The fruit of the harvest is Shalom

Easter 4 year C Sermon Harvest Celebration
I’ve just invented a new sin: ‘self-sufficient mindless unrepentant gloating’. Or SMUG for short.

Actually I didn’t invent it – the serpent in the Garden of Eden invented it... only back then it was called pride. But probably today... we recognise it as smug or smugness.

You remember how pride... tripped up Adam and Eve. They thought they were self sufficient and smart enough to be just like God.

Yup. self-sufficient mindless unrepentant gloating.

Oh I can be a very smug sinner I can. Whenever I go to Queenstown... I commit the sin of smugness that I live in Wanaka. Have any of you ever committed that sin. Hmmm.

And I’m particularly good at accusing other people... of the sin of smugness. Especially those who are thinner than I am.

Today as we sit here as the people of God in this place as we look out across this glorious vineyard... toward our beautiful lake... and beyond to our majestic mountains... we look around... and see smiling healthy.... mostly very happy people.

And it seems to me we have two choices at a time like this; we can indulge in the sin of smugness... over how great we are for choosing this place to live...
or we can allow ourselves to be overcome with gratitude... at the grace of God.

We can kick back and shine the spotlight on our own accomplishments... or we can fall to our knees before the Lord of the Harvest... overwhelmed by how much God has blessed us... in spite of all our mistakes... in spite of the pain we’ve inflicted on ourselves and others by our choices.

Overwhelmed with awe and gratitude that...
God loves us anyway... gob smacked... that over and over... we are forgiven... and over and over and over...Jesus still calls us...to be workers in the vineyard...to be bearers of grace for others. [pause]

When and if we choose to shine the spotlight on ourselves and indulge in smugness... in that moment we forget whose garden we’re in. We forget who owns the vineyard. We forget the vine.

Severed from the vine we wither. And even though we are beautiful and golden...we dry up and flutter to the ground like frost touched grape leaves disconnected from the sap of the vine. I think that’s why Jesus reminds his friends that he is the vine and we are the branches and apart from him we can do nothing. We are not self-sufficient.

And any hint of smugness... threatens the progress of the kingdom of God...by creating the illusion that the work of the kingdom has already been completed.

Smug people are deaf to Jesus call...to carry on his work... and blind to the oppression and suffering that continues in our community and in our world.

Smug people believe... that because they’re comfortable... what needs to be done... to bring about the restoration of all things to God... has already been done.

In Jesus day the Pharisees had a very bad case of smugness. If you were suffering from some terrible skin condition... or a withered hand...or were a pagan and a gentile...then clearly you were unclean. The Pharisees were certain that their status in the synagogues... their power and their religious authority ...came from their adherence to the letter of the law.

They didn’t understand grace. They didn’t understand... that Jesus good news was for everyone...pagan gentiles... tax collectors and sinners. Were they sitting with us on this hillside at harvest time they’d be looking pretty smug I think.

And they were there... amongst the crowd... on that hillside...where Jesus chose... to preach his most famous sermon...A sermon that expresses...
everything we need to know... about what the harvest will look like... Everything we need to know about following the Lord of the Harvest.

In Jesus sermon on the mount we find the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer and the commands to "resist not evil" and "turn the other cheek", as well as Jesus' reminder of basis for all human rights – the Golden Rule –
do unto others as you would have others do unto you. And the absolute anti-smugness commandment of all time: "judge not, lest ye be judged." Every thing it means to be a Christian... a follower of Jesus – the Lord of the harvest. [pause]

You know it’s dangerous to use the word Christian as an adjective... to describe people or music or actions as Christian. The word Christian is a noun...a person is a Christian a follower of Jesus Christ...
the who entered our dimension of time and space...the one annointed to reveal God’s way to human kind.

When we take Jesus teaching on that hillside into our hearts and minds and lives... we we choose to be the branches of his vine...and any time we’re tempted toward the sin of smugness we will remember his words describing the citizens of the kingdom of God.

"Blessed are those who are not smug for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are those who don’t think they’re God almighty for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. And blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God.
Jesus began the work of restoring all of broken and fallen creation to God…and Jesus is trying to tell us. You see what the harvest looks like…What its fruit looks like…it looks like Shalom. Its citizens bear the fruit of the harvest it’s citizens bring Shalom…And Shalom isn’t simply peace…Shalom is the conditions that create peace and wholeness for every person every creature in God’s creation… justice, health, well being, security…and until these conditions prevail in all the world… the work of Jesus is not yet done.

Our ability to bring about this kind of radical transformation of the conditions of life...our ability to accomplish anything of this kind is rooted in our relationship with Jesus. In his words it is the metaphor of the branches drawing life from the true vine. [pause]

A few days after his death when his friends were cowering in fear behind locked doors... Jesus appeared and stood among them and said these words to them in the Aramaic language – Shalom , minokhoon… "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. His friends were overjoyed Again Jesus said, Shalom , minokhoon… May Shalom be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. [Pause]

There in that room behind locked doors and on that sunny hillside Jesus showed us how to live and how to pray... to bring about the God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. His Shalom must go with us if we are to be his followers – we are the ones who must bring justice and healing and wholeness – not condemnation and death – to our communities and to the world.

There is no fudging this. No room no time for smugness. No time to convert other people to smugness There is work to be done and Jesus has sent us to do it.

Empowered by the Spirit... let us commit to the work Jesus calls us to do the work of bringing well-being; and harmony where to our families our community and the world. The fruit of this will be the shalom of God. Why? Because those who go out to give it and those who receive it sit at the same table, and eat the same food.

Those who are sent and those who receive
all participate in the harvest. And that’s how the kingdom of God progresses until God is all in all.

So let us pray together not in smugness but in deep deep gratitude for our sacred commission... let us each pray way as is our own custom... the prayer Jesus taught his followers to pray so long ago on another hillside.

Earth Day Sermon

Footprints in the sand

Do you remember that grey morning on the beach? How we knelt down on the wet sand...
and just looked at his footprints.

When the fishermen had all gone... and Jesus had disappeared again... and we had this precious imprint...where he’d stood on the beach waving us in and feeding us.

Remember how we could still smell the faint smokiness of cooking fish and burning wood.

I remember how you lay down on the sand...
and pressed your cheek... into his footprint. How you closed your eyes and smiled. It reminded me of... how it feels to brush against the softness of our baby’s face.

And I could see you were caught...
in a moment of wonder and adoration... even worship. And I understood. The very weight of resurrection had pressed into the earth...
the sand...the beach...Jesus footprint...[pause]

We’d watched from our own boat... as he built his fire and cooked his fish. We saw him smile...
when he noticed how high the other boat rode on the water... empty and floating light...from a nights futile fishing. And we heard how he’d shouted to those Galileans... to have another go... before coming in.

For some reason I’ll never understand...they actually listened to him. And wham their nets were full of fish.

And remember how everyone in our boat and theirs suddenly realised... who it actually was...
shouting at us from the beach. One guy was so glad to see him...he jumped into the icy water
and swam ashore. [pause]

And when we piled off our boats and onto the beach Jesus even invited us to eat with him...to share his breakfast of bread and fish.

Everyone had heard how the famous rabbi from Nazareth, Jesus bar Joseph... had been executed by the Romans. We’d been in Jerusalem for the Passover too. And I’d say it was... flying in the face of death... for his followers to hail Jesus as Lord... in public.

Many of us had hoped.. he was the messiah...
who’d save us from the Romans...and restore Israel to her rightful place above all nations.
But the Romans had snuffed out that hope...
on one of their famous crosses.

But there had been rumours... right throughout the countryside... that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead. And now as the sun rose over the
sand dunes... there we were...looking right at Jesus... and he was asking us sit down in the sand round his fire... and eat breakfast. [pause]

After we’d filled ourselves up on his bread and fish... Jesus had this... incredibly strange conversation...
with the guy who’d jumped out of the boat earlier on. And the gossip was this... Peter guy had...
jumped ship before...in Jerusalem when Jesus was arrested.

They say he denied knowing Jesus... three times.
And maybe that had something to do... with the grilling Jesus gave him after breakfast.

"Simon son of John, Jesus asks him...
do you truly love me more than these?" And I’m thinking...more than these what?
And this guy Peter says “Yes, Lord, you know I love you."
Well then Jesus said,
"Feed my lambs."

And again Jesus says, "Simon son of John,
do you truly love me?"
"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Peter says again.
and Jesus says,
"Take care of my sheep."

And a third time Jesus asks him, "Simon son of John,
do you love me?" [pause]
You could tell Peter’s feelings were hurt... because it was no coincidence Jesus asks him
three times... do you love me?

And with a heavy sigh Peter says again "Lord, you know all things; you know I love you." And Jesus says

"Feed my sheep. Follow me!"

Chills went up my spine when I heard the familiar call of our rabbis ‘follow me’

With his three questions Jesus was forgiving this traitor...Jesus was restoring Simon Peter lifting him up from the shame of his three denials... and calling him again to be his disciple.

Peter’s turning away in the past is redeemed and in that morning on the beach... all his weakness and fear are blown away. There is work to do...
we understand that now...

if we’re to follow Jesus...then we will care for his sheep. The children of the one true God who raised this Jesus from the dead...would feed the world...
not Caesar.

Peter had fallen from grace...but now he is restored to relationship with Jesus.

And Jesus calls him to continue his work...
of restoring all creation to God.

In Jesus questions and commands on the beach...
we hear the compassion and mercy of God... extending into our worst betrayals and cowardice... our worst indifference and neglect of others and of the earth...and like Peter... again and again and again we are called to love and to serve.

This earth upon which Jesus very feet trod...
and his blood spilt...

every inch of it...is as precious as his footprint was... to those who ate with him that morning on the beach. All creation glows...with the evidence of his passing.

And yet all...creation is groaning from the impact of our passing. There’s work to do... sheep to be fed... trees to be planted... air to be cleansed... relationships to be healed.

Do we love him? Then we must care for his sheep and their pasture. God’s sheep...God’s pasture.

Every farmer knows there’ll be no sheep...
without a pasture to nourish them. Caring for creation and caring for its creatures – human or otherwise is the same activity. When we ignore this... we overlook the whole… life-supporting process… ordained by our loving God.

In Jesus… God signalled the restoration of all creation to himself. And we’re called to continue his work.

Caring for and feeding the sheep required action…then and now…our action … to stop the poisoning, the erosion, and the wastefulness…
that cause suffering and death today…
in the poorest nations… and tomorrow… for our children’s children.

Every plastic bag we refuse…
every piece of paper we re-use…every tree we plant… are part of our calling as Jesus followers.
and part of the work we do… in his name.

Jesus’… precious footprints on the beach that morning… were signs of the presence of the risen Christ. Let our ecological footprints be a sign of his presence too.

‘For in his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the sheep of his pasture, the flock under his care. And come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.’ Jesus what a beautiful name.
Psalm 95

Easter Day year C 07 Sermon
In the gloom and the fog they arrive at the tomb... believing there’s no hope. They come to pay their respects…anoint his body...their hearts broken…
and their faith destroyed…

Through puffy red eyes... the world around them looks bleak…and dark…and cold… they’re afraid to be there at the tomb...and afraid not to be....thinking the powers that be...who have death as their ultimate weapon... believing they have triumphed. [pause]

But death... does not have the last word. A shaft of light breaks through the gloom… …and everything changes

And as that third day unfolds…the undreamed of… actually happens. And over the next forty days…
Jesus walks and talks... with whole groups of sane rational people... who report how he spoke with them, ate with them...even cooked for them...how they touched him...and how they touched him. [pause]

What else could be so compelling…as to change a quivering terrified… defeated…depressed… band of mourners… …some scared stiff even to be associated with Jesus… What could be so convincing…
to turn Jesus frightened hopeless friends... into such brave enthusiastic heroes… prepared to travel any distance... and face any danger even death...
for the sake of their cause.
I absolutely believe, that nothing... but a face to face…
touch to touch encounter… with the risen Christ…
can possibly explain the change...the transformation…
of those gutless cowards in the garden of Gethsemane
what else could change them... into the heroes and martyrs of the early church

nothing else… but meeting the risen Christ… could mobilise that paralysed pack of people…who stood by powerless… allowing the soldiers to lead Jesus away…

Nothing else…could organise them... into a new and enduring movement…willing to face devouring lions, imprisonment, execution...and every other conceivable tactic… to stop them from talking. To prevent them from uttering those subversive words...Jesus is Lord... not Caesar.

And it can’t be that Jesus didn’t really die …
and somehow lapsed into a coma...and then revived.

and then despite the flogging and bleeding, the six inch nails, the spear, the smothering grave clothes…Jesus... pushes away a one tonne stone... from inside the tomb…and overcomes the healthy strapping guards outside…

and then bleeding on the path…walks or maybe crawls with pierced feet…in desperate need of medical attention…along the road to Emmaus
Nope... such a human wreck... could not inspire Jesus grieving friends... to proclaim him Lord to the ends of th earth...So I don’t think... anything else but resurrection and new life... can explain the dramatic change that happens...in the thinking and behaviour of Jesus friends.

And don’t we see this same transformation today...
in people all over the world...who through the power of the Holy Spirit...in faith and prayer and worship... encounter the risen Christ. Lives transformed...
to serve God’s purposes of love in the world. [pause]

This is the reason… still... today…
we hold on to hope…we face life with courage…
This is the reason...we must never cave in to despair…
as we watch the news from night to night…this is the reason... we never tire of standing up...
against oppression and injustice…

Jesus resurrection is the reason... we believe the worst anyone can do…will never prevent God from working out his purposes of love. [pause]

Death could not keep its hold on him. In Jesus life and death and resurrection God has accomplished what he promised Abraham...to number his family like the stars... a covenant people...not bound by ethnic or religious ties nor shackled to the Law, but a people saved and saving through faith in the risen Christ and his way of love.

People upon whose lips is the confession... that Jesus is Lord.

A service of Confirmation of Faith followed for Miles and Hugo Topping 17 and 15.

Who is your lord?

Lent 6 year C Sermon 07 Palm Sunday
what does Paul mean? ’every knee should bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.’

How subversive and dangerous can that be?
How problematic can it be… to swear allegiance to the prince of peace? Couldn’t be a problem here in our little town surely.
Well it obviously depends on where you are.

But…just listen to this little slice of drama.

KING HEROD says: What does that mean?
The Saviour of the world?

ADMIRAL TIGELLINUS responds:
It’s a title... that Caesar takes.

KING HEROD shrugs: Wherefore should I not be happy then? Caesar, who is lord of the world, who’s lord of all things...loves me well. He’s just sent me most precious gifts. And he’s promised me... to summon my enemy... the king of Cappadocia...
to Rome. It may be at Rome he will crucify him...
for he’s able to do all things that he wishes.
Verily, Caesar is lord.

Tiberius Caesar is Lord. The Jewish king Herod is happy to confess this... in the chilling dialogue from Oscar Wilde’s play Salome...
Yes it’s a drama...but it’s certainly not fiction.

The same proclamation could be heard
right throughout the Roman Empire

Caesar is lord – kyrios.

Caesar is saviour of the world –
spread the good news... that Caesar’s presence brings peace and security to the world. [pause]

Caesar is ruler of the whole world.
Caesar is a god among gods. Hail Caesar.

And the most powerful symbol of Caesar’s power... is the wooden cross... upon which trouble makers will be executed.

Caesar’s ultimate tactic for ruling...for controlling those who oppose him...Caesar’s ultimate weapon... [pause] is death.

But contrast Rome’s political rhetoric in the 1st century… with Paul’s hymn about Jesus…
written to Christians in the Roman Empire.

Make your own... the mind of Jesus Christ:
who being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…
becoming as human beings are; being in every way like a human being. And he was humbler yet, even to accepting death...death on a cross.

for this God raised him high…
and gave him the name…
which is above all other names;
so that at the name of Jesus… every knee should bow…in heaven and on earth and under the earth…and every tongue confess…
that Jesus Christ is Lord.

So you can see that for people in the 1st century…Paul’s hymn to Jesus would be a powerful parody… of Caesar’s grandiose claims. A fierce proclamation... of the victory of the one true God...
over the pagan Empire of Rome... particularly over the cult of Caesar.

And this provides a clue for us… as to why Jesus dramatic entry into Jerusalem would provoke so much fear and denial. [pause]

In the first century... when Jesus entered Jerusalem and later when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians... to all intents and purposes... Rome had conquered the world. A world whose ruler had the confidence… to claim to be a god …

You see… forty two years before Jesus was born....
Julius Caesar took the title Augustus...and gave it some mana…some extra punch
by adding "son of god."

People would hail him as Augustus Caesar son of god. Poems would be written about Caesar’s divinity... and across his vast empire... coins, monuments, temples and artworks…
would promote... the cult of Caesar.

People were encouraged to have "faith" in their "Lord," the emperor…who would preserve peace and increase wealth. And yes Roman civilization did bring stability and wealth to many.

Caesar’s spin doctors would proclaim the evangelion…the gospel of Caesar... the good news
of how Caesar had brought peace and security…
to all the world.

And right into the middle… of the greatest Empire the world had ever seen… Jesus proclaims his gospel and gives the language of Empire new meaning...

the prayer Jesus teaches his followers...
takes on subversive overtones...against the claims of Caesar.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name...thy kingdom come...thy will be done
in heaven as on earth...

And after Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ... Paul coopts the language of Empire…he takes the Greek word parousia... which described Caesar’s triumphal entry into conquered cities... and turns it into the Christians’ word…
for the triumphal return of Jesus.

For the Romans…peace was the Pax Romana... imposed by their armies. A peace…
guaranteed by Rome... fear and death and taxes…. were how Caesars peace was to be kept.
And the sign of the cross of execution
would not allow the world to forget it.

And right into the middle of this world...Jesus brings a message... of an altogether different peace...
a peace... in which violence and oppression
have no place... a peace that can’t be won by armies.

When Jesus says... my peace I give you, my peace I leave you. I do not give as the world gives.
Jesus is talking about the peace of God...the Shalom of God. A peace created only through love and by showing justice compassion and mercy.
And Jesus taught his followers... that’s how the children of God will be recognised!

Israel would have to give up its graven image…
of the warrior god who would redeem them...
who would save them by destroying their enemies. They’d have to learn that redemption through violence and revenge was a diabolical myth...a lie.

The children of God would not rid the world of evil by using the same tactics as Caesar… imposing control… through fear… and demanding a heavy price for a guarantee of protection… in the payment of tax. The motto of the Pax Romana may as well of been “Pay us off and we won’t hurt you
and we will call it peace!”

But Jesus taught and Paul after him...
That Caesar’s peace… achieved through domination isn’t peace at all. The only way the Children of God would overcome evil… would be with love...
even if it meant speaking out against the deathly tactics of empire... even if it meant dying.

And if we don’t shout hosanna when the prince of peace arrives...if we’re silent and scuttle into the shadows… then we bow our knee to Caesar not to Jesus. We betray the prince of peace we claim to follow. [pause]

And when the going got tough in the coming days after his Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem...

many would betray him. Many would cringe and deny their friendship with the troublemaker from Galilee. They would watch his violent death on the cross... from the shadows and they would see no victory for God in his shame. [pause]

Yet love did overcome the evil of that day...in his act of self giving love... Jesus would transform...
the terrifying symbol of Roman power and domination...

and redeem it forever... for God’s purposes of love.
It had to be done. And the confession that ‘Jesus is lord’... would become the earliest... and most profound confession... of Christian faith.

And some how... a small band of former fishermen, one-time tax collectors, business women and tent makers... would bravely spread...
this subversive and dangerous confession... throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. [pause]

Caesar could impose his lordship…
by the power of military might… and death.
But the Lordship of Jesus’ is only and always exercised…with the full consent of those…
who pledge their loyalty and faithfulness to him.

When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God is at hand. But it is by no means complete…there will be others who seek to dominate the world through power… the kingdom Jesus inaugurated then…
will only be firmly established… when every tongue confesses faithfulness to the prince of peace.
When there is love and respect and justice for everyone. [pause]

And Rome’s power eventually succumbed. Rome could cope with revolutions; but she couldn’t cope...as history would prove... with a community who had made its own mind

the mind of Christ...

Yes, with Paul... we still live between the times ... confident and hopeful after Jesus resurrection...
And like the first Christians we are called to be ready to protest any power and principality that works against the coming of God’s kingdom .

Over and against a world... where public crucifixions proclaimed the power of death... as the way to rule the world...

Paul’s calls us to stand up to the tactics of tyrants... confident that their power is no match for the power of love seen on the cross of Christ.

A love which is stronger than death.

In today’s world, we might call these tactics genocide or ethnic cleansing or holocaust. Jesus and Paul call us to stand against all those… who would create their political or economic empires through exploitation…oppression and death. [pause]

Everyone bows their knee to something or someone. And for Paul the question isn’t, "Do you have a lord?"

but rather, "Who is your lord?’

Paul’s answer is firm...I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live… but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.