Andrew McClenaghan - Sunday, 14 August 2022
God will be with Us to the End of the Age
Scripture References: Genesis 30:25-43, 2 Timothy 3:10-17, Matthew 28:16-20
Gathering Growing Going
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ClosePromises can be either reassuring, or heartbreaking. Promises can either bring hope, or their breaking can dash hopes. Think of Jacob—on his own, now married, two wives, eleven sons and one daughter, far from family he hasn’t seen in over fourteen years… The promise of God is so important: that God is committed to him, that God will bring him back, that God will make his family like the dust in number, that God will change the world through Jacob’s family. And look at that family! This promise of God is a statement of profound grace—and it calls from Jacob obedience to the good and trustworthy word of God. That lies—as we will see—at the heart of this bizarre path of Jacob’s enriching. This is not a formula for financial success but a statement of grace received by faithful obedience!
Scripture References: Genesis 30:25-43, 2 Timothy 3:10-17, Matthew 28:16-20
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What is greatness? In particular, what is greatness in the kingdom of God? That is the question addressed in the passage from Matthew today. Jesus is approached by two different groups. First, the family of Zebedee: James and John and their mother. Second, two blind men. Jesus asks both groups the same question “What do you want me to do for you?” What they request is quite revealing. And so is Jesus’ response to their requests. The Zebedees request position, status, reward for effort. The blind men request mercy, for their eyes to be open. Which request lines up with Jesus’ teaching previously? Which request do we tend to go to ourselves?
The Department of Home Affairs has an Australian Values Statement on its website. Visa applicants for residency/citizenship must sign this. And one of its key principles is that we are a ‘fair-go’ country. We would all agree with that. I suspect, too, that we would summarise our ‘fair go’ culture by stating that ‘you get what you deserve/what you work for’. In fact, many of us have established our relational, social and work ethics on this very principle. But is that what the ‘kingdom of heaven is like’? What is its value statement? What is the hallmark of such a kingdom, and its ruler, even its citizenship? Today, after Jesus has assured his disciples that the dependent will be provided for by their king, he now uses the same ideas to issue with them a warning not to abuse, misuse, ignore or become entitled in the face of the kingdom of heaven hallmark—which is grace.
Jesus deals with the question of ‘Who belongs in the kingdom?’ Is it children? Is it the good? Is it the godly? And, how and what does this look like? This question of ‘belonging’ is one that is constant in our lives – where do I belong, do I belong, what does belonging look like? And Jesus is very clear: the kingdom of heaven is made up of the dependent, the reliant, the weak – just like children.
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