Roger's Postings

Saturday, October 31, 2015

John 8:31-36.                       Free to be truly Christian????                                        1/11/15

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 
33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 
34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

Today we have set aside as our day to commemorate Reformation Day – the day the Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the Wittenburg Church door. In doing so we remind ourselves of the ever-present need for God’s people to return to and hold fast to the truth that God has given to us in Jesus Christ.

Now we may be tempted to think, that was way back then, and the church at that time had gone off the rails. People were having to pay money for the forgiveness of their sins, and there were other terrible abuses and corruptions of what the church is meant to be. So yes thankfully Martin Luther came along and set about making things right again.

But that was way back then and we are now living in a different age and time, so this is an old, bygone celebration that is not all that important for us today. We are now living at a time when it is not fashionable to focus on differences. We all are seemingly struggling for our survival. And at the end of the day, as long as I have ‘my faith’ that is all that matters.

However all of these views are the very reason why we need to reflect on the importance of reformation. In fact it is absolutely vital today: Almost more than at other time in history. In our own church as well as across the whole Christian scene; and our own lives as well, there is a great need for reformation: a returning back to the truths of Scripture that has been handed to us by the Lord God Almighty himself.

So serious it is, that many people’s soul’s salvation is at stake. It is not good enough to just say ‘I have my faith, therefore I am okay.’ Faith, in what? That the sun will come up tomorrow! That I acknowledge some sort of higher being out there somewhere! That I live a reasonable life therefore I will be up there, wherever that is! That I believe that Jesus is a good bloke who has given us a good way to live! Or even that this Jesus did die and rise again, but it is my acceptance of him and my living as he would expect that makes it what is all important.

These and many other such views are commonly peddled around today, even in ‘christian’ circles. It would seem that what an individual thinks and interprets God’s Word as saying, is what is valid and acceptable. So what I think is what is all important. Yet surely, that in the end is not good enough.

What did Jesus say in his reading here today: 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

It is here quite clear, as well as in many, many other places in the Scriptures, that it is only those who seek to hold to Jesus teaching that are really his disciples. Those who think that they can play fast and loose with God’s Word are not disciples of Jesus, but people who are seeking to use him for their own purposes; and that surely is disastrous. In fact God himself tell us that.

Just because someone claims to be a Christian doesn’t mean that they are. Here many Jews were claiming Abraham as their descendant, and they were regularly doing what good Jews of the day were doing. As a result they thought that they were free; that they were acceptable to God. Only to be clearly told by Jesus that this was not the case.

He tells them: I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family. Here we have a very important word for our world today. Everyone who sins – now that surely is every one of us. Not one of us according to God’s Word can stand and say that he is not a sinner. In fact if we are truly honest with ourselves, we all fall a long, long way short of what God expects of us. As such he reminds us all that we have no permanent place in the family – that is God’s family.

So not one us can say that we are free and are acceptable to God and can in any way claim that we will be ‘up there somewhere when we die.’ All of us are in a dire predicament if we are going to try and do life on our own and by our own rules. Again God’s Word is very clear about this.  Here Jesus is also ‘telling it as it is to these smug Jews’ and people today who have the same attitude and thinking.

But Jesus doesn’t leave it there. He goes on: but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Here he gets to the heart of the Gospel, and that which Luther and the Reformation sought to highlight once again; and it surely is the message that needs to be at the heart of our own and the churches life as well.

It is only through the Son, Jesus Christ and our connection with him that we have any hope at all. His life, death and resurrection alone is what makes it possible for us to be in God’s family now and forever. He took the punishment on himself that God’s holiness and justice declared to be necessary for all sin, both big and small. Even though he was sinless he gave himself as the sacrifice for sin so that we might be extended forgiveness, life and salvation.

Then again he rose again from the dead three days later, declaring to us and the world that he has defeated sin, death and devil, and that eternal life is there for all who are connected to Jesus Christ. In him alone we can have the certainty of being up there in heaven when we die.

So then the great reformation declaration of Christ alone, stands for the world across the centuries as of basic importance. He is not one of many ways to God, but the only way. His death and resurrection alone is what makes salvation possible. This is of utmost importance for us to believe.

In connection with this is also the declaration of the basis truth of by Grace alone. It is God extending his undeserving love to us alone that makes us acceptable. So no amount of good deeds, money or right thinking on our part makes us any more or less acceptable. Just because I was brought up in a Christian family doesn’t give me access into God’s family either. There is nothing that I can contribute toward my being acceptable to God. His Grace alone stands as a beacon to us all.

This then is where the third important declaration of reformation thinking across the history of the church since the time of Jesus Christ, stands as another basic truth from God’s Word: Faith alone.  All we are called on to do, and can do, is to trust that all of this is the case, just as God has told us in his Word. It is not faith plus good living that makes us acceptable, even though if we have faith good works will be a part of the Christians life. But our goodness or lack of does not contribute to our salvation and acceptableness to God. Faith alone is what is necessary.

That brings us to the final basic tenet of Christian truth and that is Scripture alone. All these truths that have been mentioned so far are there in the Bible. There is God’s Word to us in its entirety. All that we need to know is in the Bible; and everything there is God’s Word and which we are called to hold to. Not some of it is God’s Word and some of Pauls views. It is all God’s inspired and inerrant, written Word.

This importance of the Scriptures is vital for us as a church at this time.  There is in these days a significant twisting and changing of God’s Word to accommodate the thinking that we would like to be there and which fits the culture of the day. By doing this we are placing ourselves and our thinking above what God says. It is no longer Scripture alone. But what we want God to say for us today.

Here again God’s Word is very clear about the disaster that we bring on ourselves by doing so. All scripture is God breathed and useful for the Christians life. Jesus also says not one word is to be changed either. Nothing more is needed. Nothing less is acceptable.

At a time when we have made ourselves and our thinking an idol, by placing these things above God and his Word, there is a real need for a major reformation again in our Christian world. We have moved far in our thinking and attitude toward God and our salvation; to the point where, in many places, there has to be serious questions asked as to whether we are actually Christian.

I am quite sure if Luther was living here today he would be having a great deal to say to us. But we don’t need him, for we have Jesus and his Word ever before us. If we are not prepared to listen to him, would we listen to Luther either? In many cases, I think many today seem to consider themselves to know better than both.

But what are we going to do about it. Often we think that there is very little. The temptations is to throw up our hands and give up and even have very little to do with the church. However we need to be ever aware that at stake is ours, our families, and others soul’s salvation. The place for us all to start with regard to reformation – that is reforming things back to what they are intended to be – is to start with our selves.

Today we need to commit ourselves to the truth of God and his Word. We all need to remember and hold fast to the basic truth that we are saved by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith, according to the Scriptures. Remember what Jesus said here in this reading: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 
 Then again all glory and honour will go to our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish



Saturday, October 24, 2015

Mark 10:46-52.                  He followed Jesus!!!                                      25/10/15

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Throughout this last month we have been focussing on Jesus’ teaching in Mark’s Gospel, chapter ten. Throughout there has been this constant thread of the last shall be first and the first shall be last, turning upside down the popular thinking of our world. Constantly Jesus is confronting the views of the whole broad sphere of humanity and its concept of putting self first and up on a pedestal; even against God.

At the beginning of the chapter there were those who put their views of divorce above what God and his Word says on this issue. Then we have the disciples trying to dismiss children from Jesus’ presence, because obviously they don’t have the intellectual capacity of a grown up. Then we had the rich young man who thought his wealth and good living was what was going to give him a good life here and in heaven: Followed by James and John want positions of power and glory in God’s kingdom.

Right in the middle of all of this Jesus says: "We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."

Humanity has visions of grandeur and glory; and a focus on ourselves and what we think and do. Jesus focus and mission is to do what is best for us, even though that encompasses suffering and death: being punished for what we have done wrong and deserve to come our way.
Jesus is always wanting us to see that on our own and focussed on ourselves we will always come up short. Sin and selfishness continually messes everything up for us and brings troubles and death on us. Nothing is surer; no matter how hard we try or how far we go in trying to twist and shape life so as to be able to accomplish what we would like, it never works out. We can never achieve the happiness, fulfilment and eternal life that we know should be there for us.

Blind Bartimaeus knows this all too well. He typifies us all, even though we are not physically blind like he was, or have to beg for our existence as he had to. He knows full well that his life is going nowhere and humanly speaking there is no way out of his predicament: he can’t try harder or be more positive in his thinking. He is blind and that is the end of the story. He is last with no way forward.

However he hears all that chatter that is going around about this Jesus performing many miracles. Then wonder of wonders he hears that this Jesus is coming his way.
Though being last, unworthy and not deserving he simply calls out and calls out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Even when everyone around him tells him to shut up, he becomes even more insistent. Here is his only hope.

But what is even more significant is the fact that he calls him Son of David. Even though he can’t see for himself, or read about it, or any such thing, he recognises that this one who does all the miracles that everyone says he is doing, can only be one who is sent by God himself. Here then surely is the Promised One of the line of King David. He surely was the Messiah that was promised over and over again that God would send at the right time to bring salvation to his people.

Bartimaeus acknowledges and accepts Jesus for who he is. He doesn’t play games with Jesus or focus on himself and his own knowledge, reasoning or goodness. He simply cries out for mercy; for help that only God can give. He is blind, unworthy, and even a sinner, but only God, in Jesus, can help him. So he calls out.

Then Jesus calls him over and asks what it is that he wants Jesus to do for him. His reply is simple and clear: “Rabbi, I want to see.” No self-justification, or bargaining, or rash promises. He just asks for what he believes that Jesus can do for him.

At this point all Jesus does is to say: “Go, your faith has healed you”. With a simple word; no mud, hand laying or any such thing. Just “Go, your faith has healed you”. And Immediately he received his sight. Jesus recognises that this man simply trusts that Jesus can do what only God can do. With a simple word God can create sight out of darkness.
Then comes that which is truly significant in this case: Bartimaeus immediately can see and immediately he follows Jesus along the road. Here there is no going back to gather his few belongings, and see family and then going on to live his life to the full making up for lost ground. Here there is no life that is all about ‘me’ and what ‘I’ want. No, he immediately follows Jesus.

He is taken captive by this one who has given him life. How can he do anything but follow Jesus. This is the greatest thing that could ever happen to him: so then this Jesus is now all important for him and for his life. He who was completely last, is now considered as first in God’s kingdom. So now he immediately allows Jesus and all that he says to be that which he follows from this point on.

So, now, the whole point in all of this for us today is the question; are we going to see Jesus as the Lord God Almighty come into our lives and are we prepared to follow him? Or are we going to be like the Pharisees with their attitude of ‘did God really say’ try to make God’s word be suitable to ours and our society’s whims? Or even the disciples and quibble over who is the greatest and wanting to be and show our own importance? Or perhaps be like the rich man and not want to give up the importance of our wealth and comfortable life-style?

Surely for us, we too, recognise that we are like the blind man and have no real life or hope from a purely humanistic approach to life. Without God we are here but for a few years; and even they are lives that are filled with aimless wanderings, hoping that somehow it all means something.

Recently I attended a funeral service that was led by a celebrant, where she put forward a whole range of ideas of what life was about, without any substance or coherence between all the different views, which were somehow meant to give meaning to the person’s life and death. There was no mention at all of God. It really was a sad and empty view of life. Is it any wonder then the futility, addictions and meaninglessness that many have in their lives today.

We surely recognise that this is the consequence of our sin and rebellion against God. All of us, all too often, seek to live by and for ourselves and our own rules. The results of this are that we have blinded ourselves to the life that is meant to be there for us.

But because we have seen and come to understand the greatness of God’s love for us and the help that he has extended to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, our lives have been changed dramatically. Jesus death and resurrection surely now has turned our lives upside down, Where there was darkness, now there is light and life.

Here is not the false hope that the world gives about going up there somewhere when we die; even though we have never taken Jesus and his death seriously. We however are given this eternal life as a guarantee because of Jesus death and resurrection and our connection to that through our baptisms. We know for sure that we have life and salvation, because we know as a certainty that Jesus died for our forgiveness and was raised again from the dead so that we can have the certainty that all of this is real for us.

So now even though we were last because of our sin and death, now we are first because of what Jesus has done for us. What joy is now ours! What light has broken into our darkness! Now we have life in all of its fullness guaranteed for all eternity. This is amazing indeed.

So surely now we also will react immediately to this wonderful thing that has happened to us. Surely now we will want to follow Jesus. This Jesus and his death and resurrection will be that which is all important for us. We will want him and his word to dictate what we do, at all times. Every day, in every way, our first thoughts will be in subjection to him who is now all important for us.

We will follow him in everything, rather than impose our thinking and reasoning over him and what he has to say to us. Our first reaction will always be what has Jesus said and done in regard to whatever the topic is. Then we will simply and humbly follow. We like this formerly blind man and the disciples will give up on following the world and its ways and seek to subject ourselves to him and what he has to say.

How can we do anything but, for he has transformed us out of darkness into light? In our sinful nature we were blind, but now we can see that he alone has that which is important for us. Even though we too were last, in connection to him and his way, we are first. So now let us go from here to seek to follow him always.
To him be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

Friday, October 16, 2015

Mark 10:35-45                   Greatness????                                                                  18/10/15

(35)  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." {36} "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. {37} They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." {38} "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" {39} "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, {40} but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." {41} When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. {42} Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. {43} Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, {44} and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. {45} For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Today’s reading deals with the issue of greatness and in particular what it is that constitutes this greatness. Here immediately we see that Jesus’ concept of what it is that makes for greatness is radically different from how the world views it. That being the case we need to look closely at what Jesus has to say here, so that we individually, and as a whole, can be a part of this greatness that God himself has in mind, and which in turn may be for the good of our society as well. Although we need to recognise that this view of greatness will put us at odds with the world around us.

After all, what is it that our world around us deems as what makes for greatness? You have to be the best in the business. You must be able to lord it over others. To have authority and power over others; and be able to use it. The individuals control that they have over others is what is seen as important. That is what is looked up to and regarded as being all important. That is what we see as being that which will enable us to be truly happy and fulfilled.

When it comes to nations, we look to America as the great nation of the world, because of its military might, and control over the monetary system of the world. They flaunt their wealth and their might with arrogance and bravado. And most would say here we have a great nation.

When it comes to churches the same principle applies today. It is the big numbers and the great speakers and media evangelist that are held up as being the great ones. It is those who can hold a crowd and demand attention and a following that are deemed great. It is those who can give the people what their itching ears want hear, not what they need to hear.

The same applies to individuals. It is those with great wealth and influence: the good-looking, wealthy and charismatic figures, that walk all over others and use them to their own advantage to rise to the top; and who are held up as great. Again to have control of one’s own life and others is what is seen as great.

Now I could go into greater length on all of this but you can see what it is that constitutes greatness for the world around about us. The push from the devil, the world and our sinful self, is to seek and strive after this way of thinking, wherever possible. At the base of it all is; that we can have authority over and lord it over others, as much as we possibly can, even if it is in our own small sphere of influence. The individual and the focus on themselves and what they do is important. We all in some way want to be great through these means..

So whether it be in our own private lives, our business or public life, and in our church, we seek after that which in some way will make us great. We like James and John want positions of honour and that which will help us to be great in some way. So we too ask Jesus, to do for us whatever we ask. We ask God to give us what we want and what we think it is that will help us in this regard. We ask God to give us what the world tells us is important.

So we ask God for health, wealth and happiness. We look for that which we think will lift us up and give us that edge over and above others. We seek and even demand that God give us these things. Even though we do not really understand what we are asking for. Think about it.

James and John want to be at Jesus’ right and left when he comes in glory. They are thinking in terms of Jesus ruling on a great throne over the kingdom of the whole world. They are thinking in their terms of what constitutes power and glory. They are thinking in terms of miracles and other earthly greatness.

Yet Jesus reminds them and us that if we want to have a leading part in his greatness and glory, then we need to look to Golgatha. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" Can you hang there with the criminals on either side of me: dying as rejects? Can we understand that it is only through his dying on the cross that there is or can be any truly great and glorious kingdom? Can we accept and be a part of a King whose throne is the cross? That is what God’s kingdom is all about!

But! But! But! The so called ‘christian’ churches ring out with a different understanding of Jesus’ greatness and what his kingdom is all about. They too think in terms of our worldly concept of greatness. To which Jesus responds: "You don't know what you are asking.” Or thinking.

Life with God and in his kingdom has nothing to do with authority and power. It has to do with giving and serving. It has to do with dying to self and its selfish desires and serving and being a slave to others.

There is or would be no kingdom or glory were it not for Jesus and his death on the cross. God knows that our running around in our pretensions of greatness and self glory, is death. It is the saddest and most dismal of existence, for underneath all the bravado, arrogance and pretension, is a miserable, lonely, deathly existence. It is but a few short years of striving for the unattainable, only to be left with an eternity of misery and dying. Our selfishness and sin means that the lie that we keep selling ourselves will continually let us down.

Jesus himself, however, gives the only hope of true glory and unity. He comes and he goes to the cross so that he can serve us by drawing us into unity with himself and with one another. There on the cross he gathers all the pretensions, lies, failings and death to himself. There he allows the Almighty to lay all the punishment for this on himself.

But it is there also at the cross that he draws you and me to himself. Through his service to us; through his giving his life as a ransom for many, we are now drawn to true life and salvation. As we gather at the cross: as we are served by him, we suddenly find a whole new life and existence. It is there and there alone that we find what it is to be a part of that which is truly glorious: glorious in a completely different way from which our world sees it or understands it.

For it is there at the cross that we know that we are loved and forgiven despite ourselves. No matter who we are or what we have done, we are there brought to full unity with God and one another. There in seeming misery and death we find life and a joy and peace which is beyond understanding. There we are a part of God’s kingdom in which everyone is important and great. There we become part of greatness which is evidenced by a continual serving of one another: Christ servings and giving himself for us and we for one another. There, the other and their needs are all important, not our own. There we are bound together to Christ and each other.

There at the cross it is that we begin to understand that whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

So week by week as we gather at the foot of the cross, here in this building, our Lord himself again serves us, so that we in turn can go from here and serve one another. Here through Word and Sacrament our Lord gives us what we need in order to know that we are forgiven and receive what is necessary in order to be sustained so that we can be slaves to one another. Here he gives us his very body and blood, so that we can be assured again and again that we have and are a part of that which is truly great. Now we know again that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Now then we can give of ourselves for one another.

Then like James and John we will go on and join with our Lord Jesus and drink the cup that he drank or be baptized with the baptism that he was baptized with. James was martyred early on and John was persecuted all the way into old age. We too will experience rejection from not only the world around but also from within as we follow Christ and hold to his Way. But together we our Lord we will know what it is to be truly great.

Yes, there at the cross we see true greatness; and there we also find that greatness extended to you and me and the people out there in the community. Poor and miserable though we are, there we are accepted as truly great. Now we too can serve one another as we humbly and reverently give glory to our great Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. For to him alone belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Mark 10:17-31.                                   “Who then can be saved?”                              11/10/15

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Here again Jesus is trying to help us to get past a major problem that we have as people trying to get through life. What do I have to do, have, think or say in order to have a life where I am able to get on and have a life that is worthwhile. We want peace, happiness and immortality but the more that we try, the more futile it becomes.

To make matters worse, the one and only answer that there is, we do not want to accept or acknowledge, because it doesn’t fit with what we selfish human beings want. So we, as a humanity, try and try, coming up with the ‘answers to life’ so that we can make our own life: Only of course, to be let down again and again. Our every effort does not work. Always we are left lonely, frustrated and empty.



This happens all across life; business, leisure and pleasure; families, religion and politics. In every aspect of life we want to work out what we think is right and good and which will allow us to have the life that we think we should be able to have. We do not want God and his Word to dictate how we are to live. We want to have our own views of what is right and wrong, good and bad.

Yes we are happy to use God and his Word to give credence to our views and actions, but we don’t want to follow him and his Word. The end result is that we go away sad. Here let me give two examples.

The first is the rich young man here in our reading. He was well off, living a good healthy and decent life. Today he would have been held up as a model citizen. All appeared to be well for him and he was a being a good person. Outwardly it appeared that all was well.

However it is interesting that deep down something was not quite right. Even though he had everything and he seemed to be doing the right thing in his own and societies eyes, there was something missing. Deep down he had this uncertainty that he was doing enough to get to heaven. His good outward life still could not remove that nagging uncertainty within.

So he comes to Jesus and asks the question; “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus knowing what humanity’s problem is, begins by saying: No one is good—except God alone. Upfront he is pointing out that since the Fall sinful humanity has a problem within, that we will never be able to satisfy. God alone has what is necessary for us.

But to help this man and us all he reminds us of the importance of the Ten Commandments. Here he tells us what is necessary for us to gain eternal life. In these Commandments we have that which is needed for us to live happily and at peace with God and one another.

However this man like us today says yes he has kept them, as he understands them. He has not murdered anyone, committed adultery, or robbed the bank so he is okay. He has interpreted them with his own reasoning. He has twisted them to mean only what he thinks they should mean and not as Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount.

To help this man and us he then tells him: “One thing you lack, Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” To which the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Here Jesus gets him to see that already he has not kept the First Commandment: You shall have no other God’s before me.  His money and lifestyle were two things that he was not willing to put God before. Without going any further it is clear that this man cannot do what is necessary for him to gain eternal life.

In his comfortableness of life he was not prepared to take Jesus at his word. Jesus tells us that it is impossible for those who are rich in what this world has to offer, to enter into the kingdom of God. Those who have everything, worldly speaking, are not prepared to give up their comfortableness. Jesus conclusion for them is dire: they shall not enter the kingdom of God. Until we are prepared to give up on finding a human solution to our happiness, we will always miss out.

Our next illustration is our society and church today. We too are living well in this country. By worldly standards we are rich and comfortable, and by now we can see that many no longer need God in their lives. Yet many of these people also have a nagging feeling inside, that not all is well. There is an emptiness that all the promises that are made by our society, have not been able to fill. Many in this hopeless situation are thereby turning to drugs, suicide and other things to bury those feelings.

Many others today are holding out hope that they will perhaps get to heaven. As one person I spoke to this last week said, he hopes his good deeds outweigh the bad. At worst he consoled himself that hell is perhaps not such a bad place. He like many others have a Christian background but have little idea what Christian is and particularly what Jesus has done for us in his death on the cross.

Many others have the view that God loves us all and so unless we are really bad then we will be okay. Because they acknowledge Jesus they think that he will overlook their sin and accept them as they are. They thereby have the same attitude as the rich man in our reading, they can understand what the Bible says as they want to and all will be well.

Many within the church have a similar view, that they can twist and change what God’s Word says and God will still accept us never the less.  So they can say they believe, but it becomes their version of God’s Word, not what God has said. They are unwilling to simply accept what God has given in the entirety of his Word the Bible.

Then naturally enough when things don’t work out the way that they thought it should they become sad and disillusioned. The danger is that they too may not enter the kingdom of God.

So we are clearly given the message that we cannot do life here and in heaven by our own doing. We cannot posit our ideas on life and acceptance on what we think or how we can interpret the Word to suit ourselves. When we place our trust in the riches of our human thinking we are left with the question: who then can be saved?

So we need to hear again what Jesus said.
 “Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

So again we are called to simply look to and trust that Jesus Christ is our Lord and saviour; and in that find the life that we so desperately need. Here again remember that Jesus went on from here and give his life on the cross so that we might have the forgiveness of sin and the assurance of life and salvation. He has won it all for us be giving up his own life; so now we can follow him with confidence and certainty.

Here Jesus makes it quite clear that even though it would seem that we will lose out when we look away from ourselves and the world around us, we will instead receive a hundred times as much in return in this life and then to have the certainty of eternal life as well. Yes he says there will be persecutions along the way, but the blessings are guaranteed.

Even though in the worlds eyes we are last, in God’s eyes we are first. So again Jesus is making it very clear that life here on earth is not about us getting our own way and doing our own thing. Instead the call is to simply follow Jesus and his Word with the assurance that it will all work out for our good. We are to recognise that we are unable to do what is necessary because of our sin, but then to accept the forgiveness and life that Jesus has extended to us. That then includes trusting that what he tells us in his Word, the Bible with regard to all other matters of faith and life as well.

“Who then can be saved?” Those who do not look to themselves and their own understanding; but who instead look to, trust and follow Jesus Christ. In him we find that he has done what is necessary for us to inherit eternal life. With that then, let us humbly and simply follow him now and always. To him be all glory and honour, now and forever. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

Saturday, October 03, 2015

Mark 10:13-16                   Receive as a child??                                                        4/10/15

(13) People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. {14} When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. {15} I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." {16} And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

What a wonderful and important encouragement we receive from our Lord here in this reading. Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Jesus is holding up little children as an example to us, as to the nature of accessibility into God’s kingdom. He accepts and blesses them even though, from our perspective, they do not understand the complexities of the faith. In that, he teaches us a number of very important lessons.

Here at this baptismal font over the years we have witnessed many a marvellous reality as parents come bringing their little children to Jesus to have him touch them; and through it great things have happened. The children have been richly blessed, as they have been washed clean from that original sin which clings to all humanity since the fall of Adam; and the sin that continues to harass and beset them throughout the course of their lives. There they were adopted into God’s family, being accepted as his very own. Little though they are; unable as we might consider, to be able to reason, comprehend and accept all that is going on; they receive all that God has in mind for them. They there are richly blessed by the Lord Almighty himself.

What a great lesson our Lord has given to us through these momentous events. As we have simply looked and received all that he has said and done here, we surely are greatly encouraged as his people. Surely this gives us great confidence and hope as we go forward to live our lives in a world that continually pounds us with negativity and hopelessness. God has forgiven us and accepted us as his very own: he does have many simple and clear promises and directions for us to help us along the way. He has assured us that all will be well for us, for he has also richly blessed us.

But too often, we like the disciples and the Pharisees, reject and complicate what God has said and done for us. How can God bring these little ones into his kingdom without them deciding that this is what they want for themselves? How can they come to a proper understanding so that they can be acceptable at this point? How can we not divorce when we are not fulfilled in our marriage because we are not getting what we want? Surely we are not blessed if we stay in that situation? Surely men and women are equal in every way? Surely for us to be truly blessed we have to experience health, wealth and happiness in the fullest earthly sense?

Surely ...... I could go on and on with examples one after another, to indicate how we do not accept what God has simply and plainly said to us and given to us. We want to place ourselves and our pride right into the thick of it all. We want God to accept us according to our criteria of what is good and right; and we want him to allow us to live on our terms and according to our thinking.

Surely our Lord is therefore just as indignant toward us as he was to the people of his day. How dare we put such stumbling blocks in the way of the people around about us, and in particular our little ones, whether they be babies or babes in the faith. How dare we refuse to bring our little ones to Jesus to be blessed by him; not just in baptism; but regularly, week by week into his house so that he can continue to bless and strengthen them.

We all too often try to justify ourselves by saying that if we are to bring our children up well we must give them all these earthly things, such as, a good education, sport and recreation, a good family life, and all the rest; but then we will leave it up to them to make their own choice about religion. For our part we will bring them only occasionally to God’s house so that he can touch them. By doing so we are telling them quite clearly that this is not all that important. Then we are truly hindering our little ones and all the people around about us who see our attitude toward these things. They surely can see through us and what is important to us!!

How dare we offend others by seeking to ignore and change God’s Word to suit ourselves in lots of other areas of life, simply so that we can have what we want from life? No wonder there is such a drift away from the Church in recent years. If people can readily see that we don’t simply receive what God has freely given to us, but instead we use it all to our own advantage; no wonder they are hindered and turned away from the truth.

We are not to put burdens on people with all kinds of demands that we have to live up to certain experiences and feelings in order to be acceptable to God. Or, burden them with saying that we now have the freedom to do as we please, rather than follow the commands that God himself has given us. How dare we treat God with such contempt that we are prepared to change what he has to say in his Word in order to suite the whims of our culture around us.

Instead we need to hear what our Lord Jesus says here when he says: , "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."  

The kingdom of God belongs to such as these who simply receive what he has to offer, without any self-righteous and questioning attitude. These little ones have no great knowledge, experience or feeling on which to base their ability to be acceptable to God. They have no good deeds to hold up as an offering to ‘their side of the bargain.’ They are however washed clean and accepted by God’s good grace through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. He has done everything necessary for them and for us and for our salvation. We simply receive all that he has to offer.

Here again, we receive these things as Jesus says: like a little child. A little one simply receives the love of its parents along with all of the other things that they have to offer. It is only when they get older that they insist on their own way and seek to do what they want to do. But as little ones they simply receive, and they thrive on it. They trust that mum and dad will give them all that they need in order to live each day as it comes. They trust that what mum and dad says is right.

So as mum and dad regularly bring their little ones to God’s house they not only receive the benefits of baptism which joins them to Jesus and his death and resurrection, but they then more and more grow into a deeper understanding of what all this means for them. As they grow they come to know that this is God’s house: Jesus is here; and they accept it as such. They see me stand up here and they see Jesus. They simply receive me as Jesus: Whereas we as adults question whether the pastor actually is here in ‘the stead of Christ’. The little one knows that ‘Jesus loves me:’ Because that is what the Bible says. The little one, as it regularly comes into God’s house, simply receives what happens along the way.

But as I said before, sadly as little ones are not brought into God’s house they are trained right from an early age, to reject all the good things that God has to offer. What we say and do with regard to what is important in our lives, is what they receive into their lives as well. When we talk more about money and pleasure than we do about Jesus, they hear it loud and clear. When they see that our actions do not match our words, they recognise it for the hypocrisy that it is.

But as the little ones hear of Jesus and are brought to him, he touches them and blesses them. Because we know that he does all that he says with regard to baptism, we have the same confidence that he is continually at work in theirs and our lives as well, and so the blessings continue to be a part of our lives day in, day out. As we all regularly are brought to Jesus we know that he will touch us and give us what we truly need. Not just what we think is good for us.

We too can trust that what he says in the Bible is what is right and true and which is good for us; even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment. When he says take and eat his body and blood which was given and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins, we receive it just as he says.

In receiving all that he has to offer we too can live and thrive in a sinful and destructive world. For those words of his also apply to each of us: Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. We too can know that we are truly blessed even though often it is not the way that it outwardly looks. We too have his promise that; “Lo, I am with you always. Even to the end of the age.”

So we can live with confidence and hope as we go forward. As we stay close to him and remember that he is with us always, we know that the future will work out for good, not matter what we face at any given time. Above all we know that at the end of our time here on this earth, that he will take us to be with himself in heaven, there to enjoy all his goodness, free from all that is bad.

So, yes he has for us everything that we really need, for this life and the next. All we need is simply to continually receive what he has to give.
So again to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, the one who touches and blesses his children; to him be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish