Good morning ladies and gentlemen, it is a wonderful pleasure, and a deep privilege, for me to share the word of God with you this morning. I thank each one of you for your support of my ministry in Chile, and I especially want to thank Father David for inviting me to preach today. Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
We are now in the season of Easter. Two weeks ago we celebrated Easter Sunday, and the resurrection of our Lord from the grave. In a few weeks time we will celebrate Pentecost, when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit in power on the church. At the moment we are between these two important feasts, and it is a good time to ask ourselves what these great events mean for us today, as everyday Christians, here in Pass Christian. What difference is it meant to make to us?
If we can't give a clear answer to that question, well, we shouldn't feel too bad about it, because we are in very good company. In Acts Chapter 1, in a reading we didn't hear today, but which I would like to quote a little from, Luke tells us about one of Jesus's post-resurrection appearances to his disciples. Luke says: On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
At that time, the disciples were also passing through the period between (in their case) the first Easter and the first Holy Spirit Pentecost. What I would like to draw your attention to here is that question they asked him: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Now, when you think about it, this was not exactly the best question they could have asked in the circumstances. It was a natural question for Jews to ask the resurrected Messiah, because it was central to their Old Testament faith that God in the end times would restore his chosen people to their land. But it surely missed the greater issue. The Lord Jesus, after having taught and preached for three years during his earthly ministry, had prophesied his own death on the cross to pay for the sins of all people, and also his resurrection. At the Last Supper, you will remember, he said: this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins, which are words we will hear again later this morning during our communion service. And then, it came true! He was crucified. He did die, and he was resurrected! Clearly, this was a world-changing event that was to have consequences throughout the earth, and for all time, as we have subsequently realized. However, seeing Jesus after his resurrection, all the disciples could think to ask was: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
We shouldn't, however, be too hard on them. They, like we, were on a learning curve. The important thing to see here is, regardless of any misunderstanding they had, that the Lord is very gracious to them, and gently steers them towards the correct path. First he gives them a mild rebuke, telling them that God alone is qualified to know the answer to the question they asked, since by his own authority, he has established the times and dates, the stages and critical events through which mankind must pass until the kingdom comes.
And then, the Lord Jesus sets out clearly the really important issue, which is what the church must be doing until he does return, he says: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. However long the Lord Jesus takes before he returns to the earth at his Second Coming, he expects the disciples, and after them, the church, including us, to be his witnesses, and to testify in places all over the earth, both near and far, about his resurrection, and the salvation that is available to everyone who believes.
Like the disciples, we are in the season of Easter. The Lord Jesus died on the cross, taking away all our sins, he rose from the dead to new life, and he brings us new life as well. I think what he is saying gently to the disciples is: Look at the big picture! It’s time to stop thinking about old historical issues and controversies, and failures, and to concentrate on proclaiming the wonderful new and fresh message that Jesus has risen from the dead! It’s a true story, and people out in the world need to hear it, because God loves them!
In our readings this morning we heard about two people to whom this teaching applied in a very powerful way. They were two men from very different backgrounds, who were going to play a very important part in carrying the Gospel to the world.
The first was Saul of Tarsus, who we now know as the Apostle Paul. Let us remind ourselves of the first few verses of the reading from Acts we heard this morning: Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Now, it is important to recognize Saul was a very brilliant and well-educated man. He was a Pharisee, thoroughly trained in the rabbinical law, and a student of Gamaliel, the most highly respected Rabbi of those times. If Saul were alive today, he would probably become one of the top professors at Harvard Law School, or the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
But Paul was also a zealous idealogue, who obstinately believed in the absolutely importance of obeying and preserving the traditional Mosaic and rabbinical legal codes, and of stamping out any dissent, so that the ancient law could be maintained, and the kingdom of Israel restored. As far as he was concerned, this new Christian teaching, that God had been born into the world as the man Jesus, and that people could be forgiven and could approach God by faith in Jesus name, was a heresy which, if allowed to take root, would end up destroying all hope of restoring the old Jewish order. Saul even believed he was justified in killing people to achieve his ends. What does it say in that reading? Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples...
Paul was such a clever man, that it would have been impossible to argue him out of his point of view. The Lord knew that if he could be caused to see the truth, his gifts and talents could be used to spread the gospel throughout the Roman world, and that he would be able to preach so effectively that men and women of all backgrounds and cultures and nations would hear the gospel of Jesus and receive him as their savior.
But in Paul’s case it would take drastic action, and that is exactly what happened. The reading goes on: As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Later, the Lord sends Ananias to pray for Saul’s blindness to be healed with these words: “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Do you see how Saul, who later changed his name to Paul, became obedient to God’s command to be one of Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth?
The second man we heard of this morning, who had to change his way of thinking, so that he could become a witness for Jesus, was Peter. He was completely different from Paul. He probably only had about a seventh grade education, and made his living as a hard-working fisherman. I think many of us have a soft spot in our hearts for dear impulsive Peter. He always wanted to say and do the right thing, but often ended up making such a mess.
We recently heard, on Good Friday, how he said to the Lord Jesus “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! Of course, we know he did deny the Lord, and it led to what must have been the most miserable three days of his life. This morning we heard the following words: The third time he said to him “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep ... Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
So Peter was restored, and did follow Jesus, and was a witness of Jesus's resurrection and salvation throughout the rest of his life. On the first day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts, which we are going to read about in just a few weeks, it was the simple fisherman Peter, not Paul, who preached the first great public sermon in Jerusalem proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus, and the good news of salvation.
Though we may not be great scholars like Paul, or have the simple but immensely strong faith of Peter, we are also called to tell other people about Jesus. Let us show our love for him, and for others, by doing just that.
Let us pray: O Lord, at work and at home, at church and at play, with friends and family, in meetings and in solitude, in every situation, may we always testify of your love. Amen.
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Sunday, 10 January 2016
A new light (Isaiah 42:1-9, Acts 10:34-38) Preached in Weston Chapel, Weston, Devon
Good afternoon, everyone, and may I wish you a happy new year. The Christmas holidays have come and gone. January is here, and, in the cold of winter, Britain has gone back to work. So let me begin by asking a series of questions that we may want to ask ourselves. What do we have to show for the last weeks? What mark have they left on us? Have the courses of our lives been changed? Should we expect them to be changed? Do we want them to be changed? What are our expectations for 2016? Is it going to be a case of the same old thing? As Christians, how is the Lord Jesus going to be a part of our lives in the coming months. Will God be glorified through us this year? What meaning and significance does Christmas have for each one of us personally? Today I would like to talk about how we might think about these questions, so that we can glorify God and serve him better in the coming year. And may we have a greater understanding of his steadfast love for us, and may we have a greater desire to share this love with those around us, and especially with those who do not personally know him.
We are now no longer in the season of Christmas. On 6 January, the 12th day of Christmas, which was last Wednesday, we entered into the season of Epiphany. Epiphany marks the visit to the baby Jesus by the three Kings, or Wise Men. In the West, Christians began celebrating Epiphany in the 4th century. As we know, according to the Gospel of Matthew, the men found Jesus by following a star across the desert to Bethlehem. The three men, traditionally named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, represented Europe, Arabia, and Africa, respectively. According to Matthew 2:11, they offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gifts were symbolic of the importance of Jesus' birth, the gold representing his royal status, frankincense his divine birth, and myrrh his mortality. Epiphany is a Greek word, and means to show, referring to Jesus being revealed to the world. The three wise men were not Jews, they were Gentiles, and so Epiphany is symbolic of the revelation of the Lord Jesus as King, not just of the Jews, but of all the peoples of the Earth. Of course, Jesus was a very special King, a King that was born to serve, to suffer, and to die for us on the cross. The gift of myrrh, especially, reflects this crucial aspect of his kingship.
The reading we heard today, from Isaiah 42, came from the lectionary. It is selected to correspond to the season of Epiphany, and like the Epiphany to the three kings, it is intended to explain to us who Jesus is. God himself is speaking, and he says (in vv. 1-4): Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope. Christmas is past, the baby is born, but just exactly who is this baby whose birth we celebrated? This passage tells us he is God’s special servant, and he is the chosen one in whom God delights. He has God’s Holy Spirit put on him, and he is sent to bring justice to the nations. This is Jesus, whose name means “Savior,” and he will not be discouraged, and he will not fail in his purpose, and the people will put their hope in him.
In the first chapter of the gospel of John, it says of Jesus: In him was life, and that life was the light of all men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem he brought God’s light into the world. In our present day world, there is much darkness, and it seems very much that the darkness is constantly increasing. It seems that the lights which we have previously trusted in, the lights of Christian civilization, with its requirements of honesty, truthfulness, faithfulness, peacefulness, decent behavior, clear moral guidelines, the maintenance of holy institutions like marriage, are being snuffed out, and that the world is descending into chaos around us. There is a breakdown in public order here in Britain, and around the world war is on the increase. Yet God’s word still assures us: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. How are we to trust in this word in the coming year, in the midst of such troubles? By putting our faith in Jesus, the light of the world, whose birth as a baby in Bethlehem we have just celebrated. And how are we to give practical expression to that faith? John goes on to tell us in his gospel: The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John tells us the answer: to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. We put our faith in him when we receive him into our lives, when we believe in his name. This means every day, when we get up, when we go out to work, or to our daily business, whatever it is, we must commit ourselves to his care, obey him, and trust him to guide us and protect us. We may not be able to change the world ourselves, but we can commend ourselves, and our families and communities, to Him who certainly can change it. As we live our lives in faith, we show Jesus, as in the first Epiphany, to the world around us.
But, you may say: ‘I am weak, how can I have faith like that?’ Well, the truth is, that everyone of us, even the best of us, lacks faith, and needs more of it. In the letter to the Hebrews it says: … without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. This is a challenge, but as we start this new year, with whatever it holds, in the season of Epiphany, we can be comforted that God knows our weakness, and is merciful with us. In our reading earlier we heard: A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Though my faith may be as weak as a bruised reed, or a smoldering wick, Jesus will not break the reed, or snuff out the wick. He will bear with my weakness, and he will still faithfully continue his work until he establishes justice on earth. And as I exercise my faith, and experience his faithfulness, my faith, like every physical muscle in my body, will grow stronger.
The reading we heard earlier goes on to say: This is what God the Lord says – the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: ‘I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.' Again, God the Father is speaking about the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus. He says: I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles. Jesus, the baby born in Bethlehem, holds the Father’s hand. He will be made a covenant for the people, and a light that is to be shined throughout the earth, to the Jews and to all the Gentiles. First he was shown, as God’s king and savior, to the three kings, but in the end all the peoples of the earth will see him too.
The God of this world, the evil one, wants me (and you) to be blind, so that I cannot see the light. He wants me to be imprisoned in a prison cell, so that I cannot see the light of Jesus through the dungeon walls. He does not want me to be shown the light of Jesus in his Epiphany, he does not want me to see it. But God says that Jesus will: … open eyes that are blind … free captives from prison and … release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. I will be given sight to see Jesus, and I will walk free from the prison of fear and doubt to witness Jesus working in the world. God says it in his word. May I take hold of it in faith.
In our second reading today, from the book of Acts, also from the lectionary for Epiphany, we heard that Peter said: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message … how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Peter explains how God filled Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit to heal people who were in bondage under the power of the devil. The power of the Holy Spirit is still available today, to all who believe in the name of Jesus, and who receive him into their lives. He has power to set us free from the power of spiritual darkness, so that we can show forth the light of God, and truly experience his love.
I began speaking today by asking a series of questions: Have our lives been changed by Christmas? Should we expect, and do we want, them to be changed? What are our expectations for 2016? Well the season of Epiphany, and the readings we have heard, help us to answer these questions. If we believe the Word of God, and if we trust it is true, then we must believe in, and take hold of, the promises of God. When God first called us and drew us to himself, and when we accepted his salvation through the Lord Jesus, it was never his intention to leave us at the mercy the spiritual darkness we had experienced in our former lives. Paul, speaking to the Romans, says: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. God promises to transform us, he wants us to worship him and to experience the very best life has to offer us, as we live it for him.
We have recently been reminded again of the miraculous birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. We have read the scriptures, and sung the carols, which tell of his coming to this earth, and we have worshipped God for what he has done to fulfil all the prophecies which foretold Jesus’ coming. But God does not want this to only be a pleasant and sentimental remembrance. Whenever we prayerfully read the Word of God, it has real power to change us eternally. God says through Isaiah today: See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you. Christmas is past, but God is still declaring new things, for me and for you.
The answer is: Yes, we should expect and want our lives to be changed by Christmas, for it means Jesus is in the world and the kingdom of God has arrived, with power to transform not just our personal lives, but the whole earth. What should our expectations be for 2016? Well, the baby born in Bethlehem is, as we have heard in our Epiphany readings today, the Son and servant of the most high God, who comes into the world to bring salvation, healing, justice, and renewal. We should expect that we will indeed see him work in our lives, our families, our communities, and our nation.
Let us open up our hearts, and welcome him this coming year. Let me close with the following prayer, which I invite everyone of you to make your prayer also: O God, in the mystery of the Word made flesh, you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the knowledge of thy glory in the face of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. My your light shine in my heart. Work in my life this year to extend your kingdom.
We are now no longer in the season of Christmas. On 6 January, the 12th day of Christmas, which was last Wednesday, we entered into the season of Epiphany. Epiphany marks the visit to the baby Jesus by the three Kings, or Wise Men. In the West, Christians began celebrating Epiphany in the 4th century. As we know, according to the Gospel of Matthew, the men found Jesus by following a star across the desert to Bethlehem. The three men, traditionally named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, represented Europe, Arabia, and Africa, respectively. According to Matthew 2:11, they offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gifts were symbolic of the importance of Jesus' birth, the gold representing his royal status, frankincense his divine birth, and myrrh his mortality. Epiphany is a Greek word, and means to show, referring to Jesus being revealed to the world. The three wise men were not Jews, they were Gentiles, and so Epiphany is symbolic of the revelation of the Lord Jesus as King, not just of the Jews, but of all the peoples of the Earth. Of course, Jesus was a very special King, a King that was born to serve, to suffer, and to die for us on the cross. The gift of myrrh, especially, reflects this crucial aspect of his kingship.
The reading we heard today, from Isaiah 42, came from the lectionary. It is selected to correspond to the season of Epiphany, and like the Epiphany to the three kings, it is intended to explain to us who Jesus is. God himself is speaking, and he says (in vv. 1-4): Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope. Christmas is past, the baby is born, but just exactly who is this baby whose birth we celebrated? This passage tells us he is God’s special servant, and he is the chosen one in whom God delights. He has God’s Holy Spirit put on him, and he is sent to bring justice to the nations. This is Jesus, whose name means “Savior,” and he will not be discouraged, and he will not fail in his purpose, and the people will put their hope in him.
In the first chapter of the gospel of John, it says of Jesus: In him was life, and that life was the light of all men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem he brought God’s light into the world. In our present day world, there is much darkness, and it seems very much that the darkness is constantly increasing. It seems that the lights which we have previously trusted in, the lights of Christian civilization, with its requirements of honesty, truthfulness, faithfulness, peacefulness, decent behavior, clear moral guidelines, the maintenance of holy institutions like marriage, are being snuffed out, and that the world is descending into chaos around us. There is a breakdown in public order here in Britain, and around the world war is on the increase. Yet God’s word still assures us: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. How are we to trust in this word in the coming year, in the midst of such troubles? By putting our faith in Jesus, the light of the world, whose birth as a baby in Bethlehem we have just celebrated. And how are we to give practical expression to that faith? John goes on to tell us in his gospel: The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John tells us the answer: to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. We put our faith in him when we receive him into our lives, when we believe in his name. This means every day, when we get up, when we go out to work, or to our daily business, whatever it is, we must commit ourselves to his care, obey him, and trust him to guide us and protect us. We may not be able to change the world ourselves, but we can commend ourselves, and our families and communities, to Him who certainly can change it. As we live our lives in faith, we show Jesus, as in the first Epiphany, to the world around us.
But, you may say: ‘I am weak, how can I have faith like that?’ Well, the truth is, that everyone of us, even the best of us, lacks faith, and needs more of it. In the letter to the Hebrews it says: … without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. This is a challenge, but as we start this new year, with whatever it holds, in the season of Epiphany, we can be comforted that God knows our weakness, and is merciful with us. In our reading earlier we heard: A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Though my faith may be as weak as a bruised reed, or a smoldering wick, Jesus will not break the reed, or snuff out the wick. He will bear with my weakness, and he will still faithfully continue his work until he establishes justice on earth. And as I exercise my faith, and experience his faithfulness, my faith, like every physical muscle in my body, will grow stronger.
The reading we heard earlier goes on to say: This is what God the Lord says – the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: ‘I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.' Again, God the Father is speaking about the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus. He says: I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles. Jesus, the baby born in Bethlehem, holds the Father’s hand. He will be made a covenant for the people, and a light that is to be shined throughout the earth, to the Jews and to all the Gentiles. First he was shown, as God’s king and savior, to the three kings, but in the end all the peoples of the earth will see him too.
The God of this world, the evil one, wants me (and you) to be blind, so that I cannot see the light. He wants me to be imprisoned in a prison cell, so that I cannot see the light of Jesus through the dungeon walls. He does not want me to be shown the light of Jesus in his Epiphany, he does not want me to see it. But God says that Jesus will: … open eyes that are blind … free captives from prison and … release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. I will be given sight to see Jesus, and I will walk free from the prison of fear and doubt to witness Jesus working in the world. God says it in his word. May I take hold of it in faith.
In our second reading today, from the book of Acts, also from the lectionary for Epiphany, we heard that Peter said: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message … how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Peter explains how God filled Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit to heal people who were in bondage under the power of the devil. The power of the Holy Spirit is still available today, to all who believe in the name of Jesus, and who receive him into their lives. He has power to set us free from the power of spiritual darkness, so that we can show forth the light of God, and truly experience his love.
I began speaking today by asking a series of questions: Have our lives been changed by Christmas? Should we expect, and do we want, them to be changed? What are our expectations for 2016? Well the season of Epiphany, and the readings we have heard, help us to answer these questions. If we believe the Word of God, and if we trust it is true, then we must believe in, and take hold of, the promises of God. When God first called us and drew us to himself, and when we accepted his salvation through the Lord Jesus, it was never his intention to leave us at the mercy the spiritual darkness we had experienced in our former lives. Paul, speaking to the Romans, says: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. God promises to transform us, he wants us to worship him and to experience the very best life has to offer us, as we live it for him.
We have recently been reminded again of the miraculous birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. We have read the scriptures, and sung the carols, which tell of his coming to this earth, and we have worshipped God for what he has done to fulfil all the prophecies which foretold Jesus’ coming. But God does not want this to only be a pleasant and sentimental remembrance. Whenever we prayerfully read the Word of God, it has real power to change us eternally. God says through Isaiah today: See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you. Christmas is past, but God is still declaring new things, for me and for you.
The answer is: Yes, we should expect and want our lives to be changed by Christmas, for it means Jesus is in the world and the kingdom of God has arrived, with power to transform not just our personal lives, but the whole earth. What should our expectations be for 2016? Well, the baby born in Bethlehem is, as we have heard in our Epiphany readings today, the Son and servant of the most high God, who comes into the world to bring salvation, healing, justice, and renewal. We should expect that we will indeed see him work in our lives, our families, our communities, and our nation.
Let us open up our hearts, and welcome him this coming year. Let me close with the following prayer, which I invite everyone of you to make your prayer also: O God, in the mystery of the Word made flesh, you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the knowledge of thy glory in the face of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. My your light shine in my heart. Work in my life this year to extend your kingdom.
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