The Things We Would Rather Jesus Hadn’t Said

Eunice Elisha

Trinity 12 Hebrews 11:29-12:1, Luke 12:49-56

When preparing my sermons there are a couple of books I usually look at first.

One is a commentary by the theologian Tom Wright and the other by Jane Williams wife of the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Tom Wright begins by saying,

“The Lukan passage is high on the list of the ‘Things We Would Rather Jesus Hadn’t Said.’

It’s not gentle, it’s not meek and mild it’s not even nice. Parents and children at loggerheads, in laws getting across one another what can Jesus have had in mind?”

Reading these words from Luke causes us to feel uncomfortable – what about our Christmas carols all about peace on earth and goodwill towards men, what about Jesus as the Prince of Peace. Is Jesus now saying he doesn’t bring peace?

Tom Wright gives an explanation which I didn’t quite relate to. I liked Jane William’s comment better – she says,

“The reading from Luke today is a fierce reminder that this great story of God’s dealings wth his world is a story that many people hate and would like to rip apart so they can put another theme in its place.”

That struck a chord with me.

But imagine  for a moment you are a Christian in North Korea reading this passage where even owning a bible is punishable by death or at the least hard labour.

That Christian whose life is daily under threat will surely relate to Jesus words. There are thousands of Christians throughout the world living in places where worshipping Jesus is banned and they may be the only Christian in a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or atheist family.

For them being a Christian hasn’t brought peace in their everyday lives.

For them Jesus words are all too true.

A couple of weeks ago I read about a woman preacher in Nigeria,

Eunice Elisha. She got up at 5 am to go and preach. Her husband was a pastor of a church too. He was very concerned for her, and told her to be careful.

On 9 July, as per usual Eunice left at around 5am to preach near her home in the Kubwa region of Abuja, the Nigerian Capital Territory. “But on that day, she didn’t return on time,” recalls her husband Olowale. “I wondered what could be the matter.”

“Meanwhile,” Olowale continued, “my sons had gone out for morning football training. Some boys told them that a woman had just been killed on their street while she was preaching. Immediately they ran home and told me what they heard.”

Olowale went straight to the place where the killing had taken place, finding only a pool of blood and was told by locals that the woman’s body had been taken to the police station.

“There I found the body of my wife,” Olowale said. “I broke down and cried… I lost my true companion.”

This story really touched me because this woman was doing just what I do every week – travelling to a church to preach.

I can do that in safety but she was killed for it.

Jesus words would certainly ring true for her husband and family.

Yet her husband says we must forgive her killers and pray that they come to know Jesus. Eunice was a woman of faith her husband and children are people of faith. She died for her faith.

‘These Things We Would Rather Jesus Hadn’t Said’

have proved true since the day he said them through the centuries of faith right up to the present day.

They are words which we should not shy away from.

Those who have suffered for their faith can add their names to those listed in the book of Hebrews as people of faith.

In many ways it is a strange list  with familiar and unfamiliar names. All those mentioned were indeed  people of faith but all had weaknesses.

• Moses had to have Aaron to speak for him
• Rahab a prostitute
• Gideon needed continual reassurance
• Jephthah came from a dysfunctional family he was an outlaw and unwittingly sacrificed his own daughter
• Barak was not a bad man but he needed someone, Deborah, to stand by him
• Samson had a peculiar penchant for anihalating people animals and crops and a weakness for women
• David a great king but with his own well known weaknesses

Yet God was at work in the lives of Gideon, Barak, Samson and the rest and those who were stoned, sawn in two and so on. Why if God was calling them and was with them why did they have to go through all that suffering. Why did Eunice Elisha have to die as she preached the gospel in Nigeria? There is of course no correct or clever answer. But we can say God knows, Jesus knew and they shared in his suffering and he in theirs.

And we know that through their suffering their faith shines out.

The fact that they suffered these things are a sign that they believed  in a  God  who loved them unconditionally.

They were out of tune with their times because they were living by faith in God’s new world while the society around them was living as though the present world was all there was or ever would be.

Which begs the question how are we living – too in tune with our world ? but that’s another sermon!

God was giving them strength to live like that, proving the truth of their faith They were living beacons of hope they were lights in the darkness.

What about us then – we have this great cloud of witnesses and because of them we are encouraged to take up the baton to run the race of faith unencumbered.

As we see their faith so our faith should be encouraged.

Looking at the olympic athletes they run, swim cycle with the least possible weight on them. Their eyes are fixed on one goal – winning.

Where are our eyes fixed. Too often our eyes are not fixed on Jesus.

They are fixed on the TV or the computer screen, or on advertisments for the next gismo, the next car, the next holiday, the new kitchen, the new house.

Our eyes need to be fixed on Jesus

Looking to Jesus means relying on him.  Our focus must be first on him.

Jesus is our encouragement in this race, both as our example and as our help.

Jesus is the one from whom we draw power. He is the one who has given us life and has sent the helper, the Holy Spirit to be with us forever. We run this race only because of his word and only by the power of his Spirit.

So we look to him. We lean on him.

Looking to him means we turn our backs on all the other stuff. We need to forget the approval of man.

Jesus demands our exclusive gaze. Looking to anything else will eventually be exposed as the hollow pursuit it is.

It is Jesus himself. Jesus is our goal. To look to him means to love him, to yearn to be with him, to see him as he his, to live in fellowship with him forever.

Every day we need to spend time with him in prayer, in listening, in worship.

We cannot get this faith by trying we can only get it by looking to Jesus.

Faith is a pair of open hands ready to receive what he has for us.

We look up to him, focussing on him, we look back at the great crowd of witnesses and we look forward to the goal, it is for that that we run.

 

What are you doing here?

Trinity 4c

1 Kings 19.1-15

Luke 8.26-3

I was looking out of my bedroom
window on Wednesday morning. Watching the sheep, in the field opposite, the rabbits running about, a few crows looking for lunch. The sheep are always a good reminder of the 23rd Psalm and that we should spend some time metaphorically lying down in green pastures and restoring our souls except that morning although most of the sheep were lying down, they weren’t all happy. One was lying on its back with its feet in the air. It was twitchiing now and again but certainly didn’t look at all comfortable, in fact I guessed it was very disconsolate and frightened. I duly phoned the owners but didn’t get a reply. Then I sent a text message – still nothing. So I decided  the best I could was just to keep an eye on the sheep.

There was someone doing quite a lot of lying down in the story from Kings this morning  – and that was the prophet Elijah. He was lying down under a broom tree disconsolate, frightened and depressed. How had he ended up there?

Well you probably know the story.

Israel at the time was being ruled by one of the kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord – King Ahab married to the infamous Jezebel.

For three years Jezebel had been encouraging the people to worship the Baals.

But there had been a long time of drought. The grass was withered, plants has died there was almost nothing left to eat. And into this scenario walks the prophet Elijah. He is one prophet against 450 prophets of Baal and he comes with a challenge- lets put the Baals to the test.

They set up two altars one to the Baals and one to the God of Israel. All day the prophets call on their gods to bring down fire on their altar but by evening nothing has happened. It is Elijah’s turn and in spite of dousing the whole thing in water God’s fire comes down and burns the sacrifice, the altar and even dries up the water. The drought is ended, the false prophets are slaughtered, a great victory.

When Jezebel hears about it all she hits the warpath, threatening Elijah with all sorts and he becomes so terrified of her he takes himself off, heading for Mt Horeb (Sinai ) after a days journey he sits down under a broom tree and prepares to die.. the great prophet who has just seen a huge miracle.

Wouldn’t you think that having experienced the power of God he would be full of courage, full of praise. Surely if God could bring down fire he could also protect Elijah.

But no maybe the little doubts had begun to creep in. Maybe it wasn’t a miracle maybe it was just a flash of lightening – after all it had been followed by rain, perhaps God wasn’t so powerful, perhaps God didn’t really care about him, perhaps God didn’t really love him or the people after all.

Some of us have probably been there too – had an amazing experience when our faith was so strong, we’ve seen God work, seen him provide for us then something happens, the doubts creep in, things don’t seem quite so good after all. We start to worry, we start to look around us at our situation gradually our faith fades away and we end up lying under our own broom tree. We’re a bit like the sheep, we’ve got ourselves stuck and we can’t put things right. We can’t roll over and get back on our feet again.

But just as I was keeping an eye on the sheep God is keeping his eye on us.

He might let us lie under our broom trees for a while, but he is watching.

Elijah has decided to travel to mount Horeb – God didn’t tell him to go but sometimes it seems God understands that we have to do what we have to do. He lets us go along a path we have chosen but stays close by. God provides food for him, cakes and some water.

When Elijah finally arrives after 40 days God  finally asks him, “What are you doing here?” What are you doing here?

Elijah had what may have been a well-rehearsed reply, if not an answer. “I’m the only one left to stand for you, the people are faithless, and the king’s people are hunting me down to kill me!”  It was an answer born of frustration, weariness, and fear. “I alone am left and they are seeking my life to take it away.”

God tells Elijah to stand on the mountain before the Lord.

Elijah appears not to move toward God at first. He stays put in his spot deep in the cave when winds and earthquakes and fires signaling God’s presence shake and light up the mountain. Then the drama ceases and there is the  “sound of sheer silence.” That’s when Elijah moves to the cave’s mouth wrapping his mantle about him.

And then the same question comes again, “What are you doing here Elijah?” Elijah gave exactly the same response as before.

But this time God says to him. “I have work for you to do and places to go. Go to Damascus, and anoint Hazael as king. Then come back to Israel, and anoint Jehu. Then find Elisha, and anoint him as your replacement.

Elijah is given space and time to come to God at his own pace.

God didn’t rush him he kept an eye on him he sustained him.

Sometimes like Elijah we need to have some time out.

Sometimes, we get overwhelmed. Sometimes life is just too hard for us.Things happen. This week the news of the murder of Jo Cox, coming after the massacre in Orlando made us sick to the stomach.

The poet John Donne wrote  “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind”.  I certainly felt diminished this week. This is not the kind of world I want.

And we cannot forget the thousand hidden tragedies of this week – refugees still dying in the Mediterranean, conflict in countries that never make the news, climate change squeezing the life from poor communities. All causes Jo fought for.

And we may feel absolutely ,  like giving up going to lie down under our broom tree, disconsolate, anxious, depressed. Where is God in all this?

Brendan Cox said of his wife: “Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life ….and what she would want is that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous.”

We have to fight against the poison that isolates us, demonises others, and diminishes us all.

if we make decisions on the basis of what is best for me, if we say me first, if we use language which paints others as a threat or as lesser humans we are all weaker.  We fail to embrace God’s invitation to love and be loved, to celebrate our full potential as humans made in God’s image.

Desmond Tutu said “We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness.”

In our political decision-making we are called not to weigh up our own self interest, but to love our neighbour. The Good Samaritan took risks, his care for the injured man was costly to himself.  But he loved his neighbour, who might be seen by others to be his enemy.

Whichever way we vote this week it must be because we believe the outcome will be the best way to love our neighbour.

Our story from the gospel shows another deranged man.

It’s another scene of noise and chaos, blood and violence.

Jesus reaches into the heart of the agonised man who has no control over what is happening to him. He reaches inside him casting out all the turmoil all the exhaustion all the grief.

Jesus reached out to the madman in the confusion of his thoughts in the shouting, screaming and the drama.

God is still reaching out into our violent, chaotic,  world.

His question to us – What are you doing here? There is work to be done.

And what about the sheep what happened to her ? Well after a while I decided to do something, managed to get into the field and rolled her over. Sometimes we too just need a big shove.

Knickerbocker Glory

One of my favourite ice cream treats is a knickerbocker glory – I find them very hard to resist especially on a hot summers day at the seaside.
First I love the appearance all o
f those different layers. Then I love the surprise as you gradually burrow into it with those especially long spoons and get all the different flavours. It is truly glorious! There are many glorious things in the world – no less beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
My friends have all been talking about sunrises lately.
I seemed to keep missing them and had just assumed I was getting up too late until I realised that my view of the sunrise is actually mostly veiled by the house next door.

I have called you by name

Isaiah 43.1-7
Luke 3.15-17,21,22
The other day I had an appointment for a check up at the dentist. I went along but the receptionist couldn’t find it – I’d made a mistake it was not January 4th but April 4th. So I was quite relieved.
Like most people I don’t like going to the dentist even if it’s just for a check up but there is one thing I do like about the dentist in Downham Market – the one in the High Street, Instead of sitting and waiting for a number to come up on a screen the dentist himself comes into the waiting room and calls your name, it makes the whole experience more pleasant. And I do have to say the dentist I have at the moment is the best I have ever had!

Of course if he saw me in the street he probably wouldn’t recognise me and I wouldn’t expect him to remember my name.

We’ve all been in the situation where we bump into someone we’ve met before and we just can’t remember what their name is. I try all sorts of things and one thing that works best is if I associate them with someone else who has the same name. So if i meet an new Carol I make a picture of them with Carol NL if it’s Wendy, – with our Wendy, Nick and John and so on….

Six Miles to Bethlehem

“The Journey of the Magi” (1894) by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French painter and illustrator, 1836-1902), oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Ephesians 3: 1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

I don’t know about  you but I’m not very good at recognising the constellations. I can find the Great Bear and the Plough but apart from that, I don’t really have a clue.

But thinking about the star the wise men followed made me want to know more. So I downloaded a couple of apps on my phone which tell you exactly what you are looking at. All I need now is a clear sky!

The people who lived 2000 years ago knew a lot more about the stars than most of us do now. They used the stars to find their way before the days of sextants and compasses. And they also believed that important events on earth were reflected in the heavens and also the other way around that changes in the night sky predicted important happenings on earth.

So what was the star of Bethlehem? Modern day astronomers have come up with different possibilities, including a comet, a nova, a supernova, and a conjunction of planets.

Where is God?

Job 23:1-17 Mark 10: 17-31

Sell all you have and give to the poor – there’s a challenge. And we could consider that this morning.
What did Jesus mean? How does that apply to us? The teaching that wealth places a barrier between us and God, and that we would do well to get rid of as many of our material goods as possible?

In our OT reading there is another rich man, at least a man who started out rich – Job he had livestock, a large family, wealth, riches. Now he didn’t give away his wealth, he had it taken away from him.

One man had a choice and one man wasn’t given a choice.

What Happened to the Mustard Seed?

Mark4 :26-34

Last week someone came up to me in church thanked me for a nice service and then said – What a shame more people aren’t here – I think there were about 10 of us. This is said over and over again, especially in rural churches.  We struggle to keep the lights on, the church heated the insurance paid, and let’s not even begin on the Parish Share and we’re all getting older who is going to take over when we’re past it and so on.. doom and gloom.

Crazy but True

Mark 3:20-35

I don’t know about you but sometimes I think about what I believe and know it is a crazy story.  A man appears on earth, claiming to be the Son of God . He is said to have gone about healing people and teaching them wonderful things but in the end he is put on cross and killed. His followers then start saying he has come alive again, and that anyone, just by believing in him and confessing their sins can live forever. Doesn’t that sound like an unbelievable story? You just couldn’t make it up!

No Christmas , No Easter

Acts 2:1-21

Most people today even if they don’t go to church have a rough idea about the meaning of Christmas, If you ask the man in the street what it was all about, you might hear the words Bethlehem, shepherds, baby Jesus. Again if we ask people what Easter is all about, once we get past the fluffy chicks, rabbits and Easter eggs we might here the word cross or crucifixion, Good Friday or tomb, maybe even Resurrection.

When it comes to the day we celebrate today Pentecost I don’t think many people would have an answer. Even people who go to church may not know the significance of today. Yet Pentecost is  just as important as Easter and Christmas. Without the day of Pentecost the story of this strange young man from Galilee who told stories and went about healing people followed by a rag taggled mob of followers would simply have died. Without Pentecost we would  not be celebrating Christmas or Easter.

Questions

Well it’s been an eventful week, beginning with the royal baby – endless speculaiton about when she would be born, then when finally the baby did arrive the discussion continued about what she would be called.
Will the royal baby girl be named Alice, Diana, Elizabeth, one of the most royal names of all — or maybe  Alexandra, Charlotte or even Victoria? But of course after a little while all the speculation and guessing came to and end as the news was released that it was Charlotte, Elizabeth, Diana.

But no sooner was that all over when all the speculation started in avengence again as the general election hove into view and the political pundits tried to envisage every single outcome and what it might mean – A hung parliament, a Labour victory the SNP holding the balance of power, alliances here, pacts their. Everyone hedging their bets.
And this carried on into the night, after the polls had closed. Was the exit poll wrong? What about the other polls etc etc. speculation, questions, arguments, lots of interaction interspersed with some quite sensible comments of well let’s just wait and see we will know in a few hours.
On Friday we celebrated the 70th anniversary of VE day and thought about the many who had lost their lives in the second world war.