Roger's Postings

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Luke 13:1-9. Turn back to God!! 27/2/11
1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” 6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil? 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Again this last week we have had another tragic disaster occur in our near vicinity. As a result many people are beginning to wonder what is going on. There has been so many major and exceptional events happen in a short space of time and in our near proximity; and so we are left wondering. And so we should! These things are allowed to happen for a purpose; and we would do well to ponder over this for some time. It certainly unsettles us in our thinking; and leaves us saddened for the people going through these ordeals and their wider families; and a little more uncertain about our own futures. Sadly, it also brings out elements of self-righteousness and judgmentalism in some who are not directly affected.

Therefore we need to take careful note of what Jesus has to say here in out text today.
1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

So, very quickly Jesus turns the focus of the thinking to each of us as individuals and he leaves us without doubt as to what needs to be in the forefront of our thinking in the face of these disasters. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. We are all sinful and equally deserve the worst to happen to us. Because of our rebellion against God and how he would have us live, we have brought troubles and heartache on ourselves and our world. Sure, most of us say that we believe in God, but none us live as though he is God Almighty; we instead put ourselves on a pedestal.

God clearly tells us this, right back at the time of Adam and Eve, and all along since. To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food [Genesis 3:17-19] These things, together with the fires, floods, cyclones, earthquakes and sickness and death, are all reminders that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and thereby deserve the full wrath of God.

We might wonder why Christchurch, North Queensland or Grantham or any other disaster area is singled out for such a catastrophe, and here we don’t know the mind of God. But the same devastating catastrophe plays itself out in our very own community on a daily basis. The devastating carnage of road accidents, murders, cancer and other terminal illnesses and the list could go on of the tragedies the occur on an ongoing basis all around us. They are all reminders that something is horribly wrong. They are all reminders that we cannot bury our heads in the sand and think that all will and should go well for us.

Interestingly however, it would seem that the more that we turn away from God; from seeking his help and forgiveness the more that these things increase. Not that the ‘good Christian’ is any less spared, for we are all tarred with the same sinful brush. The temptations is there in us all to become lax in our Christians lives and need to be shaken out of our apathy and our desire to be self-seeking and self-serving, egotists.

The parable of the fig tree, that Jesus goes on to talk about, spells out quite clearly as to why we have been spared at this time. It is surely by God’s grace that we have been spared. God is give us further time so that we can be fertilized and nurtured in the hope that our lives may produce the fruit that he is looking for. But all too often we only look for sustenance when we are hungry and thirsty. So also do we only turn to Christ when we are faced with trouble and disaster.

But now as we are confronted with all these disasters, and forced to recognise that at any time it could be our turn. Whether that be our own earthquake or whatever; or our own personal disaster of sickness, tragedy and finally death; nothing is surer than it will occur, sooner or later. And these disasters remind us again that it could come far sooner than we think. So, what are we going to do about it?

Sure the hardened, self-seeking person will question the fact that if there is a God why does he allow these things to happen. But for many, even non-churched people, we see that they quickly see in these disasters that we need to far more readily be community minded and supportive of one another: that we need to have something more and better than our simple selfish, humanistic materialism. There is a recognition of the need for a change toward a better approach to life.

Here in God’s Word to us, that call is even more focussed. The call is for us to repent. Yes, to repent so that we do not perish. To repent because we are reminded that our current selfish living is not sustainable and ultimately leads to disaster. But also to repent because there is something far better for us if we would only allow ourselves to be a part of that better life. As we recognise our sinfulness that has brought on ourselves these disasters and turn to God as not only the source of life but also as the God who truly loves and cares for us; we find that which gives confidence, certainty and the life that we really need and long for.

As we turn to God, we find first and foremost a God who has come right down into our sinful and disaster filled world to do what was needed for us to have life and hope. Instead of expecting us to climb up out of our mess; which we ultimately can’t do, he has come down to give us a sure way out, that is open to everyone. He has come so that we, even though we suffer and die because of our sinfulness, can have the sure hope of eternal life. And so at the end of our life here in this troubled, disastrous world, in whatever way it comes, we can have the certainty of a life beyond that is absolutely free of all that is bad and wrong.

Even though God’s holiness deems that all sin must be punished, he placed that punishment on Jesus Christ and made him die in our place so that we might have forgiveness for all of our sin and the certainty of this new and better life ahead. So Jesus comes and suffers the greatest and most disastrous event of all, for us. He allows himself to be totally forsaken by God so that we do not have to experience that most tragic of all disasters: eternal separation from God. There is hope. There is now a future for us, no matter what befalls us now in this life. To him be all glory and honour, now and forever.

So now in the midst of the turmoil and disasters that surround us and even befalls us, we have someone and something to hope and trust in. Jesus is right there with us to help us and provide a way through it all to something far better beyond. As we face the uncertainty, turmoil and even tragedy when it comes, he there with us to give us a confidence and hope that defies all human logic. Now instead of burying our heads in the sand and hoping that none of these disasters come our way, we can boldly go forward recognising they will happen, but there is one with us who has the love and power to get us through; even death itself.

With that now there for us, we now have one to turn to, even now for us who are not directly afflicted by any of these disasters. Now is the time and the impetus for us to turn back to God and take him seriously so that we are equipped to handle these catastrophes when they come. We surely, will regularly gather together in his presence so that he can give us and sustain in us all that need to face those times. But also we will take him seriously now all the time so that we are able to help the people around us to see and know this wonderful good news, in the face of adversity.

So with these reminders let us repent so that we do not perish; but also so that we are able to help others to see the hope that all can have in the midst of any and every disaster. Turn again to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. To him alone belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/ Underdale Lutheran Parish

Saturday, February 19, 2011

1 Corinthians 3:10,11,16-23. One lasting foundation!! 20/2/11

{10} By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. {11} For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
{16} Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? {17} If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. {18} Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. {19} For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; {20} and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." {21} So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, {22} whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, {23} and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Our reading here today reminds us of an important aspect to the Christian life that we need to keep in mind on an ongoing basis. Without it, we will often be left wondering why our lives are a crumbling mess. The foundation of our faith is of great importance as we go on as God’s people, both in terms of the faith aspect of our lives as well as our day to day living. Unless we have a firm and solid foundation we will be left floundering.

Yet I wonder whether we are not like the fellow, who when he built his house, thought that the foundation was not of any great importance. So as he began in the front corner of his house that was exposed to the public and the building inspector he built a better than regulation foundation that would withstand anything that came its way. But in the other corner he found the ground too difficult to dig so he just made a shallow attempt but left it so that it looked as good as the other side. In the back corner, he was building next to a big gum tree, and being a bit of a ‘greeny’ he decided that he would not disturb the roots of the tree, while figuring that the strength of the tree would hold that corner firm. Then for the remainder he apathetically decided that he would take his chances and do a very mediocre job, cutting back on the reinforcing and the strength of the concrete. He figured that he would rather spend his money on that which would look good and give him plenty of room to enjoy himself.

So on completion, his house look huge and spectacular, but with a very poor foundation. But it looked good; and it brought him the praises of the people who looked at it. However, it was not long before cracks began to appear, and he would quickly patch over then and pretend that his house was still great. But eventually his house began to crumble around him and he was left devastated.

Now of course we are not that silly when it comes to us spending many thousands of dollars building our homes; and yet what do we find when we look at what we are building our lives on? When we look across our society and even our own lives, we see many a crack that has been patched over and lives that are literally crumbling around them. Our whole city and society is full of broken, crumbling lives that we are desperately trying to hold together, or ignore that it is as big a problem as it is. But it is there in a big way and the tragedy is ever unfolding.

But the question is, do we really want to know what the problem is? Do we really want to know what is causing the problem and do something about it? Do we? Really? I would venture to say that most people don’t want to know, far less do anything about.

But, here let us see that the same issue is at stake as it was for the guy building his house. The foundations that we are building our lives on are built with the same underlying thinking. We are taking a little bit of this and a little bit of that and reasoning that we can put it all together and that it will all work out. Well sorry, you wouldn’t build a house that way. And on top of that we need to recognise that as sinful, selfish people we will not get it right.

How can we expect our lives to work out when we think we can have a little bit of Christianity on one small corner of our lives; a little bit of this philosophy and a little bit of another somewhere else; a lot of selfish, ego-centric humanism as well; elsewhere a very capitalistic, money oriented thinking in another. And I could go on. But as long as it looks OK that is all that matters. And we are building on this thinking as our foundation and wondering why our lives are a mess.

When are we going to wake up? Probably we never will. We would much rather bury our heads in the sand than to take this seriously. Look at what is happening around us, Not only has people faith life crumbled as we think we can listen to a little bit of this flotsam and jetsam and a bit of something else; and say we are all ‘christian’ as long as we say we believe in God; and we don’t need to go to church to be a christain; and it is all OK. Is it? Look around you and see that the church has been decimated. Not to mention what is happening in people’s daily lives. And we are pretending that it is no big deal!

Now what does God say to us here in this reading? Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.
And….. each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

There is the answer that we need to this whole issue. Unless Jesus Christ undergirds everything that we are and do, we are building in vain. It is foolishness to think that we can have Jesus in just one small corner of our lives and the rest of our lives can be based on all kinds of other thinking. And it is utter stupidity to think that we can build our own lives, for that matter, doing what we or our worldly humanism thinks is right and good.

Surely Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us and all that he is and stands for is what holds everything together for us. We not only know deep down within us that we fall way short of what is good and right, but God himself has told us that this is what happens when we think that we can run our own lives. We have brought trouble, disaster and death on ourselves; however God in his love for us, chose to send his own Son, Jesus Christ, into our world to take the punishment that we deserve, on himself so that might have forgiveness and a sure hope that there is better ahead for us as we stay close to him.

Here, let us remember that this is God Almighty himself at work for good. His is not only the one who has made all creation but he is God – the ultimate authority, power and judge of all. He is supreme – whilst we are creations. So he is vastly superior to us in every way. So we will surely take him seriously. But even more so because of the love that he has extended to us even though we have chosen not to deserve it.

With that knowledge and understanding undergirding our whole life we are able to stand firm and strong, no matter what comes our way. We can look to him and find the guidance and help that we need in order to then live out every other aspect of our lives. Recognising that God’s Spirit lives in those who are connected to Jesus and built on him will receive what we need in order to make sense of and to live in a good way in every other part of our lives. As we spend time with God’s Word and apply it to our lives we find much that will help us to live in ways that are good and helpful rather than destructively.

But most significantly as we allow Jesus Christ to be the foundation of our whole life and to be our guide and helper, we are able to go forward with confidence and certainty, knowing that our lives are built on that rock which is immovable and constant. We are then confident that we are loved and forgiven even though we mess up; and that no one and nothing can take that love and the sure hope of eternal life with our God away from us. Built on him, our lives may face a battering, but will not crumble. We can stand firm and strong. All things are ours, whether …….. the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are ours, and we are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

There is the foundation that is needed and available for us all; and it will ensure that our lives will not crumble. But again, the question is, do we want to allow this foundation to undergird our whole life, or not? Do we want to give up on building our lives on what we and our wayward world wants. God’s Word is clear, but do we want to heed it? It is there; freely available to you all, but do we still want to build on a little bit of this and a little bit of that? Remember this reliable truth, there is only one sure and certain foundation and that is Jesus Christ our Lord. To him be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

Friday, February 11, 2011

2 Corinthians 9:6-15. Excessive Thanksgiving 13/2/11

(6) Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. {7} Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. {8} And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. {9} As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." {10} Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. {11} You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. {12} This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. {13} Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. {14} And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. {15} Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Today we focus our thoughts on the material gifts that God has given to us as his people. We take this one Sunday to specifically give thanks for these good things that we have received. Now traditionally we have focussed very much on the harvest and rural aspect of life in this, but more and more we are coming to see that this thanksgiving surely encompasses all the material gifts of life.

This then means that we here in this country have much to thank God for: Even though we are currently living in the midst of floods, cyclone and fires: Also that the prices for much of our basics of life are going up, we still have much to be thankful for. Then when we look across other areas of community life there is also much to be thankful for, in the midst of a few difficulties.

It is here however, that we need to stop for a moment and reflect on the point as to whether we deserve to have what we have and perhaps why we are experiencing some of the difficulties that we are facing at the moment. To that, we would have to say yes and no. Yes, we deserve to have the difficulties, and no, we don't deserve to have the good that we have.

Too often in this day and age we expect to have it good. It is our right to enjoy all the good things that we have and more. We have worked for it and we want it. Then when we haven't or can't have these things, we seem to get this idea that nothing less will do. There is in all of us, that something that says that we want and deserve to have it good. At the same time, we live and act as if God and what he has to say to us is of little importance. Instead, we think mostly of ourselves, our rights and our pleasures. With this as our attitude and thinking, we would have to say that we don’t deserve to have much of what we do have.

Yet despite this, we find that God has been exceedingly good to us. He has extended his grace, his undeserving love, to us in abundance; even if it is not as good as we may like. Since the Lord has been so good to us, despite our attitude and thinking, I would encourage you all to consider what God has to say to us here in this reading. He has given us all that we have, so that in all things, at all times, having all that we need, we will abound in every good work. [again]

Now I know that we often don’t want to hear this: We don't want to hear that the Lord has a purpose for giving us so much, and we like to think that it is given merely for ourselves and our own enjoyment; and that it is because we are good and have worked hard for it; that it is ours so that we can sit back and take life easy, being selfish and self-centred.

Here however, we are encouraged to realize that everything we have has been given to us, - yes, so that we can enjoy our good, great and generous God; but also, and particularly, so that we can share what he has given us with others around us. In fact, we are here now to carry in the work of our Lord and saviour. Or better still, to allow him to work through us so that others may come to know his Good News for them: to come to him as their Lord and Saviour as well. Then, the more that come to know him in this way, the more that thanksgiving will abound.

His grace; his goodness toward us, abounds so that thanksgiving may abound. This reading reminds us that God has been excessive in his blessings to us so that we can be excessive in our thanksgiving and sharing. Paul spells this out quite clearly how excessive we are to be in this when he says; in all things at all times. Every single moment of every single day, he says we will abound in every good work. Here notice that to us as Christians he doesn't say must or should, but will. Thanksgiving will be excessive because God has been excessive. It is a natural flow on. Because he has given us everything we need, we can, and will abound in every good work, in everything, at all times.

Our text is very clear about what this good work is that we will do: that is, to be generous with all that God has given us. He gives so that we can share with others. So he is not asking us to give of ourselves, which would be hard. It is not asking that we give reluctantly because we will have to go short ourselves to do so: Nor is it asking us be sparing in our sharing, in case there might not be enough to go around.

No, he is calling us to give freely and generously because he himself is providing: providing enough for us and for others. We only need to look around us to see how he has provided. We in this country, by and large have way in excess of what we really need.

In fact, he has provided so richly and generously, despite what our text says about those who sow sparingly will only reaping sparingly. If we are honest with ourselves, most of us would have to say that we have been frugal in our sharing. So if what we see around us is reaping sparingly, imagine what things would be like if we were generous with what God gives. My mind finds it hard to grasp how much God would give, and how richly we would be blessed.

Now I must say in this regard; hasn’t it been great to see how Australia has responded to the needs of those people north of us who suffered so tragically in the floods. There has been an overflowing of generosity in this instance. Here we would have to say we have not missed out ourselves in any way; as we have so much already. Yet this generosity has brought so much relief and aid to those people, who in turn have been, I am sure, ever so thankful. Yes, a lot more needs be done in the months ahead, and will be done as a result of this generosity. Here again we can only say, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift; and we pray that it will in turn result in further thanksgiving by many others to God as well.

In the midst of this tragedy and the generosity that has followed, we pray that many people will come to see the working of God for good in the midst of a broken and hurting world. Most importantly that people will be drawn to see that in Jesus and his death on the cross, God has come to be with us and give us the forgiveness and one sure hope that we all need in the midst of this world’s problems.

And then with that amount of blessing, the thankfulness and praise that would go to the Lord would be just unbelievable: Then with the overflowing of God's gifts going from us to others, will come even further praise and thanksgiving. Our generosity, together with our confession of how gracious our Lord has been to us, will result in others coming to know Jesus and in turn giving thanks and praise.

So as we look around us, as to how richly God has blessed us and how much his grace abounds in our lives, despite our selfishness and often lack of sharing, let this be the beginning of an increase in our praise and thanks to our great God. Then together with that let us abound in good works, knowing that we have a God who has provided way in excess of what we need so that we can be generous at all times, in every way. We pray that this will the result in even more praise as others come to know the greatness of our God and saviour. Yes, let us remember that is what God is working toward with his goodness toward us.

Yes, he is a great and generous God. To him then be all praise and glory now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

Friday, February 04, 2011

Matthew 5:13-20. Salty Christians?? 6/2/11

(13) "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. {14} "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. {15} Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. {16} In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. {17} "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. {18} I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. {19} Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. {20} For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Let me begin with a little story; and I would like us to think about it in relation to the text that we have here before us.
Jack's neighbour always had his outside light on at night. It was a bright light and it shone right across Jack's untidy yard as well. So every time Jack had to wander around his yard at night that light was of great help to him; and when he came home late at night and not quite with it, he always managed to pick his way through the mess to his front door, without coming to grief. His neighbour knew this and so left his light on when Jack was out at night. Now, Jack would often look at that light and think that he should get one of his own, but never quite got around to it.

Anyway, one night Jack came home late, a little worse for wear; and his neighbour had deliberately switched his light off, even though he knew Jack was out. He thought to himself, why should he share his light with Jack any more. He reasoned to himself that Jack was responsible for his own light and safety. He figured he would keep his light to himself - even though he knew that it would place Jack in great danger.
Now, this night Jack, unaccustomed to his darkened yard, picked his way toward the front door, aware that there were many dangers there, but couldn't see them. He almost tripped over that piece of wire that he meant to get rid of last week: he banged into the lawn mower his son had left out in the front yard; And then tragedy struck – he stepped on the skateboard young Johnny had left on the path; and away went his feet from under him - up in the air he went and then came crashing down onto the concrete path, splitting his head open as he landed.

Now, the blame could be placed in many quarters for Jack’s death; and many would simply say that it was Jack's own fault for not taking care of things when he had the chance. But at the same time, Jack’s neighbour had deliberately withheld that light that had always been there to help Jack at those difficult times. It had always been so important for Jack’s welfare and now he had deliberately with-held it and Jack tragically lost his life as a result.

Now with that story in mind, think again about what this text has say to us here today. Jesus here says that you are the light of the world. Every one of you that claims to be a Christian is that light. You are the light of Christ to the people around you; your neighbours and friends; the people of Adelaide. Here Jesus is saying to you and me - to each of us - not to cover that light - not to withhold it from those around us. But instead, to let our light shine so that others may see our good deeds and praise God. Yes, people around us - our community needs this light of ours as they stumble through life, with all the garbage and dangers that are about. If they are to get through life and end up with God in heaven, they need all the Christian light we can give them, along the way.

Here, remember the other metaphor that is used in this passage is that of salt. The point made, is that salt is only salt when it has it's savour and saltiness. If it hasn't got that, it is good for nothing: and elsewhere we are told that it is not even fit for the manure heap. This text says, that the Christian is the salt of the earth, again so that our neighbours will be able to savour our Christianity: that which is all important in life. So when they rub shoulders with us - if we are fair dinkum - they will see and feel the effects of our Christian life; they will taste the flavour of our life.

But the real question is, what is the Christians salt and light? That is where the second part of our text comes in. The Law and the Prophets play a vital role in the Christian’s life. They remind us of how God expects us to live. The point being made, is that the Ten Commandments and other laws are to be adhered to perfectly - for our own good as people, as well as so that we can be at peace with God.

From our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah, we reminded by God that our the Christian life can not be shallow and we can not just be ‘pretend Christians’. There we are called to be fair dinkum in living our life as God’s people. Let me read: (Isa 58:6-10) "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? {7} Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? {8} Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. {9} Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, {10} and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
That again is the savour and light of the Christian life. To love - to love God and all that he stands for, and to love our fellow human being as we do ourselves. But here it is important to remember, and to be sure that others see and taste, that we are living this way, not in order to win God's favour and approval and so to be saved; but we do so because we have been forgiven and have been saved, and are loved by God. We are salt and light, not in order be saved, but because we have been saved and because we want others to be, as well. So people will see that there is something special about the way that we live: that our way is different from the rest of society. And yes, even different from a lot of ‘Christianity’ today.

However, we can only live this way, because Jesus came and lived up to what is required by the Law and the Prophets for us. Many seem to believe that with the coming of Jesus, the Law has been done away with. But here we are reminded that this is not so. Yes, Jesus fulfilled the Law for us; but he did not do away with it. He fulfilled the Law in that the requirement of breaking the Law has been taken care of by Jesus’ death on the cross. There he took the punishment for our failure and sin on himself; and thereby forgives us and gives us his right relationship with God.

However, now the Law stands for us as the way God wants us to live as forgiven sinners: as people who are loved by God. The Commandments now stand as the way we are to live: to love God and neighbour perfectly. Here the Law points out again and again our failure to do so, but then it directs us back to our Saviour Jesus Christ: to the One where our real help comes from. First of all for our forgiveness; but also to where we can get the power and strength to live as his people: to give praise and thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ; and to be loving and forgiving to one another.

As we live with that being what our life is really on about, then we will be the salt and light to our neighbours and friends that Jesus is talking about here. Only then will they find that our Lord makes it possible for them to know of forgiveness that is there for them all; and also of how we can truly live at peace with ourselves; our world; and God Almighty himself.

Yes, as people who are Christians, we are to now live in this way. We are to live as shining lights to those around us: our lives and light will give them direction for their own lives and it will light up the pitfalls and dangers that are about them; and it will help them to find their way through those hazards to that which not only gives that which is good for life, but it will help them to know of the love and forgiveness that is there in our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, you are the light of the world - so let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and so praise your Father in heaven. To him be all glory and honour, now and always. Amen

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish