The Unjust Judge (Luke18:1-8)

When I asked Julian for the notes to this sermon he replied:

Hi Ben,
All these good comments - that is a great encouragement to me.
My notes, well as I said they were on the back of a fag packet.
When I do a sermon I use bullet points only, that are hand written, don't know why but it works for me.

These are the bullet points used, I think...

- these parables, all those used so far contain much more than can read on the first reading.
- on the face of it the parable says all that there is to say - keep praying and don't give up. - but pray about what?
- review the story - judge and woman. Excellent judge not influenced by God or Man. - perfect. yet he gives into the woman. - thus making someone else lose. We have no idea of the events, if they ever occured - Christ doesn't need the detail.
- after the campaign, the judge gives in - link to "George Davis is innocent campaign".
- can we chivvy God like the woman? Would he be a God worth worshipping if we could?
- what if we pay for justice?
- Jesus does promise in the text to give justice, but do WE want to receive justice from God - I don't!!! I know what I've done.
- so God takes on the role of the judge and gives us what we want - freedom from judgement, then somebody has to pay - Christ.
- Jesus says - God will give them justice soon enough - when he is on the cross, then he loses, and we like the woman win, whether we deserve it or not.
- in OT - Judges (good link) Israel did what they wanted and God raised up a local superpower to sort them out.
- in NT - God puts himself on the cross for us - giving justice at the expense of someone else. (himself)
- Jesus finishes by asking will the Son of God on his return find faith - earlier chapter was talking about the end days.
- aside judgement day - no list of wrongs will be published, however big or small because Christ has already paid the bill.
- the justice we seek is to be in God's Book of Life - Luke 10 - v20
- we live in a time when faith is under pressure - big time - we need to focus and not be drawn into unimportant matters - including the WFC/RFC issues - lets get on with what is needed.
- we have a message of grace which no other faith has - let's use it and show the world what it means.

There - I think that covers it - sure to have missed something, but these are the main bits.

See you - regards, Julian.

Thanks Julian!

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The Rich Man and Lazarus - Luke 16:19-31

Introduction
We are continuing our series in parables. Parables are stories – controversial, challenging, disturbing, often with a twist, something we don’t expect. They work at different levels – say different things to different people – depending on who you are, where you are. This is no different.

I’ve found this one quite hard – what does it mean? What is it about? Why did Jesus tell it? Who was he addressing? Parables make us ask questions when we try and engage with them – that’s a good thing and we shouldn’t be afraid of that. . Keep looking at the blog – useful comments – you may not agree – but think! This series has really helped me go beyond what I’m reading – and that’s been really helpful to get me out of a rut.

Reading this parable, it seems to me that it speaks to different audiences at the same time – I think this is often true of the parables. And its often why they seem to be saying different things at the same time.

Let’s start by recapping on last week – because it seems to me that there is a link.

Last week – Shrewd manager – slippery Sam! Strange story – not really what you’d expect, because Jesus seems at face value to be praising dishonest behaviour, and yet as Ben pointed out – maybe not. Jesus seemed to have been addressing the disciples – yet at the end, there is a reaction from the Pharisees, so clearly they were in the audience too. Let’s look at this for a moment because I think it has a bearing on today’s parable. In vv 13 he clearly points out that you can’t serve two masters – a message I think Jesus wanted to make really clear to his disciples – really well known verses – “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Now let’s look at the Pharisees reaction - in v14. “The Pharisees who loved money heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” The Pharisees – concerned to be “doing the right thing” very concerned about the law and how important it was – and yet something seemed to be lacking.

Let’s look at the parable for today – and I want to look at it from the standpoint of some different audiences – and by doing that see what it has to say to us.

Pharisees
Let’s start with the Pharisees – from what I’ve already said, I think they were perhaps the people Jesus was talking to. They loved money so I guess would have identified with the rich man – who doesn’t have a name. He is doing very well for himself. The poor man is a beggar, full of sores – and bothered by dogs – probably would be considered unclean by the Pharisees – and so to be avoided. Remember the Good Samaritan – the religious people passed by, afraid to become unclean. The rich man dies and is buried – Lazarus dies and is not buried.

There is a twist – it’s the beggar – the unclean, dirty, poor man who seems to now have the luxury – close to Abraham – Abraham the friend of God.- and therefore by inference – close to God.

The rich man on the other hand is in torment. Still he was rich so even in torment surely he has some influence – so he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to bring him some water. Its as if he thinks that the influence he had because of his money and wealth will still be with him. But no – there is no way. Abraham explains that there is a great chasm between them and nothing can cross. There is a finality about this.

Now it seems to dawn on the rich man – and he now wants to do something to stop his brothers facing the same torment – we see a change of heart perhaps – suddenly the reality of the situation he is in seems to dawn - now he wants Lazarus to be raised from the dead and go back and tell his brothers to warn them so they won’t have to face this torment. This is a good reaction – but it’s too late. The parable ends by saying that they have already had this information in the law – the law and the prophets already tells them what they should be doing.

This is another twist – the Law was really important to the Pharisees – they worked really hard to meet its demands and yet had missed the vital point about love and mercy towards fellow man being a vital part of a real faith.

Lazarus/The poor
Let’s look again at the story from a slightly different viewpoint – that of Lazarus or the poor.

For a start – this poor beggar has a name where the rich man doesn’t. That suggests to me that the poor matter to God. We can tend to see the poor as a faceless, nameless mass of something – somehow stripped of their individuality they become less real and almost less human. This poor beggar is named. The Pharisee saw him as something to be avoided in case it made him ritually unclean – Jesus knew his name.

The rich man died and was buried – still receiving honour and privilege because of his wealth. Lazarus dies and is carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. Now close to Abraham – the friend of God – a picture of comfort and blessing. The rich man is in torment.

The very name Lazarus means “he whom God helps” – this poor man could do nothing but trust God – he had no other way, no other means. We often hear don’t we of the amazing way God seems to be moving in countries where people are poor – we have so much else we can trust in – they have nothing but God. This was true for the rich man – he had his wealth, position, status – the poor man had nothing – but God helped him. And in the final analysis – this is what matters.

Let’s remember what Jesus himself said when he started his public ministry – Lk4: 18 – he quotes part of Is 61. “The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”. At the heart of Jesus ministry was this – the poor, the needy, the blind, the oppressed, the prisoners. This was a direct quote from Isaiah – the prophets – this was known to the Pharisees – known to the Jews. Interestingly when Jesus quoted this he stopped half way through v2 – which goes on “and the day of vengeance of our God”. This passage seems to give more than a hint of this sense of judgement – of God putting injustice to rights.

What about us?
As I was reading this passage in preparation – I was reminded of James letter. You see for the Pharisees – they were a real mixture – time and again Jesus said they were one thing on the outside and quite another on the inside. He described them as whitewashed tombs – looking all ok on the outside but dead inside. Think back to the Sermon on the Mount – Jesus says in Mt 6: 5 “When you pray do not be like the hypocrites, they love to pray standing in the synagogue and on street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth –they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen. Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” He says here as we’ve already seen – they try and look good to the eyes of men but God detests what’s in their hearts

In James letter there is a debate about faith and works – James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

At the end of the parable, the rich man has a welcome change of heart. He realises that he should have done more for the poor – and he wants Lazarus to tell his brothers. This is a good desire – but too late. And actually as Abraham says – his brothers already know because care for the poor is writ large in the Law and Prophets. This is not some new revelation – this is something throughout the Old Testament.

For me the challenge of this passage is to make sure that I match on the inside and outside. To borrow a slogan from ads – does it do what it says on the tin! Some more of James 2:14 – 18 “ What good is it my brothers if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds. Can such a faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him” Go I wish you well, keep warm and well fed but does nothing about his physical needs what good is it? In the same way Faith by itself if it is not accompanied by action is dead. “

There is also the challenge that the rich man realised too late – the eternal realities of the finality of judgement. He wanted to save others from receiving the torment he had. We can forget about this reality – because it seems unreal and unclear to us now. But it is a reality. We need to tell people now while we can about their need to repent and come back to God. We need to make sure that we are living up to what we know we should be doing.

As we look to mission and all the very many different ideas that we have come up with, let’s not lose the plot. Let’s remember what’s at the heart of it.

So often we struggle to know what we should be doing and we can get stuck – but actually in very broad terms we do know. Micah 6: 6-8 …” He has shown you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

The truth is that as we walk humbly through our lives with God our whole lives, inside and out will be changed. It will affect everything. The choice before us is will we do that.

A challenge for us. I have a very violent picture for you – but one which I think helps us. Imagine your faith is like a hand grenade – with the pin in so it’s quite safe. We have a choice – do we leave the pin in – then we keep our faith “safe” – something to do on Sunday’s but that’s it. Or – do we take the pin out and let our faith permeate us through and through and make our inside and outside match.

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For those with a Mathematical Bent

This one made me smile when I first heard it...

One day, Jesus said to his disciples:
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like 3x squared plus 8x minus 9."
A man who had just joined the disciples looked very confused and
asked Peter:
"What, on Earth, does he mean by that?"
Peter replied:
"Don't worry - it's just another one of his parabolas."

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The Unrighteous Manager - Luke 16:1-9

“Morning, Slippery Sam’s the name, surviving’s my game! I’m the master of duckin’ and divin’

My Boss, he owns all the land around here. Rich as they come he is! You should see how much money he’s got stashed away… I have, I collected most of it for him. That’s my job you see, I’m his manager, or steward. He’s too rich to do a proper day’s work like what you and me do, so ‘e pays me to do it.

My job is to go around all the folks that live on his land and collect the rent money from them, or those that sell the produce what they grow on his fields. Not always a pleasant job – now I’m not a tax collector, I’m not like them no, but some folk see me like one of them. It probably doesn’t help that sometimes I add a bit to the bill when no one’s looking and keep it for myself!
Of course I have to be careful playing that game. If my Boss sussed, well there’s no doubt that I’d be out of here, and if anyone else sussed, well that would be getting the Boss’s name a bad reputation… Catch is you see, there’s a queue of others waiting to take my place.

Why? Why do they want my job? It’s the money of course. I may not be rolling in it, but I’m a darn sight better than all these pheasants around here you know. A bit of 'agro' from the commoners is endurable if you’ve got some cash to spend.

Anyway, the other day I got in trouble, big trouble. Don’t know what it was, but that Mrs Jones, she must have realised that I’d been pulling a fast one on her, asking for too much money. I thought I’d been careful too. Anyways, whatever gave it away, she worked it out. Next thing I know the Boss has called me into his office and demanded to see the books – no not the latest Harry Potter, but the accounts where I record all that is owed to the Boss and all I’ve collected. Of course I take it to him straight away.

Did I know I was in trouble? Immediately. He’s never asked me to hand over the accounts before. Blindingly obvious that he was going to check them, and if he checked them, he would soon know that I’d been tricking him and his tenants, and taking a small share for myself. That was it. I was about to lose my job.

What’s the problem with that? This job is all I know. I couldn’t be a gardener, or a teacher. I can’t fix things. I’m no good with my hands – if you are by the way, don’t forget to sign up for the workday or the set-up teams. No, this is the only job I know, its all I can do. If the Boss sacks me for fiddling the books, then no one else is going to take me on are they? Who’d trust a cheat like me! All that would be left would be to beg. I don’t want to beg money from others…

You know sometimes when you have a problem, you can think about for hours and hours and come up with nothing? Then there are those days when something comes to you in a flash of lightening. This was one of them days.

I ran around those who hadn’t paid up yet and cut their bills…

You see, I wasn’t the only one cheating. Of course my Boss was at it too. Everyone’s doing it! The Bible says that when someone owes us something, we should get them to pay interest, to pay extra because we’ve done them a favour. No, we’re to charge them just what they’ve borrowed. Now of course, everyone ignores that don’t they. This was my plan. I’d run around everyone who hadn’t paid yet, and cancel the extra that my Boss had been demanding. That would make them happy. If they were happy and told everybody how good my Boss was to them – of course they would think my Boss had told me to do this – then my Boss would suddenly become very popular. He’d like that. And because he liked that, he would be pleased with me. If he was pleased with me, then he wouldn’t sack me. To be honest, even if he wasn’t pleased with me, he wouldn’t dare sack me, because everyone now liked me!"

*****

Reading Luke 16:1-9

This is one weird story isn’t it? Everyone in this story is being selfish and devious. What on earth are we to make of it.

Made even more confusing by Jesus’ comments that we should be like this manager. He’s called unrighteous. That’s not normally a good thing to be called, it means that you’re involved in wrong doing, and that spoils your relationship with God.

So why does Jesus say that we should be like him?
One suggestion – he is unrighteous because he is relying on ‘dirty money’ to make a living. He’s caught up in a way of life, a system that is corrupt. Jews weren’t meant to charge interest, or cheat and take money for themselves like he was. But by the end of the story, he’s stared living a different way. He’s cancelled the interest, stopped taking that little extra for himself too. And because of that, the world has become a better place. It’s changed, and those who were poor and being hard done by are being treated better.

Now of course, we know that the manager is still acting if we’re honest, selfishly, he’s only doing it for himself, but it’s a start at least. He’s beginning to leave behind wrong ways of dealing with others, and being to treat others with respect. Because of that, they are beginning to like him, and he keeps his job.

Is this Jesus’ point?

Like the manager, our lives are so intertwinned with the way the world works that no doubt there’s no end of ways in which we’re living a little bit like the manager, doing this wrong, because that’s the way its done around here, and hurting others as a result. It’s so easy just to copy everybody else and not actually stop and think about whether or not God would be pleased with what we’re doing.

The challenge of this story is to stop and think about our lives, how we live. Are there things that we’re involved in maybe deliberately or without realising it, that we need to stop and put right. Ways in which we’re not living out God’s instruction to love him and those around us.
Perhaps its in the way we shop – is what we buy harming others because they aren’t paid enough for what they grow or make for us. Is our trade fair?

What about the banks we use – do they use our money for good things, or bad things – do we even know? Is our banking ethical?

How about the amount of power we use – the more we use our cars, the more we use electricity and so on, the quicker climate change comes about. Who’s that going to affect first and hardest – it’s going to be the poor everytime. They can’t afford to protect themselves like us.

What about the way we join in gossip about celebrities, politicians or even those closer to home?

The message of this parable is that if we step away from these things, and start living fairly and with love and compassion, then the world will begin to change. Not only that, but like the manager we shall receive approval. It might not be from those around us, but God will be pleased with what we do, and what is better than that!

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Revisiting 'A Family in Trouble - the Prodigal Son'

After the recent sermon on 'A Family in Trouble - The Prodigal Son' this intriguing comment was posted...

I would really like to know what happened next in the story...
How did the two brothers get on after this? Were they able to get on OK ? Did the older brother "wake up" to what he'd been missing in the sense that he too had his inheritance? (I dont mean that he ran off and wasted it...)
Were they both able to forgive , forget and move on? Did the farm go from strength to strength with their joint hard work?
Or was life intolerable for all ? What do you think?

I thought this deserved a post in it's own right. So what do you think? Answers on a comment please!

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100 Outreach Ideas ...revisited

With the help of a last minute push we made it - 100 outreach ideas collected in a month - 117 in fact (although there may be some repeats in there!) Thank you to all who contributed ideas. Check them out over at the original post

That was the easy part... the challenge is to get doing them!

The total has since reached 118

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A Family in Trouble: the Prodigal Son Revisited (Luke 15:11-23)

What’s the point! Am I bovvered? Do I care? In so many ways the younger son sounds very much like Catherine Tate’s famous adolescent. He certainly doesn’t come across as a pleasant specimen, but let’s try and get into his head and see what’s going on there.

For all Jews, life under the Romans was depressing – theirs was a highly restrictive regime. There were all sorts of rules and regulations to follow and taxes to be paid. There wasn’t too much joy in everyday life. For the Younger Son, this was compounded by his position in the family. As the younger son (you might remember an earlier sermon in this series dealing with children arguing over their inheritance) he would expect to get the smaller share of his Father’s wealth. This particular Father wasn’t as poor as many others – he had property and hired men – and so their would be something for this young man to inherit, but chances were that it wouldn’t be enough to bring him security and financial freedom. Chances were, it may not really be even enough to earn his keep from.

As the youngest Son, I suspect he probably also was desperate to be seen as a person in his own right – not his Father’s Son. Can identify with this being the son of the local headmaster in a village school. Everybody knew me, I didn’t know them. Thought I would escape when I went to Uni. – but surprised when one of my lecturers knew of me because of some connection with Mum. No doubt he was sick of always being compared to his Older Brother too.

So how could he find the freedom he so desired? The freedom to find his own identity and life the life he wanted?

His desire was to escape – up sticks and leave. Leave behind those who knew him, those who held him back or oppressed him. We know the story – he had no money and so went to his dad and asked for his inheritance.

I remember my younger cousin Alan taking a fancy to my Grandparent’s reclining garden chair, and in complete innocence asking if he could have it when Grandad died!

This Son is not so innocent. He knows I’m, sure, that what he was saying to his Dad is I wish you were dead…

I wonder if he was caught by surprise when his dad said okay and divided his property between them!

Anyway, he took the land that his dad gave him, sold it, and left, heading off to a distant land where know one knew him, and where the regime was much more relaxed. In many ways, this part of the story reminds me of what often happens when students first get to University. For the first time have some money of their own, and freedom to do what they want with it and their lives. Party time! The Younger Brother, like many students, squanders his money on wild living. I suspect though, that his living is wilder than your average student. We’re not told exactly what he got up to, but the comment by the Older Son, ‘this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes’ suggests that it was truly wild living, and not the odd party.

Not having really dealt with money before, it is no surprise that before too long he runs out of money. To make it worse, the land he has gone to is hit by severe famine. In desperate straits he ends up ‘hiring himself out’ to a Gentile – totally degrading to the Jews who prided themselves on keeping separate, pure. To make it worse, he is put to work feeding the pigs – unclean animals – and eating their food when the boss isn’t looking. There isn’t much further he could sink. He was alone, away from the safety of family and faith.

In the midst of this darkness, it says he ‘came to his senses’. If I go back to Dad and say I have sinned against Heaven and him, then maybe he’ll take me in as a worker and feed men…

Some read this to be like a conversion experience – here in the darkest pit, the Son realises the error of his ways and determines to repent and come back to his Father. I fear it is nothing of the sort! Does the phrase ‘I have sinned again heaven and you’ sound at all like a heartfelt apology? It may be true, but there is no sense of love or regret in this – except that he regrets having got himself into this mess. It really does feel as if he is working out the right set of words to get exactly what he wants

This son is really quite contemptible isn’t he! We might be able to see contributing factors behind the way he behaves, but there’s no getting away from the fact that he is a self-centred, calculating, scum-bag.

Listening to Jesus tell his story are a range of people, Pharisees, disciples, tax-collectors and various ‘sinners’. Many of them would share the Younger Son’s desire to escape from oppression. For some the dream of getting away from this life would be a real one. Reminds me of the sentiments expressed by many of my friends in Sierra Leone in West Africa. If they could they’d leave, leave behind the poverty and corruption and seek a better life elsewhere. But at the same time, they would also despair of this young man. He’d broken every rule in the book. He’d abandoned his faith, he’d dishonoured his Dad, he’d deserted his family. Worse than that in fact. By selling up his share of the property, he was forcing them to live on a smaller patch, lowering their status in the community and their security and income.

The Younger Son was taking a real risk here. There was every chance that his Dad would reject him completely here – quite right too everyone in the audience would have felt. Maybe the more generous amongst them might have some sympathy and let him come back as some servant, but he forfeited his rights… When he rehearses his line ‘I am no longer worthy to be called your Son’ he was telling the truth.

But then there’s this magical scene. The Dad sees him coming and is filled with compassion. Dignity would require the Son to come grovelling to him, but it is the other way around. The Father abandons all dignity and runs to him. He doesn’t care what everybody else thinks. He just wants his child back. He throws his arms around him and hugs him. This is the embrace of Father and Son. He calls for his best robe to be put on him, and places his ring on his finger. Kill the fattened calf, let’s celebrate the return of my lost son. He was dead, but now is alive again, lost now found.

The Father by putting on the robe and ring is treating the Younger Son as an equal – he is letting everybody know that this Son is his Son, part of His Family. There’s as always a scandal here. The mercy of this Father is beyond the scope of usual mercy. He doesn’t need to hear sorry before forgiving. He doesn’t need to see signs of repentance or to say I told you so. He pours mercy on him unconditionally, unsought for, undeserved. The only thing that matters is the restoration of his relationship with his Son.

But of course this isn’t the end of the story.

Out on the field the Older Son is working. He is the responsible one, the one who stayed behind to care for his Dad to work hard. He was a good Jewish Boy that any parent would be proud of.

Imagine what he has gone through these last months. Before his brother left, life was hard, but his leaving had made it so much worse. First of all there was the emotion strain of supporting his grieving Dad. Then there was the simple fact that they had had to make ends meet with less manpower and less land on which to do so. He had done the right thing, and all that he had to show for it was stress and sweat. His brother had swanned off having wrecked the family home, lived it up, and had now come back at was accepted without so much as a sorry and was being given a party at their expense. It wasn’t fair!!! There is certainly a lot to be said for the Older Sons complaint.

Maybe you can relate to him? I remember working alongside a bunch of guys doing community service and thinking how come you all have nice cars and gear, whilst I who have done nothing wrong have so little to show for it.

Certainly many in Jesus’ audience could relate to this. Whilst the younger Son had sought freedom in escapism, many thought that freedom would only return to the Jews if they worked harder at keeping the Law and maintaining the Jewish way of life – the Pharisees were prime examples of this. How many of us seek approval from our peers and the powers that be by working hard and striving to do the right thing?

The older son’s response to the return of the younger son would have been mirrored by many listening to Jesus.

So what does the Father do? No sooner has he got one son back, the other one threatens to leave him! He heads straight away to track him down, to try and sort things out. ‘All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

The Father’s reply is again stunning, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’

The truth is that his Father hadn’t given him a young goat, he’d given him everything! Right at the beginning of the story he divided up his property between them. It had been the Older Son’s choice not to use it, not to celebrate and make the most of what his Father had given him.

Is there actually a sense of regret as he lambastes his brother’s wild living – a touch of jealousy, I would have liked to have lived a little…

I love you Son, says the Dad, and I love your brother too. I have and will give up everything for you both.

Are either of the Sons on the right track, trying to discover freedom? Do escapism or grasping to rules and the traditional ways help? Or is the Father’s approach of putting relationships first a better way? Is freedom actually found in caring and accepting beyond the call of duty?

And how about the Father’s love? Is he misplaced? Naïve? A soft touch? Or does such love cut across barriers and offer the chance of transformation and hope?

It is fascinating that Jesus doesn’t comment on this story. He doesn’t say which is right and which is wrong. He just tells us the story and leaves us to let it do its work upon us. Let’s take a moment now to reflect on the story and to ask God what he wants to say to us through it…

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100 Outreach Ideas

As mentioned in the newsletter a couple of weeks ago, I want us to get thinking outreach again. To kick start the process let's compile a list of 100 outreach ideas. Hit reply now and send me some suggestions - these can be sensible ideas, safe, crazy, expensive or cheap, it doesn't really matter! We can sift through them later. Email them to me or hit the 'comments' link below and add them there. I'll add them to the list below as we go along!
1. Run an Alpha course in a pub on a Monday night - the pub would love it as a quiet night filler!
2. Pancake Race along Wormley High Street...
3. Host/sponsor a comedy evening
4. Community action days (i.e. go and clean a public area, free car washing
etc)
5. Social events (e.g. quiz nights, cultural evenings, barn dances)
6. Make the most of Christian 'holidays' - Easter egg hunts, pancake races,
carol services
7. Use Children's/youth work to encourage parents - award evenings and launch
services for holiday clubs, feedback services from Youth Camp
8. Film night/televise sporting events (providing correct entertainment
licenses obtained!!)
9. Community lunches
10. Church sporting events/outings/picnics
11. Church drop in sessions (someone to listen)
12. BBQ on some of the green spaces in the flats around Fairfield Drive
13. To get to know at least one other person in WFC that you only say 'hello' to on a Sunday.
14. Invite two people from the WFC to lunch. One you know already, the other (see 13). This can be done on a monthly basis, which hopefully will alternate to the others houses. It may be an idea to have a start / finish time (?)
15. Ladies of WFC invite Rosedale ladies to a 'bring some grub' evening. Written invites to be sent.
16. Have a birthday card scheme for Sierra Leone, like the Baptist Missionary Soceity. Those who want to join receive a birthday card and an envelope.They can put in a donation for the work of S L. Needs someone to organise, set up a birthday calendar, send out cards, collect money and pass on to Treasurer.
17. Have a picnic with a Rounders match afterwards.
18. Have a social - like Sheila & Dougs 40th. Make sure the music covers 50's, 60's, and up to the present day.
19. Have a photo album of the years events.
20. Check out other ideas here

21. O-openhouse Sunday/community lunch
22. N-next big thing (battle of the bands)
23. E-easter egg give away

24. H-holiday club
25. U-unsung heroes (jobs for people)
26. N-new for old (turn old clothes/furniture into new things)
27. D-donate a play area
28. R-renovate the area (cleaning)
29. E-entertain with music
30. D-drama

31. activity/games day
32. Organise a standby set of WFC quiz team members to enter local pub events, etc
33. Run a 'Parenting course' - perfect opportunity to put across the Christian
viewpoint
34. Build upon relationships made at Toddlers etc
35. Set up Prayer Triplets (or something similar) to pray for a colleague at
work to come to Christ
36. Church newsletter with 'evangelistic' edge to be delivered to local estate
37. Deliver evangelistic literature/dvds/videos at Easter/Christmas (e.g. see here) - with invites to services
38. Develop the apologetics side of the Church website
39. Visit Nursing Homes etc
40. Link up with existing prison chaplaincy/visiting
41. Develop the link the Church has with existing Schools-work
42. Have a "Bring and Share Lunch" but invite all the people that used to come WFC but don't anymore, especially the youth.
43. pray that God will show us which ideas to follow through
44. regular prayer / prayer walks for certain areas
45. prayer box(es) in e.g. costcutters for locals to use for requests for prayer, visits, help etc
46. set up a Besom
47. lunchtime Alpha with creche
48. youth alpha at Broxbourne Secondary
49. getting to know and working with the congregation at St Laurences
50. church members integrating more into the community by e.g. supporting local events, joining clubs / societies, joining PTA, becoming a school governor, local councillor etc
51. make a stand on local issues
52. train to deliver Walk Thru The Bible (or whatever the children's version is called) in local primary school(s) once a year
53. host or co-host children's mission event e.g. Doug Horley
54. On The Move
55. deliver welcome pack to families moving into homes in the area
56. ask people what they want from their local church
57. love each other sincerely and extravagantly (1 John 3 v.23-24)
58. offer to clean people's houses for free!
59. Live the life we have as a true servant of Christ - that way we shine before men, and they can see where it comes from, because it is not us. I would add that it's tough to do 24/7.
60. Bible giveaways - buy a bible (Tescos online sell them), walk up to a complete stranger in the market or shopping mall, say 'I think this is yours' and then walk away ;o)
61. A karaoke night?
62. Select what we feel are 3 to 5 issues important to local people. Select 500 (?) addresses locally and deliver a quarterly newsletter to each with the latest update on these issues.
63. 24 hour continuous Bible reading at Slipe Lane to go from Genesis to Revelation over Easter
64. Music nights or concerts booked at the community centre (a la Dave Bilbrough 2006)
65. Guest Services
66. Palm Sunday parade with real donkey through Wormley!....
67. 'Sale' where things are given away for free
68. Donation of Christian books to local schools
69. Community Prayer Box
70. Try one of these
71. Reverse Trick-or-treat evening :-)
72. Offer Marriage /Parenting Courses
73. Build a Wormley Community Website
74. Get involved in local community groups & schools - not to 'evangelise, but to help
75. Putting up free smoke alarms
76. Giving away cups of tea and doughnuts to local shopkeepers
77. Promote a 'Get to Know Your Neighbour' week
78. Distribute CD-ROMs advertising the church
79. Giving away flowers to mothers in the local area
80. Prayer walks
81. Clean up the Dog's mess around Wormley.... sounds yuk but will be appreciated
82. Hot cross bun give away
83. Give out flower seeds to celebrate spring or Easter, with the church's details attached. Can explain idea of Easter being about new life etc.
84. Host local Teddy Bears' Picnic
85. Try some of the crazy ideas at Servant Evangelism
86. Run an award ceremony for people who have contributed to Wormley
87. Organise massive Easter egg hunt in Wormley fields and invite the whole of Wormley
88. Have cards with "Is there a God?" printed on them with answers on a postcard
to the Church address - delivered to 100 addresses - follow up with "Does it
matter?" a month later. (incoherent but hope you get the idea....)
89. Singing old favourite hymns at Wormley Court
90. Student services leaflet at Turnford college with offer of encouragement/chaplaincy for students
91. A quiz nite 4 our kids to invite their friends from school like the Adults one but geared 2 wards kids from the community
92. a survey door to door of what people think about God & what the expect from/ wish to see happen at their local church could be interesting
93. hold a youth worship service
94. tent mission
95. open air service
96. worship disco
97. internet cafe
98. alpha with child care
99. family drop in
100. youth club
101. more nights for after school club
102. 100 days of love - different ways to show Gods love in community
103. 100 hours of prayer
104. seaside trip very subsidised
105. Public Advertising of weekly services... Preacher, topic, time and location....?
106. Organise a girly pamper night, bring your friends and have manicures/pedicures etc done really cheaply. Also have videos n lots of chocolate =]
107. Do drama pieces / worship in town centres.
108. Go on a youth mission to romania or other developing countries where we have links, maybe sierra leone? Maybe do a work mission as well to help the missionaries and villages.
109. Set up a prayer phone / email chain throughout the church. Locals have somebodys phone number / email and if they want prayer then they ring / email this person and this person forwarded it on to other people in the church etc.
110. Put an advert in the local newspaper
111. collect Christmas food/gift boxes for personal delivery
112. Organise (informal) Saturday morning football for local youth?
113. Who could resist a bouncy castle on a local bit of open space? - ok, I could, but I'm sure some couldn't ;o)
114. Bring and buy sale? Jumble sale?
115. Set up a (ad hoc) table selling hand-made cards
116. Organise a summer fete - you know the kind of thing: tombola, wet sponge throwing, punch and judy, etc
117. Launch a community radio station - Radio Wormley! - or broadcast online
118. Offer a day time Alpha Course with an attached creche for parents of younger children

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Help Wanted!

As part of my preaching course I have to submit an essay looking at preaching the parables, including a sermon outline. I've put together an essay based on this sermon from our series and was wondering if any of you had any comments about this interpretation and how I preached it? Any thoughts would be gratefully received (good or bad!)

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The fruitless Fig Tree – Luke 13 v 1 – 9

Notes from Tim's sermon on the 11.02.07

Here is a fairly straight forward story about gardening – if a tree doesn’t perform it has to go! We have a Paulownia tree which is very beautiful but has got too big and if we prune it then it fails to flower – so, sadly, it is going to have to get the chop! But sometimes stories, and perhaps particularly foods conjures up images in our minds: cucumber sandwiches? (more tea vicar?) beef steak, beer and sandwiches (remember the TUC at no. 10?) so it was with figs for the Jews


Context of the Parable

Some horrible massacre had taken place and maybe in the act of worship, people had been slaughtered and desecrated. This was a shocking incident and maybe there was a bit of a self righteous attitude “they must have deserved it” Jesus challenges that complacency by preaching the need for repentance for all – starting with his hearers!
The same goes for 18 people who had perished in a building site accident – they didn’t die because they were worse than anyone else (and so those who didn’t die were better than those who did) but rather everyone is in the same boat and in need of repentance – no-one is good enough!
Here is the message of the Gospel – it is not about how good or bad you are but will you change direction and accept Gods forgiveness and make a new start! It may seem like bad news – we are all sinners – but the fact that repentance is open to all is good news!


Symbolism of the fig:

· Symbol of security – during the reign of Solomon “…lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree (1 kings 4 v 25)
· Symbol of healing – 2 kings 20 v 7 – prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil…and he recovered
· Symbol of Love – Song of Songs 2 v 13 – the fig tree forms its early fruit, the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.
· Picture of judgement - Good and bad figs (Jeremiah 24) – two basket of figs – one those who feared God even though they were carried off to Babylon and remembered him, the other the rest under King Zedekiah -

Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the LORD. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God's name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the LORD, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem

· Symbol of the Lords blessing and blessing withdrawn –
· Jeremiah 8 v 13 - " 'I will take away their harvest,
declares the LORD.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
will be taken from them
· Amos 4 v 9 - Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
I struck them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
· Haggai 2 v 19 - 'From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.
”‘from this day on I will bless you.' "


For the Jews the Fig was not just a source of food – it was a symbol of much more and a reminder of their history and position.
God had chosen them to be a place for:
Love
healing
Security
Provision
They were to be a people who showed what God was like so that others could come into a relationship with God – that through them all the nations of the world would be blessed – God has tremendous expectations and plans for his people!
So when Jesus tells this story about a fig tree it resonates with his hearers in lots of ways and maybe it makes them think about what has gone wrong (cf. Elders meeting when we had divided up some of the responsibilities and I had missed the meeting (or the point) and realized I was supposed to have prepared a report…..)
Here was a Fig tree – a beautiful source of Gods great provision – planted in a vineyard – a fertile and protected place – and nothing had been produced! This fig was a waste of space! If you wanted food then you had to go elsewhere
Suddenly the stories of Gods judgement and his threats of infertility seem very dire! - Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
Fig leaves are beautiful – good for covering things up (ask Adam & Eve) – but unless they produce fruit, fig trees fail to serve their purpose!
God looks to his people to fulfil his purposes – to bear fruit that will last not to simply be a beautiful tree that makes us look respectable!
This parable may challenge us about fruitfulness in our own lives and our life together as a church. Jesus told it to people who had missed their vocation – they were unfruitful because they had forgotten what they were about. And so he calls them to repent!

Gods Grace

This is not the end of the story but it is a cross roads – here is a God who does not give up – leave it alone for one more year – put some more work in – forgive – have mercy. God knows the situation and we must see in ourselves our need of the work of the Holy Spirit to “dig around and fertilize” in order that we may bear fruit
The word for repentance that Jesus uses is “a present imperative and an aorist” – it is a one off event and an ongoing action. We need to be shaken out of our complacency, to have our eyes opened, to see what God ahs for us and to allow him to produce fruit in our lives.
It is a wake up call, a challenge, an encouragement, a reminder of what we are and what we should be. It is to bring us to the great love and wisdom of the one who knows how to get the best out of us and to make us depend on him.
Often, fruit trees that are growing beautifully will not produce much fruit – a fruitful tree may look a bit manky and some of the leaves will be damaged but the fruit will be wonderful –

Love healing security provision
A Twist?

This “man who took care of the vineyard” – lovely picture of the Holy Spirit – but has God planted in us his life to bear fruit there – and could we have a responsibility for cultivating that life? (At house group over the past few week we have been looking at a course which has practical exercises – fasting, silence, specific prayer and meditation etc)
To dig around – to remove the weds and allow the air in to the soil – bring our lives into line with God – removing the rubbish that competes and distracts – to bring our faith and life into the open
To fertilize – to feed on Gods word and to allow it to make a difference – to exercise in prayer and bible reading, to stand for God in his battles.
Sometimes God comes to us and shows us things that have gone wrong and we need to repent and throw ourselves on his mercy – and do something about it!

Luke 4 v 18
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."[e]
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

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Parable of the Rich Man (Luke 12:16-21)

Here are the notes from today's service - written before I was reminded it was to be an all-age one!

The backdrop to today’s parable is one that has a definite contemporary ring to it.
It’s a story of the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots.
It’s about two brothers. Chances are there were more of them than that. In a world without contraception, there were problem a number of brothers and sisters, each with their own families to support.
Their Dad has died. As was the custom, his land would have been left to the eldest child, or at least that largest portion of it. That’s the way it would have worked.

Now I don’t doubt that that would cause problems if it happened today. It isn’t particularly fair. No doubt tempers would flare as siblings rowed over their place in their father’s affections and grab what they can.

For the First Century brothers, however, the squabble was more serious than that. You see, it wasn’t just a case of which Dad loved the most, or who was lucky enough to get the fine piece of porcelain that had been his pride and joy. No it was a matter of survival.

Remember as we’ve touched upon already in our look at the parables, most of the land was held by the wealthy few, bringing them comfort and riches, and leaving the overwhelming majority to scrape a living as peasants of the scraps that were left. A bit like trying to buy a house in Broxbourne – unless you inherit one you’ve got no chance, unless you are unusually well off! For these peasants, the only way of getting land for themselves was to inherit it. The catch is, for each peasant landowner who died, there were more than one child waiting to inherit. The land that was available for the common man was decreasing by the generation.

The eldest son had inherited. He had land, he probably wasn’t secure, not enough land or money for that, but at least he stood a chance of supporting his family now. The other son? He had nothing. No land, no money, no chance… No wonder he wants Jesus to speak up on his behalf. Of course the catch is that if he managed to persuade his brother to hand over some of the land, would that really make a difference? Or would they both end up below without enough…

Of course their real argument is not with each other, its with the wealthy, those who in their greed to have lots, have preventing them from having anything.

Maybe their argument is also with God. After all he had promised the land to them, and now, here they are having it taken away from them, piece by piece. What was he going to do about this injustice…

Does their story sound familiar? Think of these situations that are regularly in the news:
· Multi-nationals like Tesco squeezing out the humble family run high street shop. The same few chains run the high street in every town. No one else gets a look in…
· A major TV deal has just been brokered for Premiership football clubs, giving them enormous bonuses for simply being in the league. Even the losers get something like £30M. What chance have clubs in lower divisions got…
· There are constantly complaints about ‘fat cat’ directors awarding themselves enormous bonuses, whilst their work force face cut backs and we foot the bill…
· The West have 70%+ of the world’s wealth, leaving the poorest to scramble over the remaining pennies.

Seeing Jesus, the younger brother calls out, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." What’s he doing here? Trying to get Jesus to put religious pressure on his good Jewish brother? Seeking the moral high-ground?

Of course Jesus is no fool. He sees that to get involved in this one is to ask for trouble. If he sides with the younger brother, he’s endangering both of them and their families. If he sides with the older brother, where’s his compassion for the younger one and his family. This is a no win situation. He’s not daft, he realises that he’s being used, he’s simply a tool here. It’s not his responsibility to deal with this family dispute. It’s not his place, his business, sensibly he backs out of getting drawn in, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"

He goes further, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

What is he saying here? Is he saying that the younger brother is being greedy? I don’t think so; to desire enough to survive is not wrong. But having said that, these words are a true warning to all, poor and rich. Greed is a danger for those who have. That is clear. But it is also a danger to those who have not. Over my visits to Sierra Leone I have seen that. The troubles of that nation have in so many ways been caused by the greed and corruption of the powerful, enslaving again its people, but also, those that have not are enslaved by the desire to have what they have seen we have, and the wealth shown off by their leaders. This greed robs them of the ability to see and think straight, the ability to go out and work hard, to live the honest life. Greed is a curse to those who have and those who have not.

Some say that faith and politics don’t mix. They clearly haven’t read what comes next. Having dodged getting embroiled in a family feud, Jesus turns his attention to the root of the problem, and tells a simple story…

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Ouch! I am sure that all of those who heard this knew exactly whom Jesus was talking about here. This wasn’t a tale to warn either of these two brothers about the perils of greed. Jesus is talking about the wealthy of the country. Those who had bought up the land and abandoned the poor to scrabble over the scraps. He was talking to those who had hoarded wealth and kept it to themselves, when on their doorsteps were the hungry, the sick, and the desperate. He was talking about the Jewish leaders who were more interested in their own status than the welfare of their people. He was talking about the Roman leaders who had come and taken their inheritance away from them.

Some people ask the question, ‘why did Jesus die?’ Our answer is that he died for our sins, so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God. He died that we might become children of God and inherit eternal life. And of course he did.

But that isn’t the only reason he died. Why was he arrested and crucified by the Romans? Why was it that the Jewish religious leaders were so riled by him that they demanded his demise? It was stories like this that killed Jesus. His was an age that didn’t practise freedom of speech or democracy. If you challenged the powers that be in this kind of way, then you were literally putting your life on the line. And yet here is Jesus, deciding to side with the poor and unjustly oppressed. Crucifixion was the sentence for revolutionaries, for treason, and it is because of his public stance that he ended up on the cross.

Jesus died because he claimed that those who selfishly hoarded wealth when those around them were suffering were fools. The word he used here ‘fool’ sounds quite harmless in English doesn’t it. Calling someone a fool today won’t get you locked up. But to his contemporaries, his word for fool was a grave slight. A fool was someone who lived his or her life without reference to God.

Listen to his warning to this ‘fool’. Already life is not so good. No family or friends are mentioned. Is he already alone? Is he lonely? His desire is to save up enough to feel secure, and then he will eat, drink and be merry. To be honest, this sounds to me to be an empty life… This man thinks he has everything! He thinks he is secure! And then God turns up and takes away his life, leaving his possessions for others to enjoy. A lifetime of accumulation in order to enjoy in the future. He had so much, but never enjoyed what he had, and now it’s gone.

Is this a parable without hope? It sounds bleak doesn’t it? And yet, even in this passage there is a hint of redemption. To the oppressed, Jesus is saying that ultimately the reign of tyrants and oppressors come to an end. Death is God’s ultimate tool of justice, God remains in charge, no matter how big we might think we are. The riches of the wealthy man are no longer his, they are redistributed. The simple fact that there were good crops reminds us of God’s provision.

It is also a warning, a warning to those that have and that want, that they live in reference to God. To do that means to share what we given, and not to hold on to it and hoard it. The fate of this certain rich man doesn’t need to be the fate of all rich people. There are other stories in the Bible where the landowners are generous and the employers caring.

*****

Let me finish by telling a story…

St. Somewhere was a good church to be in. Whilst others around it suffered, it was dynamic, vibrant even. God had blessed it, and it had grown. It was good being God’s children.

St. Somewhere was renown for its worship. With a top-notch band and fine speakers, it worked hard to make the services stimulating and pleasurable, always seeking to get better. As a family they felt proud that they could put on a good show, that they were slick, well organised. The midweek meetings were times of intimacy with God, and the prayer meetings on fire!

Of course they couldn’t take all this for granted and so the people of St. Somewhere put lots of effort into getting it just how they wanted it. There were debates about seating arrangements, about who should do what and how everything should be organized. Committees were set up, minutes taken. Occasionally they would fall out, disagree about the best way, but this was inevitable, as these were important matters that they were dealing with and they felt deeply about them.

Outside St Somewhere on the wall sat two non-Christians. Jesus looked upon them and considered all that their lives lacked. Turning to his Father he asked, ‘Who is going to pass on to them the inheritance that you have so freely given…’

*****

"Watch out! " says Jesus, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." What makes a full and successful life? It is not wealth. Not possessions. Not structures. It’s our relationships with each other. It’s how we treat one another. Loving each other is loving God.

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The Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37)

Here are the notes from David's sermon:

A very familiar parable – maybe the best known of all! Repeated over and over in Sunday Schools across the land…all over the world.

I read, one Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead.

She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then, she asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"

A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think I'd throw up."

Who was the Good Samaritan?

I was driving along the M25 from the airport the other day, I asked my passenger who doesn’t have any significant Bible education: Who was the Good Samaritan?

His first answer was: “Someone who helps old ladies across the road.”

I pressed the question: “OK but where does all this “Good Samaritan” thing come from?”

He came up with a suggestion:

“Maybe he comes from a place called Samaritania… could be in Eastern Europe… where everyone always helps old ladies across the road…. It’s a dreadful place because the traffic is always badly congested… cars can’t get through…’cause of all the old ladies being helped across the roads…. ”

What he knew was that, in common usage, the word Samaritan, or Good Samaritan, means someone who helps somebody in trouble, or sick, or less able. It’s now virtually a universal concept…. Not just in Christian countries and cultures…. You’ll find the idea of a “Good Samaritan” in most countries of the world, even China and Japan which have very different cultural histories from the west.

Did you know, many countries have “Good Samaritan” laws. They vary in character:

In the USA and Canada, they’re mainly to protect from blame those who choose to help others who are injured or ill. ‘Cause in America…the priest and the Levite wouldn’t stop to help because they’d be afraid of a law suit?.......

That says something about litigation and the “Blame” culture that’s growing even here in Britain…. Which to us is quite ludicrous…

Good Samaritan laws are slightly different In France where there is actually a legal obligation to help people in distress, unless it puts you at risk.

(Paris police considered applying these laws to prosecute the photographers who took pictures at the scene of the accident that killed Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.)

In Germany it’s an offense to neglect one’s duty to provide first aid to an injured person. All drivers have to know first aid to get a license.

Now… all over the world… there are Hospitals, Hospices, Foundations, Charities, Crisis Centres, Nursing Homes, Churches and… of course… pubs called: Good Samaritan. On Thursday, I drove past a Samaritan hospital.

It’s a universal concept that originates with a little story told by Jesus in answer to… what was, basically, a trick question:

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

And Jesus told this parable.
And as parables go, it’s pretty straightforward. Anyone would get it, wouldn’t they?
Someone is lying injured by the side of the road. Two men walk right by but the third stops to help… clearly he’s the hero… he’s the good man…. He’s the neighbour! The Law says….
Love your neighbour….
Therefore we have to love people who do good deeds…or help others in need… or rescue you when you’re injured?
That would be a bit too easy, wouldn’t it… it might satisfy a lot of the world… but somehow it doesn’t really seem like that’s quite what Jesus intended to say.
No, that doesn’t work at all. Maybe it’s the other way round. When Jesus says “go and do likewise” he means be a neighbour to the one in distress… show love like the Samaritan. That’s a bit more likely, but is that all there is to this story?
If only passersby always showed kindness like the Samaritan.
Have you ever been rescued by a good Samaritan???
(describe experience)
Another time….
I was on a bus once, in Serbia, it was hot and sticky and I felt faint and a bit sick. We told the driver and he stopped the bus straight away, by the side of the road. If this was an English bus we’d have had to get off and wait for another… but we got out and so did some of the other passengers…offering help… one offered me some milk (milk!) … the bus driver waited patiently… there was lots of concern about me… none at all about the bus meeting its schedule… But that’s normal in Serbia.
I was just some foreigner… and these good Samaritans stopped to help. If that was all it was about, this parable would be pretty good.
But I wonder if maybe it’s not so simple….. after all… We’ve identified it as one of God’s riddles…. And maybe there’s a bit more of a puzzle than it seems at first reading.
Let’s look a bit deeper…
One thing we probably should be aware of is who are these three potential rescuers, the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan? The first two are leaders among Jewish society. They’re respected, educated, upright believers in the Law of Moses. They know word for word what it says in Leviticus 19:18
'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.
The third is a Samaritan. To put it mildly, Jews didn’t like Samaritans…. the Jews were not all that concerned about political correctness. They didn’t have anti-discrimination laws to worry about – so they discriminated gleefully….they openly hated Samaritans. As far as the Jews are concerned…Samaritans were dogs. Not fit to be in the same house or the same room as a Jew… not fit to eat at the same table… worse than dogs because they wouldn’t throw a Samaritan the scraps from their table
Now the story seems to take on some depth. This isn’t just about an act of kindness…it’s kindness flying in the face of prejudice, injustice and intolerance. Now it’s about mercy, grace and forgiveness. Now who is the neighbour? He’s the one who is detested and hated and discriminated against. The one who is despised, rejected and persecuted… and yet…. shows mercy
The Law says….Love your neighbour.
To the expert in the law that Jesus was speaking to, this parable was rather like telling Iraqi Sunnis to love their Shiite neighbours (I live in fear of that word… getting it wrong),
despite generations of oppression, persecution and mistrust…
now it’s a much tougher lesson than it first appeared.

much more challenging… but is that all?

Rather like the parable of the persistent friend that Ben was talking about last week, this is how far the standard sermon about The Good Samaritan usually gets. The lesson that preachers have brought to congregations over the generations… and a brilliant lesson it is….

Show love and mercy to your neighbour even when you are despised, rejected and persecuted by him.

Preachers might dwell on this point…. They might remind us that the Samaritan’s love isn’t some kind of cushy-mushy, namby-pamby, cuddly warm feeling he has for the man he rescues. It’s tough practical love… doing what is right, despite whatever feelings he might have towards the guy and his race.

That’s could be where the sermon ends.

But is there more…. ?

This Samaritan… the despised…. Rejected…persecuted… who does that remind you of.

Jesus, of course….

Not a Samaritan though. A Jew like those around him…. At the start… admired and respected as a teacher… a man of miracles and healing…. but at the end…. As we know…. The crowd turned on him… the mob, inspired by people like this “expert in the law” who was questioning him now. They began to despise him “who is this King of the Jews”…. They rejected him in favour of a known murderer….”Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”

They persecuted him... “Crucify him! Crucify him!” the crowd shouted.

They crucified him.

Yet still he loved them:

“Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

And even as Jesus, despised, rejected, persecuted, crucified… even as he hung on the cross he reached out to rescue one who hung beside him.

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

In the parable of The Good Samaritan… is Jesus, then, describing himself?

Is Jesus really the Good Samaritan… the alien, despised, rejected and persecuted who still shows love and compassion for society’s victims.

What do you think?

But is there more?…. Is there another way of looking at this?

We’ve been talking mostly about the three passersby… the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan. What about the victim. Who’s he??

They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

Who is he…. Is that you or me lying broken by the road…in need of love…in need of rescuing…?

OR could it be that man who is Jesus? Lying broken and beaten, half dead at the roadside. Is he calling to us to reach out and love him? Is this Jesus putting himself at the mercy of the people he came to save? Making himself dependent on the mercy of someone who cares… someone who will stop and tend his wounds… Someone who will love him?

What do you think?

Who’s who in this story? The Traveller… The Samaritan…

And which one are you?
Love your neighbour

I’m going to leave you with another, slightly different twist. From an alternative viewpoint…. There’s other characters in this story… the muggers.
Any social workers here today?...............................
Two social workers were walking through a rough part of the city one night. They heard moans and muted cries for help from a back lane. There, they found a semi-conscious man in a pool of blood. "Help me, I've been mugged and viciously beaten" he pleaded.
The two social workers turned and walked away. One remarked to her colleague: "You know the person that did this really needs help."
That may be a joke, but it’s no less true… the one who did this bad thing, no matter what he may have done, he too is in need of a good neighbour…one who will pick him up, care for him, look after his needs, help him to overcome whatever led to this …

People stumble and fall by the wayside for all kinds of reasons. Our traveler just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…and got mugged… Some might say it was his own fault….wandering around on a dangerous road, what does he expect. … maybe, like me you’ve sometimes been in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing… and maybe it was your own fault.

How do we react, when someone is in some kind of trouble, and we think it’s somehow their own fault? Do we give them a wide berth, like the Priest and the Levite? Pass by on the other side, glad that we’re better people… we’d never do such a thing.

Is that too, when someone needs a true friend and neighbour? A good Samaritan.

Love your neighbour.

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The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37)

This coming Sunday (28th January) it's the turn of the Good Samaritan, an old favourite! But has familiarity smothered something? What does this parable say to you? To the Church? To the World?

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'The Bloke Who Went Begging for Food from his Sleeping Neighbour' (Luke 11:5-8)

Today we come to what is called in some books the Parable of the Importunate Guest. Or the Parable of the Unwelcome Guest, or the Persistent Friend. A parable about prayer… I’ve called it ‘The Parable of the Bloke Who Went Begging for Food from his Sleeping Neighbour’!

Today’s parable is a familiar story
Imagine says Jesus that you are putting on a meal for a guest when suddenly you realise you’re missing a crucial ingredient! Panic! Local 24 hour Tescos is shut, garage store no help, where do you go, what can you do? Need the ingredient and need it now!

All been there haven’t we, not an unfamiliar story at all

So, what do you do, you call on your neighbours or your friends to beg some, and that is exactly what happens here.

But of course this is a parable. If you remember back to the introduction, you’ll recall that Jesus’ parables are a bit like riddles. They’re an earthly story, an everyday event, but with a twist. The challenge to us is to spot the twist and to work out what it means to us.

So where is the twist in this story? It sounds so familiar…

Here’s a twist, the guest isn’t expected. He’s a friend who’s out travelling and has called in on the off chance. Ever happened to you before. Can be quite inconvenient can’t it! If you’d known you’d have got the food in advance, hovered the floors, dusted the cobwebs away, and warned the children to be on their best behaviour. But no, no warning, out of the blue there’s that knocking on the door…

Now of course, you could try and get away with just offering a quick cuppa and chat, and hope they’ll go away before mealtime. As long as your tummy doesn’t rumble loudly prompting them to hint that they need some food you might just get away with it!

Not so easy. In the time that Jesus told this story, there were strict rules about hospitality, as indeed there still are in many parts of the world even today. If a guest came to your house like this, you were honour bound to offer hospitality, food and drink. Who knows, maybe this guest was relying on that fact, moving from friend to friend scrounging as he went. He may have been someone you were keen to while the hours away with, or might have been someone you’d rather avoid, but that is irrelevant, here they are, your guest, and if you don’t feed them you’ll run the risk of loosing face.

You can imagine the scene can’t you. Your guest arrives. You sit them down, make them comfortable. Talk for a while and then say that you’ve got to put the food on – ‘no it’s no effort, really.’ Out to the kitchen to desperately run around seeing what culinary delights you can throw together in 10 minutes. Reaching out for Delia Smith, you pick out a great idea, should do the job nicely. It’s only when you get half way through that you discover the crucial ingredient is missing. No bread. No bread, no meal. No meal, no hospitality. No hospitality and you’re suddenly as popular as Jade Goody… Stick the head around the door Basil Fawlty style, just one moment now, before skipping secretly out of the back door to slip off to the neighbours. Surely they’ll rescue you in your hour of need. As you go, you stop and look at your watch. Ah, it’s late… never mind, needs must, they’ll come good, they always do. And so it proves to be. They have bread and your guest is provided for.

And so we come to the twist in this parable, this is the lesson.
In prayer we are like the man in this parable looking after the unexpected guest, and God is like the neighbour he goes to visit. The lesson of this parable is that despite our faults, our unthoughtful nature, or our needs and inadequacies, God hears our prayers and supports us.

Or is it?

We try to be nice don’t we, to do the Christian thing, to care for those around us. There are some days aren’t there when it is a breeze, you know the days when life is under control, when you have time and energy to deal with whatever comes your way. Occasionally those days come when you feel like some super person. Run the world, care for the family, put the food on the table, oversee that crisis at work, and still have energy to deal with everyone else’s problems. Those are the days we try and survive!

And so it was on this day. You’d got through the day, dealt with work, got the children to bed, done whatever else you needed to do. Eventually bed comes and the pillow is a welcome place to rest your head and shut your eyes… And then there comes this knocking on the door, the First Century Neighbour from Hell…

In First Century Palestine, house layouts were a bit different than today. There wasn’t an upstairs in the average house (remember most were peasants). Instead they would al sleep on a platform together. For the neighbour to answer the call, they would have to clamber over a family of sleeping people, running the risk of waking them up – and what parent ever wants to run that risk! And if they don’t stir them then, they run a second chance of doing so when they light lamps and stumble after the bread that may be stored somewhere. Its no surprise is it that the neighbour is most reluctant. I tell you the truth, if that was me, and you came around, I’m sorry, there’s fat chance that I would get up, risk waking the kids all for the sake of some bread! To be honest, there’s little chance if I were asleep that I would hear you at all!

(Illustration of phonecall from the police that Matt and I slept through!)

You knock on the door and call out. No response. Must be asleep. Oh well, they’ll forgive you. You knock again, a bit louder. And again. Eventually you call out – who cares, if you wake up the whole neighbourhood, someone will surely be able to help you. Be quiet, comes the grumpy response, don’t you realise what the time is! In for a mite, in for a denarii. You keep on going until eventually your neighbour gives in and comes down with the bread. Here, take it – this is not because you’re my friend, but in order to get rid of you so that you don’t wake the kids and I can get back to bed.

And all of a sudden, we realise that we’ve got this parable all wrong. This isn’t about God’s willingness to overlook our inadequacies (even in the kitchen). No, its about the need for persistence in prayer.

There are times when we pray and God answers us straight away. Then there are times when we have to keep on going, keep on knocking until he answers. Now this doesn’t say why this is the case, but we can speculate possible reasons for this. Perhaps God is looking for us to prove our faith. Perhaps it’s to do with earnestness in prayer or commitment to the cause we are praying about. Perhaps its because the timing isn’t right. Could be for a whole variety of reasons!

How does that sound to you? Do you see what I’m saying here? I have to confess that the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Just like the parable of the sower, I have heard many sermons on this passage, and that is what many of them have said. But something is wrong here.

Is God really a grumpy neighbour who only responds because we bludgeon him into submission?
Is prayer really about how much emotion we put into it?
Does God call us to prove our faith by holding back the things we need or seek?

Maybe the answer to this riddle is back in the laws of hospitality. We’ve already thought about how the host was obligated to serve his unexpected guest, and how that might send him out in the middle of the night, and out to his neighbour, even knowing the hour it was. And here is the crunch. The truth is, he wouldn’t be worried about his neighbours response. Remember the world was more community focussed that today. He could go to his neighbour and not be worried about waking him and his household, as his guest was the neighbourhood’s guest. It was just as much their responsibility as his to provide for him. The scandal of this passage is not the guest turning up unannounced. It is not even the host demanding bread from his sleeping neighbour. The scandal is that when he called on his neighbour, that the neighbour didn’t leap to help when his friend came a knocking…

All of a sudden we realise that it is not the host that is the original neighbour from hell, but the man who’s door he goes knocking on. Such a figure in First Century Palestine would be a social outcast, ostracised for his lack of social concern and his snobbery. This is the real twist in the parable, the scandal.

Is God really like this?

No. Let’s look either side of this passage.
Before the Lord’s prayer where we are told to pray for our needs, for our daily bread – an incidentally, three loaves would be considered a meals worth for one person.

And then after, Read Luke 11:9-13

God is presented here as nothing like this man.
Ask and you shall receive,
Seek and you will find
Knock and the door will be opened!

We don’t need to badger God, and he certainly doesn’t want to hold back from his children.
This turns the traditional understanding on its head. If a snivelling, begrudging figure such as the man in this story will help those who come calling for his help, so much more will our Father, Abba, in heaven with all its riches at his disposal, help those who seek his aid...

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Our Own Parable

This Sunday during the service we drew up our own parable.

Tom (aged 7 and a bit) breaks the glass of his local Park-keeper’s greenhouse with his football. Quickly he roots around the growing seedlings to find it causing terrible damage. Finding it he runs home and hides…

Later Tom discovers that the Park keepers plants were for a competition and that he is devestated that he can't enter. Tom buys new seeds and takes them to the park keeper and owns up. Park keeper asks him to help plant them – it turns out he knew it was him all along! Next year they win the competition together.

Let those who have ears to hear, listen….

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Swapshop

In the spirit of Swapshop (for those that remember Noel Edmonds early days on TV) we are making an alteration to the sermon series and swapping around the next two sermons, and so The Persistent Friend (Luke 11:5-8) will be this week (21.01.07) and The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37), next week (28.01.07)

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The Two Debtors (Luke 7:41-43)

Here are the notes from Caroline's sermon

Introduction.

Challenge of parables. So often really familiar – trying to step out of that and see in a new way – good for us.

Particularly as I wrongly assumed which parable it was and had started thinking about another similar one before I read this!

Also hard – easy to get in comfy groove (or rut?) with our way of thinking. Jesus – iconoclastic – he broke peoples thoughts – he wasn’t what people were expecting – this was true for disciples as well as those who didn’t follow him. This is a challenge for us - think Sermon on Mt – not just outer attitudes – but inner heart. So many examples when we see disciples think they have “got it” only to find they haven’t quite! I have heard his ministry described as a ministry of “deliberate provocation” – challenging the status quo and entailing a new way of looking at things – new wineskins for new wine. (Luke 5:37-39)

A key question for parables – why did Jesus tell this parable when he did? What is its context – I suspect this is important for us - and helps us understand it.

Context

Where is he? – Invited for dinner with one Simon, a Pharisee. We don’t know Simon’s reason for this – whether he was sympathetic or not. As he is reclining to eat a woman described as having lived a sinful life, comes in and starts weeping and washing his feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. She then anoints his feet with costly perfume.

This startles Simon and we gather from v 39 that in his mind he is asking questions. Perhaps he had asked Jesus round because he genuinely wanted to find out for himself who Jesus was. Is he a teacher? A prophet? I think he has a picture in his mind of what a prophet should be or would be like and allowing such a sinful woman to touch him does not fit that picture. Previously I thought Simon was coming from an anti Jesus standpoint, he was a Pharisee after all. Let’s pause in the story for a moment and think about the Pharisees. I think we tend to give them a bad press. There is apparently a lot we don’t know about them – they have a large influence on the society of the time. They lived an ascetic lifestyle – they were very self disciplined. They were very devout – they obeyed the law rigorously. They also had an additional body of traditions and interpretation and practises. They were very conservative. I guess we would probably call them the “religious right” of their day. Over the course of the gospels, they become a stereotype for the opponents of Jesus – they suggest they were trying to “vet” Jesus. Perhaps this was part of what Simon was trying to do by inviting him for a meal.

But I wonder – perhaps not. Perhaps he did genuinely think Jesus was a teacher, a prophet to take note of – but somehow he isn’t quite what he thought. The picture is shattered. Is Jesus something special? Does he realise that this woman is a sinner? I guess there were lots of questions in Simon’s mind.

It’s into this questioning, exploding mind that Jesus tells this parable. It’s a story of a moneylender with 2 people who owed him money – they owed different amounts of money 1 owed a lot 1 owed much less. But the key thing was that neither could pay. The moneylender’s response is to cancel the debt. Wooah! Not what you’d expect a moneylender to do - they are not known for their kindness are they? It’s the stuff of soap opera’s isn’t it – you’d expect them to “send the boys round”! But that’s not what happens in the story Jesus tells. Jesus asks a question – which of the 2 would love him the most? A bit of a strange question in a way – again you can hear cracking and breaking of illusions here I think. Simon thinks about it and answers – the one who has had the biggest debt cancelled. And Jesus says this is correct.

He doesn’t just leave it there though does he? He does give something more of an illustration. Notice he doesn’t explain the parable, he leaves that to stand, but he does illustrate it. He explains how the woman in her actions has made up for what was perhaps a lack of graciousness in Simon’s welcome of him. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting there was anything wrong in Simon’s welcome – just suggesting it was purely formal – what was required and no more. It makes me think of the phrase “the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law”. The woman has washed his feet – not with a bowl of water but with her tears. She has dried his feet – not with a towel, but with her hair. And she has anointed his feet with costly perfume. What is in her heart? A simple outpouring of love – and I think repentance – hence the tears.

Jesus goes further – saying her many sins have been forgiven (not denying she’s a sinner, but not judging her) and so she loves much. And the implication I think – or perhaps the challenge to Simon is that he by contrast loves little. For all his worthy self discipline which means perhaps he has sinned less – he loves less.

Jesus has to shatter his pre conceived ideas in order for him to find out the truth of who Jesus is. Poor Simon – because it seems that his ideas and pictures are being completely shattered. There is more – having implied that he is able to forgive sins., Jesus then in v 48 says directly to the woman “ Your sins are forgiven”. He makes the implication completely explicit.

We can’t really appreciate what a shattering statement this must have been. Jesus forgiving sins – no wonder v49 says “Who is this that even forgives sins?”

What about us?

What has this parable to say to us? There is of course the sense that however much we have sinned is in a way irrelevant – we are like both debtors in the story unable to pay and we need God to forgive us by his grace. There is really no sense of any of us being any better or worse than anyone else – so lets realise again in our acceptance of each other that sense – we are all sinners saved only by God’s grace.

Don’t be surprised if in your relationship with God that there are surprises – or you find what you thought was so gets challenged. God wants to bring us to a deeper relationship with him and to do so at times he has to shake us by shattering some of our ideas. He’ll do what he needs to get us out of a rut when we are in one!

For me the greatest challenge was “how much do I love?” – and I was reminded of Rev 2 and the words to the church in Ephesus. I would encourage each of us to prayerfully consider this. You see the church at Ephesus was very concerned about doing the “right thing” concerned to persevere – all good things – a bit like Simon and the Pharisees. BUT they had lost their first love. Remember they would say regularly that “Hear O Israel… love the Lord your God…” They had lost that sense of love that comes out of a deep sense of how much they have been forgiven. They are told to repent – and do the things they did at first – out of love. And told that if they did not repent, their church would not continue. Sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness and form of the way we do things that we lose the sense of our love relationship with God. As individuals and as a church – let’s allow room for grace – and act from love – not just be coldly concerned about doing the right thing.

The woman who acted out of love in anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume actually blessed them all. The aroma of the perfume would have spread and been something which they could all enjoy. As we allow room for God’s grace and as we love God and each other, there will be great blessing both to us and to those who we meet and who we want to show Jesus to. It will also please God. You see the distinctive mark of a Christian is their love – John 13: 34,35.

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Coming Up!

This Sunday's sermon will be based on The Two Debtors (Luke 7:41-43), a small parable told when a meal with Pharisees was gatecrashed!

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Ahead of Sunday, what thoughts and feelings does this story provoke in you?

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How Do I See What Others Have Said?

You've looked through the posts and heard the sermons on Sundays. But what do others have to say? One of the great things about the church is that God can speak to and through anyone of us! To find out what others have said click on a post title. This reveals the whole post, not just the excerpt on the homepage. At the bottom of the page are listed the comments people have made to that post. Alternatively you can simply click the 'comments' link under the excerpt on the homepage. This opens a page where all the comments are listed with a form for you to add your own.

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How do I Have My Say?

You've heard the story, survived the sermon and have your own thoughts. Fancy sharing them with us? So just how can you do that?

To join the discussion, find the post relevant to the topic you want to talk about. Click on the word comments underneath it. This will bring up a new window where you can write your observations, questions etc. On the right hand side of that page it will give you various options regarding what name will show up next to what you have written on the webpage. If you have a blogger account you have the option to use your normal blogger 'display name'. You have the option to appear as 'anonymous'. You can also click on 'other' which opens up a new section where you can write your own name and enter a website address if you have one you wish to share.

If you want to have a test run before you make a proper post, you can always do it to this post here! Go on, you n=know you want to...

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Introduction to the Parables

What is a Parable?
(Notes from the talks given on Sunday 7th January '07)
A parable is like a riddle, a story Jesus told about everyday things. He used parables because we all love stories, they engage us, involve us emotionally, and relate to our lives. The parables are special as being riddle like they provoke us to think - what is Jesus trying to tell us? what does this mean?

To solve these riddles, we need to understand the background of the day.

What does Jesus say About Parables?

Speaking to his disciples: "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'" Luke 8:10

What's this all about? Suggests that Jesus is trying to talk in such a way that to some people he may be understood, but at the same time others won't be able to understand - almost as if he's speaking in code.

Maybe that's because he doesn't want those who may be made angry by what he has to say to realise what he's saying? Remember as time went on he made many enemies - the Roman leaders began to wonder if he was a rebel come to kick them out and the religious leaders became jealous of his popularity.

I wonder though if this is really what it's about - surely Jesus wanted all people to have a chance to hear and respond to the good news about God's kingdom that he was bringing?

He is actually quoting Isaiah - these words were given to Isaiah at the beginning of his work as a prophet and meant that although what he had to say could be heard by all, some would hear and accept it, but others would hear and reject it. And so it was with Jesus and still is today, some hear his words and embrace him, others hear him and reject him.

The fun thing about the parables is that often no explanation is given. This leaves it possible for a parable to mean a range of things to different people. God can speak through them to us in different ways. It also means that once heard they can continue to niggle away at us and may raise more questions than answers!

The Sower & His Seeds
Here is a parable that Jesus once told as an example and introduction to our series: Luke 8:4-8

Most of the people listening would be able to relate to this. In Israel at the time only a handful of Jews would be wealthy, as would the Roman occupiers, but the vast majority of people would be poor peasant farmers· With the rich having taken the best land, these would be forced to farm on the margins. Most of those listening to Jesus would be just like the farmer in the story, scratching a living on soil which most of the time was not very good.

The picture of the land would have been an evocative one. The Land had been promised to them by God, it was a sign of their relationship with him. But at this time, the Land was occupied by the Romans, they had lost control of their inheritance from God.

With the giving of the Land came other promises. If they stayed close to God, then they would prosper, the land would yield a good harvest! However, if they strayed from him and his ways, then the land would become barren.

Many in the audience would have been struggling to survive and despairing that God had abandoned them. What would this parable have meant to them? The poor harvests in it would remind them of the need to repent, to turn back to God and his ways. At the same time, however, all was not lost. God hadn't abandoned them. There were still these good harvests. They could have hope of restoration by God. He was still with them.

What does this mean to us today? How does this riddle challenge or encourage you?

Sower Part Two
Luke 8:11-15

This parable is unusual as Jesus actually gives an interpretation of it to his disciples (although remember that most of the crowd that heard it would only have the story, a parable can mean different things to different people).

I have heard many sermons on this. They usually go something like this...
- God is the farmer sowing his seed
- The seed is the word - the good news about Jesus
- People are like the different soils
- Some hear and accept it and flourish
- Some seem to accept Jesus, but are then tempted away by other things and wither
- Others are like the rocky ground, they don't even accept Jesus at all

I have a problem with this. It gives no hope - either you will respond or not, it's fixed. You can't be changed from being rock to good soil. Also, that's not actually what Jesus says, he doesn't say that we are like the different soils, instead he says that we are like the seed.

That brings hope. Yes, there will be different responses to God. We know this from our experience of other people and ourselves, but the soil can be changed, the seed is viable if it can be found suitable nourishment.

When we find ourselves in barren times, maybe this story can encourage us?
Is it telling us to perhaps call upon God, to forgive us and nourish us?
Perhaps its a warning to take care of what we feed our souls with?
What does it say to you?

Above all, I think it is telling us not to give up hope. God is with us, his kingdom is near, draw near to him.

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