A rabbi once asked his students how they could tell when night had ended and day was on its way back.
‘Is it when you can see an animal in the distance, and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?’
‘No,’answered the rabbi.
‘Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance, and tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?’
‘No.’
‘Well then,’ the students demanded, ‘when is it?’
‘It is when you look on the face of another hunan being and see that he or she is your brother or sister. Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time it is, it is still night.’
Jesus said, “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
We are all God’s children. Through faith and in Jesus Christ we are all part of the same family, all brothers and sisters.
This is the starting point for how we should treat one another. We are to respect our brother and sisters.
We should listen to each other and be ready to hear God speaking. We should learn from, heed and act on their advice.
We should value them and the gifts they bring, thanking them for the different ways they serve and encouraging them.
We should be interested in their lives, how their week has been, and we should pray for them.
We are to treat each other as equals and honour them as a fellow heir in Christ.
We should love them, and our neighbour, as ourselves.
Let us look for the daybreak and the light of Christ shining brightly as we greet our brothers and sisters and welcome the day.
Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem because the time of His death is approaching. He was accompanied by His disciples, whom He was teaching and preparing, but time was short. Hence, Jesus’s radical call. It was absolutely necessary for them to leave everything behind and be prepared for their own death if they are serious about following Him and about going with Him to Jerusalem.
There were also large crowds accompanying Jesus as He journeyed towards Jerusalem.
Jesus was also teaching these crowds.
Those who were already following Jesus needed to be taught the nature of true discipleship. They needed to be fully aware of what following Him costs.
Following Jesus demands full and total devotion to God.
Jesus was so fully devoted to His mission that it meant abandoning and being rejected by His home town and His family. For those who must leave their family behind to be able to fully follow Jesus it could be perceived as hating one’s family in the eyes of some.
Jesus tells us that to be His disciple means carrying our cross and following Him.
He is giving His disciples advance warning.
The road they were following Jesus down is expected to end in death, and they must prepare themselves.
Full devotion is described by and measured by what future is being committed to.
As usual, Jesus gave examples in order to help His disciples and the crowd understand the importance of fully evaluating the cost of following Him.
It was not a decision to be made lightly. Each person in the crowd and each disciple needed to consider whether they could follow Him to the very end, leaving everything else behind.
“None of you can be my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”
Jesus is entirely serious in saying that those following Him to Jerusalem must not be encumbered in any way.
But, if we look at other contexts and situations, does Jesus require every one, every disciple, every where and in every time to abandon family and possessions and run headlong towards death for Him?
If we look at the rest of the New Testament we can discern that the answer to this question is no.
The rest of the New Testament portrays faithful disciples maintaining family relationships and retaining possessions.
There are the apostles who travelled with their wives as they travelled far and wide on missionary work. The members of the church who had homes and possessions, with which they supported the church and the work of Peter, Paul and the other apostles.
It is important, however, to reiterate that these converts held their possessions loosely and were willing to give them up for the good of others and to support the Gospel mission.
It is also important to realise and accept that the requirements Jesus placed upon those wanting to follow Him on the road to Jerusalem will be required to be fulfilled should the circumstances dictate.
All followers of Jesus must remind themselves constantly that following Him faithfully could require the full sacrifice of family, possessions and even life itself. Those Christians who do not encounter or experience that extreme sacrifice must ensure that their family, possessions and life do not become so dear to us that they draw us away from full devotion.
Discipleship IS costly.
It demands continuous giving – giving time, giving energy, giving attention, taking initiative, making sacrifices, facing opposition, losing privacy, embracing obscurity, even shedding tears.
The making of disciples is not just sharing the Gospel, but sharing our own selves, gladly, for the souls of others. It means giving, giving, giving, giving and even more giving.
It is more blessed to give than to receive. So it also is with the hearts of disciples. It makes me happier for you to have my time, energy, attention. initiative, than it does for me to keep them to myself.
The crowd who were with Jesus on the road were interested enough to be following Him. However, they hadn’t fully grasped the implications and cost of discipleship. The same is true for many today. Throughout the world, both in churches and out, are crowds of people interested in Jesus but who do not really grasp the full implications, cost and commitment of discipleship for themselves.
And it is to such as these that Jesus is speaking to here. Those people who are willing to follow Jesus and learn from Him but only as long as the cost to them is not too high. Casual followers, followers who are here today but gone tomorrow.
Jesus points out that this is a total misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian and He strongly addresses this misunderstanding.
We are to put Jesus first, to put our love for God above everything else in our lives.
The Christian life demands strength to love.
The Christian life demands that we carry a cross.
The Christian life demands that we give up everything for God.
There is only one person who has ever managed to do this perfectly and, of course, that is Jesus Christ Himself. He is our model – our example. We are to imitate Him, or in the words of Thomas A Kempis we are to develop “The Imitation of Christ”.
Growth in discipleship is ultimately growth in becoming more Christlike in our thoughts and actions.
And that involves sacrifice and hard work.
Are we ready to count the cost and become the disciples Jesus wants us to be.
In Luke, chapter 14, verses 7 to 14, Jesus is teaching us about pride and humility.
Jesus was at the house of one of the pharisees to eat a meal. Jesus often had disputes with the pharisees but He still spent time with them; not as a pharisee Himself but being God’s Son on earth He was showing them God’s example and love. And whilst at this meal Jesus watched.
He watched and saw how the others at this meal behaved and how they strategically placed themselves to get the best seats in the house; that is the places which would grant them the most honour or, if you like, jostling for the Top Table.
In Jesus’s day, seating arrangements were very important in society as the most honoured person sat in a particular seat, then the next most honoured, then the next and so on. A wedding banquet was the most important occasion and where you got seated at such a party was indicative of your standing in the community. This made it the perfect example for Jesus to use to teach His lesson.
And, of course, if you were to take the most honoured place and the host wanted someone else to sit there you would be asked to move – which would be embarrassing and would make you feel great shame.
Not everyone has the same exact customs to denote social standing and highlight how important or honoured someone is. But, there are many occasions in modern life where one’s own sense of self importance, pride and high opinion of one’s self can be displayed.
Pride comes before a fall. Shame comes after self exaltation.
Instead of playing the self promotion game, work hard for the Lord and let God raise us up.
When sitting in that lower place we are not there to make ourselves noticed in order to try and get ourselves placed higher. Nor are we there to pout and show dissatisfaction with the aim to let others know we don’t belong there. On the contrary, there is something wonderful and joyful about being content in whatever place God allows us to have.
Joyfully embrace the lower place. If the Master moves us to a higher place think how much more satisfying it is to know that God has raised you up than if you raised yourself up.
When we seek to honour ourselves we will always be humbled.
Jesus was the perfect One to teach this lesson, because He fulfilled it perfectly. He (God’s Son incarnated as flesh) deserved the highest place but He took the lowest and was ‘granted’ the highest.
Jesus had also noticed that the pharisee had chosen guests from a sense of pride, lacking in love for others and only inviting those who could give something in return. So Jesus went on to warn the host about the danger of pride when choosing guests.
Jesus is not saying that we can never invite certain friends/relatives/associates. What He is saying is not to make a habit of only inviting the same clique of people all the time.
He is telling the pharisee, and us, not to only associate with people for what they can do for us. He is telling us not to put self at the centre of our lives. We are called to follow Jesus and His example was that of putting others in the centre of our living.
It is better to give than to receive.
It is a wonderful feeling to give a gift that can never be repaid. Such a feeling helps give us a small insight into the pleasure of God in giving the gift of His grace, mercy, salvation and blessing to His people.
We never lose out when we follow the pattern of God’s generosity. Jesus shows us that we need to live with an eternal perspective of life as He promises God provides us with full repayment at the resurrection of the righteous; when our lives are weighed up on the balance sheet and audited by He who knows our hearts and minds, our actions and our motivations.
So, in summary:
Practise and prioritise humility over pride in everything.
Our works should be for the glory of God not for the praise of others.
We should embrace a lifestyle of radical hospitality, welcoming all.
And we need to understand that God’s kingdom operates with a different set of values to the world’s values. It operates with God’s values.
St Peter and St Paul do not have separate feast days and are celebrated together as foundation members of the church – they were instrumental in establishing and spreading Christianity They had complementary ministries with Peter often being called the Apostle to the Jews and Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Peter, originally a fisherman, was chosen by Jesus to lead His church. Paul, originally a pharisee, persecuted Christians until his conversion on the road to Damascus. Their deaths in Rome solidified their connection and their importance to the early church.
In our Gospel reading, Peter is praised for his belief and faith in Jesus as the Son of the Living God. Peter had times of doubt and unfaithfulness but the first call in his following of Jesus was to grow in the faith that would sustain his life.
Jesus withdrew from the mainly Jewish region of Galilee to a place more populated by Gentiles as a kind of retreat or respite. Whilst there He asked the disciples who the crowds thought He was – not because He didn’t know but as an ice breaker to His next question; who do the disciples say He is. And, of course, Peter answered “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.
This question is asked of all who hear of Jesus, it is us, not Him, who are judged by the answer. If we really believe Jesus is who He said He is then that will affect the way we live.
Jesus presupposes that His disciples would have thought differently to the men of the crowds.
Jesus was a national reformer, a miracle worker, a prophet. He is the Christ.
Peter understood that Jesus was not just God’s Messiah but also God Himself. Jesus praises Peter for his bold and correct declaration. Jesus reveals to Peter that Peter had spoken by divine inspiration.
The name Peter means Rock. Peter was and would become a Rock. God was transforming his character into something solid and reliable.
“On this rock I will build my church”. Jesus is the cornerstone – the church’s one foundation. Peter was the first Rock among many Rocks. Interestingly, this is the first use of the word church in the New Testament. It came from a Greek word which just meant “group” or “called out group”.
Jesus prophesies the building of the church and claims ownership – “My church”. Jesus brings His people together, on a firm foundation, building them into something that belongs to Him and which is a stronghold.
“I will build, on this Rock, My church, the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it”.
Jesus promises that the forces of death and darkness cannot prevail against or conquer the church.
Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom. Peter opened the doors of the kingdom to the Jesus (Acts 2:38-39). Peter opened the doors of the kingdom to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-44). Peter was allocated special privileges but Jesus did not grant him the authority to pass the special privileges or authority to future generations.
Jesus gave permission and authority to the first generation apostles to make rules for the early church. This was a responsibility of the disciple group as a whole.
Jesus told His disciples not to tell anyone He was The Christ. He was pleased His disciples were coming to know who He was in truth, but He didn’t want His identity known before the proper time.
Before they could preach that Jesus was the Messiah, they had to learn what that meant.
The Epistle focuses on Paul’s impending death and God’s faithfulness. Paul’s life was a sacrifice and his death was a transition to be with the Lord. Faith is not faith in one’s own abilities bit in God’s faith planted within us which turns us, despite the upheavals and setbacks and failures of life into faithful workers in the vineyard. It speaks of conformity in Christ and is full of verses filled of hope.
Hope in the present, seeing the world with different eyes, with knowledge that Christ is present today. Hope from the certainty that God works through Him at all times, for the community, in the community, with the community.
“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for His heavenly kingdom”. This is the prayer of one who relies solely on God and knows that it is not his work but God who will hold him, justify him and bless him. There is no other help but what God gives.
… originated in the United States in the early 20th century. In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington, proposed the idea of a day to honour fathers after hearing a Mother’s Day sermon. She wanted to recognize her father, who raised her and her siblings after her mother’s death.
As we enter into the month of June, Father’s Day is approaching and this gives us the opportunity to address why God is often referred to as Father.
Whilst referring to God as Father was less frequent prior to the birth of Jesus, God is referred to as Father in the Old Testament where He is called the Father of the nation of Israel. In the Gospels, when Jesus speaks about and prays to God He typically refers to Him as His “Abba, Father”. Teaching His disciples how to pray, Jesus said, “When you pray, you say, Our Father …” Jesus gave to us the right and privilege to come into the presence of the majesty of God and address Him as Father.
He transformed the meaning of the word for His time to call His people (Jews and Gentiles) to a true relationship with a caring, personal God, as scripture affirmed. It also puts an emphasis on God’s role as the source of all life, love and authority, similar to an ideal image of a father’s role in a family. It shows God’s interest in humanity, His care for His children and His ultimate power, providing, protecting and loving.
Galatians 4:4-4 “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
We don’t just call God Father because of Him being our creator but also because of the revelation given to us in Christ; which acknowledges a particular relationship with Him. God is also addressed as Father because He is His people’s redeemer and because we have been joined to Christ by adoption. Jesus died the death we deserve so that we might be joined to Him and adopted into God’s family.
“And by him we cry “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And now if we are children then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his joy.”
Advance warning – my story of faith is not dramatic! I know I am not the only one here who has sat in a church meeting where the minister has asked for people to give testimony or to talk about finding the light and thought “but I’ve always believed”. The reality is my story is ordinary and mundane.
I had a Christian family and learnt about Jesus from an extremely young age. I’ve belonged to and been part of church my whole life.
And, having explained that I have no dramatic Hollywood style event to entertain you with, I could stop here …
…or I could, which is what I’m going to do, continue anyway and tell you more – including why it is that ordinary mundane testimonies can be a blessing to us.
Being a Christian and following a Christian life is difficult – and it’s supposed to be. Remember that old adage that implies that something’s worth is measured by how hard you had to work for it. God, through His grace and His Son Jesus Christ, has given us the most valuable gift of all; but to follow in our Lord’s footsteps takes hard work and perseverance.
We are called to faithfulness. We are persecuted, we suffer, we face trials tribulations. temptation and false teachers trying to send us off track.
When times are difficult we are tempted to give up and many do fall away. The epistles remind us to persevere, to put on God’s armour. to stand firm and to ensure in following Jesus Christ.
Remaining steadfast, staying on the narrow path and being faithful teach the need to focus on persevering, to continue to put our trust in God and to not falter.
The well known poem about the footsteps in the sand really is true. God never leaves us. Whilst people fall away and leave Him; He does not abandon us.
When I give my burdens to Him I feel a physical lightness and literally feel the weight removed from my shoulders as He takes the load for me.
When times are easy, I feel His presence walking beside me and we enjoy the journey together.
If things are more difficult I feel His hand in mine.
In times of great trial He is supporting me or carrying me if you like.
And in times of great sorrow I feel His arms around me as He embraces me with His great love and comfort.
This is certainly a great blessing and in return I pray that God will continue to fill me with His love so that it can overflow through me to others.
We are called to carry each other’s burdens, encourage and bring back the wanderers. We are called to follow Christ’s example to aspire to God’s standard and to repent of all – however mundane – that makes us guilty of not reaching that standard.
God told us to pass His teachings to our children. Having parents, teachers, ministers and peers who did this points to God’s continued faithfulness as does having been preserved in the faith. God catches me when I stumble.
He has blessed me and kept me. He has blessed you and kept you.
So let us sing of His great love for evermore and make His faithfulness known through all generations and let us give thanks to God.
Listening to the readings again on Easter Sunday with the women going to the tomb to prepare Jesus’s body reminds me of something I read recently about Mary – Jesus’s mother.
It is interesting, is it not, that Jesus’s mother – arguably His greatest disciple, a woman of tremendous faith, who stayed by Him to the bitter end, is not listed amongst the women going to attend to Jesus’s body.
And this poses the theory that the first person Jesus appeared to may well have been His mother and that this is why she was not among those going to the tomb at dawn. Such an appearance would be part of completing her participation in the essential parts of the paschal mystery.
Mary suffered above all others in the suffering and death of her son. Christ kept the commandments. He honoured His heavenly Father, His earthly father and His mother, so it makes sense that he’d visit her first.
If a son lived far away and his mother was told he’d died but he was actually alive and healthy and he returned to the area, it would highlight that he was not a good son if he visited his friends first and his mother last.
Jesus was the perfect son. So, why would He not visit His mother first. There’s also her faith, which, despite the apostles losing theirs at Jesus’s passion, Mary had in abundance. Scripture tells us that the Lord shows Himself to those who have faith in Him. And, of course, she loved her son so much and scripture tells us that those who love Him will be visited by Him.
How joyful she must have felt at seeing her son alive once more.
There is a special kind of joy at Easter. It’s not just the spring flowers springing up into life or the longer days. What it is is a deep, radiant joy born from our Lord’s victory over sin and death so that we might have eternal life with Him.
Jesus leaves the darkness and rises to new life. Through God’s grace, this gives us the gift that, no matter what our past was, we have permission to leave it behind and embrace the hope and joy of new lives in Christ. His sacrifice and act of intermediary reconciliation grants us forgiveness of our past sins, our present sins and our future sins.
I love the title that Nicholas King’s translation gives this Gospel passage. Unlike most others which use “Mary visits Elisabeth” this one is “Two Mothers Are Brought Together”.
Even though their babies had not yet been born, Mary and Elisabeth were both expecting and so were most definitely mothers. They were also cousins. How apt that the saviour of the world and his forerunner were related. It was natural for Mary and Elisabeth to meet up and support each other – Elisabeth in the last three months of pregnancy and Mary in the first three.
Through these two lowly women (and at that time women were considered by society to be inferior and were overlooked and ignored) God begins His transformation of the world.
At Mary’s first words comes an immediate response from Elisabeth’s unborn child – John leaps. John has acknowledged both Mary’s presence and her baby’s significance – fulfilling the prophecy about Him that even before His birth He would be filled with the Holy Spirit. Before he is even born, John is pointing to the Messiah – announcing His coming.
Elisabeth is also filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling her to announce what Mary has not yet imparted – that Mary is also with child. It is through the Holy Spirit that Elisabeth knows who Mary’s child will be – enabling her to call Mary the “Mother of my Lord”.
These two women are demonstrating tremendous faith and determination to fulfil God’s will and His work for them.
Elisabeth blesses Mary. Our English language is often proclaimed quirky and translations into English can result in some things being obscured. In this case the translation obscures the fact that Elisabeth uses more than one word for blessed.
When Elisabeth says Mary is blessed among women and that Mary’s unborn baby is blessed she uses a term which means that both present and future generations will praise and speak well of Mary and her child.
But when Elisabeth says “Blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” she uses the same term Jesus used when He blessed people in the Beatitudes. Therefore, we could translate Elisabeth’s words as “Happy is she who believed”.
Despite all expectations and women’s lack of status in society, instead of being shamed for having this baby, Mary is honoured and she is blessed with divine joy because she believed and trusted in what God is able to do and what God promises to do.
Mary’s trust and faith is a direct opposite to Elisabeth’s husband Zechariah who had demanded proof that the angel’s word was true when the angel told him Elisabeth would have a baby. Whilst not mentioned in today’s reading, Zechariah’s punishment for his doubt was to be struck dumb. It was not until the baby was born and Zechariah wrote on a slate that his baby was called John that God granted him the ability to speak again.
Instead of doubting and demanding proof, Mary asked what would happen and then willingly accepted. A lowly village girl demonstrating believe and trust where the priest had doubted.
Elisabeth had had her own share of social exclusion and judgement. The role of women at that time was to have children and, until God granted her the gift of John, Elisabeth had been treated by society as a failure. God’s grace reversed Elisabeth’s social status. Elisabeth overturned social expectations and continued the pattern of social reversal as she greets Mary at the door with honour. When Elisabeth welcomes Mary she practices the same kind of inclusive love that Jesus shows to outcasts and sinners. She sees the reality of God’s love at work amongst those whom society excludes.
This passage reflects the importance of community support and shared experiences in faith. Mary’s visit was not just fulfilling a family obligation but was also Spiritual affirmation. Mary and Elisabeth trusted that God was coming to save and free them. They gave thanks, they responded to God’s love. They supported each other as they waited in hopeful anticipation.
Let us support each other in love with hiope and faith as we wait expectantly for our Lord to return.
DCC's1 the game that's played - Nothing useful is conveyed. We just sit here wasting time Whilst they moan the same old gripe; It is just a load of tripe - And it doesn't feel right.
They all have their own soapbox, The same old words - They never stop. They are not prepared to bend - Or to listen and amend!
They cannot see it doesn't work - It's time to change but they will not. It's always just the same old theme - It needs to change and change a lot - They're in a rut and so there's rot!
I wonder how many already have put all the decorations away? I wonder how many will rush to put them away on twelfth night? I wonder how many will keep them up until Candlemas when Jesus is presented at the temple? I wonder how many still have turkey and excess food to eat?
I further wonder how many of those who’ve already put their decorations away, excitedly got them out in November, and on putting them away said something along the lines of “thank goodness they’re away for another year”? I also wonder how many of those who have not yet put the decorations away will be saying something similar when they do?
And all this wondering is because I wonder how many put Jesus away with the decorations? How many try to box Him up and leave Him in the loft with a “thank goodness that’s done for another year”?!
We see the slogan, “A dog is for life not just for Christmas”. Something which is very true – they are a life long commitment!
Jesus is a life long commitment. Not only that, He is for life in more ways than one.
Jesus was born as that tiny baby at Christmas for our salvation. He came to save our lives. His sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins for us to have life. Jesus is for life.
When we commit ourselves to Jesus and let Him into our lives; this is a life long commitment. We spend each day trying to follow Jesus’s example.
So this year I pray that, instead of putting Jesus away with the decorations for another year, we open the door to Him – letting Him in for life!
Just because 