Sermon on Luke 10:1-16

Sermon on Luke 10:1-16
Given 13 November 2016 (Remembrance Sunday) at Studley Parish Centre

Mark 10:45 tells us “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” This verse highlights that even Jesus himself served others, just as we should do.

As Christians, we are called to serve in the name of Christ. We have all heard that actions speak louder than words and James 1:22 declares, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Thus, service is very much a cornerstone of Christianity. Christ served us with His works and ultimate death on the cross, and we serve Him as a form of praise and love for our neighbour.

Today’s reading from Luke talks about Jesus sending out His servants. He gave them instructions to heal the sick and give a blessing to all, even those who refused it. It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t expect His disciples to decipher who deserved a blessing, promoting the idea of loving all people without judgement.

In today’s modern society, it would be quite easy to look at this story and many other stories from the Bible and say, “it was so long ago, it doesn’t apply to me. I can’t possibly do the things the Bible talks about.” But that mindset forgets that Christ is eternal. Just as He called the 72, He calls each and every Christian to serve His Father, Our Father.

But what does it mean to serve? In a few moments we will gather around the cenotaph to honour those who have served their country. There are parallels we can draw between military service and Christian service. In World War I, the soldiers were called to serve their King; Today, we are called to serve our heavenly King. They served on the battlefields of Europe; we serve on the battlefield of life. They were armed with weapons of destructions; we are armed with the greatest weapon of all: LOVE.

John Wesley summarised the Christian calling when he proclaimed, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” This motto clarifies that Christians are not called to be perfect, but rather to be as good as we can.

In Chapter 12 of Romans, Paul puts this idea into more practical terms instructing us that “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to on another in love. Honour one another above yourselves… Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need… bless those who persecute you… rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.”

As a young mother working 40 hours a week and trying to juggle the roles of Christian, wife, mother, friend, cook, cleaner, etc., etc. I have been fortunate to receive Christian service. I know when a friend says, “Let me know if you need anything” they genuinely mean it. But I am fortunate. There are so many people in this world struggling day to day just to get by. Sometimes something as simple as holding a door open can make all the difference in someone’s life. The smallest actions done with love can make and amazing impact. So, as Christians, let us seek to do all things with love.

And in our daily lives, let us remember to serve the Lord in all the ways that we can. In closing, please join me in saying the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, which reminds us that we are all called to serve:

Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen

Sermon on Mark 5:21-43

Sermon on Mark 5:21-43
Given 10 November 2019 at Studley Parish Centre – Centrepoint

I am always thrilled about this time of year, because Autumn is my favourite season. Or, rather, as Americans logically call it, Fall. After all, it is the time of year when the leaves fall off the trees, and the Earth begins its preparation to fall into a winter hibernation. One aspect about this time of year that we don’t often mention though is the hope behind the dreariness of the naked trees. There is always hope, because every year we know that the fall of the leaves is not the end for the trees. As the seasons change, we are aware that the long sleep is simply part of a cycle, which always comes back to rebirth. After the fall of the Autumn, and the still of the Winter, there is restoration in the Spring.

In chapter 6 of the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus is telling us not to worry, he uses the illustrations of the birds in the sky and the flowers in the fields. He explains that if our loving Creator God is so concerned for the well-being of these things, then of course God will take care of us too. In the same way that God cares for the created world, God will care for us and in the same way God restores the world, God will also restore us.

The video we watched based on Mark 5:21-43, shows us the restorative power of Jesus. Not only does Jesus restore health to the unnamed woman, he also restores life to Jairus’ daughter. As with any story from the Bible, there are levels to this one. On the surface, it is simply a story of healing, but on deeper inspection, it is also a social commentary on who Jesus deems worthy of healing. Spoiler alert – all are worthy in the eyes of God.

I don’t like saying the unnamed woman, so I’m going to call her Annie. Annie, who had been bleeding for twelve years, had spent all the money she had on doctors who couldn’t heal her. From this, we can infer that Annie is poor. Additionally, due to the context of that time, there is a good chance she was unmarried, as her continual bleeding would by law cause her to be unclean and anyone she touched to be unclean as well. Basically, Annie was on the fringe of her society as she was a poor, unmarried woman. But when Jesus discovered he had inadvertently healed her, he didn’t rebuke Annie. Instead, Jesus called her ‘daughter’ recognizing her as a child of God. For Jesus, even someone who would be considered an outsider is worthy of God’s magnificent, healing love. Then, after healing Annie, Jesus continued to cross gender boundaries by bringing Jairus’ daughter back to life. Gender and class are no hindrance for Jesus, and neither is sickness, or even death. This is the power of a God that can and does heal, repair, and restore, who loves everyone equally regardless of differences or societal standards of etiquette.

This power is shown through the many miracles of Jesus, but we also see healing in the name of Christ by Peter and Paul in the book of Acts. Furthermore, James 5:14 tells us “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” So it’s not only Peter or Paul, that can bring the restoring power of God in the name of Christ. Every single one of us is called as Christians and followers of Christ, to bring about radical restoration in the name of Jesus.

This past week in one of my lecture rooms, there were two questions written on the white board that couldn’t be erased. Though some would say it was down to someone using the incorrect marker, I viewed these questions as a nudge from God. The questions were: What will stay with you? And what will you do next?

From what I have said today, I hope the answer to the first question is the knowledge that in the name of Christ we too can heal, repair, and restore. I want your takeaway to be that there is power in the name of Jesus that we as Christians can utilise to bring about restoration in our life and the lives of others. I believe this leads naturally on to the second question of what your next steps will be, the answer of which is summarised perfectly in the mission for our Arden Marches group of churches: Bringing God’s love to a hurting world.

As we prepare to go gather around the cenotaph and remember the hurt, the brokenness, the destruction caused by war, let us find comfort in the ability of God’s power in us to heal, in Christ’s love in us that repairs, and in the capacity of the Holy Spirit in us to bring all things in and of creation to restoration. Amen.