The disciples are grief stricken and confused. Gripped with guilt, doubt and fear we find them huddled away from sight in the upper room with little idea of what to do and where to go to from this point onward. Having appeared to Mary and the disciples on the Emmaus road, Jesus now appears in the room with them and speaks to them words of life.
He could have condemned them for their fear and lack of faith but having conquered even those sins in the grave he chooses instead to speak words of healing, forgiveness and life. “Peace 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. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Later Thomas will join them and he too will receive Jesus' gift of peace. For some faith comes easily but to others it takes a little more. So whether you find faith easy or hard be encouraged by the words of this passage because Jesus’ love is for every one of us and to each of us he reaches out with his gift of peace. All you have to do is dare to believe and to receive it. Till next time…..Andrew. This weeks readings; Acts 4:32-37 Psalm 16 1 Peter 1:1-12 John 20:19-31 The story of the disciples experience on the Emmaus Road is one of hope and encouragement for all of us. Exhausted, overwhelmed, physically and emotionally drained Cleopas and one of the other disciples have begun their long walk home. Unable to see the wood for the trees, they try as they go, to make sense of all that has happened over the past few days. It all feels too hard however, and the news that the tomb is empty and that Jesus has risen might actually be true is just too much to hope for. In the hour of their confusion Jesus joins them on their journey and leads them to a place where they can once more understand how God is at work in their lives. Eyes opened and filled with new hope they rush back to Jerusalem and share the good news with the others. Their encounter with the risen Jesus is good news for us too. In those times when the journey is difficult and life is hard to understand, Jesus is there for us too bringing words of hope and life. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff hey comfort me. Psalm 23:4 Till next time….Andrew. In every worship service, the words we say and the actions we participate in are somehow shaping us. Perhaps without even being aware of it, worship is doing something to us – it’s forming habits and language inside of us to both teach us why we are in relationship with God, and how to be in relationship with God. One practice that many liturgists and hymn authors have brought into worship is describing an event that happened in the past (usually a moment from the Gospel story) as if it were happening today, in order to instill in us the understanding that, just as God worked in the lives of people two thousand years ago, He is still working today.
Charles Wesley’s hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” is a perfect example of this. Right in the title is an indicator of the present tense: the word “is.” As we sing this song, we are first brought back two millennia as “witnesses” of the resurrection, and then we are also made aware that though the actual event of the resurrection happened once, it is in a sense an on-going event with ever-present effects. We are called today to live out of the resurrection, to follow our risen Lord in newness of life, and to ever lift our “alleluias” in praise. Have a blessed and holy Easter….Andrew. This week’s enlighten comes from hynary.org. © used with permission This week’s reading from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians reminds us of what true love is all about. This week we remember Jesus ultimate sacrifice of love as in obedience to his heavenly father he puts aside his heavenly Glory and takes the sinfulness of all humanity across all of time upon his shoulders and dies. In this one selfless act of love, sin and death are defeated. and the world is changed forever.
For all those who will dare to believe and put their trust in him, new life has been won and the only response can be praise and wonder, joy and worship. St Paul’s charge to the early church and to us is to; “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” Phillippians 2:5 , In perfect love and obedience we are called to follow Jesus example of faithfulness, obedience and love, for God has exalted Him to the very highest place and given him the name that is above every name. “So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. “ Philippians 2:11 Till next time….Andrew. So far in each week of Lent we have talked about what it is that we need to offer up to God. The good news of this weeks lectionary is that no matter how difficult and hopeless life may seem, our God is a God of hope. When his children cry out to him to him in faithfulness he hears their prayers, is compassionate and merciful and breathes new life. Yes, even death itself is no barrier to the loving goodness of our heavenly Father. Albeit a valley of dry bones, a sorrowful grave or the desert of sinful human hearts, the giver of life will not be defeated. In fact he loves us so much that he became one of us and in the ultimate act of his life has given his love to set us free! To him be Glory forever. Amen. Till next time….Andrew. Do you have a Spiritual Blind spot? Our reading from John 9:1-41, this morning is full of them. Starting with the disciples who think that the Blind man was born that way as a result of either his or his parent’s sin or the Pharisees who were so caught up with their own rules and way of doing things that they couldn’t recognize God’s power at work or in fact that Jesus was the Son of God. In spite of having the blind man explain to them in multiple ways the miracle of God’s love, the Pharisees remain unable or unwilling to see. Their blindness is far worse than that of the man born blind and while his eyes are opened theirs remain firmly shut. As a result they are unable to recognize or give thanks for the presence of living God at work in their midst.
We too can be spiritually blind when we fail to recognize God’s amazing, transforming and healing power at work in our lives. Jesus, “The light of the world,” has given us new life and through the work of the Holy Spirit continues to bring his light and love into our lives and our hurting world. Let me invite you to take some time in your Lenten reflections this week to open your eyes and give thanks for the good things God has Given you. Till next time….Andrew. In this week’s Gospel we see the wonderful story of Jesus encounter with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Too embarrassed to draw water with the other women of her village, the woman comes to draw water in the middle of the day and is surprised to be asked by Jesus for a drink of water and even more surprised when he leads her to the waters of eternal life. In their brief encounter Jesus speaks to her deepest needs and offers her life far beyond her wildest imaginings. As she gives herself up to the Lord her life is transformed and her spirit is set free. Jesus teaches her that true freedom comes not from empty religious observances but from learning to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth Unable to contain her joy the woman no longer concerned about what the rest of her neighbors may think of her rushes back to invite them to come and taste living water for themselves. ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! John 4:29 Till next time….Andrew. Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to Jesus , ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ John 3:3-4
In the third chapter of his Gospel John reminds Nicodemus of God’s abundant love and generosity demonstrated in gift of his only Son. Nicodemus’s problem, and sometimes ours as well, is that we make faith to complicated. We fall into the trap of thinking that God’s love for us is dependent upon us doing the right things, that somehow we have to earn his favour, in order to deserve his love. What John chapter 3 reminds us is that, God’s love is freely given and can never be bought or earned. “Giving is us expressing our gratitude to God. - Not us earning Gods favour.” The only way to be born a new in this sinful world is to trust in the new life that God pours into us through the Holy Spirit , a gift that is free to all who will receive it and put their trust in Jesus. The only thing required by us is faith. Only once we put our trust entirely in Spirit of the one and only God will our lives be transformed and our values changed into the values and priorities of the Kingdom. The reason that we love is because he first loved us Till next time….Andrew. Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Traditionally in the church Lent is a reverent season of self denial and reflection. It is a season in which many Christians fast or give up certain luxuries as an act of penance or devotion to God. If this is something that you have chosen to do as a part of your Lenten practice then let me encourage you and pray that whatever you have given up will help you to focus on God and to grow in his love.
Nearly every Lent I hear people talking about what they have given up for God. My prayer this Lent is that we might remember all that God has given up for us and respond by challenging ourselves as a church to think about what we have to give back to God. Over the next few weeks we are going to be thinking about our stewardship of all that God has given to us. The theme of our worship each week will be about a different aspect of giving. Our giving will culminate in a parish day of thanksgiving and prayer on the 26th of March. Please put this date aside in your diaries. Following on from our morning services we will be spending some time in the afternoon in celebration and prayer and there will be an opportunity for us to pledge a new commitment of our time talent and gifts to the Lord. Wishing you all a happy and holy Lent. Andrew. “Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:9-10 With the birth of Jesus, God breaks into our frightened, fearful and fallen world with the words, “Do not be afraid!” This is the message he sends through the Angel to Mary, to Joseph and to the shepherds on that first Christmas so long ago and the message is the same for us today. In a week that has seen, amongst other things, a truck driven into a Christmas market in Germany, a car bombing at the offices of the Australian Christian Lobby in Canberra and even plans for a terrorist attack on our own Cathedral here in Melbourne, it may seem that there is much to be afraid of, but the good news is God’s message of love remains the same. Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.” Christ the Saviour is born! Celebrate it loudly, proclaim it boldly and have a blessed, safe, wonderful and holy Christmas! Till next week Andrew |
Rev. Andrew SmithVicar of Light in the Hills |