open pulpit

Apologies for the title, but that’s what I got when I read today’s Gospel. (Lk 12:13-21)

It’s the parable of the rich fool. I’m reminded of a woman I once met whose sole ambition was to own a second sewing machine. Seems quite a small desire on the surface, but the reality was she wanted to start a small sweat shop, and exploit someone else so that her standard of living would be better.

To be honest this is a hard one isn’t it?

And it was no easier in Jesus’ day. Sometimes when I look at some of the rich evangelists, ministers and other men and women of God, I feel sick to my stomach. There is no need and certainly no justification for living a life of luxury, owning several homes, jaccuzis, five star hotel requests etc etc, but then I’m convicted of envy too. When push comes to shove would I like many of the comforts they have? Of course I would. Do I need them? No, I don’t!

So what then is the moral of today’s teaching. What is it that God wants you and I to take away from it? It’s simple really -the by line of the parable could read. Stop taking matters into your own hands. Trust in God.

And while I might not be a rich farmer and have excess to store for tomorrow, the by line of the parable hits home.  All too often I take things into my own hands - rather than resting on God’s promises.

I’ve been singing Don Moen’s song God will make a way over and over in my head this week. You see He has promised to make a way for us, when there seems to be no other way - but it’s the second part of that equation that we miss. Am I still futilely trying to be self sufficient, putting my faith in a system or somone else, or am I putting all of my trust in God? He says there is always enough. Do I have faith in Him and His promises, or do I rake up extra manna just in case, or like the foolish wise man try to put enough aside for a rainy day?

I’m not advocating we should be bad stewards - but I so long to have a budget of faith personally, I long to have more of a vision to reach out to those who have less than I do, no longer fearful that tomorrow I won’t have enough for myself.  Don’t you?  I want to build up a store of good things for God - as Heidi Baker puts it - arrive at heaven with more than one shrivelled up grape in my hand!

July 29, 2007 [Green]
Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
Colossians 2:6-19
Luke 11:1-13

I was away on a kids’ camp this week, so didn’t prepare anything to write here.

The Gospel reading today is about prayer, and what I will do is encourage you to go off and pray with faith, believing in God to fulfil His promises to you.

Next week’s lectionary readings are:

August 5, 2007 [Green]
Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
Hosea 11:1-11
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21

July 22, 2007 [Green]
Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

I am like an olive tree, flourishing in the house of God
I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever

(ps 52:6)

When I read this - I read it as I am like an olive tree flourishing in God’s unfailing love. I’d completely missed the bit about the house of God! And I think that’s significant. When we with our western eyes and mindsets see the phrase house of God - we think of church as we know it - and I’m convinced that God is breaking out of the box we’ve tried so hard to stick and confine Him in!

Yet in Col 1:18 we are reminded that Jesus is in the church, actually He is its head. We know that, but we forget it too.

Last autumn I heard a teaching which reminded me of this in no uncertain terms. A pastor was breaking his gut to build the church, spending 60 hours or more at work for God, while his wife and three very young kids were alone and in effect husband/fatherless. The pastor had the best of intentions and prayed hard for God to bless and protect his family - but then heard God say

I promised I would build my church. You promised you would honour and love your wife and your family.

Ouch! It was a wake up call not to put church first, but God first. And it’s all so easy to get that wrong. I know I’ve been there, done that, and God does not honour it one bit. We can trust Him to build His church, and all we need to do is to trust Him, to keep in step with the spirit (Gal 5) and step out when He tells us to.

And that dear friends is what I believe the Gospel story of Mary and Martha is all about. It’s not about condemning Martha for being busy (though I do think God does want to adjust her attitude) it’s about getting to that place of trusting God which only comes from spending time with Him.

IMHO that time with Him is not time in church - it’s time with Him throughout the rest of the week. It’s the time when we worship Him alone, when we pray together with family and friends, most of all it’s when we share what He’s doing in our lives and taking the time to listen to what He’s up to in the lives of those we love (and those we find it difficult to love too).

Mary chose the better part because she took time to focus on Jesus. She wasn’t skimping her duties or leaving it all to Martha (no matter if that’s what Martha thought and felt) it was about her getting her priorities right. Jesus came first!

Mary was living out Ps 52. She was becoming that flourishing olive tree rooted deeply in Jesus and that dear friends is what we are called to be too - a flourishing olive tree. It’s time to reclaim our first love -Jesus because if we seek first His kingdom everything else will fall into place too.

Praise God!

July 15, 2007 [Green]
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Oh and for my friend who asked what does the green mean? It’s the liturgical colour for this season - ordinary time - which lasts a long time until Advent.

July 22, 2007 [Green]
Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

July 8, 2007 [Green]
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
2 Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30
Galatians 6:1-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Ever felt that life is horrible, unfair, nasty? Ever felt that you just want it to be over - that you want to be raptured now? I have and it’s pretty ghastly!

Ps 30 is the antedote for a lot of the negativity.

I love the imagery in it. It talks of a God who hauls us out of the depths - the deepest, darkest, nastiest point of dispair.  It talks of a God who brings us - you and me - up from the grave.

We are resurrection people. And although it’ s not always easy to live life it , and at times we do get pulled down by our circumstances  and obstacles that are thrown in our way - Jesus rescued us from the grave.  Just as He called Lazerus out - He calls us out.

And what then? Ps 30 tells us that His favour lasts a lifetime.

God loves us. He loves you and He loves me. He loves us as we are … and that includes when we weep and are in dispair, as well as when the rejoicing comes in the morning. More than that, this psalm proclaims the reality that we don’t always see or feel at the time - and that is that God has clothed us in joy, has turned our wailing and mourning into dancing - so that our hearts may sing to Him and not be silent.

Sing out to Him today - let your praise rip - because He is worth it!

I’ve been debating for a long time what to do with open pulpit - since I am no longer a local preacher or candidate for ordination in our local church, which in effect means I’m not preaching anymore - sigh!

Anyway I’ve made a decision at long last.

I’m going to look at the lectionary (which our local church has never used) each week and see what God says to me. As I said this is mostly for me … but I’d appreciate your input should you want to share something. I’ll also cross post over at intotheBible for now … since we are on summer hiatus there it seems.

This coming week the readings are:

July 8, 2007 [Green]
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
2 Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30
Galatians 6:1-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

stay tuned for some thoughts … oh, and I’ll keep them short!

… until then be blessed

I re-read John 1 today.

These are some thoughts about John the Baptist.

He was in the desert when God’s word of direction came. He was ready and waiting.

He had no power in the Jewish religious or political systems of the day, yet he spoke with authority, and as people listened they turned from their sins.

He always pointed to the one who would come, Jesus! And then he allowed his own disciples (like Andrew) to desert him and follow Jesus.

I want to be more like him, don’t you?

Raised from the dead - a good title for the resurrection of this blog don’t you think?

I haven’t been preaching for some time - and as it’s unlikely that I will be doing so again (at least in my local church for the foreseeable future), I decided to publish some thoughts on the Gospel reading of last Sunday.

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country

I have to confess that I’d really forgotten that Jesus had indeed resurrected this son up from death. We make a lot of Jesus’ raising of Lazereth from the tomb, and His raising of Jairus’ daughter, don’t we? But somehow, at least for me, this ‘little’ story had slipped through the gap, yet it is the first account of Jesus raising someone from the dead.

You see it isn’t a parable. Jesus didn’t tell “a story” to help us get closer to God. This is an account of a miracle. It was witnessed by people, and the news spread. The boy was dead. He was being carried out of the town - for burial. Then Jesus touched the coffin, spoke and the boy sat up, and Jesus gave the boy back to his mother.

It’s dramatic and it’s faith building.

So then why had I forgotten it?

Maybe it’s because as Christians maybe we have become a bit glib about this. Our faith tells us that we too will be raised up on the last day and restored to God. In a way what happened here is a picture of that, but it’s also much more - or at least should be. Maybe it’s also that we don’t quite believe it, because we don’t see these kind of miracles nowadays, at least not usually.

Why did he do it?

Was it so that people would be filled with awe and praise God? Maybe. But I think that this was also a case of Jesus seeing the mother, a widow, and feeling her grief, “don’t cry” and restoring the son to his mother. Yet if that is the case (and I think it is) then why is it that God does not intervene more often today- either directly or through his church.

Jesus, while on earth, was 100% human. He gave up his deity when he was incarnated. That means He had to rely on the power of the spirit just as we do. I have no problem with that, but He then told his disciples (and by association us too) to

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.

Yet we do not see that - at least in the western church-happening very much, if at all. I mean when did you last see someone raised from the dead? I’ve never seen it happen. Yet I believe that it did happen (also in the OT) and I believe that it can - and indeed should - happen today too.

Many preachers (and there’s been a discussion of this over at revgals) are reluctant to preach this message, because they sympathise with the people for whom God has not answered similar prayers. I can identify with that. It was very hard for me to understand why God did not heal my god-daughter who died two years ago, aged 7. It is very hard for me to understand why God hasn’t answered other prayers for healing too, or why He seems to show favouritism towards others. But to fail to look at the account here and to preach it - because it might make me and others feel uncomfortable - is, IMHO, to miss the point.

The widow’s son was NOT the only son to have died. It happened all the time - yes even only sons of other widows -Yet Jesus raised him up. Nothing is said of the mother’s faith - and I suspect that’s because it’s irrelevant to the story - nothing is said of how other mothers felt - we only know that Jesus’ heart went out to her (He was filled with compassion) and because of that He did the miraculous. He raised the boy up.

cross posted over at intothebible.

I preached last Sunday in Tallinn. My main text was that of Jesus healing the paralysed man because he saw the faith of the man’s friends.

I was very excited when the senior pastor shared his thoughts after their week of prayer and fasting - that the Russian Congregation will usethis year of jubilee (they turn 50 in Feb) to equip and release members into all kinds of lay ministry - in church and also connecting church to the world ‘out there’  - he linked it to the scripture of having faith for our friends, neighbours and families.

I’m not preaching right now and won’t be again for the forseeable future.

Yet my love for scripture hasn’t diminished so I’m wondering what to do with this part of the heavenly train.

Hopefully some inspiration / revelation will come … until then … be blessed.