Abundant gifts

 “You pray for the hungry, then you feed them; this is how prayer works.” Pope Francis

I read this quote the other day, and I loved it. The fact that you don’t just pray for those who are hungry or in need, but you feed them. You help them with the needs that they have. I remember being in one church where there was a Harvest bring-and-share meal. It was brilliant; there was lots of food and people having fun together. One person questioned the amount of food. I explained that you can’t tell people how generous they can or can’t be. It was then said that the food should be given to homeless people. This was briefly discussed until one person commented that we could do better for a homeless person than giving them a plate of vol-au-vents. Absolutely correct. When there is too much food, what should we do? When we have been given too much, what should we do?

I was thinking this when I thought about the Gospel reading for this morning (Matthew 14:13-21). In the reading there was the description of the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. I am not sure that this is the best name. After all, when you look at the words, you see that 5,000 were fed, plus women and children. Although, if we knew the account as the Feeding of the 5,000 Plus, we might become more interested in the numbers than in the act.

From a very small amount of food came an absolute abundance. Five loaves and two fish fed all these people. Maths was never my favourite subject in school, but I know that such a small amount of food should not stretch to that many people. I did a GCSE in Home Economics Food, and even that didn’t teach me how to make such a small amount of food feed so many.

We are in church, we have an account from the Gospel of Matthew, so it is clear that Jesus is involved. Out of hardly anything there is an abundance. Jesus blessed the food and it multiplied.

It is a little like the Last Supper Jesus had with His disciples before His trial, as He blessed food and shared it. We will remember this event this morning as we share in bread and wine, thinking of all that Jesus both has done and continues to do for us. How fantastic!

It is a time to be thoughtful and reflect as we think of Jesus dying for us and then rising again. It’s also a time to rejoice. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have all been given the greatest gift ever: salvation and the chance to be in a relationship with God here.

In the account, Jesus had gone away to a deserted place. Jesus often did this; in the Gospels we find descriptions of Jesus going off alone to pray. Jesus had wanted time alone as He had just heard that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been beheaded. I am pretty sure that if I needed some time for peace, seeing that a great crowd had followed me would not have brought much happiness.

Jesus, however, helped them by offering healing, and He had compassion on them. The Greek word used for compassion translates into English as a gut-wrenching pain. This is incredible. Jesus was not cross or frustrated, but He had compassion.

The disciples panicked and asked Jesus what they should do. Jesus replied by getting them to look and see what they could find. Of course, all they could find were five loaves and two fish. They took their concerns to Jesus, and He made everything so much better. Jesus performed a miracle as He blessed the bread and the fish. People were fed, and there was enough left over to fill twelve baskets. This is incredible.

I love this miracle because it reminds us that, in what seems to us a desperate situation, Jesus can make so much more. How amazing! I like the fact that the disciples went straight to Jesus and offered all they had and were to Him, and everything changed. This reminds us that, as a church, the Body of Christ, Jesus can do so much when we rely on Him and offer Him all that we are and have.

There was more left over. I was asked fairly recently what happened to the leftover food. I don’t have the answer, but it has got me thinking about the good gifts that God gives us. In the same way that there was an abundance of food, so there is an abundance of the gifts that God gives us.

We may know the gifts that God has given us and be able to use those gifts. We may feel a bit frustrated that we can’t see the place where God can use our gifts. We may think we are giving enough to God; however, there may be more.

I remember seeing online a mock interview of a young woman who attended an interview and told the interviewer when she could work. She explained that she could never be there at 9 a.m. as she slept until 10 because she liked talking to her boyfriend on the phone until 3:00 a.m. This meant that the earliest she could arrive was 11:00. The interviewer asked if she could change any of her timings for a job. She said that she understood it sounded as if she was being difficult, but surely the company could change its hours to suit her?

Of course, this was a fictional account. I wonder whether we might do this to God sometimes, almost saying that we are happy to use the gifts we have been given, but only on our time. Or maybe that we are doing enough for God, so we do not want Him to keep dropping hints that we should either do more or do something different.

The way that we hear God speak may be a feeling inside us as we pray or think about Him. It may be through the words of other people. If you feel God is talking to you, please talk to someone else. It could be one of the clergy, a churchwarden, or someone you trust.

Out of five loaves and two fish, Jesus fed 5,000-plus people. When we go to Him with all that we have, just think what He could do through us and for us.

AMEN

Exceedingly good !

 I want to think of a perfect morning, where there is lovely weather, good company, sunshine, and being surrounded by God's beautiful creation. In the words of a Mr Kipling's cake advert, this would be 'exceedingly good'. Perhaps almost heavenly?

There is a story about a Sunday school teacher who was trying to prove a point to her class about faith and following God. She asked, "If I sold everything that I have and gave the money to the Church, would that get me into heaven?" The Sunday school class responded, "NO." She asked another question, "OK, if I sold everything that I have and gave the money to the poor, would that get me into heaven?" The response was, "NO," so she tried another tack. "If I gave you all my money, would that get me into heaven?" "NO." "Well, what will get me into heaven?" One little boy piped up, "You have to be dead first."

I have worked with children a lot, and they often seem to want to know important things such as, "Who created God?" and "Why is there evil?" These are the gentle starting questions. However, they have also provided answers. To the question, "What is heaven like?", I read the following answers:

"Everything is free and everyone lives in a mansion."

"Everyone drives a monster truck."

"Heaven is a place that is so beautiful, you would think it was make-believe. It's perfect."

"Heaven is paradise. The weather is nice. It never rains. Nothing can go wrong. We will be perfect."

Well, a write-up like that does tend to make heaven sound amazing. In our Gospel reading, Jesus used short parables to explain what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Kingdoms always sound magnificent to me. I remember, as a child, being very interested in kingdoms; after all, they have princesses and are magical. As I grew up and my love of history kicked in, I became fascinated by the Tudor period. I don't want to compare the Kingdom of Heaven, or of God, to that. The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are the same; they are about the perfect life that we can have with God, both in the future and now.

We are part of the Kingdom of Heaven by the fact that we follow Jesus, and by being His disciples we try to be more like Him, which means that we seek to point people to a better way, a way that is exceedingly good. We know that there is even more to come; what we have now is a glimpse of what will be.

In the Gospel reading this morning (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52), Jesus used comparisons to challenge people to make a decision. Were they ready for the Kingdom? Were they ready for a commitment that removed everything that stands in the way of God? And were they ready to spread the good news that they had heard?

This challenge is to us as the followers of Jesus today. Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven as being like a mustard seed, a small seed that can grow into something huge. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a small piece of yeast that, once put into dough, grows and makes bread rise. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who gave up everything he had for a small treasure that meant everything. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sold all he had for one great pearl, again another treasure.

We have the challenge of how we will react to the life changing news of Jesus. We can be like the mustard seed and the yeast, doing our own bit to spread the good news of the love of God in our lives. You may feel quite insignificant in the whole scheme of life, but to God you are everything. When you love others as God loves, then people will be changed. This does not have to be in any great action that is publicised, but by being as Jesus to people: coming alongside them, loving them, being a good friend, helping those who need help. This is your mustard seed, your bit of yeast from which God's Kingdom can grow, as you help people to see and know the love of God. A love from which we are never separated, as we came across in the reading from the letter to the Romans (8:26-39). I wonder whether this is even better than exceedingly good.

The man sold all he had for a field; the pearl merchant found the pearl of great value. He was a merchant, which meant that he had the job of selling things on. If we thought of God as being like the pearl, then we would be thinking that, for us, it is about giving everything up to follow Him and then wanting to sell the pearl on. Or rather, to fit the analogy better, that we would want to share the good news of this pearl with others.

God offers us His love, which is the best treasure ever. To know God is to know life; it is to know love, and we need to ask ourselves if we have removed everything that may stand in the way of our relationship with Him. It may be time, it may be other people, or we may be so busy trying to do the right thing that we forget to pray and so damage our relationship with God.

The reading from the letter to the Romans had the wonderful words, "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God." We also had the reminder that because of all that God has done for us, "we are more than conquerors". When we follow our Creator, when we try to be more like Him, we are on the winning side.

To know God is to know heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is here in part because it is about following God, knowing that we have the promise of even more. Heaven is here in our lives as we reach out to God, but it is only in part because, in life eternal, we will truly see what heaven is like. In the meantime, I pray that we will all seek to bring heaven to earth by living more and more like Jesus, praying for those in need and loving those in despair. Amen.

The Prodigal Sower : discovering the extravagant love of God

 I want to start this morning by telling you about the prodigal sower. Now, you may not have come across this title in the Bible. This person, like the prodigal son, whom you will have heard of, had the job of sowing seed. Unfortunately, he was like the prodigal son in being careless with his possessions. The prodigal son had his father’s wealth and squandered it. He spent it on enjoying himself, only to discover that none of it made him truly happy.

The prodigal sower was wasteful in the way he sowed the seed. He scattered it everywhere: on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, and only occasionally on good soil. Some seed never stood a chance. Some sprang up quickly and died just as fast. Some got tangled and choked. Some did fall into good soil and grew.

Of course, there isn’t really a story of a prodigal sower. The parable that Jesus is described as telling in our Gospel reading (Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23)  is rather more well known. When we think of this parable, we often focus on the soil and what happened to the seed and how that applies to us. That’s good and helpful. It helps us reflect on our faith and how we’re growing to be like Jesus.

But before we get to the seed, I want us to think about this irresponsible sower for a moment. After all, if your livelihood depended on growing crops, you would make sure every seed was used wisely. You’d plant carefully. You’d prepare the soil. You’d protect your investment. You wouldn’t just throw it everywhere. Actually, we can think of the sower as being like God, sowing His love for us, being relentless in His reaching out to us, and being generous.

At a wedding, when the confetti is thrown, it’s not counted out into individual pieces, but a great big and generous handful is thrown. We can think of God’s love as being just like this, not given out sparingly but with great generosity.

Like the sower, God is not strategic in spreading His love. He isn’t economical. He is extravagant, generous, even reckless. He throws seed everywhere, on soil that has no hope of producing anything. Even when He didn’t know if we would turn to Him, He died for us.

What about us, though? Sometimes we can be tempted to only want to help those whom we think will accept our help. We want to tell those whom we think would fit into our church about the services that happen.

It’s so good that God isn’t like that. His grace is overflowing, His love is never cautious, and He doesn’t judge who is good enough to receive His grace. He offers His love to all. The parable is also about how we accept God, and how we tell others about Him.

I came across some words the other day about this parable.

One flew off in the belly of a bird.
One sprang up, but withered fast.
One choked by thistles, or so I've heard.
One gained a hundred when it was cast.

Come hear the wise old story
Of a sower and his seed.
He flung it far to fall,
Then battled bird and weed.
Some seed sprouted quickly,
Then withered in the sun -
But some seed fell upon good soil,
And repaid the work he'd done.

But nothing can start growing,
Until we begin sowing.

Gospel Seed, that's what we need,
Gospel Seed, Lord, we plead.
Draw deep truth from God's own Word,
Cast it far until it's heard.
Gospel Seed, new life within,
Gospel Seed, some soul we'll win.
Nothing's growing till we're sowing
Gospel Seed.

Sun and rain and time pass by,
And what was sown awakes.
First the blade, then the bud,
Then the full ear it makes.
Come now, golden harvest,
We'll reap what we have sown.
Seed once watered by our tears
Will be glad sheaves brought home.

But nothing can start growing,
Until we begin sowing.

Gospel Seed, that's what we need,
Gospel Seed, Lord, we plead.
Draw deep truth from God's own Word,
Cast it far until it's heard.
Gospel Seed, new life within,
Gospel Seed, some soul we'll win.
Nothing's growing till we're sowing
Gospel Seed.

Bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves.
We will come rejoicing,
Bringing in the sheaves.

But nothing can start growing,
Until we begin sowing.

We are called to sow the seeds of faith, by both the words that we say and the way we live.

In the parable, some seed fell on the path. This is faith that has no depth, no growth. It is a bit like what we might call nominal believers, who are fine until challenged.

Some seed fell on rocky ground. This can be faith that starts with quick excitement, but has no endurance. This is like a new, excited believer who doesn’t take time to learn how to be like Jesus.

Some seed fell among thorns. This can be a well-meaning faith that can get tangled up with distractions, temptations, and the noise of life.

And some seed fell on good soil. This is a slow, steady faith that becomes strong and fruitful. It’s not glamorous; it is faith for every day, where we are open to letting God change us and where we want to learn more about Him.

In the reading from the letter to the Romans (8:1-11), we were reminded that the Holy Spirit will help us. He will shape us more and more into the likeness of Jesus. He will give us the strength that we need.

I remember once hearing that being filled with the Holy Spirit is a little like when you put a sponge in water and, as soon as you do this, there is water everywhere. However, all sponges will dry out eventually. Being a follower of God means asking the Holy Spirit to fill us with His power so that we can be more and more like Him every day.

We need to make space for God, to put Him first, to ask for His help, and to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit by asking Him to fill our lives day by day.

The love of God is a love that will never let us go. With all this in mind, may the parable of the sower cause us to think and give thanks for His love. May we want to be more like Him, and then may we want to spread the good news of His love every day.

AMEN.

Making mistakes but keeping going.

 The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.This was the first verse of our Psalm this morning. It’s a really good job that God is slow to anger and that He abounds in steadfast love. This is because, as disciples and followers of Jesus, we make mistakes. In the reading from the letter to the Romans (7:15-25a), we were introduced to the writer Paul and his blatant honesty. He tries to do what is right, but he can’t always do it. In the Gospel reading from Matthew (11:16-19,25-30), Jesus described the problems of people for whom nothing was quite good enough.The common theme is people struggling with discipleship. I am pleased that we have also had this Psalm praising God for His goodness towards us. Otherwise, we would be left in a state of knowing that we will get things wrong in our life and in our relationship with God. It’s good that God abounds in steadfast love.I want you to think back to your days at school, in particular the school playground. I can remember some of the games that we used to play. There was one about stealing cookies from the cookie jar. There was tag, where, if you were on it, you had to touch someone else so that they were on it and then had to touch someone else. I suspect that game has lots of different variants. I also remember the trouble that would happen if someone cheated or tried to change the game.The reason I am thinking about games in a playground is because of the Gospel reading. As Jesus described people wanting one thing and it never being quite enough, it was almost like imagining a playground. A bit like children disagreeing over a game, they weren’t happy that they had asked for one thing but didn’t get everything they wanted. It’s as if one group played the flute expecting others to dance, and when this didn’t happen, they complained.Jesus was pointing out that no matter what He did, it was not good enough for everyone. John the Baptist had told people all about the good that was before them. They needed to turn from their sin, but when they did this they gained salvation. They would be rescued; a new way of life was waiting for them.Jesus was frustrated, perhaps, that they just weren’t hearing what He was saying. They weren’t turning to Him fully.They wanted to know God, but on their own terms. They were happy when things went their way.I wonder if we can’t all be guilty of this at times. We can be happy following Jesus, as long as we don’t have to do too much. It reminds me of a little boy who told me he wanted to be a shepherd when he grew up. He then told me that he wouldn’t want to look after the sheep himself. I explained that it would be difficult to be a shepherd if you didn’t go near the sheep. He looked at me as if I was talking nonsense.It is the same for us, though. As we follow Jesus, we need to make sure that we are becoming more like Him day by day. We can’t pick the parts of what Jesus said that we are happy to listen to. We can’t be disciples for part of a day once a week and then carry on without asking God for help. We can’t be disciples but try to keep some things that we are less than happy about, maybe with our behaviour, from Him. We need to give our whole selves to Jesus, to follow Him. We can always know His forgiveness and start again; this is a huge relief.I remember a headteacher of a school telling me about a time when she had explained that if we said sorry to each other when we had done things wrong, and if we said sorry to God, we could start all over again and try not to do things wrong. A little later, she apologised to the children because she had forgotten to print out forms for a school trip, but she would print them the next day. A little girl stood up and shouted, “Forgive her, she has said sorry, she can start again.” She had clearly listened and taken in what it meant to forgive.As followers, we will end up in the same situation as Paul did: wanting to do the right thing, but failing to do it. It’s a little like sitting down to watch a nice, gentle TV programme. You pick up your remote control and suddenly you have a totally different programme on, one that is full of noise and violence. No matter how hard you try, you can’t change the programme. Your remote control needs new batteries.It is as though we are a remote control needing batteries sometimes. In order for us to do what is right, we need power to help us. We may still make mistakes, but in the same way that batteries can fix a broken remote control, asking God for help will strengthen us to do the right thing. We will still make mistakes; after all, even long-life batteries need replacing sometimes, but we know where we can go to make things better.Back to the Gospel reading. After Jesus spoke about people not being happy with what they had, He spoke about the fact that we can worry less. In the beautiful words, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” We are reminded that when we turn to Jesus, when we ask for His help, things get easier. A difficult problem isn’t suddenly solved; after all, Jesus isn’t our personal magic genie. But somehow, and in some way, maybe through another person helping, God gives us strength.It may be in a very different way from what we expected, but He will help. Following Jesus has some rough times, but it has the greatest reward. We can turn to Him, and He will be there for us. All we need to do is commit to Him completely.After all, as we said earlier:The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.Not only this, but Jesus promises:“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Amen. 

Set Free !

 I have been described as many things, generally good but the strangest was as a toilet roll. It was strange and a little disconcerting. However, it became more so when it was used at my husband and I’s licensing service, when we were in Llandrindod Wells. Not only that but it was used by the Bishop !

He was explaining that with me and Ian you ‘buy one get one free’. Do you remember those toilet rolls adverts. BOGOF - Buy one get one free. I was the free one but even so I didn’t have to be associated with toilet rolls ! 

It is true though when something is on offer, you can end up buying it. If something comes free on an offer, you know 3 for the price of 2 for example, then you will buy the correct number to get your free one. I had enough stock once of washing up liquid from doing this that I didn’t need to buy any washing up liquid for a year, and this was before we had a dishwasher so you can imagine how many bottles we had !

I was thinking about this when I looked at the readings for this morning. At the end of the reading from the letter to the Romans (6:12-23) there is an amazing verse that I want to think about this morning.

The verse is - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is incredible. We, when left to our own devices would be in a bad state. Without Jesus we would be tied up in sin. Because God came to us as Jesus, died for us and rose again, we can have eternal life. This is great. The ways things are without God will put us in a bad state away from our maker, not knowing the joy, love and freedom that God brings. But because of Jesus we can be free.

Free gifts can be so amazing and so out of the blue sometimes that we don’t know how to take them. The gift of eternal life, the gift of God and His love and protection for us is incredible. 

The knowledge that we can start again and leave our sin behind is great but the problem is that sometimes we hold on to the bad things we have done. Sometimes we don’t let go of all that stops us from being close to God. All the things that stop us from enjoying the fact that we have been set free from all that holds us back. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the epistle reading we were told that we have been set free from sin, we can move on. The place we move on to is the joy of knowing more of God and His love in our lives. We have been brought from death to life, we are now to live in that knowledge. So why don’t we always live that way ? 

‘For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

I once heard that when Michelangelo died he left a lot of unfinished pieces of art. However, amongst these are four sculptures which look unfinished but they are meant to look that way. 

The four sculptures are, Bearded Slave, the Atlas Slave, the Awakening Slave and the Young Slave.

Do you see the theme ? They are all about what it would be like to be enslaved, unable to be set free. 

In these four sculptures Michelangelo had figures who were stuck in the marble that they were made out of. These four figures will never be free from the stone out of which they were made which meant in turn that the bodies seem to be coming out of the stone but never completely, the figures will forever be stuck. 

What Michelangelo was trying to do was think of what it might be like to be stuck forever. For us, we have a choice of either forgetting that we have been forgiven and so go back to what we have done wrong, forgetting that we have been set free. Or we live as people who are free, people who are in a relationship with God.

You would think that this would make us able to be happy, well it does to an extent but we are still held back by all the other things that bother us. We can never be people who think, ‘well I’m alright nothing else matters.’ We are to help people to know the freedom that Jesus brings. 

We have the greatest gift ever. We must live that way, with joy and by that I don’t mean smiling a very odd smile all the time I mean by being content in the knowledge that we have been set free. 

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

We are freed from sin, we can continually go to God and repent because we are free. We don’t want to be stuck as we have always been, we want to be able to move out into the world by taking Jesus with us, by being transformed more and more into the likeness of Him.

We do this as disciples of Jesus, as trying to be more like Him. As we change so others are changed. As disciples, people who have been set free we have a job to do and that job is to be more like Jesus. 

The former presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, Michael Curry described discipleship as …

Discipleship is about loving as Jesus loves, giving as Jesus gives, forgiving as Jesus forgives, welcoming and including as Jesus welcomes and includes, doing justice and loving mercy and walking humbly with God.

This is what we are to do, this is how we say thank you for the best gift ever - by being more like Jesus, by following Him and living like Him.

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us rejoice in our freedom and give thanks. AMEN

You are invited ….

Invitations are wonderful. We can be invited to all sorts of things. We may be invited to a meal with friends. We may be invited to a grand social occasion, or we may be invited to be the president of a group we belong to.

I am not prone to placing a fairy tale or story as the main part of a sermon. Today, though, I want to think about Cinderella. The story of Cinderella involves an invitation to a ball that is being held by a prince. The problem is that her stepmother, who in the story is particularly horrible, will not let Cinderella go to the ball because she wants her to do chores.

This is a bit like the background to the reading from the book of Exodus (19:2-9a) this morning. The people who had been known as God’s people had suffered under slavery in Egypt. This was until God called Moses and asked him to help lead the people out of Egypt. In the reading today, the people had left Egypt. Moses was talking to God, and as he did so, God promised not only freedom but described their new life. It was one that would be filled with opportunity not only to be God’s chosen people but also to be people who were able to be so special to God that He would see them as a holy nation and a royal priesthood. From slavery to being royalty. What a gift, what an invitation.

Back to Cinderella. She waited and watched as her stepsisters, who will forever be known as the ugly sisters, got ready for the ball. She was desperate to join them. The invitation had included her, but she wasn’t allowed.

In the rest of the Old Testament we read that the people had enjoyed a special relationship with God, but they had turned away. This had happened time and time again. In the end, God came amongst them as Jesus. This meant that there was now a new way of being. Through His death and resurrection, all people were invited into a relationship with God. In the reading from Romans (5:1-8), Paul was explaining to the people that they were now able to stand in the grace of God. That means that they could enjoy a relationship with God, one that was so close they could share in the glory of God. This is an invitation to us all. What an amazing invitation. It is free to us all. It is better than any ball. It is forever.

The passage is written in the typical way of Paul. He makes a statement and then convinces you. As you read through this letter, you can see that Paul always follows an argument through. This is why he builds up the different characteristics that help lead to hope and the pouring of God’s love into us. This is really exciting. He wrote, ‘we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.’

After this comes my favourite Bible verse. It is a verse that, to me, explains everything that God has done for us, the invitation that He gives. ‘But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.’ Not knowing how we would react, Jesus died for us all. This is our invitation. All we need to do is follow Him, accept His love, and tell others about the difference He has made in our lives.

Back to poor Cinderella. We left her sad, wanting to go to the ball but having constant chores to do. Suddenly a fairy godmother arrives, who insists that Cinderella will go to the ball. Immediately the chores are all done. Cinderella has a beautiful dress and carriage. She is transformed, and she goes to the ball. When she arrives, people are jealous of this mysterious girl. The prince dances with her, and everything is lovely.

In the reading from the Gospel according to Matthew (9:35-10:8), Jesus was described as preaching and healing. As He did this, He was proclaiming that something new was happening. People were able to see God at work, and they had an invitation to follow Him. Jesus picked His main disciples. These men were told what they had to do. They were to do as they had seen Jesus do.

It is the same for us as followers today. We are to do what we are told Jesus did. We find out what this was as we read our Bibles. Not just this, but we are to be like Jesus to others, to love as He loves. This is unconditional. People are accepted, loved, and welcomed. We are back to invitation. In the same way that we are invited to turn to God, to know Him, to love Him, to follow Him, and to be like Him, so we are to do the same for others.

Jesus reminded His disciples that, as they had received a free invitation, they were to offer others the same. This wasn’t a transaction; it was a free gift. The invitation to know God is free. In the same way as He had freed His people from slavery, so He wants us all to be free. Free to enjoy a relationship with Him.

We can’t leave Cinderella. Sadly there was a condition on her lovely carriage and clothes. It was that they would be gone by midnight. As she ran away, the prince grabbed her shoe and the next day, by a process of elimination, Cinderella was discovered to be the mystery girl. After this they all lived happily ever after.

We have a free invitation. It is an invitation to eternity. This invitation will involve us following God now, and even when things are tough we will be able to know that He is with us. He loves us, and all He asks of us is that we will love Him as well. We have that invitation. We need to pass it on.

After all, as it said in the Psalm,

‘.. the Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting, and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation.’ AMEN 

The reckless loves that restores.

 I want to begin by telling you a story of a man whose life was changed and used as an example by God. This man was a prophet, and God called him to tell people that they needed to turn back to Him. However, God then not only told this man to get married, but who he should marry. The man did this, but sadly after a time his wife became a prostitute, and the man, after begging his wife to change, eventually ended his relationship with her. After a time the man went to his wife and asked if she was able and willing to change. She was, and the man took her back. The woman had experienced a difficult and painful time without her husband.

The man was called Hosea and his wife was called Gomer. God used Hosea and his life as an example to the people to whom Hosea was preaching. The people had enjoyed a good relationship with God, but like Gomer turning away from Hosea, they had turned away from God. They could be accepted back if they changed their ways. In the time they were away from God, they had lost their land. God was ready to accept them back.

Our Old Testament reading this morning came from the writings of Hosea. In this reading we heard of what would happen to the people of Ephraim and Judah. These were the people whom God had led out of Egypt. They are also known as the Israelites in the Old Testament. The final verse of the passage from this morning gives us all great advice. We learn that God wants His followers to love Him, and to come to know Him.

This is the same for us as well. God wants us to respond to His love by loving Him and wanting to know more about Him.

This sounds quite doable to us. To respond to God's love by following and loving Him, by putting Him first. We are probably rather pleased that He hasn’t called us to act out His message in the same way as Hosea.

In the reading from Romans (4:13-25) we were reminded not only of God's love for us, but also the freedom we can enjoy because of His love. In the past people had needed to keep to certain religious laws to enjoy a relationship with God. In the reading from Romans the writer, probably Paul, wrote that we can enjoy a relationship with God by being put right with Him through faith. This is what is reckoned to us, what is given to us by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. We have a free gift. God's love for us, a love that accepts us. When we turn to God and confess our sins, He forgives us and welcomes us into a relationship with Him.

We can freely receive God's love and pass that love on to others. The gospel reading this morning (Matthew 9:9-13:18-16) reminded me of a visit I made with a Bishop to a primary school. The children were quite excited to see the Bishop. At lunchtime a little girl asked me if the man dressed in the purple robe was real. She kept looking at him, and asked if she could touch him. I said yes, and I could introduce her. She thought about this for a moment and then told me that, if the Bishop would like to meet her, she would be in her classroom.

In the gospel reading there were three stories of healing. The one was a woman who had suffered from haemorrhaging, and she thought that even if she touched the cloak of Jesus she would be healed. This did happen; good job she didn’t leave a message for Jesus telling Him when she would be available, as the little girl did in the school. The woman had faith that Jesus could heal.

After this Jesus went to a home to see a girl who was very ill. The people were so convinced the girl was dead that they had called the professional mourners. Jesus completely surprised the people by raising this girl and making her well.

The third healing was right at the beginning of the reading; it is Jesus calling Matthew to follow Him. This is a healing because Matthew would have been seen as outside of society because he was a tax collector. By Jesus calling him, Matthew was being welcomed back into community. Like the woman and the girl, he could be part of society again.

God's love was shown in His accepting back the people who had turned away from Him, as shown through the life of Hosea. His love is shown in enabling us to enter into a relationship with Him just by accepting and responding to His love. His love in bringing people back to health.

This love is incredible. Sadly, in the gospel there was a response of questioning rather than accepting. The Pharisees, who were a group watching and judging behaviour, felt that Jesus should not be with sinners. Jesus pointed out that it was sinners who needed Him the most.

I absolutely love this, God in His love offers everyone who confesses their sins and need of Him forgiveness and acceptance. God loves us all, and all He wants of us is that we live like Him. That we offer mercy, that we follow Him. It is actually all quite easy really.

There is a modern hymn called Reckless Love; the words in it explain the invitation of God to turn to Him. Some of the words are,

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away.

The love of God really can seem reckless at times. God loves each one of us, and He wants us to love Him. To follow Him, and to want to spend time with Him.

This can be in prayer at Church, or prayer on our own. God loves us, and He gives everything for us. It is reckless, but it is also a constant love for us. A love that it is worth us telling others about. We might do this when we are asked about our faith, or maybe by the way that we live. This accepting, and healing love is something to give thanks for and to live our lives for. May this be our response. AMEN