The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

“No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3.1-17.)

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Imagine that you wake up in the middle of the night, and you hear a voice you can only think comes from God, and the voice tells you to get up and get your belongings together, and to set out for a distant land – you won’t know where it is until you get there.

Imagine that.

You might be inclined to say, “Lord, have you got the right person here?   Shouldn’t you be next door? They are both out of work. So they don’t have anything to sacrifice by moving,  as I do.”

But God called Abram, and he got up, and took his wife Sarai, and his servants, and all his belongings and set out.

What a test of faith.

“ Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.”

He went.

Paul tells the Romans in today’s epistle reading, that the reason Abram, later named Abraham, was blessed, was not because of anything good that he had done,  but simply because Abram had enough faith to obey willingly, and to venture off into the unknown – all at the call of God.

The evangelist John, in today’s Gospel, tells us the story of the Jewish leader, Nicodemus, a lawful man, a teacher, a member of the ruling council, but a man who knew that something essential, was missing from his life.

Faith like that of Abraham, was missing, wasn’t it?

Jesus tells Nicodemus that to know the fullness of life, and to be a man of faith, he must be born again.  Nicodemus asks what must be the most idiotic question ever asked, “How can a man go into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus that he must become a new man, a ‘born again” man, someone who has left his old life behind.

And Jesus tells him something else, something about his own, Jesus’  mission; he says, “ And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert.”

Now if you remember some of the stories about Israel’s wondering in the desert, you will recall that at one time, the camp of the Israelites was plagued by snakes, and those bitten by a snake would become very sick and die. 

Moses, dismayed at what was happening to people, asked God what to do, and God told him to make an image of a snake, mount it on a staff, and hold it up. Those who looked upon it would be healed.

Jesus has been sent to cure the ills that people are suffering at this time.

And yes, he will heal the sick; yes he will raise the dead; but more than that he is sent to heal the sickness of sin. The pain of sin. The deadliness of sin. Sin which is more of a threat to humankind than any of the physical or mental diseases that afflict us.

He must be lifted up and people must believe in him to be saved from  deadly sin.

He will be lifted up on the cross, as we know. And those who have looked at the cross and believed, have been healed of the sickness of sin.

What is the sickness of sin?

You might ask, because there are some people who believe that sin is not nearly such a bad thing. They will tell you that a bit of larceny never hurt anyone.  

In fact some people believe it can be whitewashed.

Whitewashing sin is even a job for some people these days. It is called spin doctoring. Or public relations.

People believe that anything, even history, can be rewritten to rehabilitate someone. Even someone who has been long dead.

For example, some children in a rich family, decided to give their father a book of the family’s history as a birthday present. 

They commissioned a professional biographer to do the work, carefully warning him of the family’s ‘black sheep problem’. Which was that Uncle George had been executed in the electric chair for murder.

The biographer assured the children,  “I can handle that situation so that there will be no embarrassment. I’ll merely say that Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics…….. at an important government institution.     ………..He was attached to his position by the strongest of ties,………. and his death came as a real shock.”

Unfortunately, real sin is not so funny.

And you really can’t whitewash it away, can you?

Many people have tried to put behind them, things they did some time ago, only to have the memories return to haunt them in later years.

Many have acquired a veneer of respectability, a look of probity, without ever having experienced the slightest remorse for the wrong they have done.

It is all in the past,

So they think.

But the effects of  unforgiven sin last far longer, and are more pernicious, and far- reaching than you could ever imagine.

A man named Max Jukes once  lived in New York. He did not believe in Christ or in Christian training. He refused to take his children to church, even when they asked to go.

He had 1026 descendants; 300 were sent to prison for an average term of thirteen years; 190 were public prostitutes; 680 were admitted alcoholics. His family thus far, has cost the state in excess of $420,000. They have made no contribution to society. To the contrary, they have been a drain on society.

Jonathan Edwards lived in the same state, at the same time as Jukes. He loved the Lord and saw that his children went to church every Sunday, as he served the Lord to the best of his ability.

He has had 929 descendants, and of  these 430 were ministers; 86 became university professors; 13 became university presidents; 75 authored good books; 7 were elected to the United States Congress; one was vice president of his nation.

His family never cost the state one cent, but has contributed immeasurably to the life of plenty in that land today.

You see, sin has more side effects than all the drugs on the market today. 

And Christ is the only answer.

What are we to do about it? 

We come to church. We support its ministry in the world and the community. We minister in many ways in our town. We try to live our lives as God would want us to.

What more can we do?

Well, just put yourself in the sandals of one of the Israelites in the desert, three thousand years ago, when a plague of snakes has caused havoc in the camp.

Imagine that you had been bitten and become sick, and that you had heard that if you would only gaze on the image of a snake that Moses had prepared and had  lifted up, then you would be healed. And imagine that is what you did, and you were healed.

Then imagine further, that you hear groans coming from a nearby tent. You look inside, and see a whole family infected by the poisonous snake bites, and obviously close to death.

What would you do?

Would you bring them water?  Would you dress their festering wounds? Try to comfort them? Of course you would.

But wouldn’t you also tell them that you had been healed by gazing on that snake held up by Moses? And wouldn’t you try to bring them to the door of their tent, and point the way they should look, and help them to be healed completely?

Of course you would.

Well, we live in a sick world, where many people suffer the effects of sin.

The sickness of sin breaks up more families than disease or death.

The sickness of one man some years ago, resulted in the deaths of fifty-eight women, (I think that’s the number) in Spokane Washington.

Think of the effects of drunken driving, of the sale and use of narcotics, of AIDs, of murder, of robbery, of the abuse of innocents.

The old wayside pulpit  had it right when it said the wages of sin is death.

So why don’t we help out by lifting up Jesus, and pointing others to him, as the one who heals the sickness of sin?

Why don’t we tell others how we have been healed and help them find healing?

The Son of Man must be lifted up as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert, for everyone to see.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish  but have eternal life.

For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

It’s the oldest message in the world, but is still new today.

It is the oldest remedy for a ruined life, but it is still as effective as it was when it was first prescribed  by Jesus himself.

If we have availed ourselves of it, and are healed, then shouldn’t we try to help others find healing too?

I have coffee with a friend once a week, an atheist, and I am slowly working on him. ( He thinks he is working on me!)

He has a son who is of the religious persuasion that puts people off by constantly preaching at them. Condemning them.

So my friend is put off by his son. Put off from that sort of religion.

So it is hard work.

So far I have moved him from being against all religion, to seeing that religion isn’t all that bad, but helps us to live a better life, treating others well,  and living right.

And he says that is what he does.

The next step is getting him to see that Jesus gives us the wherewithal to do that.

Wish me luck.

Amen.

       The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ According to Matthew

He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:1-11)

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I don’t know if God was testing Adam and Eve when he placed them in the garden and warned them not to eat from that special tree.

We  do say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation,” don’t we?  Does that mean that God puts temptation in our way? 

I have never thought so, but the story of the garden, and our ancestors, Adam and Eve could lead us to think that way.

The thing is that the snake made it sound like disobeying God was not such a bad thing to do. And so, first Eve, then Adam forgot what God had told them, and ate the fruit they had been told not to eat.  

Before, it hadn’t seemed like such a bad thing to do, but immediately afterward, they knew they had done wrong.

It is always worse afterwards, isn’t it?

God had told them, “ If you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then you will surely die.”

And in a very important way, they did die. 

God is all good, and as such, cannot live with sin, so when they sinned, they removed themselves from God, and they were as good as dead as far as God was concerned. 

And everyone who came after them.

It’s not that God didn’t try.   He gave the law to His people  so they would know when they were doing wrong.  He sent leaders, prophets, priests, to show them the error of their ways.

But to no avail. 

Oh sure there were some good people, but it seemed that mostly people pretended to be good,  going to the temple and making their offerings, but when they got out of temple, they would cheat, lie,  put people down, destroy people’s reputations by gossiping, and so on.

So it was like God said, “Look, I  want my lost people back. Prophets and teachers, and kings and leaders haven’t helped bring them back, so I am going to take drastic action and go down there Myself, to show people  how they really should live.”

And he came to earth in the person of Jesus.

But He knew that to convince people how to live right, Jesus would have to be human in every way except one – he wouldn’t give in to temptation. He would not sin.

But nobody told poor old Satan.

So Satan sees this lovely man. Upright, handsome, clear eyed, confident, radiating goodness, and he has just got to try and corrupt him. 

You see Satan doesn’t bother tempting those who have already fallen. No need.  They are already his. He goes after the pure and the innocent, and the righteous.

And so he went after Jesus.

“Hey,” he said, “You shouldn’t be starving like that. It isn’t  right. Don’t you know you have the power to turn those stones into bread?  Just do it.  Eat!”

The devil thought he had it made with this one, because Jesus had starved for forty days.

But Jesus was a bit too clever for him. “Man can’t live on bread alone,” he told Satan,  “ Man needs spiritual food too. He needs the word of God.”

So the devil decided to tempt Jesus to use his powers in another way. He took him to the highest part of the temple and said, “You know, if you were to jump off, the angels would catch you.   It says so in Scripture.  So it can’t be wrong, now can it?

“Imagine how the people will flock to follow you when they see what you can do.   You would be famous instantly.”

Jesus showed what he thought about people who misused scripture to get their own way. He told Satan, “Scripture also tells us not to test God.”

Satan was not to be beaten. He would offer the big prize here. The bonanza. The giant jackpot.  The fifty million dollar prize.

He took Jesus to a high mountain, a mountain so high that from the peak of this mountain, you could look in all directions and see many countries, many kingdoms.  

He said, “You know, if you would only bow down to me, then I would make you king of all these countries. 

“You wouldn’t have to put up with people who spoke against you. I know how to look  after such people.  You wouldn’t have to be beaten and humiliated. We could beat and humiliate anybody who even thought about doing that.

“You wouldn’t have to die on a cross. What an end that would be for the Son of God.

“ Painful, humiliating, oooooH, awful.

“You could have it easy.

“ I would take care of everything.”

See,  temptation always makes things look easy, doesn’t it?

But as tempting  as Satan made everything sound, and it sounded a lot easier than what faced Jesus at this point, Jesus knew that God’s way, as hard as it may appear to be, is the only way.  The right way. 

It may seem hard but it is the only  way to peace, and love, and compassion, and caring, and loving, and most important of all to  salvation.

Because God’s way is to save us. Not to enslave us. He wants to keep us safe; to take us in his arms like a parent takes a child, and care for and protect us.

But the other way always looks easier.

I am reminded  of a story about a young man who was walking along the cliff edge, and he saw the gulls flying onto a ledge where they had nested, below. He looked over the edge and  the nest was right there below him.  He could almost touch it.

On an impulse he decided to climb down and take a couple of eggs from the nest.

It looked easy.

He got down on his knees. turned around, and lowered himself over the edge.  He easily found the first foothold.   He  groped with his other foot and found another deep crevice to hook his foot into. He lowered himself carefully, he was a good climber, and it seemed that his hands found ridges or crevices so readily that he laughed to himself at how simple a climb it was turning out to be.  

He was soon quite close to the ledge that held the nest, although it did seem a bit further away than he has thought at first, but never mind, this was easy. He went further down.

At last, he was almost on the ledge. But to get there meant he had to let go of his  handhold and drop a couple of feet or so. It was risky, but he figured he could do it.

He let himself go, and his heart stopped for a minute as he fell, and landed on the ledge. He bent his knees to cushion the impact, and although he wobbled a bit as he landed, he flattened himself against the rock face, and landed safely.

After catching his breath, he reached down and took a couple of eggs. They were warm, and one had  a little feather stuck to it. He slipped them into his shirt pocket for safety.

The tide had come in as he had made his way down, and the water beat against the rocks below. Good job he was going up not down, he thought.  

He looked for the handholds he needed, and a low ledge for a foothold to start his climb.

But the wall he stood against, unlike the craggy area where he had begun his descent,  was quite smooth, there didn’t seem to be any cracks or crevices  where he might get a hand or foot hold. He checked the wall above him, and to his right and left, and couldn’t see any way he might start his climb back.

After a few minutes, it hit him like a punch in the stomach. There was no way up or down. He was trapped. He stood there helplessly, knowing that when his legs got tired and he could no longer stand, he would fall to his death.

He yelled for someone to save him, but his voice was swept away by the wind, and lost in the shrieking of the seabirds.  He thought he heard a mocking tone in their voices.

That’s how it is with temptation. It is always easier to get there than it is to get back.

You’ve only had three drinks. You can drive OK. You are a good driver.

But you can’t bring back a person killed in an automobile accident.

You can tell the boss something not quite true about that guy who works across from you. You could do his job much better then he can.

But when that man’s family falls apart over him having lost his job, there is nothing you can do to put things right.

It’s easier for a teenager to lie to mom or dad  and say, “I was over at Brittany’s place,” than to tell the truth about where you have really been.

But now you have started to lie to your parents, you will  have to continue doing so. You are trapped.

It’s easier to take that funny blue pill, or the smoke, or the drink, than to risk the derision of your friends.   But where will your friends be when you get ill from doing stuff that makes you sick.

It’s easy to slip into an illicit relationship.  If two people are set on doing wrong, then what’s to stop them?

But oh the lies that will have to be told, and the double life led, after that first illegal kiss.

Satan is good with the soft sell, but he is nowhere to be found when you have to face the consequence of what you have done. Because there are always consequences.

Father, lead us not into temptation.

Rather, Father, give us such a confidence in your love, and such  a sureness about what is right, that temptation can never win us over.

We always want to be safe with you.

Amen.

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Matthew

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Mt.17.1-9.)

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About eighty years ago, my aunt Lizzie was awakened from her sleep by the sound of her husband urgently calling out her name, “Oh Lizzie!” “Oh Lizzie!”

What was unusual about that, was that her husband, my uncle Dick, wasn’t in the house. He was away fighting in the war.

She felt a real unease at this, but dismissed it as a dream, or something, and tried to go back to sleep.

Soon afterward, a telegram arrived to tell her that Dick had been killed  in Tobruk, when a shell hit the truck he was riding in with other soldiers.  It seemed to her that he had called out to her at that moment he had died.

He was a thousand miles away, and yet she heard his cry.

It’s a strange story, isn’t it?   It’s the sort of thing that we half believe, or dismiss as coincidence, or just as something that cannot be explained.

There are lots of stories, just as strange. You may have heard some yourself. 

We have one today, told in the Gospel from Matthew, the story of what happened to Jesus on the mountain as seen by Peter James and John.

Matthew tells us that there on the mountain, the disciples saw Jesus completely changed. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

They also heard the voice of God telling them, “This is my own dear Son and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says.”

A strange story, and hard to explain. Hard to believe.

But in the second letter of Peter we have his recollection of the event, and he says, “We didn’t make this up, as some say, but we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes.”

Then there is a similar story in the Old Testament account of Moses. He  also went up a mountain to meet with God, and when he returned his face shone so full of the glory of God that people were afraid, and he had to wear a veil until it had worn off.

Is God telling us that He will make our countenances shine with His glory? Not really.  I think we are being told that God loves us so much that he will actually intervene, in this world, He will show Himself in some way, to encourage us in our pilgrimage.

And I think the way we need to be encouraged in our pilgrimage these days is to know that the one we follow – Jesus the Christ – is real, and has been real and will continue to be real.

We have experienced the birth stories of Jesus, and we have heard how when he was taken into the temple; two holy people there, Simeon and Anna, were moved by the Spirit of God to tell us that Jesus the baby would become Jesus the Messiah.

We were there at his baptism by John in the River Jordan, when the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove rested on the head of Jesus, and the voice of God was heard saying words similar to those we heard today, “This is my Son,  with whom I am well pleased.”

And now we have the Gospel story of Jesus being singled out again as the One true Son of God.   

And if we find it hard to believe, then we can hear the words of Peter, one of those there at the time,  who tells us it is not a story made up to fool people.

We have the stories of those who saw Jesus after his death and resurrection – hundreds saw him – and the evidence of his great power in the millions of those who have found their lives transformed – transfigured if you like – once they have allowed Jesus into their hearts.

Because having Jesus in your heart is a means of undergoing transformation every bit as wonderful as that seen by the disciples on the mountain that day.

Dark lives, with dark secrets, have been filled with light by the love of Jesus.

Timid men and women have been inspired to great achievement by letting Jesus into their hearts.

People have faced and overcome great danger, through their belief in Jesus. 

Transformation!!

Have you experienced that transformation?   And if you haven’t, do you wonder why?  

And are you open to it?   Really open?  

What do you do here in church?

Do you listen attentively to the prayers?  Or does your mind wander?

Do you hold each name that you hear in the prayer requests, in your heart, and ask God’s love and healing on them?   Or do you roll your eyes  at the length of the list?

Do you join wholeheartedly in praising him during the hymns, or do you sing so quietly that your neighbour doesn’t even hear you? 

Do you enter into the prayers, or do you allow them to go over your head?

Do you look up to God or look down at your watch?

Have you enjoyed  worship and praise, or do you tolerate it?

You see if we are only half-hearted in making this weekly connection to God, then we can hardly expect to feel some great transformative sensation, can we?

The question arises: Do you really want to be transformed?

Be careful before you answer because it’s a dangerous thing to be transformed. 

Transformation in Jesus might mean that you have to find new friends. 

Transformation in Jesus might mean that you have to find a new code for living.

Transformation in Jesus will  open your eyes to how you have lived so far, and you may be driven to make great changes to live your new transformed life.  

Transformation in Jesus may mean forgiving people you refused to forgive previously; smiling at people you have pointedly ignored before now; apologizing to those you have hurt in the past; mending fences with those you have fallen out with; loving those you have previously hated.

Transformation means complete change.  

Someone who is dear to me is going through a hard time right now. I have held that person in my prayers, and asked God to be a real presence in her life, and to bring her through this time.   I have tried to invoke God’s presence  in her life in such a way that she will be encouraged and uplifted, and relieved of stress and guarded against harm.

I have prayed that she will be brought through this time by His help, because He is the only one who can help at this time.

About three weeks ago I got a form from my bank to be attached to my Income Tax return. The form attests that I have made a payment into my RRSP’s of  9600 dollars.

That, as you know will trigger a tax refund of maybe three or four thousand dollars.

But I never made such a payment.

I had transferred some funds from one fund manager to another, and the bank had made a mistake in showing that transaction as coming from my regular account, rather than from my   RRSP account.  

If I chose to attach that form to my Income Tax Return, and claim my three thousand-dollar refund there would be little chance it would be questioned.

Even if the bank later found out its mistake – which would be unlikely,  no blame could  accrue to me.  It was their mistake not mine. It is my own money.  And of course, if it never came to light, then I would be three thousand or so dollars better off. And I could really use the money.

I could even, if I really tried, keep that transaction  secure in the investment compartment in my mind, and separate from the God part of my mind.

Or could I?

Because – how could I ask for God’s help on one hand, and on the other hand perpetuate deceit?

I told the bank and they checked their records, and put everything right. I returned the erroneous form.

I don’t tell you this to show how honest I am, because a part of me said, “It won’t harm anybody, and no-one will ever find out.”

I tell it to illustrate the plain fact that our lives have to be transformed in every department. 

It’s a bit like a light bulb. It can’t be half lit. It is either on or off.

That old excuse, “Well everyone does it,” won’t wash any more, once you have been transformed.

That other excuse, “No one will ever know about it,” won’t wash either, once you have been transformed. 

The light of Christ will illuminate every corner, or it will illuminate none.

You can’t be half Christian, half follower of Jesus, a half time player.

Former President Bush, in one of his speeches about combating terrorism, said that countries that wouldn’t aid in the fight against terrorism would be considered terrorists.

What he was saying was that if you are not with us you are against us.

Jesus said the same thing.

If you are not with me, you are against me.

Think about it.

If we are only half hearted Christians, then obviously, some of the things we say or do will not be compatible with being a follower of Jesus.

We will be against him.

Peter says in his letter, that the things we have seen and heard about Jesus, and the things written about him are certainly true. He says that we should continue to pray and pay attention to the way we follow Jesus, and keep on praying until the daylight comes, and the morning star rises in our hearts.

It’s being attentive, isn’t it?  It’s being purposeful in our pilgrimage.

It’s being different. Totally different.

This is my own dear Son. I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says. 

If you are not with me, you are against me.

But if you are with me, I will be with you to the end of the age.

Amen.