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22nd September 2024 

As we continue in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives three illustrations of what it looks like to be satisfied, or receive reward from God (Matthew 6:1-18). These are illustrations of the principle that reward from God is the only place where we will be truly satisfied in any area of life. Every other reward leaves us wanting more. (check out below for earlier reflections on the Sermon on the Mount.) 

Jesus illustrates his point by focussing on caring for those in need, prayer and fasting. Why these three? Because at their heart they are for God. That’s also the problem: God does not obviously seem to reward me for them. The reward is not instant. Giving to those in need leaves me with less, prayers seems to be unanswered, denying myself food leaves me hungry. So, hoping that someone human might notice starts to creep in. If someone might just say, “Oh what a good person they are, how devoted,” or something like that. We want the quick fix, and deny God the opportunity to reward us. That’s what Jesus says. 

Jesus gives us a starting point for each one: let generosity first flow from your character (6:3); let prayer be first to your Father (6:6); let fasting first be in the context of joy (6:17). Then wait and see how God rewards you. Read the whole section and soak in the vision. 

Would you like to explore this more? I’d love a conversation with you! This is so essential to what Jesus is teaching. Remember the issue is not rewards, but are we settling for the cheap option? 

15th September 2024

Where do you seek reward? Don’t try and be modest, be honest. We need reward, return for what we do, satisfaction. We do “good” because we hope it will be noticed, we will receive a “well done” or maybe something more. There is nothing wrong with this. Jesus himself said that some of the words we should long to hear from God are “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21).

Jesus’ point is that we all serve someone or something and hope for reward. Jesus’ question is are we settling for a cheaper reward than is really on offer? Jesus’ most famous sermon now tackles this issue (Matthew chapter 6). He has given us a vision of righteousness that exceeds religion, one that comes from the heart (our desire/will) (Matthew 5 – read about this on the church website blog). Our desire to live out this goodness (righteousness) will lead to actions. If these are good they will naturally bring reward. So, “be careful not to do these for humans, but for God” (Matthew 6:1). Why? Jesus says because of reward. From whom do you want to hear “well done”? Humans or God?

Let me be clear: the issue is not expecting a reward for your good actions. The issue is will you seek that reward from God alone? Neither is this about hiding good deeds, it’s about your heart. Are you doing what you do “in order to be seen”? Only you know that.

Jesus gives three illustrations of what he is talking about which we will consider next week (caring for those in need, prayer and fasting). 

8th September 2024 

When our hearts and speech are aligned, when what we say is what we mean, then we are moving into being the kind of person who can now respond differently to the demands placed on us. We can move beyond merely limiting what is forced on us and respond to it with generosity. That is Jesus’ remarkable teaching in Matthew 5:38-42. Many people read this as Jesus calling his followers to be like doormats, to we weak. In truth, it is the opposite: it is empowering. This will only be clear if you have taken time to listen to Jesus from the start of his sermon (read reflections on this starting 30th June). 

How can Jesus call his followers to give more than required by a demand? Because they are becoming like their heavenly Father who gives good gifts to his enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). I have been to many funerals where rightly it is said that the person cared for their family and friends. The deeper question is, did they care for their enemies? Like God (Matthew 5:45). This generosity is a result of wanting a deeper way of living than the religious (Matthew 5:20). It comes out of realising my personal issue with contempt and lust, of broken promises and manipulate words, that Jesus wants to free me from. It would allow me to be complete like my heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48). I would be like God! 

That’s not meant to put you off! That’s exactly what Jesus wants for you and me. That’s his vision. Then we would be salt and light in this world. Do you want the kind of life that reflects the greater reality  of God? 

1st September 2024

As we work our way through the sermon on the mount, given by the smartest man who ever lived, are you encouraged by what it means to be salt and light? It is about the kind of person you are relationally. Read back on the reflections so far below.

Jesus has had to deal with some fundamental aspects of our self-centred nature concerning contempt, lust, and broken relationships (Matthew 5:21-32). Now he turns a corner. If by his grace we realise we are capable of these things, we will start to walk in a different direction. One in which our words are truly free from manipulation (Matthew 5:33-37).

Manipulating words can be replaced by our Yes and No being just that. Promising “on my mother’s grave” is manipulation. “I’ll do this for you, as soon as I….” is manipulation. We try to distort reality into our favour. “You can trust me” is only said if we think the other person has reason not to trust us. But if by walking with Jesus we start to let our words be plain, we say what we mean, then people will be able to trust us.

This is very hard to do unless we first turn away from what Jesus has said about our nature to have a superficial righteousness (way of life). The order matters. Contempt, lust and broken relationships all require manipulated words. 

The freedom to speak plainly without manipulation, without a “song and dance” is a wonderful freedom. Do you know it?

25th August 2024  

In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, the order of the sermon is important (Matthew 5-7). It is not a random collection of what Jesus said. If we ignore the order, we will feel defeated. Learning to love our enemies will not happen if we have not gone through the earlier steps. Once we have started to deal with contempt and lust in our lives we will start to see how much they affect the deep kind of relationships we long for, like marriage. 

Jesus’ words about divorce (5:31-32) must be taken in context. He is giving us the vision of the kind of people who have a way of living (righteousness), which is more than skin deep. Remembering that, his words about easy divorce make sense. In fact, I would be surprised to find anyone who would disagree with them. I have not met a person who married with the intention to divorce at a later stage. We want deeply committed relationships. It is the natural rhythm God has placed in his universe, in us. Jesus is saying just that. Divorce is not a sign of a healthy society. The effects are felt in many ways. But only if we have started to see the damage that contempt and lust does to us and our society, will Jesus’ words about the importance to maintain marriages seem natural. 

Divorce may be necessary to avoid greater harms, but it always leaves someone damaged. As I write these words I feel the sadness. Jesus’ vision for us are deep committed relationships as God intended. Do we want that too? 

18th August 2024 

Jesus has confronted us with the fact that adultery, like murder, is not an isolated action. It comes from the heart, the kind of person we have grown into being (Matthew 5:27-30). Remember in the Bible that “heart” is your will, what you desire to do. So if you desire to lust after someone and set your will/heart to it, then given the right circumstances, that is what you will do. The event is not isolated from the heart. Make sure for context you read previous reflections below! 

If you really believed that all your actions just happen, then you would deal with them by restrictions, by a sentence that starts with, “Don’t…” This never has long term effect. It only lasts as long as will power allows. But when will power really wants the thing it is also being used to avoid, then we all know what happens. Jesus has said his sermon is about a vision of a kind of life (righteousness) that is more than skin deep (Matthew 5:20). So, as he asks us to take seriously the issue of adultery and lust, he is pointing out how absurd it is to deal with this by restrictions, by gouging out your eye or cutting off your right hand. That does not deal with the heart (5:28). A mutilated stump can still lust. 

What is needed is a positive, the positive love of God. A love that commits to you, a covenant love, just as a marriage (Revelation 21). You are not an object to God. You are his loved treasure, his dear one. You are blessed. This is the way to become the kind of person who seeks real loving relationships with others. 

11th August 2024

We’re working through Jesus’ sermon on the mount. You could read the sermon in less than 20 minutes, but it is so rich that we’re reflecting on it slowly. Check out previous reflections below. Keep in mind that Jesus started his sermon giving us a vision of the availability of the Kingdom Life to anyone who comes near to him, regardless of their circumstances. So now, when he turns to deal with human relationships, we must remember that his desire is to help us be salt and light in the world. So far, we’ve seen why Jesus wants us to deal with anger and contempt in our lives so that we can be the kind of people who are reconcilers. He now turns to intimate relationships with the same vision (Matthew 5:27-30). As with murder, he wants us to firstly see that given the right circumstances I am the kind of person who would commit adultery, if I have cultivated lust in my heart. How do we do that? By what our hearts dwell on, mentally treating other people as objects for our desires. This is made so much easier in a society that allows advertising to use lust as a key ingredient for selling anything. 

This is confronting. Am I really the kind of person who could treat other people as objects for my pleasure? Don’t look at what you do, Jesus says, look at your thoughts and where your mind dwells. He’s not asking us to do this so that we despair. He’s asking us to be honest so that he can show us how to become the kind of people that move away from objectifying others to real relationships. 

4th August 2024 

This is an ongoing reflection on becoming the kind of person who is salt and light in Jesus’ kingdom. You can pick up the thread in the blog entires below. 

How does Jesus want to lead us away from contempt? (Matthew 5:21-26). Jesus, the smartest person to ever live, knows that just telling someone not to do something only has short term affect. We didn’t need modern psychology to tell us that guilt does not make for long term change. 

Jesus gives two illustrations, examples of what it would look like to move away from contempt. He doesn’t focus on what not to do but on the kind of person we can be in his kingdom. He gives the picture of a person who stops using religion as an excuse for broken relationships, but chooses the path of being a reconciler when they offend, as much as it is in that person’s power (Matthew 5:23-24). The second illustration is an image of being the one who actively seeks a solution, rather than relying on a third party, like a judge, again as much as it is in that person’s power (Matthew 5:25-26). 

These are illustrations to help us imagine what it would be like to move away from anger and contempt, away from excuses about my behaviour, to being a reconciler, to being salt and light.  It’s an original TED talk: short, focussed, offering a vision that you and I can step into and grow. 

Can you imagine what it’s like to be the kind of person Jesus illustrates? Would you like to be that kind of person?  

28th July 2024 

A righteousness (goodness) that’s not just on the outside, but deep in who you actually are. That’s the vision Jesus has for us. Jesus is serious, so he now turns to the core of the problem in Matthew 5:21-22. (See last week’s reflection below to get the context). 

The issue is the contempt that lingers below the surface. Jesus takes us to the command, “Do not murder”. Oh, yes, I can say, I haven’t done that. Jesus responds, “Are you so sure? Because the path to murder starts with contempt. And given the right circumstances and training over time, can you be so sure you would not commit murder?” 

Jesus point, very briefly, is that the real issue is not the deed of murder (as bad as that is), but that we all foster the conditions that would allow murder to happen by our hands. Calling people “fool” or worse is actually a sign of us dehumanising the other person. If we cultivate that kind of view of other people we are cultivating the conditions for murder. You cannot murder someone in cold blood, you must have dehumanised them first, and the first step for that is to think less of someone else, contempt, “you fool”. I’m capable of that. And you? 

What Jesus is saying is profound, and hard to capture in a few words. But I hope I have given you enough to start you think about this more deeply. Next week we’ll reflect on the way Jesus wants to lead us away from contempt. 

21st July 2024 

How are you going at accepting that Jesus believes you can be salt and light in this world? (see last week’s reflection below). Jesus says you are salt and light. Hopefully that raises the question of how can I be salt and light? Jesus is the best teacher who ever lived, so, of course, he next answers this question (Matthew 5:17-20). 

I wonder if Jesus’ answer surprises you? He says he hasn’t come to abolish what God has said before, but to fulfil it by showing that superficial goodness is not enough. Doing good is not enough; being good is needed. 

Everyone is asking the question who is a good person and how can I be a good person? (if you don’t believe that, I’d love to hear what you’re thinking!). However, we settle for trying to answer the question by deeds alone. That’s why we fail. Anyone can do a good deed, no matter how horrible they might be at another moment. So, we end up in a game of “are my good deeds greater than my bad moments”? That’s failure. Jesus wants to lead us on a journey that would transform us on the inside, so that in any circumstances we will be “good”, even with our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Because, Jesus wants us to be salt and light all the time. 

Jesus vision of who we can be is great! It’s inspiring: to be the kind of person who always does what we know is right. During the week, would you ponder this over a cup of tea? Read Matthew 5:17-20 and ask Jesus to show you what it means. 

14th July 2024 

Jesus’ amazing point is that God is not far off for anyone. This is the starting point for anyone is to hear his opening vision “The Kingdom of God is near”, that is, God is available (Matthew 4:17). This is radical! God has no favourites. Unless we get this, we won’t be able to hear the next amazing point that Jesus teaches.

Because Jesus’ next point is amazing: you are salt, you are light! (Matthew 5:13-16). You. 

Remember Jesus is explaining to people like you and me who have been captured by the kind of person Jesus is. Suddenly he turns the attention to us. What he says is life-giving and empowering. You are salty and light. He means you are able to preserve and bring out the best in this world God has given you. You are able to bring truth and security and direction to this world God has given you. Jesus is affirming that God’s plans in creating you have not changed (Genesis 1:26-28). He wants you to be a force for good in this world. 

Stop looking over your shoulder thinking that Jesus is talking about someone else. He is not talking about the people we think have got it all together. He is talking to any person who is attracted to what Jesus is doing and explaining. So, don’t look over your shoulder, instead go to the bathroom, look in the mirror and say, “Jesus says, I am the salt of the earth, I am the light of the world.” Do it every morning this week. 

7th July 2024

Because of the wonder that was happening with the crowds, the disciples came near to Jesus; they wanted to understand what he was doing (Matthew 5:1).

Wonder is where discipleship to Jesus starts for you and me too. What is happening Jesus? So, Jesus explains in Matthew 5:3-11. This part has been called the beatitudes, which simply means blessings. But! We must read them in context. This is all about grace.

Jesus is not saying look at the crowds and because they are spiritually lost, mourning, meek etc they are blessed. No, not because, but despite. Jesus is teaching that experiencing God being near, available is not determined by your circumstances. 

We think that God seems far off; look at the messes we live in. But we assume that until we get our act together, he won’t come near. I need to be good enough – wrong! But neither is Jesus saying you need to be “weak” in the way he lists. He is saying that no-one deserves the kingdom, not even the poor in spirit etc.

Jesus’ amazing point is that God is not far off for anyone. The starting point for anyone is to hear his opening vision “The Kingdom of God is near”, that is, God is available (Matthew 4:17). This is radical! God has no favourites. Unless we get this, we won’t be able to hear the next amazing point that Jesus teaches. 

Are you blessed by God, despite your circumstances? Ask me to help you discover this.

30th June 2024 

If we’re really going to be disciples of Jesus, we will need to be captured by his vision of who we are. I wonder how much vision we have through what Jesus is actually saying? 

Over the next weeks, these reflections will be from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7). We must understand the context of what Jesus says in this sermon if we are really going to live the vision. 

Matthew begins, “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountains side and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them.” We must not rush past this crucial sentence! 

Firstly, crowds! Everyone wanted to be around Jesus. Is that your view of God? Is God the kind of being you want to be around? Or are you here at church to “hedge your bets”, out of fear, because of tradition, to get on God’s good side? There is a big difference between this and what we see happening around Jesus. The Jesus who was talking about God was attractive, because the God of whom he spoke was attractive. The Good News that Jesus shared was the “God is available” (The kingdom of heaven is near, Matthew 4:17).  

That is, God was making himself available to everyday people, little old you. Do you know that? Does it warm your heart? God wants to be near you? If you’re not sure, don’t stay in doubt. Please, come and talk to me about it. God is really glad that you exist. 

23rd June 2024 

Observe Jesus trusting God’s way in the everyday (money, relationships etc) and do the same: that’s what discipleship is all about. 

Who do you follow when it comes to relationships, money, retirement, parenting, conflict? Is Jesus the expert in these areas, or not? It is possible to think that Jesus is just an expert on death, or avoiding hell. If that’s the case, Jesus is only worth consulting on things like the afterlife. 

So, I wonder if you’ve noticed that the majority of what Jesus talks about is related to the here and now? Perhaps the most extended reflection on the here and now is recorded in Matthew 5-7, referred to as the sermon on the mount. Everything that Jesus talks about in that sermon is about living now. He deals with anger, lust, revenge, rewards, possessions, giving advice and more. Jesus is an expert on now. Do you believe that? 

Jesus does not divide life into two stages, the present and the future. He argues that the Kingdom of God is available now. He urges us to enter into this current reality to deal with everyday issues. 

Discipleship to Jesus is not preparing you for “heaven when you die”. Discipleship to Jesus is allowing you to live heaven now, that is, the reality of God with you. Jesus’ death and resurrection assure you that you will not be wasting your life if you follow him now, in fact you will save it. Over the next weeks we’ll unpack what Jesus has to say about how to live now as his follower. 

16th June 2024 

At one time, Jesus and his followers found themselves in a boat in a huge storm (Mark 4:35-41). Jesus was asleep, while the others were in fear of death. They wake Jesus, “Teacher don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus’ response is, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 

I suspect that the disciples were thinking, “What do you mean why are we afraid, we were about to die?!” And Jesus’ answer would have been, “So what?”  

This incident in the storm is instructive for our conversation on “making disciples” (see website blog for the previous discussion). Jesus can sleep in the storm because he has learned through experience that his good heavenly father will always keep him safe. Now that doesn’t mean not dying; Jesus will die the worst kind of death, one that is unfair, cruel and shame filled. Yet even at that point he can say, “I commend my whole being to you Father” (Luke 23:46). 

Last week I asked, “If a am diagnosed with cancer do I deal with that by Google or God?” The starting point that Jesus longs for us to understand is that cancer cannot kill me, any more than the storm on the lake. Not because I won’t physically die, but because reality is far bigger than what is seen. When Jesus rises from death he is confirmed as the one who holds a greater knowledge about reality than us. How will I start to experience this? Well, like Jesus: observe Jesus trusting God’s way in the every day (money, relationships etc) and doing the same.  

9th June 2024

Why is Jesus smarter? That’s the question I left with you last week. You can find the previous parts to this discussion below. 

Let me put the question another way, “It is not possible to trust Jesus, or anyone else, in matters where we do not believe him to be competent. We cannot pray for his help and rely on his collaboration in dealing with real-life matters we suspect might defeat his knowledge or abilities… if Jesus were divine would he be dumb? Or uninformed?” (quote from Dallas Willard) 

Where you and I look for help is the fruit of who we believe is smartest. A quick prayer to Jesus to heal us from a diagnosis of cancer, while we devote hours to read every internet page we can on treatments and how to save myself should trouble the person who says “I follow Jesus.” Think about it: it’s not that human wisdom has no value in cancer treatment, but if my way of dealing with life is really Google and not God, what do I also really believe about Jesus? This is a very serious discussion that we must have as a community following Jesus. Does Jesus have more knowledge about cancer and how to deal with it than google, and how do I live out the belief that he has more knowledge? 

The claim of Jesus is that he holds all knowledge and the future of the universe in his hand (Colossian 1:17; 2:3; Revelation 1:5). Do I believe this? It’s okay if you’re not sure! We don’t work ourselves up into belief, we must experience it (let’s talk about that next week). 

2nd June 2024

Let’s keep talking about what Jesus means by “making disciples”. You can find the previous parts to this discussion below. The second part of what Jesus means by “making disciples” is “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Here is the important question: is Jesus the smartest person you know? I don’t mean the smartest religious person you know. I mean the smartest, smarter than Einstein? I don’t just mean intelligent either. Is Jesus better (smarter) at cooking than Jamie Oliver, better at finances than Warren Buffet, better at IT than Steve Jobs, better at gardening than Don Burke, better at football than… insert your favourite player?

I’m serious. Is Jesus the smartest person you know, in the sense that what he says about life and how to live it to the full tops everyone else? Jesus is calling us to apprentice ourselves to him, not just in one area of life, but all of life. That means Jesus know the best way to cook and garden, deal with finances and IT, even play football. Remember, Peter had to learn that Jesus is the best fisherman, twice (Luke 5; John 21).

If we don’t understand this, we won’t obey Jesus in every area of life, like an apprentice would. That would be also why we don’t experience the reality of God being with us in everything we do. If we want Jesus just for religious experience and then other experts for what we call “real life” we will find ourselves in all sorts of mess. 

Why is Jesus smarter? Tune in next week.

26th May 2024

When Jesus said, “make disciples” he begins to explain what he means by the next words: “baptising them into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit… (Matthew 28:18-20).

The word “baptise” simple means “immerse” or “surround”. Although Jesus might have meant “with water” he certainly means more than a symbolic act. He means, immerse those you invite to be my apprentices to live in the reality of the Trinitarian God.

Here is the key question: What is real? What is reality? The “world” teaches us to be its apprentice by believing that owning a home, comfortable retirement, wrinkle free skin, sufficient grandchildren, and so on, is ultimate reality.

Jesus is saying that those who apprentice to him immerse themselves into the reality that God is with them now, as Father, Son and Spirit. They would do that because who they see in Jesus, in his life and his death and his resurrection, as more real than mortgages, beauty treatments and continuing the family line (among other possibilities). So, living in the same reality as Jesus makes sense. Again, making disciples is not by force (see last week’s reflection; it’s available on the website). It’s a natural outcome of seeing the world as Jesus presents it as true reality. We want that to “form” (make) us.

More thoughts on this important theme next week.

19th May 2024

In our mission statement we begin with we want to bring glory to God by making… disciples.

It’s possible that you cringe at these words. The word “make” might suggest to you forcing something onto someone, like in the phrase “I’ll make you do this.” So, it’s important that we understand what is meant by these words.

These words come from Jesus. They are part of his last words spoken to his followers in Matthew’s account. Jesus’ life gives us the understanding of what “make disciple” means. Firstly, he never forced anyone; Jesus always invited, “Come…” Secondly, he was serious about following him, not accepting a set of ideas, but living like him (disciple could easily be translated apprentice). So, to accept the invitation is to choose to let Jesus shape the way I think, speak and act. 

We are all “disciples” of something or someone (I’ll let you ponder that; if you really think you are a completely free agent, I’d love to hear more from you over coffee!). Jesus’ last words are saying to the first disciples, it doesn’t stop with you; who I am and the call to follow me continues. As you have become my disciples, apprenticing the way you live to conform to how you see me live, invite others to do the same. Simply put, that’s what is means to “make disciples”. Jesus, whose way brings life in abundance, continues to be offered as we “make disciples”

If you still cringe at this idea, I’d love to have coffee with you too. I’ll continue these thoughts next week.

12th May 2024

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:13-14

God’s good purposes for us involve our mums. Being born is good! You are fearfully and wonderfully made, even if the journey from birth for you has included pain and difficulty. Remember that today, and give thanks to God that your mum did give birth to you.

God’s good saving purposes for the world include mums. He made a promise to Eve that her offspring would one day crush the power of evil, and we can trace that plan through the history of the world, all the way to the birth of Jesus. Jesus knew pain and difficulty too. Yet, finally in this birth, we see how God overrules all evil. Even death has no hold. Being born is good and God wants us to know that he has also given us new birth through Jesus. Being born, does not have to end in death.

Today, as we remember mothers, dwell on these truths. Let the words of Psalm 139 speak into you pain. Let the reality of the birth of Jesus speak into your joy. Let the wholeness and fullness of the Good News of Jesus shape how you celebrate your mum.

Hear these words again: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:13-14