Sermon of Sunday 21 February 2010 'Jesus in Action' Mark 1.19-39

Mark 1. 19-28, 29-34, 35-39

As we hear this reading
lets use our 5 senses to enter into the story we hear:
What do we see, hear, smell, touch, taste?

Jesus drives out an evil spirit.

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

In the synagogue, a bit like a church building
smell the dust, feel the hard bench, any splinters?
The body smells of other people in a closed space.
What do you hear? People coughing, shifting on the benches
as the voice of the rabbis drone through the air
‘Rabbi X says this, Rabbi Y says that, on the one hand, on the other ...’
Maybe even, it still happens, some deep breathing and a snore
and children giggling and their mothers shooshing them quiet
But suddenly there cuts through the air a different voice
probably quiet and gentle
but with the unmistakable tone
of one who knows and who speaks with authority.
v 22 ‘The people were amazed at his teaching
because he taught them as one who had authority,
not as the teachers of the law.'

So much religion is words about God: Jesus spoke words from God.
No dithering, no waffling, he spoke with complete personal security.
complete certainty - why?
Because he knew God his Father personally.
The rabbis were like clergymen today
educated men but maybe not that dynamic.
But when Jesus came in to read the scriptures and to teach
it was like a breath of fresh air to dispel any thought of a snooze
here was someone who knew what he was talking about
and had words to back up his actions.

If anyone was still asleep they were soon rudely wakened
by the loud angry shouting of a man with an evil spirit.
A dark spiritual power controlling someone’s life
was now threatened by a greater power.
Who knows, for how many years that man with his evil spirit
had been in the synagogue?
Maybe he seemed no different from anyone else.
Maybe there were bizarre disturbing things about him
but people shrugged their shoulders and said:
‘There’s not much you can do about old Jacob,
(or whatever his name would have been).
But when the presence and power of Jesus came into the situation
there was a difference.
A power encounter took place on a deep level.
Whatever dark power had been possessing this man for however long
knew now that its time was up.

Some people say there are no such things as demons
because they’ve never seen one
and they don‘t anyone who has.
Well, I’ve never seen a virus, and I am sure most of us never have
but we can all can see what they do.
If you deny the existence of personal powers of evil
just because you have never seen them close up,
be thankful you’ve never been an encounter like this one
but how else do you explain the depth of evil in the world?
Auschwitz? Pol Pot? Suicide bombers? Child abuse?
Search deeply enough and you will find at the heart of those things
a chilling rejection of God and an assertion of human pride
where Satan knowingly or unknowingly has been allowed to take control.

Even if we never have to deal with a demon possessed person,
we should realise that there is a demonic dimension
to many of the great evils of our time.
Many of the ‘isms’: racism, sectarianism, alcoholism, materialism …
Why are they so difficult to tackle? Why does reason fly out of the window?
Why do we feel powerless so often?
Think about that. Pray about that.
Remember that there is authority and power in the name of Jesus Christ.
Jesus who is indeed ‘the Holy One of God’
has authority and power to deal with every manifestation of evil.
When you hear in any situation something like a demonic roaring and shouting
don’t be afraid, just remember
‘Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.’ I John 4.4

Jesus heals many vv 29-34

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

So the synagogue service is over -- let’s go for lunch at Simon Peter’s house.
But we see no smiles of welcome, instead frowns of worry
and maybe no inviting smell of a meal cooking.
Simon’s mother in law was not possessed by a demon
but she was sick, tossing and turning with a fever
and that was very serious where there was nothing like Panadol.

What would Jesus do now?
Very simply, he went to her, took her hand and helped her up.
She was better! She was well enough to help with the dinner!
The power of Jesus, again to heal the body
as well as to confront and expel an evil spirit.
No wonder, that night, once the Sabbath is over,
that whole town gathered at the door
and Jesus healed the sick and casts out more demons.
Jesus has such power to heal.

The question is for us, may we, should we expect this today?
The answer is that while we may not demand that Jesus heal in this way
it would also be wrong to deny that he can heal today
We should pray humbly with openness to God’s healing power.

I saw this in a remote village in Gujarat
where in a badly storm damaged house
a girl tossed and turned with a fever.
The pastor prayed fervently with her
and I realised that was the best remedy available
a doctor would be too far away and unaffordable.

I don’t know if that girl was healed or not.
There was no instant transformation as happened with Peter’s mother in law.
But I remember someone new to our church
once asking me for prayer for a severe headache.
I felt out of my comfort zone but we prayed in the church
after the service was over
and next Sunday, the good news, the headache went the next day.

We are not Jesus.
None of us will ever be as close in touch with God the Father as he was.
Nor are we to despise and reject what modern medicine can offer
but we need to keep an openness to what God may still do in Jesus’ name.
Do not more of us need to start praying, quietly,
that Jesus will heal people today ?
I think you will be surprised by what happens.

Jesus takes time to pray and keeps his focus

Mark 1.35-39

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." So he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

After all that has happened
it would be no surprise to hear snoring in the house that night .
But if you listen carefully very early in the morning, while it was still dark,
You can hear Jesus getting up and tiptoeing out of the house
off to pray by himself in the quiet of the early morning.

Here is one clear reason why these amazing things are happening:
Jesus kept in touch with his heavenly Father.
He was never too busy to pray;
instead, when he was busy, prayer, even more than ever, was a priority.

In those early days of his ministry
there was one thing which he must talk through with his Father.
Jesus was assessing what priority he should give to each aspect of ministry,
to teaching, to healing, to driving out evil spirits.
Obviously the people want him to heal, to deal with the demons
but above what the people wanted or demanded
and above what his disciples expected and wanted
Jesus needed to hear what his Father said.

Then you can hear the stumbling running footsteps of annoyed disciples.
‘Everyone is looking for you.’
You can’t just slope off like this, Jesus, when there’s work to do.
Listen to the quiet answer of someone who has been speaking with his Father:

Let us go somewhere else -- to the nearby villages --
so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come.
Through time given to prayer, time with his Father,
Jesus reaffirmed his priority.
The healings and the other miracles were good and great:,
they helped people and they pointed to his divine nature.
But we must never let the good replace the best
which is to proclaim the kingdom of God at hand,
calling people to repent and to believe the good news.

Alone with his Father in the small hours of the morning
he recognised the danger and renewed his sense of vocation
-- then quietly left town.
His was a mission to the nation as a whole
and he had to go ahead of his people all the way to the cross.

We each need to know what we are about:
we must not confuse present success with what God actually wants us to do
What God actually wanted Jesus to do
was not the ‘good’ of being a successful healer in Capernaum
but to move on to the ‘best’
in a journey which will climax on a scaffold in Jerusalem.
That is why Jesus has silenced the evil spirits;
his time has not yet come for being fully disclosed,
his ‘best’ is not served by becoming a spectacular healer.

Have we a true sense of priority in our lives, individually and for the Church?
Do we keep before us the underlying aim
so that not even the good will undermine the best?
Do we spend enough time, perhaps especially in the early mornings
(or whenever suits your body clock best)
just talking to God the Father about how things have been with us
and where we should be aiming and what he wants us to do?

If we spent more time with God the Father,
genuinely in his presence and not just rattling off a few prayers,
then would we not hear the voice of Christ speaking with authority
and would we not sense more of his healing touch and victory over evil
and see his pattern and priority for our lives?

I’ll be explaining in a moment how this links in to Aaron’s baptism.
[which took place in Trinity on 21 Feb,]
But I hope we have come closer to Jesus in action, Jesus with authority.

Lord,
Show us your presence and your power.
We long to see evil driven out
we long to see people able to get up and serve others
but most of all may the priority of Jesus be our priority
having spent time closely with you
to be and to do whatever you want us to be and to do
letting people know that the kingdom of Christ has come.

ADDRESS AT AARON'S BAPTISM

Some of you may be wondering 2 things
One is why we baptise babies who haven’t a clue about this solemn action
and the other is,
is there any relevance between the earlier talk about Jesus in action
and what we are about to do now.

I hope I can answer both questions by reading you a short letter to Aaron
which his mum and dad can give him when he’s old enough to understand it
and when perhaps he is asking that first question
about what his baptism means.

Dear Aaron

On 21 February 2010
your parents brought you to Trinity Presbyterian Church Cork for baptism.
You may be wondering what that was about, so let me try and explain.
At the same time as preparing for your baptism
your mum and Dad and I were preparing to go with you
on an exciting journey to Brazil to meet your family there
and to see something of the mission project
which your parents are preparing there..

For that journey we all needed airline tickets.
Thankfully we had the money for that journey.
For your journey as a Christian you needed the ticket of baptism
And the wonderful thing is that someone else
paid the price for that ticket long ago -
when Jesus died on the cross.

Though that price is paid
and there is nothing we can add to it, as if we could pay for it ourselves
This journey as a Christian, Aaron is not an easy one.
When you are baptised
it should not be thought of as simply a ticket to heaven
is not only a sign that Jesus died to take away your sins
it is also like being given the uniform to enrol in the army of Jesus
and that is as serious commitment,
which will bring suffering along with great joy.

Earlier today I spoke about some of the wonderful things Jesus did.
He got rid of evil spirits from people. He healed sick people.
Tired as he was
he then got up early to spend time in prayer with God his Father.
But the story in Mark 1 also shows that he had a deeper purpose
from which he would not turn away.
He wouldn’t let the evil spirits say who he really was, the Son of God.
He wouldn’t let himself become a great miracle worker.
He kept focusing on what was to come,
his death in Jerusalem and his rising again from the dead.
Your baptism, Aaron is meant to be a reminder to you
of that death and rising again
and a guarantee that when you trust Jesus personally
he includes you securely among those he will present to God the Father.

Just suppose at the airport that I had the ticket
that I maybe even checked in
and then I sat in the lounge drinking coffee
and didn’t bother to get on the plane?
How stupid and sad would that be?

But many people, sadly, have the ticket of baptism and don’t use it.
And many many other people don’t have the ticket
and don’t even know that there is a journey to go on
and that Jesus has paid the price for that journey.
We who know need to try and tell them.

Aaron, we who were present at your baptism service
have promised to pray for your and your mum and dad.
May you each know the strength and authority of Jesus Christ
in any encounter with evil and any demand for healing and help
and may you each never forget that Jesus died to save you
and that (as we sang) it is only by his grace that we enter heaven.
Only by his grace that we stand.

Celebrating Covenant Love on St Valentine's Day Matthew 19.3-12

Matthew 19.3-12 p 986

Father God,
love and marriage means great happiness to many of us
but to others it brings pain, disappointment, anger.
May what I say bring out the good news,
the wise truth and the tender love of Jesus for every person,
married or unmarried
and through the ministry of your word may the Holy Spirit bring
thanksgiving, repentance, healing, as we each need.

Ryan Tubridy did an interesting take on St Valentine’s Day
on his radio show on Friday.
He highlighted the large amount of angst, of anger too,
the bitterness and sadness that surrounds unrequited love or broken love.
One of his guests said her request show
plays far more sad and angry songs about love
in the weeks following 14 February than at ay other time of year.

But the break up of relationships and disappointment in love is no new thing.
Parts of this reading from Matthew 19 is often used at weddings
but the whole reading is in the context of the reality of divorce
and what should people do who are never going to be married.

So if you didn‘t get a card today
or if the whole notion of a special day for ‘love‘ makes you sad or cross
listen carefully
or if you are ‘happy in love‘ listen anyway
for many people hurt on this issue and we need to help them in Jesus‘ name.

Jesus speaks here in Matthew 19 about marriage.
It is the commitment of a man and a woman in a lifelong bond
is the most important commitment anyone makes
second only to our commitment to Jesus Christ.

1 Marriage is hard wired into the way people are made.

Strange things happen at weddings.
I remember once in England we were kept awake in a bed and breakfast
by some Dutch men returning from a stag night celebration.
Only they had celebrated too well.
(I assure you that
drunk Dutch men are as annoying and sad as drunk Irish men.)
But as I lay awake and tried to love my neighbour
I had this thought about
the drunkenness and other follies of stag and hen parties:
doesn’t their very existence tell us something interesting about marriage?
Even in today’s materialistic, do as you please society
people still care about marriage - they sense it is important.
Something is changing about their friend who is going to be married
something irreversible, that can’t be altered, once gone into
and that change has to be marked, in however bizarre and stupid a way.
Marriage is hard wired into the way people are made
just as Jesus says in Matthew 19.4-6, quoting from Genesis 1:
‘Haven't you read that at the beginning
the Creator 'made them male and female', and said,
'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife,
and the two will become one flesh'?
So they are no longer two, but one.
Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.’

Every human community has a basic concept of marriage.
The wedding customs may be different.
There may be things we frown on like polygamy, having more than one wife.
There may be things we find strange like arranged marriages
but it doesn’t matter about the religious background or lack of religion.
Even the stag and hen nights show that marriage is still important.

2 Marriage is about more than the couple.

Strange and unexpected things can happen when you are getting married.
It was at the photographing stage at our reception
when a voice from behind me said ‘John, do you know something?’
‘What Mary?’ ‘I am your mother in law.’
What answer can you make to that statement?
I think I meekly answered ‘Yes, Mary’ (which was a good answer).
Whatever else it is, marriage is a learning experience
and that conversation was part of my continuing learning experience,
that a marriage isn’t just about the bride and groom,
and their new commitment to each other
it’s about a whole set of relationships with family and friends
as a man leaves his father and mother and finds he has a mother in law.
It is also a public statement about the creation of a new family unit in society
which is why although many people nowadays live together before marriage
the Christian witness is that it is far far better to let sexual intimacy wait
until the public commitment of marriage is made
and the sexual expression of love is enjoyed
in the context and security of the covenant of marriage.

3 Jesus Values and Honours Marriage. And so should we.

It has been well said (John Piper) that
‘Staying married, is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant.’
Words in the marriage service
such as “Till death do us part,” or, “As long as we both shall live”
are covenant promises similar to the covenant promises God has made for us.
‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’
‘I will be your God and you will be my people.’

Notice how the Lord answers the question about divorce.
Rather than showing us ways out of marriage
he reminds us of the basic principle that it is a lifelong covenant,
a commitment sealed and guaranteed by God himself
and ‘what God has joined together, let no-one separate.’

4 Marriage is a Covenant not a Contract.

The word ‘covenant’ is not used in our reading
but it underlies what Jesus is saying.
A covenant is ‘an agreement made in trust.
The parties love each other and put no limits on their own responsibility.'
It is a sealed and binding agreement.
The relationship God has with us his people is a covenant relationship.
He set it up. He guarantees it. He will never break it.

A covenant is deeper and richer than a contract.
A contract is an agreement made in suspicion.
The parties do not trust each other,
and they set "limits" to their own responsibility.
This is understandable in business:
If I pay you money, you will give me goods.
If I don't pay the price, you have the right to take your goods back.
If the goods are not satisfactory I have the right to my money back. etc

But a covenant is an agreement made in trust
so that even if you do not keep your side of the agreement
I will still endeavour to fulfil my side.

How many marriages have become contractual more than covenantal?
They have been regarded as ‘deals’ which you can get out of
rather than binding commitments which you have pledged to stick to.
There is no doubt if we could ask the Lord Jesus
whether he saw marriage as a covenant or as a contract
what way he would reply.

In how many marriages is there contractual pointscoring:
‘you don’t listen to me’
‘You never lift a hand to help me.’
It’s your turn to tidy up.’
How soon we can degrade a marriage into a contractual dispute?
You didn’t do that. You never do this.
And do you notice how much we point out what the other person ought to do?
They need to change. We don’t, so we think.
The approach to marriage as covenant says:
‘I have promised and I will not give up.
I will fail in maybe many things,
but I will not give up on this relationship.’

What then about divorce?
It happens, sadly it even happens among believing Christians
and every time it happens we should be sad not just for the pain in that family
but for the loss or the obscuring of the God given pattern
for his human beings, male and female,
one flesh as long as they both shall live.
That we value and honour marriage as Jesus does
does not mean that people must always remain married
and endure abusive, oppressive behaviour
where love and faithfulness are abandoned.
In this church there is provision for remarriage in certain cases,
but always in this context that we value and honour covenant love.

The last thing we have time for today about marriage
is maybe the most important thing in our sex saturated society.

5 Jesus values and honours singleness. And so should we.

There is a myth about these days that to be completely human
you must have sexual experience and satisfaction.
That Jesus himself lived the single life without regret and without neurosis
should be answer enough to that modern way of thinking.
(The idea that he was married to Mary Magdalene has no historical foundation.)
Of course the physical intimacy of marriage is a great blessing
but the example of Jesus himself should challenge us
not to make an idol out of even marriage.

As he remarks at v 12 there are those
who ‘have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven’.
as well as those who are never able to marry.

To be single without sexual experience is a state honoured by God.
God’s covenant love in Christ
may be known by every sort of person, married or unmarried.

Some may feel they are ‘on the shelf’ as regards human happiness
but God has no shelves for the people he loves.

Especially I want to say in the context of the issue of same-sex relationships
that God has no shelf for the homosexual people he loves.

While Jesus never explicitly addressed the question of same sex relationships
which were unthinkable in the culture of his day
everything he says here about marriage between a man and a woman
and what he says in v 12 about renouncing marriage
for the sake of the kingdom of heaven
points to what he would say in our day and place
and what he wants his people to say in this day and place.

Let me say this clearly and carefully
(because I have been caught in controversy about it recently)
that while homosexual practice is not pleasing to God
he still loves people with an homosexual orientation who remain single
as he loves people with an heterosexual orientation who remain single
as he loves people with an heterosexual orientation
who are privileged with the gift and responsibility of marriage.

Indeed people of whatever orientation
can do things that are not pleasing to him
and God still graciously loves us
not that for a moment he approves of what we do against his word
but he longs that we come back to him through Jesus for cleansing
and restoration to a way of life, difficult and demanding as it may be
in which we find his good pleasure.

So there is no way that Christians should ever treat gay people disrespectfully
with hysterical prejudice, name calling, dodgy jokes.

We are all sinners depending on God’s mercy
but we humbly maintain this conviction
that marriage is the covenant relationship between a man and a woman
which provides security for the relationship and for the community
and that there is dignity in the single state
and great compassion from God and hopefully from the people of God.

Let us pray for God’s practical blessing in whatever state we are
in marriage as he planned for most of humanity
in singleness as is given to some in order to advance his kingdom
and even as Christ meets people in broken situations and brings restoration

Thank you, loving Father
for making us, male and female,
that many should enjoy the wonder of marriage.
Thank you that many who do not know you
still hold on by instinct to the need for marriage.
May they come to see
that it is you joins a man and a woman together in life long union.

Help us Lord to see marriage as more than about the couple
but as also about the blessings it brings to families and to wider society.

Thank you that Jesus honours and values marriage.
Help us to see it as a covenant not a contract
and forgive us when we have down graded it to something
we may treat as pleases ourselves.

Thank you too that Jesus honours and values singleness.
We pray for those we know who are no longer married
through bereavement or marriage break down.

Healing Lord, deal gently with those in pain;
perhaps they are angry with you, or with another person.
Help them to deal with that anger; let it not turn to bitterness.

We pray for those we know who have never married
and have no prospect of marriage.
Help them in times of loneliness, of misunderstanding, of physical yearning
Give them, dear Father, a deep sense of your wholeness
and strong supporting friendships
that they and others shall see their lives as not blighted but blessed
in your covenanted promise of love that will not let them go.

(The background to this hymn is especially relevant:
George Matheson had become blind.
He was engaged to be married but just before his wedding
his fiancee sent word to say she could not face the prospect
of marrying him in that state.
It was out of that disappointment and rejection
that he wrote these words which have helped many
in their own path of difficult discipleship in many areas of life

Hymn 523

O Love that wilt not let me go

George Matheson, 1842-1906

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee:
I give thee back the life I owe
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee:
my heart restores its borrowed ray
that in thy sunshine's blaze its day
may brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain,
that morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee:
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
and from the ground there blossoms red
life that shall endless be.

Sermon of Sunday 7 February 'Authentic Christianity' Matthew 7.13-29

Matthew 7.13-27

I got an email the other day from the United Nations and the FBI.
Well, that’s who it said it was from
offering they would pay me large sums of money
from sums recovered from corrupt dictators
for the fee of $220 reduced from #520.
It’s easy to see there’s a lot wrong with that offer.
Not just as easy when I get one supposedly from Eircom or my bank
asking for my password details and PIN number.
You have to remember that no reputable authentic organisation
asks you for those details online.

How do you spot an authentic Christian?
Are our lives truly Christian, Christlike?
Here are some pointers from the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the mount:

Authentic Christianity is is focused on Jesus alone. vv 13-14

Jesus said ‘Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.

These days it seems that truth is obtained
by running a poll and going with the majority view
and it’s hard to go against the flow.

Wouldn’t it be tempting to go with the flow, to follow the majority?
When we see people flooding to the shopping centres on a Sunday,
and only a trickle going to church;
when we hear a chat show guest say things
which we believe to be unfaithful or immoral
and the audience gives him warm applause
there’s a chill goes through my spirit.
And then I remember this basic essential thing
that truth is not decided by the number of votes cast for a view
not by the level of applause, or the loudness of a voice,
the authentic truth of God is revealed in Jesus Christ .

Who else can show us who God is?
Who else died on a cross for us? Who else has risen from the dead?

Lets be very clear, this is not a claim that Christians are always right
or that everything we have done is always right and superior to non Christians.

Michael Green puts it this way
Christianity is not about being very good or very bad or very comfortable,
it is about being in God’s kingdom or staying out.
It is about allegiance to God or rebellion.
It is about being on the road that starts narrow
but opens out into the life of heaven,
or staying on the broad road of our self centredness
until it contracts to a dead halt in final destruction.
We find at the end of the Sermon on the Mount
we are not permitted merely to admire the teaching;
we are challenged to bow to the preacher, to Christ.
Have you entered in? Are you on the road?

Maybe you say to yourself
I’ve tried to make the commitment but I am not sure if it has worked
I am not sure if I have gone through the narrow door.
Maybe I am still floating along with all the others.
Or maybe you are a smug Christian.
You have made the commitment, prayed the prayer, sealed the deal.
The next thing Jesus says reassures the uncertain and challenges the smug.

Authentic Christianity is fruitful life with real change. vv 15-20

They say that when candidates are being interviewed for a job
the interview panel are not that much interested
in what you say you will do if appointed.
They are more interested in what you have done where you are already
and even more in how you have done what you have done.
They may take up your references and ask
‘How did that candidate react under stress? How did she cope with failure?
Was he punctual? How did he relate to his fellow workers?
How honest was she? Could she be trusted with money?’

It’s not so different with our lives as Christians.
The evidence is seen in the ‘walk’ more than the ‘talk‘.
The questions are not:
does he come to church or does he hand out Christian leaflets in the street
or does she help with the tea rota in church or play the organ?
The issue of authentic Christianity is not so much about what a Christian does
as about how a Christian does what he or she does:
around the home, out shopping, on the road driving, in the work place,
what fruit is there in that Christian’s life?
Does the Jesus they talk about really make a difference?
Is their church-going backed up by honesty and reliability?
Is there a change for the better in them?

Not that we have to be perfect people all in an instant,
but are we becoming more thankful, less grumpy, more positive, less cynical,
more peaceful, less anxious.
When we make a mistake
can it be seen that we are learning from our mistakes,
or are we still putting the blame on other people?

What is our fruit? What do people get from our lives?
Is it something that will draw people to Jesus or repel them?

Jesus warned that there would be false prophets, wolves dressed like sheep
And there would be some bitter, poisonous fruit.
He was talking about religious fakes and frauds.
People who were good talkers but poor walkers,
in religion for the money or the fame or the power or all three.

When he said: ‘By their fruits ye shall know them;
he was saying that how we live, how we react, how we relate will show
the authenticity or otherwise of Christ in us.
Will there be fruit
that will satisfy the hunger of a passer by and point them to Jesus
fruit that is sweet and refreshing and altogether good for you?
The tragedy about much of what passes for Christianity
is that it will shrivel up in the day of judgement
and be found to be bogus and worthless.
If the fruit is not real, we may take leave to doubt the nature of the roots.

It’s the time of year when we do the chore of scrutinising the annual accounts
and doing the statistics for the past year.
How many families, how many under 18, how many baptisms etc.
We are also as a church across Ireland looking at our mission strategy
How far are looking outwards, how are we attracting people?
And if we don’t face those issues
we’ll be finished as a church in a few years time.

It’s great when we can see evidence in the figures of growth
Increased giving, better attendance and so on.
But it is increasingly my prayer that we may be found to be fruitful
not in the sense that the attendances are up or the offerings are increased
but that we are more like Jesus this year than we were last year
and by his grace we shall be more like him next year than this year.
More like him because more close to him,
deepened in our knowing of him and him knowing us.

We need to think carefully about Jesus’ warning that on the day of judgement
many supposedly successful Christians will saunter up for their reward.
Look at what we did in your name, Jesus! How amazing!
And Jesus will say in effect ‘Excuse me, but who are you?
You have dared use my name but I don’t know you.’
If we are not rooted In a faith relationship with Jesus
then the fruit we bear will not be fruit of Jesus, fruit of a changing life.
It will be deceptive fruit, disappointing or even deadly.

But if we are rooted in a faith relationship with Jesus Christ
we will produce fruit which more and more
has the taste and fragrance of the Sermon on the Mount:
fruit of a life that hungers and thirsts for righteousness
that is pure in heart, that loves to make peace, that rejoices in persecution
A life that prays deeply and gives generously
that does things in trust of the Father rather than for public approval
Fruit that treasures the things of heaven over the things of earth.
.
Authentic Christianity is through Jesus alone.
Authentic Christian life is fruitful life.
Which leads to the question: How?
And the answer is in Jesus’ closing words here.
It’s all about the foundation.

Authentic Christianity is based on doing what Jesus says. vv 24-27

When I was a boy I loved to play ‘fight the tide’
building sand castles at the water’s edge
hoping they would be big enough to withstand the incoming waves
and knowing in the end after a lot of fun we would have to give up.
(50 years later my inner small boy still likes doing that.)
In Palestine in Jesus’ time,
there were sandy dried up river beds, water courses.
It was tempting to build there, flat shaded.
In a dry climate there might not have been water in the river for years
So people would build on the flood plain,
not knowing or uncaring of the risk.

Think about those devastating floods in Cork in November.
I often walk past the UCC art gallery which is right beside the river.
I had even been inside and right down to the basemen?
but I never thought, what will happen if the river rises<
And nor it seems did the architect or the planners or the engineers
ask what now looks like a very obvious question.
I only hope and trust that their store room for pictures not on display
will now be at the top of the building and not the bottom.

How many of us will learn the lesson spiritually
not to store precious things in the basement where the flood water will go first?
How many of us are building and will go on building
on the sand of popular opinion rather than the unshakeable teaching of Jesus.

Authentic Christianity that has a good, solid,. dry, safe foundation
only comes by hearing what Jesus says and doing that.

It’s not easy.
Think about the beautiful and challenging things
put before us in the Sermon on the Mount.
Being meek, merciful, pure in heart, making peace
rejoicing in persecution,
loving your enemies, praying deeply and giving generously
living your life before the gaze of your heavenly father
rather than being driven by public approval
treasuring the things of heaven over the things of earth.
These things are not easy, they take time and hard work
just as laying foundations down to the rock takes time and hard work
when it would be so much easier to plant a shack on the sand.

You may hear voices screaming at you:
Don’t be so narrow minded, don’t be so puritanical,
just be like us, do what you feel.
Don’t listen to those voices. Are they bearing the fruit of Jesus?
Are they building in the right place?
How will their lives end?

Authentic Christianity comes
from listening to and doing what Jesus says
from cultivating fruit for the kingdom, from a life that is changing
from entering by the narrow gate, the way that leads to life.

Gracious Father
May our lives be rooted in and resting on Christ alone.
Help us to make the hard choice and ignore popular opinion.
By the power of the Holy Spirit
may our lives be fragrant and fruitful
and authentically Christian.

Sermon of Sunday 31 January 'Follow me and I will make you ...'

Matthew 4.12-22 p 968

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee,
he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.
They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19 Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men.

Is fishing a man thing?
Even in these equal opportunity days when we have women soldiers
I don’t of hear of any fisher women.
On the quayside, yes, gutting the catch
though the women I know best leave that job to me.
Go down to a harbour or the shore this summer
and see how men and boys outnumber women and girls.
Is it because it’s a task where talking is not advisable?

Having amused some of you and probably annoyed many more
let me acknowledge that although Jesus called men as his first disciples
the task of catching men and women for his kingdom
would be nowhere without the prayer and courage and sacrifice
of many women.
This is the cry of many mission groups: “where are the men?’
They don’t have to ask, where are the women,
they are there, eager to serve.
The best illustration of what I want to say today is about a graduate student at UCC
whose supervisor called her aside recently to congratulate her on her work.
She was also aware of time and effort
this student had spent helping someone else practically.
And then she said: ’Please tell me, what is the secret of your joy?
What makes you so joyful’
The student simply said it was because of her relationship with Jesus.
Do you see what was happening?
As she follows Jesus, he is making her a fisher of men.

Lets look today at Jesus’ call of his first followers
to become fishers of men:
what does that say to his call on our lives?
Izaak Walton was an Englishman
who lived in the 1600s and loved fishing.
He wrote a book called The Compleat Angler with four basic rules.
'Be sure your face is towards the light'
'Study the fishes' curious ways.'
'Then keep yourself well out of sight.'
'Cherish patience all your days'.

In a wonderful way this turns into a piece of verse
which illustrates what Jesus asks:
'Be sure your face is towards the light' is advised by Walton
to make sure that your shadow does not hang over the water
and scare the fish.
Likewise we should keep ourselves well out of sight.
Spiritually we need to be looking towards the light of Jesus
and as we sang earlier
forgetting about ourselves
and concentrating on him and worshipping him
just as Walton advised keeping yourself well out of sight.

We don’t have time
to look at how we should study the fishes’ curious ways
and the need to be patient.
Enough to say that if we want people to respond to the call of Christ
it can’t just be done on a wave of emotion
or by saying the first thing that comes into our heads.
It will take time and thought and prayer and patient love
but most of all, it requires that we follow Jesus and learn from him
and trust his word I will make you
knowing that it is as we follow that he makes us
people who can bring others to know him.

There are two ways of understanding this passage.
One is that it is a call to some to leave a secular job like fishing
and serve Christ in a full time vocation.
The other is (and we can hold the two together)
that it is also saying something to us all about serving Christ
where you are with who you are and what you have

We need not suppose, by the way, that this was the first time
that these men had met Jesus.
It is not that a complete stranger walked up to them
and told them to leave everything familiar
and so quite irrationally and randomly they got up and followed him.
What happened was that they already knew Jesus as a friend
and trusting him as a friend, they knew it was now or never
and so they got up and left all behind them.
The call to Christian service is demanding and difficult
but it is not oppressive or bizarre.
It may seem foolish to those who do not understand the things of God
but that call is the call of the good shepherd
in tones of peace and of complete certainty
that he will not leave us nor forsake us.

I remember as a young Christian I used to go to missionary meetings
where some strong personality
would lay before us the needs of an area
and with piercing eyes wonder out loud
was God calling some one here to meet those needs
I used to sit there in dread that God was going to tap my shoulder and say
that I must get up at once and go to somewhere
faraway and demanding like China or Afghanistan or Russia.
In his mercy God never actually spoke to me like that.
I learned gradually that God does not nag us or scream at us
like a mad sergeant major
He wants us to follow Jesus but not out of fear but out of faith.

And this is the exciting thing about following Jesus
whether we are thinking of full time service to which some are called
or simply of everyday ordinary discipleship to which all are called
the exciting thing is
as we follow, so he makes us and shapes us to be
what he wants us to be
and very often he will use the circumstances of our lives
in the shaping of our ministries.

I gave you an example at the start of a student
finding an opportunity to speak of Jesus
because of the quality of their work and life.

A simple example is someone with a musical talent
which God takes and uses to inspire worship and move hearts.
The author of 'When I feel the touch' which we sang earlier
came form a background of drugs.
he needed money and decided to sell the things connected with his old lifestyle
but, try as he could, no-one wanted to buy his guitar.
Then he realised that God could use that guitar and his love of music
in writing and plaing praise songs.

Or someone with a fishing or a farming background
who knows the lessons of patience
how time is needed in the processes of growth of the seed
and the migrations of the fish.

Or someone who is gifted in sales
who becomes persuasive with the gospel.
Or someone trained in medicine is ready for a ministry of healing

For many people the demand of Jesus
is not so much that they have to leave everything to follow him
but that in following him everything must be offered to him for his use.
I will even say there is no part of our lives or experience
which cannot be made holy and of use in the kingdom of Christ.

Even the dark periods
of abuse, rejection, bereavement, trauma, depression
can have a meaning and a redeemed use
in the nail pierced hands of Jesus.

I will also say that there is no-one here too young or too old
or too weak or too stupid supposedly or too insignificant
that Jesus cannot take you
and make something of your life for his kingdom
as long as you will respond to the call, ‘Come , follow me …’
In this culture we can be too suspicious of success.
We can run ourselves down too easily.
When we under estimate what God can do with us
or even deny that he can make something of us
then we do the devil’s work for him.
For if he does not make us proud,
he will take us to the other extreme and cripple us with self doubt.

Take a look at your life. Is Jesus making something of it?
If you think he isn’t, the question then is, are you following him?
Are you trusting him, spending time with him,
taking on board his teaching
or are you still in charge and he’s just there for emergencies?

And if you are following him, be sure and clear that he will make you
and is making you someone of use in his kingdom.

That does not mean that you have to be a confident evangelist
handing out bible leaflets,
or having spiritual conversations in the supermarket queue
Although we all are called to witness to the truth of Christ
to be unashamed to declare that we love Jesus and follow him
we are not all given the gift of evangelism
But we can all pray, we can all love,
we can all welcome, we can all serve.

[THIS NEXT SECTION WAS PREACHED IN AGHADA ONLY]
Perhaps as we sit at the Lord’s Table today
we may hear Jesus say to us
I am feeding you
now you go and feed others.
This story of the call of the fishermen
reminds us that there is a call to mission for us all.
We cannot just exist for our own spiritual needs.
We need to face outwards.
That’s not an easy thing in this situation in rural E Cork.
Many of you grew up in a time when ‘religion’
was not a topic to be discusses outside the home
or outside these walls.
And still today, though relationships in the community are good
there is a sense that ‘you have your beliefs and I have mine.’
‘Fishing’ sharing the good news of the kingdom of God
is not easy in these conditions.
It is easier in Cork city
though even there one of our members originally from Brazil
says he finds it much more difficult to share his faith
than he would back in Brazil

It’s not easy but lets start where we are with what we have.

In his book Evangelism Through the Local Church,
Dr. Michael Green wrote,
“I am convinced that there is no evangelistic force
so powerful as a loving, outward-looking local church.
It is the key to evangelism in this age
that is suspicious of the high-powered sales technique,
and at the same time well aware of the emptiness of materialism,
the breakdown of relationships, and the shortness of life.”

In the fellowship of the Lord’s table
We have so much.
We have each other.
We have the Bible to guide us, the Holy Spirit to give us life and love
And we have Jesus remembered who gave his life for us.

If we determine to follow him, to make him the centre of our lives
he will make us fishers of men
he will show us how
even where the conditions don’t seem right for fishing.

[THIS NEXT SECTION WAS PREACHED IN TRINITY ONLY]

It’s thrilling and humbling in these days
to sense a bit of a buzz about this church.
Different people coming and staying.
People sensing a warm welcome.
More people getting involved in our life together.
This didn’t happen overnight.
This didn’t happen because we handed out leaflets in the street
But it is happening because people have prayed and .loved
and served and worked hard and welcomed
and people are still praying and loving
and working hard and welcoming and not giving up in the hard times..
People are following Jesus
and he is making us a fellowship that can attract others.

In his book Evangelism Through the Local Church,
Dr. Michael Green wrote,
“I am convinced that there is no evangelistic force
so powerful as a loving, outward-looking local church.
It is the key to evangelism in this age
that is suspicious of the high-powered sales technique,
and at the same time well aware of the emptiness of materialism,
the breakdown of relationships, and the shortness of life.”

It’s not easy
but lets follow the rules for fishing

'Be sure your face is towards the light'
'Study the fishes' curious ways.'
'Then keep yourself well out of sight.'
'Cherish patience all your days'.

Sermon of Sunday 24 January 2010 Temptations

This is the story of Jesus’ encounter with the devil, his temptations.
It may be that some here find it hard to believe that the devil is a real person.
If so, as we read I ask you to think about 3 questions:
Why did Jesus believe that the devil was real?
2 How do you explain the depth of evil in human beings?
Isn’t it reasonable to accept that there is a spiritual agency behind it
without for a moment denying our human responsibility?
3 How is it when we feel closest to God in some deep spiritual experience
that then we do find ourselves under spiritual attack
doubting, despairing, accused and accusing?
Notice as we read that Jesus comes under temptation
directly after a deep spiritual experience.

Matthew 4.1-11


Travelling on your own can be both lonely and spiritually and morally dangerous.
Selwyn Hughes had a world wide ministry of bible teaching and counselling
but that didn‘t make him immune from temptation..
Once he was far from his wife and family, going back to a lonely hotel room.
Into the lift got a lady whom we shall call ‘a lady of the night’
She was very attractive and very available.
Selwyn tells how a sneaky little voice inside him said:
‘Why not? Who’s to know. They’ll never find out.’
But as he struggled with the temptation
something else came into his mind -
a bible passage he had been given when he had been baptised.
(Romans 6. 2-5) ‘Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life.’
As soon as he remembered these words Selwyn realised what he had to do.
As a Christian he was a new person
and he must in no way choose to go back to the old way of life.
He got out of the lift and went into his room
and made sure the door was double locked and the lady was outside.

There’s a modern day example of someone resisting temptation as Jesus did
simply by using God’s written word,
saying to the tempter ‘It is written’ and that’s it.
No discussion, no psyching up of holy or spiritual feelings
no saying of a special prayer,
just humble submission to God’s word.

This is exactly what Jesus did when he was tempted
It was just after his baptism and that profound experience
when the voice of God commended him:
‘This my son whom I love, in him I am well pleased.’
As can happen after a great spiritual experience, a test followed.

Satan did his prime work of trying to undermine
the basic relationship with God.
But Jesus responded each time
simply by appealing to what God’s word says: ‘It is written’

TEMPTATION ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.
ANSWER It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

TEMPTATION All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.
ANSWER Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'

TEMPTATION ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'
ANSWER ‘It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'

Do you see what Jesus did and what he didn’t do?
He didn’t reason it out with the devil.
He didn’t argue that if he let the devil give him power in the world
he would become a cruel dictator
although that truly would have happened.
He didn’t point out that religious spectacle, being rescued by angels
doesn’t honour God or help people truly to believe
although that also is true.

He simply pointed to God’s word and that was that.
If we had more simple straightforward acceptance of what the Bible says
how much simpler and better could things be!
As the hymn says
‘If our love were but more simple / we should take him at his word
and our lives would be all sunshine / from the sweetness of the Lord.’

What stops us from lives
that are simple and bright and able to withstand temptation.
Is there a voice that whispers,
don’t be a fundamentalist, don’t be known as a bible basher.
Some people may be extreme and harsh in the use of the Bible
but what better aim than to want to be a fundamentalist like Jesus
to believe in the truth and the power of the Bible as Jesus did.

Satan is clever. That’s why we shouldn’t argue with him
He cleverly started to quote scripture for his ends
‘Doesn’t Psalm 91 promise that the angels will hold you up?’

Do you see what Jesus did when Satan tried to quote scripture?
He quoted another scripture that showed up Satan’s agenda:
that lovely promise in Psalm 91 of protection by the angels
was given to help us trust God not test him.
it is actually saying when you are in trouble God will help you,
not prove that God is there by doing something stupid
and see if he will help you out.

Do you and I use God’s word as our first line of defence?
Do we know enough of God’s word to be able to use it
and to be aware when it‘s being quoted wrongly or out of context?

Some common stress points.
A situation arises where you feel reason to hate someone,
to hit out, to hit back:
Luke 6.27-28 Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you.

You feel like having a ‘pity party’ because things aren’t going well for you
Philippians 4.4 ‘Rejoice in the Lord always …

You find yourself in Selwyn Hughes’ situation
in a hotel lift or late at night surfing the net and you find a site
and a voice says ‘Why not, no-one will know ‘
The 7th commandment will do very well ‘You shall not commit adultery’
Or just in case the devil persists
and suggest it’s only cyber sex and it doesn’t matter
Philippians 4.8 should cover it
‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable --
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

You’re jealous because other people have more money, bigger houses,
better jobs, fancier cars, more exotic holidays
or you’re worried about making ends meet.
Hebrews 13.5 ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have,
because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
[ Deut. 31:6]
6 So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
[ Psalm 118:6,7]

Or is your problem a mouth problem and an attitude problem?
You are always sounding off about other people’s faults and failings
and are blind to your own sins?

Luke 6.37 ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over,
will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ‘

Here of course is a text which is much over used and abused.
Don’t you find that if you express concern about something being wrong
people rush to say don’t judge?
It’s the rallying cry of the relativist,
the person who thinks we can all choose
what will be right or wrong for ourselves.
What this text means is not that we can never say something is right or wrong
for we all make judgements nearly all the time.
Instead the Lord is countering the critical, self justifying, judgemental spirit
which loves to condemn people.

One of the many things that struck me about Billy Hull
was how he never condemned people.
It was not that he thought people’s lives were fine as they were
and there was no such thing as right and wrong. Far from it.
When Billy talked about sin you knew from his tone of voice
how hateful and horrible it really is
but you also knew by the way he prayed for sinners, how much he loved them
and longed that they should be delivered from sin.
He believed in judgement but was not judgemental
and that’s an important distinction.

Another thing from his life which is relevant here
is how soaked in the scripture he was.
You wouldn’t be long talking with Billy
before some phrase from the Bible would be used
and always appropriately to the situation

How do we resist temptation?
Simply use God’s word as Jesus did, not twisting it but trusting it
Know God’s word as Jesus did.
And that means not only that we should memorise some verses
as a sort of first aid when under pressure
but also get into the habit of reading the Bible every day.
Read according to what you can manage.
If it’s only a page or a chapter a day that’s fine.
Read it carefully, prayerfully.
Use bible reading notes to help you.
Start with a gospel or the Psalms.
If a verse strikes you as particularly helpful
write it out on a card and memorise it.
As Jesus did, (in the words of a Psalm)
hide God’s word in your heart that you may not sin against him.

Gracious Father
We thank you that no temptation has come upon us that is unique -
others have been there before.
We thank you that you are faithful:
you will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear
and you will provide a way of escape
so that we can stand up under it.
Thank you that your written word often provides the way out.
Help us to treasure it and know it , rely on it and share it.
Especially at the time of spiritual exhilaration
when things seem to be going well
may we be careful lest we fall
And when we fall, show us how to get up and get back to Jesus.