As a priest, Easter in a pandemic was bitter-sweet. Sweet because it is the apex of our faith – but bitter because the church would be empty. Leonard Cohen’s poem-song soothed this ache with the following line:

 “I walked into this empty church, I had no place else to go
When the sweetest voice I ever heard whispered to my soul”

 Thus, I was inspired to reflect on the Resurrection through the Easter consciousness of Cohen’s poem: “There ain’t no cure for love.”

I loved you for a long, long time
I know this love is real
It don't matter how it all went wrong
That don't change the way I feel
And I can't believe that time is
Gonna heal this wound I'm speaking of

There ain't no cure, there ain't no cure, there ain't no cure for love

I'm aching for you baby
I can't pretend I'm not
I need to see you naked
In your body and your thought
I've got you like a habit
And I'll never get enough

There ain't no cure, there ain't no cure, there ain't no cure for love

All the rocket ships are climbing through the sky
The holy books are open wide
The doctors working day and night
But they'll never ever find that cure for love

(There ain't no drink, no drug) ah, tell them, angels
(There's nothing pure enough to be a cure for love)

I see you in the subway and I see you on the bus
I see you lying down with me, I see you waking up
I see your hand, I see your hair
Your bracelets and your brush
And I call to you, I call to you
But I don't call soft enough

There ain't no cure, there ain't no cure, there ain't no cure for love

I walked into this empty church, I had no place else to go
When the sweetest voice I ever heard whispered to my soul
I don't need to be forgiven for loving you so much
It's written in the scriptures
It's written there in blood
And I even heard the angels declare it from above

There ain't no cure, there ain't no cure, there ain't no cure for love

 

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb” (Matthew 28v1)

Cohen’s first verse describes the heart ache of the two Mary’s as they walk to the tomb:

“I loved you for a long, long time
I know this love is real
It don't matter how it all went wrong
That don't change the way I feel
And I can't believe that time is
Gonna heal this wound I'm speaking of”

Jesus died because there ain’t no cure for love. Jesus could not stop loving and so he was crucified for this love. Why do Mary and Mary go to tomb despite the danger from Roman and Jewish authorities? Because there ain’t no cure for love – they can’t help but love Jesus. Why did the Resurrection happen? Because love cannot be killed. Love goes on. If Love is crucified, then Love is transformed and Resurrected…Love goes on loving.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place here he lay. (Matthew 28v5-6)

Perfect love casts our fear. There ain’t no cure for love but love is the cure for fear. Twice Mary and Mary are told “Do no be afraid.” Like the two Mary’s, Leonard Cohen also hears the angel:

“I walked into this empty church; I had no place else to go. When the sweetest voice I ever heard whispered to my soul. I don't need to be forgiven for loving you so much. It's written in the scriptures. It's written there in blood. And I even heard the angels declare it from above.”

The first witnesses to the Resurrection were told twice: “Do not fear.”

Do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid of the Powers.

Do not be afraid of Rome, the chief priests and the soldiers.

Do not be afraid of death.

Do not be afraid of life.

Do not be afraid of being afraid.

As people who live the Resurrection, this is your message too: do not be afraid.

This Easter, there is much to be afraid of:

o   COVID

o   violent weather patterns bringing first fire then flood,

o   war,

o   poverty

o   and more disease.

In the context of our church life there is much to be afraid of:

·      the failure of the church’s mission in a post Christian world,

·      the indifference of our secular society,

·      the closure of churches and

·      the jaded fatigue of the faithful.

The Scriptures tell us do not fear.

Do not be afraid of what God might want to do in our lives and communities and in the life and community of the church.

Do not be afraid when new things, unthinkable things for some, begin to be suggested, promulgated, and made standard practice in church:

·         a more flexible approach to Scripture,

·         the consecration of women bishops,

·         a new attitude to sexual minorities,

·         the suggestion that things that have been considered mortally sinful for centuries, may not be sinful at all,

·         and things that have been considered standard practice might be deeply evil.

 This text from Matthew urges us repeatedly do not be afraid.”

The Easter account offers one final shock:

“Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” (Matthew 28.9-10)

Why does Jesus ask them to return to Galilee? In Matthew 4:15-16 (quoting from Isaiah 9:1-2) Galilee is called "Galilee of the Gentiles." The disciples are told to Galilee because Galilee is the Gateway of the Gentile world. In other words, ALL people and ALL nations are included in the Love Story of Easter. God’s Resurrected Cosmic Presence is available to ALL. ALL are ONE in God, in LOVE.

Likewise, Cohen realises that his love for his partner and his love for God is one and the same thing. This is resurrected awareness.

“I don't need to be forgiven for loving you so much. It's written in the scriptures. It's written there in blood. And I even heard the angels declare it from above.”

Resurrected awareness recognises that there is only love. Love disintegrates boundaries and separation. There is no difference between the love for God and love for one another. In every moment of loving another: a lover, a child, a pet, an aspect of nature, we are at that moment loving God and more importantly God is loving through us and loving through us.

The Easter Love story means this:

In the gaze of love, you and I meet, and we are one.

I find you there.

And you find me there.

In the gaze of love, in the gaze of the cosmic Christ we meet.

And in this gaze of love none are damaged.

 None are excluded.

All are embraced.

The resurrected Christ fills every atom, every galaxy, every quark, every vast ocean with abundant love. Thus, all space is sacred, all people are sacred.

The gaze of love does not hide in chosen sites or chosen believers. It breaks open and dawns on all with equal grace.

And the fact that we find each other at all .

The fact that we continue to love and be loved, is the greatest of proofs of God’s resurrection and God’s insistent persistent existence.

Holy Week. Hallelujah.

Holy Week. Hallelujah.

But not Handel’s exuberant, joyous hallelujah chorus, where listeners erupt in utter elation, standing. Who can possibly remain seated when the hallelujah in both the highest notes and lowest tones commands otherwise?  Handel’s Hallelujah has at least three exclamation marks after it – it is an uppercase hallelujah exclaimed from the rooftops, the hilltops, the mountains. HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Holy Week hallelujah is Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Cohen’s Hallelujah is at the same time somber and content. A Holy Week hallelujah is in small case letters, followed by the sigh of a full stop. It contains the mind’s commitment to praise God even when one’s heart is not in it. In between each ha-lle-lu-jah syllable, is the pain of broken dreams, regrets, and sorrows that are yet to be mourned.

Leonard Cohen’s holy week hallelujah has the marriage of joy and sorrow, major and minor chords: “the major fourth…the minor fifth, the baffled king (David) composing hallelujah.” This is precisely the marriage of emotions that cradle us through Holy Week: sadness and delight,  wholeness and brokenness, extravagance and bitterness, the ups and downs of life that we in the second part of life know intimately. 

As Cohen writes: “Love is not a victory march; it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah…”A holy week hallelujah encourages us to praise God through the pain, sadness and struggle that life drags us through, expressing our gratitude in the blessing that life is still good… hallelujah.

May we sit with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane,

brave enough to acknowledge our human blessings

and our divine imperfections

…hallelujah.

May we watch with Mary on Friday as Christ and cosmos are rent asunder,

bold enough to lament our defeats and losses,

yet grateful for the mixed blessing we call life

…hallelujah.

May we sit with Christ in the tomb on Saturday,

courageous enough to hold emptiness with compassion

yet able to announce a broken, but authentic …hallelujah.

I heard there was a secret chord

That David played and it pleased the Lord

But you don’t really care for music, do you

Well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth

The minor fall and the major lift

The baffled king composing hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain

I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah 

I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

© Leonard Cohen

1 Samuel 16:1-13
David as the anointed leader. The person God calls to lead may not be the person we would expect.

John 9:1-41
Jesus heals the blind man on the Sabbath. Lots of stuff about blindness and seeing.

Jesus heals a man born blind. He heals him through an act of anointing where he creates mud with his saliva. John 9:6:  “When Jesus had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with saliva and spread the mud over the man’s eyes.” Here Jesus is redoing Genesis where God created Adam and Eve out of mud. The word Adam is from the Hebrew word Adamah and means “mud creature”. Jesus is restoring the man to his “original state”. The man born blind was never a sinner, although he was judged a sinner by his community who determined that his lack of sight was a punishment from God. In anointing him with the mud of creation Jesus makes clear that the man born blind always was and is an original blessing, blessed to be a blessing to others. The man born blind is also anointing as a king in the new creation inaugurated by Jesus. The new creation is a state of utter unity with God knowing that God is everywhere.

Exodus 17:1-7
God delivers water from the rock to the
grumbling Israelites. 

John 4:5-42
A Samaritan woman and Jesus at Jacob’s well.

John 4 describes a scene where both Jesus and a Samaritan receive living water and have their deepest needs met. Exodus 17 describes the people of God asking for drinking water. Wandering through the desert, the people are thirsty and complaining, they are in desperate need of water. At no point does God reprimand them for their complaints. Instead God provides. God instructs Moses to strike a rock. Moses then provides water for the physical needs of his community by hitting a rock. The need for spiritual living water is as important to the need for safe drinking water. Like the Hebrew people, the poor of today cry out to leaders for water. Without safe drinking water people will ask (Exodus 17.7): “is the Lord with us or not?” In this situation it would be hard to speak of the reality of Jesus as the living water when there is no
drinking water. Unusually, the lucky country Australia, counts itself among the poor crying out for water. There is never an appropriate time to have a water shortage.

However, the bush fires that burnt through Australia for months on end exacerbated the dismay of dry rivers and drought conditions. Like Jesus we too can demand access to water for all. Jesus is at the well but has no access to the water. He says to the Samaritan woman “give me a drink”. With this demand Jesus authorises the poor of the world to demand their right to clean water. Water is a gift from God for us and all creation that all might have life and have life in all its fullness. What is our response to the state of water? Moses´ response was to hit a rock. We too need to hit the “rocks”, such as multinationals and governments that stand as stumbling stones blocking access to water. How do we strike the rock? Dripping water wears away stone, not by force, but by persistence, said the poet Ovid. “Dripping water” is to persistently call for justice. “Dripping water” is to be insistent in water justice for all.

We don’t need to see Lent as a gloomy time, a sad time or a depressing time.  Lent provides a great opportunity to reflect on the depth of our Creator God’s love for us and the amazing things God has done for us.
Lent is also a time for self-examination, which reveals our shortcomings and helps us to recognize our need for God.
As we worship together, we remember our story as the people of God and are reminded that God has met and still meets all our needs.
We also join Christ in his struggle against evil and death.  In joining Jesus in that struggle, we also join him in his victory.

Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” 11 Then the
devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

On the last Sunday before Lent the Church focuses on the story of what we describe as “the transfiguration of Jesus”. Perhaps we do this to be reminded that there is no place for any follower of Jesus to pitch a tent where we stay put, continually thinking about the moments of success and truth which occasionally come our way.
Like the disciples with Jesus on the mountain, we too are privileged to stand within God's salvation history: between being given the Law, the prophets and the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Sometimes we see hints of the glory which lies ahead, but, if we were to settle now for 'the seeds of the promise' while we are still on the journey, we would miss out on the promise itself.
We must follow a suffering Jesus along a way of the Cross to come to the glory.

Matthew 17:1-9

1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

How righteousness works in daily life
The Pharisees said that righteousness consisted of performing certain actions,……doing things.
However, Jesus wanted people to know that your relationship with God was all about how you were thinking …. Your motivation.

It was the same with sin.  The Pharisees had a list of external actions that were sinful, but Jesus explained that sin (falling short of God’s plan for us) actually begins with having the wrong attitude.

So, in the Gospel today Jesus speaks plainly about the effect of wrong attitudes or wrong thinking.

We are told that anger is murder in the heart. Jesus didn’t say that anger leads to murder; He said that anger IS murder. Anger is an unhelpful thing which makes us destroyers instead of builders. Anger robs us of freedom and makes us prisoners. To hate someone is to commit murder in our hearts.

Similarly, lust is actually adultery and envy is in effect stealing.

Jesus taught that our conversation should be so honest and our character so true that we don’t need to “swear by the hair of your chinny, chin, chin” or “cross my heart and spit” to have people believe us.

Words depend on character and swearing oaths can’t compensate for a poor character.  The more words someone uses to convince us, the more
suspicious we should be.

We honour God by being thoughtful about what we say.

Matthew 17:1–9 (NRSV)

1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Salt and Light
Jesus doesn’t say, “You will be the salt of the earth” or “You have within you the potential to become the salt of the earth.” He says, “You ARE the salt of the earth”. We are being told that, by God’s grace, the miracle of our transformation has already begun.

Salt has little influence while sitting in a salt shaker. However, it has great value when we mix it, in the right proportions, into our food. When it is sprinkled on (or cooked into) our food, it changes the food into something very tasty and desirable.
Our congregations are sometimes small, but that doesn’t matter. Just as a few grains of salt can make a big difference in food, so also a few faithful Christians can make a big difference in the world.
Jesus also says to his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” Our light comes from our relationship to Christ. Our light is not our own, but is the reflection of Jesus’ light.
Christ intends each of us to be a light. Some will be small lights and some will be bigger, but we are all to shine brightly ….. a thousand points of light …. a million points …. a billion!
If every Christian had her or his light turned on, this would be a very different world!

Matthew 5:13-20
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is 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 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

It’s always encouraging to get to the point where we are “half way” there. It’s the point when we become much more likely to continue on than to go back. This weekend, our Rector Desiree is half way through her long service leave.

And this Fourth Sunday after Epiphany is when we are half way between the Season of Christmas and the Season of Lent. A good time to reflect on our journey (that is our Spiritual Journey).

Was the beginning at Christmas really exciting and meaningful? Or was it just another round of the same old stuff we always do with a little bit of Celebrating Baby Jesus thrown in?

Do we see any real significance in the approach of Lent? Some people might be starting to think of Lent coming up wondering if it mightn’t be a good idea to try giving something up again this year. Others might be planning to do some extra reading or study throughout Lent.
Maybe you are like me and have had the thought pass through your mind that “I just don’t know what I should do”.

As I was preparing for the services this weekend, I discovered the answer in the sentence for today from Micah Chapter 6 Verse 8 … “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” 

The Gospel according Matthew 5:1–12

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Whiplash. That is the only way to describe this week’s Gospel. From the joy of Christ’s birth, we plummet to a genocidal massacre of innocents in a few short verses. Matthew 2.13-23 briefly describes the life of the Holy Family as refugees. Fleeing religious and political persecution, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus escape to Egypt. Back home in Jerusalem, king Herod slaughters all male infants in an attempt to preserve power at all costs. The episode of genocide connects Christ with Israel’s past traditions and his future work. The consequence of Christ’s work is execution. Christ disrupts the status quo and so we live a prayer of lovingkindness for disrupted lives: refugees, survivors of fire and flood, those fleeing persecution of any kind, and those living the joyful disruption of parenthood, new faith and transformed lives.

ADVENT LOVE— We are in the fourth week of getting ready to come close to the mystery of Christmas. In this fourth week we remember the Magi, the wise people. They came from the East and they were so wise that people thought they were magic. We get our word magic from the name they were called in their language – Magi. Of all the things they knew, they knew the most about stars. When they noticed a wild star they were curious and decided to follow where it was going. The wild star led the Magi to love – the Christ child. The fourth candle is lit for the charism of love. The Magi do for Jesus the Christ child what he cannot do for himself – they assure him of love.
There are some things that human beings cannot do for themselves, Jesus included. No human can teach him or herself language. Human beings cannot assure themselves of their worth, that they are heard, valued and taken seriously. The gift of love is the real gift that the Magi offer Jesus. The treasures the magi offer Jesus assure him that he is worthy, valued, noticed, heard and taken seriously.

The Gospel according Matthew 1:18–25

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

ADVENT PEACE— Perhaps some images of Advent will guide us into its meaning. Images that are helpful are lessons from nature; how seeds grow in dirt and darkness, hidden from the sun’s light. Another image is of a child growing in its mother’s womb, hidden, mysterious, uncertain, but growing to maturity in darkness.

Similarly Advent is a time of darkness for us; we are set free to embrace doubt and questions. In fact doubt is often a sign of spiritual growth: the more faith the more doubt. In advent we embrace darkness, doubt and questioning. As a child grows in the darkness of the womb, so too does our faith grow in darkness, in doubt, in questioning, in waiting. So much of our faith is about being “full” and so much of our spirituality is about having answers. Some expect their faith to make their life full: full of happiness, full of answers. The Creed for example is too direct, too exact, too correct, too forceful, too right. We expect of ourselves to constantly be on a spiritual high, to always feel the immediate presence of God, to always have peace and joy. In contrast Advent asks us for “emptiness.” Advent asks us to be comfortable with our questions and our doubt and wants us to realise that doubt is the other side of faith. Advent is about owning the shadows, not turning our backs on them and trusting that they will eventually lead us to God, albeit by another road.

The Gospel according Matthew 3:1–12

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ” 4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The Gospel according Matthew 3:1–12

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ” 4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

ADVENT JOY— The third candle is pink and symbolizes joy. It is called the “Shepherd’s Candle,” and is pink because rose is a liturgical colour for joy. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday and is meant to remind us of the joy that the world experienced at the birth of Jesus, as well as the joy that the faithful have reached the midpoint of Advent.

Rolheiser (2002) writes that: Every year on the third Sunday of Advent, the church asks us to do a meditation on joy. That seems a curious thing to ask, though it becomes less curious when we actually reflect on the nature of joy. What is joy?

Few things are as misunderstood as is the notion of joy. Of itself that wouldn’t be serious except that in this case we are often left chasing the wrong things in life.

Too often we confuse joy with good cheer or with a certain rallying of the spirit that we try to crank up when we go to a party or let off steam on a Friday night. We tend to think of joy this way: There is ordinary time in our lives, when duty, work, emotional and financial burdens, tiredness, worries, and pressure of all kinds keep us from enjoying life and from being as cheery and pleasant as we would like. We think of ordinary times in our lives as keeping us from joy – the grind, the routine, the rat-race, the work-week – and so we look forward to special times, weekends, nights out, vacation times, social times, celebrations, and parties where we can break the routine, break out, enjoy ourselves, and experience joy.

Joy then is identified with the boisterous good cheer we try to crank up at parties or the lack of pressure and the freedom from burdens that we feel when on vacation. But is this joy? It can be, though often isn’t. The loud robust cheer that we enter into at parties is often little more than a desperate effort to keep our depressions at bay, a form of denial. That’s why the good cheer dissolves so quickly when we go home and why, three days after returning from vacation, we are again just as tired and in need of a vacation as before.

What is joy? Joy can never be induced, cranked up, or made to happen. It’s something that has to find us precisely within our ordinary, duty-bound, burdened, full-of-worries, and pressured lives…. You can’t find joy, it has to find you. That’s its real quality. As the various versions of The Prayer of St. Francis put it, we can never attain joy, consolation, peace, forgiveness, love, and understanding by actively pursuing them. We attain them by giving them out…The great mystic, John of the Cross, ends one of his most famous instructions with this poem:

To reach satisfaction in all
desire its possession in nothing.
To come to possess all
desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all
desire to be nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all
desire the knowledge of nothing.
To come to the pleasure you have not
you must go by the way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
you must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
you must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not
you must go by a way in which you are not.
That, and that alone, is a recipe for joy.

“Zacchaeus” means pure and righteous one. He is a tax collector. He is the chief tax collector. In other words, he is a thug. Tax collectors were grouped with murderers. They killed people in other ways; they killed them by depriving them of that which is needed to sustain life.

 Jesus calls this tax collector, this thug, pure and righteous one. Jesus refuses to see us in the shadow of our past. He chooses to see us in the light of our future. When Jesus greets any one of us, he calls us Zacchaeus. You pure and righteous one. It is a greeting of grace.

 Grace touches this little person’s life.  Zacchaeus is a little man. A little man; little in all the things that matter: Little in gentleness. Little in generosity. Little in love. This tax collector spent his whole life hoarding. Now he spends his life sharing. Up to 50 percent. Which is forty percent more than ten percent. May God have mercy on the church who has limited our generosity to ten percent. When grace touches little lives, that life is filled with gratitude. And gratitude overflows in generosity. Andrew Harvey writes that “it is
essential to learn how to awaken and sustain gratitude, for gratitude is the key to many of the highest, most noble, and most transformatory sacred emotions. A heart tuned constantly to be grateful comes to revere the Divine in the whole of existence and slowly to recognize the unity of the Presence behind all diverse appearances. A heart trained always to be grateful will also grow more and more humble; it will be fearless in its recognition of how everything it loves, needs, and celebrates streams in a never-ending river of grace from God.” May our All Saints experience be characterised by gratitude. (in The Direct Path: Creating a Journey to the Divine Using the World's Mystical Traditions).

The Gospel according to Luke 6:20–36

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. 27 “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Luke 18:25 is awkward to hear: “how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Ched Meyers (2001:32) says that: “The clarity of the text has somehow escaped the church through the ages, which instead has concocted a hundred ingenious reasons why it cannot mean what it says”. The church has been so anxious that Jesus may be saying something negative about the rich but it is not about us at all! The text (Lk 18:15-30) is not about the rich, it is about the kingdom of God!

 For Jesus, the kingdom of God is a social condition where there are no rich or poor. Thus Jesus challenges the ruler with economic justice as a precondition for discipleship: “there is one thing lacking, sell all you have, give it to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven, and then follow me” (Lk 18:22). Jesus has re- interpreted currency/wealth for him.

 The context of the conversation between Jesus and the ruler may be helpful. In first century Palestine, land was the basis of wealth. The primary means for acquiring wealth/land for the rich ruler (Lk 18:18) was the debt-default of the poor. Small landowners/households were oppressed because of an immense burden of tax, rent, tariffs and tithes. Loans secured with their land were necessary to pay these expenses. Loans were obtained from wealthy landowners. Land belonging to small households was lost to these lenders when payments fell behind. The rich lenders became even richer through gaining land from the poor who became poorer. This is how the rich were too rich and the poor were too poor. This is the background of how one would be a “ruler” and “rich” in the context of the first three Gospels.

 The implication of Lk 18:22 is that Jesus expects the ruler to deconstruct the economic and political system from which he derives his privilege.  Why? Because the kingdom of God is a place where there are no rich and poor. Stung, the ruler walks away. Disbelieving, the disciples anticipate our question: “who then can be saved?”  With God all things are possible, says Jesus.

 Is the kingdom of God as Jesus envisions it a possibility? Is it possible that some can deconstruct economic and political systems from which they gain privilege/wealth as a precondition for the kingdom of God?

 The Gospel according to Luke 18:15–30

15 People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. 16 But Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 17 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’ ” 21 He replied, “I have kept all these since my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, 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 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 He replied, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.” 28 Then Peter said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

It may come as no surprise to you that I wholeheartedly reject the bog-standard interpretation of this parable dished up by unimaginative and lazy interpretations of scripture. Does this parable mean that if we want something from God we should just pray? If it doesn’t arrive, pray harder. Still nothing? Keep trying…pray harder still. If you pray hard enough God will eventually give you what you want, even if it’s to stop you nagging. Such an interpretation relies on God being a disinterested authority figure who has little interest in humanity but is willing to be manipulated by enough nagging.

The radical thing about Jesus’ story of the persistent widow beseeching a judge for fairness can only be grasped from the perspective of first century Judaism.  In Hebrew the word for widow is often almanah which translates as a person with little influence, one who is silent. In addition to her vulnerability as an unprotected, unmarried woman living at the margins of society with little access to resources, she is expected to ‘be seen and not heard’, to quote an antiquated approach to parenting. Here we have a radical, empowered woman with agency to name her needs and claim the power of naming. Naming is central to identity. A person is identified through names, to be a person is to have a name. Sometimes names can be ascribed and forced on others against their will.

Who are the vulnerable and the silent that we need to be listening to?

 The Gospel according to Luke 18:1–8

1 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ”6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The story of the ten lepers is an obvious lesson in gratitude:  “and one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.”  That leper was “made well,” (from the Greek sesoken). The other nine were cleansed (ekatharisthesan). Gratitude is an indelible part of fully human integrated wholeness that is far deeper than merely being cured. Best understood, holiness is the person at home with herself, relaxed in a joyful wholeness that knits together all healed wounds into a connection with life, others and Great Creator Spirit. The mark of this holiness is gratitude.  Ronald Rolheiser writes: “Gratitude is the basis for all holiness.  The holiest person you know is also the most grateful person you know.”  (Sacred Fire 2014 (New York: Penguin).  Meister Eckhart said that if the only prayer you have ever prayed is ‘Thank You’, you have prayed enough.

 The Gospel according to Luke 17:11–19

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

One of the hardest things to do is to forgive. In Luke 17:4, using a metaphor of a mulberry tree, Jesus describes the hard work of forgiving. Forgiving repeatedly is to forgive comprehensively: rooting out bitterness and giving up the tendency to rehearse one’s pain. A mulberry tree has a vast network of roots radiating out in all directions. It is an enormous task to pull out all the roots without leaving a trace of one left.  How do we achieve the heart wrenching task of a lifestyle of forgiveness? The Good News is that the tiniest seed of faith will guarantee success. Faith is a gift so powerful that it could stroke the ego. Thus, using the image of a slave’s call to serve continuously, Jesus warns about being humble and grounded and not taking faith for granted; . The vocation to authentic humility is unwelcome and prepares us for the ingratitude of the nine lepers in the next episode.

 The Gospel according to Luke 17:5–10

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? 8 Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

Saint Francis of Assisi who was born in 1181, grew up in a life of luxury and abandoned it for a life devoted to Christianity.  He reportedly heard the voice of God, who commanded him to rebuild the Christian church and live in poverty. He is the patron saint of animals and the environment. St Francis is an excellent role model for a Christian journey to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He is known for setting up the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis  and for his work helping the poor and befriending outcasts like the lepers. The three orders today are worldwide and clergy and lay people are welcome to join the Third Order and continue to follow their ordinary professions of life. In a sense, every Christian needs to be a risk-taker for Christ in this generation. Those who stick to the old familiar traditional ways may just about keep us afloat.
Only those who embrace new ways and explore fresh places will reverse decline and bring renewed life. It must be in the spirit of Francis to be part of that creativity.

Matthew 6:25-29

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

The fourth Sunday in the Season of Creation is Cosmos Sunday. The Cosmos refers to the entire universe,
every dimension of time and space, spiritual and material. The cosmos is both the glittering galaxies that humans have begun to explore as well as distant domains far beyond our imagination.  In addition, there are unknown domains deep within each minute molecule we have yet to comprehend. All creation is one sacred cosmos, a spiritual universe filled with God’s presence.

Perhaps we are ready to consider how the Season of Creation has changed us. How Can We Take it Further?  

Calculate your carbon footprint! Give everyone a card with the address of the carbon footprint calculator:  http://www.carbonneutral.com.au/carbon-calculator.html. Ask them to spend the week completing the calculations and reflecting on the effect of their carbon footprint on the earth. 

Consider Ethical investment. 

Superswitch ranks superannuation funds by how much of their investment is free from fossil fuels. See how your super is invested and maybe switch to a better fund. You can also ask your current fund to invest more ethically. http://superswitch.org.au/

 Market Forces lists the banks. See if your bank invests in fossil fuels. Consider switching to a bank that doesn’t. 

Choice Magazine has an ethical investing guide which explains some terms and concepts. 

Go Fossil Free Australia has step by step guides for taking your money out of fossil fuels. https://gofossilfree.org.au

John 6:41-51

41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”