Dare to be like Jesus, dare to imitate Jesus
Opening Prayer
We pray that you will open the mouth of your servant to proclaim the Word in the power of the spirit. And we pray that this same Spirit will open the hearts of its hearers in this congregation to receive your Holy Gospel.
Our Vicar Joan introduced us last week to the Sermon on the Plain from Luke and the call to love your enemies. Today we continue with the Sermon on the Plain focusing on rules for life and living ,and calling for us not to judge others. A question for us all—is Mr Putin our enemy? Answer yes. Should we judge Mr Putin? No, that is God’s job not ours. Should we condemn, react even judge the evil behaviour with the killing of innocent civilians? Yes. I think we should, and we can focus on Mr Putin’s actual conduct and its horrific results not on what he says or looks like. It’s who you are, not what you say and do that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds. I will continue to pray for all those innocent people affected by the brutal unlawful invasion of UKRAINE and I hope you will also do that Mr Putin said that Ukraine was the aggressor (not true) He said that his troops are peacemakers (not true). He is a hypocrite. There is a difference between judging and discerning truth from error. I will leave the judgement of Mr Putin however to the one true eternal GOD.
Sometimes when preaching I struggle to find enough words and meaning. No so today. With just today’s Gospel reading from Luke read to us by Anita, there is enough for 4 sermons. So today’s Church service will finish at midday! Just kidding. Last week’s sermon from Joan was good but also outrageous. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. What was Jesus thinking?
In our reading today we are urged NOT to judge others. We are urged to forgive rather than condemn. In verse 39 we cannot help a blind man if we ourselves are blind. We will both fall into a ditch. We cannot help someone who has a minor problem such as a speck in his eye if we ourselves have a major problem such as a log in our own eyes. Only when we deal with our major problem (e.g. remove the log from our eyes) can we then help our neighbour with removing the speck from his eye. So one of the many messages today is if you are blind do not lead another blind person. (The blind leading the blind). In verse 40 talking about teacher and pupil it makes the point that the pupil can only each the level that the teacher has. Therefore we need to choose and follow the right teachers and leaders to grow in faith and wisdom. The greatest teacher of course is JESUS the Son of God. That ties in with my theme today — DARE TO BE LIKE JESUS. Our own Parish will need a new leader/teacher after Easter Sunday. Another subject for much prayer. Guide us O our Great Redeemer. I need guidance, you need guidance, our Parish needs guidance.
Let’s examine verses 43 - 45 where it mentions the good tree/bad tree parable. Though Jesus spoke in terms of the good tree/bad tree contrasting it with the good person/evil person; reality is that every human person is a work in progress; true conversion is a gradual process. At any one time on the journey to wholeness the human heart is mixture of good and evil; it is both redeemed and unredeemed. I think there is some good in the worst of us even Mr Putin and also there is some evil even in the best of us e.g., Mother Theresa. Only God can be the ultimate judge but it is still an indicator to us ordinary people. If a person speaks good things but does bad things then that is a strong indication to us. Ultimately however in the final judgement of the 2nd Coming God alone will decide which is definitely the good tree or the bad tree.
Why am I here today before you? I am here because God loved me so much long before I learned to love him. He freely forgave me for my many sins even though I didn’t deserve it and even though I have no hope of repaying him in full. To continue in that spiritual journey I need a strong foundation. God invites me to imitate him ,for the pupil to be like the teacher. God invites you to imitate him ,for you as pupils to be like Jesus the teacher, Jesus was not interested in enthusiasm but in commitment, not in words but in deeds. That is why today I dare to be like JESUS, I dare to imitate JESUS and I want to build a strong foundation and be fruitful. How can I be fruitful and bring people to Christ? I am in a position where I can only do small things BUT I can do those small things with great love. Is that too tough, too difficult for me as an incomplete human being to do? Possibly but I am going to give it a go. Will you join me?