Calling and Love

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
Genesis 12: 1-9

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread through all of that district.
Gospel of Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Have you noticed how it is always busy people that Jesus calls?

When He calls us to do something, He calls us away from something else. He calls ordinary people out of the ordinariness of their lives. They are not being called because they have nothing to do and are just sitting there twiddling their thumbs. Jesus doesn’t call people who do nothing.

Every one of the disciples Jesus called were busy people and were in the middle of their normal work at the time they were called. Peter and Andrew were fishing. James and John were mending their nets. Levi (who becomes Matthew), as we read in the first part of the Gospel passage, was in the middle of his work collecting taxes.

It is not that they don’t have anything else to do. It is that the most important thing to do is to hear and obey the Saviour’s call. Jesus, our Saviour, says “Drop what you are doing and follow me”. And the correct and best response is, of course, to get up and follow Him.

Matthew did not choose Jesus. Matthew was rather busy collecting taxes and was not contemplating following anyone.

Jesus chose Matthew. Not only did He choose Matthew but He did not grant the option of thinking it over. Jesus chose Matthew and told him to follow then and there. And Matthew got up and followed Him. Jesus calls us to do the same. No thinking time. No preparation time. No advance training – the only available training is on the job as we go! Just drop everything and follow Him.

When Jesus called Matthew, Matthew got up and left his desk. He left behind the symbol of his profession and the root of his sinfulness. We are never called to something without being called away from something else. We cannot come into full discipleship if we are unable to let go of what Jesus is calling us to leave behind.

In the passage from Genesis 12 Abram is called by God to leave his country, his kin, his father’s house and travel to an unknown land that God would show him. He was called to leave his past behind and to put his trust fully in God for the future. You cannot get to what God has for you without letting go of where you are and what is holding you back and following Him. It is not what Jesus sees in us that makes us worthy of following Him, but what He puts in us when we obey His command.

Jesus also said “I desire mercy not sacrifice. Go and find out what this means”.

Hosea 6:6 says “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice.”

The Hebrew word used is “hesed”. I desire hesed not sacrifice. Hesed is translated as steadfast love, mercy, goodness, kindness, compassion and loyalty. Jesus, God, desires all these things from us; not just sacrifice. And here, the meaning of sacrifice is tithing. Gifts given to God and used to support the priests leading worship. Tithing is important to God. I remember reading about a church in Africa where, as the choir sang, the people brought their offerings to God; mostly grain and produce. The people did this with great joy and enthusiasm, giving to God a portion of whatever they had. Tithes and offerings are important to our worship and important to God. But, they are not more important than our steadfast love and mercy.

What do we tithe? What do we give to God? Is it our time? Our talents? A portion of our income or possessions? Volunteering to help our community? All of these are a form of tithe and sacrifice, but, whilst they are important to God, they are not as important as our steadfast love and mercy.

Let us imagine that you help out at the food bank on a Monday morning, preparing and handing out food parcels to the hungry. This is a tithe and a sacrifice. But, whilst you are doing this work, are you gossiping with the other volunteers? Are you speculating about our new Priest in Charge to be? Making assumptions about what he is like without having met him and without waiting to find out? Are you googling him, claiming to know all about him, his experience and his qualifications, even though you haven’t actually read his C.V? Are you judging and claiming you know precisely what he will do before he has even got here? Are you gossiping about other people you know? About those you are serving?

If so, where is the love, the mercy and the kindness? It is noticeably absent from this scenario and, sadly, it is exactly what occurred on Monday and so we pray for them.

God wants us to sacrifice our time, our talents, a portion of our treasures or income, but not at the sacrifice of our steadfast love and mercy.

Our time, talents and money are no substitute for our steadfast love towards God and our neighbours or for our kindness and mercy.

God shows us, and it is detailed over and over again in scripture, the kind of steadfast love and mercy that is important to Him. He is not asking anything of us that He has not already given us.

There is a story about Gandhi. A mother asked him to talk to her son about giving up sweets. He agreed but weeks went by. The mother asked him why he had not yet spoken to her son. Gandhi replied that he still intended to speak with her son but that he was finding it harder to give up sweets than he had expected. The mother realised that Gandhi could not and would not ask someone else to do something he was not already doing and so the conversation with her son could not take place until Gandhi himself had managed to give up sweets.

Like this story about Gandhi, God only asks of us what He has already given us. God gives us and shows us that His steadfast love and mercy for us endures forever and will be with us all the days of our lives.

God demonstrated this by giving us His Son. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believeth in Him shall not perish but will have everlasting life.

And Jesus demonstrated God’s steadfast love and mercy over and over again.

We not only have the example of the calling of Matthew in our readings but also the healing of the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and the resurrection of the synagogue leader’s daughter.

Jesus showed the same mercy to everyone whether they believed in Him or not. His love and mercy really are unconditional and for everybody.

He called sinners, He healed the sick, He raised the dead, He spoke against injustice, He showed us how to love with a steadfast, merciful, kind, pure, good, everlasting love that knows no bounds. God loves us completely, unconditionally with an endless love that is for everyone.

Drop everything!

Let it go!

Follow Him!

The Shepherd and The Gatekeeper

Genesis 7, Acts 2:42ff, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:19ff, John 10:1-10

As is so often the case, whilst it might not initially seem like it, our Old Testament and New Testament readings go hand in hand.

Our Old Testament reading details the onset of The Great Flood; representing God’s righteous judgement on a corrupt world and His merciful salvation of Noah’s family.

Indeed, its key themes are the finality of God’s judgement when it comes and the Ark as a type of Christ – a place of absolute sanctuary, provided by God.

There is the invitation into safety: “Come into the Ark” – a final invitation to salvation, not merely survival but true salvation and sanctuary prepared by God. It is a promise of protection. When God sends judgement He also provides total shelter for His people.

God closed the door of the Ark signifying that the time of mercy and warnings has passed. It is a seal of safety for those who accepted God’s invitation and finality for those who remain outside.

Of course, there is also the obedience of Noah, like a sheep steered by a shepherd, who only entered the Ark once he was commanded, completing a long and difficult task of faith.

The Ark highlights a stark contrast between salvation for the obedient and judgement for the rebellious; mirroring the finality of Judgement Day.

In our New Testament readings we are like sheep who have gone astray. Jesus describes Himself as the Shepherd and the Gate for the sheep. Like the Ark, Jesus is concerned with keeping His people, His sheep, safe and cares deeply for them. Both Jesus and the Ark are protectors, gatekeepers and shepherds.

A shepherd tends, herds, feeds and guards their sheep.

Some denominations call their church leaders Pastors. Pastor is the Latin word for shepherd.

Shepherds lead sheep by building trust, using vocal cues, and employing protective, guiding techniques. Often they work in groups, working together to share the responsibilities.

Sometimes they lead the sheep from the front, such as leading them to pasture, breaking a trail, clearing danger, and demonstrating a safe path.

Sometimes the shepherd leads from behind to guide and protect the sheep from danger, keeping the flock together from the rear and allowing the fastest to go first to direct the herd’s overall movement. Herding the sheep instead of expecting them to follow.

By walking opposite to the flock, shepherds can push them into a new direction.

To contain or direct them, shepherds might walk along the side of the sheep, keeping full view of the flock.

Shepherds focus on providing security and nourishment, which ensures the sheep trust them enough to follow.

And, of course, there is the famous shepherd’s crook, which is used to guide, separate, or protect the sheep. The distinct hook at the end is used for managing, catching and guiding sheep by their necks or legs without causing injury. It is especially useful for catching lambs or holding a sheep in the pasture. The long handle is used to guide the sheep through the gates, separate, or steer them without getting close enough to scare/frighten them.

It also supports the shepherd, like a hiking pole, when travelling across rough, uneven or steep terrain.

The shepherd can also use the crook as a defensive weapon against predators to protect the flock or to shake fruit from high branches or to part thick undergrowth.

This highlights how deeply a good shepherd knows their sheep and how well they know their shepherd. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice. The shepherd brings security and life. Jesus as the Shepherd and Gatekeeper is the protector and provider, offering security and life, in direct contrast with the Pharisees or “thieves” who come to steal, kill and destroy.

The gate and the shepherd work together. The function of the gate is to keep the sheep together during the night, safe from predators. During the day the gate is opened so that the shepherd can guide the sheep to pasture. It is important to emphasise that the gate is not a gate of exclusion. It is not to keep out other sheep. Jesus said “I have other sheep that do not belong to this field. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” The gate is purely to guard against all that threatens the sheep.

Not only do the gate and shepherd work together but they are one and the same. Hence, Jesus using both in this teaching. Many get confused by this but it is simpler than it seems.

Let me tell you about an Arab shepherd. This shepherd was not a christian and did not know the Bible. But he did know his sheep and was showing off his flock to a scholar, and also showed off the penned area where his sheep slept every night. “And when they go in there” the shepherd said proudly, “they are perfectly safe”.

But then the scholar noticed something and said, “Your sheep sleep in that pen and yet I notice that the pen does not have a gate on it”.

“Yes that’s right,” the shepherd replied, “I am the gate”.

“What do you mean?” the man asked.

“After my sheep are in the pen, I lay my body across the opening. No sheep will step over me and no wolf can get in without getting past me first. I am the gate.”

The other interesting part of this passage from John is verse 6: “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

There are many shepherds in the Old Testament, Moses, Rachel, David are just a few. Shepherding was a common job at the time. In addition, the shepherd/sheep metaphors are used over and over again throughout the Old Testament. Yet, despite this, the Pharisees, the people who claimed to be experts in the Old Testament, didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about. They did not understand because they did not believe.

The role of the good shepherd is to take care of the sheep, to protect the sheep, to lay down their life for the sheep and to love the sheep. There is no better metaphor to describe the nature of Jesus’s bond with His people. He is a gentle shepherd who leads His sheep.

On the other hand, Jesus is calling the Pharisees “bad shepherds”. They were the very people who were supposed to spiritually nourish and protect the people of God and yet they were leading the people astray. Jesus was comparing these false teachers to thieves, robbers and strangers. He is saying that His sheep, the sheep of the true shepherd will not be controlled by the pharisees.

Jesus is saying, just in a different way, the same thing that He says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Enter salvation through the Jesus Gate. Be a Jesus Sheep, in the sanctuary of the Ark, tended, herded, fed, cared for and guarded by the Jesus Shepherd; and receive abundant everlasting life, green pastures, still waters, peace and joy.

Shepherding Sheep (Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com)

The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan is a well-known story. Is it really just a parable or was Jesus recounting something that actually happened?

It’s certainly feasible and likely enough to have been an actual occurrence. Let me tell you a real, modern day version:

We got in the car, turn the key in the ignition, and, you’ve probably guessed it, the car wouldn’t start. The battery had suddenly and unexpectedly died. RIP battery!

So, there’s us by the roadside with my husband holding jump leads and jumping up and down trying to flag down the cars that were passing to ask them for help.

So many cars just drove past …

… and then another past, slowed down, turned around and drove back to us. The driver had turned around so that his car was facing the right way to be able to link up the jump leads. He got the car started for us.

We didn’t know him, he didn’t know us, he was just passing through, seen someone in need of help and provided that help.

Willingly, for no reason other than seeing someone in trouble and knowing that they could help. A real good Samaritan.

Jesus told the parable in response to the questions from the lawyer. Now, the lawyer had asked Jesus a question to which he knew the answer and so Jesus answered him with a question, drawing out the answer to the lawyer’s question so that it was provided by the lawyer himself.

Consequently, in a bid to justify asking the question in the first place, the lawyer asks for clarification on who classes as his neighbour. It is this that provokes Jesus into telling the good Samaritan parable.

There was a constant threat of bandits on the wilderness roads. And they did indeed beat people up and steal their possessions. Jesus’s audience, therefore, would not have been surprised by this scenario; it was after-all a part of their normal lives.

The audience may well have expected it to be the priest or Levite who’d help the victim, especially as they both have a calling to care for others.

Yet, they just pass by.

It is the one the audience would have least suspected to assist who gave the victim aid. Samaritans and Jews were not normally friendly towards each other. In fact, the Samaritans were hated by the Jews.

The victim’s own people passed him by. It was someone they would have considered an enemy who stopped and saved his life. Not only that the Samaritan provided for him whilst he healed and returned to health.

Jesus gave the lawyer, crowd, disciples and us the instruction to “Go and do likewise”.

But, like those cars that just drove straight past, how frequently are we the ones who pass the other by. The compassionate generosity of the Samaritan are the example for us to follow but so often we ignore the cries of the downtrodden, the disenfranchised, the forgotten.

The victim. ignored by his own people, reminds us what it feels like to be forgotten by others. The feelings of loneliness and forsakenness call for compassion and empathy for all experiencing it.

Whilst Jesus is the one telling the story, on a theological level God is both the one in the ditch as His children pass by, and the one who shows compassion and mercy to us when we are in need – the one who saved us through the cross.

This parable is a reminder that the call to care for others often goes unheard as we pass by the cries of those needing help.

Broken down car awaiting the ‘Good Samaritan’

Awe and Wonder*

*(John 6: 1-21), talk given at HTS 28th July 2024

Again, we have a reading that is often preached on. The feeding of the 5000 and walking on water – as recounted by John.

Consequently, I have heard so many different theories about how the feeding of the 5000 was accomplished.

These theories are spoken by supposed men of faith, and yet, what they all have in common is that they detract from the awesomeness of the miracle performed by Jesus.

I have said before (and will probably do so again) that we, mere mortals, try to explain away acts of God. We are so eager to know how something has been done that we make up theories to translate the unknowable, the un-understandable, the sheer magic if you like of God’s awesome power into something mundane as we falsely claim we know how it was achieved. Like explaining away all illusionist’s tricks as mere slight of hand. We can’t just accept the wonder – the miracle – for what it is.

A miracle!

The work of God!

An amazing gift from Him to us!

We don’t need to know how it was achieved – not if we have faith and believe. It should be enough for us just to know that God did it – God provided!

God did not ignore the pleas made on behalf of His people. Instead He provided what was needed and a lot more besides.

No one went hungry. Everyone ate their fill. And yet 12 baskets of bread remained at the end of the feast.

12 baskets of bread
12 tribes of Israel
12 Apostles

Whilst you think about that for a moment; let me mention some more parallels that are at work here.

The Passover, a major festival in the Jewish calendar remembering when the Angel of Death passed over the houses of the Israelites the night before they, in a mass exodus, followed Moses out of Egypt into the Wilderness, where God provided for them with another miracle – manna – bread from heaven.

Moses, the foreteller of the plagues of Egypt, leading a crowd through a Wilderness where God provides them with the food they need each day. Moses, who went up a mountain to speak to God in peace and solitude away from the crowd.

Jesus, instead of foretelling plagues upon Egypt, provided healing in abundance. The crowd followed Him, drawn to Him by the signs they witnessed. Jesus was leading a crowd. John just tells us that they were the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The lack of a specific place name for where this significant event takes place puts it in parallel with Moses leading the Israelites through the Wilderness.

Jesus leads a crowd through the Wilderness. With the power given to Him by God His Father, Jesus provides bread in abundance. This acts as confirmation to the crowd that Jesus is from God. He sees what is in their minds and, knowing God’s plan knows that becoming the warrior king the crowd wanted was not how God wanted Him to save the world. Jesus goes up a mountain to speak with God in solitude away from the crowd.

As is a common thread through John’s Gospel; this passage is about who Jesus us and about proclaiming Jesus’s greatness. John does this by recounting this event in such a way that we see these parallels.

Both Moses and Jesus enabled their multitudes to have food in the Wilderness. However, it is the difference that is important here.

Moses asked God where to get food for the people. He didn’t know and asked God genuinely. Moses needed to rely on God. God provided, in abundance, food for His people. When Jesus asked Philip ‘where will we get bread for the people’ it was actually a rhetorical question. Jesus already knew what He was going to do. Jesus, the Son of God with the power of God, already knew that He Himself would perform a miracle providing food in abundance for the people.

John claims Jesus is testing Philip – and this is possible. The Jews knew the Scriptures in great depth. It is possible, therefore, that Jesus wanted to see whether the disciples knew enough about who He was, and is, and to see if they remembered the manna from heaven and would realise that in a similar way Jesus would be providing for His people.

We cannot second guess God, but what we do know is that if that was the case Philip failed. And not only Philip.

Like many today, Philip could only focus on how much it would cost to find a ‘shop’ and buy bread and Andrew could only focus on how little the supplies were.

And likewise, if Jesus tests us in a similar way, do we truly acknowledge that He will provide, or, do we fail the test by focussing on cost and resources?

Jesus fed His people. He took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed it to the people. And here we have the next important difference highlighting Jesus’s greatness.

If the Israelites collected more manna than they needed and tried to store it then the manna perished. When the disciples gathered the leftovers so that none would be wasted there were 12 baskets of good food leftover. Proof of the abundance Jesus provides for those who truly put their faith in and rely on Him.

The crowd see Jesus as a prophet sent from God. It is possible they may have seen Him as a second Moses.

But regardless of how the crowd saw Him, Jesus is more than just a prophet. He is the Son of God.

And in case we had any more doubts, like many passages in the Bible, like the Trinity, we have a third significant difference highlighting who Jesus is, His greatness and His power.

When the Israelites reached the Red Sea, Moses had to rely on God to part the waters so that he could lead the Israelites across on dry land.

When the disciples were crossing the sea in a boat, Jesus needed no such help. Jesus, God’s Son, with power over creation, walked on the water to the boat and immediately they all reach shore.

Jesus walked across the surface of the water as Lord and Master, revealing Himself to His disciples using His name – the name God revealed to Moses – I Am.

Moses is considered to be God’s greatest prophet and lawgiver. But Jesus is God. Jesus is mightier. Jesus is more.

Whoever you see as that Moses equivalent – be it as prophet or leader …

Jesus is greater
Jesus is the one who provides
Jesus is more

Let us see Jesus for who He really is. Let us fully put our faith and trust in Him. Let us fully rely on Him and allow Him to provide for us. Let us not continue to fail the test as Philip and Andrew did. Let us be ever thankful to God for HIs great grace, abundance and mercy. Amen.