A time for re-construction

February 22, 2026 — Leave a comment

A sermon preached to Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Yellowknife, NT. The congregation is working through The Story in place of the regular lectionary, having read through large portions of Ezra-Nehemiah together in discipleship groups this week.

As we return to The Story this week, we’re struck with the great work of rebuilding.  God not just allowed, but actually sent his people into exile, so that they would learn to trust in him once more.  In exile, through the harsh realities of life, they learned to be people of faith.  Then, in spite of incredible circumstances, in spite of persecution and injustice, in spite of outright diabolical plans to exterminate them, by faith they received the promise of God.

By faith, they saw with their own eyes that God kept his word; and, against all odds, God returned them to their promised land, equipped with all the tools and resources they needed to rebuild.

A Time of Reconstruction

All this week, I’ve been reflecting and meditating on this idea of rebuilding. 

I firmly believe that we Christians find ourselves, here today, in a period of God-given reconstruction.  Across the board, our witness in the world is confused and divided.

Certainly, for this church, as we look to how we’ve done in passing the faith from one generation to another and making new disciples in our city, we see the need to enter a long period of rebuilding.

But it’s even bigger than that.

Because, as much as televangelists and old-fashioned revivals might tell us different, faith isn’t just a personal matter. 

For God’s people, amazingly returned to the promised land with all that they need having been provided, it’s not just houses or city walls that need to be rebuilt.  The entire community needs rebuilding; the way people think, the way people care, the way people relate to one another all needs to be built up out of the rubble.

That was true in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and I firmly believe it’s true today.

Thanks be to God: we don’t have the physical destruction that requires physical rebuilding.  But let’s be honest: we, as a community, as Christians gathered here today, we feel pretty low, pretty tired, pretty worn out.

As a congregation, we’ve lost much over our history.  The glory of former years has passed away – full pews, a full Sunday School, being a gathering place for the key families in the community, the picture in the porch of the Queen herself coming to visit – that’s not our reality anymore. Good people have retired and moved away, and no one has come in to take their place; clergy come and go, none sticking around long enough to raise up a strong generation; friends get sick and life wears us down; this past year, too many of those who shared the pews with us have gone unexpectedly to be with the Lord.  It’s a lot.

Nobody’s in the mood for rebuilding.  We’re tired and worn down.  This never-ending series of events has taken its toll. 

But for me, one thing is clear: we can’t just “keep on truckin’”.  (That’s the message of Lent too, isn’t it?) When the path you’re on is leading nowhere good, the answer isn’t to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

The truth is that most of us have experienced chronic low-grade trauma since Covid. 

If we had experienced all of this at once, we’d be utterly broken.  But, as often happens with chronic traumatic experiences, the damage is done a bit at a time.  On the one hand that makes it manageable, or at least sort-of.  We learn to adapt with the terrible situations a little bit at a time.  The down side, however, is that we end up accepting the situation as “normal”; as a coping mechanism, we end up lowering the bar for what it feels like to be healthy and happy with each new traumatic experience. Finally our bodies and our spirits and our hearts are telling us that something is terribly wrong, but our minds are trying to convince us that the situation we’re in is “normal”.

We, our church, our community, our nation, needs to acknowledge the mess we’re in; and we don’t need to patch things up… we need to rebuild.

God’s Plan for Trauma-Informed Reconstruction

Thanks be to God, scripture gives us a plan for trauma-informed reconstruction. It took science a thousand years to finally realize that trauma has an effect on the human person, but, not surprisingly, we read about it back in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah!

Now, I know what you might be thinking: yes, we know we’re at a turning point as a church if we want to get serious about mission and ministry over the next 15, 25, or 50 years… but we don’t have the energy to rebuild! 

But this is what we can learn from Ezra and Nehemiah.  You’ll remember that the people were divided.  They came into Jerusalem and realized it was a heap of rubble. The youth – the new-comers – celebrated at the opportunity to rebuild, while the elders – the lifers – wept at all that had been lost.  Perhaps that sounds familiar?  This division became a barrier to moving forward, because everyone was concerned with their own interests. 

But God’s solution was for people to see the bigger picture, to see themselves as one family, one body, where the stronger support the weaker, where one shares memories to encourage the other, and where all realize that they need the other: that, in spite of the disagreements or weakness or sadness or pain, they are better together than they could ever be on their own.

And finally, once they are united, we see what I believe is a biblical pattern for moving forward through the pain and trauma and change.

1. Do what you can do.

When Nehemiah set out to rebuild the walls, he ordered everyone to start carrying stones.  But what did he quickly realize?  Not everyone is called to do the same work.

Some were energized, strong, tired of being idle, and finding themselves in trouble because they didn’t have enough to do.  They needed to get to work.

But, through no fault of their own, others weren’t able to carry stones.  They were anxious, as rumors of wars circled around them; they were weakened by years of exile and division.  They became the defenders of the community. 

Now, what sort of defenders do we need in our rebuilding?  We need those who watch out for us, ensuring we’re taking care of ourselves.  We need those who can offer a word of encouragement, or just put on a pot of tea and share the sort of personal contact we all need to re-learn as we – Holy Trinity – are knit together for the future of all that God wants to accomplish through us in this city and beyond.

But that’s huge: like the people of Israel, in our own rebuilding, we need to learn that it’s ok for different people to be called to be involved in different ways, as long as we’re supporting one another, following where Jesus leads..  Some move bricks, some care for and watch out for those who are moving bricks; all together, God uses his people to rebuild their community.

2. Read the Bible.

I’m struck in today’s lesson just how seriously they take the word of God.  Before the exile God sent prophet after prophet, but no one cared.  At best they smiled and nodded, they said ‘I’m spiritual, not religious: I like to have my Baal statue and my Ashtoreth pole, since there’s many paths to God’.  It wasn’t until their society collapsed that God’s people realized that they weren’t taking him seriously.

As we rebuild and refocus our mission and ministry, our God-given task of evangelism and discipleship, we need to be serious about the Bible. 

Not to beat people over the head with it.  Certainly not.  But to submit ourselves to it. To acknowledge that it’s primary message is that I’m wrong, I need God, I can’t do it on my own, and that our one and only hope in life and death is that we are not alone but belong to God.  That’s our message.  And yes, that sort of dependence is utter foolishness to many in the world around us… until it isn’t.  Until it finally clicks, when their eyes are opened and they see how the last thing we really need is to be left to our own devices to continue down a path of our own choosing.  What we need is to trust in the one who keeps his promises, who can do more than we can ask or imagine when we put our trust in Him.

3. Tune out those seeking their own good.

This is a tough one.  Remember when Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls?  The governors of the surrounding nations sent him letter after letter, they would send messengers and drop by unannounced… to do what? 

To discourage.

Why were they set on discouraging God’s people?  Because they were profiting from the mess the world was in. 

This is a big one… and it’s a hard one. Part of trusting in God, in being serious about his Word, is learning to tune out those who are seeking their own good. This requires gentleness, wisdom, and a lot of discernment, so I say it cautiously, but scripture shows that even the best of us can find ourselves focusing on comfort and familiarity – what feels best for us – rather than the work set in front of us. We’re all at risk of that.

Nehemiah, it says, simply ignored the letters.  That’s easier said than done, isn’t it!

But part of the work of rebuilding means learning that, if something is really true and founded on God’s Word, we don’t need to justify it, or argue about it.  We can simply rely on that which is true, and let those discouraging voices wear themselves out. 

Again, this is where it’s important to have those defenders – those people in the family of the church who are encouraging and supporting and making a cup of tea for those who need it!

4. Be Doers of the Word

Finally, as we learn from the Letter of James, we need to be doers of the word, not just hearers.  The work of rebuilding our church for the generations to come, refocusing our mission and ministry to reach those who are not yet in the room means that we hear God’s Word and then do it.

We hear our need of repentance, so we repent.

We hear our own need for forgiveness, so we offer it to others, lavishly and with patience, again and again, 70 times 7 times if that’s what it takes.

We hear the message – not that we’ve got it all together, but that we need to bind the broken, to build up those who feel beat down, and to call the world into a relationship with God and ourselves, so that all the nations can be blessed through us.  So we do it. 

For some of us, that means getting serious about the calling that God has on your life for ministry.  For most of us, that means being serious about #1 – doing what you can do.  If you can’t do the heavy lifting of rebuilding and refocusing the ministry of the church to those who are outside, encourage those who can.  If the only load you can carry right now is to boil the kettle, pick up the phone, and invite someone over for a chat, do what you can do.  You never know, the person who looks busiest might really be longing for that invitation, and in need of some friendship and support themselves!

Be Part of What God is doing!

If we look at the mission of the church in our day, we’ll agree: we’re entering a time of rebuilding.

Yes, we need to acknowledge all that has changed, all that’s been lost: the glory and pride and full pews and full Sunday School and full list of able-bodied volunteers of former years, the friends lost, the constant feeling of two-steps forward and one step back. We need to acknowledge that, but we also need to push back against lowering the bar of what is healthy, what is good, not to place demands on others, but to work together to rebuild a community that is supportive for us all, from the ground up.

God will build his Church. 

For we know he keeps his promises.  With him all things are possible, and if we trust him, he’ll accomplish in us, weak as we are, far more than we can ask or imagine. 
To God be the glory now and forevermore.  Amen.

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Baptized into One Family, to the Ends of the Earth

January 11, 2026 — Leave a comment

A sermon preached at St. David of Wales Episcopal Church, Denton, TX on the commemoration of the Baptism of Christ.

Let me begin by saying what an honour it is to be with you this morning. I bring you greetings from the Diocese of The Arctic, your brothers and sisters in Christ spread out over 1.5 million square miles, 49 isolated communities mostly along the coast and among the islands of the Arctic ocean. 

To give you a little bit of context – 2 years ago, my wife and our kids went south to Alaska for our vacation. That’s right, we’re the diocese of the Anglican Communion that is north of Alaska.

And as you might imagine, it is a beautiful and challenging and exciting and breathtaking place to be sent on mission for the Lord.

Jesus said to go to the ends of the earth, bringing that Gospel message – bringing that message that we heard this morning from the prophet Isaiah, of our merciful Lord who won’t quench a dimly burning wick; instead, as eyes are open and light goes forth, the Gospel message is one that sees dimly burning wicks fanned into flame; the Word of God going forth giving life and bringing growth – whether that’s thousands of miles away in the newly re-opened church in Resolute, an Inuit village just 500 miles south of the North Pole, or right here in Denton, as people grow as disciples week by week and the church grows, to God’s glory.

As I said, that work is beautiful – and challenging.
Our diocese brings together many cultures – the Inuit in the East, with 3 distinct dialects of their Inuktitut language; the Inuvialuit who speak Innuinnaqtun, and in the west, Gwich’in, Slavey, and Cree.

Very different worship styles, very different traditions and customs – and much to learn and explore together: after all, the Inuktitut Bible was only completed in 2012, so we are still in the first generation of folks who have God’s Word in their hand to study and read, and not have to rely on just the oral versions; still today the Inuinnaqtun language only has the Psalms and Gospels published, though the rest of the New Testament and now several Old Testament books have been made available online for those with access.

But that’s the Christian vision of eternity, isn’t it: every language, people, tribe, and nation, united around the throne of the Lamb, united in wonder, love, and praise for what God has done.

And, as I like to remind people, that vision is not just something to look forward to in the age to come.

No, if we have eyes to see it, if we – by grace – can open our spiritual eyes to see that this table is no ordinary table, but that it unites all the faithful in the same words of Christ, in the same sacrament of His body and blood received across time and space, then perhaps our eyes and hearts can be opened to realize that we don’t just gather as the faithful at St. David’s, or with fellow Episcopalians; but when we gather, I challenge you as I challenge everyone to remember that you are gathering with all of the faithful, in every age but also in every place, in every language, in every culture, whether that’s around a simple table under a mango tree in the heat of Madagascar, or whether it’s a dozen of the faithful in parkas and mukluks receiving from the reserved sacrament in a small wooden church in Grise Fiord.

It’s an incredible vision, isn’t it?

Every language, people, tribe, and nation, joined together in Christ – incredible!

But what makes it all possible? 
How does it work?   

Well, perhaps not surprisingly on this Baptism of Christ Sunday, this unity that we work towards in this life and will experience in the age to come is all rooted in Christian baptism, the entrance rite to the family of God, the act by which we – whoever we are – are adopted as younger brothers and sisters of Christ, as those who have been given the invitation and the right to call God “Our Father” and mean it, as those learning to take up that identity as those with responsibilities in the Kingdom of God.

And all of that, of course, is rooted in the Baptism of Christ himself, as we read and remember today.

And if there are 2 things you’re going to remember about the baptism of Christ and the baptism that we share across time and as people united from east to west and south to north, it’s these 2 words: identity, and revelation.

Identity and revelation.

That’s what Christ’s baptism – and that’s what our baptism – is all about.

You know, some people find it strange that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the sinless one, the Messiah, had to be baptized. He wasn’t baptized as a sign of his own repentance, and certainly He didn’t need to be adopted as God’s Son – after all, He’s the Word of God from the beginning, the one through whom all things were made, the Incarnate Son of God, born as a baby in Bethlehem and growing in wisdom and stature and in favour with man.

So, why was Jesus baptized?

That’s why we must remember those two key words about baptism: identity, and revelation.

In His baptism, in that moment of the sinless one undergoing an act of repentance at the beginning of his public ministry, at the beginning of that 3-year journey to the Cross, that is where Jesus identifies with us.

In submitting to the waters of rebirth, in humbling himself to receive the baptism of John – who knows his own need for a saviour and wasn’t in favour of this plan, you’ll remember – it’s in that action, that moment, that Christ takes on that identity as one of us; no longer just sharing our flesh, but entering into our human need for repentance, joining with us in the waters of baptism but from the other side of the equation, as the Lamb of God who will bear all of the sins that those waters wash away.

In His baptism, Jesus identifies with us; and in turn, as we go out to earth’s remotest ends to bring that message of hope and healing and purpose and new life, likewise, it’s in the waters of baptism that we – each of us – receive our own identity. Not one of our own making, not one that erases culture or heritage or those other God-given things that make us who we are, but a new identity that transcends all of that, uniting us as those who have been adopted into the family of God.

It’s identity… and it’s revelation.

You see, Church, baptism is never an end in itself. As we see in the life of Christ, baptism is just the beginning – at His baptism, Jesus is revealed as the beloved Son of God, as the one who is well-pleasing to the Father, and who will bring us to share as that family around the throne.

But just as Christ’s identification with us brought about a revelation, so too, the identity that unites us as baptized followers of Jesus is also meant to bring about a revelation.

Baptism is not an end in itself – no, baptism  leads us to take up our place in the Great Commission, that unending work of knowing Christ and making Him known.

And that’s something that we are all called to share in; whether that’s acts of service to neighbours in need; whether it’s simply and in your own words sharing the hope you’ve found in Christ with a friend who is at the end of their rope; whether that’s going south or north on a mission trip to teach that faith to children and help maintain mission church buildings; whether that’s offering faithfully of your abundance to support missionaries in the remote places; or whether it’s simply being aware and informed, staying up-to-date with those of your brothers and sisters doing ministry around the world, so that you can more fully join with us in our prayers; knowing, really knowing that each of us baptized Christians who share that identity in Christ, also share in that work of bringing light to the nations, bringing freedom to those in bondage, and opening the eyes of those whose eyes are clouded by the darkness they see in the world.

May Almighty God give us his grace, as all the baptized, to grow into that identity as brothers and sisters, united in the purpose of revelation: knowing Christ, and making Him known, even to the ends of the earth.

To God be the Glory, now and forevermore. Amen.  

Part of the Family! A New Life and a New Identity in the New Covenant.

October 19, 2025 — Leave a comment

A sermon for Baptism, Confirmation, and the Renewal of Baptismal Vows

We are gathered here today to see a truly extraordinary thing.

We’re here today to watch the unfolding of a plan that God set in motion from before the foundation of the world.

Today two families, with their supporters, are going to enter into a covenant with God, they’re going to say “yes” to raising their child to know and love the Lord, so that child knows they have a Heavenly Father.  That’s extraordinary.

Today a young man and a young woman are going to stand before God and before you, and they’re going to say “yes”, we accept the vows that were made at our baptism, yes, I know I need God’s help and I want to live as a member of God’s family.  That’s extraordinary.

And today, one of your sisters, Helen, will stand before God and before you, and, having gone through the ups and downs of life, and having come to better understand what it means to trust in God, she will re-affirm her vows, and ask for the strengthening of the gift of God’s Holy Spirit as she lives them out.  Extraordinary!

This is big stuff.  This is not just life-changing stuff, this is the sort of stuff that changes eternity, making the decision to accept and live out the promises of God – and more than that – admitting that none of us can do it on our own, baptism and confirmation is us saying to God “yes, I need your help. I can’t do it on my own, I can’t save myself, I can’t work hard enough or do enough good to fix the world around me: I need to accept God’s offer to adopt me as His own.”

Did you hear that? 
It’s extraordinary – it might even sound crazy! – to suggest that God would want to adopt me and you as members of His family, to really be Our Father.

But that’s what you’re going to witness today. 

And it sounds crazy… but it’s something that God promises long ago in ages past.

God’s Design for Relationship with Him

You see, from the very beginning, God intended for us to live with him.
Not just to know He’s there – but to really live with Him.

Not as enemies, not as acquaintances, not as neighbours going through life, God minding His business and us minding ours. No, God intended for us to live with Him as children, in peace with each other, in peace with God and with all of creation.

But, as much as we might wish there was another way, God knew that true love can’t be forced.  From the beginning, God didn’t force people to love Him.

No, true love, that offer to live as members of the family of God, is offered.
But it can be accepted, or it can be rejected.

And I’m sure all of us know what happened next – and even if we’re not familiar with the Bible, we can see the effects of what happened rippling out across all of time and space.  God offered that love to all of humanity, but it was rejected.

We wanted to trust our own way instead of trusting the one who made it all.
And God, as much as it made Him grieve, respected that choice. And, no matter your age, no matter your experience, if you’re honest, I’m sure you’ll agree that – while there is good in the world – we aren’t up to the task of being our own Lord.  Me, and you, we are powerless to save ourselves or fix the world around us. We need God’s help.

But, the good news is that God knows that. And, from the beginning, He didn’t leave us on our own. His plan from the start was to send His Son to crush the serpent’s head, to win victory over the devil and his lies.  His plan – and it’s the extraordinary thing that we are about to witness today – was just as we heard read from Jeremiah chapter 31 – He would give a New Covenant – He would make an agreement with ordinary people like you and me, that we could be His… and He – God – could be ours. That we could say “Our Father” and truly mean it.  God said “I will put my law – my ways – within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”. 

That’s incredible! 

And He means it!  For those who accept God’s plan, who trust in Jesus as their Saviour and become part of the new covenant in his blood offered on the cross, you can really run to God – yes, the Almighty Creator of everything that is – you can run to Him, cry out to Him, “my God, my God”, help me my father – and it’s true, because He says that’s how it is. 

God is willing and wanting to adopt any person into His family… all it takes is admitting that He is God and we are not.  That our ways, our trying, our striving, our attempts at doing good, can never actually save ourselves. It’s admitting, like we are doing here today, that “yes, God, I need your help.”

What’s New About this New Covenant?

This is the “new covenant” that God promised long ago, and which came in the fullness of time when Jesus, God’s only Son, stepped into our place and did what we could never do for ourselves.

So what is this covenant, what’s “new” about it?

Well, look at what we read from Jeremiah.  Look there towards the bottom of that reading, verses 32 to 34. 

In this promised new covenant, who does the work?

(wait)  Is it something that we need to sort out?  Something where we need to get ourselves clean enough, fix ourselves up, figure it out for ourselves?

No!  “I”, says God.  God, as a loving, caring, providing, merciful father – far beyond even the best human father you could imagine – does the work. He reaches out. He says “I will do it”. 

And just like marriage vows create a new family, the vows of this covenant create a new identity… if you’ll accept it.  God says “I will do it”.  God says, you will be my child, and I will be your father.  That means – if you accept it – you, yes, you, with all your doubts and fears and hurts and struggles, and the two steps forward and one step back that we all have as we go through life, you are granted access to the throneroom of the Almighty God who created heaven and earth. 
…because you’re a child of the King.

You – yes, you – are given the right to speak directly, to cry out directly to Almighty God in prayer, because, yes – even though He’s the all-powerful creator of the universe, far above our ways and worthy to be feared, even though that’s true, He loves you, He wants to adopt you as His child.  Yeah, he’s running the universe, but it’s never an interruption when you cry out to him, because you’re a follower of Jesus His Son, and you’ve accepted the offer for God to look at you in Christ, rather than look at you based on your works or what you have done.

And this covenant has benefits – because of the relationship we can have with God, because that relationship has been made right by God, God’s own spirit, the Holy Spirit, our helper and guide, offers to move in – as the Bible says, He comes to take our hard hearts of stone and turn them into real, proper, living, beating hearts – He comes to give us life, renovating us from the inside out.

You see, this thing you’re about to do, this thing you’re about to witness…
It really is extraordinary!

God will do it! …But He won’t force it.

But remember – love can’t be forced.  Family can’t be forced.

God offers for us to live as His children of the new covenant, but it can be accepted or rejected.

I have a question for those of you who have been following and trusting in Jesus for a while.  Just a simple yes or no, but, if you’re a follower of Jesus, answer out loud so that those making promises today know what to expect.

Question – after you decide to follow Jesus, is it always easy to live as a child of God?

No!  It isn’t.

Ok, question – does accepting God’s offer, and deciding to follow Jesus, mean that all your problems instantly go away, and life will always be sunshine and lollypops from now on? 

No! Not at all.

The effects of the world, the flesh, and the devil rejecting God’s will still echo and ripple out through all of creation, and your own flesh and blood will struggle with it all through this earthly life.

But, last question – For those who follow Jesus, for those who put their trust in God, who say “yes” to his will and his plan, who depend on him as Lord, and Saviour, and Father… is it worth it, even through the ups and downs?

Yes.  To who else could we go, who else could we trust in, if not the one who made it all?

So my friends, it means you have a choice to make.  God offers a new way to live under this new covenant – He offers a new identity, adopted into his family, a God-given renovation of your heart and mind. But it isn’t forced.

Paul’s Letter to Timothy gives us a good reminder of what it takes to live this out.

Three “P”s.  Proclaim, Be Persistent, Have Patience.

We need to proclaim the good news to others, but first, we need to proclaim it again and again to ourselves.  Read God’s Word, get to know it, get used to hearing His voice, so that when life gets you down, you can hear the promises of God.

Be persistent in the good times and the bad.  There’s going to be ups and downs, but be persistent – God will complete the good work he has begun in you, and He is the only one who can work all things together for the good of those who love him.

And have patience. The Christian life isn’t easy, but it is good.  It can take a while for Jesus’ way, truth, and life, to really settle in and renovate our way of thinking and being.

See, my friends, we’re about to do something extraordinary.

You guys being confirmed and re-affirming your vows, you’re accepting something extraordinary.
Parents, you’re doing something extraordinary. 

Today, you are saying Yes to God’s plan, Yes to being a child of God.

May God give us the strength to live together as that family, proclaiming and persevering with patience, and all to God’s glory, now and forevermore.

Love God and Neighbour – Are you a “why” person, or a “how” person?

July 13, 2025 — Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37


May only the Truth be spoken, and may only the Truth be heard,
in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I have a question for you this morning.
Are you a why person, or are you a how person?
What’s your mind’s go-to response?  Why? or How?

Our lessons today deal with the law of God – the wonderful, life-giving, freedom-filled gift which is God’s law. Not a burdensome set of rules, nor is it something that should fill us with fear because of our natural and universal inability to fulfil it without a lot of God’s help; but a gift.  As we read in Deuteronomy, it’s in living into and living out the Lord’s vision for how we should live that we will find true blessing, true prosperity, the lasting inner peace that can carry us – together – through the ups and downs of life.

And Jesus sums it all up for us in a way that I’m sure many of us have committed to memory.  

Hear what the Lord Jesus Christ says: (say it with me!) you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

If you haven’t committed that one to memory, take it home.  It’s on the front page of your bulletin.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And Love your neighbor as yourself.

What does it mean to live a Christian life?  Love the Lord your God…
What does it look like to follow Christ? Love the Lord your God…
How should we live if we want to see the Lord’s blessing?  Love the Lord your God…

It’s all pretty straight-forward, right?
Look again at Deuteronomy: God, through Moses, suggests that this is all rather easy!  The Law is not far away, hidden in heaven or buried in the depths that we need someone to bring it to us.  The Law, God says, is not too hard for you.  In fact, it’s very near, it’s in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

Easy, right?

(…well, lets just say I won’t ask for a show of hands for those who think they’ve succeeded!)

But I will say this: the Law is easy, in as much as it is easy to understand. 
When God says something, He means it.  He doesn’t throw words around lightly.

When He says “all”, it’s simple enough to understand – He really does mean all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  Hold nothing back.  Go all in.

And when He says “to love your neighbour”, again it’s simple enough – there’s no bones about it, no beating around the bush: the word is agapeo, agape, that fullest, sacrificial definition of love, the love that prefers the other above the self, the love that is defined as a desire to see and bring about the well-being of another.   On the one hand, it’s that simple: love your neighbour, desire and seek to bring about what is best for him or her, all the way.

It’s Simple enough… until our minds get in the way!

“It’s in your mouth and it’s in your heart”, God says, “so that you can do it”.

But did you notice what God did not say?

The Law is in your mouth and in your heart… the issue, though, is that, for us sinful human beings, we like to follow our minds. 

And that’s not where God says the Law has been written, even for those who are redeemed, who are filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Law isn’t found in your rational mind. Yes, by grace, over a lifetime of sanctification, we pray along with Romans 12 that with God’s help we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind, or with Ephesians 4 to be made new in the attitude of our minds, or with Philippians 2, that we would come to have the mind of Christ in us as we learn to decrease our self-interests so that the Body of Christ may increase.

My brothers and sisters, we have to be aware of this: yes, the Law is to be found in your mouth, each and every ordinary Christian, sharing that Good and life-giving News, and yes, God’s law is written deep on each and every human heart… but be aware – your mind, my mind, won’t live out God’s law naturally.

So let me as you… are you a why person, or are you a how person?

When you hear the law of God, what is your first response?
Are you a why person?  No shame, I think all of us are “why” people by nature.

You hear someone like me say “God wants you to go all in”… and, the natural human response is to say “what?  Why would I do that?  I’m not a preacher. I put my money in the plate, I pray for my church family, I come out on Sundays, I read my Bible most days.  Surely that’s good enough, or it at least counts for something, right?

Why should I need to do more?  Why should I need to be made into more or “transformed” any more than I already am? I’m already doing so much more for the Lord than most people are, most can’t even be bothered to get out of bed on Sunday morning. …No, I can’t say that I love God with all my heart or all my mind, but come on, why should I need to?  And hey, while we’re at it, it’s not like you’re living a perfect life either… and on and on and on it goes.

Are you a “why” person? 

Are you one whose nature, whose natural reaction, is to hear the simple, straightforward, but all-encompassing law of God, and whose first reaction is to explain why it’s not asking anything more of you than what you’re already doing, or why that simple command might apply to someone else who is doing less than you, but you’re alright.

Or, perhaps you hear “love your neighbour as yourself” – and you hear a crazy preacher who went back and looked at the Greek in Luke and Matthew and at the Hebrew in the quote from Leviticus that Jesus was referencing, and who says, no, it doesn’t mean “care about your neighbour”, it actually means agape, that all-in, self-sacrificing, deeper-than-your-love-for-your-own-blood sort of love, and your mind’s first reaction is “that doesn’t make sense, why would I do that?”. 

I care for the poor, I give money and sometimes even volunteer for stuff.  I pray for the homeless and addicted, I even stick around for coffee hour after church for a bit of fellowship with other church people… but what does God want of me?  Seriously? To have agape, all-in, sacrificial love my neighbour who I don’t even really know, and who wouldn’t do the same for me, why would I do that?  I already do more than most people, why would I actually love some random person as myself. 

A ”why” person.  Like the lawyer in today’s Gospel, who says “yes Master, I hear you… but let’s define our terms so that I can tell you why I’m off the hook”.

Now let’s be clear – there’s no shame in admitting you’re a “why” person, if that’s where you’re at right now.  I will confess that I lived most of my Christian life as a why person, including the first 5 years of my ordained ministry.  Yes, the law was in my heart, yes, it was even in my mouth on a daily basis… but my mind did a very good job of comforting myself to justify why other people needed to grow, but I had probably come far enough when it comes to being “all in” with love for God and neighbour.

There’s no shame in admitting if that’s where you are.  And I say that precisely because admission and confession – giving up that denial – those are the first steps to continuing in that journey of who God is calling you to be: someone who really is all in.

Someone whose mind has been transformed from “why”… to “how”.

You see, a “why” person – and we’re all why people by sinful human nature – uses their mind to decide what is right for them, what is good enough for them, and sets about explaining why they’ve already grown and been transformed enough, why the dead simple, totally straightforward, but breathtakingly hard “all-in” language of God doesn’t mean what it says, or at least doesn’t call them to do any extra.

A ”why” person uses their mind to set their priorities.

What’s the alternative?

But, by grace, we can become “how” people. 
You see, a “how” person knows that their mind is not trustworthy for setting priorities.
A “how” person knows that the law is on their heart, but that the transformation and renewal of the mind is still very much a work in progress. 

A “how” person says: ‘ok Lord… you’re right, I haven’t gone all in.  How can I make that simple command more visible in my life?  What’s the next step?”

A “how” person says ‘Lord, it’s hard… I barely know my neighbours… in fact, there are people I worship with each week and I don’t even know their names, and this is a pretty small church!  And Lord, I don’t feel like I have much time or energy… but you say I need to love my neighbour as myself, and I don’t, so how I can I do that better?  What’s the next step?”

Our homework: some practical obedience!

Friends, put that to the test this week.  I will too.
Take your bulletin home, and each day, recite that summary of the law that Jesus gave us, found on the front of your bulletin. 

And catch yourself… because, like the lawyer in the Gospel, your mind will naturally go to why you’re not called to do more, why this isn’t asking anything of you.

But switch, consciously, intentionally, from “why” to “how”.  Each day, read it, and then pray: Lord, this is your command.  How do I make this more visible in my life?  What’s the next step?

That’s the sort of obedience to God’s Law that changes a life; that changes a church; that changes a community.

Because, when we offer something to God – especially when we offer it off the top and out of our poverty, rather than offering God what is left over, He takes it and blesses it and opens the windows of heaven to multiply it.

It’s like the person who tithes of their money before all else.  Anyone’s rational mind can explain why it makes more sense that you should pay your power bill and pay for the repairs on your car before you give money to the Lord… but anyone who has ever tithed knows that by trusting God and saying “Lord, show me how”, you end up with more than you could have asked for or imagined.

So go all in.  Ask God how that should look, for you to love Him first and fully, and to really have agape, sacrificial love for your neighbours – and, lets start that close to home, right here, with getting to know your church family better, taking someone out for coffee, inviting someone over for tea, meeting up for lunch – like tithing, you offer the time and energy in obedience off the top, and God will give it back multiplied.

This is the law of God.  It is amazingly simple. It is wonderfully straightforward.  But it is also breathtakingly difficult to put into practice.

Say it with me.  Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ says. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

Now… will you start to explain why… or will you ask God to show you how?

To God be the glory, now and forevermore.  Amen.

Not Just a Story: Living Holy Week from the Inside Out

April 13, 2025 — Leave a comment

Anyone who has known me for me than a year has certainly heard me say that this day, Palm Sunday, is my favourite liturgy of the entire Christian year.  If you’ve known me 2 years, you’ve certainly heard me say it twice… poor Kristina has known me 23 years, and has certainly heard it 23 times!

This is my favourite liturgy of the entire year for one reason: the drama.

It’s a service with a few extra parts, all of which go back to the earliest centuries of the undivided Christian church.  And, even when we go back and study those earliest Palm Sundays and Holy Weeks that we have recorded back in the 3rd and 4th century, it’s all dripping with drama – it’s full of emotion.  And this day in particular is supposed to hit you like a giant mood swing, like the irrational tantrum thrown by a toddler:  just a few minutes ago, you and I, part of the crowd, were joyfully singing “Hosanna!” which means “Save us!”.  We’re joyfully welcoming Jesus as Lord, shouting ‘you’re the Christ!  You’re the anointed Lord sent by God!  Save us and help us, we need you!”  It’s happy music, it’s the waving of palms and branches, it’s a victory parade down the aisle.

Hosanna!  Blessed is he!  Those were the words on your lips.

But then, moments later, what do you find yourself saying? 

You see, that’s the harsh, dramatic reality of this day.  It’s no accident that it’s you, and it’s me, it’s us, the same ones who proclaimed Him as Lord, now find ourselves shouting “crucify”.

This service, this holy week is dramatic.  But it’s not just a play for us to watch.

The drama is on purpose… and it’s for a purpose.

And it’s all about remembrance. 

But see, this is where we run into a problem, English-speakers in particular.  Because we don’t have enough words to accurately translate that Christian idea of remembrance.

You and I, we hear “remembrance” and we think of history, something long ago and far away that shouldn’t be forgotten.  We thing of happy things gone by, memories of something that used to be.

But that really isn’t an accurate translation of the idea of remembrance we find in scripture, the idea of re-membrance that Christ commands us to do “in re-membrance of me”, the idea where Paul instructs the church to re-member Christ’s sacrifice, proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes again.

We’re not talking what we would normally call “remembrance”.  We’re talking about re-membrance.

Re-member. To become a member once more.
Re-member. To join ourselves back together, like the limbs, the members of a body. 
Re-member. To enter into the action, bringing it forth into our own day.

You see, the Christian observance of Holy Week should never be an exercise in learning history.  When we hear – when we enter into – the scriptures and recount the events of Christ’s passion, we’re not just “remembering” or “recalling” something done long ago by some Jewish leaders or the Roman governor.

No, it’s that older Christian, and even older Jewish idea of re-membrance that goes back to the Passover, where God instructs and commands us to enter into the action, these life-changing, universe-changing, cosmic-level once-and-for-all events, that sure, on our time scale, happened “long ago and far away”, but were nonetheless done for us as they were done for all humanity, in every time and in every place, for every language, people, and nation, to be passed on and entered-into and made present once more every year, in every place, taught to each new generation, as we enter into and proclaim the live-giving, soul-saving, absolutely earth-shaking reality that Christ died as a sacrifice to save you.  Yes, you, the same one who, moments ago, with all humanity, flipped from shouts of praise to shouts of “crucify”, the same one who, is just as much a sinner in need of grace as any person in that crowd or the soldier driving the nails.

As Isaiah prophesied, yes, all we – yes, we – like sheep have gone astray.  We have turned – every one – to his own way. 

Yes, this day is dramatic. But the reality of the brokenness of the entire universe is nothing short of the ultimate divine drama.

Why we need this drama.

We enter into these events as we are led deeper and deeper into the reality of our participation in the death of God’s own son – yes, it was me, and it was you – who participated in the events of this week, and why?  Because it’s me and it’s you who, even all these years later, still need that once-and-for-all sacrifice to pay the wages of sin: death. 

We, like all humanity, have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.  We all die, and like the thief on the cross was able to admit, it’s harsh, but it’s right.  It’s just the way it has to be for fallen humanity.  We can’t offer a price for our own lives, because our lives are bound to death and sin and pride and greed… in fact, apart from Christ, left to our own devices, we’re totally enslaved to it, and the quicker we acknowledge that, the better.

We enter into these events to remind us, to lead us to re-member, to join ourselves once more to Christ, to God’s only Son, the one and only person who, because He was God in the flesh, wasn’t enslaved to sin, and could pay something far above and beyond what was owed, breaking the whole system of bondage, freeing all who trust in Him from the captivity of sin, as He tramples Satan under His feet and offers hope that bursts through the gate of the grave and the chains of death.

But it’s no good – no, in fact, it’s useless – if that’s a story, a faint memory, a tale of something that happened long ago and far away.

Our Place in the Story

Friends, in a few moments we will turn to the confession.  It’s the same one we say week in and week out.
But, like everything else in the liturgy, it’s on purpose, and it’s for a purpose.

We confess our sins each week because it’s central to who we are and what we do.  Each week, this week, last week, and yes, next week too, you and I will fall short of the glory of God. We will sin by thought, word, or deed, by things done or left undone, and we will continue to need a saviour.

But remember: complete, utter, and ongoing reliance on God is not a bug, it’s not a failure.  No, it’s a feature of how humanity was intended to be: completely, utterly, and forever reliant on God.

Like the thief on the cross next to Jesus, it’s time to admit that you need Jesus.  That you need to enter into this Holy Week, because, yes, in fact, you are a part of that crowd, just as I am.

You and I, we need, and it is our privilege, to re-member, to join ourselves up with those disciples who gathered on Thursday night to receive a new commandment, to have our feet washed by our servant King.  We need, and it is a part of our confession, to walk with Christ to the garden of gethsemane overnight on Thursday, where he told us to watch and pray, but we, like the disciples, find our eyelids heavy and our hearts distracted.  We need, and it is for us, that we follow Christ to the cross on Good Friday, that amazing, horrible, terrible, and wonderful cross, the one that you and I caused, and from which you and I eternally benefit, and it’s really only then, that we can truly share in and proclaim that unspeakable joy of Easter.

So my friends, embrace the drama – and block out your calendar – because this Holy Week is God’s gift to you.  It’s God’s invitation for you to enter into those events of long ago and far away, and to join yourself to them, so that you, as a follower of Jesus, can know Christ and make Him known, in every age, in every place… and for His glory, now and forevermore.  Amen.

God’s Opportunities and Possibilities: “Behold, I am doing a new thing!”

April 6, 2025 — Leave a comment

A sermon preached to those gathered in Inuvik to figure out together if God is calling them to launch an Anglican church in the community once again.

Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:7-16
Luke 20:9-19

May only the Truth be spoken, and may only the Truth be heard,
in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen

“Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

Those are some pretty awesome words that we heard from the prophet Isaiah this morning. 

Behold, I am doing a new thing, says the Lord.

There are so many ways that we can describe the work of God in the world. He’s the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth.  He’s all-knowing, He’s merciful, and loving, He’s righteous and will bring about justice. With God the Son who redeems us and God the Holy Spirit who trains and equips us, He truly is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

But part of the reality that I want to focus on this morning is this: God is not just the God of beginnings and ends.  He is God and He is present and calling us to Himself in each and every moment in between.

Or, in other words, in His mercy and goodness, our God is the God of possibilities and opportunities.

Possibilities and Opportunities

That’s what we see throughout scripture, isn’t it? 

Even when people get it wrong, even when people get worn down or worn out or distracted or bogged down in sin and the consequences of their actions, God still calls out, inviting us to repent and return. 

Our God, in His mercy, is the God of possibilities and opportunities.

Now, I would say we need to understand that rightly.  It’s never that God is waiting to find out from us what the possibilities might be.  No, not at all!

He is the same: yesterday, today, and forever (Amen?)

And it’s not as though His Word is up for debate: His Word endures forever, and He says it goes forth to all nations and will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He has purposed.  There’s a choice to be made about whether we will trust in Him, and there are consequences for that choice.

But – and here’s the important part that we need to remember – no matter what we’ve done before, no matter what worked before or didn’t work before, no matter where we had little victories or where we failed to follow through, this thing remains: as long as there is breath in our lungs, God calls to us, and invites us to change our minds, to repent, to trust in Him, and to see what He has in store. 

He’s full of opportunities.  He’s full of possibilities – because with Him all things are possible!

Let me tell you a little story.  I’ve had this church building – and this town of Inuvik – on my prayer list ever since this church closed.  For nearly two years we’ve had an ad online, looking for someone who feels called by God to come and help re-start this congregation.

Then, just a few weeks ago, I got a phone call from Neil, asking if the church could be opened.  That same day, I get a message from a woman in Ontario. She’s done a lot of mission work in the central Arctic, and was praying about moving North to help a church.  She was looking at the map of the Kivalliq region, and she said she heard God saying “look West”, so she scrolled the map on her phone and saw Inuvik.  She didn’t know anything about Inuvik, and typed something like ‘Inuvik church planting’ into Google and came across that ad.

Now, I do believe that God is full of opportunities… so right after talking to her, I booked a flight to come up here today to see what God is doing!

But remember, God isn’t just full of opportunities – He’s full of possibilities, too.

I wanted to have church here in this building. I was thinking it would be as easy as ordering some fuel for the fuel tank… forgetting that Inuvik uses gas, not heating fuel.  I spoke to Verna, and thought, ok, well, no big deal, the power is still on, so a few space heaters will warm the place up.

Then I get here on Friday evening… and the power had been shut off!

I prayed “Lord, now what?” 
The power corp offices were closed.  Turns out Ryan, here, knew a contact down in Hay River. By Saturday morning I had gotten in touch with one of the workers here at the power plant… he didn’t know what he could do, so I went on Messenger and asked all of my praying friends to pray!

Within a few minutes, I had a call from a sleepy-sounding manager from the Power Corp.  He asked about the church, asked if someone was willing to pay the outstanding debt on the power bill, and then said, ‘you know what?  I’m going to get dressed and walk down to the office, and I will turn the power back on by lunchtime’.  That was yesterday. 

God answers prayer… and we need to remember that, no matter what, even when we don’t know how something will get done, with God all things are possible.

An opportunity and a possibility for us today

My brothers and sisters in Christ, I truly believe that God is giving us an opportunity and a possibility here, for this community.

Inuvik needs Jesus. Like every community, it needs a Gospel-sharing, community-focused place where ordinary people can answer that call to turn around, to trust in Jesus as Lord, and to learn what it means to follow Him.

And we need to be honest about that.  Anglicans haven’t always been great in that regard, but like we read in Philippians today, we need to minister from a place of humility. Like St. Paul says, it’s not about “a righteousness of my own”.  Our only righteousness is that which comes from Christ.  We have nothing to boast about, except what the Lord has done in us. 

What every town needs is a church where people gather as sinners saved by grace, and in daily need of the mercy of God.  Like St. Paul says, it’s “not that I have already attained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own”. 

Friends, Inuvik needs a church that can truly be a place where all sinners are welcomed, as we learn together what it means to follow Christ.  After all, the Church is supposed to be a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints!

What’s the vision? We need to pray!

He’s the God of opportunities and possibilities.

I truly believe that God wants to see this building opened… and not just on Sundays, and not just for funerals and weddings. 

We need to dream much bigger: we’re talking rivers of living water in the desert, a refuge for hurting and hungry people to come in and receive what the Lord has to offer.

Not just “re-opening” the church as it used to be.  Not that it was bad, but there were so many people who weren’t reached.  We need to reach our children and grandchildren. The people in this region used to be so strong in the Faith. There are entire generations who are searching and many are lost, and God is calling out to them, and – right now – He’s giving us the opportunity to be part of the revival that I truly believe He has in store for the North.

We really do need a new thing.  Founded on His unchanging word, and offering His unchanging mercy, “forgetting what lies behind”, but focusing and working towards whatever God has in store up ahead”.

Friends, on behalf of the Diocese, I’m inviting you to pray.

Pray about if you’re called to be part of a new Anglican church in Inuvik.  A church that calls everyone in, offering new life.

A church that focuses on discipleship, where praise on Sunday is important, but just as important is the need for every person to be a disciple, learning to be more like Jesus.

A church that is a place of recovery and healing, as sinners saved by grace.

A church that isn’t envious of churches in the south with their fancy bands and music, but that is true to the unique culture and traditions of the people who call Inuvik home.  A church where everyone can offer their gifts, and together, we can pray and praise in the languages of our hearts.

A church that trusts that the God of infinite opportunities and possibilities will make a way – especially with this great inheritance of a building: Not to close half of it off, but I’d say to open it all the way, trusting that God will provide, and maybe in a new and exciting way, who knows, maybe as a café or a drop-in centre or a day care… I don’t know what’s needed, but I can guarantee that God has a big idea if we’re willing to pray about it.

Friends, you don’t know me, but you can tell I’m excited!  God will do a new thing. Even today, he’s offering life and hope and freedom and forgiveness to our family, friends, and neighbours who are lost and searching.

So… will you join me in prayer, not just today, but in the days ahead, about if you’re called to be a part of that?  Let’s pray.

Blessed to be a Blessing!

February 16, 2025 — Leave a comment

A sermon preached at All Saints’ Church in Aklavik, NT
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Luke 6:17-26

May only the truth be spoken, and may only the truth be heard: in the Name of God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The lessons this morning really have a whole lot to say about God’s blessings. 

In First Corinthians we hear about the truly remarkable blessing that we, ordinary people, sinners saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, get to share in his resurrection – a huge and incredible blessing.  In our Old Testament lessons we hear twice about those whom God has blessed being like a tree planted by the water; and not just any tree, we’re thinking one of those big fruit trees like they have down where they don’t get any snow: big branches reaching out over a river, big green leaves and plenty of fruit growing on it, never needing to worry if someone is going to come with the garden hose and water it, because God has provided all that it needs. 

And then, in today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about God blessing all sorts of people.  God pours out his blessing on all sorts of people that, if we looked at their situation, we would say didn’t look very blessed: the poor, the hungry, those who weep, those who are hated or who are rejected by their family and friends because of their faith.  But God blesses them, and that blessing turns their situation around: the poor have what they need, the hungry are filled, those who cried in the night found joy in the morning, and those who were hated and rejected found their place in the family of God.

God is good!  Sometimes He’s so good that we have a hard time recognizing just how much His desire and His will is to pour out His blessing on His children.

And I must say, as I’ve been here this weekend, with the daytime talks and the evening services, I’ve heard and have even seen for myself how much we here have been blessed. 

Right here, in the lives in this room, there has been so much blessing, hasn’t there?

Even though the world is broken – it’s messy and hard and not as God intended it to be – still, even in the midst of that, God has blessed us.  People, even your brothers and sisters here in the family of God, have experienced healing, have experienced freedom from worry and pride and addiction, have experienced God’s miraculous way of providing what is needed.  Even as we go through the ups and downs of life, so many have experienced the unexpected gift of God’s joy to face hardships. 

Friday night we sang “count your blessings”, and we should!  Because He has blessed us.

And, it’s also right, as we saw in today’s Gospel, that we should desire that blessing for others, and for our community.  In the gospel today, a huge crowd had started following Jesus, coming on foot from across great distances to hear His teaching and experience His blessing.  And how did Jesus respond?  He blessed them!  As we read just a few minutes ago, people were being healed, having their burdens taken away as they encountered the power of God in the flesh.

God is so good!  We’ve all been blessed, and it’s His desire to bless us.

What’s the purpose of God’s blessing?

But, there’s a big question I want to ask today. 

I think we’ll all agree that, at least in some ways, God has blessed us.

But here’s the big one: what is the purpose of God’s blessing?

What is the purpose, or in other words, why does God bless us?

It’s a good question, and it’s one worth looking at.  Certainly, I’d say it’s a question that some people get wrong.  There are some on TV who preach a twisted message, saying that God blesses us so that we can get rich. That sounds nice, I guess, especially if you’d like to have money to buy a new truck or to go down south for a vacation, but is that actually what the Bible teaches?  Or, ask it this way, does it even make sense for God’s purpose, his ultimate desire, to be for us to be rich, when in today’s Gospel – like elsewhere – He warns about how hard it is for a wealthy person to please God?  And, as we all know, money is just worldly stuff: you can’t take it with you!  There’s a reason you never see a U-Haul truck full of stuff following the casket to the cemetery.

So, let’s ask that question.  What is the purpose of God’s blessing.  Why does He bless us.

“Like trees planted by the water”

I think there’s a whole lot we can learn if we look at that description of a blessed person that is given in Jeremiah 17, and in Psalm 1.  In both places we are given the same image: The one who is blessed is like a tree, planted by a river, with deep roots running out to the water source, so it never needs to worry in times of drought.

It’s a nice image, but what does that mean? 
What does it mean for God to say that you or I are like a tree?

Let’s just stop and think about that for a minute.

Think about any tree, or even a nice big berry bush out on the land, since we don’t have the big fruit trees like they have where Jesus lived.

And let’s ask the question: What is it’s purpose? Why is it there?

Bear with me, it might seem a little silly, but seriously: why is that tree there?

Is it there for its own sake?  How did it get there? 
God created the tree, brought its ancestors into being back when he created the world.  And sooner or later, when the time was right, the seed was brought to where it ended up, maybe by the wind, maybe by an animal, maybe washing down the river during the high water in spring. 

One way or another, it ended up where it is, and the sun shined on it, and it got the water it needed.  To think about what St. Paul says, we could say “one planted, and another watered”.  But how did it get there?  It was God who gave the growth.

What’s the tree’s purpose?  It’s a blessed part of God’s creation, and it’s primary purpose is, first and foremost, to reflect God’s goodness and glory.  Have you ever thought of it that way?  God created and it was good, He created out of love, and took delight in it.  He didn’t create the world so that He could walk away from it for us to figure things out on our own; He created so that we could share life with Him and rejoice in His provision.

And scriptures says that the one who is blessed is like that tree.

Sometimes, honestly, it might be easier to actually be a tree, don’t you think?  A tree never needs to worry about life in this messy world.  A tree never gets tricked into thinking that it’s self-reliant or that it exists for itself.  A tree knows, full well, that it is fully reliant on what God provides: the water on the roots, the nutrients in the soil, the sun from above.  All it can do is rejoice in that blessing, rely on that blessing.

How does a tree use it’s blessing?

But here’s the big thing: if the blessed are like a tree, it’s not enough to just rely on God’s provision.  Because, all throughout scripture we are reminded that trees actually has a purpose.  The tree is blessed to be a blessing! 

That tree by the waters, with green leaves in time of drought: what do you think happens on a hot day?  That tree is blessed to become a place of shade for those who need to rest and come away from the scorching heat of the day.  Or, I grew up in Newfoundland, and when I was young my dad would take me into the woods with him, and if you’ve ever been out on the land in winter and had the cold, damp wind come up with blowing snow, you know the relief that comes from finding trees to break that wind, to give that relief.

Back to the scriptures, what does the Bible have to say about trees?  They bear fruit!  The trees are blessed to be a blessing.  Yes, Jesus says the hungry will be filled, but one way that happens is when trees bear their fruit, giving food for the hungry.  In the Gospels, when Jesus even speaks about faith growing from a mustard seed, He talks about when that springs up, that blessed tree becomes a place for birds to build their nests and raise their young.

Think about it: Scripture says the one who is blessed is like a tree planted by the water.  But trees are never blessed for their own sake: they exist to reflect the glory of God, and to be a blessing to others.

We are blessed to be a blessing.

So, my friends, we have been blessed.  But what’s the purpose of that blessing?

Think about Jesus’ words today in Luke 7.  It’s never about what we get.

Jesus said blessed are the hungry, for they will be filled.  But it’s not about being filled… because he goes on to say “cursed are those who are full now!”.  He says blessed are those who are poor for they will be rich, but he goes on to say “cursed are those who are rich!”. 

You see, it’s never about getting God’s blessing to store it up for ourselves. 

God blesses us, so that we can be a blessing.  Then, when we fulfil that God-given purpose of reflecting and proclaiming His glory, of telling others how we’ve been blessed, guess what happens?  It’s like the person in the burning heat looking for shade, or the person in the storm looking for shelter: our blessing becomes a blessing to them!

In sharing God’s blessing to us, we bless others, and in blessing others, we are blessed. It’s a wonderful cycle, but unlike so many things in this broken world where we spiral down and down and down, God’s blessing builds us up, and never alone, but always building us up together as a church, as a family, as a community who reflects God’s glory.

How will God use us to bless others?

So let me ask: who here has ever received a blessing from God?

Now, ask yourself, what is the purpose of that blessing? 
Friends, you were blessed to be a blessing.

So now, let me ask you this: who here wants to see God’s blessing pour out on our community, on our families, on our loved ones who are wandering like those who are thirsty or burning under the heat and stress of life in this messy world?

God knows that need, but here’s the surprising part: God wants you to be part of that blessing! 

The Holy Spirit, living inside of you – yes, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead! – is alive in you, and just as God is blessing you each day, building you up into a mighty oak of righteousness, a tree planted by the water, the Lord doesn’t want you to keep that shade and those fruits to yourself.

Blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord; who delights in the Word and the Ways of the Lord; who delights – rejoices – in what the Lord has done.

As we rejoice in God’s blessing, let’s allow God to use us to be a blessing to others, in Jesus name, for our families, for our community, and for a world that is hungry to hear the Good News that God sent us to share. 

To God be the glory, now and forevermore.  Amen.

What is Love?

December 24, 2023 — Leave a comment

May only the truth be spoken, and may only the truth be heard:
in the Name of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Today our Advent journey comes to an end, as we have lit this fourth candle morning, but will return in just a few hours to celebrate the Eve of Christmas, the first coming of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God-with-us.

We began our Advent journey talking about Hope, as Bishop Joey reminded us that Christian hope isn’t the world’s shallow, warm, fuzzy version of hope.  We were reminded that Christian hope isn’t about wishing for something better; it’s about standing firm in the assurance that – as we heard this morning – the Word of God will never fail; God will keep his promises.

The second week of Advent, we talked about Peace.  Whitney reminded us that Christian peace isn’t the world’s shallow, warm, fuzzy version of peace.  The world talks about peace in terms of being relaxed and filled, being free from care, as though peace is the opposite of busyness.  But, as we were reminded, that’s not what the Bible means by peace: when the Bible speaks of being at peace, it’s talking about choosing our side in preparation for when we shall see Jesus once again: are we at peace with God – on His side – or will we continue to be rebels against God, siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil?

Last week, the third Sunday of Advent, Bishop Joey preached about joy – specifically the place of joy in a Christian’s life.  Again – and you might be seeing a pattern by now! – the message was that Christian joy isn’t the shallow, warm, fuzzy “happiness” that the world talks about.  Nothing wrong with happiness, but it’s just a feeling, and feelings come and go, changing quicker than the wind.  No, Christian joy runs much deeper; it’s a joy that springs up deep within, from that assurance that our faith will be made sight, that, even when tempests and the powers of wickedness and the consequences of human action are swirling around us, we can count it all joy; we can rejoice in all things; we can say “it is well with my soul” – why? Because “in Christ alone my hope is found”.

That’s hope, peace, and joy… which brings us to what this morning?
Love.  Hope, Peace, Joy… Love.

So my friends, what is Love?

(Lift)

In some ways this one should be the easiest.  After all, love is the most common, most used, most “normal” concept out of all of these words. 

On the drive here this morning, I was treated to such wonderful love songs as “Santa, Baby” followed by “All I want for Christmas is you”.  Not much about certain hope, lasting peace, or that deep and abiding joy… but love is easy, we all understand love, right?

No.  The truth is we don’t.

You see, the problem with love is that we think we know what it’s all about. 
But, as any teacher or coach would tell you, the hardest things to really learn are the things we think we already know. 

So, what is Love?

Not so warm and fuzzy…

Now, on the one hand, even the most secular person will recognize St. Paul’s famous “love chapter”, even if they don’t know where it’s from.  You know the one – you can probably recite it with me: love is… patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…right, all of that. 

But want to know why I think even our secular world can cling to those couple of verses taken entirely out of context?

Because, read on their own, taken out of context, it’s just shallow “warm fuzzies”. 
“Oh yes, patience, kindness, no jealousy, no pride, wouldn’t it be nice, all you need is love.“

But that can’t be it.  We’ve seen the pattern.  The world always takes these deep concepts rooted in the heart of God and waters them down; makes them so shallow and sweet that the worldly versions of hope, peace, joy, and love go down easy, but conveniently never really call us to change.

Patience, kindness, all of that, yes that’s part of love.  But love isn’t a thing.  Love isn’t a concept.  Love isn’t a feeling or an emotion.  Love is an action to be lived out.

Kristina and I will spend our 22nd Christmas together.  I’ve loved Kristina since I was 14 years old.  But love is an action to be lived out, not a concept or feeling to reside in the mind or the heart.  That love we had at 15 or 16 years old was real, but it wouldn’t have gotten us through the challenges we faced at 20, or at 25, or at 35, or whatever the coming years will bring.

And, in fairness, many secular people would agree with that statement, that love is an action.

But here’s the part where the Bible flips its all on it’s head: just as hope isn’t about my wishful thinking, it’s about trust in who God is; just as peace isn’t about me feeling content and restful, it’s about giving up my rebellion against God and joining His side; just as joy isn’t about my happiness but rests in the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done; love isn’t about me… love is an action, but it isn’t my action.

True love is God’s action, springing forth eternally from the very heart of the Father.  Human love is only ever our response. 

Love is God’s action and human response.

The love a parent has for their child?  That doesn’t well up from within the torn and divided and scarred heart of a sinful parent raised in a weary and broken world. 
It can’t.  How can a parent love their child? 
Whether they know it or not, we love because (what does the Bible say?) He first loved us. (1 John 4:19).

Romans 13 and Galatians 5 both say that “love fulfils the law”.  When you or I make sacrifices and give of ourselves to truly love our neighbour and to truly count them as our equal – we’re not talking warm-fuzzies, we’re saying that our neighbour, or the stranger in need, or the person who will eventually benefit from that Salvation Army kettle has as much right to my money and my time and my possessions as I do, to truly love your neighbour as yourself; believe me, none of us can get there on our own, none of that can spring from the human heart.  “Love fulfils the law”, but it can only ever be God’s action, and our response.

Or if we look to that ultimate statement of love in scripture: the ultimate display of love, the ultimate sacrifice.  What does the Bible say?  Say it with me if you know it: “greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Could that self-sacrificial love ever spring up for the first time from a human heart? 
No, impossible.  Because – whether or not people know it – human love can only ever be a response to God’s action.  Whether or not people know it, the Lamb was slain from before the foundation of the world; as we heard in Romans this morning, this was God’s plan from the beginning, for all time, for all people to freely respond to that all-surpassing self-sacrificial love of God that is baked in to the very fabric of the universe, because we can only ever respond to the love that God has first shown us.

And, in all of that, as we end our Advent journey, what is love?

1 John 4:9-11: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  John says, This is love.  Yes, here’s a biblical definition of love, taken in context, full of action. John says, this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also must love one another.

This is love: God dwelling with people.

The love of God that we celebrate, the miracle of love that should fill our Christmas celebrations isn’t about a feeling or an emotion.  It’s about an action… God’s action, and it’s one that demands a response.

God, the Son of God, the very Light of the World stepped down into darkness for our sake; the glorious king of all heaven came humbly into the world he created, emptying himself of all but love, so that – though we could never deserve it – He would love us as Himself, He would live among us as equals, for our sake.

This is love: God dwelling with His people, stooping down, laying aside His glory, so that He could raise us up for His glory.

As we heard in the Old Testament this morning, God didn’t need a house; God didn’t need a temple.  Israel wanted a temple, and later we’ll find out they wanted a temple because it felt safer to try to keep God contained while they went their own way.  But God’s desire, from the beginning was to be with His people, setting up His tent in their neighbourhood, “tabernacling with them”, dwelling among us, as John 1 says. 

And God’s presence, God’s action of self-sacrificial love, totally transforms the ordinary when we respond.

That’s the truth of the Gospel: Mary’s an ordinary girl, given (by grace) a once-in-eternity opportunity; but God takes the action, stepping into our mess, laying aside His glory so that He can be “God-with-us”, Emmanuel.  And now the virgin womb of this ordinary Jewish girl has become, for 9 months, the very dwelling place of God.  An ordinary home in Nazareth becomes the dwelling place of God.  13 guys and their friends walking Galilee on a dusty road becomes the dwelling place of God. 

An ordinary meal – bread and wine – is transformed by this self-sacrificial love so that, in some way, by a holy mystery, it can become the dwelling place of God; and later this evening or tomorrow morning, your ordinary hands will form a little manger as you, too – by faith – become the dwelling place of God.

This is love: God dwelling with His people.

…but do you believe it?

Do you really believe, can you really accept, that the God of all creation, the One through whom all things were made really wants to be with you.  That God is willing to come and be with you in your mess; in your pain, in your grief, in your struggles, in your exhaustion; that God wants to be with you as you face the consequences of choices made, as your kids push you to the edge, as you and your spouse wrestle to figure out life together; as you make your way through a broken, hostile, and overwhelming world: can you accept that God, God Himself, wants to be with you in your mess? 

Can you accept that, if you were the only one, He would still leave His throne in heaven, give it all up, and lay down His life – for you.
You’re that precious.  You’re worth it.

That’s what we celebrate at Christmas.
This is no fairy tale; this is Gospel truth. 

…not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  That Jesus Christ came into the world to save people like you and me.

Love is God’s action that demands a human response. 

Will you receive him?

To God be the glory, now and forever more.  Amen.

Why did the Holy Spirit come?

May 28, 2023 — Leave a comment

Today we celebrate Pentecost, that ancient Jewish festival, 50 days after Passover, when the people of God celebrate that God keeps His promises, that His covenant is true, and that He does provide all that we need. 

And, as Christians, today we celebrate one very particular Feast of Pentecost, one that followed one very particular Passover.  50 days after Jesus – the true Lamb of God, that once true, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice was slain once and for all for the sin of the world, on that Great Passover we call Easter, we then had the Great Pentecost. 

Going back to the time of Moses, Passover was about salvation and Pentecost was about God’s faithfulness. And that’s still true today for all who put their faith in Jesus Christ: God does keep His promises; His covenant is true; and yes, God really does and will provide all that we need.

And how does He show that?  By sending God the Holy Spirit, not just to a select few, not just to the chosen and anointed king or the prophets like under the Old Covenant.  No, by doing just as he promised in Jeremiah 31, pouring out His Spirit on all who are willing to be His people, and allow Him to truly be their God.

This day, Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the beginning of the spread of the Gospel to all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations, is all about God keeping His promises, as God becomes present in the every believer by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is Essential

Belief in the Holy Spirit is essential to what it means to be a Christian.

…But, I think it’s also fair to say that, for many of us, we’re not sure who God the Holy Spirit is, or what He’s all about. 

We know there are spiritual gifts, we know sometimes there are great revivals when all the people in a place sense the Holy Spirit in their presence, we know some people pray in tongues or feel God’s special anointing as they pray to know God’s will; we also know some false teachers in the Church today try to lead people astray with clever-sounding lines like “the Spirit is doing a new thing”, as though God’s plan wasn’t established from before the foundation of the world..

…so many good sermons in there, but they are all sermons for another day.

Because the fundamental question that you and I need to be able to answer as apprentices and ambassadors of Christ is this: why did the Holy Spirit come?

So let me ask you – because you arethe witnesses that Christ Himself has called to go and bring the good news to your friends and your neighbour and that co-worker who really drives you nuts, because you’re the one with that calling on your life, right?  Amen?

So why did the Holy Spirit come? 
Do we ourselves know the story well enough that we can tell it to another?

Well, for those of us who need a refresher, the good news is that, scripture and the life of Jesus make the answers clear.

The Holy Spirit does many things in our lives, He gives gifts, He calls, He guides and directs, He strengthens, He rebukes, He comforts, He empowers, but each and every one of these can be summarized in this one simple truth: The Holy Spirit makes us truly alive in Jesus.

Not that the Holy Spirit makes us alive in the bodily sense – no, there are plenty of people who are living and breathing without the Holy Spirit, and all of us will breath our last as the wages of live in a sinful world are paid and we stand before the judgement seat.

But as we know from scripture, a person can be living and breathing, and yet they find themselves dead in their sin, powerless to earn forgiveness, powerless on their own to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. 

But, my friends, the message of Pentecost is this: the Holy Spirit makes us truly alive in Jesus.

Sometimes we need to think about “How”

Our church calendar is organized to help us recognize this fact: after all, Pentecost is an ancient Jewish feast, always on that 50th day after Passover.  That’s on purpose, because the sending of the Holy Spirit is directly connected to the events of Holy Week. 

Why did the Holy Spirit come?  To make us truly alive.
But how?  By applying the work of Christ on Good Friday and Easter to our lives today.  That’s how!

Have you thought about that before?  How does the work of one man on a cross two thousand years ago actually make a difference in your life here and now?  How does the victory of one man over the grave at Easter get applied to you and lead you to eternal life?

It’s a thing that many life-long Christians take for granted and never pause to think about, but if you start doing your God-given work of sharing your faith with your neighbours, you’ll find that it’s only logical that people want to know how. 

And the answer, of course, is Pentecost: that, after we call on Christ as Lord, the Holy Spirit comes into each of us who are willing, and when our body and soul become infused with the Holy Spirit of God, then we become truly alive.  That’s how we share in the risen life of Jesus.  That’s how it’s no longer about “me”, but “Christ in me”.

Let’s walk through that, shall we?

Let’s pretend your neighbour comes to your house.  They’ve been watching and wondering for years.  They know there’s something different about you, that you go to church, and you have a hope and a faith that sustains you through the hardest of times.  And unbeknownst to you, the Holy Spirit has been knocking on the door of their heart, and now here they are, knocking on your door (knock, knock, knock).  They come in, you pour up a cup of tea, and here they are, out of the blue asking you “you know, your faith seems so much more real than the religion I learned back in school.  I was going to go to church, but you know, I just can’t get past the cruelty of an innocent man dying such a horrendous death.  I just don’t get it”.

Now, if this were me, this is where my stomach flips and I wish I could hide away… because, you might not know this, but I’m actually incredibly shy and nervous about speaking to anyone about anything (yes, I’m the sort of guy who sits and stares at the phone for 15 minutes to get the courage to pick it up and dial a number).

But, also for me, this is when I’ve learned to feel – actually feel – the Holy Spirit.  This is when I physically feel a tingle on my neck, a tingle that tells me: ‘you have an opportunity.  Now, are you going to be faithful?’ 

It can happen to you, too, a tingle, or a feeling in your gut, where God is saying “will you be faithful”.

So, imagine with me, your friend is there, sitting at your table with a cup of tea, and they brought up faith all out of nowhere.  They’ve been thinking about Christianity, but like they said “I just don’t get it”.

Now, you have a choice, don’t you. 

Option A: You can say, yes, well, it’s all hard to understand, you should call the minister.  What do you think about that? (I wish I had a buzzer for the wrong answer sound)

Option B: You can say, “yes my dear, it’s hard to understand, but it’s all ok, just think positive and be true to yourself because all paths lead to God”.  (anyone got that buzzer?)

Or, Option C: You can, very simply, use the events of Jesus’ life, from Holy Week to Pentecost, to explain how it is that the events of long ago change lives from then until now.

It might go like this:

(and for me, this is when I feel that tingle again, a sort of ‘push in the right direction’ from the Holy Spirit within).

Start with Good Friday: The crucifixion was a terrible thing, and the world was a violent place, the Romans crucified tens of thousands of people.  But the reason Jesus had to die is so He could do what we could never do for ourselves. 

A guilty person can’t undo their guilt.  No amount of money or time or making amends can undo the guilt.  No human could make themselves right with God, it takes God coming and doing that for us.

Then look to Easter:  It’s only because Jesus was an innocent man and fully God that his death wasn’t a defeat, it was a victory!  Death wanted to hold him down, but he’s alive forevermore.  He gives us hope for life beyond the grave.  The Bible calls him the “second Adam”, meaning he gives humanity a fresh start, he shows us humanity as it was originally intended, thriving with abundant life, not weighed down by death and decay.

Then look to the Ascension: My faith is not just a spiritual thing.  Positive thinking only gets us so far, as do other religions, because we’re not just souls stuck in a body.  Our bodies are who we are, we are physical.  We can’t just escape into our minds.  I have hope because, as ridiculous as it sounds, Jesus returned to heaven with his risen body to prepare a place for me, and I don’t fully understand all of that, but I know God will restore all things and make them new, and that means there is life beyond the grave.

And then Pentecost holds it all together: But for here and now, as you know, life can be a mess.  My life hasn’t been all rosy, I’ve messed up, I’ve got struggles and habits I can’t break, and life gets me down: people are sick, and we’re tired and exhausted, and sometimes the world looks like it’s going to hell in a handbasket.  But, I just trust that God says I don’t need to fix it myself.  The whole point of Good Friday is that Jesus did what I can’t do for myself.  A little bandage or a few good deeds can’t fix what’s wrong with us, we need new life, a fresh start.  I don’t know how it all works, but what I do know is that my life changed when it stopped being about me, my trying to be strong, my hiding from things, my body dealing with sickness, my soul and mind trying to process what happened in my life, when it stopped being about me, me, me, and instead, when it started to be about “we”.  God, and me, and all the other people in my church family – what a crazy bunch, and some you’d never expect to be hanging around with in a million years! – but everything changed when it stopped being about me, and when I let God come in and make it about “we” instead.  When bad things happen, I know it’s out of my control, so I bring it to God and to my church family, and I know that if Jesus can overcome death and make all things new, then whatever the mess my life is, it’s no match for him. 

The Holy Spirit at work in you… even today!

And my friends, if this is you at your dining room table, and your friend knocked on your door and brought this up on their own, you have a choice. 

Did Jesus do on the cross what you could never do for yourself?

Have your sins been forgiven? 

Did Jesus conquer death and the grave and rise to eternal life?

Is Jesus gone to prepare a place for you?

Is the Holy Spirit at work in you, to make you fully alive,
to let you share in that new life of Jesus?

Well, my friends, the best way you can grow into that new life, and take it from me, is to take a deep breath, get over that fear or shyness, and when you have an opportunity, when you feel that tingle, when you experience that weird thing that you now know is the Holy Spirit pushing you… go for it! 

Don’t take option A and leave it to the minister.  Don’t take option B, denying your faith and following the ways of the world.  No, if God can conquer the grave and forgive your sin, and make all things new, don’t you think He can give you the words to say to your neighbour over a cup of tea?  Of course he can!  …God can, but will you let him?

True Glory in Humility

December 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

I speak to you in the name of God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
 Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.Spirit.  Amen.

Since the beginning, people have looked up at the night sky and marvelled.

From time immemorial, every culture, every race, every people, language, tribe, and nation has looked at the universe around them and have come to the conclusion that there is a great Creator behind it all;

they look at the stars in the heavens or the might of a river breaking up; they look at the invisible power of love and anger, of desire and revenge, and, across history, every people come to the evident conclusion that there are great forces at work, far beyond our comprehension or control.

And, as Christians, this should not surprise us.

As we prayed tonight, all of creation declares God’s glory.   The heavens proclaim the glory of God: though they use no speech and have no words, all of creation proclaims the fundamental, universal truth that God is great, that He is worthy of worship.

We Strive for Glory

But, human nature being what it is, it’s also true that, from the beginning, rather than acknowledge God’s greatness, every people, language, and nation have set out to harness it, to lay claim to it for themselves. 

Throughout history, we see the greatness of God declared in creation itself, we see the mighty power of God at work in the world, and rather than bow down in worship, we try to puff ourselves up.

We build towers to reach up to heaven.

We place altars on the high mountains of the world.

We build sacred circles beside the mighty waterfalls, hoping some of that power will rub off on us.

From the beginning, humanity has seen and experienced the greatness of God, and our response, all too often, has been the struggle to make ourselves look great, too.  We see God’s greatness, and behind so much of human history lies the statement: “look at me, God.  Look at the name I’ve made for myself, I’m great too.”

And that’s why Christmas is so very different.

I don’t know if you’ve stopped to think about it, but the message of Christmas is a total reversal of everything human history would have us expect.  This night, if we let it, and the this baby in a manger, if we let him, flips everything on its’ head.

Humanity looked up at the vastness of the night sky or the strong forces of nature, and, all too often, came to the conclusion that glory comes from might.  Glory comes from making a name for yourself, from not being dependent on anyone, from winning the affection of others, and looking out for #1.

…And then we face the reality of Christmas.

God is great, he fulfilled the longings of a nation and the words of countless prophets, but he didn’t come as a mighty warrior.

He didn’t come in a great show of power guaranteed to win our adoration.

No.  Christmas proclaims the glory of humility. 

The earth-shattering, mind-blowing proclamation of this night is that true glory doesn’t depend on the adoration of others or a tight grasp on power.  True glory – the Glory of God – is such that God Himself can become weak, helpless, defenseless, taking on the fullness of humility, without feeling threatened. 

The proclamation of this night is that glory isn’t earned, and certainly not by puffing yourself up to make yourself appear worthy. 

The message of Jesus is that, if you want to share in the glory of God, learn the way of humility.  And if you want to learn that way, Jesus says, “come and follow me.”

A Glorious Invitation

Now I know there are all sorts of reasons why each of you have come here tonight. 

Some are here as an act of worship that they’ve been preparing for over the 4 weeks of the Advent season.  Some are here because it is a link to an important family tradition and brings to life many dear memories.

Some of you aren’t sure why you’re here: you, like all of humanity before you, feel drawn to acknowledge that universal and self-evident truth that ‘there must be more than this’, but maybe you’re just starting to grapple with what that means.

And, then lets be honest, some of you were dragged here – chances are it was your wife or your mother who said “come on, we’re going”, and you knew better than to put up a fight.

But however or whyever you’re here, I want you to hear that completely unexpected, perhaps even ridiculous-sounding message of this night: true glory isn’t found in puffing yourself up, in being independent, in bearing your own load, in keeping your head down and minding your own business, in piling up a few good deeds along the way. 

No, as you, like those shepherds long ago, like our ancestors in every nation, look up and marvel at the wonder of Creation, maybe not yet knowing who God, the Creator is, hear the message of the babe in the manger: true glory is found in humility.

And in that, we see that familiar, life-changing first step of the gospel truth: to finally give up all our striving and struggling and pretending and mask-wearing, and to admit that we are powerless.  To admit that, even if I do my best, I can’t add a single breath to the span of my life, I can’t hold back the forces of nature, I can’t guarantee that my children will continue on the path that is right: to end the denial, and, as we see the great power of God revealed around us, to acknowledge our need for help.

God could have come as the rightful king, but he came helpless and homeless.  

True glory is not threatened by riches, and cuts through appearances. 

The angels appeared in the glittering sky and announced not to the rich, but to shepherds, that the Son of God had come, and more glorious still, that he wasn’t far off, but was in their very neighbourhood, ready to meet poor, ragged, weary guys like them.

Men, hear that message here tonight: glory is not found in independence, in keeping everything to yourself, in not letting anyone share your load, in trying not to be a bother while you try to find your own way.  No, the good news of Jesus is that glory is found in admitting the need for help, in learning to follow; in learning to be an apprentice of Jesus, the Master.

Ladies, hear the message of the prophet: you don’t need to be weighed down by darkness as you try to hold it all together; daughters trying to hold together broken generations, trying to keep the family together and keep up appearances, all while losing yourself in the process.  No, “on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned”.  Jesus comes to offer a light yoke and an easy burden, and peace that passes understanding, but nothing changes until something changes: it requires that first step, ending that denial, and turning to God for help.

Maybe you know why you’re here tonight. 

Or maybe you’re one of those, like those shepherds, and like every people, language, tribe, and nation in history, marvelling at the greatness of God and wondering where you fit.   

In either case, hear this: I bring you good news of great joy.  To you is born the saviour, the wonderful counsellor, the prince of peace.  But he’s not far off; he’s not far away.  You don’t need to build a tower or puff yourself up.  No, the great message of this night is that Christ the Lord will come and meet you where you are, that His power is made perfect in weakness, and that He offers for you to share in that glory…

…but only if we’re willing to admit that true glory comes through humility.

To God be the glory, now and forevermore.  Amen.