We Are All Chosen and Called By God (Advent 4, Year B)

Most of us take most of our lives trying to figure out what God wants us to do. It took me about 45 years. The story of God calling Mary to become the mother of Jesus  is the ultimate “call story”. God is calling Mary to take an enormous risk, to really trust in God. She lived in a culture that stoned women to death that had children outside of marriage. This young girl of about thirteen was called to have an intimate relationship of absolute trust in God.

1. Notice how personal this relationship is. (Luke 1.28-38)

The angel does not say God is going to give her some teachings or some rules to pass on. This is what the prophets had been doing ever since Moses. God was doing a new  thing. God was about to come Himself in human form. He needed a human partner he could trust. He chose Mary and called her into a personal relationship

Welcome To the End Time – and Advent in Year B

Advent 1 marks the beginning of a new liturgical Year. During Year B, we will be going through Mark’s Gospel. In 51 weeks we will be back to the Reading for Proper 33 which is just before the Gospel Reading for today (Mark 13.24-37). Jesus is nearing the end of His ministry and is giving a teaching on the End Time otherwise known as the ‘Day of the Lord’. This is the apocalyptic time at the end of history when the Hebrews and Christians believed there would be wars, plagues, apostasy by many, massive destruction and God / Jesus world return to judge the living and the dead and welcome the ‘blameless’ into heaven. The Bible teaches that the rest would be toast (i.e. dead) or sent to purgatory for cleansing. Modern false prophets teach that everyone is somehow included. Advent is a time of warning to prepare for both the coming of Jesus at Christmas and the Second Coming at the end of time.

 1. Isaiah 64.1-9 is a cry for help from a God who really does help

Isaiah is pleading for intervention against the enemies of God. What is important is that he is in a personal relationship with God and he knows that God has intervened in the past in mighty acts of power. This is in dramatic contrast to the other gods of other religions who have never left any real physical evidence:

Faith-Full Christians Grow Their Gifts (Proper 33, 2014)

We are at the end of the liturgical year. Next Sunday we celebrate the Reign of Christ. Jesus is teaching us about the End Times also known as the “Day of the Lord”. The question is “who will be included in the Kingdom of God? – and who will be excluded?”. The Readings give us three answers:

·         Judges 4.1-8 would include the Nation of Israel if it remained faith-full to its Covenant with God

·         1 Thess.4.13-18 includes the ‘people of light’ who die ‘in-Christ’ i.e. are faith-full to their Baptism into Jesus Christ

·         Mt. 25.14-30 includes those who grow their gifts

 1. There are consequences for rebelling against God

In the Judges Reading the People of God – the Nation of Israel have been “sold into the hands of Jabin, King of Caanan. The Hebrews were in a ‘Covenant’ relationship with God. God owned them and could punish rebellion by withdrawing His protection and using a pagan king to oppress them until they repent.
 

We Should All Feel Shame! (letter to National Post re shooting in Ottawa)

Mrs. Bibeau (October 27) is not alone. We have all probably failed to give our children the instruction and guidance they need to survive in a deceitful world and have a meaningful life. Her son was not ‘crazy’ when he went on a shooting rampage in Parliament as Dr. Frances noted. He was misguided. In fact he was born into a culture that is seriously ignorant and misguided in the area of religion. His life, like the lives of many people, had no meaning or purpose. We have inherited a post-Christian culture in which many people have lost touch with their Christian roots. Many Christians have been misguided by Liberal Protestantism’s denial of an active spiritual force of evil in the world.  Many parents do not have a faith – any faith, to pass on to their children. Schools do not teach the basics of Christianity and the Great Religions. The consequence is young people searching for and finding meaning for their lives in a Satanic religion of violence and conquest. We all need to wake up and smell the gun smoke.  Our schools need to teach the basics truths of all the Great Religions to give young people hope, meaning , context and the basic knowledge they need to resist misguided religious teachers - and get over their fear of offending someone!

 P.S. The meaning of life is to love God and enjoy God forever.

Luke Teaches Us to Proclaim the Healing Power of Jesus (St. Luke's Day, Oct. 18)

Luke / Acts is the longest and most practical of the Gospels. Luke focuses on the Good News as healing. This includes physical healing and spiritual healing. In fact spiritual healing often leads to physical healing. The goal is to restore individuals to wholeness or holiness so they can be in a right relationship with God – who is holy. Humanity is imprisoned by sin, guilt and fear under the power of Satan and destined to die both physically and spiritually. Jesus claims (Luke 4.16-21) the Prophetic mission of Isaiah to free humanity from this captivity to sin and death and restore us to physical health, right relationship with God and eternal spiritual life. This is accomplished by our proclaiming the forgiveness and healing power of Jesus.

 1. Jesus is the “ANOINTED” teacher and healer

Unlike the “false teachers” 2 Timothy 4.3 warns us about Jesus is anointed by God to teach the Good News to the poor. This anointing is critical in teaching and preaching. The history of the Church is a history of false teachers promoting heresies and conflict over doctrine. We seem to be living in an apparently kinder and gentler time when it is considered wrong to condemn heresies and disagree. Many people are concerned that some Church leaders, including Bishops, have caved in to political pressure around the Good News of healing. For example instead of offering healing prayer to the sexually disoriented; our Anglican Synods has affirmed ‘the sanctity and integrity of same-sex relationships”. This indicates that we have lost our Faith in the healing power of Jesus – and are listening to false teachers.

 2. We are to PROCLAIM the healing power of Jesus

Christians are baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit (Baptism)

 “No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3.5) 

 The Gospel Reading (John 3.1-6) teaches us that Christian Baptism is like being born again - in two distinct experiences. The visible physical part is the water baptism in which there is a washing away or death to the past, self-centred and sin controlled life. Since the Holy Spirit cannot live in an unholy person, water baptism prepares the way for new birth when a person receives and experiences the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 
1)     Ezekiel teaches us that God will “Gather” us and “bring us back” into right relationship in His Kingdom
Ezekiel (36.24-28) describes the ‘re-covenanting’ of the Hebrews who had broken the Covenant of Moses, rebelled against God and suffered for the 40 years known as the Babylonian Captivity. The root cause of this loss of faith was a failure of parents and synagogue leaders to pass on and nurture their children in the Hebrew Faith. Ezekiel, writing 400 years before Jesus prophesied a new Covenant of washing and cleansing sin away and infilling with the Holy Spirit:

a. Promise of “your own land’ a homeland / protection

The Gift of Mercy ( Proper 24)

It has been said that if we all got what we deserved we would all be taken out and ‘horsewhipped’. Mercy is what stands between justice and punishment. Mercy is a personal divine gift. It is not a ‘right’ – as many hope. It cannot be earned - as many people hope. Mercy is a sign of a heart that loves. The parable of the Unmerciful Servant is a kingdom parable. It is a teaching on what is required of those who are included in the Kingdom of God. They are required to have demonstrated mercy. This is what Jesus meant by "Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy." (Matthew 5.7) Mercy is the ability to give up the right to judge others and the right to pay back - and instead forgive from the heart. We will be judged and forgiven in the same way that we have judged and forgiven others. This is a test of our love and mercy.

1. The Parable teaches us how people are judged by God

The King or Master is of course God. Jesus is the one who loves us enough to give up His life in payment for the huge debt of our sins. The person being considered for entry into the Kingdom is the servant who was forgiven a huge, un-payable debt. None of us could ever work hard enough at being good to earn the forgiveness we need for entry into the Kingdom of God.

·         Protestant Liberal Theology has deceived many people into a vague belief that God will somehow love us and save us – this is not Biblical

·         The Bible is very clear that the ‘Somehow”  is always through repentance, confession and trust in the Cross of Jesus

·         Lords’ Prayer - We pray that God will forgive us our trespasses / debt as we have forgiven those who trespass against us

·         The Unmerciful Servant revealed his failure to love God and his neighbor and is put out of the Kingdom of God

2. Un-forgiveness is a sin that pollutes our soul and affects our life