Good and Faithful Servants are Light in the Darkness (Proper A33)

     Jesus is continuing His teachings on who is included in the Kingdom on the Day of the Lord or the End Time Judgement. Many people have noticed a frightening new darkness:

·      Gog and Magog -- Russia and Iran (Hamas) were prophesied to attack Israel and are now both in shooting wars

·      China is on the march against Taiwan and killing 70,000 people a year in the U.S. with fentanyl from Mexico

1. Many in our time are like lazy and worthless servant

Faith Can Overcome Fear - Proper 12

 The readings about faith overcoming fear should be a great comfort to us in this time of constant reports of sickness, death and lockdowns. As Christians we have a long history of hope and faith in the face of fear:

• David overcame his fear of death by protecting his sheep from lions and bears
• Jesus overcame His fear of death by surrendering His will to the Fathers will
• Paul overcame his fear by taking the long view of the joy of  faith and eternal spiritual life
• Readings challenge us to go deeper in our faith relationship  with Jesus and take this longer view

1. Fear often rules our lives

How Can I Believe? (Proper 29A)

How can I believe is the cry of our hearts as we seek the truth about God in a world full of chaos, evil and divided opinion. The short answer is YOU can’t on your own - but with God’s help you can. Like Moses and the Pharisees we need to experience Gods power and presence personally. Personal relationship and experience of the divine is the gift of faith. The readings help us understand:

·     What belongs to God?

·     How do we know we can trust God?

·     How do we get this gift of faith?

 

1. What belongs to God?

Deliver Us From Evil - Good News For Difficult Times

 

(Fr John is on vacation and will try to continue weekly Youtube services)

The readings are about faith. Faith is what holds us together in difficult times. Faith gives us the hope we need to carry on. It is very relevant to our present time. Joseph, the Cannanite woman and the apostle Paul all had faith that helped them get through difficult times. I found the Readings comforting after being reminded of the terrible corruption in American society watching a program on Hillary Clinton.

 

1. Joseph believed his hardship was God’s Plan

Holy Spirit Opens Our Eyes

Personal experiences of the Holy Spirit seem to be essential to becoming a serious believer in Jesus Christ. This is consistent with the message of the whole Bible and what Paul teaches in Romans 8.9. In the Gospel Reading Jesus is using the parables of the Mustard Seed, Hidden Treasure, pearl of Great Price and Net to teach us how difficult it is and how important it is that we come to Him and ensure we are justified or made right with God through faith in Him. The Good News as Paul explains to us is that we can all have a spiritual life in Christ if we really seek Him and cry out for the help of the Holy Spirit.

1. Getting Into the Kingdom is not Easy

Holy Spirit – The Yoke of Jesus (Proper 14 2020)

(Available on John Gishler Youtube channel Sunday morning)

Jesus is teaching us that spiritual wisdom is very different from intellectual wisdom. Christians need to put on His “yoke”- the Holy Spirit, to guide them in overcoming the conflict between their bodily or worldly desires and their spiritual or heavenly desires. Abraham’s servant gives us an example of choosing to be guided by divine wisdom instead of his human wisdom in finding a wife for Isaac. This is in contrast to Paul who is so steeped in human wisdom he cannot understand the conflict in his soul.  

1. Spiritual wisdom is very different from human wisdom

Faith is Measured in Sacrifice and service (Proper 29. Year B)

We are living in an unhappy narcissistic culture best described as the me generation. We do not value excellence or goodness in products or other people. It’s my store, my dentist and my bank. This is the opposite of the Biblical call to show our faith in Jesus Christ by following His example of obedience, self-sacrifice and service to others. The Gospel (Mark 10.35-45) reminds us of the paradox of Jesus the fully human, who was God with us, modeling obedience, suffering and self-sacrificial love. As His followers we are all expected to live lives that demonstrate our obedience and faith not just as knowledge; but as personal sacrifice and service that is life-giving to others - and to us.

1. Jesus modeled obedient, sacrificial love

How Do We "Get Free From the Darkness That Ensnares Us" (Proper 33)

The Collect is a prayer that focuses us on the general theme of the readings for each Sunday in liturgical churches. Proper 33 is the last Sunday in the Church year before the "Reign of Christ" (next week) which marks the end of Year A. This is important as a final message generally sums up all that has gone before. The readings begin with a contrast between the disasters that fell on the Hebrew people when they abandoned God, and the military victories and good times when they returned to faith and kept the Covenants of Abraham and Moses. Paul's letter to the people in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 5.1-11) describes this contrast as between people of light and people of darkness. The parable of the Talents (75 lbs. of silver) is a reminder that Jesus will come back to judge us based on what we have done with the gifts we have been given in life. This is not about good works but about faith, hope and the development of spiritual life.

1. What was the darkness ensnared the "wicked servant"?

Notice that he was not accused of the usual sins we think of as preventing inclusion in the Kingdom of God:

Have You Met The Risen Jesus? (Easter)

The Easter story is about being sure of the Resurrection and meeting the risen Jesus. This is the point where Jesus becomes a real person to a believer. This is the point where each of us goes from being what we might call a “cultural Christian” to a 'serious believer'. Everyone who meets the risen Jesus is changed - even transformed. Their faith goes from being a philosophy of life to being a daily personal relationship with the risen Jesus. They go from a set of intellectual beliefs to “my Faith” and my hope for the future. For many people this is a dramatic encounter like that of Mary. For others it may be more gradual. The important thing is to personally meet the risen Jesus.

1. The Risen Jesus gives us resurrection life

“Those Who Are On the Side of Truth Listen To Me” (Reign of Christ)

The “Reign of Christ” is celebrated on the last Sunday of the Church Year. The Reign of Christ, which began with the Resurrection continues on until the end of time. This Reign is breaking into the physical world in our time as more and more people” listen to Jesus” and decide to come under His divine spiritual authority (John 18.37c). These are the ones who are “on the side of truth”. The point is that there is another side, made up of those who oppose (i.e. Islam) or chose not to listen to Jesus; and who have no part in His eternal Kingdom. Those who do chose to listen to Jesus are moving “from error into truth, from sin into right-relationship and from death to spiritual life” (Eucharistic Prayer 3, Book of Alternative Services).

1. Listening to Jesus moves us from error into spiritual truth

Jesus has revealed spiritual truth to us through the example of His life on Earth, His teachings as recorded in the Bible and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit that those who listen receive:

We Are Saved By Grace Received Through Faith

 

•  God’s grace saved the rebellious Hebrews from physical death as they trusted God and gazed at the image of the snake on a pole.
• John 3.16 promises faith saving “whoever believed in Him” (Jesus)
• It is important to know how this really works – what it means to us

 1. What do we mean by being saved?

1. Photo of ‘Safeway saves you more sign’ in Edmonton
2. Paul -“you were all dead in your transgressions” (Ep. 2.1)
3. Problem is God is holy and separated from the unholy
4. Any rebellion against God’s Commandments is sin
5. Augustine taught ‘Original Sin’ – born in sin and w/o hope which we can interpret as a dangerous tendency to sin
6. Pelagius (c 400) debate ended in heresy charge for teaching rational humans could save themselves by a perfect life
7. Pelagianism has re-surfaced in our time in Liberal Theology that denies the need for repentance and for God’s grace
8. Good News is that God “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (Ep. 2.5)
9. ‘Saved’ means being saved from separation from God (i.e. hell), receiving the Holy Spirit and eternal spiritual life