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