Pentecost 25 year C 07 Sermon
Our world... is full of people
in danger of oppression poverty and violence...even here in the Upper Clutha...just as it was for the first century worshippers... Jesus is teaching in the synagogue
Unrolling the scroll of Isaiah… Jesus reads his Nazareth manifesto
Slide words‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor. to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed…’
When the world is filled… with danger and injustice…Jesus comes...
with saving judgments for all of us.
Through Jesus... God shines the light... of justice and truth...on our world...
and the outcome is surprising ... then and today... religious and political authorities... often turn out to be the targets... of his judgment... while outcasts...
and so called sinners... often turn out...
to have more faith and goodness...than anyone expected.
And I believe... Jesus and his Spirit within us...is saving the world right now... saving planet earth... and all life on it. Because unfortunately...left to ourselves...
un-judged, un-forgiven, and un-taught... we will certainly destroy this planet...and its creatures.
This is self imposed danger... the world is in...
and I don’t believe anyone else but Jesus
with his message of Shalom... can rescue it.
It has always been that way.
When we join in God’s cause...
The cause revealed in Jesus’ Nazareth Manifesto...
when we become active disciples of Jesus...
we join in the cause... of saving the world.
Biblically, the word (yaw-shah' yasha is a verb meaning to save or rescue or free or comfort
The word tesh-oo-aw' tshuw`ah is a noun… meaning salvation… rescue safety deliverance, help, or victory.
Jesus name Yeshua is the short form of a name meaning "Yahweh is salvation’ Saviour (moshiah)
In his book A Generous Orthodoxy... which I’ve been liberally quoting......Brian McLaren reminds us that in the Bible the word save generally means to get out of trouble.
The trouble to be saved from could be sickness...war...political conflict oppression, poverty, imprisonment or any kind of danger or evil.
Throughout the Bible, God rescues the poor and the oppressed... Slide word appear as text indicates by judging...by bringing truth and justice...
into our deceive and broken world.
And if we are the ones who’ve done wrong...
if we are... the exploiters and the abusers...then God saves us... by judging and [reveal] forgiving us.
God judges the harm we do... by naming it for what it is... God begins to save us... by penetrating our denial and delusion... And when we realise the harm we’ve done...when we’re sorry... God carries our salvation even further... by forgiving us. You see there is no true salvation...
without judgment and forgiveness. [pause]
Another way God saves... is by [reveal]
teaching and revealing the way of Shalom ...
and ultimately in Jesus... God invites us...in person...
to join in his cause for the salvation of the world...
To say that Jesus is Saviour... is to say that in Jesus God is getting involved... as saviour...
in all these ways...in judging – by naming harm as harm and evil as evil...in forgiving – by breaking the vicious cycle of hurt and revenge... and making reconciliation possible. And in Jesus teaching – God is showing us the way to continue the work of salvation....
Through parable and proverb but most powerfully through the drama of his life death and resurrection... Jesus exposes things... to be what they really are – and brings a saving judgment with forgiveness... bringing justice with mercy....to all who will accept it.
To follow the saviour of the world...
is to join in God’s cause... of restoring rescuing and healing the whole world...to participate in this saving community as the body of Christ... is our task...
our mission right here in the Upper Clutha.
I think it’s fair to say that we see ourselves as a missional church...it’s a description coined in 1998...to get over peoples embarrassment with the term missionary ....which is too often associated with Christian colonialism... exporting and imposing European culture... right along with the gospel of Jesus.
When we say we’re a missional church we mean we want to be and make followers of Jesus... who can join in God’s cause for the good of the whole community... and the world...not just ourselves.
You see Christians aren’t the end users of the gospel. It’s not all about us or what’s in it for us...
Those in the community who want to become Christians are welcome... and those who don’t... well we love and serve them...joining God... in seeking their good... their blessing... and their shalom.
In this way right here in the Upper Clutha... we’re all missionaries... And from time to time... some of us are called to leave... the comfort of mission in our own neighbourhood...when God challenges us... to set out... across the borders of culture and language.
And this morning we’re privileged to have such a missionary among us...
Darfur slide
Some of you may remember my sermon on the genocide in Darfur... how thousands of people have been made homeless... from being forced off land now used for oil exploration. How racism and greed are responsible for serious oppression. How people are killed for their faith?
Africa map slide
Well, our guest today Andrew Buxton... from Cromwell...a true son of Otago... is about to answer a call to mission... to rebuilding southern Sudan...
after 30 years of civil war.
SIM slide
There he will serve the oromo and uduk people through SIM – Serving in Mission – SIM is a network of God's people passionate about the Gospel…called to compassionate, holistic service in this broken world
Water tank slide
Andrew has already served with SIM in Ethiopia.
Mud slide
By profession he’s an engineer but by vocation he’s a servant of Africa in the name of Jesus.
Welding slide
Andrew will use his engineering skills to create a base for missionaries in the city of Malakil.
Sudanese slide
To be effective he’ll have to learn the language and culture of the people and worship the local church.
Children’s slide
Andrew, what motivates you to leave the local mission field for the overseas one?
Where do you see as the difference?
How do you see yourself working for the good of the people in southern Sudan.
What are you giving up?
May we pray for you?
Our world... is full of people
in danger of oppression poverty and violence...even here in the Upper Clutha...just as it was for the first century worshippers... Jesus is teaching in the synagogue
Unrolling the scroll of Isaiah… Jesus reads his Nazareth manifesto
Slide words‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor. to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed…’
When the world is filled… with danger and injustice…Jesus comes...
with saving judgments for all of us.
Through Jesus... God shines the light... of justice and truth...on our world...
and the outcome is surprising ... then and today... religious and political authorities... often turn out to be the targets... of his judgment... while outcasts...
and so called sinners... often turn out...
to have more faith and goodness...than anyone expected.
And I believe... Jesus and his Spirit within us...is saving the world right now... saving planet earth... and all life on it. Because unfortunately...left to ourselves...
un-judged, un-forgiven, and un-taught... we will certainly destroy this planet...and its creatures.
This is self imposed danger... the world is in...
and I don’t believe anyone else but Jesus
with his message of Shalom... can rescue it.
It has always been that way.
When we join in God’s cause...
The cause revealed in Jesus’ Nazareth Manifesto...
when we become active disciples of Jesus...
we join in the cause... of saving the world.
Biblically, the word (yaw-shah' yasha is a verb meaning to save or rescue or free or comfort
The word tesh-oo-aw' tshuw`ah is a noun… meaning salvation… rescue safety deliverance, help, or victory.
Jesus name Yeshua is the short form of a name meaning "Yahweh is salvation’ Saviour (moshiah)
In his book A Generous Orthodoxy... which I’ve been liberally quoting......Brian McLaren reminds us that in the Bible the word save generally means to get out of trouble.
The trouble to be saved from could be sickness...war...political conflict oppression, poverty, imprisonment or any kind of danger or evil.
Throughout the Bible, God rescues the poor and the oppressed... Slide word appear as text indicates by judging...by bringing truth and justice...
into our deceive and broken world.
And if we are the ones who’ve done wrong...
if we are... the exploiters and the abusers...then God saves us... by judging and [reveal] forgiving us.
God judges the harm we do... by naming it for what it is... God begins to save us... by penetrating our denial and delusion... And when we realise the harm we’ve done...when we’re sorry... God carries our salvation even further... by forgiving us. You see there is no true salvation...
without judgment and forgiveness. [pause]
Another way God saves... is by [reveal]
teaching and revealing the way of Shalom ...
and ultimately in Jesus... God invites us...in person...
to join in his cause for the salvation of the world...
To say that Jesus is Saviour... is to say that in Jesus God is getting involved... as saviour...
in all these ways...in judging – by naming harm as harm and evil as evil...in forgiving – by breaking the vicious cycle of hurt and revenge... and making reconciliation possible. And in Jesus teaching – God is showing us the way to continue the work of salvation....
Through parable and proverb but most powerfully through the drama of his life death and resurrection... Jesus exposes things... to be what they really are – and brings a saving judgment with forgiveness... bringing justice with mercy....to all who will accept it.
To follow the saviour of the world...
is to join in God’s cause... of restoring rescuing and healing the whole world...to participate in this saving community as the body of Christ... is our task...
our mission right here in the Upper Clutha.
I think it’s fair to say that we see ourselves as a missional church...it’s a description coined in 1998...to get over peoples embarrassment with the term missionary ....which is too often associated with Christian colonialism... exporting and imposing European culture... right along with the gospel of Jesus.
When we say we’re a missional church we mean we want to be and make followers of Jesus... who can join in God’s cause for the good of the whole community... and the world...not just ourselves.
You see Christians aren’t the end users of the gospel. It’s not all about us or what’s in it for us...
Those in the community who want to become Christians are welcome... and those who don’t... well we love and serve them...joining God... in seeking their good... their blessing... and their shalom.
In this way right here in the Upper Clutha... we’re all missionaries... And from time to time... some of us are called to leave... the comfort of mission in our own neighbourhood...when God challenges us... to set out... across the borders of culture and language.
And this morning we’re privileged to have such a missionary among us...
Darfur slide
Some of you may remember my sermon on the genocide in Darfur... how thousands of people have been made homeless... from being forced off land now used for oil exploration. How racism and greed are responsible for serious oppression. How people are killed for their faith?
Africa map slide
Well, our guest today Andrew Buxton... from Cromwell...a true son of Otago... is about to answer a call to mission... to rebuilding southern Sudan...
after 30 years of civil war.
SIM slide
There he will serve the oromo and uduk people through SIM – Serving in Mission – SIM is a network of God's people passionate about the Gospel…called to compassionate, holistic service in this broken world
Water tank slide
Andrew has already served with SIM in Ethiopia.
Mud slide
By profession he’s an engineer but by vocation he’s a servant of Africa in the name of Jesus.
Welding slide
Andrew will use his engineering skills to create a base for missionaries in the city of Malakil.
Sudanese slide
To be effective he’ll have to learn the language and culture of the people and worship the local church.
Children’s slide
Andrew, what motivates you to leave the local mission field for the overseas one?
Where do you see as the difference?
How do you see yourself working for the good of the people in southern Sudan.
What are you giving up?
May we pray for you?
