Sunday 6 December 2015

Luke 23-24 - The End is Where we Start From

We’ve made it to the bitter end!  Though come to think of it the end is not so bitter after all!  Far from it, the end is where we start from.

But make no mistake about it – the end we reach in Luke 23 is far from sweet.  Bitter is a feeble way to describe it.  It seems to be the very end from which there can be no beginning.

The end we reach in Luke 23 takes us back to the beginning of Luke’s Gospel story.  Luke was quite clear where the ministry of Jesus began.

Luke 4:14-15:

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

It’s in Nazareth that he was given the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

And when the people gathered together in that place turned against him he left them in no doubt at all – he identifies himself as ‘a prophet’.  Luke 4:24

From Galilee that prophetic ministry that ushered in the very kingdom and rule of God took him on a long journey to Jerusalem and on a collision course with the Herod whose jurisdiction was over Galilee who wanted to kill him (Luke 13:31).  He was clear about this prophetic task ushering in the Kingdom of God – “Today, tomorrow and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from jerusaloem.”  He knew full well Jerssalem was the city that kills prophets. Luke 13:33.

And so it came to pass as Luke 23 opens.  The powers that be in Jerusalem are all too aware of Jesus’s concerted prophetic ministry that has been directed at the way they have exercised their power.

When the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. 2They began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.’ 3Then Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ He answered, ‘You say so.’ 4Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ‘I find no basis for an accusation against this man.’ 5But they were insistent and said, ‘He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.’

In the words of Jesus’s accusers – that’s the journey Jesus has made – and on the way he has been setting about his prophetic task ushering in the kingdom of God. – from Galilee where it all began, throughout all Judea even to this place.

It is at this point that Jesus is handed over to the one he had been warned was out to kill him, the one he had described in no uncertain terms as ‘that fox’.

His silence in the face of accusation angers herod even more – and Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then Herod put an elegant robe on him and sent him back to Pilate, making a friendship with Pilate the procurator.

The sentence is pronounced.

When they came to the place that was called The Skull, the crucified Jesus there with the criminals one on his right and one on his left.

Back there at the start in Nazareth initially when Jesus spoke “all spoke well of him and were amazed at the words of grace that came from his mouth.”

Now as the end is very nearly upon us it is once again words of grace that come from Jesus’s mouth.  The most wonderful words.  The moment of tortured death becomes the moment of grace and forgiveness and renewal and peace.

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

What forgiveness!  What grace!

One criminal  taunted him, the other appealed to him.  His words could be ours ... as we turn once more to this Jesus.

“Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And more words of grace come from jesus’ lips.

Truly I tell you today you will be with me in Paradise.

And then that final prayer.  Yet more words of grace.

Father into your hands I commend my spirit.

Into your hands – that wonderful prayer that is the prayer of Jesus we can so often echo.

Luke 24:44-56

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last. 47When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’ 48And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. 49But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
The Burial of Jesus

50 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, 51had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. 52This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. 54It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. 55The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

 We have come to the end.  And there is a quiet, a peace.

But as we know full well.  It is not the end.

On his journeys through the cities and villags of Galilee and on that journey to Jerusalem Jesus had not been alone.  (Luke8:1-3)

The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
These are the women who are there on the first day of the week at early dawn.

These are the women who found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

These are the women who hear the voice of the angel declaring he is risen.

These are the women who hear the voice of the angel reminding them of all he had said on his travels:

‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’

These are the women.

Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

And as for the men?

But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

Though Peter did go to the tomb.

And then that evening at Emmaus “he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it’ to those two travellers who had been prepared to welcome the stranger to their home.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him.

They had their own journey to make to Jerusalem.  And when they got there that evening Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

You might have thought the story has now come to its climax.

Not a bit of it.

It’s only just beginning.

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance, a whole new way of thinking about life and the world,  and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

Jerusalem is where the Gospel had begun.  Right back in chapter 1 with Zechariah serving his time at the temple and hearing of the birth of the one who would  be John the Baptist.

Jerusalem is where the Gospel had begun as the Christ child is presented to Simeon and to Anna, that woman who herself was a prophet and had been the very first to speak about Jesus to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke 24:50-53

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

The end is where we start from.

Luke goes on to tell how it all began there in Jerusalem with the outpouring of the Spirit and then the spread of the Jesus Way from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

The end is where we start from.

Drawing on that power of the Holy Spirit we have a task – to take on that prophetic mantle, to get people to have a whole new way of thinking about the world, to share those wonderful words of grace, those words of forgiveness, and to open up a whole new way of living rooted in love for God, love for neighbour and love for enemy too.

It’s up to us to work that out in the living of our lives.

The end is where we start from.

In a moment we are going to hear the story of one remarkable woman who has given her life to doing just that – and who we are going to be supporting in our communion collection and in our Christmas collection.


But first we are going to sing a paraphrase of the Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s song when Jesus was presented to him and to Anna in the temple back at the start of the story.

Sunday 29 November 2015

Luke 22 - The end is where we start from

It caught my eye when I first saw it.

It caught Andrea’s eye too…and so we are going to use it for our children’s Nativity service on the 20th December.

As I began my preparations for today’s service on Friday it caught my eye again as a copy fell through my door.

Bob Hartman is a story teller.  When he was the main speaker at one of our church leaders conferences a couple of years ago he was a real inspiration.  He held everyone’s attention from start to finish!

He it was who put together a wonderful children’s bible called the Story Teller’s Bible.  It was taken on board by Open the Book which in turn has been taken under the wing of the Bible Society.  Our Open the Book team is one of thousands up and down the country who take Bible stories into schools week by week: they go into Oakwood school and have a wonderful time.  The stories they use are Bob Hartman’s.

And so we decided to use his telling of the Nativity story – simply called The Christmas Poem.

It’s a relling of the nativity with a twist, however.  It takes the story beyond the stable into the life of Jesus and beyond the life of Jesus to the death of Jesus and beyond the death of Jesus to the resurrection.  And it is all about turning what is sad into glad … again and again.

It’s great fun … and it should make a great re-telling of the Nativity for our Nativity service.

It set my mind thinking and has given me a theme for this year’s Advent services.  It’s what I am going to share on Sunday mornings but it also is very appropriate on Sunday evenings too.

At first it seems to be a disconnect.  It doesn’t work.  It’s not appropriate.  IT doesn’t fit with the neatness of the church calendar.

Having started rading through the Gospel according to St Luke at the beginning of the year and having had a break in the midle of the year we find ourselves coming to the end of the Gospel just as Advent is beginning.

It doesn't seem quite right to be reading in chapter 22 of the plot to kill Jesus, of the institution of the Lord’s Supper, of the dispute about greatness, of the way Jesus predicted Peter would deny him, of the challenge to the 12 to take but purse, bag and sword, of the prayer of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, Father, if you are willing take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.

As Advent begins and we prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas it seems out of sorts to be telling the story of the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.  But this is where our story has brought us.

And there is a strange and moving appropriateness to it all.

The whole point of Christmas is in the whole life of Jesus, in his death and in his resurrection.  And so we turn to that moment when Peter denied his Lord.

Luke 22:54-71

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, ‘This man also was with him.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’ A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ Then about an hour later yet another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.

 Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ‘Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?’ They kept heaping many other insults on him.

 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. They said, ‘If you are the Messiah, tell us.’ He replied, ‘If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.’ All of them asked, ‘Are you, then, the Son of God?’ He said to them, ‘You say that I am.’ Then they said, ‘What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!’

In Luke’s telling of the Gospel story of Jesus there is pain at the very outset in the build up to the birth, in the birth itself and throughout the ministry of Jesus.

It’s a couple in Jerusalem of very elderly people who  had been watching and waiting, watching and waiting, watching and waiting all the years of their life.

It was Simeon who saw in the Christ child the pain of all that would happen … and yet somehow knew that pain would usher in great peace and great blessing.

 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

Buyt then it was 84 year old widow, Anna who did something remarkable.  She was a prophet – she, a woman, and she it was who declared the Gospel for the very first time.

At that moment she came and began to praise God and to speak about this child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

That too is a foretaste of how the Gospel story finishes.

Whoa are the first at the tomb that Easter morning?

Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

And what was it they had to tell?  These women in what they declared to the apostles.

Nothing less than the message of the angels –

 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’

That’s the wonderful message entrusted to the women

In the beginning is a foretaste of the ending.

And in the ending there is a new beginning.

What a wonderful message to share on what is for me a very special day in quite a special year.

The year I marked what would have been my father’s 100th birthday taking Grandson Lake to the house where he was born.

 The year I marked the 150th anniversary of our family in Patagonia.

And today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of my Great Great Grand Father’s brother’s wife’s sister.

Quite a mouthful!

My Great Great Grand-father’s brother and his wife emigrated to Patagonia.  His wife’s parents and two of his sisters were buried in the same graveyard.  And the husband of another in a much finer grave.

It was that other sister who in the late 1860’s had emigrated to the USA as a young girl just turned 20.  She went at the invitation of the United Welsh Societies because she had a wonderful way with words – a poet and a preacher she could preach with a real inspiration.  And she did.  Throughout the States in Welsh Communities – she married and in the late 1880’s was ordained in the Welsh Congregational Church in Waterstown, Wisconsin – the first woman minister to be ordained in that state.

And it was 100 years ago today that she died.

Her son by then had become a significant figure in government circles and went on to  be part of Woodrow Wilson’s team at Versailles after the first world war, campaigned for Roosevelt’s election as President and then served as Ambassador to Moscow just before the Second world war, becoming Harry S Truman’s special envoy to Winston Churchill after the second world war.

Wonderful family stories – but most of all the passion for preaching – sharing the wonderful good news of Jesus Christ and the difference he makes in the lives of us all.

The Good news is captured in those words of TS Eliot

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. …

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Isn’t that the case?! It’s as we arrive at the end of the Jesus story that we really understand the beginning.  And it is only as we remember the ending that is a new beginning that we grasp all that the beginning actually meant.

Almost the last word is given by T.S.Eliot to another woman preacher.  A remarkable woman who lived in Norwich 600 years and more ago.  Julian of Norwich.

For me it sums up this year a message of certainty in a world of uncertainty.  A certainty that we need to hold on to as we discover the full meaning of the Christmas story by paying attention to the ending of the story only to find that’s the beginning of something new.

And the words TS Eliot wrote into the troubled world of the 1930’s?

And all shall be well
And all manner of thing shall be well.

That’s what I want to hold on to this Christmas.









Sunday 22 November 2015

Luke 21 - Apocalypse Now!

Reading Luke's Gospel as a Book

Books are in again!  There was a moment three or four years ago when the Kindle seemed to have won the day and sales of books plummeted.  And then the novelty wore off and this last year sales of books have soared.  There’s something about reading a book, having it in your hand, you know how much you’ve read, how much there is to go – it has a feel to it, even a smell.  It’s not quite the same to read at the bottom of your electronic screen that you’re up to 60% of the book.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Edna Price at the moment – not at all well in hospital, and member of Highbury’s book clubs for fifty years and more!  It was great seeing Heather’s little pile in the office of the minutes of the book club stretching back to the 1960’s.

Jesus the Prophet

You need to get the feel of Luke’s gospel as a book.  We’re nearly at the end!  Chapter 21 and there are three chapters to go … and we all know what’s in store.  Of the twenty chapters we have read so far, ten of them – that’s nearly half the whole book have been devoted to Jesus’s fateful journey to Jerusalem.

And it was fateful.

There was a moment half way through the journey when a group of sympathetic Pharisees – yes, sympathetic Pharisees: they weren’t all hostile! – came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”

But Jesus was resolute.  He was not going to be put off.  He knew he had to go to Jerusalem, and thre was nowhere else for him to go.

“Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.  Yet today, tomorrow and the next day I must be on my way because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”

Pretty powerful stuff.  He is pretty scathing about Herod.  Dangerous thing to say when you think what Herod had done to John the Baptist – he had beheaded him.

One thing Jesus said there is really significant.  You have to really understand it in order to appreciate what Jesus does when he gets to Jerusalem.

Jesus describes himself as ‘a prophet’.

But what is a prophet?

The Prophet's Task - a critique of the past, an analysis of the present and a forecast for the future

One fascinating thing to do in the Old Testament is to weave the story of the Prophets whose books make up the last third of the Old Testament with the books that tell the story of the kingdom of Israel and after their division, the kingdoms of the North and the South.  The books of Samuel and Kings.

The prophets are the ones who challenge the powers that be, who challenge the king – that’s why their task is so important in Jerusalem – for that’s where power lay.

Prophets speak about the past, the present and the future.  But the future they speak of is not just based on random or even on God inspired predictions.  They sense God’s inspiration in their hearts as they offer a critique of what’s happened in the past, an analysis of what’s happening in the present, putting their finger on what is going wrong under the rule of the the current king, and a forecast of what’s in store:  if things carry on as they are then is is what’s going to happen.  Change your ways and then things will work out differently in this way.

Modern Prophets are the Think tanks who offer a critiqe of the past, an analysis of the present and a forecast for the future

The equivalent of the Kings, the powers that be today are the politicians, the government.  The equivalent of the prophets are the campaigning think tanks.  They are the ones who offer a critique of the past, an analysis of the present.  They point out the consequences of following current policies and suggest ways to change that will lead to a better future.   Keep on doing things this way and this will happen.  Change your ways and that will happen.

Jesus the Prophet offers a critique of the past, an analysis of the present and a forecast for the future

 What happens when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem is exactly what you might expect remembering what he wanted those Pharisees to go and tell that fox, Herod!

Rounding the corner and seeing the city he wept over it, saying “If you even you had only recognised on this day the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

What incensed him more than anything else was what Herod and his successors had done with the temple – the once simple yet imposing house of prayer had been demolished and re-built as an opulent, extravagant building Herod the Great had hoped would become one of the wonders of the world – in that monstrous project they had succeeded only in turning what should have been a house of prayer into a den of thieves.

And a lot of the problem had to do with money.  The waste of money in building the temple project could only be acquired by massive imposition on ordinary people – that’s why Jesus dealt so harshly with the money changers in the temple.

As day by day he returns to the Temple the authorities tried to catch him out with their hostile questioning.  They watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

Jesus' Critique of the Past and Analysis of the Present

It was the ruling class – the people in charge in Jerusalem, those in power, that Jesus was most scathing of.  But it’s easy to miss how scathing Jesus was.  His anger was in his tone of voice.  And you don’t always spot that on the page of a book.

It was wonderful celebrating Jocelyn’s 100th birthday- I was recalling that occasion when Jocelyn and Christabel first came to church and my embarrassment.  I had only just plagiarised a book Christabel had written.  I had written for permission, the reply came back not known at this address, and so I copied some exercises from her book on public speaking into some notes I was putting together to train preachers in the use of their voice.

The exercise I remember invited you to say a single sentence in ten different ways – using your voice to indicate how you might say it.

Christabel graciously gave me a newer edition of her book, ‘Sounding out your voice and speech.”  One exercise I seem to remember involved saying the same sentence in 10 different ways – in a kindly way, in an angry way, in a sarcastic way, in a helpful way, in a sceptical way.

The words remain the same – the meaning changes because of the way the words are spoken.

Take the first four verses of Luke 21.  It’s the loveliest of stories because we are so used to it being read in the loveliest of ways.

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, in the loveliest tone of voice that shows just how much he comens the wonderful generosity of that poor widow.  ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’

Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee.

Elsie Chamberlain, first woman chaplain to the forces, broadcaster who pioneered live worship broadcasts on the radio and one-time President of the Congregational Federation, used to loathe the hymn – because congregations would sing it lustily and not mean it …

Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold!  Don’t you believe it, Elsie would say!

I still like the hymn – but Elsie has made me really think about that verse.  And about that widow.

Go back three verses and start the passage there. Use the same words but speak them in a very different tone of voice

In the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, in an angry tone of voice outraged at the burden imposed on this woman that while the wealthy can give apparently generous gifts without it impacting on their the way they lived their lives, she is expected to give everything she’s got even though it means she ends up destitute.:  ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’  How disgraceful!

There is a growing tension as Luke 20 ends and Luke 21 begins.  Jesus is offering a critique of what’s gone wrong in the past, an analysis of what’s going wrong in the present, and he forecasts that if the powers that be carry on  in that way it will lead inexorably to devastating destruction.

Jesus' forecast for the future for his generation

Jesus looks at what’s going on.  He sees that it is arousing the kind of discontent that will lead people to take up arms against the Romans.  Some of those hotheads, the zealots, are among his closest disciples.  They really are sons of thunder.  But he can see that when that happens the Roman power will obliterate the temple, in spite of how splendid it seems and destroy the city in spite of how impregnable it appears.

It’s as if the seeds of its downfall are contained within what is happening now.

 They key to understanding what Jesus goes on to say is in verse 32 Truly I tell you this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.”

To get his point across he couches his language in the vivid end-of-the world language that was characteristic of apocalyptic writing.  But it is essentially an analysis of what’s going wrong now and a forecast of what the consequences will be for that generation if they carry on that way.

Jesus' call to us to have a prophetic voice today that offers a critique of the past, an analysis of the present and a forecast for the future

I believe these verses speak very powerfully to us today – in the horrors that are going on in the world, in things like climate change.  But I do not believe that’s because we as Christians should be looking to the end of the world at the moment.  But rather we should be having a prophetic voice, as Jesus had a prophetic voice, we should provide a critique of what has happened, an analysis of what is happening and then propose ways forward that will be in accordance with God’s way of doing things and lead.  On the sharing or the world’s resources, on climate change, on society.  And on the response to make to ISIS.  There are different points of view – feed into that thinking.  Where do you stand and tell our MP Alex Chalk where you stand.

ISIS - a critique of the past, an analysis of the present and a proposal for the future

The critique of the past I would share is that the bombing wars in response to the terrorism of 9/11 have not made the world more secure but have created the current situation.  My analysis of the present is that to engage in bombing wars again will make things even worse and lead to more atrocities.  My proposal as an alternative is to spend the money you would spend on bombing on increased domestic security in policing and intelligence, on strengthening the cohesion of society and with determination working together as a community without succumbing to fear.

Those are my views.  We each of us here will have our own views.  To be true to the spirit of Jesus in Luke 21 I believe we should exercise our prophetic voice and make our views known to the powers that be – contact Alex Chalk or whoever your MP is.

How will it all end?  All will be well, all  manner of things will be well

But there’s more.  With the critique of the past, the analysis of the present and the forecast for the future Jesus gives comes also some very significant input into the way people should think in the middle of troubled times.  We must take heart, take courage, keep watch, and the bottom line of his thoughts is that we can be assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus for in answer to that sometimes frightening question, - how’s it all going to end? -  we can have that assurance that ultimately in God’s time, in God’s way all will be well, all manner of things will be well.

The critique of the past and the analysis of the present has already started – there’s a little bit more of that and then we come to the forecast for the future.

Luke 21 - Jesus' Apocalypse for his generation and his call for our generation

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’

The awful thing was that the powers that be did not listen.  The armed wing of Jewish resistance actually won the argument and thirty five years later succeeded in ousting the Romans from Jerusalem.  Only to find the Roman legions coming down with untold power to destroy the temple and the city in AD 70.

But that’s to anticipate!  In the early 30’s Jesus’s listeners could scarcely believe what he said,

 They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ 

And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and, “The time is near!” Do not go after them.

And now as verse 32 shows he uses end-of-the world language to speak about what’s going to happen in that generation – in the next 40 years.

 ‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’

Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

 ‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Can you see the encouragement Jesus gives.  Take heart, be not afraid, in the words of Julian of Norwich all will be well, all manner of things will be well.

But continue in the way you are going  and what is going to happen will happen.

 ‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfilment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The grounds for the confidence that all will be well lie with Jesus himself.  There is a sense that he looks to the ultimate glory that will be his.  But when he draws on some farily recent apocalyptic writing in the Book of Daniel he speaks of himself as the Son of Man who comes to God – and speaks of the death and the resurr4ection and then the ascension to be at the right hand of God that is to come very shortly and will give assurance of the ultimate victory and the glory that is to be.

 There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’

These words are the grounds for the courage they are to find within days in the death and resurrection of Christ, within weeks in his final parting from them as he goes to be with God in heaven.  What’s a good way of getting his point home – in a story.

 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

It’s in this generation, says Jesus.

But these words give hope to us in our gneration.  The grounds of our hope are in Jesus Christ himself.  His words are assured.  His promises firm. They will not pass away.  So what are we to do?

Keep watch.  Keep on living in the way Jesus maps out.  Keep firm in the faith.  Stand firm.

‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

Those words his followers were to take to heart – though they could only do that as they drew on the strength of the Holy  Spirit poured on them on the day of Pentecost.

This is the encouragement we need to take.  Keep firm.  Hold fast.  Follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  The real lesson of this powerful speech is that we need to be prepared to offer an analysis – the church should be in the business of being a think tank to challenge the powers that be.  That’s what Middle Esat Concern is doing, it’s what Open Doors does, it’s what Embrace the Middle East does, it’s what Christian Aid does, it’s what Ekklesia.

Keep the faith, stand firm.  Be critical, be analytical – let’s make sure that prophetic voice Jesus had is heard in today’s world with today’s issues.  For people do listen.

 Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple


So in the middle of the troubles of this time let’s seek out the presence of God in Christ, listen to his Word and live our lives by it.

Luke 20 Questions! Questions!

I’ve been putting my sermons on to different blogs for quite some years now.  When I do a particular series I put it into a single blog.  So when I preached through Acts we were thinking a lot about church and how to be church and that’s what Acts is all about – it’s also has all those journeys of St Paul best followed using a map … and so I gave my blog the overall title:  Mapping the Church of Tomorrow, a 21st Century reading of Acts.

Turning back to the earlier volume by Luke that tells the story of Jesus, the Gospel of St Luke, I decided to put the sermons on Luke into a blog too and gave it a name that for me somehow captures something at the heart of Jesus’s teaching – the way he continually teaches by asking questions.  So the title of my blog on Luke is “Questioning Jesus – a 21st Century Reading of Luke’s Gospel.

But … there are questions and there are questions!

There are questions that are asked in a genuine spirit of enquiry in a quest for the truth … and there are questions that are asked in a hostile spirit of animosity designed to trip you up.

Just after Jesus had started on his journey to Jerusalem a lawyer, an expert in the law, stood up to test Jesus.  (Luke 10:25).  Some translations suggest he was out to trick Jesus.  I read that passage differently.  It seems to me it was a genuine question, asked in a spirit of enquiry.  Jesus treats the question seriously, and engages with the questioner.   He asks questions in return that are designed to get the questioner thinking for himself.  It’s a wonderful glimpse of the classic Jewish approach to education – asking questions in a spirit of genuine enquiry.

The Lawyer’s question is not as so many often think what must I do to get to heaven?

It is the much more telling question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

What must I do to inherit from all those who have gone before that life that can be lived to the full here and now, that life that is not bounded to death but is to eternity?

Jesus wants him to think it through for himself and so asks two questions in return.

 ‘What is written in the law?

What do you read there?’ 

The expert in the law replies like a shot –

Love God, Love your neighbour.

Jesus, the great teacher, knows he’s got it.

‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ – you will have life in all its fullness here and now, that rich life that is not bounded by death but is to eternity.

The answer is so clear, so rooted in the Scriptures the expert in the law knew so well, I guess he feels a touch embarrassed … and so he asks one more question to justify himself.

 ‘And who is my neighbour?’ 

A classic Jewish way of interpreting the Bible is to tell a story that throws light on the meaning of a text.  Such a story is called a midrash.   The biblical text for Jesus’s midrash, is the whole of the Torah, all of the first five books of the Bible, and the story is the wonderful story of the Good Samaritan.



Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 

The story over, Jesus returns to the question the expert in the Torah, the expert in the Law, had asked and once again Jesus asks a question to get him thinking so that he really owns the teaching and takes it inside himself.

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ 

The expert in the law draws his response from a classic theme that runs through the Prophets – and says,

‘The one who showed him mercy.’

Then Jesus comes in with the punch line.  And it is one that has resonated down through the ages ever since every time the parable of the Good Samaritan is re-told.

Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

That’s one of the most wonderful glimpses of one of the most wonderful teachers teaching in the most wonderful of ways.  It goes to the heart of what teaching and learning is all about – and it’s all about asking questions in a genuine spirit of enquiry.
But not all questions are asked in that way.

Jesus knew full well that there were people out to get him.  And the people out to get him were those who wielded power.  And the place they wielded that power most was Jerusalem.  Fifty years and more before King Herod the Great had seized power and cemented his hold on power by playing the Romans off against the Jews. He had virtually demolished the temple that had stood on the highest hill in Jerusalem and had set about re-building it.

Fifty years on the scaffolding was still up. The building wouldn’t be finished for another thirty years.  The comparatively humble, prayerful temple that had been re-built after the exile had been replaced with an architectural tour de force that Herod’s successors still had to fund by exorbitant rates of tax.  It had become emblematic of the ugly power of the Herodian dynasty.

Among those unhappy with that regime were the Pharisees: they wanted to take the Torah seriously again.  As Jesus’ journey took Jesus closer to Jerusalem some Pharisees came and said to him,

‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ 

Jesus could not contain his anger.

He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, 

“Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”

Jesus knew he had a prophetic role to play.  And that would have to play out in Jerusalem itself.  And he knew the authorities would not take kindly to that.

How that filled him with sadness as he lamented,

 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

Now, in Luke 19, the time had come.  Jesus entered the city riding on a donkey, and the people did indeed cry out, not just Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, but

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!

This was it.

A different kind of kingdom.

The culmination of all that teaching.

As Jesus came near, over the Mount of Olives and saw that ancient city with the temple clad in what looked like gold shining in the sun, with the fortress built specially by Herod to house the Roman garrison in Jerusalem towering over the temple courtyard, Jesus wept over the city, saying

“If you, even you had only recognised the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes!”

Jesus could see that the way the powers that be had established their hold over the people could not last 

Indeed, he said, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’

Make no mistake about it.  While Jesus could at times be meek and mild, when anger was called for he could be angry.

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said,

 ‘It is written,

“My house shall be a house of prayer”;
   but you have made it a den of robbers.’

What an indictment.

And he had not finished yet.

He had come to Jerusalem to bring that teaching all about such a very different Kingdom of God home to the place where power lay.

47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him;48but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

 Notice who it is who are out to get him – the chief priests, the scribes, the leaders of the people.  These are the people of power who had initially been placed there by the Herodian dynasty.  But something had happened, Herod’s son Archelaus, had not been up to the task and so the Romans had replaced him with their own Procurator.  And it was the Procurator who appointed the chief priests, the scribes and the leaders of the people.  No wonder they were out to kill Jesus.

Something now happens.

They are the ones: the chief priests, the scribes and the elders who start asking a very different set of questions.  Not genuine questions asked in a spirit of enquiry.  But trick questions designed to catch Jesus out.

And the first of those questions goes to the heart of all that Jesus had stood for, all that he had been about.

The voice of the prophets had been silent until John the Baptist came on the scene.  In the first chapters of Luke John plays a prominent part.  We learn about his birth as a cousin of Jesus’ we catch a glimpe of his preaching.  And we see that he has re-kindled the spirit of the prophets and declares in a forth right way the Word of the Lord to the powers that be.  They don’t like it.  And the one who likes it least of all is the powerful King Herod who rules in Galilee.  When John is arrested and Herod thinks he has silenced that prophetic voice Jesus takes on the mantle of John and the prophets and maps out the Kingdom of God that he is bringing in.  When he had is that John the Baptist is executed in the most gruesome of ways as he is beheaded.

Luke 20:1-8

One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders and said to him, ‘Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?’ He answered them, ‘I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ They discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin”, all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’

These are not questions asked in a genuine spirit of enquiry in a quest for the truth: these are questions that are asked in a hostile spirit of animosity designed to catch Jesus out and trip him up.

And Jesus deals with the question in a powerful way.  They cannot say John’s authority is from heaven, because Jesus knows they are the cronies of Herod Antipas and so he will simply turn round and ask them Why they didn’t believe in him?  And they cannot say, Of human origin, because they know that John had indeed been recognised by so many people as one of that ancient line of prophets.

So Jesus keeps mum too!

Then comes that most ominous of parables.  It’s not just a good story. It deliberately echoes one of the great themes of the prophets of old, the theme we encountered in the first of our readings from Isaiah 5.

Let me sing for my beloved
My love-song concerning his vineyard.
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the people of Judah are his pleasant planting…
He expected justice, but saw bloodshed,
Righteousness, but heard a cry!

As then, so now.

As Jesus tells the story of the owner of the vineyard who sends slaves to tend it, the powers that be must have squirmed for they too had sent the messengers of God away – this is what happened to the prophets, right down to John the Baptist.

There’s something ominous as in Jesus story the owner of the vineyard finally sends a son … but he too is rejected, indeed he is killed.

Luke 20:9-19

He began to tell the people this parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, “This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.” So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.’ When they heard this, they said, ‘Heaven forbid!’ 

But he looked at them and said,

‘What then does this text mean:

“The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone”? 

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’ 

When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.

How right they were!  They knew the story was aimed at them.

And still the questions came, questions asked in a hostile spirit of animosity designed to catch Jesus out and trip him up, questions about paying taxes, about the resurrection.

How much better those questions that are asked in a genuine spirit of enquiry in a quest for the truth … heed the insights of Jesus, Love God, Love your neighbour, remember the story of the one who showed mercy … and then Go and do likewise!