Category Archives: Sermons

Jesus Interceding on Our Behalf
by Tim Denne
Sunday 25th October, 2015

Introduction

My talk today is based on the passage from Hebrews 7. It comes after the author had warned the readers against slipping away from their faith, and to hold on to Jesus and the certainty of God’s promises.

Heb 7:23-28 (New Testament for Everyone)

There needed to be a large number of Levitical priests, since they stop holding office at death. But since he [Jesus] continues as a priest for ever, his priesthood is permanent. That’s why he is able to save those who come to God through him, completely and for ever – since he always lives to make intercession for them.

It was appropriate that we should have a high priest like this. He is holy, without blame or stain, separated from sinners, and elevated high above the heavens. He doesn’t need (like the ordinary priests do) to offer sacrifices every day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people. He did this once for all, you see, when he offered himself. For the law appoints ordinary, weak, mortal men as high priests; but the word of the oath, which comes after the law, appoints the son, who has been made perfect for ever.

I want to address the issue of Jesus as priest, which is unique to Hebrews and what it means that Jesus lives to make intercession for those who have come to God through him? There seems to be an implication that Jesus is standing in the middle between us and a God who may not want to save us.

So: a bit about the letter to the Hebrews, a bit about priesthood and their role in ancient Israel and a bit about Jesus and what it all means for us.

The Letter to the Hebrews

Hebrews is very different from other books in our library we call the Bible. We don’t know who the author is or who it is written to. As a result of the subject matter it has been assumed that it has been written to a group of Jewish Christians or Hebrew Christians, hence the name which was added later.

Commentators have suggested that the group appears to have come from a particular form of Judaism, possibly the Essenes, one of the Jewish sects alongside the more numerous Pharisees and Sadducees. But the point here is really that their Jewish background to some degree explains the use of priest language with respect to Jesus.

Priests and their Role in Ancient Israel

In ancient Israel priests were officials set apart from the rest of the community to carry out certain duties related to worship and sacrifice. The priest has two roles:

1. as a bridge between the people and God, handling the twice-daily, monthly and annual sacrifices and festivals; and
2. pastoral – making the bridge a reality by getting alongside people, sympathising with them and helping them.

They were chosen for this job but the priests then kept a level of ritual purity so that they could then have close contact with the sanctuary and the altar (Lev 21:1-23). This covered things like their language (not profaning God), not making bald patches on their heads or shaving the edges of their beards.

The reasons for the sacrifices include a mixture of thanksgiving to God and atonement; the means by which the people are made right with God again and through which sins are forgiven.

But it was never sustainable.

Back in Hebrews, in 7:11 the author asks “if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood …, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek”. Melchizedek appears out of the blue in Genesis as a priest of God Most High but is referenced in Hebrews as the basis for a legitimate and greater priesthood than that of the tribe of Levi, and one that ushers in a new covenant.

So the author is using the form of a question to assert that the Levitical priest-sacrifice system fell short of what was required, presumably to a group of people who either now, or at some stage in the past, thought that it was a legitimate system.

And we know that from God’s perspective, despite instituting it, the sacrificial system was never of particular interest.

1Sam 15:22 “And Samuel said, “… to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

Hos 6:6 “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Ps 40:6-8 “In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.”

The Psalms verse is cited in Hebrews 10:5. And earlier in chapter 10 (vv1-4), the author notes that the sacrifices don’t work permanently (there is a need to keep doing it) and that they “serve as a regular annual reminder of sin”.

So we have this sense in which the sacrificial system is ineffective (it does not deal with sin, in fact it keeps reminding people of their sin) and not of interest to God – he wants love not sacrifice.

So what’s going on?

Well one of the things that goes on when a sacrifice is given is that something is being communicated to the person who is doing the sacrifice, or the person on whose behalf the sacrifice is given. And they get the message that it’s OK now. Everything is right between you and God, so don’t worry and get on with your (hopefully God-pleasing) life. It’s a message that people seem to continually need and the sacrificial system provided that.

For a God who wanted love not sacrifice, the sacrificial system provided the means to get people back to a state where they could love rather than continually seeking forgiveness. We can make some use of analogies with human relationships where it never really functions when someone is in a state of continual grovelling apology. And for those for whom relationship language with God doesn’t quite work, then there is still this sense that you can’t get on with living rightly before him and doing what you are meant to do (love and good works) when in a state of non-acceptance. Because the actions become guilt-driven, or as favour-earning, rather than pure acts of love in a state of acceptance.

So hold this thought: the sacrificial system is best understood, not as placating an angry God, but as providing Israel with the confidence of being in right standing with the God who called them his beloved son.

Israel as Kingdom of Priests

Before we leave ancient Israel, and to further complicate things, in Exodus we also read that God tells Israel that they will be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).

Israel itself is meant to be fulfilling the role of priests, maintaining a level of purity and difference from other nations that allows it to stand before God on behalf of all the people of the world and to bring other people to God. It is the continuation of the prophecy given to Abraham, that through him and his descendants, all the people of the world would be blessed (Gen 22:18).

Israel failed in its role because it failed to be a holy nation.

Jesus then comes as faithful Israel, to fulfil the role that she was meant to. And we see symbols throughout his ministry of him saying – look I am being Israel.

So the priesthood language is suitable for Jesus because he fulfils Israel’s role as priest to the world, both as representative of the people and as the one who undertakes, and is, the sacrifice. The one who is righteous on behalf of all. But just as Israel had priests when the whole nation were expected to act as priests, so Jesus is a priest while all of us are expected to be priests also.

Hence Peter writes:

you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Pet 2:5)

We are priests, not in the sacrificial sense but in the sense of representing God to the world.

So just as the sacrificial system provided assurance of right standing to those who participate, so Jesus as priest provides assurance to those who place their trust in him.

Intercession

One of the things that Jesus is said to be doing in our Hebrews passage is intercession on our behalf.

That’s why he is able to save those who come to God through him, completely and for ever – since he always lives to make intercession for them.

A simple reading of this might be that Jesus is interceding on our behalf before a God who is not so favourably disposed. But as we’ve discussed so far, it’s not like that. Jesus shows us what God is like and God is favourably disposed towards us also. A similar passage in Romans makes this clearer:

What then shall we say to all this? If God is for us, who is against us? God, after all, did not spare his own son; he gave him up for us all! How then will he not, with him, freely give all things to us? Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who declares them in the right. Who is going to condemn? It is the Messiah, Jesus, who has died, or rather has been raised; who is at God’s right hand, and who also prays [or intercedes] on our behalf. (Rom 8:31-34)

If you look at the rest of the book of Hebrews, along with many other New Testament texts, the concern is over apostasy, people stopping believing or stopping trusting in God. Not carrying on with being Christians. One of the problems that the writer to the Hebrews had identified was that sin (acts that are contrary to what pleases God and ultimately acts that are contrary to what is best for us) can result in people turning from God.

I remember the results of research in the Netherlands related to vehicle emissions in which the government, in order to encourage people out of their cars used guilt messages about the environmental impact. It had the opposite effect; people used their cars more and they cared less about the environment. They did follow-up research that showed that people needed to be able to reconcile their lives with their beliefs and that when they could see no option but using their car, the only way they could reconcile that with their beliefs was by caring less about the environment.

Similarly, if we as a result of our actions feel that we are always separated from God, the only way to reconcile our lives with our beliefs may be to stop believing in God.

The writer to the Hebrews is not in some grand psychological experiment (or applying nudge theory), he is telling a people who is tempted by the decadent lifestyles of those around them (and we’re not being prudish here – we know a lot about the lives of ancient Rome and it wasn’t pretty), that they can pick themselves up from sin because God is on their side. As the writer had noted earlier, speaking of Jesus, “we don’t have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).

He’s been there, not done that, and is on our side. More than that, he’s praying for us. He’s taking on the pastoral role of the priest also.

To provide this message of assurance, the writer to the Hebrews is using language of priesthood because it works for a people from a Jewish background. They understood the notion of priesthood. And they can see clearly the role that Jesus is fulfilling.

I went to the movies on Friday night and it struck me thinking about it afterwards how different examples might work better for us. The movie was a cold war spy movie, Bridge of Spies, and without giving too much of the movie away, Tom Hanks is a lawyer who ends up defending a Russian spy because the legal system required that he had a defender. The spy asks him at one stage “don’t you want to know if I am a spy?” and he replies along the lines of “No – that’s not how it works. Their job is to prove that you are.”

In contrast to the movie where the judge clearly wanted to convict, the story we have is one in which judge doesn’t want to convict those who have put their trust in Jesus either. We have an advocate who has no interest in our sin (he’s dealt with it), but is an advocate on our behalf before a judge who does not want to convict and is thus telling us that we are in right standing with God. And just as in the movie, the spy had to want and ask the lawyer to represent him, we need to asks Jesus to represent us; he asks that we place our trust in him.

The writer to the Hebrews goes on to encourage the readers to love and to good works. But this can only be achieved when the hearers know the assurance that comes from knowing that Jesus is their advocate and God is on their side.

So this is the message. We are called to love and good works. This is what it means to be in God’s kingdom. Don’t think that you cannot fully participate in this kingdom because of what you have or haven’t done. Rather know that Jesus is on your side. He’s like a defence lawyer before a sympathetic judge. Not only that; he’s already paid the penalty.

So like the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews, we too should be assured of God’s favour and to respond with love to him and with love and good works to all.

St. Francis’ Day
Sunday, 4-OCT-2015
Saving Endangered Animals by Lydia Forrest

Click below to listen to Lydia’s presentation

Change
by Revd Denise Kelsall
Sunday 5th July 2015 (9.30 am Service)
Mark 6: 1-13

Sometimes when beginning to write a sermon I think around the odd quote or truism to inspire me. Today or more correctly earlier this week after examining today’s readings, I kept coming back to the word change. And so I googled the images for change – pages of them on posters, lampposts, on all sorts of amazing backgrounds, familiar and often true words or sayings in their hundreds came up,  A few…

The only thing constant in life is change ——-who hasn’t heard that one!

If you do not create change, change will create you. (business quote?)

You change your life by changing your heart (and in reverse? what comes first?)

Life can change in a blink of an eye

Every new day is a chance to change your life

Changing is difficult, not changing is fatal.

Change is a process, not an event (both)

Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change

Change your thinking, change your life.

Our gospel today is all about change – the fear of change – and the excitement creativity and unknown-ness of change.

Jesus lived in an ‘honour and shame’ society much more like that of the middle- east today – think Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine……. Honour was primary and social classes determined by birth and purity laws. Jesus is in his hometown Nazareth – where people know his birth status and his honour rating. Why he was just a kid not so long ago!

At first they were ‘astounded’ at his teaching, his authority, his power…..and then they (synagogue leaders) ask – who is he really and they look to what counts in their society – family origin, blood relations, honour rank. In asking they attempt to discredit him – he is only the craftsman’s son. Who does he think he is?

Jesus tells them and us and that his own home town doesn’t want to listen and learn. Perhaps ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ – and that there are people elsewhere who are open do want to listen learn and be transformed.

The conclusion tells us that the ability of Jesus to perform great works requires faith. That the participation of the people in their work and life through their faith, is strategic to Jesus’ ability to transform people – lives – situations – it is a two way street – the people are participants, not observers. (and that applies to us too)

Their rejection of Jesus results in their rejection of what he is capable of doing in their midst.

It follows that Jesus sends the disciples out 2 by 2. Travelling in pairs was common in antiquity, travel was dangerous. They healed the sick, cast out demons, taught the faith. They were received openly, enthusiastically, and were able to work the transformation they had come to do. They were, therefore, the exact opposite to the people of Jesus hometown Nazareth.

These two parallel stories in today’s text are ostensibly about the receptivity or rejection of Christ. Yes or no to him and his message. But it’s much more than that too. Jesus challenges the political-economic-religious system of Israel and its leaders, the status quo, making powerful enemies. He is revolutionary – and dangerous. He wants change things radically.

Jesus ministry scandalised the people of his town. It threatened them – and his extended family.

They were afraid they would be implicated, tainted by his actions, his ministry. They looked for ways to dismiss him – belittling his lack of education, making light of his lowly occupation as a carpenter. They distanced themselves and would not believe him – all of them.

So Jesus must create a new family, a new kin-ship. He is a ‘disowned prophet without honour, he withdraws from his past to create a new community, a new family in God that we are part of, a new political- social-economic order called ‘the kingdom of God.’

Among strangers Jesus will build his alternative community to that of Israel, a community not without conflict, with tragedies and pain and fear as well as victories, great love and great change.

Change wrought in the hearts and minds of people as they open to what Jesus offers them. To shake off the fear of the past, to leave it behind as their hearts and their lives change, as their vision of what life is and can be changes.

Transformation, relationship, new eyes, good company, a thirst to understand, a lifelong attempt to love madly and deeply, walking and striving to follow this man, this divine God-man, Jesus, this person in whom they see and find what God intends for them.

We might ask what we see or find God wants for us. We might ask or see what changes we might need to make or address – in our lives, our faith and our way of being in the world.

I believe it’s a process. A moveable feast if you like.

A bit about me – not quite a testimony but a glimpse……. raised Anglican singing in Sunday school – ‘I’m in the Lord’s Arm-ee’ –                           SING…..and act out?

I may never march in the infantry,

Ride in the cavalry,

Shoot the artillery.

I may never fly o’er the enemy,

But I’m in the Lord’s ar-my. (yes, sir!)

I’m in the Lord’s ar-my, (yes, sir!)

I’m in the Lord’s ar-my, (yes, sir!)

I may never march in the infantry,

Ride in the Calvary,

Shoot the artillery.

I may never fly o’er the enemy,

But I’m in the Lord’s ar-my. (yes, sir!)

I am sure some of you remember it!

Such fun – all the kids with make-believe guns marching up and down eagerly – and swooping around with arms outstretched as aeroplanes and maybe giving a salute at the end – yes sir! The clatter of feet and exuberant yelling that was heard in church.

Gosh we say – rather militaristic and not very PC in this peace longing desperately needing in this world of ours. From there to a Christian rally in my teens where with beating heart I went forward and got a terminal jab of the reality of God of Jesus in my life – my parents suffered with ‘you’ll burn ……if you don’t” – good OT fundy stuff that amazed even me and thankfully not lasting long – off on OE and London, parties, boys, exploring and back to NZ. Married I took my children to Sunday School, my faith rekindling, maturing and growing – shifting my knowledge and perceptions of the world and how it should be.

Your story might be similar – and still I/we continue to change and gain new insights perspectives into what we believe we are called to be and do as Christians in this world. Our faith journey within waxes and wanes sometimes, our beliefs can be challenged and they can change. We hide and we struggle with our world. God is not static, yet constant.

In this story today Jesus is telling us that our social perceptions and our need for approval limit us and our vision, capture our spirit and make us fearful. We buy into our current wildly rapidly changing culture – or not – it’s difficult and can be dangerous to change.

Jesus is asking us to leave behind our fears of change and difference, to leave behind our perceived need for lots of stuff, our media fed desire for accumulation, our predilection for pretty lives, indeed – to shake these off as foreign dust and to walk freely into a world that God wishes and wants for us.

It’s not an easy task, one that asks us to constantly re-evaluate, to walk with others in our spiritual quest, to be open to the prompting of that still small voice within that with courage and honesty changes our actions our way of being, our faith. It’s a revolutionary way this way of Jesus – it demands much. It is ours.

Thanks be to God

Amen

Foul Weather Faith
by The Reverend Michael Berry
(Chaplain, Royal New Zealand Navy)
21 June 2015

Readings: 2 Corinthians 6: 1 – 13 and Mark 4: 35 – 41

To cross the open ocean, has for me, become something of a spiritual experience.

During the 2013/14 summer, soon after joining the Navy as a Chaplain, I made my first voyage to sea, travelling aboard our Anzac Class Frigate HMNZS TE MANA to the coastal waters of Somalia where we conducted counter-piracy operations.

As we sailed from Darwin, and made for the coast of Africa, amid the excitement and anxiety of beginning our mission, I was awakened to the profound reality of just how very big the ocean really is. As hours turned into days, turned into weeks, the horizon remained unrelenting and I realised just how very small we really were… how small I was. We were alone out there and, whilst the weather was calm and spirits were high, there was no one to save us should things go wrong; no ambulance, no supermarket, no gas station; just 181 sailors bound by 118 metres of ship.

I remember one morning as I stood alone on the port waist, looking out and thinking… praying… how mighty is our God to have created all this; to have power over all this; to be watching over us – insignificant as we might be; isolated as we might be; vulnerable to the sea as we were.

The sea often plays a special role in biblical imagery and the Bible starts and finishes with passages that give us some insight into this symbolism. Genesis 1: 1 describes the universe at the beginning of creation as a formless void and darkness, covering the face of the deep waters. And just inside the back cover – in Revelation 21: 1 – heaven is described as a place where the ‘sea is no more’.

Those two passages alone, as well as the many references between, help us to appreciate the way in which the biblical narrative uses the sea as a symbol for the darkness of the world; for chaos; destruction; persecution; and even evil. The sea is a place of the unknown, the abode of demons or, as Luke calls it, the abyss. And it’s in the midst of this context that we might read Mark’s account of Jesus and his disciples that day as their little boat was caught by a big storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.

The earlier verses of Mark 4, some of which were read last Sunday, also provide context for the storm narrative. Jesus begins in that chapter by sharing the ‘Parable of the Sower’ in which he implores the disciples not to be the barren or thorny ground, where the seed withers or is chocked, but to be the good soil in which the seed may grow and prosper. In other words, as Jesus explains, the disciples must be receptive to his teaching so that when the time comes, they will stand ready for ministry; ready to take on the challenges that will face them, ultimately, as they build the church. He then goes on to summarise his teaching with the image of the mustard seed in which even the smallest amount of faith has the power to achieve great things in the name of God.

So, Jesus tells them, hear my words and strengthen your faith that you may not falter, that you may stand firm when the time comes; that you may fulfil your calling as my disciples.

It all then comes together in today’s storm narrative as Jesus’ teaching on faith is tested. Having heard the words on faith, after all that they have learnt, the storm becomes, in many ways, a litmus test. For Mark it’s about the storm, but it’s about more than that too, as it’s also about all that the storm image represents; the struggle with darkness, chaos, evil, the unknown.

And the disciples? Well… they fail… miserably…

With Jesus asleep, confident himself that the Father will protect him in that environment, the disciples fear and fail. Calm when they set out, a storm rises without notice; the winds howl, the waves beat against their small boat, filling it with water. It’s a sailor’s worst nightmare, and they cry out to be saved.

‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ they say. Do you not care that we are about to sink… and die?

Jesus responds – disappointed, frustrated, almost heartbroken, I think. ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ I’ve just been teaching you about this; I wanted you to be the rich soil, in which faith will grow. I wanted you to be ready, not just to witness the miracles and enjoy the good times, but to face the dangers of the world head-on; to embrace and overcome the difficulties; to accept the challenges of being a disciple of mine. I need you to have more than just ‘fair weather faith’.

This passage would have spoken loudly to the original audience of the gospel for they were, as the saying goes ‘all at sea’. In the year 64, around the time Mark’s Gospel was being written, a great fire ravished the city of Rome. Historians propose that it was actually started by the Emperor Nero, a twisted plan to clear space for a new palace. Nero blamed the Christians though, this weird group of blood drinking nutters (at least that’s the picture he painted!).

So, just a few short decades after Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension, the Church found itself under threat by an unwelcoming and militant Roman Empire. Christians found themselves facing a very dark time indeed as they became the subjects of brutal persecution. This was the very real storm that Jesus was asking his disciples to be prepared for.

Likewise, we heard Paul’s words to the Corinthian church as he considers his ministry. In the same breath that he celebrates ‘purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God’, he recalls ‘afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, [and] hunger’.

We know, from our reading of the Book of Acts, that Paul came face to face, both figuratively and literally, with severe storms that tested and put pressure on his resolve to see through his call to be an Apostle and a Disciple of Jesus. Ultimately, we celebrate Paul as one of the heroes of the church because he had more than just ‘fair weather faith’. He had, what we might call, ‘foul weather faith’ that called him to persevere in the face of death itself

And, to be fair to the disciples, despite failing in the midst of that storm, they too did grow and learn themselves and, despite stumbling into other hurdles, they did – ultimately – stand up as the leaders that built the Early Church.

The Gospel is full of promises. Yes, God promises much to those who love him; hope, love, meaning, forgiveness, new and eternal life. There is so much to celebrate; no doubt that is high on the list of reasons for us to gather in worship today.

Nowhere though does it promise an easy path for disciples. In a month of sermons themed around discipleship that will no doubt be a consistent message. Jesus promised that discipleship would be anything but easy, saying, ‘See, I am sending you like sheep out into the midst of wolves…’ (Matthew 10: 16).

Discipleship is about accepting the call to go where others will not. To accept a life of vulnerability, healing the sick, forgiving the forgotten, embracing the marginalised, and loving the lost.

And to truly minister in that way, we do have to make ourselves vulnerable; we do have to risk all that we have, because we live in a world where people would often rather be blind because the alternative seems to be too hard.

No, we might not, as the early Christians did, be facing a lion’s den. We do though still live in a world where just a few days ago a young man walked into a Charleston Church and killed 9 people while they prayed. We live in a world that continues to suffer from intolerance and ignorance as factions and nations continue to war; over land, over conflicting ideologies, and sometimes just because they’ve always fought in that way.

All over the world, Jesus’ words ring true, when he said, ‘you always have the poor with you…’ (Matthew 26: 11). In our own backyard, it’s a sad indictment on our nation, that we have over 100,000 kids who have no idea where their next meal will come from. Our own City Mission reports again and again, that the need is growing… and growing.

So the ministry field is as deep as it is wide. There is much work to be done

If we’re going to talk about discipleship then, we need to understand that that is the stormy sea Jesus is calling us to sail upon. It’s a journey that requires a fair amount of ‘foul weather faith’.

Most importantly, the Gospel today concludes with a very important question; one that we need to know the answer to. ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Jesus is the calm amidst the storm; he is the healer amidst the sick; he is the voice of reason amidst the confusion of life. As disciples, Jesus is the one who calls us to have faith. Day in, day out; Sunday to Sunday, as we read scripture, listen to sermons and gather in prayer, we come… so that we may go… strengthened, encouraged, uplifted, motivated. We come, and we go, so that we can offer ministry, in our own ways and places, in our workplaces, amongst our friends and family, through our influence, in the wise use of our resources and in the decisions we have to make. To be the hands and feet of Jesus, to seek justice, to nurture forgiveness, to be the voice of those without a voice.

At the end of the service, I pray, as we ‘go in the name of Christ’, may we do so hearing the words of Jesus to the storm that day.

Peace

Be Still

May we speak those words to the dark places we encounter and when we come up against a wall, when we find derision from those who scoff at our efforts, when we encounter deaf ears to the message that we bear, may we have the faith to stand firm and trust that Christ is with us. To push through the obstacles. To focus on God’s call. And to speak a little louder.

Mighty God; strong, loving and wise. Help us to depend upon your goodness and to place our trust in your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.