Servants of the servant king (Palm Sunday)

 I like Palm Sunday because it is a happy time when Jesus reveals His identity as the Servant King. The symbolism is important. Jesus is honoured as a king riding into his capital city – the gold of Epiphany. Not on a horse as a worrier – on a donkey no one else has ridden on – a humble holy man, a priest – the frankincense of Epiphany. He is teaching us how to live as a servant of the servant king.

 

1.   Servants listen to their Lord

Overcoming Temptation Grows Our Spiritual Life (Lent 1C)

The Readings for the First Sunday in Lent are chosen to help us prepare ourselves spiritually for the celebration of Easter through a time of deep self examination, repentance and confession. The goal is not to make us feel guilty but to help us draw nearer to God by overcoming the things – particularly the temptations to sin; that distract us and pollute our personal spirits and separate us from God. 

·       The Deuteronomy Reading (26.1-11) reminds us of our Old Testament Covenant and Baptism obligation to give thanks and acknowledge God as the one who gives us life. 

• Psalm 91 reminds us that God also gives us protection and refuge in a dangerous world.
• Romans reminds us we are justified by the Faith in our heart that God raised Jesus from Death 
• Our Faith is tested and grows by overcoming temptations and proclaiming Jesus as Lord

 

1.     First Test is bread or materialism – our bodily needs and wants (Luke 4.1-13) 

The Gospel story of Jesus being tempted by the Devil teaches us how to see through the deceptions of the Evil One and resist the temptations of our physical, emotional and spiritual needs:

·       First there is an irresistible taunt that questions Jesus’ identity and mission – “if you are the son of God…”

·       Second there is a need that is hard to resist – Jesus is starving to death / Jesus wants to change the world / Jesus wants to show the power and glory of God to the world

·       Third is the price – by giving in to these very attractive temptations Jesus would be diverted from His identity as Son of God and Saviour – Satan would win, we would have no hope of Salvation from the consequences of our sins and spiritual life

·       Jesus quotes Scripture to rebut – we need to know our Bibles so reading the whole Bible yourself is critical to survival

 

 

2.     Second Test is worldly power – all the kingdoms of the world are mine through deception – true but not true

• Materialism, Avarice and Gluttony pollute our Spirit by distracting us from love of God, others and Self – the “Me Generation”
• Loose our purpose, meaning and identity as a Spirit that is in a love relationship with God – and has temporary physical body

 

·       What emotional needs tempt us: Envy, Jealousy, Lust and Coveting?

·       We all want more. The question is are we willing to sacrifice our relationship with God to get that more?  

·       The question for self-examination is – “in what ways have I failed to keep the Commandments to love and honour God above everything else?”

 

3.     Third Test is Spiritual Power and Authority

Jesus realizes that by jumping off the Temple and being rescued, everyone would recognize Him as Messiah, and he could avoid the pain of the Cross.

·       By avoiding the Cross Jesus mission would have been defeated

·       We would have no personal Saviour, no new Spiritual Life

·       Common example is church fights over who is “most spiritual” and right about doctrine, liturgy and worship

·       Clergy fear the Holy Spirit because they feel threatened and know many churches have been divided by jealousy of over who has what gifts of the Spirit and healing ministry

·       As Lucy asks in the Lion (Jesus), the Witch and the Wardrobe “Is he dangerous. Her brother answers “of course He is”

·       There is a good reason for the “hard testing” of Lent – Spiritual life is very dangerous.

 

We are challenged to grow spiritually through these hard temptations by staying focused on God and His purpose and mission.

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord (Jeremiah 17.7) (Epiphany 6C)

 “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord” (Jeremiah 17.7)

(Epiphany 6 Year C, 2025, Rev. John Gishler)

 

We had a baptism at St. Luke’s last week where we asked, “Do you Put Your Whole Trust in His Grace and Love?” The Jeremiah Reading mirrors Jesus’ teaching known as the Beatitudes. They are a basic guide or way of testing our faith or love of Jesus and hope of eternal spiritual life.

 

1.    Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

Matthew adds the words “in spirit” which helps us understand that Jesus is talking about the humility of the heart not materialism:

Baptism of Water and the Holy Spirit (Baptism of Jesus Readings)

 “No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3.5) by Rev. John Gishler, 2025

 

In the Gospel Reading Luke 3.16 John the Baptist tells the crowd I baptize you with water but the one who is to come, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Water symbolizes the washing away or dying emotionally to the past, self-centred and sin-controlled life. Holy Spirit baptism is like an invisible holy fire that cleanses us, energizes us and gives us the gifts we need for our baptismal ministry. Holy Spirit baptism has been lost in many intellectualized and liberalized churches. I was baptized as an infant and confirmed without any serious teaching or experiences of Holy Spirit. The loss of the fire of Holy Spirit baptism has disempowered many Christians and made the Church irrelevant to secular culture.

 

1. Examination Questions for Infant Baptism

Miracles Open Our Eyes to Supernatural Truth (Epiphany 2, Year C)

The Gospel story of the Wedding at Cana is an Epiphany moment for the Disciples. They suddenly realize the meaning of Jesus miraculous powers. We are all skeptics of what people say. As the person about to be elected Pope in the movie The Conclave says – “The Church is not about tradition, the Church is about what you do next.” Jesus sacrificed His personal peace / safety by saving a bridegroom from disgrace and revealed His divinity. Miracles open our eyes to supernatural truth

 

1. A Dangerous secret is revealed at Cana

The Baptism of Jesus -A New Covenant

The Bible is the story of God reaching out to man to establish a covenant relationship. A covenant relationship was an ancient relationship between a king or ruler, and his subjects. The  ruler would provide protection and land. The man would obey the ruler, serve in his army and pay taxes. We need to understand the history and importance of these covenants: 

1.     Adam and Eve would obey God and not eat from the one tree and live forever in paradise with God

How Do You Prepare to Meet Jesus? (Advent 2c)

 Advent is a time of watching and preparing. Jesus is a real historical person. Luke connects Him to the time of the reigning Roman and Hebrew rulers. At the time people would prepare for the arrival of a king by fixing the roads to make a good impression. But how do you prepare to meet Jesus – either when you die or in the End Times! In the Readings:

·      John the Baptist called people to repent their sins and be restored to a right relationship with God.

·      Micah warned the ancient prophets and rulers God would not listen to them and hid His face because of their evil deeds.

·      Paul praises the Philippians for their right-relationship of love of God and neighbour.

 

1.   We prepare spiritually through self-examination and repentance