Those Who Believes In Me Will Live Even Though They Die (Celebration of Life)

This is the Good News of Christianity. We all wonder what happens when someone dies. We all fear our own death. We also all hear a lot of platitudes about people being in Heaven who may or may not have been serious believers. The most common lie in our time is that good old uncle George is in heaven in spite of never having shown evidence of belief – but because they were a “good person”. The sad truth is that George is probably just dead. He had probably not developed a spiritual life, not asked for and received forgiveness for his sins, had no relationship with Jesus and his sin polluted soul and spirit could not survive in the presence of a holy God. The Readings (John 11 an 14) help us understand why we are celebrating the Earthly and continuing spiritual joy of our beloved Sister in Christ – who was also a very good person, but who had developed a strong spiritual life that could survive in the presence of a holy God.

1. We are not just physical beings – we have a soul and a spirit

In order to understand the joy of our spiritual life we need to understand how things work in the spiritual dimension described in the Bible. God, for example, is omnipresent – can be present everywhere, including in Jesus and including in us.

We Are To Be Temples Of The Holy Spirit (Eph. 3.22) for Proper 16

This is what all Christians are supposed to be. We are to be people in such a right-relationship with God that God the Holy Spirit can live in us. The Readings explain what this is in terms of the relationship between a shepherd and sheep. In modern times this is the relationship between each of us and Jesus. If this is a good and holy relationship based on faith and love, the Holy Spirit will come and live inside each of us to guide us, strengthen us and heal us as we go through life in this dangerous time and place.

1. Jesus is our righteousness (Jer. 23.6)

Names in the Bible are very important. They tell us what a person is expected to be. They are a one word personal mission statement. The expected Messiah - Jesus, is to be called “The Lord our righteousness”. It is important to note that we do not have “righteousness” or a right relationship on our own. Jesus is our righteousness. It is only when we are connected to Him that we are spiritually covered by the righteousness of Jesus.

• The Greek in the Bible really means “in Him”.  
• God by his love and grace accepts our Faith and trust in Jesus sacrificial death for us as equal to us dying for our own sins.
• We repent and die emotionally to our sins in our weekly Confession.
• This is why the Priest can give us absolution.  
• God accepts this repentance in Faith and forgives us through the shed blood of Jesus.
• We are spiritually covered by our faith in the righteousness of Jesus
• Those who are not living “in Him” through their Faith in Jesus,  Baptism and Christian lifestyle are not covered by the righteousness of Jesus. They are alone and vulnerable to all the temptations, deceptions and spiritual attacks of the Evil One. We can see what this looks like on the front page of any newspaper. It is not very happy.

2. Jesus is our teacher

Faith Overcomes Fear (Proper 12)

Fear can be a good thing if it warns us of danger or motivates us to take action to protect ourselves from the storms of life. Fear can also be destructive if we worry about our finances, our health, not being liked or even death. Fear of death and separation from God is the power Satan has over those who do not know the Good News of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ. Fear can block our spiritual life by preventing us from taking the risk of Faith and depending on Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Readings give us examples of other people of faith who overcame their fear and grew in Faith.

 1. The storm of life is a test of faith

Baptism Gives Life Meaning Direction and Purpose

Baptism is much more than a hope that those who live out their Baptismal Promises will have eternal spiritual life. We are born with a physical body and a soul and then born a second time in Baptism with a personal spirit that is connected to God the Holy Spirit. We all need this connection to give our lives meaning, direction and purpose. We see evidence of people who do not have this connection all around us whose lives lack meaning, direction and purpose:

• Those who live only for themselves and have no love
• Those caught up in failure, sickness - no hope
• Those caught up in conflict and violence – no peace
• The lazy and ignorant who have given up on life – no joy

1. Baptism gives life meaning – an identity
The Baptized have a contract with God which explains how the world operates and what their place in creation is.  Many people are confused about identity, the meaning of life and what they are supposed to be doing. This is often the work of Satan who has stolen their identity and replaced it with the lie that God is angry at them, they are no good, they will never be successful at anything etc.

 The truth is the opposite – they are a precious child of God.

Not only that but that God is their spiritual Father. This is often a new and healing experience.

 

2. Baptism gives direction to our life

“I Believe In the Holy Spirit”: The Trinity in 15 Minutes (Trinity Sunday Readings)

This is a Creedal statement we make every Sunday. It is part of our affirmation of Faith in the Apostles Creed. God the Father is defined as the creator who gives us life. Jesus is defined as the Son who is God with us in human form on Earth and gives up his physical life to pay the price for all human sin. Nothing is said about what it is we are supposed to believe about the Holy Spirit. The point is we are to believe in the Holy Spirit as the continuing presence of God in the world so we can be led into a deeper and eternal relationship with God. This process of being led by the Spirit in developing a new spiritual life is called being born again – we get new identity.

 1.    The Holy Spirit is the part of a God who is with us in our lives

Who Is The Holy Spirit? (Pentecost Sunday)

Anglicans sometimes have trouble understanding who the Holy Spirit is and what the Holy Spirit does. Older English translations of the Bible seriously miss-translated the Greek word “rouah” which means spirit, wind or breath (of God) as “The Holy Ghost”. This image turned the Holy Spirit into a vague and unfortunate caricature – something to be avoided in sermons. This is the exact opposite of what the Readings for Pentecost teach us. Jesus promised to send The Holy Spirit to all believers as the link to God or continuing presence of God working in the world. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth who, exactly like Jesus, teaches us the truth in all things:

• Convicting us of the reality of our own sin
• Convincing us of the righteousness (authenticity) of Jesus
• Convincing us of the certainty of final judgement by God

You Are Witnesses of These Things (Ascension Readings)

The Ascension of Jesus marks the end of Jesus visible ministry on Earth, until His coming again in the End Times. In between these times, Jesus tells us our ministry is to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations. (Luke 24.47). The Good News is that Jesus did not abandon His followers in this mission. Jesus promised that they would receive “power from on high”, the gift of the Holy Spirit, that he would “open their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24.45) If we are to be effective witnesses to the life, sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus we need to understand:

• Why we are witnesses
• What we can witness too
• How the Holy Spirit helps us
• Our responsibilities as witnesses

1. A witness is a person who has seen or experienced something
Jesus was speaking to His followers who had personally heard His teaching, seen his healing miracles and personally seen His Resurrection body.