Mark My Words. "What Sort of Messiah?"

 Readings: Psalm 125, James 2:1-17, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Mark 8:27-38
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, September 12 2021

One day Jesus and the disciples are walking down the road. He asks them "Who do the people say I am?" The disciples gave Him some of the answers that were floating around. "Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah or one of the prophets come back to life."

Jesus then makes the question real up close and personal. "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" There was probably a moment of silence as they waited for each other to speak. It is Peter - the bold one - who eventually responds, "You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God."

Jesus replies "Well done, you are absolutely right (and the way Matthew's gospel tells it He adds that this was something God had revealed to Peter.) But then comes an intriguing sting in the tale. Jesus says: "You’re right. But don't you dare tell anyone!" Why?

Why did He tell them not to tell anyone? You would think He would be saying "Spread the word, the Messiah has come." Instead, Jesus tells them, "Shush... keep it to yourself." It’s something the scholars call the "Messianic Secret."

Here’s one of the reasons. Although the disciples had started to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, they didn't really know what a Messiah was. “The Messiah is coming! The Messiah is coming! The Messiah is coming! Hold on. What’s a Messiah?”

Now according to some of the Jewish Rabbis of the time this was how the Messiah thing would work out. The world would get worse and worse, spiraling down into a moral and spiritual vacuum. When things could get no worse God would send Elijah to prepare the way of the Messiah.

 Then when God's Messiah arrived, he would be a great warrior king, with political clout and military might, who would physically crush his foes. He would unite the people in a great Armageddon battle against whoever oppressed God's people. Finally, he would take his throne in Jerusalem and rule Israel in peace and prosperity. It would be just like the "Good old days" when David was king, but better.

You can't blame the disciples for wanting that kind of Messiah. The Romans had occupied the country. Pagan ideas and culture were corrupting the people. Even the high priest was little more than a puppet in the control of a pagan power. The time was ripe for a heroic warrior Messiah to come and conquer the Romans and take his place on the throne of David.

But that was not the sort of Messiah that Jesus came to be. If people, especially the people closest to Him, thought He was that sort of Messiah it could be a disaster. Tell them that the Holy Conqueror prophesied from ancient times had come and they might go form an army and try to draft him as Supreme Commander. Hundreds or thousands could die, and Jesus true mission would never be revealed.

So Jesus explains to His disciples God's plan for the Messiah. "The Messiah must go through great suffering. Even the elders and religious authorities will reject Him. He will be killed and in three days rise again." 

This was, of course, a contradiction to everything the disciples expected. God's anointed king suffering and dying? No way Hosea! That was blasphemy. To suggest that God would allow pagan Gentiles to torture, mistreat, and even kill God’s all-powerful Messiah was just wrong. 

So, Peter rebuked Jesus. He does not suggest that Jesus was mistaken, Peter rebukes Jesus. Anyone growing up in a traditional Jewish society would be horrified to observe Peter taking such a tone with his teacher. Disciples just did not go around rebuking their teachers!

And how does Jesus react? Strongly! He calls Peter a mouthpiece of Satan. He wants Peter to know that, yes, He was the Messiah, and good on you Peter for recognizing that, but Jesus was not going to be the sort of Messiah that Peter had been expecting. 

The true Messiah’s mission involved suffering and death and resurrection. Peter was making a devilish suggestion in telling Jesus that He had no need to go to the cross. No Cross… no redemption, no forgiveness, no death to be conquered, no resurrection necessary.

Maybe Peters problem was that he defined victory in human terms not in God's terms. Jesus then gives them God's definition of victory. "If any want to be my followers let them take up their cross and follow me." Take up a cross? Only thieves and criminals took up a cross. The Bible says, "Cursed is the one who hangs on a tree." What could Jesus mean?

He continues, "For those who seek to save their life will lose it, yet those who lose their life for me and the Gospel will save it." This contradicted logic. If you want to save your life you should fight and even kill to preserve it. But here Jesus says the way to life is through death. "For what do you gain if you gain the whole world and lose your life?" This was turning everything upside down. It would take the disciples a long time to come to terms with this. 

The same applies to us. We are no more enlightened than they were. True life, says Jesus, isn't found in human achievement or personal gain. Neither is it found in political or military power. It is found instead in spiritual power, in relationships with each other and with God, in worship and in service and abandonment to the will of God.

Friends, why are we part of a church? I would suggest that one of the reasons we involve our lives in the church, is because we are people who really want to live and really want the best out of life for ourselves and for our families and friends.

It could even be that, like Peter, we have recognized that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of living God, but maybe we're not exactly sure what that means or how we should go about telling others. And though we believe that Jesus can give us eternal life, not just life in heaven after death, but abundant life in the here and now… these words, about the cost of following Him, seem difficult and troublesome.

Jesus says, "If you want to follow me you must take up a cross. Because if you try to hold on to life you will lose it, but if you surrender your life for me and the Gospel you will have true life. After all what good is it to gain the whole world and never really live."

In a "Pain killer culture", trying to understand where suffering fits in with God’s will is a tough cookie. Jesus challenges us to turn our thinking upside down. Through His miracles and works of healing, through His compassion for the crowds and for individuals it is clear that God takes no delight in human suffering.

Mother Teresa, that great missionary to the poor in India, used to instruct her novices, "To truly love, is to fight against evil. You cannot fight without receiving blows. You cannot help the suffering without suffering yourself."

In our materialistic, pain fearing world, people love to hear the voice of the miraculous Jesus. Witness the success of those who preach a gospel of instant prosperity or ceaseless blessing. People are not so sure they want to hear the word of the Cross. What sort of Messiah would call us to such a thing? The idea is no less shocking now as it was then.

But … listen… just as God’s Messiah was not the sort of Messiah that people expected… maybe abundant life is not about all the things people often think it is. Maybe "the good life" is not being materially well off or even comfortable. Maybe abundant living does not depend on being in good health or even on good terms with everyone.

So let us, we who confess Him as Lord in the early years of the twenty first century, ask ourselves, "What sort of Messiah?" The sort that tells us that anything goes, and we are not to worry about our sins, or our neighbors, or about injustice or poverty, but simply accept blessing after blessing from His hand? One who says, "Don't worry, be happy... live for ever and ever in a pain free, trouble-free world?"

Or are we to hear the voice of one who explained His mission to His disciples in terms that involved undeserved suffering, a cross, a resurrection and a promise of the empowering presence of His Holy Spirit to all who would come after Him. Who spoke of picking up on the pain, the shame and the rejection of others and placing it on our shoulders to help them carry it up a hill towards forgiveness?

One who saw prayer as an opening up of ourselves to God's will, rather than as an exercise to persuade God to do things our way. One who spoke of putting our self-interest aside, dying to ourselves and being prepared to live and die for one another. Do we want to hear the radical voice of a revolutionary Jesus or do we want a “Panacea Messiah” to solve all the world’s problems and tell us we don't have to get our hands dirty, because it will be all right in the end?

I read the gospels and I am challenged to believe that God's desire for this world is that it be a place of miracles and blessing and healing and hope. But I am also challenged to see that love is not simply an emotion. It is a weapon to destroy all that cheapens and lessens and takes away life. 

To enter the fight means not sitting back and letting God take care of everything, but actively wielding the weapon of love, which may mean putting ourselves in situations that can only be traveled through with faith and whose only hope is in the ability of God to turn hopeless situations, like Crosses, into places that sing with the joy of resurrection emptied tombs.

"What sort of Messiah?"
There is only one and His name is Jesus.
All others are simply pretenders and charlatans.
And the way to life is found in His call to service.
"If any want to become my followers,
Let them deny themselves
And take up their cross
And follow me".

May God help us, by God’s Holy Spirit,
 to be true disciples.
In Jesus name.
AMEN.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Mark My Words. "Touched by God"

Readings: Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9,  James 1:17-27, Isaiah 35:4-7, Mark 7:31-37
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, September 5 2021

“Touched by God.” What does it mean to be “Touched by God”? Is it a moment of inspiration? Is it when a particular need is met? Is it a lifelong journey? Well.... yes... all of the above and a whole lot more. More importantly, what does it take for our lives to feel the influence and touch of God upon them?

Our gospel reading from Mark this morning gave us the story of a man suffering from a hearing defect that also gave him an inability to speak. Then his life is touched by Jesus and he is made whole. At the start the man is in a pitiful state.  He comes to Jesus, not of his own volition but is brought by his friends. They ask that Jesus lays His hands on the man. They seem convinced that to do so will result in some sort of blessing upon his life.

Here is one of the first things we need if we desire God to impact or lives. 

We need to trust that God has the ability to handle our situation

We run into problems in our Christian life because we see the intervention of God as a last resort, rather than our first port of call. We try everything else and then we pray about things. Prayer should come first because prayer is the listening side of our relationship with God.

What was this man's problem? He could not hear; he was unable to listen. Because he could not hear anything, he couldn't say anything. His speech was impaired. Unless we can nurture our faith through personal private prayer we become not "speech impaired" but "faith impaired."

In our prayers we are not always sure what to ask for. Right at the start of this account is a picture of how we can pray. Sometimes we do not have the assurance of faith to ask for direct healing or for a miracle. But we can always ask God to lay hold of the situations that troubles us. We can do that in the simple faith that God knows how to handle things.

When I watch a professional football game on the Television, I'm always impressed by the distance a professional can throw the ball. I'm even more impressed by the guy who manages to catch it at the other end. I've always been a useless catcher. If they gave "A" Grades for fumbling, I could win a scholarship with my skills. I can get hit by the ball on the nose, on the knee, I can flay my arms about and run in the general direction, do everything but catch the thing!

On the other hand, God is a great catcher. It does not matter how hard you throw your prayers, how off course they are, how out of position you are, when God hears your prayers, God doesn't fumble or stumble, but lays hands on the situation that is troubling you. "Ask" says the scripture, "You will receive."

Field your problems in God's direction and you will see some results. It may not be the result you expected, or even exactly what you asked for, but God will not let you down. The men who brought their friend to experience the touch of Jesus knew they could trust Him. That is why they came to Him.

But Jesus did not do anything right away other than withdraw far from the madding crowds and go off to some private place. You see that too is something important for our lives. 

A second thing this passage teaches us about seeking a touch of God, is that we have to make space in our lives to spend  personal time with God.

This man did not find his healing among the crowds or in the business of life. He had to withdraw and be alone with the Lord. He had a particular set of problems that needed to be dealt with in a specific way. It was important for Jesus to spend time alone with Him so that He could deal with him His way. There is an importance to being alone, having a quiet place, and a quiet time with Jesus. We are all unique creations of God. God does not deal with us all in exactly the same way.

Sometimes we try and solve our problems in another person’s way. We read a book about how “so and so” dealt with such or such a thing and think, "Yes, that's what I need to do, that's how I should be handling things." Oftentimes it's not. Because we are unique individuals, and our situations aren't those of someone else.

The insights of other people may be some help. I don't deny for one minute that we all have a great deal to learn from each other. But there are those times when we just need to get on our own with God and get our life sorted out. Maybe you recall that Old Testament story about Jacob wrestling with an angel.

Jacob is an inheritor of God's promises. He had a life that was on track, going places. But then he tries to cross a river and there is a man, described as an angel, who won't let him pass. He gets into a wrestling match with the angel. Somewhere in the middle of it, he realizes, that he is wrestling with God. His life had the ability to take on new possibilities and greater significance. But he's got to deal with his past and his problems before God can make that happen.

Until he had a very personal struggle with God, though he trusted in God, his faith was not his own. Yes, he knew of his father Isaac's faith. He had most definitely heard the stories of his grandfather Abraham's faith. But he was only living his faith vicariously through their faith; it had not been solidified in his life. It is only after this struggle that we read of God in Scripture being identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac AND Jacob.

It is the same for us. Our parents’ faith, our family’s faith, our friends faith, even our churches faith, won't take us where God wants us to go. We must make it our own. And that can be a struggle. It may leave us walking in a different way. And it takes place through personal time, one on one, with God.

If we desire lives that know God's touch, we need to trust that God can carry us through. We need to take the time for personal encounter with God. 

Thirdly, we need to be open to whatever God wants to do in and through our lives.

When Jesus prays for this man, he uses the words "Be opened"; in Aramaic; "Ephphatha" in Greek "Dianoigo" (pronounced: Dee-an-oy'-go). He doesn't say "Speak up" or "Be made whole" but "Be Opened," a phrase that could be used in a variety of situations. An old Scots translation translates this verse as "Be thou unbarred," using the imagery of a prison cell whose iron rods are removed to set the prisoner free. It could also mean to open your mind or to open your soul.

It sounds like one of those trendy expressions you hear on TV, "Free your mind." Jesus said it first. 'Ephphatha," "Be Opened.” But not open to anything, open to His touch, open to His love.

The way the man is healed is, well, different. Jesus puts his finger in the man’s ear, then spits on his hand and touches the man’s tongue with it. Saliva was regarded in days gone by as having some medicinal qualities. Still is. Have you ever noticed the way an animal will lick a wound or even a mom will spit on a handkerchief and wipe a child's face with it?

There was nothing magical about Jesus saliva any more than there is about mum saliva. But it meant something to the man who was being healed (just as it means something to a child) and through what was a very common action the man was touched by the love of God. We need to be open for God to act and move in whatever way God chooses!

In verse 34, before He heals the man, we read that Jesus sighed. Time after time He was confronted by people who had closed minds, who couldn't seem to see or hear or grasp the wonderful significance of who He was and how much and how deeply they were loved by His Father God.

Jesus sighed. In that sigh is contained the sigh of all people who feel "Ugh, it's just getting too much for me!" Good news. God knows how you feel. Jesus can help. Just open up and see what happens.

Such help is not anything we deserve. God comes to us in spite of who we are, not because of it. So often we are blind to the things that really matter in life, so useless in speaking out, so in need of a touch of God. Kind of like the man in our bible reading.

So remember what happened to Him. God met him right at his point of need. Why should He deal with us any differently if we come to God in humility and in faith? We have nothing to offer God but our broken lives. God will take whatever we can give. All God asks is that we get around to giving it.

I began this message by asking “What does it take for our lives to feel the influence and touch of God upon them?” This encounter Jesus has, with a man who needed healing, offers some great insights.

• We need to trust that God has the ability to handle our situation
• We have to make space in our lives to spend personal time with God.
• We need to be open to whatever God wants to do in and through our lives.

A wonderful place to know the touch of God is around the communion table. Many testify to this table being a special touching place for God to impact their lives. I am one of them. Food for the journey!

May we each, in our own unique way and within our own specific situations, be able to say that our lives have been touched by God. And, blessed as we are, may we, like the friends of the deaf and mute man, who bought him to Jesus, seek to be a people who bring a touch of God's love to others. To God be the Glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

PSALM 84 “Better is One Day in Your Courts…”

Readings: Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18, Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69, Psalm 84  
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, August 22 2021

Psalm 84 contains many lines that are familiar to us and which we may have first come across as liturgy or prayers in our worship services. It was thought to have originally been composed as a song, or liturgy, to be used as folks processed towards the Temple for a time of worship. You can feel the anticipation in verse 2 “My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

The Psalm talks about how God walks with us through the different experiences of our lives. It mentions the dry times, symbolized by the valley of Baca, literally the “Valley of Weeping” and of how God provides for the lowliest of God’s creatures “Even the sparrow finds a home.”

The Psalm pictures God as being the source of the good things that come to our lives. I wanted to briefly today to focus on just three of them.

•    God as the source of our strength
•    God as the source of our security
•    God as the source of our salvation.

God as the source of our strength

I have had an interesting couple of weeks. Although having been vaccinated against Covid, that Delta virus managed to break through, and I had to be quarantined for a while.

I’m so thankful for those here at church who took care of things that needed to be done, for Val for leading worship and everybody who stepped up. Thankful for all the prayers and messages of concern. Thankful most of all to wife Yvonne, who has had to live in the same house, taking care of everything, while we isolated from each other as much as possible. Thankful, she has not succumbed to the virus, and I remain prayerful she continues to be healthy.

I can tell you this. Covid does not respect the rules. It has no morality. It doesn’t play nice. It does not care about our political beliefs, our religious beliefs, our status, our nationality, or a host of other things. If it can find a way in, it will find a way in. It is on a mission to shut us down. A bit like a computer virus. That’s why we have all those antivirus programs on our computers. Because we know a virus just wants to do one thing. Shut us down.

I had a few days where I really felt unwell. A few others after that where I was just incredibly tired. I can only imagine what those who are unprotected must go through. Don’t panic! I’m not going to use this sermon as an opportunity to say, “You should do this” or “You should do that.” I understand this whole thing is something we are all struggling to deal with.  

But I do want to say this. We’re still walking through the Valley of Baca. We are still in a place of uncertainty. As this thing mutates and regroups, and we react and try and understand, we are not always going to get it right! So, this psalm has wonderful advice for those who walk in the valley. Verse 6 “As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength.”

And the source of our strength is the love of God. From other folk’s care towards me I have received the love of God. Their concern made it a place of springs. Their prayers were the early rain that brought refreshment. That’s what being a Christian community is meant to be about. That’s where our focus always needs to be. Caring for each other.

And if by the fact, that Covid managed to get itself into the life of your pastor, who has been wearing masks, and washing hands, and keeping distance, getting vaccinated and all the rest of it, well… take note. This Covid thing isn’t done with us yet. Stay strong.

Keep on caring for each other. Keep on believing that God can and will get us through, even if some days we are travelling through a valley. God remains the source of our strength, a strength that is expressed in our love for one another. Which brings us to the second thing here.

God as the source of our security

Verse 3 “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at Your altars, O LORD of hosts.”
 
The Psalmist pictures God’s care and concern as being one that enfolds all of creation, the youngest and the parents, the cared for and the carer. All find a welcome and a home in God’s sanctuary.  

Have you noticed how we use that term, “Sanctuary” to describe the physical place where we gather to open our lives to God? As a kid in church I remember that there were things we could do in the church hall, but not in the sanctuary. Sanctuary was different. Set apart. Holy. “Don’t be running in the sanctuary… slow down. Think about where you are.”

Sanctuary. At church camp we have often sung the song “Lord prepare me, To be a sanctuary, Pure and Holy, Tried and True.” And it is one of those songs that draws you to a place of worship and thankfulness and appreciation that there is a God and it isn’t you!

Sanctuary is not just a physical place, but an experience. A place where we feel at home and enabled to pour out our hearts and lives in worship to God. A place where we find the strength to carry on. A place where we feel safe and secure.

This was the Psalmists experience. Verse 11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield.” God is the Psalmists light and warmth and security. A Sheild. Part of the armor of God.  In Ephesians 6:16 we are encouraged to “take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

Psalm 84, as they walked to the Temple, the people remind themselves of their longing to be in a place where they could once more experience God’s refreshment and security. This psalm acknowledges our need for spiritual nurture and our need to share together in our quest to become all the things God desires for God’s people to be.

God is the source of our strength. God is the source of our security. All of this is leading us to acknowledge the thought that underlays this whole psalm.

God as the source of our salvation.

Verse 10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.”

This verse gives me the impression that the author has lived a little. That he has had personal experience of what went on in the tents of the wicked. That he had spent a thousand days places elsewhere than the love of God could be found. That he had hit rock bottom and discovered that, even there, God still called his name and invited him home.

There is something so humble about his statement, “I’d rather be a doorkeeper.” A sense of, “Y’know I really don’t deserve the privilege of even being allowed in the sanctuary, let alone finding a welcome there.”

Reminds me of the story of the prodigal son, where after wasting his inheritance, he returns to the Father and says, I am not willing to be considered your Son, just let me be as one of Your servants.” And in that story, we know what happens. The Father looks at him, and says, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate." (Luke 15:24)

In our New Testament reading today, there are some people finding the actions and teaching of Jesus a little too much for them. Many are rejecting what He has to say and what He has to offer. So, Jesus tuns and asks Peter, “So… are you with them or are you with me?” We read “Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."    (John 6:68-69)

When we experience for ourselves the amazing love, grace and mercy of God, that can be found in Jesus Christ, it gives us a sense of, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It gives us a desire for worship and service and reveals how empty and inauthentic so many of life’s experiences can turn out to be. It reminds us that God alone is the source of our salvation.

Such a revelation causes our Psalmist to declare in his closing verse “O LORD of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in You.” The word “Happy” used there is the Hebrew word “Esher” often translated as “Blessed.”  

Folks, life can sometimes lead us into valleys. We all sometimes get sick, or have accidents, or are victims to things totally out of our control. This Psalm calls for us to bring all our concerns into the sphere of God’s concern, the place of God’s presence, the Sanctuary, because it is there that God inhabits the praises of God’s people.

We may feel only qualified to be the doorkeeper, we may feel like the outsider, we may wonder what place there truly is for us in the plans and purposes of God, but the further down that road we go, we often reach the place where like Peter we can only say, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

We continue as individuals and as a Church community to travel through days of uncertainty caused partly by a worldwide pandemic that has a nasty habit of interrupting our lives in the most unwelcome of ways.

Let us commit to continuing to travel together, knowing that God is the source of our strength, God is the source of our security and God is the source of our salvation.

And to God’s name be all praise and glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

The Bread Man

Readings: Psalm 51:1-12 , Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15, Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:35, 41-51
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, August 8, 2021

There were all sorts of people used to call at the house where I grew up in England. The milkman would bring the milk.  The paperboy would bring the Daily News.  The Postman would bring the mail.  The little grocery store around the corner would deliver fresh foods.  And there was also the Bread man.

The Bread man came in a big bread van, with a drop-down step at the back.  He usually only carried four products.  White Bread sliced, White bread un-sliced, Brown Bread sliced, and Brown bread un-sliced. But on Saturdays, something special. Long French loaves. Fresh baked rolls. Cakes and Apple Pies.  And, occasionally, if I'd been really good, mum would let me climb the steps, go in the van look around and choose something nice for supper. I can still smell the aroma of that fresh newly baked bread in the back of the van.  Delicious.

These days things are different.  You go to the supermarket and you are faced with a whole aisle of choices. Sliced, unsliced, white, brown, white bread that's really brown bread, bread for those on a diet, bread designed to enhance your energy. The list is endless!

Jesus tells the people in our reading that He is the 'Bread of Life'. He talks of the manna that the Hebrew people ate in the wilderness and compares Himself to that manna. He is bread that came down from heaven to nurture the people of God.

Bread sustains us. In the Lord's Prayer Jesus teaches us to pray that we may receive our daily bread. God knows we need material things for our physical well being.  Jesus also tells us that we cannot live by bread alone, but need every “Word” that comes from the mouth of God. That life is not just a matter of seeing that our physical needs are met, but that there is a spiritual side of us that also needs nurturing.

There are more than enough folk around to advise us on our eating habits. Here in the United States obtaining our daily bread is not a problem for most people. Maybe a culture like this should amend the Lords prayer to read, "Give us our daily bread .... and not a crumb more!"

Though materially wealthy, we can be spiritually bankrupt.  The abundance of things that we fill our days with tends to obscure the need to nurture the spiritual side of our lives. We have many, many distractions that save us from even having to think about the health of our souls.

In those moments when we do contemplate life’s deeper meaning, there is a bewildering spectrum of choices that we can pursue in order to become spiritually healthy. Jesus is not the only 'Bread of life' on offer to us in today’s world.

Maybe in days gone past things were less complex. Generally speaking many people in the United States were, to use the term in a broad sense, "Judeo/Christian."  Admittedly there was a choice of denominational brand names that you could identify with, but in general terms, if a person wanted to nurture their spiritual life, the Church (or synagogue) was the place where they would expect to turn.

That is no longer the case. These days there are more spiritual roads on offer that there are brands of bread on the shelves of King Kullen. There are differing forms of Christianity and Islam as well as Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu religions.  There are New Age philosophies, Wellness and Self-Awareness programs, there are secular philosophies that rule out the possibility of there even being a God; a thousand ways to satisfy the needs of your soul.

But was it that much different when Jesus spoke of Himself as being the bread of life? The Greeks and the Romans embraced many different philosophies.  Within Judaism there were different groups such as the Pharisees and Sadducee's.  

And for many folks the simple business of keeping bread on the table was one that occupied much of a person’s time.  Maybe things were not as different as we sometimes imagine! The "Way" that Jesus spoke of, the Kingdom He preached, was even then just one option among many.

The message of the church, from its birth in Jerusalem until the present, has been that Jesus Christ stands apart from all the others. That there is about Jesus a “uniqueness” that demands our attention.  That truly He is the “bread of life come down from heaven.” That commitment to Him fulfills our spiritual hunger in a way that nothing else can.

1. Jesus promises to satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst.

I heard a lady on the radio describe her experience of becoming a Christian. "It felt like coming home!" she said.  There was an old blues song that contained the line, "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child." Back in the sixties the Rolling Stones sang, "I can't get no satisfaction. And I tried, and I tried and I tried and I tried. But I can't get no.. satisfaction. No,no,no!"

Dissatisfaction, feelings of somehow being alienated, dispossessed or far from home are common features of many people’s lives. People try to deal with those feelings in all sorts of ways. Some just get by and presume that is the way things are meant to be.  Some try and party it out of their system.  Some just evolve ways of dealing with it. But the feeling is still there that maybe, there is more to life than this!

"Come to me" invited Jesus, "And I will give you rest." "I am the bread of life, He who comes to me will not hunger, He who believes in me will never thirst."  When we come to Jesus, we come home. We come to see how only He can satisfy the deepest needs of our souls. He encourages us to call on God in childlike faith, "Abba, Father."  No longer do we need to feel like parentless children.

2. Jesus is the Bread that nourishes.

In our bible reading we heard the people murmuring against the idea that Jesus might be the One who could meet their needs – “The bread of life indeed!” “We know who He is. Mary and Joseph's boy, that's all!”

As the people murmur away, Jesus reminds them that their forefathers had eaten the manna in the wilderness. Where were they now? Dead and gone. What He was offering was something more than physical sustenance.  He intended to nourish them, body, soul and spirit.  What He could offer was not temporary refreshment, but eternal life. He was the bread they could eat and not die!

Of course, He was not implying that they would never grow old or offering them some secret elixir of eternal youthfulness. Elsewhere Jesus proclaims, "I have come that you may have life, life in all its abundance."  But, predictably, the people looked on things at the surface level only. They were far too preoccupied with life to consider what really living might entail!

Today, when the challenge to become a disciple is issued, often the first question that forms in people’s minds is, "Well all this sounds very good, but what do I have to give up in order to get it!"  How pervasive is this idea that somehow we can do anything to earn the love of God. As though by our good behavior we can somehow slip into heaven.  That if only we give up this and do not do that then God will see us all right at the end of the day.

Wrong! There is nothing we can do to increase God's estimation of our worth. He loves us unconditionally.  It is a matter of Grace.  The Grace of God that is greater than our sin.  Asking, "What do we need to give up?" only reveals the emptiness of our souls.  That we still believe love is something we can earn, rather than a gift to be accepted and embraced.

Whatever God may ask us to give up is for a reason.  God has something better in store.  We entangle our lives in stupid, unfulfilled, empty, trivial things.  Jesus wants to nourish our soul that we become people who are richer, fuller, and more alive to God. God never asks us to give up something unless there is a better alternative. We do not always see it that way!

3. Jesus is the living Bread.

Jesus tells the crowd, "If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

The people do not understand that He is here talking of His crucifixion and resurrection. At first hearing it almost seems like some morbid invitation to cannibalism! Later many would understand that He came and gave His life on the cross of Calvary that His love would become the bread on which they could feed.

As Christians gather around communion tables and ponder those words about eating flesh and drinking blood, far from being some morbid remembrance, the actions and symbols of bread and wine, take on a deep significance. Under the touch and inspiration of the Holy Spirit every act of worship can be a renewing and enlightening influence that draws us closer to God.

I started out talking about the bread man that used to come to my mum’s house in his big bread van, and how I loved on a Saturday to be allowed to choose something special. The wonderful odor of newly baked bread!

There was only one way to really know if the bread was anything special. You had to eat it. You had to taste it.

Among the many religious and spiritual diets on offer in today’s world, there is only one way to discover if Jesus truly is the bread of life He claimed to be.  Follow Him for yourself.  

Take Him up on the terms He offers. Give your life over to His care because you have the faith that God's desire is for your life to enjoy God's richness.  Nourish your life on His Word, through Worship, through working for God's glory, through acts of service towards others, as the Holy Spirit enables you to do. through making the most of mission opportunities that God places in your path.

Hear God's invitation. To "Taste and See that the Lord is good!" Trust in the Bread Man who gave His life on a Cross that you may be free and forgiven, the One who was raised to life, that through the daily influence of the Holy Spirit, you may really live!

Hear again His unique claim, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger, he who believes in me shall never thirst!"

May the Holy Spirit lead us all to a deeper appreciation of God's love towards us!

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

EveryDay Miracles - Communion Service

 

 

 Readings: Psalm 51:1-12, Exodus 16:1-15; Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, MD, August 1, 2021

Our readings focused on 2 incidents, "Manna from Heaven" and Jesus teaching that He was "Bread of Life."  I'd like to offer some thoughts on what I'm calling "Everyday Miracles."

Let's start with the Hebrew people. You probably know the story of how Moses led them out of Egypt into the Wilderness and how once they were there they started to complain, "At least in Egypt we had something to eat! We're starving out here." Moses promises them that sustenance will come, meat for the evening and bread for the morning. And so it was, quail for supper and manna for breakfast.

"Give us meat" they said. The quail came and everybody said it was a miracle.

Yet sometimes maybe the miracle we observe, is not the miracle we expect. Let me explain. Without wanting to diminish the sense of wonder or the ability of God to do amazing things, we know that nature herself can be a source of amazing provision.

Quails are found in countless numbers on the shores of the Mediterranean and their annual migration is still an event that causes great excitement as they move in vast flocks towards Africa.  It's an exhausting flight, done in stages. When the birds stop to take a rest, they are so exhausted that they can easily be picked up and captured.

So maybe the miracle wasn't so much that the quail came, it seems they had an annual migration pattern, but rather that, as the people of Israel responded to the call of God, they were in that place, at that time, when the quails arrived and were easily picked up.

And then there is the manna. In the wilderness where the Israelites camped lives an insect known as Najacoecus Serpentinus. I'm not making this stuff up. Look it up on the internet. If it's on the internet, it has to be true. Right?

Now... the sap from the Tamarisk bush on which these insects feed is rich in carbohydrates but low in nitrogen.  In order to aquire enough nitrogen for their metabolism to operate properly, the Najacoecus Serpentinus consume an enormous amount of sap.  

The excess from this process passes from the insect in the form of honeydew excretions which the desert air changes into clumps of sticky solids, which turn a whitish yellow color.

These solid lumps are thought, by a number of bible commentators, to be the “manna” that the people of Israel collected and ate in the wilderness. The Hebrews called it a miracle. As with the quails, maybe the miracle wasn't so much that the manna was there, but that they were in that place, at that time, to receive it.  

Our lives continue to be surrounded by everyday miracles, many of which, if we work hard at it, can be found to have a rational explanation.  What we cannot explain though is how we happen to be in a certain place at a certain time when a certain thing, which has a certain outcome, takes place.

I cannot tell you, how many times, over many years of ministry, that as I've opened up to God in prayer and asked, “Lord, what's on Your agenda today?” I just happened to have been positioned in a situation where I could offer something.

This is something I learned early in my discipleship journey, not in seminary, but from ordinary people of faith. Long before I was a minster, as a young person, I was working on a job scheme, helping old folks tidy up their gardens. I recall visiting one particular lady, and she said, 'C'mon in when you have finished, I'll have your favorite cake ready.” (Which at that time just happened to be Ginger flavored.)

“That's strange,” I thought. “Firstly, you didn't know I was  coming today. Secondly, we have never met, so how would you know what my favorite cakes was?” But sure enough, when I went in, there was a piece of ginger cake! When I looked puzzled, the lady said, “Last night in my prayers, I asked God what to be ready for...and God put the idea in my head to provide ginger cake. As it's not my favorite, I figured it must be yours.”

A saintly lady of God, confined to her home, needing assistance to get through every single day... yet experiencing the faithfulness of and reality of God's presence and being a blessing to others!

For me that is that is the real miracle... the timing and provision of the Holy Spirit. Nothing less than the Grace of God. One of the essentials of discipleship is cultivating within ourselves the kind of spiritual sensitivity that discovers the sacred within the common occurrences of everyday life.

If we don't do that we will find ourselves in the same boat as the people in our New Testament reading, who came to Jesus and said to Him, "What miracle will you perform so that we may see it and believe in You? You know, our ancestors had manna in the desert!"

There they were, talking with Jesus, who was a flesh and blood sign of God's grace and presence in their midst, and they could not see it.  Instead they are saying, "Let God knock us off our feet, astound us... and then we will believe."

Wasn't it enough that Jesus had healed broken hearts, made outcasts acceptable and drowned fear with a flood of love?  Had they not already had overwhelming evidence of His capabilities?  Even if Jesus had done some Divine magic trick, would it have made any difference? They saw nothing and they felt nothing because they lacked the capacity to discover the sacred within the common-place.

Jesus tells them, "What God wants you to do is to believe in the One He has sent." What God desired for them was not that they seek for some blinding light or dramatic experience but that they wake up to the fact that in the flesh and blood of human existence and in the everyday miracles of grace and life, they could discover the miracle of God's presence.

That is something that I believe we have to do as well. For most of us, most of the time, life goes on in a very ordinary fashion. We are not looking for, or expecting miracles.  We are not expecting God to show up, because we are not always showing up for God! We allow our self sufficiency and pride to direct us, rather than recognizing our dependence on God's grace for every breath we take.

Before I left for some vacation time, last month the United States celebrated Independence Day. Somebody asked me if we have July 4th in my homelands of the United Kingdom. I told them of course we have it. July 4th is the day before July 5th. But do we celebrate an Independence Day holiday? Of course not. Losing that rebellion in the colonies wasn't exactly a high point in British history!

As people and nations we celebrate the good things, not the times we have lost out. That's why coming together as the people of God once a week for worship is so important for nurturing our Christian faith. We gather together to open our hearts and lives, to remind ourselves that without God, we are nothing, we have nothing and we need God's love, and God's Spirit and the message of Jesus Christ to experience the everyday miracles of grace.

 "What God wants you to do" says Jesus, "Is believe in the One He sent." When we fail to practice disciplines of daily prayer, and fail to take the time to make worship an important part of our routine, friends, we forget. We forget.

From time to time I like to do this. Repeat after me.
“There is a God”  “There is a God”  
“And it isn't me.” “And it isn't me”  

We don't need independence from God. We need to have a deeper dependence upon God. For our sake. For our families sake. For our communities sake. We cannot serve without being equipped for service, and it is in God's church that we are trained for service, called to practice loving each other, so we can love the world that Christ died for. Jesus came, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

The Hebrew people cried out to God "Help us out here in the Wilderness." God already had it all figured out.  The quails and the manna were there but it took an act of faith to realize it.  The people cried out to Jesus, "Show us a miracle and then we'll believe."  But the miracle had already taken place.  He was there, in flesh and blood, standing with them.  But they lacked the faith to believe it.

So what of us as we go about our ordinary lives?  Will we trust God to meet us in our needs?  Will we recognize Him in the everyday miracles that surround our daily lives?

We are here surrounded by the Grace of God in the presence of His people, past, present and to come. Every weekend God lays before us an opportunity to worship, to seek Him to share our lives with Him. Christ died for our sins and was raised to bring us new life.

This is no little thing.  Unless our hearts make it so.  We need to recognize that it is through the ordinary that God seeks to do the extraordinary. "What God wants you to do is believe in the One He sent".

Believe in the capability of God's Holy Spirit,
to take the common things of life and make them miraculous.
Believe that the Christian message is the message for your everyday life.
Believe that being a community of faith, in age of unbelief,
is a challenge to be embraced, and a goal to work towards.

As we share together in bread and wine
and worship and service
may God renew us
that we may help others
discover everyday miracles
within them and around their lives.
AMEN.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Mark My Words. "Shepherdless Sheep"

Readings: Psalm 89:20-37, 2 Samuel 7:1-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, Mark 6:30-34
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on July 18 2021

We can get so busy.  There are a hundred things to do and not enough days to do them all.  People’s needs press in on us and we are not sure if we can cope.  We travel through different experiences and do not always have the time to evaluate them or consider how they have affected us.

The Good News is that God recognizes our need for time and space for ourselves, our need to be "far from the madding crowd."  After their Missionary journeys, Jesus invites the disciples, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest awhile".

The not so good news for the disciples was that this did not happen straight away. Jesus recognized they needed a break. But then the crowds pressed in. Jesus could have sent the crowds away.  Instead, the heart of Jesus is moved with great love towards them. As Mark tells it, (verse 34) "He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd."

The disciples witness two great miracles - the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus coming to them across the water during a storm.  At the time both happened, the disciples were still hoping for a break.  In retrospect, they must have looked back and been glad that they did not get one!

This passage tells us that there are times when compassion drives us to look beyond even our legitimate needs.  It is not that God doesn’t know we need space to be the people of God. But there are people with greater needs than us.  If we look at them through the eyes of Jesus, we might just witness a miracle! Our time for renewal will come, but their time of need may not be able to wait.

The disciples had their lives in the care of the shepherd, but the crowds are described as 'shepherdless sheep.' The need of the crowd was deeper than that of the disciples.  Though weary and exhausted, compassion is the adrenalin that motivates Jesus to teach the crowds of His Father's ways. The sheep needed their shepherd. To be a sheep without a shepherd was to live a precarious existence.  Let me suggest three reasons, why shepherdless sheep are objects of God's compassion.

1. A Shepherdless Sheep easily loses the way.

Sheep are prone to wander.  Sheep are pack animals that will follow any other sheep that appears to be heading somewhere, without questioning where they may end up.  That is why the field a sheep lives in is enclosed by fences.

"All we like sheep have gone astray" laments the prophet Isaiah (53:6). There is an inbuilt tendency in all of us to drift away from God. We spend much of our lives looking for others to guide us, but we do not always take the time to consider where they may be leading us.  Humans, like sheep, are pack animals. We are communal beings who need each other to live contented lives.

Life can be very bewildering. We reach a point of decision and don't know what to decide.  We come to a crossroads and don't know which way to turn.  We wait to see which way everybody else is going and join them, in the presumption that it must be the right way, because everybody else is headed there.

Sometimes we take the time out to consider questions like "Why am I here?" or "Where is my life headed?", but most of the time we don't. And even when we do we don't always have an answer. We can be like the motorist who stopped his car, looked around and said, "I don't know where I am, but wherever it is, it's not where I want to be!"

We need a shepherd to guide us. Jesus offers to be that Shepherd.  His Word offers signposts that guide the Way.  As we learn of the ways people of God before learned to live God's way, so we can walk in those ways for ourselves. As we discover how people of God have made their decisions, so we take confidence that God can also guide our decisions that we make the right choices, even when the crowd is heading off in the opposite direction.

If we allow Jesus to lead us, then we are no longer sheep without a shepherd.

2. A Shepherdless Sheep has a bad diet.

Sheep cannot consume anything they like without suffering the consequences. The professional sheep farmer ensures that the field in which their sheep live is free of plants that could harm them.  The sheep’s diet is supplemented by different feeds that maintain health and help growth. Like humans, sheep are prey to many different diseases and receive inoculations and preventative treatment to avoid them.

Turn on the TV or pick up a magazine and you can be sure, sooner or later, food will get a mention.  When it comes to food, we are a diet conscious people. We want to know not only what tastes good and looks good but also what is good for us. We know that what we put in our stomachs effects the way we live.  If we don't take care, then we suffer for it.

We even have tablets to take when our lifestyle causes us to eat badly - numerous remedies for heartburn, indigestion, constipation, overeating, under eating and so on. Even when we have a bad diet, we take steps to supplement it so that appears to our stomachs to be a good diet!

The tragedy is that though we are so conscious of our physical diet, we can be so indiscriminate in what we feed our hearts, minds, and souls upon. We fail to make the connection between the diet we spiritually consume with the condition of our health.

William Barclay writes in his commentary on Mark, "We need the strength which can keep us going, we need the inspiration which can lift us out of ourselves and above ourselves.  When we seek it elsewhere our minds are still unsatisfied, our hearts are still restless and our souls are still unfed. We can only gain strength for life from Him who is the living Bread!"

There is a lot of mindless junk food to feed upon in the field of this world. If we are indiscriminate in what we feed upon, it will result in spiritual indigestion. Maybe we can take our guidance from the tablets Moses brought down from the mountain. The Ten Commandments certainly offer good boundary fences to surround our lives with.

 Fences are important not just for what they keep in, but also for what they keep out.
 A Shepherdless Sheep has a bad diet, a shepherdless Sheep easily loses its way, and thirdly;

3. A Shepherdless Sheep is defenseless.

A sheep in Jesus time was easy prey for other animals.  As an animal it has little to protect itself with.  Mother nature has not blessed it with the greatest of defense mechanisms. It’s slow and wooly. It doesn’t have viscous teeth or claws. “Baa” is not a war cry!

A fence provides a boundary to enclose the sheep for their protection. In Jesus day the sheep would spend the night in the sheepfold and the shepherd would sleep across the door to prevent anything taking their lives. It was the shepherd’s job to guard the sheep.

It is good practice to build a fence around our own lives. Not literally, but I mean by setting boundaries. We can do that in all sorts of ways. One of the simplest ways is by cultivating good habits that slowly integrate their way into our lives.

Making time in our schedule every day for devotion and prayer, keeps us focused on the God who is always present. Regularly supporting a particular cause or concern keeps us focused on situations outside of ourselves. Regular attendance at church gives our week a focus that we otherwise easily lose.

But there are even simpler things. Like always counting to ten before we respond to a situation that is aggravating us. Like slowing down. Like being more aware of our surroundings. Like allowing God to be the One who makes the judgment calls, rather than setting ourselves up as God's authority. Like listening before we give our opinion. Like practicing simple virtues such as kindness and courtesy and tolerance.

Such simple practices build a fence around our lives in the sense that they nurture us spiritually and help us to see situations in a different light, because we are coming from a safe place, a quiet place, rather than from a place of turmoil and anxiety.

We also need to recall the promises of scripture in such a way as we make them our own. Words of Jesus. 'I will never leave you or forsake you' “I am always with you" 'I am the Good Shepherd who lays His life down for His sheep.' There is no shortage of words and phrases that we can call to mind when we are going through difficult times... or even when we are enjoying the best of times.

We'll be using the 23rd psalm as our affirmation of faith this morning, and one of the features of that wonderful poem is the way it is appropriate for so many different occasions in our lives, from their beginning to their end. I have heard it read at Christenings, at Baptisms, at Weddings, at the bedside of those critically ill, on battlefields, at picnics, at funerals, on occasions of national celebration or mourning, at times of dedication... the list goes on.

The Psalm is an affirmation that we are not shepherdless sheep. We do not walk through this world alone. 

There is One to...

 guide us, 

lead us, 

protect us, 

feed us, 

heal us,

 inspire us, 

move us,

 shake us, 

restore us, 

hold us, 

comfort us, 

clothe us, 

eat with us, 

protect us, 

and surround our lives with 

goodness and mercy and righteousness.

Jesus looks with compassion on all people. Jesus has compassion for us. Jesus wants to be our shepherd.  

Will we let His Word be our Guide?  Will we guard ourselves from feeding on the empty diet of this world and seek to be nourished by His Holy Spirit?  Will we allow God to surround our lives by resting our lives in the palm of God’s hand? None of us need to be shepherdless sheep. We have a Savior in the Lord Jesus Christ.

To God's name be all the glory. Amen.

Affirmation of Faith: 23rd Psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures.
 He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Mark my Words. "Beware The Toxins of Herod"

 

Readings: Psalm 24, 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12-19, Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark: 6:14-29
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, July 11 2021

In many Bibles and commentaries, our gospel passage from Mark is given the title 'The death of John the Baptist'. But it is not really about John. It is about King Herod. We may, in our better moments, wish to identify with John. John is the victim. John is the one who has done nothing wrong and makes a stand for what is right. John is the hero and the martyr.

Most of us here today are neither victims or likely to become martyr's. We are the ones with power. Power to choose. Power to decide. Power to create lives that have meaning and influence. If our life situation is to be identified with anybody in the account, it should probably be Herod.

Whilst we may identify with Herod's situation we probably do not want to be identified with his character. Though incredibly powerful he turns out to be weak, compromised, and dangerous. The word 'toxin' when used in chemical terms, describes a substance that is capable of causing injury or death. Hence our sermon title: “Beware the Toxin's of Herod”.

In the life of  Herod we observe a whole trinity of toxins!

•    The danger of toxic relationships
•    The delusive power of toxic environments
•    The dilemma of toxic choices.

The danger of toxic relationships

Pop-singer Britney Spears once had a hit song called 'Toxic' in which she sang of the attraction she had for the wrong sort of guy. With poetry that you only find in dance charts she sings; 'With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride, You're toxic, I'm slipping under! With a taste of poison paradise, I'm addicted to you, Don't you know that you're toxic?' I was going to invite Thomas to make that an anthem this morning, but... maybe not.

Herod was in a toxic relationship with his wife Herodias. Herodias was his brother’s wife... and that is where all the trouble started.  Because when John the Baptist found that Herod had taken his brother's wife as his own, he spoke out about it. Herodias did not want to hear what John had to say, and through her incessant nagging, she persuaded Herod to have John arrested and put in prison. When it came to John, King Herod was completely paranoid. He was drawn to John's message like a moth to a flame. He knew John was in the right.

Verses 19 and 20 in the Message Bible picture the tensions in the story quite clearly.  “Herodias, smoldering with hate, wanted to kill John, but she didn't dare because Herod was in awe of John. Convinced that he was a holy man, he gave him special treatment. Whenever he listened to him he was miserable with guilt—and yet he couldn't stay away. Something in John kept pulling him back. “

For his birthday Herod throws a party and everybody who is anybody is invited. As she witnesses Herod's behavior, Herodias finds an opportunity to have John silenced for good.

The whole sad story begins with a relationship that never should have been. Herod's relationship with Herodias. The lady is toxic. In church we often talk about reaching out to everybody with the gospel and how all are welcome at our table. We do not always talk about boundaries and the danger that exists when relationships go bad.

Maybe we are not aware of the statistics regarding domestic violence, maybe we naively believe that somehow, we are a strong enough character not to allow toxic people to influence our decisions. But the truth is that certain relationships can be a curse rather than a cause of celebration. 

We must take care that our relationships do not cause us to compromise what we believe. Herod believed John to be in the right. Because of his desire to be in a relationship with Herodias, he did the wrong thing. He ignored his own conscience and went along with her.

We need to be careful who we make our closest friends. We need to get out of relationships that are dragging us down. Relationships that are causing us to compromise on what we know is right. Relationships that are causing harm. Once things start going crazy, it is not just ourselves who are hurt, but conflict spills over into every other relationship that we have in our life, including our relationship with God.

Which leads into a second observation. We need to be aware of...

The delusive power of toxic environments

Singer/Songwriter Randy Newman had a song that was a number 1 hit in 1970 for Three Dog Night 'I've seen so many things, That I ain't never seen before, I don't know what it is, But I don't wanna see no more... Mama told me not to come, Mama told me not to come, She said that ain't no way to have fun, Mama told me not to come.”

I am fairly sure that Randy Newman wasn't writing about this particular passage in Mark, but I tell you, if I was at a party where, following a dancing girls’ performance, they bring out a prophets severed head on a silver plate... I'd be singing along, '.Mama told me not to come.”  It is not enough to just watch who we are knowing. We also need to watch where we are going.

There are parties... and there are parties. I do not believe there is anything wrong with having a dance to celebrate a birthday with friends or a good company and a glass of wine. But there was something more than an innocent celebration going on here. Things were getting out of control.

Whilst the text does not suggest there was anything salacious about the young girls dancing, it appears to have been interpreted that way by Herod. His judgment is impaired by too much drink. He has no idea that he is being manipulated. He starts making promises that he could not possibly fulfill. 'Just dance for me one more time ...  I will give you anything you desire.”

No sooner has he said it than Herodias sweeps down like an eagle on her prey. “Ask for the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter” she goads the daughter.  Herod looks around at his guests.  He is afraid of what people will make of him if he goes back on his word. So, with a wave of the hand, it was done. Executioners are sent to do the dirty deed and return with their gruesome prize. What happened next at the party we do not know. I am not even sure I want to know!  'That ain't no way to have fun, Mama told me not to come.’

Sometimes we find in ourselves in situations where we feel we are out of our depth. We feel pressure from family, friends, or peers to behave in certain ways. We may let our guard down more than we should by relaxing more than we had intended. At such times we should remind ourselves that there are situations when we must walk away. And there is no shame in doing that.

And that does not just apply to parties. In the workplace, in a school or college setting, when people are joking around, even just being out with friends or colleagues, if something in our spirit witnesses that this just is not right, it is OK to walk away. 

It does not mean that we do not care or that we are being judgmental.Events can turn toxic. And when they do, we do not need to be there! Just as there are toxic relationships that we need to avoid so there are toxic situations we need to walk away from.  Or better still avoid getting into in the first place.

We also need to be alert to the simple truth that not everybody has our best interest at heart. I admit it, I can be “Mr. Gullible.” I often presume the best about people. If they spin me a sad tale as to why they need my help, I do not always ask the right questions. And then I have those “DANG” moments when I realize I have been taken for a ride.

Herod thinks he is being generous offering this dancing girl whatever she wanted. He is just being had. He is just being taken advantage of. Never underestimate people’s powers of persuasion. Remember the old adage “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!' And once our guard is down... then we make bad decisions. This account also warns us about...

The dilemma of toxic choices.

One of Herod's failings is that when he is called upon to compromise, he gets his priorities completely messed up. About marrying his brother's wife? No compromise. About locking up John. Total compromise. 

Herod knows he is doing the wrong thing. And then there is the question of his honor. Should he have made a compromise and declared that the death of a good man was more of a wrong than losing face with his guests? Yes. That is what he should have done. But rather than compromise on a drunken promise, he instead has a man executed!

The choices we make can be toxic. Maybe not quite as toxic as Herod's but nevertheless, we are daily faced with choices about what we support, where we shop, what causes we support, how we spend our leisure time... and on and on. Herod is not a puppet.

 Throughout the whole story Herod has choices. As do we. But he is weak. He makes all the wrong decisions. The story starts out with him choosing what he is going to believe about Jesus Christ. People tell us that it does not matter what we believe. That is not true. Because if we get it wrong about Jesus then that decision effects everything else that we do.

Some days after the party King Herod is learning about Jesus. People are expressing their opinions about who Jesus is. 'He's a prophet' 'He's a phenomenal teacher' 'He's a healer' 'He's Elijah”. Herod is fixed on his own idea. Jesus was not any of those things. Jesus was  John the Baptist, raised from dead, and come back to haunt him.  

Herod is riddled with guilt and remorse for his actions. He cannot get John out of his mind. His disturbed mental state means he has no comprehension of the Kingdom Jesus was bringing into being. He is so pre-occupied with his own assumptions that he gets it all wrong about the one who could have been his savior.

The question of who we believe Jesus may be and how we deal with all the conflicting information we hear, is one that each of us must work through. There is always a danger of being blinded by our assumptions or of reflecting too much on our own failures, that we fail to see how God can help us. I personally believe that if we turn honestly and openly towards God, God's Holy Spirit can help us make the right decisions and reveal to us things we may be missing.

So, there we have it! We have covered some ground this morning. Britney Spears, Three Dog night. Dancing girls. Parties. Silver plates. Be-headings and Beliefs. I am not really sure how to conclude other than repeating again my sermon title 'Beware the toxins of Herod!'

• Be alert to the danger of toxic relationships. Get out of them.
• Be aware of the delusive power of toxic environments. Avoid them.
• And be sensitive to the dilemma of toxic choices.
• Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. You can't trust Herod, but you can trust in Jesus! Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.