to have rest and go on a holiday and chill out, but it becomes a problem when it’s what we live for. Ultimately, it makes us a selfish people, who only care about ourselves. St Paul says: [Christ] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. So if leisure and relaxing is what you live for, you should repent, and live for Jesus, and for other people. Jesus also gives us a rest, but he gives us a rest by teaching us his word, and forgiving us our sins. He says: Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Also, there is another kind of rest that people often look for, that has the appearance of being spiritual, which comes from the “contemplative prayer” movement. Now many people today—including Christians—are finding that life is so fast-paced, and there is a great desire to seek rest and stillness in the middle of it all. The Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, often practised meditation techniques, where they would recite “mantras”, repeated phrases like the word “om”, and would actively slow down their breathing. At different times in history, there were also various Christian mystics who did similar things and would practice meditation techniques. In recent times, some Christians have found a similarity between Hindu and Buddhist techniques, and the kinds of things that some Christian mystics practised. So people would train themselves to slow down their breathing, and recite a Christian version of a “mantra”, like the word “Jesus”, or some other word from the bible. People call this kind of thing, “Christian meditation” or “contemplative prayer”.

However, there is a problem with this kind of thing. The reality is that Jesus never taught these kinds of techniques to his disciples. When the Beatles were at the height of their career, they employed a Hindu guru, by the name of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, to be their spiritual adviser, to teach them meditation, yoga, and other things like that. The Beatles recognised that they needed rest and refreshment and peace amid all the hype in their lives.

However, when Jesus took his disciples away for a rest to a quiet place in our reading today, he didn’t then start teaching them yoga and meditation. In fact, when it comes to mantras, and reciting things over and over again, Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer: When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. This expression “empty phrases” can also be translated as “vain repetitions”, or just speaking things over and over. Hinduism is the most advanced form of paganism and Gentile religion that we know about because they have so many written texts. Even though India was a long way away from where Jesus lived, it seems as though this kind of repetitive prayer was prevalent in Gentile, or pagan, religions from a long time ago. Jesus actually teaches his disciples to pray by giving them the Lord’s Prayer, for example, and doesn’t teach techniques. And if he warns against heaping up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, why do many Christians then try to imitate other religions and heap up empty phrases?

In our reading today, we read: Jesus began to teach them many things. The peace that passes all understanding doesn’t come from our achievements or our meditations or whatever, it comes from Jesus and his word. There is such a wonderful picture in our reading of our whole lives, like a see-saw, between the apostles going to Jesus and telling him everything they did and taught, and Jesus teaching them many things.

In St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he calls the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. This is a very interesting picture of the word of God as a sword. When Jesus teaches his disciples and the crowd many things, he is speaking to them with his own sword, cutting to their hearts and revealing their sin, and also protecting them from the devil and the world and their own flesh. Once when I was a teenager, I went on a school trip to Japan. When we were leaving the airport, a few boys got held up in customs and we almost missed our flight, because they had bought samurai swords. They had no intention of using them, they just wanted them as a souvenir. But when the Scripture calls the word, the sword of the Spirit, it means you take the thing out of its sheath and use it. It’s not a sword for the mantlepiece.

I wonder if sometimes we Christians just like to have the word of God like a souvenir for the mantlepiece. We just want to sit back and look at how nice it is, but we don’t want to learn how to use it. And so we scrimp and scrape and try to achieve an inner peace which we can’t earn and we can’t achieve by our own efforts.

At the heart of our reading, we do not have a spiritual master like a guru teaching us meditation, or techniques on how to relax and calm our mind or empty our mind. No, we have the living Son of God himself, who is both true man and true God in one person. We see him in the last part of our reading today healing all kinds of sick people, people who were made well simply by touching his clothes. This fact makes all the difference. He is a true man, and we worship Jesus as our God, who died on the cross to a make the one true, perfect sacrifice for every single sin of the whole entire world, and he rose again from the dead and defeated death. Whoever believes in him will also have eternal life. This is the message that Jesus sent his apostles out to preach after he rose. He said: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [Every single last scrap of authority and power belongs to Jesus]. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Even today, we’re going to baptise a child [here] at Childers, and as we hear God’s word today, Jesus teaches us many things. And he says: I am with you always to the end of the age. He is here with us as our living God, risen from the dead, who will baptise this child himself, and also, will feed us himself in the Lord’s Supper with his body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins, and also, in his word, he is here to be with us, working on us, teaching us many things, just as he did to his disciples so many years ago, and strengthening us in the peace of God which passes all understanding.

And so, rest for a while. Peace be with you! May the living peace of our living Jesus be with you. Amen.

Dear Jesus, you give us work to you, and you also give us rest. Strengthen us in your word and Holy Spirit, and lead us finally into that rest that will never end. Amen.

Pentecost VIII (Proper 10 B) [Ordination of Women] (15-Jul-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife”.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our Gospel readings for today and last week paint a very interesting picture of what life was like for Jesus and his disciples. Last Sunday, we read about how Jesus went preaching in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. In Luke’s Gospel, we are told that he took a prophecy from the prophet Isaiah and directly applied it to himself as the promised Messiah. However, here in Mark’s Gospel, Mark doesn’t actually report what Jesus said. The most important thing is the reaction to Jesus’ preaching: they took offense at him. And Jesus says: A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household. So this is an incredibly sad event, where the Saviour of the world entered into the synagogue in his own hometown and they rejected him.

Now, immediately after this, Jesus then sends out the twelve apostles on a special mission trip. It says: He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. Now in Luke and Matthew, they even give the names of each of the twelve apostles. And these are the words that Jesus says to them: Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. What he means is that that they shouldn’t go from house to house, but stay in one house and spend a good amount of time with them, and then when they’re finished move to the next. But Jesus also says: And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.

You can see here that Jesus prepares the twelve apostles for a mission, but he also prepares them for disappointment and rejection. Not everyone will receive them, and so Jesus says that if people don’t want to listen to them, then he says not to spend time annoying them until they let them in, but to simply leave, and shake the dust off their feet at the gate.

Now, in today’s reading we see that John the Baptist is arrested, and he was arrested for a relatively minor thing: he told King Herod that his marriage was unlawful. Herod had his brother’s wife, Herodias, as his own wife or mistress, and John told him that that was wrong. So he was put in prison, and then when Herod promised to Herodias’s daughter anything she wanted in the presence of his birthday guests, Herodias took the opportunity to get her daughter to ask for John the Baptist’s head on a platter. And so John was executed and beheaded.

And so in these three passages, we have three different instances of rejection of the message of Jesus: the people in Nazareth reject Jesus himself, Jesus prepares his twelve apostles and gives them specific instructions if people reject them, and then Herod and his household rejects the ministry of John the Baptist. And so the question that we need to ask ourselves is this: are we also in danger of rejecting the ministry of Jesus’ apostles, and his preachers? Actually, I think this is the greatest danger that Christianity faces today in the world, and it is the greatest danger that our church body, the Lutheran Church of Australia, faces.

Now, often when people study the passage where Jesus sends out the apostles two by two, people often look at it as a kind of example for mission work, and think of it in terms of us. But we have to also realise that the twelve apostles were particular people who had a particular task. In fact, the New Testament is basically the collected writings of the apostles.

Now, when the New Testament was gathered together in the time of the early church, the prerequisite for these books was that they were written by the apostles, or at least had the approval of the apostles.

And so, how should we treat these writings? We should treat them as the writings of those particular preachers chosen by Jesus. Jesus said to them: Whoever hears you hears me. John also writes in his first letter: We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. We treat these writings just as when Jesus sent the apostles out: we read their writings, just as if they were knocking on our door and coming to our house two by two. We should receive them into our house, and into our hearts, so that Jesus may say to us: Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

Now, in our sermon today, I’d like to talk about a part of the apostles’ teaching that is very sensitive in our church, which is the relationship between men and women, and the question as to whether women should serve as pastors. This is the topic we have been discussing all week at our national Pastors’ Conference in Adelaide, and will be discussed again at our upcoming synod in October in Sydney. Actually, this has been discussed in our church’s synods now since the year 2000. I was sixteen years old in that year! And so this matter has been debated in our church for well over half my lifetime.

Our church’s current position on the matter reads as follows:

Though women prophets were used by the Spirit of God in the Old as well as in the New Testament, 1 Cor 14:34,35 and I Tim 2:11–14 prohibit a woman from being called into the office of the public ministry for the proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments. This apostolic rule is binding on all Christendom; hereby her rights as a member of the spiritual priesthood are in no wise impaired.

Now, it is my deeply held conviction that this statement is true, and I would like to explain to you why, even though this opinion of mine runs very much against our cultural climate. We pastors are suppose to tell you everything, even if deep down we don’t really want to. Jesus said to his disciples: I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. Jesus told his disciples everything, because he wanted to treat them as friends. And so, in the same way, I want to tell you everything that I believe as a Christian, because I don’t want to keep you in the dark, but I want to treat you as my friends.

So, first, I’d like to read something from the Qu’ran, which is the holy book of Muslims. In the section called “Women”, it says: Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other… Then it says, that if a wife is disobedient, then the husband should admonish them, forsake them in beds apart, and beat them.

Now, I’m not a Muslim, and I don’t believe this at all. In my ministry as a pastor, I have served many Christian people who came from countries that were ruled by Islam. And among some people from these countries, they consider it cultural to beat their wives. And sure, I don’t want to say that all Muslims beat their wives—I’m sure they don’t. But if a young Muslim man is having marriage difficulties, and doesn’t know what to do, he’ll go to the Qur’an and the passage that I read is what he will find.

Some Muslims water down the word “beat”, and say that really it means, “hit”, or “chastise”. One Muslim man on a plane once explained to me, that it just means a little tap on the wrist, just to show her who’s in charge! I asked an Arabic-speaking Christian about this, and he said, “No—the word is “beat”!” And just to be sure, I asked him about the passage in the Old Testament where Balaam strikes his donkey. We looked the word up in the Arabic bible, and it was the same word.

So what do the apostles in the New Testament teach about how husbands should treat their wives?

Well, Paul says in Ephesians 5: Husbands, loves your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

In Colossians, St Paul says: Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. And then Peter says in his first letter: Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honour to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. This last passage often brings feminists out in hives, when it says that women are the “weaker vessel” in a marriage. It simply points to the normal situation where men are just usually the physically stronger one, and they shouldn’t use their muscle power against their wife. But then it says that their wives are heirs with you of the grace of life. Men and women are equal before God. So in light of those three passages, how could a Christian husband abuse his wife? Christ doesn’t abuse us, his followers, and so in the same way, husbands should love their wives, and not be harsh with them.

The contentious aspect to this is that to wives, St Peter and Paul say that they should submit, or be submissive, to their husbands. Sometimes, these passages have been misused by abusers, as if to say, “I’m the man around here, and you have to submit to me, so shut up or else.” That is not the behaviour fitting to a Christian husband.

In dealing with people from Islamic countries, in encouraging men not to beat their wives, they often said, “But, pastor, if I don’t beat her, she won’t respect me, and she’ll laugh at me, and say, If you even touch me, I’ll go to the police.” Then I had to go to the women and say, “Listen, if he promises not to beat you anymore, you also need to be respectful, and nice, and friendly.” That’s what it means, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” In the beginning, God created us male and female in his image, and we’re equal in God’s sight. But men and women are different, and the Christian teaching on marriage here shows how Christian men and Christian women live together with their differences not in a relationship of force and violence, but in a relationship of mutual love and respect.

Now, we come to the topic that our church body has been discussing. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, St Paul says: I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and become a transgressor.

Now, at first, this passage sounds like Paul is saying, “Men are better because Adam was created first. And women are no good, because Eve ate the fruit, and women are more easily tempted.” That’s not true, and that’s not what St Paul teaches here.

Rather, if you go back to the book of Genesis, we read that the command not to eat the fruit from the tree was given to Adam, before Eve was created. This means that it was Adam’s job to pass this word of God on to the human race, but then first of all to Eve, his wife. The only reason why Eve knew not to take the fruit is because Adam told her. But then when Eve took the fruit and ate it, it says: She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Did you hear that? He was with her. So what was his sin in all this? Adam’s job was to pass the word of God firstly to his wife, and then when she was deceived, his sin was that he didn’t say anything, but he remained silent.

And so St Paul connects this order of things to the ministry, and he wants the pastoral ministry to reflect this original order that was in the garden of Eden. Just over the page, in 1 Timothy 3, Paul says that a pastor (or a bishop, or overseer), must be the husband of one wife, assuming then that he would be a man, and says that he must be able to teach. The word “teach” is here both times: A bishop must be able to teach, and yet he does not permit a woman to teach. Teaching here is referring to the public teaching ministry of the church.

Now this is not the only passage where Paul mentions this. In 1 Corinthians 14, he says: As in all the churches of the saints [he says, this applies to all churches] the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.

So, these two passages are quoted then in our church’s statement, which says: Though women prophets were used by the Spirit of God in the Old as well as in the New Testament, 1 Cor 14:34,35 and I Tim 2:11–14 prohibit a woman from being called into the office of the public ministry for the proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments. This apostolic rule is binding on all Christendom; hereby her rights as a member of the spiritual priesthood are in no wise impaired.

This last part is very important. It says: Her rights as a member of the spiritual priesthood are in no wise impaired. This means that both men and women are part of the priesthood of all believers. Women are therefore not second-class citizens in the church, but like men are created in God’s image. There have been many wonderful women in the church who have done wonderful things, and have been great evangelists in bringing many people to Christ. Jesus treated women with the utmost respect at a time when many people didn’t, and there are many wonderful women in the New Testament who also did wonderful things. Mary Magdalene and the women who went to the tomb were the first people to tell others that Jesus was risen from the dead. What St Paul prohibits is not speaking in general, or evangelising, or serving, or whatever, but the public ministry of preaching. Jesus himself was not a misogynist, but for some strange reason, even though he changed so many customs and challenged so many social conventions, his twelve apostles were all men. When they replaced Judas, even though Mary Magdalene was probably the most obvious candidate, Judas was replaced by a man, Matthias, about whom nothing more is said in the whole New Testament. St Paul teaches that this ministry is to reflect that relationship between Adam and Eve, but then more importantly the relationship between Jesus Christ and his church. Jesus is our wonderful bridegroom, and the whole church is his bride, and this picture then is reflected in the relationship between a pastor and the congregation.

There’s a lot more that I could say about this topic, but I’ll leave it there.

Now, why did I choose to preach on this today? Well, the question about women’s ordination is not a central or foundational doctrine of Christianity. There are much more important things, like the teaching about the Trinity, that Jesus is true man and true God, that we are justified by grace through faith, and all kinds of things. And yet, when John the Baptist was arrested, he was put in prison not because of his preaching of the Gospel, and telling people that Jesus was the Lamb of God, but because of a completely non-foundational, non-central teaching. He told the king that he couldn’t have his brother’s wife. That’s all, and yet we say that John died because he was a Christian preacher.

In a similar way, the question of women’s ordination is not central to Christianity, but it is still very important, like the rule that people shouldn’t pinch their brother’s wife, like Herod did. If an apostle came to our house, and told us this stuff, would we kick them out of our house, and then would they wipe their feet at our doors? I’m not saying this because I want to be manipulative, but I want to tell you how I came to think about this topic. I didn’t always think like this, but somewhere in my life I changed my mind. We need to make sure that we let the apostles be our teachers, and not the spirit of our age.

Jesus is our wonderful bridegroom, he is waiting for us to share with us the wonderful wedding banquet. He laid down his life for his bride, and he is our Good Shepherd, whose voice we delight to hear. Amen.

Dear Jesus, bless our church, the Lutheran Church of Australia, at this troubled time in its history. You have laid a great test upon us at this time, and we pray that you would lead us safely through it. We commend our hearts and minds to you, and strengthen your church in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost VII (Proper 9 B) [Mark 6:1-13] (8-Jul-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am (lay-reading), and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 9am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today in our Gospel reading, Jesus goes to his hometown of Nazareth, where he grew up as a boy, and he is goes to the synagogue and he preaches there. And instead of being welcomed with open arms as their local boy, he is rejected and kicked out. We read: They took offense at him.

And Jesus says: A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.

And we read also: [Jesus] could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief.

I’d like to focus first of all on what Jesus says: A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household. What’s Jesus talking about? Well, obviously, he’s talking about himself, in that here he is, as a prophet, coming to his own hometown, but he is not honoured at all. Jesus is also hinting that when a prophet comes from a faraway place, people receive the prophet well. Maybe they think, “Here’s someone from a faraway country, and they’ve got something new and exotic to say.”

It’s strange how someone from a faraway place often has more authority than a local person. If someone came and said something wise to us, and they happened to be from an exotic, ancient culture with all kinds of strange customs, we might listen. But for a lot of us, if it were our mums that said the same thing, we might not take any notice.

And so, what Jesus says is true: often someone from another place holds more weight or more authority. But this is not exactly what he is talking about. He says: A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown. Here Jesus is speaking about prophets, and he refers to himself as a prophet.

So what exactly is a prophet? Well, Jesus is often referred to as a prophet. But of course, he is much more than simply a prophet, like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Daniel. He is also the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. Even so, Jesus is called a prophet. When John the Baptist was preaching and baptising, there were some Jews that went up to him and asked him, “Are you the prophet?” And John says: No.They didn’t ask John if he was a prophet, any old prophet, but the prophet. They were looking forward to a particular prophet.

Now, to work out what they were talking about here, we have to go back to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Here we find Moses giving a sermon to the people and he says: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen… I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. And so from this passage, we see that the Jewish people were looking for a particular prophet, who could come from their people. God says that they must listen to him. And God is going to put his own words in the mouth of this particular prophet, and if people don’t listen to him, they will be cut off from God’s people. You can see that whoever this particular prophet is going to be, it is going to be very important that people recognise him when he comes and listen to him.

In the New Testament, in the book of Acts, in two different places, we read that this prophet was actually Jesus. This is preached by Peter in a sermon, and also by Stephen in a sermon. We know then that this prophet is Jesus himself, it is to him we should listen. The words that Jesus speaks are God’s words, and whoever does not listen to him will be answerable to God. Moses says: It is to him you shall listen. We read in the Gospels about that event in Jesus’ life, called the Transfiguration, where he is standing on the top of a mountain together with Moses and Elijah, and the face of Jesus shines with bright radiant light. We read that on that occasion a voice came from heaven in a cloud. And what did he say? This is beloved Son. Listen to him. Do you hear that? Listen to him. Here God the Father himself is telling us that this Jesus, His only Son, is the prophet that Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy where he said: It is to him you shall listen. Even God Himself confirms this and says: Listen to him.

And so, back to our reading, here is Jesus, and he is in his own hometown. He is with his friends and family and relatives. Moses said this would happen: The Lord God will raise up a prophet from among you, from your brothers. And yet the people are so blind, that they can’t recognise Jesus as the person who fulfils the prophecy of Moses. And they take offense at him. Now this is a frightening thing, because Moses also says that if they don’t listen to this prophet, it will be required of them of the Lord. And so Jesus gives a testimony about what is going on. He says: A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown. What a sad day this must have been for Jesus, that he should be rejected in his own town. And yet, the people are too busy remembering his childhood. They say: Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? You can almost hear an old lady in the crowd saying: “I changed his nappies.”

On the other hand, Jesus’ words are so full of grace and power. One word from Jesus has the power to forgive each one of our sins and promise us eternal life and an open door of heaven. And he actually does promise each of us this. He baptises us and writes his name on us, and puts his cross on each of us. We belong to him and we are his. And he writes our names in his book of life. And week after week, and day after day as Christians, we learn more about this wonderful Saviour that we have—and the more we learn about him, the more we learn about how much he forgives us and loves us. Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and he is so much greater than any prophet who has ever lived, that every word that he speaks is full of grace, full of love, full of joy, full of hope. Listen to the prophecy he speaks to you: Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Or what about the prophecy he speaks to the thief on the cross: Today, you shall be with me in Paradise. Who would want to reject such a wonderful prophet like that?

Today, people often misunderstand what a prophet is, though. People often think that it is the same thing as a fortune-teller. People think, “a prophet tells things about the future”, and so does a fortune-teller, so they must be the same thing. Jesus speaks life-giving words—he doesn’t read palms. And then, many people don’t really believe in fortune-tellers, so they don’t really believe in prophets either. But there’s a great difference between a prophet and a fortune-teller, and we have to know the difference. In the chapter from Deuteronomy which we read from before, where Moses prophesies that there will be another prophet, Moses talks about a whole lot of forbidden practices: interpreting omens, sorcery, mediums, and this also includes fortune-telling. Moses says: These nations which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this. You can see here that fortune-telling is completely forbidden. But instead, what does Moses call us to listen to? He says: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen. We should listen to Christ, not a fortune-teller. And Moses here plays off these fortune-tellers directly with Christ. They are in direct opposition to each other.

Now this is important for us too, because sometimes in the church we might encounter someone who claims to be a prophet, and they claim to bring a word from God. Or sometimes, even Christians get involved in some New Age stuff, and go and visit someone who they think can tell them the future. We need be discerning and to ask the question: Is this from the Holy Spirit?

Well, in the book of Acts, we read an example about this. In Acts 16:16, we read: As we [that is, Paul and Silas and Luke] were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” Do you see, here is a girl who is a fortune-teller, possibly like some kind of New Age person in our time. And we read here that she actually tells the truth about who Paul is. It’s true: These men really are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation. But then we read: Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

So you can see here that even though this fortune-teller was telling the truth about Paul and Silas, Paul told the spirit to come out of her, and rejected her. You can see here that this is not prophecy of the Holy Spirit, and this kind of occult stuff cannot be used in the service of Christ and of his kingdom. It is forbidden, and God rejects it.

This is so important for us—because often when we look at a situation like this, like fortune-telling, two different opinions will come about. Some will say: That’s a load of rubbish! Fortune-telling doesn’t really work. And on the other hand, some will say: Maybe it does it work. But the important thing for us as Christians, is not whether it works or not, but where the power is from. This also applies to all kinds of spiritual stuff, and pseudo-spiritual stuff. The question is not whether it works, but where the power is from. Even if it works, it may still be from the devil. A fortune-teller is not sent by God—a prophet is sent by God and speaks with all the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is not to fortune-tellers we should listen. But it is to the true prophet, to Christ, to Jesus, that we should listen. He is even better than all the prophets put together, because he promises to you the forgiveness of sins. He has paid for all of your sin with his own suffering, with his own death, with his own blood. And now he is risen from the dead, he is seated at God’s right hand and he now brings all of his power and all of his promises right here to you. And he even breathes out upon you the Holy Spirit so that you can hide yourself in his wounds, so that you can place your body and soul into his arms, and so that you can rest him until that time when he draws you to himself in eternity.

We receive all the wonderful gifts of our prophet Jesus, simply by trusting in him, and believing in his word. We know that his words never lie. They are completely reliable and trustworthy. We read in our reading that when the people were offended by Jesus, that Jesus could do not no mighty work there… and he marvelled because of their unbelief. He only performed a few healings for some individuals, but not for the benefit of the whole town. On the other hand, when we hear God’s word, we should pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit so that He will create a living faith in us, so that we trust in Jesus’ words. Who knows what wonderful work Jesus can perform among us when we simply trust in his living, prophetic word? Jesus is the one who gives the gifts, faith is simply the hand which he puts them in.

Now, even today here in the church, we join Jesus in bringing his prophetic ministry to the world by testifying about him, and speaking his words. We read in the book of Revelation: The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. When we speak about Jesus, either I as a pastor in sermons and in pastoral work, or you wherever you happen to be among your friends and family, you speak with the spirit of prophecy when you speak the truth and testify to Jesus. And isn’t it so often the case that prophets are not welcome in their own hometown? There are so many parents that worry about their children falling away from the faith, and if we parents spoke to our children about Jesus, their hearts only get harder—of course, they know too much about us! Often I’ve seen this at funerals, where an old Christian person has died, and then all the children are organising the funeral, and they’re not Christian, except for one. And the burden of trying to arrange a church funeral for their Christian mother or father seems to lie on this one person, and the rest of the family just comes up with one silly idea after another. There’s the old expression: You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family! Well, Jesus wants to encourage us by his words and by his example here in our reading. He says: I know what it’s like. I had an earthly family too. I grew up on a certain street, in a certain town, in a certain place—and then when I spoke the truth to them, they rejected me. And Jesus says: Do you think it was my fault they didn’t listen? Of course not! So be encouraged. We are living in a time where so many people don’t want to hear the truth, and don’t want to change their mind about anything. And then we think, if we speak too loudly, or speak out of place, we’re just going to get our heads chopped off, and have some angry person come at us and ram it down our throats. Be encouraged! Jesus came to his own people, and his own people did not receive him. They threw him out of town, he suffered, he died. And Jesus says: Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted… (who?) the prophets – (the prophets!) – who were before you.

Being a faithful Christian can be a lonely walk sometimes, a lonely way. But Jesus always walks it with you, and he wants to encourage you. He will open your mouth at the right time, and when it is the time to close it, he will keep it closed. But in the meantime, he will send you the Holy Spirit, and he will teach you his word, and he will build up your faith.

Even now, Jesus has placed us under his authority, and has spoken to us the forgiveness of all our sins—our sins of speaking when we shouldn’t have and giving the faith a bad name, our sins of not speaking when we should have spoken. Jesus walks with us, he takes us with him. We read in our reading: Jesus went about among the villages teaching.

Let’s thank Jesus for also coming to our church today and teaching us his word! Amen.

Dear Lord Jesus, we have so often not given you the honour you deserve, and we have taken offense at you, and hardened our hearts. We ask that you would send us your Holy Spirit, forgive us, and we ask that you would take charge of our spirits and place them under your authority. We commit ourselves into your hands for your service and as you would use us for your kingdom. Amen.

Pentecost VI (Proper 8 B) [Mark 5:21-43] (1-Jul-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In our Gospel reading today, we read about how Jesus is called to the home of a man called Jairus, whose daughter is dying, and when they get there, they find her dead, and Jesus raises her from the dead. But also, along the way, a woman in the crowd with a bleeding problem touches Jesus’ garments, and she is healed.

So our reading starts, where we read: Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him. This man simply brings his needs to Jesus, and Jesus is happy to go with him. The man is particularly desperate because he has a daughter who is dying. He doesn’t want to see his child die, and he believes that Jesus is his only hope—or even his last hope—in preventing that from happening.

Then we read about something that happens as Jesus is walking along to his house. We read: And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years. Here we see another person who is very desperate. What a devastating thing it must have been for her to have this problem for so long! She must have despaired of life itself sometimes. And yet, like Jairus, she comes to Jesus as her last hope.

It also says about her that she had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

This little verse gives us a tremendous insight into this woman’s life and her struggles. There are many people in our society like this, and maybe you feel like this. Maybe you’ve suffered much under many physicians, and spent all that you had, and you haven’t got any better but you’ve just become worse. Anyway, in our country, where we have so many good things, and where we are able to benefit from all kinds of advances in technology, many people often wonder why they find it so difficult to stay healthy and fit. After all, those who hold to the theory of evolution have said that the human race is getting better and better, and it’s all about the survival of the fittest. But then, people ask, “why I am sick all the time?” There are many Christians who often only pray for themselves or for other people when they are sick, as if it’s the most important in their life.

Physical health is a good thing, and it’s a good gift from God, but it’s not the most important thing. Health can so easily turn into an idol, and we fear losing our health more than we fear God himself. Even many Christians can start to direct all their spiritual attention to their physical health, and become obsessed with it.

But before we go on, I’d like to say something about doctors, and the vocation of being a doctor or a medical professional. There are some Christians who don’t like doctors, and think that instead they should pray to God for healing. Now sometimes, we have no choice—some people who live way out bush in the middle of “Woop-Woop” can’t get to a doctor, and so they have to make do with their home remedies. But even if we go to a doctor, we should always also pray for our healing too. A good doctor is a wonderful gift from God.

In 2 Chronicles, we read: In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. Now this passage is not saying that doctors are bad, but is accusing King Asa of never praying to God, even when he was very sick. On the other hand, we read in the bible, that Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts was a doctor. At the end of Colossians, Paul writes: Luke the beloved physician greets you. We can see from the examples of these writings how God used this doctor Luke for a wonderful purpose in his kingdom.

Now it’s a wonderful thing to have a good doctor. And we might go to the doctor, and get a prescription for some medicine. Now, doctors only ever do their best, from what they know from their studies and research. The actual task of healing belongs to God. Whether the medicine works, whether the particular medicine works in our particular situation, and exactly how long it takes for us to become well again—all those things are not controlled by the doctor, but by God. So we shouldn’t neglect praying for our health when we go to the doctor, but be ready and willing to become well or to stay unwell according to God’s will and according to his timing. It’s in him that we live and move and have our being. A doctor provides a treatment, but then we look to God to make that treatment effective in his time and according to his will.

Now the fifth commandment states: You shall not murder. The bible teaches very clearly that human life right from its very beginning in conception to the very last breath is exactly that—human life. And it is sinful to take away human life, whether it is at the very beginning, by aborting a child, or at the very end, by euthanasia. It is God who is the giver and the taker of life, not us. Job says: The Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. We need to pray for more Christian doctors in this country, because the medical profession has changed tremendously in recent years, because doctors are being asked more and more to take life, rather than to help preserve it. One of the greatest evils that has been unleashed on this country and throughout the world has been the murder of millions of unborn children, and one of the greatest evils that is underway in this country at the moment and throughout the world is the push to bring in euthanasia. A mother’s womb and a hospital bed are supposed to be safe places—and they need to stay that way.

Sometimes there are certain things for which modern medicine simply doesn’t have the answer. We also have naturopaths in our country too, and often they have a particular knowledge of herbs, or massage, or other things, that might be helpful. If we make use of people like this, we should also look to God for our healing through them.

But let’s come back to the woman in our reading for a moment. We read about her: She had heard reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well”. And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

It’s quite an amazing thing that happens here. The woman is hidden in the crowd, and she simply touches Jesus’ clothes, and she is healed.

But then we read: And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Now we might ask, “Why did Jesus single this woman out, and even maybe embarrass her a bit in front of everyone?” After all, we might think that her problem was quite personal and she might have liked to keep it to herself. But if Jesus hadn’t singled her out from the crowd, no-one would ever have known what had happened to this woman, including us.

The same goes for us as Christians: we often come on Sundays to meet Jesus as part of a crowd, sometimes a small crowd or a large crowd. And yet, he blesses us individually—he singles us all out from the crowd. He doesn’t simply say: I forgive you all your sins, to the crowd, but he addresses these words to you personally, with his stamp and his seal on the envelope. Your personal salvation is Jesus’ personal interest. None of us were baptised as a crowd with the pastor holding a great big fire hose! No—all of us were baptised individually, and Jesus gently and lovingly singles us out from the crowd to apply his message of salvation and forgiveness and eternal life to you personally, just like this woman here.

But also, we learn from this, that it wasn’t simply the mere touching of Jesus’ clothes that healed her. Jesus says: Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease. He says: Your faith has made you well. We read not only that the women touched Jesus’ clothes, but she also said in her heart: If I touch even his garments, I will be made well. She knew, and believed, what wonderful divine power belonged to this man, Jesus, and so when she touched his clothes in faith, the power of Jesus to heal her went out from him.

The same goes for us in a spiritual way—when we trust God’s word and believe the Gospel, and trust in the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life, Jesus’ power goes out to us, and he fills us with the Holy Spirit. Now, when it comes to physical health, Jesus will heal us according to his will and according to how it benefits his kingdom. Don’t forget also, that eventually we will also all die, and it is a wonderful thing to be with Jesus in Paradise. Many times in our lives, we will recover from illnesses and all kinds of things. But in the next life, our bodies will be transformed and purified and cleansed of every single scrap of disease and illness and disability, because all of these things are present in the world because of sin. And so when we receive the forgiveness of sins in this life in the church, it points us forward to that time when we will also be given complete and physical healing of every single problem we endure in this life. Sometimes, even the things we have endured in this life will be transformed in such a way that they will be signs of our victory in faith. For example, after his resurrection, Jesus still had his wounds, but they were no longer a sign of his shame and humiliation, but a badge of honour and victory over death. St Paul says: The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Now, just one more thing I’d like to say about the verse, where it says that Jesus perceived in him that power had gone out from him. Here we see how our physical healing, whether in this life or the next, comes as a result of Jesus’ power going out from him. Sometimes, Jesus lets us stay a little longer than we might like in our sickness and trouble, and we start to wonder why he doesn’t fix us up.

In 1 Samuel, we read about how Saul went to inquire of the Lord, but he didn’t answer him. So instead, he went and consulted a medium (or a witch) instead. When he didn’t receive an answer from God, he then went and made use of the wrong spiritual powers, and made use of the occult. You see, in our country, we have doctors and naturopaths, but then there is also a third category, which we might call “supernatural” healers. And these people are not always easy to spot. But as our society becomes less Christian, there has been a rise of strange healing practices which rely on spiritual forces, and sometimes stray into the occult. But we need to be aware of this, because there are many, many practitioners of occult medicine that are around.

But listen to what it says about Jesus: He perceived that power had gone out from him. It’s one thing to go a doctor or health practitioner and get a prescription, or some herbal remedies, or whatever, but we have to also be careful that we use the means that God allows to us and not make use of the wrong power. So in giving a little warning, I’ll mention a few things that you should watch out for and avoid.

Firstly, be careful of when people say that the “mind” can heal the “body”. Let God heal your body, but don’t elevate your mind in the place of God. There is a whole church dedicated to mind healing which is called “Christian Science”, which are neither Christian nor scientific. Medicine should work whether you believe in it or not. If a practitioner says the reason the treatment didn’t work is because you didn’t believe in it, then it probably means that they are relying on your mind-power more than the treatment. Also, beware of things that claim to be “holistic healing”, if it claims to deal with your soul or spirit in some strange way, or involves some strange prayer which has nothing to do with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Second, be careful of healing practices that talks about manipulating energy or forces or magnetism, and things like that. There are many alternative medical practices that speak in scientific terms which are completely unscientific and are really talking about some mystical, psychic, occult power. An example of something like this is a practice known as Reiki.

And especially, avoid like the plague anything that claims to be obviously occult, like a medium. I once heard of a woman who went to a psychic medium and was healed of some condition, only then to be diagnosed with another serious disease.  And she was angry with God, and began to blaspheme.  Fortunately, a Christian person heard her blaspheming and spoke to her and she renounced her use of the medium. I’m saying these things because I don’t want you to suffer much under many physicians, and spend all that you have, and instead of getting better you just get worse.

Now, when we were baptised, we took a vow: I renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways. And sometimes, during our lives, God then shows us something that we have done—maybe in trying to make ourselves well—which was not from him, and made use of some other spiritual power or an occult power, and sometimes when we didn’t realise it. Don’t despair! The door of forgiveness stands wide open for us. If only we would touch the hem of Jesus’ garments we would be made well. For us, when we hear Jesus’ words of forgiveness and receive the Lord’s Supper, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins”, we touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. And Jesus says: Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

At the end of our reading today, we read about where Jesus raises up Jairus’ daughter from the dead. When they arrive at the house, someone comes out and says: Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?

But what they don’t realise is that Jesus doesn’t just have power over disease, but also over death. There will come a time when this little girl will die again in the future, but in the next life, when her body is raised from the grave and she is transformed and transfigured just like Jesus himself, Jesus will make her even more beautiful than she has ever been in this life.

And so Jesus says: The child is not dead but sleeping. And it says: And they laughed at him. Our world likes to mock the Christian faith, and say that when a person dies, they die, and that’s it. But Jesus knows better than we do. When we die, it is only a sleep. Our soul goes to be with Jesus, just as he said to the thief on the cross: Today you will be with me in Paradise. But at the end of the world, he will also raise our bodies, just like Paul says: Behold! I tell you a mystery! We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. We also read that Jesus will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.

And so, he says to the girl: Little girl, I say to you, arise. Here Jesus gives a wonderful example of just how easy it is for him to raise someone from the dead, and gives a little foretaste of what will happen at the end of the world. As Luther writes in the Small Catechism: On the last day, he will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

We also learn here that even our faith is a gift. The woman with the bleeding had heard about Jesus’ reputation, and a living faith was created in her. The same with the girl’s father. But when Jesus spoke the word to the girl and raised her up, she made absolutely no contribution to this resurrection whatsoever. She was dead, but when Jesus’ spoke his word to her, she arose. In the same way, when Jesus speaks his words of salvation, of eternal life, of the forgiveness of sins, of the resurrection of the body, it is his powerful word that does the thing, it is his power that goes out from him. We simply receive in faith the gift that he gives, and Jesus’ words create that faith.

And so, let’s place our weak bodies into Jesus’ forgiving and transforming hands, and ask him to use us however and wherever he sends us, and finally, to give us the gift of eternal life, where our bodies will be transformed and purified from all disease and death to be like his.

Amen.

Dear Jesus, we thank you for healing this woman in our reading, and for raising this girl. Forgive us, heal us and use us as you will. Amen.