Judas economics

 Economics is at the top of our news cycle with the imposition of various tariffs and their effects from the Trumpian dream book. Much like Judas, this appears to be our most prevalent way of looking at what it means to have and to be part of the human race. It is in reality a question of outlook as the Gospel passage from John points out (Jn 12.3-8). The cost of the perfumed oil that was used by Mary and its usage. From Mary's point of view she has given what she can to the fullest possible extent. The oil, which had probably been saved up over a long time to be used sparingly, was poured with generosity over Christ's feet. Perhaps, like many of us Judas watching from the side lines has a different view: greater use could have been attained especially if the asset had been turned into cash rather than poured down the drain so to speak. This question is one that sits close to our hearts during Lent as it is a question that we need to wrestle with in applying it to not only material assets but to our spiritual wealth as well.

To reach out in compassion is the beginning of community and openness to the other

How are we to react when it comes to the use of the assets that we posses both personal and corporate? Is it for us to determine the expenditure? Are are we to follow Christ in our compassionate outpouring of all we have towards those who are in need? The Judas effect is the one that perhaps we adopt rather than that of Mary in the Gospel story. The asset is to be taken by ourselves and used for what we believe is to be the greater good. Christ says famously here that the 'poor are always with us' suggesting that there is little that we can do in the present time to alleviate something that is constantly there but rather to pour our wealth out in worship and acknowledgement of Christ or rather God. Yes, there is very little we can do to alleviate the poverty of the nations until such time as we can alleviate the poverty that is inherent within ourselves. Both ways have there faults built in. Judas was by no means an innocent in this conversation. It is inherent in the passage that Judas meant to utilise the money for himself not in the alleviation of the surrounding poverty both material and spiritual. We ourselves become side tracked often so that we spend everything that there is in chasing our own dreams and desires rather than using what has been freely given to the worship of God and following God's requirements.

In holding on to our own wealth of time, talent, finance, worship, etc. we withhold the opportunity of those who are not imbued with these to experience God's presence and love. In facing our own desires in this Lenten period we need to face our tendency to be as Judas, hoarding for ourselves and our wants. We often do not see compassion as a response and we withhold our  compassionate response. In the Isaiah passage God says that even in the desert God will provide something new (Is 43.18-19) while we harbour our thoughts in the past. Compassion asks us to open our hearts to those around us and leave of the things that we are doing for ourselves. Leave the Judas mindset behind and allow something new to happen as we interact with compassion. We can claim anything in terms of how good we are, just as Paul does (Phil. 3.4-6), but in the end unless we write our assets of to God's presence in our lives we are nothing.

Mary's attitude is just this letting go of everything to allow the compassion of God and the love of God to reside within ourselves. In this manner we think not of our own wants and needs but we let go and open our hearts to the other. Only when we allow this to happen do we begin to see the new life of God and create the compassionate community that does not allow the poor to exist. It is our own thoughts that disabuse others as we do not open ourselves to the suffering that is around us.

The unfinished tale

 The story of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15.11-32) is well known and has been written about with some superb insights around God's love for us (e.g. Henry Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son and John MacArthur's  The Prodigal Son). The majority of such books focus on the Prodigal and the welcome he receives from the Father. Yes, this is astonishing but what is perhaps even more astonishing is that the tale is not completed. There is no end. We all know that towards the end there is a discussion with the eldest son but we need to ask: What does the the eldest son do? There is nothing in the parable to tell us and it is up to us to come to a conclusion so that we can complete the story.

We are so often told to place ourselves into the mindset of the prodigal but in reality we need to really work on the mindset of the older son as more often than not this is our mindset, not that of the prodigal. We are often told that we need to acknowledge our sin and find the extraordinary love of God surrounding us. What happens when we are given the freedom of choice to do what is desired but refuse to and turn away deliberately thinking that we are better. The older son denigrates the father as the father holds out his love waiting for the older son to come into the house. Is not his sin against God just as great even when he has been in his fathers house all the time receiving the benefits of that love? Remember that all of the material possessions of the father actually belongs to the son. He knows he has a close relationship and yet he has not asked for anything willing to be a servant rather than receive the benefits of the estate.

Have we locked ourselves out like the older son?

Often having gained our inheritance we either squander it or we do not utilise it to the benefit of those around us. We try to hoard it and thus lose our relationship with God as we rail against the disasters that have come upon us. If we are the older son, what is our response do we go of in a huff because of our expectations of a generous handout when it already belongs to us? The older son appears to be more lost than the prodigal as the prodigal at least realises that he has sinned. Seemingly the older son has not. In the prodigal's realisation he has come begging and not expecting the generosity that has been given. Note that his plea to his Father loses the conniving end of the original thought as he is welcomed by the generous father (Lk 15.19, 21). This is the prodigal's real turning point as he is faced with the generosity and humility of the father in front of the village. Having the inheritance that we have been given are we not as rude, in some ways as the older son, as we often do not realise our own sinfulness and cannot repent in the face of the love that is given to us. Instead we are true to our human nature and we take offence, walk of in a huff, complain, bitch and moan.

We are often in need of recognising both sides of the equation of repentance and forgiveness. Just as the pharisees listening to Christ tell this parable we need to be challenged not by the easy and foreseeable result of the returning prodigal but by the attitude and non-resolved situation that involves the older son. In our own situation and in the situation of our community whether it is the wider church or secular society we need to end the story and not leave it hanging as Christ does. We need to write the story in our answer to God, not for ourselves but for the new life that is promised as we climb beyond our own response to God's forgiving love.

Pride and its consequences

 In our Lenten journeys we are continuously looking at ourselves to strive towards the pattern that Christ lays before us in his life. Some of us may believe that where we are is where we need to be at which point we stop listening to God's presence in our lives and start thinking about ourselves. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians warns of the consequences of ignoring the lessons from the Exodus story (1 Cor 10.1-5). In a similar manner these warnings are for us today as we contemplate our own reactions to those things that occur around us.

We are very quick in our condemnation of those who belittle others and yet we fail to live out the teachings of God. An article appeared in Grafton, in the aftermath to the New Zealand shooting, with regards to how our own inconsequential thoughts change how we perceive the reality around us. In our communities around the globe we all say that we are inclusive, we are not like others in that we welcome all. These are the messages that we give each other and those around us. But I ask you are we? Are we actually as inclusive as we think we are? Sometimes it is hard for us to understand that our own rhetoric does not reflect what we project into the community. Then when we realise our faults we delve into them and make them our martyrdom, the cross on which we hang ourselves.

Our pride blinds us to our reality

God offers us more than we can provide for ourselves, if we are only able to follow where Christ leads us. The gospel that we proclaim is one that does away with the idols that we set up for ourselves. Those idols are the ones that lead us astray. We allow the mind of the community to sway us because that is what they see and are blinded to the actuality of their own thoughts. If we truly proclaim inclusivity then we should not harbour anything but love for those who are outside of ourselves. Yet, we constantly align others and those who think differently from us. We are a listening people. In order or us to form a relationship, no matter how difficult we think it is, we need first to listen. As a country and as a community of faith this is the one thing we are appalling at. We only listen to the voices of dissent whether from the past or from a perception of what we think is happening. If, we are at odds with someone then we stop listening to them and portray our own beliefs by ass u m(e)ing to bring it into conjunction with our own thoughts. This happens in small groups as much as in wider and larger groups.

Going back to the Grafton article for a moment the community has the belief in the idol of inclusivity when they are homogeneous. We often proclaim our inclusivity and yet exclude those we deem to be different from us. It is not in the big things but the small things that this often occurs. The Christian church proclaims an inclusive gospel of peace and love. Yet, more violence has been perpetrated in its name than anything else. We still set up the idols of ignorance and faithlessness as we follow our own paths and not the path of Christ. Paul reminds us to look back to our past in the scriptures and history to understand that we are imperfect as we look for God's presence. In our imperfection we set ourselves up for a continuous fall away from Christ's love. We allow our pride to show us the way rather than our humility to allow others to teach us. Scripture is there to teach us, the other is there to teach us and until we all start to listen we will not hear what there is to hear and we will not learn.

Left in the past for a new future

 It is a strange world we live in. Some years ago around this time of year we were subjected to the horror attack that killed 49 people at the shooting in NZ. Despite the outcry of many in the face of such utter vilification of people made in the image of God I suggested at the time that in times to come this will be just another tragedy just like the fall of the tower at Siloam (Lk. 13.4). Indeed we have gone through many such tragedies and the vast majority have been forgotten. Whilst the scale may be different the voices are the same in the blame game of culture and religion. In the same passage this is foretold as Christ himself states that this will continue until we repent but of what?

In the Philippians passage the writer suggests that we need to model our behaviour on that of Christ and he will be there as we transform ourselves into such a being that our transfigured selves can shine as a light to the world. What our problem is, or at least one of our problems, is the holding on to of either untruths or truths that have been manipulated to conform to our wishes rather than those of God. We are like those that follow Christ in that we hold to our beliefs, rather than to what scripture and God tells us. We place ourselves above those things that we should be believing and undermine our own beliefs. It is surprising for some that many non-Christians are more Christian than most Christians. Our belief systems often overlap with the belief systems of others but we are to engrossed in what we think we are meant to do that we fail to see others doing what we should be doing. We are quite honestly unable to conform to Christ, more often than not, as we uphold those who would have us  denigrate those not of our ilk. Our neighbours and our fellow inhabitants of earth are seen only as tools to be used for the benefit of ourselves and not for their own selves. Too often our sins are the sins that we perpetrate everyday without realising our own self hypocrisy. Perhaps, solely as a result of our 'enlightenment' when Descartes promoted the ideal of autonomy rather than a love that encapsulates the other.

Only when we see beyond the past do we see a new future

Today we are reminded of the covenant that was made with Abram at a time when he was extremely uncertain of the future (Genesis 15). The promise that was made at that time was a promise of land and of fecundity. This to a certain degree mirrors the promise that is made right at the start of Genesis at the creation for man created in the image of God to go forth and multiply. How else but through his and Eve's offspring to become a multitude on Earth. This same generosity of fecundity is being offered to Abram and his descendants even if none are apparent at the time. Yet, it is a promise that is not without its challenges. Challenges that are to be faced and in turn become a challenge to the descendants' faith, which we know through the scriptures is not always true. This then is perhaps the crux of our question and how we are true to God as God is true to us.

It is only when we remove our own petty hypocrisies that we are actually able to follow Christ and fulfil that which we are destined to. It is when we form our own self fulfilling dreams that we revert to the continuation of Siloam and all that that means for us. It is only when we recognise the truth of God's promises to us that we are able to fully transform our lives and live as Christ would wish us to. Then the petty hatreds of today will fade away and we will begin to understand what it means to love. It is the influences of the past that colour the thoughts of the future. If something has happened in the past that has angered, disappointed, depressed, turned us away, upset us, etc. then anything that is similar will cause us to react in the same way. We need often to let go our past experience and allow ourselves to experience God anew for us to step into a new future. We have to reset our lives in accordance with God's purposes and allow our new eyes to see more clearly through the obstructions of the past.

A drive towards the void rather than love

 Tolstoy's piece of fiction set in Russia is a good reminder for us in today's world, simply in the title, War and Peace.  We strive for peace and a world torn by war due to greed, insecurity, power, etc. All of these things are elements of our own selfish being.  I believe that at the beginning of our Lenten journey we should reflect on our own responsibilities regarding these two aspects of God's presence and absence. Neither of these antithetical conceptions appear out of nothing but have substance in our own being declaring the absence or presence of God. There is a direct correlation with what we are seeing in the world today and the second temptation in Luke's Gospel which relates to power and authority within the earthly kingdom (Lk. 4:5-7).

At the start of our Lenten journey it is important to realise that the temptations that Christ overcomes are the same today as it was in the time of Christ. The temptation that Trump and others of his ilk have succumbed to is this second temptation; the pursuit of power in the world. Irrespective of the reasons be they religious or pure secular power that places us in the position of seemingly absolute authority is a power that corrupts our internal life. On the road to power of this sort we overlook what and who our neighbour is. We turn our backs on others only seeking to further our own needs and wants over that which is beneficial for those around us. It is a selfish thing that leads to violence and the sundering of relationship within the community to which we belong. We also enter not the desert but the void which is absent of love as opposed to the raw fecundity of the desert that can lead to newness of life. Our desire for control leaves others in poverty and depression as their desires, their needs are overlooked and neglected in preference for our own satisfaction. We do not have to look at the world stage to see this but rather in our own backyard for those who would bully and intimidate to achieve their own wants and ambitions. We can see this occurring in all parishes and faith groups as one person or group attempt to have others accede to their demands. These tactics are a mirror of the greater world that we see in the politics of this country and the world.

A fractured world results from following our own agenda

In succumbing to this temptation, at what ever level, we allow ourselves to turn away from Christ and following his way. In entering into our Lenten journey we need to reflect on what Christ's actions in the moment of this temptation. Christ reminds the tempter that it is God who leads us and deserves our very being and no other. The self deludes us and turns our thoughts away from love in our relations. Love is purposive in building relationship as it guides us into a fulfilling relationship that cares for each other and the world around us. This is the road of peace; a harder road from war and the following of our own desires as it means that our own pleasures are put on hold for the benefit of the other. The road to peace can often be seen as a road of compromise but in reality is not just compromise but a true listening to those around us and a discernment of a way beyond selfishness that brings benefits to all rather than just a few.

For us, in the secular society in which we live, as a faith group, this is one of the most difficult things to do as we feel ourselves being dis-abled from society rather than en-abled in society. We look to often to the past and try to retrieve the prosperity of the past through tactics of intimidation and force. God calls us into a future that is filled with love and community. However, if we constantly turn our backs on that call we embitter ourselves and seek what we had through violence and control. Putin's would be Tsarist mentality is but an extreme demonstration of this keeping us in a fruitless and fear filled void. The fecundity of the desert space where Christ dwells invites us into newness of life and the road towards peace. However, this self fulfilling mindset can only be removed from our local communities by understanding our own motivations and our own thoughts towards the structures and traditions of the past. If we yearn for something that was then we are no longer on God's path but our own route towards selfish domination of others. It is only when we open ourselves up to God's love as it changes us towards a new future that we can truly understand that we are walking in the way of Christ.

Changing who we are

 Christ calls us to transform our selves and change so that we may become transfigured in his image. This seems an amazingly difficult undertaking to transform and change so that we become transfigured. We need to really understand these terms and how we use them. This last Sunday of Epiphany is the day that is often used to celebrate the transfiguration as told in the gospels (Lk 9.28-36). The term used in the Greek is metamorphoses but in Latin transfigure which seems to indicate both transformation (metamorphoses) and transfiguration. Neither of which is used as part of the Greek in this passage. The wording translates to "change" but actually signifies a change of person. So what are we actually being asked to undertake and perhaps become?

The possibilities are endless as we transform ourselves into newness of life

Perhaps, it is true to say that the very first thing we are being asked to achieve is change. No amount of words can get around this fact. We are all reluctant to participate in change unless we ourselves become enamoured and enthused by the process. The only way that this will actually occur is if we ourselves change. That seems a bit of a chicken and an egg and perhaps it is but the seed of change is introduced into our lives at baptism. It needs to be watered and nurtured so that change can take place. This does not mean that someone outside ourselves has to enforce the change or be the continual source of water. They may inspire us and trickle some water into our lives leading us to a starting point to begin the process of change but cannot do it for us. So, our first port of call, so to speak, is our selves. In understanding our selves we begin to understand the issues that initiate our ability to encompass the transformation that Christ requires of us. Simply put Christ is asking and drawing us away from our selfish inner selves towards a transformation that opens our hearts to those who are other. This is perhaps the first stage in the process of transformation, an understanding of our own being that shows us the accumulation of harmful debris and sheltering obfuscation that prevents us from opening our hearts.

In beginning this process we begin the process of change and transformation. Like a caterpillar cocooning itself we breakdown our internal selves to allow a reformation into something different but the same. If we ourselves do not undergo this transformation our glory will not be available for our transfiguration. Christ shows us his glory in his change, not his transformation, for he does not need to transform it is we who need to transform. If we were to try to become transfigured we would expose only our ugliness to the world. Our hatred, our vilification of the other, our darkness because that is what transfiguration does it exposes our inner selves to the world. That is what Christ exposed to his disciples the pureness of his inner self that was not different from himself. It is this state of being that we are called to in Christ for if we are in Christ the pureness of our being will be shown to the world.

So this brings us back to our own selves and are ability to change from who we are into what Christ calls us to be. It is our transformation that is asked for at Baptism not our transfiguration. Until we are able to embrace this change, the change that totally changes our very being into something more glorious, we cannot strive towards our transfiguration. This is the hard journey. This is the journey that takes us beyond even ourselves so that we can embrace our totality and not hide the darker side of our selves behind the falseness of everyday living. We cannot and should not shy from this task and our coming Lenten journey is a place for us to start, or continue, or end our own transformative process.

Hard love

 In thinking about love we tend towards a mushy expression of romanticism which has been conveyed to us by the ever helpful media and social mores of the world. In coming to terms with love as it is expressed by Christ and God we have to enlarge our view and overcome our own inbuilt biases. The passage from 1 Corinthians (15.35-50) outlines what appears to be totally un-achievable for those that are mortal. The very fact that we are mortal seems to suggest that we cannot achieve that which is only available to the spiritual. Yet why would Paul suggest this if it were not achievable within our own mortal bodies.

The issue perhaps is how we understand and how we cope with the feeling and ideology of love in the first place. Too often perhaps we relegate it to a forgotten world of pinks and hearts and softness that enfolds us in comfort and bliss. However, the love that is from God is not this marshmallow style of love. Yes, there is an element of protection and forgiveness but there is a much harder aspect that forms and moulds us into something other. Let's look for example at the speech that Joseph makes to his brothers in Genesis (45.3-11). We see this often as a lovely reunion of a family split apart from each other and forgiveness on the part of Joseph. Midrashic sources delve much deeper into the psychological processes that are in play here. From these sources comes an understanding that this speech is a result of an about face almost in Joseph's thinking that has been brought about by the impassioned speech from Judah in the foregoing chapter. Joseph has been trying to piece together a story over the period of his interaction with the family, a story that he casts over the familial members and creates the conditions for them to participate in. Yet, following Judah's speech he comes to the realisation that his story will bring shame upon the family, a shame that will cause even greater divisions than have already been wrought. His love for them makes him abandon the "revenge" and holds out a branch that will draw the tattered remnants of the dispersing family into a whole despite the cost to him. It is this love, which breaks us down, so that we can reform ourselves and our families into a new understanding.

Christ offers us an alternate way of looking at the other through the eyes of love. In Luke's gospel (6.27-38) the actions of love are broken down into what can only be described in this day and age as the "Idiots Guide to..". Perhaps, this is actually all we are good for, being spoon fed the requirements of this extraordinary love that comes from God. Unless we are prepared to unpack ourselves and understand our agendas like Joseph, who almost mid story, returns to himself and begins to understand the sacrifice it takes to re-draw the family. Christ re-draws humanities response to the other on the cross through his sacrifice, making holy, and re-drawing our relationships in the midst of chaos. The steps are simple. They are laid out in black and white in Luke's gospel (Lk. 6.27-38). These are the simple steps that lead us into the moment of re-drawing our lives around love. It is we who have to sacrifice the story that we build around ourselves in order to accommodate the stories that are told by others. In the same way the other also sacrifices there story once they have heard our re-interpretation of our lives so that they can do the same for themselves and have the courage to return to the basic format of love that is acceptance of self and other.

Love that transforms our lives is harder than we think

In taking the route of extreme love we open ourselves up to transformation. In re-writing our story we understand what has been hidden by the mushiness of our understanding. We transform ourselves so that we become spirit. The malleability and ease with which the spirit is accepting becomes our physical home. We are able to transcend the limitations that our earthly life places upon us and are able to embrace the strange, the unusual, the other in an accepting love that is not only transformative but also deeply protective and life giving.

Faith to weather the storms

 As a faith community we are meant to lead the way in terms of faith. This is after all what we proclaim to do as a community.. have FAITH! Yet, this is perhaps the one thing we tend to struggle with on a constant basis as it is asking us to place our whole being into an unknown. If we look at Jeremiah (17.5-10) we can see God saying something along the lines of: Have faith in me and you will grow like a tree beside life giving waters, if you do not you will be similar to a tree in the middle of a harsh desert. A similar theme is struck in Psalm 1. The early Christians also struggled with belief and faith but I suspect for different reasons (1 Cor 15.12-20).

Today faith and belief are not well known commodities, at least not in the spiritual sense. Faith and belief actually imbue our culture and our times but in a very different manner to what we think of within our Christian sensibilities. We actually have an undying faith in science and scientific progress, we have a strong faith in economic progress (whatever that may mean) and above all we have an absolute faith in everything technological. We have left behind us any thought of the nebulous faith that is associated with, well, faith. We are so concerned with what our rationality can undertake that we forget the other side of ourselves. One of our major issues in society today is that of mental health. I do not know but I suspect there is a correlation between our ability to sustain faith and our ability to retain our mental composure in the light of change. The world is changing rapidly and often which leads us towards an inability to integrate the things that are happening around us. We are so driven by our faith in things that are physical or rational that we do not cater for the needs of the other side of our own being.

Are we sturdy on the banks of God's love?

In the Lukan beatitudes Christ puts the two sides of our being into perspective (Lk.6.17-26). Both the negative and the positive, the up and the down. Unfortunately today we look only to the one side, always looking for the up, never recognising that there is a down that corresponds. It is the integration of the two that brings us to Christ because it brings us to a wholeness of being. We cannot have one without the other. Any person who is involved in recovery or involved in bringing others out of pain know that for this to happen both the negative and the positive need to be embraced. IF we are unable to understand the flip side, we are unable to understand ourselves. In order for us to maintain our faith we need to overthrow our faith. That sounds weird. In reality it is not we have a dependency on a faith with regards to the rational often as a result we find we have no place to turn to other than into disturbance and illness. If we overthrow this and move into the madness of faith in something other than the rational we find our equilibrium and begin to understand ourselves. It is a question of trust rather than anything else. Are you able to allow the other to catch you as you fall backwards? By taking trust and faith to the extreme we are able to fall into the hands of God as he leads us into the future.

In beginning to understand ourselves we can see both sides of the equation, as it were, and are able to accept who we are. We begin to love ourselves. In this acceptance we are able to see the other not as other but as part of ourselves and are therefore able to begin to love our neighbour as ourselves. We begin to have faith in Christ and all the extraordinary claims that come with that faith because they are extraordinary. Like the tree in Psalm 1 that is beside the water we need to have an eye on the waters of faith and the dry country of rationality in order for us to become whole. It is not this or that it is rather both this and that.

How do we respond to God's call?

The passage from Isaiah that tells of his vision and how he becomes a prophet, a man of unclean lips, in the service of God and Isaiah's response to the summons of God whom shall I send "Here, I am Lord. Send me." (Is 6:1-8). This is affirmed in that wonderful hymn "I the Lord of Sea and Sky" which is often sung at the commissioning of priests and others. For me, whilst it reflects Isaiah's call it does poorly to reflect our response unless the final chorus becomes the plural allowing the emphasis to reside in the heart of those called and who have responded. But today we hear the various positive responses on the level of the individual to the call that God gives summoning us to ministry in the world. Even today God calls out to us in the same words that are sung in the hymn and in Isaiah "Whom shall I send?".

God is calling just as God called Isaiah in our time and in this place. The question becomes how are we to respond to the call that God puts upon our hearts. In the scriptures that are read on this Sunday there are a number of responses, the enthusiastic Isaiahan response "Here, here, choose me" through the Pauline response "Oh woe is me weak and poor yet doing God's work by God's grace" (1 Cor 15:8-10) and into the disciples immediate acceptance to follow Christ (Lk. 5:11). I am not sure where you stand in that spectrum but each of has a story about being called by God into ministry of one sort or another. It may not necessarily be a moment of enlightenment such as Isaiah, more likely not, but it is a call that is laid upon our hearts. Yet, so few of us actually respond in any way whatsoever. I can hear the response now "Yes, but we don't all want to be priests or deacons or heaven forbid a bishop". My response is that God calls not into a ministry such as a deacon but into a ministry that God wishes you to take part in. Indeed some calls may not be seen until the person has died. Isaiah did not want to become a prophet, Paul was a persecutor of the Church and the disciples were fishermen not deacons, apostles or anything else. Yet, they all stopped doing what they were doing and heard God's call.

Responding to God's call means we have to first listen to God

The issue perhaps for us is not that we do not hear God's call in the modern world but that the call is drowned out by the practicalities of the world in which we live. How many people who do not come to church are actually responding to God's bidding in doing what they are doing? Why should the Church have the sole right to hear God's call? Occasionally we have to be more aware of our faith and how it operates in the reality of this world in which we live. I am not saying that those in the church do not have a call, I am not saying that our response to God is invalid, what I am saying is that God's call is often different to what we expect as a faith group. All we have to do is look at the examples that Christ gives to see how true this is (Lk. 5:25-27) and if we are not careful we will all react in the same way as those in the synagogue did when this is proposed.by Christ. We are so focussed on ourselves that we rarely look outside of the group to see where God is actually working and who God is calling into ministry.

God calls us into a number of ministries  which in our hearts we recognise. prophets, teachers, speakers in tongues, etc. All of whom we either celebrate or do not recognise, particularly prophets. Some denominations go over board and almost worship those who speak in tongues (no one is a Christian unless you speak in tongues attitude). If we are all made in God's image then we are also called in some fashion to undertake God's work and that is to bring peace, justice and love into the world. Some of us do this well others ignore God's call and sunder their relationship with God but in reality, even today, we need to answer that call that God has put into our hearts, no matter how hard it might be and no matter if we think, like Isaiah that we are not worthy, we still need to respond in some fashion. In this case doing the opposite of what God calls us to or not responding is after all a response.

Presenting ourselves

  The Jewish ordinances required that the first born be presented to God which is what happened when Christ is taken to Jerusalem. It was part of the purification ritual that all Jewish people undertook in accordance with the laws given in the Torah  (Ex 13:12-15; Lev. 12). The event is for Mary herself and for the redemption of her first born son, Jesus. The first was to remove the impurities associated with childbirth and is a rite of cleansing something that was a must in ancient times to ensure, not only in terms of faith but also in terms of social behaviours and health, cleanliness with a surety of being disease free. This is also a time when the first born son was presented and redeemed from God who required the firstborn as sacrifice. There have over the years a number of other things been associated with this date in terms of its alternative name of Candlemas when the beeswax candles were blessed for the year.

So why celebrate this, why make a liturgical fuss about a Jewish event for a mother that was normal for the time and has lived out its usefulness in terms of our modern society? Perhaps there are a number of reasons that can be thought of a) it introduces the Simeon prophesy with regards the Christ and Mary, b) it also introduces the prophecies of Anna though we pay small attention to them. Furthermore, it is an opportunity for ourselves to once again present ourselves as an offering to God and seek his presence to guide and direct us in lives that are lived in Christ. Something that we remind ourselves of at the end of each Eucharistic service. In doing this we need to pay attention to both Simeon and Anna as their words, at least some of them, are familiar to us or should be. The words that are not familiar, I suspect most people do not know what Simeon says after what we call the Nunc Dimittis but are indeed important for us, just as the words of the prophetess Anna who we neglect.

We need to present ourselves before God each day of our lives

Anna's word speak of liberation for the people of Jerusalem. It is probably fairly certain that readers and those listening to Anna think in terms of liberation from the Romans. However, like the more deluded and opaque followers, not only in Christ's disciples but also today, this is not the reality, I suspect, of what Anna is speaking of. Christ shows us a way towards redemption and liberation that is not the overthrow of those in power by physical revolution but rather in the revolution of our understanding of living. Once we think in terms of mortal revolution and liberation we begin to be the Che Guevarra's of the day losing our hope and the understanding embedded in the way of Christ. The liberation that Anna speaks to is the liberation of our own lives from the tyranny of the selfish physicality of human thought of power over and to the transformation of our lives to the spiritual reality of living alongside others in creating community by using power with.

However, as Simeon points out in his final words to the parents, particularly Mary, such a liberation that is promised by Christ is not without its own issues and challenges to our lives. Some of these challenges will pierce our hearts with doubt and sorrow. So that in following Christ we follow fully to the cross and its underlying pain and struggle. Power over is an easy route to take as it establishes us without concern for the other. The revolution that Christ calls us to is a liberating of our need to control and allowing God to take that power. By presenting ourselves as a sacrifice as the parents of Christ did we relinquish our idea of power over to attain a more cooperative understanding of God's presence that allows us to care for the other and encourage them to perform the miracles of community with us rather than subjugating themselves to us. This is liberating in this day and age as we forgo the need to maintain ourselves as powerful but rather we submit ourselves to the authority and presence of God within our lives. We give ourselves to God, truly as a living sacrifice, as required allowing for God's leading and direction to fulfil that which brings justice. All liberation in Christ is about bringing that justice which is God's rather than the justice promulgated by our own power and authority.

Being the Body of Christ

 In the gospel from Luke today we hear Christ proclaiming in the synagogue that scripture has been fulfilled (Lk. 4:21). If that is the case then where is the kingdom of God and why do we continue as we are? Well, you can see from the reaction of the people that the fulfilling of scripture is not always what people believe it to be. In the story in Luke's gospel the fulfilling of the scripture was basically a proclaiming of the year of the jubilee, which not everyone wanted. Particularly those who were involved in lucrative business deals and other more nefarious activities, which would cease with the proclamation of the year of the Jubilee. The actual proclamation by Christ is in itself a bit problematic in that one needs to ask who can proclaim the Year of Jubilee? However, this is not so much the issue or something that needs to be talked about it is the fact that Christ proclaims scripture fulfilled, in terms of the jubilee. Yet, nothing further is said about it nor does it appear to come into actual fruition. So why does Christ proclaim the fulfilling of the scriptures? Christ is proclaiming an ideal that was never instituted, as far as we are aware, to goad the people into a move towards the reception of God and what it means to behave in accordance with God's wishes.

The Jubilee is found in the books of the law and is a basic understanding of freedom from servitude and the implementation of justice so that those in debt and in debt slavery had the ability to restart their lives on property that was originally theirs but had been sold to overcome debt etc. Even the land was given a rest and it was an understanding that the year of jubilee and the following year were to be times that the people were wholly reliant on God to provide, a test of faith if you will. This would be like proclaiming today that everyone was mortgage free and debt free. This is what it means to rely on God's presence in our lives no matter how much the struggle is in terms of finance and fortitude etc. This is where the community comes in to play. If we are all in the same boat so to speak then we are all reliant on each other to assist us through the worst of the crisis. Paul's analogy (1 Cor. 12:12-31) comes into being once more at this point for if we act as one community we will bring about the fulfilment of the gospel and in Christ's words the fulfilment of scripture.

The issue as has been so ably highlighted by the 24 hour news cycle in that we do not see ourselves in this analogous community that is one. We are so divided by our fears and our prejudices that we are overwhelmed and unable to understand the simplicity of the message that is found in scripture today and yesterday and in the days to come. Paul envisages a community that is different in and of itself as it accepts each and every person as part of that community. It makes no difference as to whether you are a lowly worker or a super rich person, if we are looking as Paul, each has a place within the community. In seeing the worth in each and everyone of us within the community we see the worth of the community working together with God's love at its heart. I challenge you to point out such a community today that lives and breathes this sort of understanding. Even our most religious of people will see that they are not working together in Christ as each has their own agenda to pursue for themselves. Even in our own faith communities we are often divided within ourselves as each wants or wishes something different and rarely do we actively listen to what God wants but put forward our own ideas. We can see this in the vilification of the Bishop of Washington who spoke out for the poor and the widow of today.

The divided community is not fulfilling scripture

In some respects we are here at the heart of what it means to be Anglican in that we are a communion, a koinonia, scattered across the globe often at odds with each other because of the way we see God and God's purposes in the world. Yet, we must by necessity come together as one body that is split into innumerable parts and beliefs to function together in the fulfilment of scripture and Christ's promise of peace and love. If we as one faith cannot rule our hearts with God's love then there is little that we can show to the world that is split by a heaving multitude of thoughts and beliefs. In following Christ we bring together the disparate in love so that we can open our hearts in communion and community to those that are different and other to show God's love working in the practical of the everyday in face of the continuing and current divisive politics around a national celebration.

Gifts that create rifts

 The first sign in the book of signs, which can be thought of as the second section of John's gospel is the story of the changing of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana (Jn 2.1-11). It is an interesting story that points to the abundance of new life in the change of the water into wine. John's gospel is full of allegories which are not meant to be taken literally but have been by many. What is important here, among other things, is the almost derogatory way in which the mother of Christ is addressed as 'woman'. Mary, the virgin is delineated to its fullest in Luke's gospel but in her two appearances in John she is addressed as 'woman' by Christ. Here in this story and the second time from the cross. So how does this help us to understand what is going on here and the other readings for today.

Rather than calling this a miracle it is deemed to be a sign in John's gospel and so what does a sign do? A sign points the way and in doing so assists us to see the journey upon which we have embarked. It is doubtful that the woman is Mary but rather an allegorical figure of motherhood, the wellspring from which we are derived (born). If this is the case then this story points towards the newness of life that comes when we cling to Christ. An abundance that occurs as we become wedded to the life that Christ points us towards (Is 62.5), This wellspring of new wine grants us a new perspective on our own lives as traditions often lead to stultification if we cling to them to closely. In such newness we can perceive all manner of changes that we can see through to the end by relying on God's gifts through the Spirit.

Like with all things there can be many issues associated with the gifts God gives to us. What, issues with what gives? Unfortunately, like many things, whilst our gifts may enable us to do much good they can also be used not for the benefit of the community of God but for the glorification of the individual. This is the human failing as when we explore and develop our gifts from God we begin to see them as ours and ours alone. This places us in a position of power  / authority / pridefulness etc that enables us to abuse the gift for our benefit. We may not realise that we are doing so and we may not see the detrimental effect that it is having on the people around us but it is always a possibility that we must be aware of. God gives us the gifts that he gives so that we can expand God's presence whilst glorifying God's name. The moment we begin to utilise the gift for a purpose that it is not given i.e. for ourselves or our benefit beyond what God asks, then we begin to damage the relationships that the gift is meant to enhance and develop.

Pride in the gifts God gives often destroys the community of god

Good examples can often be found in parishes, clubs and larger organisations if we look carefully. One common type is the gift of organisation which if used to the fullest extent to God's wish will enable an organisation to go beyond where you would normally expect. However, if used for personal aggrandisement the gift may devolve into a person who is stubborn and hoards old material that has no use for anyone anymore. The person becomes a wall which does not allow the organisation to develop beyond the point that the person has control. In other ways gifts can become personalised so much that speaking about their knowledge/gift can antagonise/hurt others who are struggling towards change or understanding. There is also a tendency to suggest some form of competitiveness within an organisation because of a mine is better than yours attitude. This then begins to destroy the fabricate of the community. Paul clearly states that all gifts come from one source in God (1 Cor. 12.11) and we cannot claim one is better than the other. Our dealings with each other must be undertaken in love without our utilisation of our gifts as weapons to show our supremacy and to get our way or to force our conception of God's way onto others.

A call of the Spirit

 Baptism is known today to be an initiation sacrament for the Christian church. It is for the purposes of the church an extremely important event that is celebrated by families and congregations through out the world. However, it is perhaps also seen as a preliminary step towards acceptance at a better school or educational path, if we are to be cynical about the modern age. In the celebration of today we are celebrating what precisely? Christ's baptism, but so what? While it is to a certain extent an inaugural event for the church that shows Christ willing to be baptised despite his sinless state. It is, so to speak, an indicator of Christ's closeness to the body public rather than the priestly elite of the time. However, we need to understand this whole event as it is the initiatory event that casts Christ into the wilderness experience.

John is baptising in the river Jordan which is a border that remains extant in today's world. A border between countries and outlooks. In the modern world all borders are to a certain extent porous allowing some movement between that which is beyond and that which is enclosed by the border. So conceptually speaking it is likely that those that were being baptised where symbolically and perhaps literally entering into the 'promised land'. Whilst not provable in any manner the likelihood is that the people being baptised where actually moving out of and then back in via the initiation rite of baptism. Thus, they were saying that they had broken the covenant and in returning to the land promised by God they were re-affirming their vows. This was a moment of metanoia of returning to God or changing their ways in a form of penitence symbolised and marked by water. In a similar manner their ancestors had been marked by water on their entrance into the promised land under Joshua's leadership.

Perhaps not quite what we imagine in place, circumstance or spiritual development

This sets our scene into which Christ comes as a normal person in the same manner as everyone else. In Luke's gospel there is little interaction between Christ and John, in fact none. The other note of worth is that we once again assume something from our reading that the descent of the Spirit was public. There is nothing to indicate this other than the presumption that all heard the voice from heaven but did they? I am certain that this interpretation is somewhat lacking as a miracle such as this would have wowed the crowds but there is no indication of this. Are these words for Christ used as a spur so t speak, that sends him out into the deserted places to ponder and grapple with their meaning? A deliberate nudge for him to go and start the ministry that was his. In this case the baptism becomes a source of inspiration that leads him into ministry. Like many that have followed who have perceived a call into ministry there is a time for reflection prior to taking that ministry up.

However, what does this mean for us in the present day? No matter how we relate to the baptism of Christ we can suggest that it is for us a template, something that we can follow in our own lives. Christ is praying when he hears the voice from heaven. This has to be our starting point. Our connection to God is through our own effort in prayer and the seeking of God's voice in our lives. It is only when we connect with God and understand what God is saying to us will we start to have a more fruitful life. Yes, this always comes with a certain amount of hard work. Unfortunately all of us now a days have a lazy attitude to our spiritual journey. unless we get our work ethic right in terms of listening to God's voice and God's direction in our lives we will linger in our laziness and not progress along the journey we undertook at baptism.

Three - Who says?

 The three wise men is a long standing tradition and we have the Matthean gospel to thank for it. Depending on the translation they are classed as magi, wisemen, kings or astrologers. It is suggested that they are from Mesopotamia of the time as the country's intelligentsia were very much involved in the study of the stars. The Greek word translates as a person who has 'magic' powers. this one could presume to be people who were highly intelligent and displayed some form of power/authority that was lacking within the Roman empire at the time. Whether it was just sleight of hand or illusion it was a wonder to those they interacted with. Whatever the case as to who these people were I would suggest that they were important in the sight of the local populace and were foreigners in the land. In other words they were from outside of the Roman Empire. They were obviously learned. Scripture does not place a numerical figure on them and they are unnamed. Of course for the main crux of the story the focus is on not the travellers themselves but on the gifts that they bear. Gold, oil of Lebanon and Myrrh from Smyrna.

Who said there where three? Perhaps we need t think a bit more.

Yet, should these be the focus or should the presence of these wise men be the more significant? In a manner both are important for us as Christians in the modern day. The presence of those from outside the community of the Hebraic faith acknowledging the presence of God in a child has enormous implications for us. We cannot make assumptions that it is just those within the Christian faith that have an understanding of God's purposes. The presence of the wise men implicitly directs us to an understanding that those outside of the religious norm are just as capable of accepting God into their presence. If we truly think about it this is how we bring God into others presence by understanding that that is where God can be found in the fullness of God's love. We cannot be so blind as to ass-u-me that this is not the case or else we will continue to preach to the converted and not bring God into the lives of those we see as 'unworthy' or utilise some other word to ostracise where God demands us to be inclusive.

Looking at the gifts we need to change things around a bit by looking at the gifts from the point of view of the three monkeys. You know the ones see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. We start with the first of the gifts which corresponds very neatly to all of them. The riches of Gold that signifies kingship in our tradition is also truly representative of our current world experience. We just need to think of exposes over recent years with regards to corruption, especially the greed shown in some areas of politics, and bribes in many places through out the world. The gold and its signifying of wealth has the dark side of preventing words being said or turning a blind eye when there are injustices in plain sight, For others to turn a deaf ear to what they hear as corrupt dealings and less then loving ways within communities and societies throughout the world. Gold's riches should encourage us to speak out for justice and never to turn a blind eye or deaf ear to those in need but rather to pave the path to communities rich in love and awareness of their neighbour. This is God's gold offered and accepted by Christ.

The second of the traditional gifts, λιβανον (lebanon as it is written in Greek) or Oil of Lebanon (Frankincense) actually points to the church and indeed in many ways to the clergy themselves. This gift speaks to us of the priesthood a recognition of Christ our great high priest who ministers from the crib to those who come to adore him. Yet, when we look at this gift it so often that the church blinds itself to hypocrisy and injustice in the world failing to speak out. More often then not it is often those who should know better who, like the Pharisees criticised by Christ, lead believers away from love by not listening to truth and only believing what they want rather than what God requires. Death comes to us in many ways and σμνρναν (Smyrna or commonly called myrrh) reminds us of this fact. The very point of death is that it is part of our being and should not be denied. Christ accepts death as part of the way to a new life but we so often deny death or else assist in true death rather than renewal into a new life blessed by God.  The reason we deny death is that we do not want to change or have to go through the process of change. This is what the gift of myrrh challenges us with that sometimes we have to see that somethings need to die in ourselves and our lives to move into a new life of love and understanding. We so often deliberately not listen to promising new ideas and fail to speak about new things whilst not seeing opportunities. This often means change in all of its difficulties and challenges. It serves us better to accept the gift as the Christ child does knowing that change is as inevitable as death and taxes to bring God's love into the world.