March 31, 2024, Easter Day ""BANG, WOOSH, KAPOW!"

 

Readings: Isaiah 25:6-9 , Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 , I Corinthians 15:1-11, Mark 16:1-8
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, March 31, 2024

Da-Da,Da-Da,Da-Da,Da-Da; Da-Da,Da-Da,Da-Da,Da-Da; BATMAN!
Bang. Woosh. kapow!
"Holy Empty Tombs, Batman, What's Going on here?"
"It's called Easter, Robin, An annual Celebration of the Resurrection"
"Quick, To the BatMobile!"
Da-Da,Da-Da,Da-Da,Da-Da; BATMAN!
Bang. Woosh. kapow!

I used to think Batman was so cool. Not the more recent Batman Movies, where he's all broody and serious and twisted, but the old television Batman and Robin series, where the lines were corny, the fight scenes punctuated with 'Bangs, Wooshes and Kapows' and where the Baddies, like the Penguin, the Riddler, and the Joker, had even cheesier lines to say than the Caped Crusader and the Boy Blunder.

As a kid it didn't take much to play Batman. You're imaginary friend could be Robin. Mums dressing gown could be the cape. A brown paper bag with a couple of eye holes cut in it made a great mask. Put on your sister’s high heel boots and your underwear over your pants - and “Bang. Woosh. Kapow”, you were off to save the inhabitants of Gotham city from certain doom. Who needs games consoles and 3DTV when you've got a brown paper bag, a few old clothes, and a vivid imagination?

Easter Sunday. The Resurrection Was it all just the disciples’ vivid imaginations? Did Jesus become their imaginary friend on a mission to save the world?  Is what we are doing here simply a childish response to our unfulfilled dreams? Where is the reality in all of this?

To help us answer that I'd like us to think about the documents that witness to the Resurrection, the gospels and writings of the New Testament.  The Four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, tell the story of Jesus from four different perspectives.

Matthew is keen to relate the links between the Old Testament and the Coming of Jesus and appears to have a Jewish audience in mind.  Luke explains a great deal more and gives us a second volume in the Book of Acts that describes the growth of the early church.  Mark is like the Readers Digest - the Condensed version. John gives the expanded version with all its cosmic implications.

Picture this if you can. The Four Gospels as four sides to a mountain. On the top of the mountain is the Cross of Christ. They start out from different viewpoints. A lot of the time they share a common view, but sometimes from their differing perspective they tell us things the others have missed.

But as they reach the top of the mountain, as they approach the Cross, their viewpoints become extremely similar... each of them relating the crucifixion account with less variations.  One tells us what the criminals say, but the other seems to have missed it.  One picks up on some of Jesus' last words, another focuses on what the crowd are saying. It's what you would expect from the perspective of four reporters standing around the cross.

But after they speak of the Cross and the Burial - something happens.  It's almost as if this mountain they have built has turned out to be a Volcano. On Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, the whole thing erupts.  “Bang. Woosh. kapow!” The blinding light of unexpected revelation.

This eruption sends such bright sparks of light, that not only the gospel writers had trouble seeing clearly, but sprinkles fragments and recollections of the awesome event throughout the rest of the New Testament.

In each of the Gospels the accounts of the Resurrection read like the memories of those who struggled to comprehend the awesome reality of what they witnessed; people blinded by the light. One says, "Remember it was Mary, went down to the tomb"; the other, "No... I remember there was some other women, there!"; One says, "They met a young man". Another corrects... "It wasn't just a man... he was an angel!"

One has Mary being confronted by Jesus, another of Peter being the first to see the folded grave clothes. And it is as though they are saying... the details aren't important... just believe us. This really happened. We were there.  But it's hard to explain. And it was so unbelievable that all we can truly tell is that it was awesome!

As the Bible unfolds more recollections are given. One remembers a meal of fish down by the sea. Another an encounter with two men on the Emmaus Road. One speaks of a time when there were 500 of them on a mountain and Jesus came and taught them.

This was no comic book hero. This "Bang. Woosh. kapow!" of Resurrection was beyond their imagination. The message that unites them is that the Jesus whom they had seen tortured, crucified, dead and buried, was alive. They ate with Him.  They talked with Him. They touched Him and He touched them. And now, the reality of His resurrection love inspired them to live and die for Him. Eternity had invaded their lives, and nothing could ever be the same again.

The latest of all the apostles, Paul writes "If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is in vain” (1Corinthians  15:14). "  If the Resurrection holds no more validity than a Super Hero in a Comic Book then we better leave right now, shut the doors behind us, and never return. But the message that he proclaims, the message that is being proclaimed from thousands of pulpits and being embraced by millions of people throughout the world at this very moment, proclaimed as it has been in confidence and power for over 2000 years, the "Bang. Woosh. kapow!" message, is this, "Christ is Risen... He is Risen Indeed!"

One thing I love about the resurrection stories in Scripture is that they are not all the same. Every person experiences the living love of Jesus in a different way. The women in Mark have one sort of experience, Peter has another. The disciples down by the beach in John's gospel experience it one way. Paul, at a much later date, on the road to Damascus, experiences the resurrected Jesus in yet another way.

It's not a one off, one-way, isolated experience. Everybody understands it differently. And there's room for all those different stories and understandings and people.  In today's church it is no different. From the most liberal to the most conservative of theologians and preachers, everybody has a theory as to what happened on that first Easter morning. And there is room for them all.

What seems to be the unifying factor is the idea that whatever happened 'back then'  can be a powerful force that can impact the way we live our lives today. That somehow whatever and whoever God maybe, what happened to Jesus in that tomb on the first Easter morning changes everything.  

Truly it is a 'Bang, Woosh, kapow” moment. The challenge the scripture lays before us is plain. Have we allowed the "Bang. Woosh. kapow!" message of the Resurrection to erupt within our own hearts?  The Resurrection is not simply a doctrine in a book or a belief we give assent to with our minds, but a living experience.... or to turn those words around... an experience that can live in us and change the way we see the whole of our lives.

On Easter Day we can ask God to “Bang. Woosh. kapow!" us in the Holy Spirit. Easter Day is a day to invite Jesus to come afresh into our life and live in our heart.  To ask God to make resurrection a part of our life today.

This is the day of Salvation. This is the day of resurrection. This is the day that the Lord has made!
And we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Ask God to make Resurrection love, a living part of every day you have left to live on this planet. Ask God to fill your life with the Holy Spirit. Surrender your will to God’s will.  

There's a moment in an old Batman episode where the caped crusader is seeking to save the day by shooting down the enemy. His young accomplice Robin turns to him and says, 'That's an impossible shot, Batman”. And Batman responds, “That's a negative attitude, Robin”.

Today is not a day for negativity but a day to embrace the positive joy proclaimed by the message of resurrection. Today is a day for believing. Today is a day to allow the living love of Jesus Christ, the love that defies death and blazes forth from an empty tomb, to transform our lives in such a way as nothing remains the same. And Scripture pictures Jesus as inviting us to experience His love with words like these:-

“Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find.”
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
To God’s name be the Glory. 

"Bang. Woosh. Kapow!" 

AMEN

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.

March 24, 2024. PALM/PASSION SUNDAY "Untie That Donkey"

 On the Easter Road 6 PALM/PASSION SUNDAY

  Readings: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Isaiah 50:4-9a; Mark 11:1-11
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, March 24, 2024

One of the central characters in this passage is the colt, the donkey.  When you think of a donkey, I don’t know where your mind goes to. I recall being in Seminary in the seaside town of Aberystwyth in Wales. During the summer there were donkeys on the beach, and you could pay for yourself or your kids to take a donkey ride, being escorted up and down the sand. I remember doing that as a kid, on a beach near my home,  and it was kind of fun… the nearest some of us ever came to riding a horse. The donkey was a very docile, nonthreatening creature.

While we were living there, one summer a friend from Greece, Tomos, came to visit. He saw the donkeys and asked us, “Why are the donkeys on the beach?” In his culture the donkey was a working creature, not something to entertain the kids. He found it highly amusing to see them being used in such a way!

Then I think about the character “donkey” in the Shrek movies. Voiced by Eddie Murphy, the donkey plays a key role. An incessant talker, sometimes a voice of reason, sometimes the object of ridicule, sometimes the only one making sense. Murphy’s character echoes the donkey as a traditional character in folktales, often serving as the fool who exposes the foolishness of other characters. An example from Shakespeare would be ‘Bottom’ the donkey in ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream.’

And there’s my favorite donkey, the character in Winnie the Pooh known as Eeyore. Eeyore has a poor opinion of most of the other animals in the Forest, describing them as having "No brain at all, some of them", "only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake." He lives in the southeast corner of the Hundred Acre Wood, in an area labeled "Eeyore's Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy and Sad" on a map in the Winnie-the-Pooh books.

Again, though he often seems a rather sad and grey character, it is often Eeyore who offers the true word of wisdom when all others are losing their way. Which sort of brings us around to the donkey, the colt, in our passage from Mark’s gospel.

We know nothing about this particular colt. As it had never been ridden upon, it was probably a working animal. Maybe its owners had given it a name or maybe they hadn’t. We don’t know the relationship Jesus had with the colt’s owners. We are just told that the disciples are asked to go and untie it. If questioned they are to tell whoever maybe asking, “The Lord needs it and when he’s done with it, he’ll bring it back again.”

When they do go to town, they find the donkey exactly where Jesus said it would be, and they are indeed challenged by some bystanders. Verse 5, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" When they explain what Jesus had told them, they are allowed to take the donkey to Jesus. For the first time the little donkey gets to have a rider. No saddle involved, just some blankets thrown over his back, Jesus gets on and they process into Jerusalem where they are greeted by shouts of "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

It must have been a peculiar sight. Rather like a general riding ahead of a military parade in a clown car! You expect Kings to ride a war horse, not a donkey. But then Jesus wasn’t a general, in the way we think of generals, nor a King in the way the world thinks about a King. The army He leads is an army of ordinary people and the nature of His mission is that of being a servant/king.

Maybe on this Palm Sunday there are lessons that we can learn from the donkey. Firstly, before the donkey could be used in Christ’s service, the donkey had to be untied. Next, we observe that the sight of a leader riding a donkey undermined conventional ideas of authority. At the end of the passage, we see how the arrival of Jesus in this manner  unnerved the leaders of the day, so much so, that it is not long before they are plotting His death.

UNTIED

The disciples are instructed  regarding the colt to “untie it and bring it.” In our lives we become tied to lots of things that hinder our walk of discipleship. It might be a habit, a hurt, a person, a place, an ambition, an attitude, a tragedy, a trauma, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, a whole host of things! If we wish to grow in our faith, it is worth asking “What are we tied to that’s holding us back? “

Keep in mind, it doesn’t necessarily have to be something negative. It could be something that seems good that we are being asked to leave behind, so we can embark on our next adventure of faith. When Jesus called to the apostles, “Come follow me” they left homes, families, friends, businesses. Their abrupt departure must have seemed a little crazy to everyone who knew them. I suspect that the missions Christ calls us to, will often seem peculiar in the minds of some people.  

In Matthew’s telling of this story, Matthew mentions that the disciples bring both a colt and its mother to Jesus. While there was probably a theological reason for him so doing, one commentator also observes that donkeys can be fearful and can’t be forced to do something they see as contrary to their own best interests or safety. They can appear stubborn, but often it is because they are afraid. Having a colt alongside its mother would offer a sense of security to both creatures.

Belonging to a Christian community means that we have others alongside us to encourage us and walk with us.  God may lead us to people, places or predicaments that seem fearful or uncomfortable yet God  promises to be with us so we can feel safe and secure .It is usually through others that the grace flows to help us though. As I look back on my own discipleship journey, I am grateful for so many wonderful colleagues, guides, and mentors whose advice helped me realize I was not alone. Though we may be called to be untied, we are never asked to walk alone!

A second word springs to mind considering the donkey.

UNDERMINED

The sight of a donkey riding King shattered people’s expectations and caused them to rethink priorities. In 1 Corinthians 1:18 Paul writes “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” In 1 Corinthians 4:10 he writes that  “We are fools for the sake of Christ.”

Many years ago I wrote a song that described the Christian’s role as being that of a “Jester Before The Throne.” The song was based partly on an anonymous quote I had read stating "Any Christian is a jester in the court of a king, a dissident in a society of rules, someone who makes mischief and laughter and flirts with danger and in doing so flirts with a higher authority than the one which physically confronts him.”

That image connects in my mind to the donkey in Shrek, or “Bottom” in “Midsummer’s Night Dream” or even the gentle wisdom of Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh books. The role those characters play is to undermine the pretensions and self-importance of some of the other characters and try and get them to see things from a new perspective.

I feel that is also a task that faces us as Christian people. The wisdom of this world is not the way of the Kingdom. The one who has the most toys does not win the game. Fame and fortune are temporary. To those to whom much is given, much is expected. We live day to day without giving a thought to the eternal dimensions of our lives.

The Jesus who bent down and washed His disciples’ feet calls us to follow His example. His act of riding into town on a donkey undermined and ridiculed those who thought they knew the rules and held the power. The crowds who shouted “Hosanna” realized that something subversive was happening. As they lived in that troublesome corner of the vast Roman empire they rejoiced in this demonstration of an eventual reversal of fortunes.

Jesus action not only undermined the powers that were in place, it also unnerved those who held the keys of power.

UNNERVED

Our reading from Mark closes by saying that “He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple”. In Matthew 21:12-17 we read how that visit developed into a major confrontation. Tables were overturned. Strong words about how the temple had become a den of thieves rather than a place of prayer were spoken. And those with the power started to plot how to get rid of Him.

Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday, and many traditions will be focusing on the journey Jesus took to the Cross, the layers upon layers of lies and maneuvering that led to His conviction and eventual agonizing crucifixion. The entrance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem had undermined their ideas of authority. As His ministry became increasingly combative, they were so unnerved that their only option came to humiliate and destroy both Him and the movement to which He had given birth.

On Easter Sunday we see how, though their plots and treachery got them what they wanted, the death of Jesus upon the Cross, that was not the end, but a new beginning. Jesus could not be that easily dismissed or destroyed. Love won the day. Light conquered the darkness. Death was swallowed up in resurrection. The Divine foolishness of a donkey riding King continued to influence and change any who took the time to consider His call and follow His way.

On this Palm Sunday, I invite you to consider some lessons from a donkey.

If we are serious about discipleship of Jesus Christ, let us seek to allow ourselves to be untied from other commitments and, free and forgiven, walk the path that He is calling us to follow.

If we wish to make a difference, then let us seek to embrace a lifestyle that undermines the conventional wisdom of the present day. The early disciples outstanding witness was not so much, “Listen to what these people say” as “See how these people love one another.”

Let us be aware, that not everybody will wish to be embraced by the message we have to offer. Shrek thought the donkey talked to much. In Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore seemed the only one whom the ever bouncing and foolish Tigger would ever really pay attention to.  The traditional donkey of storytelling had a role to play that unnerved the other characters.

Let us pray that our witness, both as individuals and churches, may unnerve those who think they know it all and can do it all and be it all, without reference to God’s Kingdom. May the light of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, be a reality within us that encourages others to follow Christ’s way.  

To God be all glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.

March 17, 2024, Lent 5 "ST PATRICK'S DAY REFLECTIONS"

“SAINT PATRICK OF IRELAND”
Readings: Psalm 51:1-12  Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:5-10, Matthew 28:16-20
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, March 17th, 2024

Patrick was born about 390AD, in southwest Britain, somewhere between the Severn and the Clyde rivers, son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. When about sixteen years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland.

Much of what we know about him comes from his own writings. He has left us an autobiography (called the Confessions), a 'Letter to Coroticus' in which he denounces the slave trade and rebukes the British chieftain Coroticus for taking part in it, and there is a poem known as the 'Lorica' or 'Breastplate', that is traditionally attributed to his influence.

Patrick's confession of faith begins:-“I am Patrick. I am a sinner; the most unsophisticated of people, the least among all Christians, and to many, the most contemptible. I am the son of the deacon Calpornius, as he was the son of the priest Potitus who belonged to the village on Bannavem Taburiae. When aged about sixteen I was taken captive. I was then ignorant of the true God and along with thousands of others was taken into captivity in Ireland.

There the Lord opened my understanding to my unbelief, so that however late, I might become conscious of my failings and turn with all my heart to the Lord. For it was He who looked on my lowliness and had mercy on the ignorance of my youth, and looked after me before I knew Him and before I had gained any wisdom.”

Patrick's spiritual journey begins in a similar way too many people of faith. Something happens that strips away all the things he took for granted and caused him to question what life is about. During changing circumstances, he is convicted of the enormity of the grace of God that is reaching out to him and transforming him, an experience that he feels totally unsuited for.

After six years, he either escapes or is freed, and makes his way to a port 200 miles away, where he persuades some sailors to take him onto their ship. He returns to his family much changed, and begins to prepare for the priesthood, and to study the Bible.

In his own words, “After a few years I was again with my parents in Britain who welcomed me as a son. They, in good faith, begged me, after all those great tribulations I had been through, that I should go nowhere, nor ever leave them. And it was there, I speak the truth, that I saw a vision in the night: a man named Victorious, like one from Ireland, coming with innumerable letters. He gave me one of them and I began to read what was in it: 'The voice of the Irish'. 

 

And it was at that very moment as I was reading out the letter's opening, I thought I heard the voice of those around the wood of Folcut, which is close to the Western Sea. It was if they were shouting with one voice, “O holy boy, we beg you to come back and walk among us” I was broken-hearted and could not read another word.”

Initially Patrick is reluctant to go back to Ireland. But after a series of further visions and with the counsel of those around him, around 435AD, Patrick is commissioned, perhaps by bishops in the area of Southern France then known as Gaul, to go to Ireland as a bishop and missionary.

He made his headquarters at Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the local King. From this base he made extensive missionary journeys. Many times, he faces opposition from local chieftains and landowners. Threats on his life appear to have been frequent. Later stories of his life tell of daring deeds, miracles and of the masses of people who embrace the Christian message under his leadership. The number of churches, both in Ireland and beyond, that claim him as their inspiration, is beyond counting. Under his influence Ireland embraces Christianity.

He writes to the Irish people in his confession, “I spend myself for you that you might lay hold of me. Indeed, I have traveled everywhere for your sake; I have gone amid many dangers; I have gone to places beyond where anyone lived; and I have gone where no one else had gone to baptize people, or ordain clergy, or complete people. With God's help I have carried out all these things lovingly, carefully and most joyfully for your salvation.

I was not the sort of person you would expect the Lord to give this grace to, nor did I deserve it, for I know with the greatest certainty that poverty and woe are more my line than pleasures and riches, after all, Christ the Lord was poor for our sakes. Not a day passed but I expected to be killed or taken back into slavery or assaulted in some other way. But for the sake of the promise of heaven I fear none of these things. Indeed, I have cast myself into the hands of God, the Almighty One who rules everywhere as the prophet has said, “Cast Your Burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.”

Patrick's spiritual life is built upon an unwavering trust in God. His spiritual journey is informed not only by Scripture, but by personal dreams and visions and the counsel of those around him. He has a deep sense of the presence of Jesus Christ within Him and all around him. He sees the presence of Christ everywhere, even in those who stand against him.

For Patrick God is One who reveals love to the world through the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Patrick's view of the Trinity the three persons of the Trinity are in a state of constant dynamism, a dance! God is all in all and through faith in God's grace, revealed in Jesus Christ, we become caught up in the action of God's Holy Spirit and our lives are transformed by God's love.

This is so wonderfully expressed in the words we used to open our worship this morning. “Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”

Also in St Patrick’s prayer, known as st Patrick’s Breastplate:  “I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three, of whom all nature has creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word. Praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.”

This is the theology expressed in Celtic art, wonderful spiraling patterns that when you trace them you realize are just one line! A world peopled not only with humans, but angels and demons and saints and creatures beyond our comprehension, yet in the midst of  all the mystery stands Christ as Savior, Redeemer, and Center of all.

In the celebrations of St Patrick's Day, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the one being celebrated was a humble Christian missionary who knew nothing of parades, leprechauns and dark beer. The real Saint Patrick was a man of overcoming faith that led a nation to embrace the Christian message.

He offers a theology that embraces all of life and speaks of the presence of God in Christ, acting through God's Holy Spirit, within us around us and through our communal life as faith communities. For Patrick God is so intractably entwined in all of life, that we only find life by participating in the dance of the Trinity.  

What would he make of St Patrick’s day? Patrick is a reluctant servant who would probably be scornful of the honor laid upon him. And it is doubtful he would recognize his influence in the way he is celebrated today! He concludes  his confession writing:

“I now pray for anyone who believes in, and fears God, who may perchance come upon this writing which Patrick, the sinner and the unlearned one, wrote in Ireland. I wrote it so that no one might say that whatever little I did, or anything I made visible according to God's pleasure, was done through ignorance. Rather you should judge the situation and let it truly believed that it was 'the gift of God'. And this is my declaration before I die.”

Two final things about St. Patrick I would place before you. Firstly, his life serves as a reminder that much of what we take granted in our society was built upon a bedrock of Christian teaching. We are talking about somebody who lived around 400AD. In the last few decades, we have witnessed a turning away from our Christian roots. Such does not bode well for our future. We have a lot to lose. We need to remember from where we came!

Secondly, remember that Patrick never set out to be a saint. He simply responded, one step at a time, to the challenges and opportunities that were placed before him, with the confidence that God was his guide and protector. Such is a simple faith that all of us can embrace.

I pray that there will be some who look beyond the secular celebrations and discover the true Patrick, so that his example of humble leadership and faithful adherence to the tasks God called him to, may continue to inspire people across the generations.

 

And to God be all glory. Amen.

 

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

March 10.2024 Lent 4 "Surrounded by Love"

 ON THE EASTER ROAD (4)

Readings: Psalm 107:1-3, Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21; Ephesians 2:4-10
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, March 10, 2024

How do you define a classic? What makes a classic anything? If you had to list 10 classic TV shows or name 10 classic automobiles or 10 classic breakfast cereals or 10 classic pieces of classical music, what criteria would you use? According to ‘Webster’s New Expanded Dictionary’ for something to be classic it has to be "Of the first rank; Timeless; a Masterpiece."

I want to look with you today at a classic bible verse… John 3:16.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son
So that everyone who believes in Him
Should not perish but have everlasting life.

"For God so loved the world ..."

That God loves this world is a stunning insight. Why? Because there is much not to love about this world. Suffering and violence and war to name but a few things. There are parts of the world that we don't like. There are places that we avoid because we don't want to go there. There are people, sometimes whole groups of people, whom we don't want anything to do with.

But God so loves the world God created. God is not blind to its pain or its sin or the stupidity of its inhabitants. Those are things that happen in spite of God’s love. God’s love towards the world remains solid as a rock. We live as though God’s concern didn't really count for much. This verse reminds us that because God so loves this world, so we should be concerned about the way we live our lives in this world. 

John explains a few verses later that we love the darkness rather than the light. We may sometimes think that we love the light more than we love the darkness, but our actions give us away. Whilst we say things like, "You know money can't buy you happiness" we then go on to daydream about riches or power, about what we'd do if we won the ultimate lottery prize. We are captivated by the thought that our deepest needs can be met without having to involve God.

We say that we think the world would be a better place if folk were more forgiving to each other, but ... hey… don’t cross me… something goes wrong, someone hurts us and instinctively we cherish the hurt and plot retaliation. We love the anger, we harbor the revenge, we want to take control and get even.
What’s more we hate the sins of others far more than we hate our own. We learn to live with our own sins. We don't like it that way, but it's easier to accommodate our shortcomings than to change. 

If you are talking about sinners, let's talk about that woman up the road who can't control her tongue, or that man on television who did that awful murder, or those torturers in that country who act so inhumane. There's always someone we can point at to make our darkness look bright.

That's the sort of world we live in and that's the sort of people we are. We stumble about hardly considering that God might be concerned about the state of things in our lives. God’s up there doing holy stuff with the angels and chatting with the saints and doing whatever God does all day. You can't seriously believe God is actually concerned with the nitty-gritty of life on this planet?

Such is exactly what this classic text is telling us. That God loves this world and the people who inhabit this world. Is there anybody here who is not a member of the human race? Any Martians, or Venusians or Plutonians? 

Being a British citizen, I do have a Green Card that explains that I am actually an alien, but only an alien to the United States. I am a citizen of planet earth and like every one of you God does not want me to have a life that is alienated from God's love. ‘God so loves the world’ means that God so loves you... as an inhabitant of the world… that God does not want for you to live a single moment that is not surrounded by God's love. 

That’s good news. No wonder this verse is a classic. It tells us that the depth of concern God has for our lives is mind-boggling in its intensity. But let’s move on. God so loved the world;

“That He gave His only Son...” 

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:19 writes; "In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself" ‘In Christ’ God purposefully entered into the world’s pain and hurt and took it on. He is God with us and God for us. God knows exactly what it feels like to live as a vulnerable human being in this world.

John’s gospel links this verse to the story of Moses lifting up the bronze snake in the desert and telling the people of Israel to look upon it and be healed. Now remember… Moses was the one who came down from the mountain with the commandments saying… "Have no idols, make no images.” Then, there he is saying "Look at this bronze snake and be healed". It doesn't make sense. Why doesn't God stick to the rules?

Why? Because God is the God who goes far beyond the rules, beyond even the expectations of love. To make us God’s own, God has done the unthinkable. God gave us God’s only Son. 

I can think of many things that I might give to somebody to try and convince them of love. Chocolates maybe. Or flowers even. Buy them a car. Give them a diamond. Take them on a cruise. I wouldn't try to convince anyone of my love by arranging that they take my only son, and mock Him and torture Him and murder Him. And if my son, Matthew were here, I think he would be glad to hear that!

Think about what a shocking, unthinkable, mind boggling picture of God's love towards us that this classic verse gives. God does the very thing He forbade Abraham to do with his only son Isaac. God gave His son to die upon a Cross. But why? Why would God do such a thing? What does it mean? We need to complete the verse. God so loved the world that He gave His only son...

“So that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The Greek word used here for perish ‘apoletai’ (avpo,lhtai) means "shall not be ruined or destroyed; shall not be brought to nothing; shall not cease to exist or be deprived of reward."

There’s a huge paradox here. This world, the world that God loves, is also the world that is destroying and ruining us. The way of this world is not the way of God’s Kingdom. We are called by God to be in this world… because God loves this world, but not of this world… because the way of this world is a destructive way that can only offer emptiness and fruitlessness and which ultimately ruin us. “What good will it be” asks Jesus in Matthew 16:26 “For a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” 

The Cross is the place where Jesus Christ perished. The Cross was the place where the world sought to ruin and destroy and bring to nothing and cause to cease all that Jesus came into the world to do. As they nailed Jesus Christ to the Cross the forces of evil in the world laughed out loud and said “That’s it. It’s over. We win. We don’t need God”. 

When Jesus cried out ‘It is finished’ they thought that it was. But we read John 3:16 in the context of the Resurrection. ‘We are an Easter people and Hallelujah is our song.’ Three days after He was murdered there was a rumbling and an earthquake and a startling report of Good News that could only be accepted by believing in it. Three days later the message started to be proclaimed, ‘He is Alive!

At the end of his gospel account John tells us that his whole reason for writing was “That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31).

"In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself." ‘In Christ’ God has made it possible for us to no longer be dominated by the ways of this world that bring us to nothing, that destroy and steal from us all that is good and true and holy, that ruin us and cause life to be a matter of little more than pointless survival.

On the Cross, In Christ, God took the force of that world upon Himself, so that, In Christ, we don’t have to. So that in this world we can live lives that are free and forgiven and being made new by the work of the Holy Spirit, revived, recreated, renewed, revitalized by the love of God.  

The way, the only way, we can do that, is by believing.  Who in this classic verse gets to receive and experience and know the love of God?

 “Everyone who believes in Him” 

Do we understand that? I’m not sure that everybody realizes that this, although a classic, is a highly exclusive verse of Scripture. It is a verse that speaks of tremendous blessings for those who believe, and it is truly a classic invitation for all to believe. But there’s reverse side to this. For those who don’t, it’s a picture of total despair. 

Those who don’t believe, they don’t get to experience the love. They remain alienated from the love of God. Move on down to John 3:18 and it tells us plainly, “People who believe in God’s son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son”

One of the pictures of God’s salvation in the Old Testament is that of Noah’s Ark. In the story of Noah there are only two types of people. It’s not the wealthy and poor, or young and old, or clever and stupid, or any other man-made division. It’s between those who believed and got on the boat and those who didn’t believe and drowned in the flood. 

Our response to this classic verse is meant to be one of belief. Belief that Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. Belief that God raised Him from the dead. Belief that without Him we are lost. Belief that if we ask Him into our hearts we are saved.  

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

We have touched this morning on the very heart of the gospel. May these heart words touch our hearts. May we come back to them time and time again and discover fresh meaning in them. That's what makes a classic a classic. 

A classic captures something that words can't adequately explain. We feel that here is something that is written just for us. Here is something that can shape our lives, that inspires us for the future, and helps us through each day. 

John 3:16… a classic verse that invites us to participate in the love of God. Pay no attention and we will be lost. Believe it and we will find that every day we live on this earth is a day to live surrounded by love.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

March 3, 2024 Lent 3 "Clear The Way"

 On the Easter road (3)

Readings: Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 19, II Cor. 1:18-25, John 2:13-22
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, March 3, 2024

Observing the ups and downs in the financial world can be a scary business for folks who have significant investments. That old Dow Jones index can bounce like a beach ball. I have a friend back in the U.K, who when the market started to fluctuate in 2008, called his adviser. That financial adviser assured him it was just a “blip.” Took him many years to recover from the crash. He also acquired a new financial adviser.

Back in the time of Jesus there was a big business in Jerusalem that was about to experience a collapse. It was called the Temple. The place where the deals were taking place was the Gentiles Court. The temple complex was a lofty institution that covered some thirty acres.  Its inner sanctuary was the Holy place where only the High Priest could enter on special occasions.

Beyond that were a number of courts to which access was granted according to status. The Temple court, then the Court of the Priests, then the Court of the Israelite's, then the Court of the Women and then finally, the largest area, the Court of the Gentiles.

Everybody was allowed to enter the Court of the Gentiles.  It was designed to be a place of prayer and preparation for all people.  A place where those denied access to other areas of the temple could seek and find God.  A place where those who had the privilege of entering deeper into the temple could prepare their hearts for worship.

Important for worship in those days was paying the temple tax.  The temple tax was equivalent to about two days wages and every Jew was expected to pay it. You couldn't pay your temple tax in any old currency.  It had to be paid in Sanctuary Shekels.  At Passover time Jews from all over the world, with Greek, Roman, Syrian, Egyptian, and Phoenician coins jangling in their pockets made their way to the Gentiles Court.

Before they could pay their taxes, money had to be exchanged.  So, the money-changers set up their stalls in the Court. To change your coins into sanctuary shekels, a fee equivalent to half a days wages would be charged. If you didn't have the exact coinage, then you'd be charged another half a days wages. There were various other rates and schemes that all involved money flowing into the money-changers pockets. And this was before you'd paid a penny of your tax.

Along with temple taxes, worshipers would also bring an offering. This could be an ox, or a sheep or, if you were a poorer family, a dove. You could buy a dove down at the Jerusalem market quite cheaply.  However, there was a law about temple sacrifices that said that a sacrificial victim had to be without blemish.  In the Gentiles Court there were appointed temple inspectors to examine the offerings and see if they came up to the grade.  The strange thing was none from the market ever did.

So, they advised worshipers to buy their sacrificial animals from the selection they had in the Gentiles court.  The difference was that an animal purchased there could cost as much as twenty times more than one purchased down at the market.

That day when Jesus went to the temple to pray and prepare Himself for the difficult days that were ahead, did He find things as they should be… did He find a place of prayer for all nations?  "No" he said, "It's a den of thieves."  Far from being a place of spiritual richness it was nothing more than a marketplace.  Financially it was doing fine. Spiritually it had collapsed.

The sellers were trying to exact as high a price as possible. The pilgrims would argue and defend themselves with an equal fierceness. The oxen would be mooing, the sheep bleating, the doves cooing, beggars begging, the children running wild.

And Jesus got mad.  Real mad. The theologians use the words "Wrath" or "Righteousness indignation." He overturns the money-changers tables, scattering the coins all over the floor. He drives out the animals. He tells the ones selling the Doves, "Take these things out of here. Stop making my Father’s House a marketplace."

•    Nobody lifts a finger to stop Him because everybody knew He was doing the right thing.  The temple authorities knew what was going on, but it brought in a lot of much needed revenue, some of which paid their wages, so they turned a blind eye.  

•    The money-changers justified their practices because a lot of their earnings were being siphoned off by the people they had to pay for permission to put up a table in the court.

•    The temple inspectors justified their refusal to allow offerings in the temple that hadn't been purchased there, by saying they were ensuring God got the best.

•    The people went along with it because it was easier to put up with the way things were than dare challenge those who had the power to make their lives very uncomfortable.  Everybody knew it was wrong, but no-one did a thing to make it right.

Except for Jesus!

He had the authority to put things right.  This was His Father's business and His Father's house that they were fooling with. In the words of John’s gospel, He was ‘consumed with zeal’ for His Father’s House.

Jesus claimed the temple as His own. He uniquely identified Himself with the temple. He said to the Jews who questioned His authority, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" using a figure of speech to point towards His own death and resurrection.  He spoke of the temple as His own body. He claims our lives for His own.  Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

This passage about Jesus cleansing the temple invites us to us consider the temple of our own lives. Are there things about us that Jesus could justifiably be mad at? Are there things that we need to clear out of the way as we travel down the Easter road?

What really angered Jesus that day was the cold-heartedness. Here was something beautiful that had turned ugly, something sacred that had become profane.  A place of prayer and peace had become a place of pandemonium.

Why shouldn’t God be angry when we take gifts God has given us and misuse them or waste them? The greatest gift of all God has given to us is the gift of life itself.  Yet many go through life divorced from any sense of its mystery or its wonder or its sacredness.  Life becomes cheap, people become numbers or objects to be manipulated for others ends and any sense of meaning or purpose goes out of the window.  

As Christian people we have a particular responsibility.  People look for us to model Christ-like living.  "Judgment" Peter's first letter instructs us, "Begins with the house of the Lord."  We are that house, we are that people. "You are a temple of God" says Paul.

But what sort of temple? The season of Lent is a time when we are called to examine our hearts in the light of God's love. And that takes time. It means taking “Time Out” of the normal routine to do so.

Did you know that one of the days when no trading takes place, one of the few weekdays that the New York Stock Exchange closes is Good Friday? If you go to the visitor’s center at the Stock Exchange and ask “Why?” they will tell you that since 1864 the Exchange has closed its doors on Good Friday for religious reasons.

If the guide is a Christian, they may even add they are closed on Good Friday because that was the day when a man, who once threw money changers out of a temple, was crucified.  That impressed me. That in New York, at the financial core of the Big Apple, they take a ‘time out’ on Good Friday.

We know that the state of the money market affects the way we live our lives. When the market collapses it touches a lot of folk’s lives in a very negative way. We know that. What we forget is that life isn’t about wheeling and dealing and acquiring and selling. That on the last day, whether we have 2 cents in our pocket or 2 billion dollars in platinum reserves such can’t offer us a single ounce of hope for eternity.

‘Clear the Way!’ Anything in your life that we think that Jesus could justifiably be mad at is something we need to talk to God about and walk through with God. One of the works of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to bring conviction, to bring to our minds and consciences things that are getting in the way of our walk with God. As we realize that there are blockages there, we should pray to God to ‘Clear the Way!’

One of the biggest killers in medical terms is blockages. Blocked arteries starve the heart of blood, starve the lungs of oxygen, physically prevent us from functioning and if not dealt with what happens? We die! Physical blockages cause death. Spiritual blockages are equally perilous to our spiritual health.

The late Dr. Billy Graham, at the grand old age of 99, once told a group of young people. “I urge each of you to invest your lives, not just spend them. Each of us is given the exact same number of seconds, minutes, and hours per day as anyone else. The difference is how we redeem [them]. You cannot count your days, but you can make your days count.”

We must seek God to clear out from our lives all that is other than what God requires for us. To clear out from our lives all the junk, all the vain ideas, all the hopeless little schemes that may look good to our own eyes but in comparison to the work of God are laughable.

Allow Jesus to do some spring cleaning. Get rid of all that stuff that God could justifiably be mad at. All that is cheap. All that distorts. All that ends in dust and decay. Our lives are little temples… meant to be places of prayer, places where Christ is honored and God’s Word is known, places where others can find God, places that shine light into this world’s darkness.

‘Clear the Way!’ because our life, your spiritual journey is important to God. God has a plan. A plan to bless others through our lives. For that to happen we must subject our lives to the scrutiny and authority of God that we find in Jesus Christ. To the authority of God’s Word. To nurture ourselves in worship and through service.

As I read about Jesus clearing the Temple, I am challenged to seek God to “Clear the Way!” for God’s love to be shown in clearer ways in my own life. I pray that as you consider areas of your life that could justifiably attract God’s anger rather than God’s praise, you will likewise be challenged to “Clear the Way” for a deeper relationship with our only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

To His name be the glory. 

Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.