During June 2018 our teaching ministry during the Sunday morning services was based on the Apostles’ Creed. While on the first Sunday (June 3) we celebrated a baptism, we also discovered how ‘the Apostles’ Creed came to be’.
The early Church was growing in understanding of who Jesus is, and how our understanding of God shifted in the light of Jesus’ person, life, death and resurrection, and teaching. Clearly, in Jesus, God had revealed Himself in a new way, a “New Testament”.
In the writings of the New Testament, phrases such as “Jesus is Lord”, “Christ Jesus”, and the “Holy Spirit” all signalled a new revelation of God, of three persons together within the Godhead. There was a continuance with Jewish understanding of “the LORD our God, the LORD is one”, and yet Jesus had claimed one-ness with God, and spoken openly of the past, present and future work of the ‘Counsellor’, the Holy Spirit – who would undertake work that is God’s alone to do.
The early Church wrestled and debated these ideas as they spread out across people without Jewish backgrounds, with the words of Jesus’ Great Commission resonating: “Go. Teach. Make disciples. Baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
So the followers of Jesus did so, and developed a ‘rule of faith’ that began to define what Christians did, and did not, believe to be true of God. Over time this grew into Creeds, refined and robustly developed memorable statements that were used to fulfil the Great Commission.
The Apostles’ Creed was used to teach and disciple new believers. Initially it was unwritten, passed down orally to those about to be baptised. They were expected to not only recite the full Creed from memory, but also teach from memory the details of it to the gathered Church before their baptism.
The Creed provided a consistent statement of faith across cultures, languages and places, for teaching, for orthodoxy and above all, for faith in the risen Jesus. May it continue to do so today.

When the power of the Roman Catholic Church was challenged on so many fronts, the repercussions changed the world.
There were wars between nations and cities. Monarchies were brought down and republics were raised up. Nation state boundaries were stringently defined and enforced. Confusion reigned in the Church of England as Catholic and Protestant forces gained the ascendancy or were brought down by the reigning monarch. The Enlightenment rose as an alternative understanding of the world and nature, removing yet more power from the Roman Catholic Church which had controlled centres of learning.
The Church underwent ‘schism’ or separation into different ‘denominations’. The Bible was widely translated and distributed in the common tongue of Western nations, and slowly into other languages, thanks to the printing press. Tracts, books, music and propaganda followed thick and fast – and only slowed down as the internet has taken the production of material of all persuasions to hyper-speed.

The Uniting and Anglican Church traditions that make up the Strathfieldsaye Community Church are “protestant” traditions, direct descendants of the Reformation movements five hundred years ago. A generation ago and before, that may have meant an inability to worship with Roman Catholics, strong and even occasionally violent disagreement on some matters, and at the least, suspicion and distrust.
We praise God those days are over! However there are still real differences between Protestant and Roman Catholic understandings of how God reconciles us to Himself, and how God reveals Himself to the Church, and through whom.

Does this mean we fight? No!
Does this mean we can agree on some of these matters? Perhaps. Ongoing dialogue has been happening for a very long time towards this goal, and while there has been some progress, there are some matters that we cannot agree on.
What we can do is examine the Scriptures and test what is heard from positions of power and influence within the Church, in the pulpit, in the paper, on TV, on the internet.
The point is that we can do that. We do have the Bible in language that we can readily understand, in book, electronic, audio, webpage, searchable, study-able, commentary laden forms. We are free to read the Bible. That is a freedom that was hard-won, literally with the blood of many martyrs across history.
We have also been given the promised Holy Spirit to interpret and understand the Bible with us. Jesus promised that He would send His Spirit after He had gone, and did just that.
Never before has the Bible been so readily available. So what a tragedy it is that the Church is so Biblically illiterate, and too often lives off a diet of a few minutes a week of teaching from the pulpit to feed them for a week – when there is a banquet open to them each minute of each day. Sixty-six books of grace and truth are right there, all the time, equipped with the Holy Spirit to help us.

To honour the Reformers who are our spiritual ancestors, make the effort to freely read the words of Scripture they fought and died to release to the people. Of course it can be difficult to understand all of it, but the more often you read more of the Bible, God’s great plan of new life in Jesus Christ becomes clearer and clearer – and you will find your own life being reformed, slowly but surely, toward the person you were created to be in Christ Jesus, your Lord and God.

[Our readings for this Sunday were Acts 17:11-12 and John 16:5-16].

Preached on November 5 2017.

Actually, there were (at least) five streams of Reformation all happening in the extended period from 1450 to 1600, and even before and since then. “The Reformation” was not an ‘event’ rather than a series of awakenings, transformations of individuals, cities, nations and movements.

Here’s a very brief look at the five streams, with sincere apologies to historians and scholars:
German (Lutheran) Reformation: Martin Luther’s act of nailing 95 theses into the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral was not an unusual occurrence, indeed, it was actually a common practice of professors giving students their reading material for discussion in class. But the content was the spark that set off a bushfire. What did he write? You can read them here, but in short he challenged some profitable activity of the Church, some downright wicked activity, and some activity that was in conflict with what the Bible taught. Luther also translated the New Testament into the German language for the everyday person to hear and understand, earning him further wrath from Church hierarchy. Luther never intended to “bring the Church down”, but he clearly expected things to change.

Swiss Reformation: Under John Calvin and his contemporaries in Geneva the Swiss Reformation was as intellectual as Luther’s in Germany was passionate. Calvin systematically interpreted Scripture and made clear theological ideas and teaching that had been obscured by language (the Bible was only ‘officially’ available to clergy and only in Latin) and doctrine (the rule of the Pope was absolute). As the Swiss Reformation grew, city-states and regions resisted the power of the Roman Church and pursued Calvin’s interpretation and understanding of Scripture above Papal proclamation and force. Calvin and his co-workers were in communication with other Reformers, particularly those in England.

English Reformation: It is widely known that King Henry XIII wanted a divorce and the Pope would not grant him one – so as King of England he separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. And yet there were much greater movements at play before that, not least the work and writings of John Wycliffe (see post on ‘Pre-Reformation’). Thomas Cranmer was a key person in the English Reformation, creating the instruments and systems for the newly separated Church of England to function outside the authority (but not completely out of the control of) the Pope in Rome. Cranmer had worked hard to separate the English Church from the Roman Church throughout the sixteenth century.

Anabaptists: The Anabaptists were anti-institutional long before any Reformation movement. They opposed many Roman Catholic teaching and practices, and indeed were disliked by most other branches of the Church, and were often attacked and killed en masse, and being passionately pacifist, did not violently resist. The Anabaptists are the spiritual ancestors of the Salvation Army, Baptist, Church of Christ denominations, those that have minimal hierarchical leadership.

Counter-Reformation [Council of Trent]: Finally (in this terribly brief summary) was the Roman Catholic Church’s response in the mid-sixteenth century. Primarily hoped to find reconciliation with the Lutheran Reformation, common ground was sought and concessions made by the Roman Church. Change was achieved and many of the deeply wicked, and un-Biblical, practices were abolished. Yet agreement was not found, and the Reformed Church and Catholic Church drifted further apart.

Volumes have been written on this era in the history of the Church, including lessons from it. In our service we encouraged those who strongly disagree with Church behaviour to not reactively act without seeking answers, and positive action. Arguably Luther, Calvin and Cranmer wanted keep their beloved Church as one, and none desired to create all new “denominations”.

Note: if ‘strongly disagree with Church behaviour’ and believe such behaviour is illegal in nature we encourage you to contact legal authorities in the first instance.

[Our readings for this Sunday were Romans 3:9-31 and Luke 17:1-10].
Preached on October 29 2017.

‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ (Lord Acton, 1899).

By the sixteenth century, the Western Church was almost completely under the authority of the papacy in Rome. There had been civil war within the Roman Catholic Church at various times with rival popes claiming authority and nations under the authority of the Church jostling for power, sovereignty and favour.
However there were a small number of men and women who worked not to bring the Church down nor for outright revolution, but to see change within the Church reflecting Biblical principles. These people were in different places and worked across a century and a half to wrestle the Bible out of an ancient language only known to clergy and the elite (Latin), and able to be understood by the peasant and merchant, child and mother, villager and traveller alike.
While the Church controlled the language of the Bible, it controlled power, tax, nations, kings and queens, law, learning and trade. Lord Acton’s quote above may have been said four centuries later, but may well have been a reflection on the Church at that time.

In our sermon on this, we heard the account of John Wycliffe, a learned Englishman in the fifteenth century who had studied Hebrew and Greek languages, and could read the Bible not just in the Latin Vulgate (official) version, but also the increasing number of manuscripts being found and copied out by scholars.
Wycliffe was passionate about opening up the Bible to his English-speaking compatriots, and translated the Bible into common English. He was arrested, tried and killed by the State, under authority of the Church, for this act of ‘treason’.
Wycliffe’s work, including numerous writings on the contrast between what the Bible said and what the Church did, was picked up by a young man from the Continent named Jan Huss. Huss distributed Wycliffe’s ideas in Europe, where they were subsequently found by Martin Luther in Germany in the early sixteenth century. It was Martin Luther’s actions later that is claimed to have been the ‘start’ of the Reformation (nailing 95 theses to the wooden door of Wittenberg Cathedral on October 31 1517), but it can be argued the reforming of God’s Church (not the Pope’s!) was already well-under way in numerous places.

Sadly there is still Reformation to be begun and completed within the Church universal, which like any other human institution falls prey to pride and power. We understand that when the Bible is read and understood in our congregations and in our personal life, we are convicted, refined and transformed by the work of God the Holy Spirit. Finally on the Last Day Jesus will return and make all things new. Come, Lord Jesus!

[Our readings for this Sunday were the explanation of the Parable of the Wheat and Tares in Matthew 13:36-43, and the warning of and to false teachers in 2 Peter 2:1-3; 17-22).
Preached on October 22 2017.

Some new material will be posted here soon, including a brief outline from our Reformation 500th Anniversary series from 2017 (What led to the Reformation / What was the Reformation? / What happened since the Reformation).
Also in coming months we will be doing a series on the Apostles' Creed (June), and Abraham (July-August).

At the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36) it was blindingly clear to Peter, James and John that Jesus of Nazareth was not only human, but entirely different again. He was greater than the line of prophets, although He was a prophet. He was the long-awaited Messiah – the Christ – and yet even more again.
Jesus’ revelation on that mountain of His glory cannot be under-estimated. The three disciples with Him were all affected since that day, and both Peter and John refer to the event in their subsequent letters to the early churches. Jesus’ living relationship with Moses and Elijah, including His conversation with them regarding His upcoming ‘exodus’, the crucifixion and resurrection He understood He would face, bore witness to the reality of the kingdom beyond this earthly life – and Jesus’ sovereignty in that realm.
This sovereignty had been foretold by Daniel in his dreams and writings centuries before Jesus came. Daniel’s phrase “Son of Man” was known to refer to the One who “was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed”. Jesus took this title “Son of Man” for Himself as more people looked to Him for renewal, hope and life. Only God could offer these in the way Jesus did, and the question grew – could this man be God?
The truth of who Jesus is, is greater than we can ever understand – until we stand with Him in His revealed eternal kingdom.
And then we will sing with all the company of heaven, the hosts of angels, the multitude of nations, the songs from Revelation chapters five and seven. Our new creation will include a new voice that will soar with all creatures in heaven and on earth in praise and wonder at the LORD God, Father, Spirit, and Son – Jesus of Nazareth.
Yet… that Day is yet to be. The power struggles here in this world, locally and globally, continue to surprise and frustrate us. How long, O Lord?
Who, or what, can we put our trust in? Politicians? Celebrities? Technology? Progress? Sports stars? The temptation is to turn in to ourselves as the highest authority when we are disillusioned with the worldly powers that reveal their fragility in different ways. Can you trust yourself? Really? Can you look into your own heart and recognise the deception that even lies there?
But when Jesus is glorified in His rightful place, then we find we have One who has lived as one of us, hungered and thirst, tired and tried, hated and mocked, loved and celebrated, suffered and died, and is now risen, ascended to take His rightful throne in the heavens to rule over all the heavens (the unseen realm) and the earth (our seen realm). Obviously the powers of this world reject His authority, and will increase this rejection of Jesus and His followers. Jesus clearly laid out this reality to His followers on numerous occasions – as does the whole New Testament.
Jesus died on the cross for your sin – God took your sin and shame upon His own shoulders, and died for the sin of the world so that all who turn to Him in faith will live to join Him in His eternal kingdom, in a fullness of life that we cannot begin to imagine. In His resurrection we have the assurance of sin pardoned and eternal life, and in the gift of God the Holy Spirit we have the guarantee of all His promises being fulfilled – something no other authority in this world can match.
Jesus was never “just” a historical figure, a ‘Good Teacher’, a revolutionary, a Prophet, the Anointed/Messiah/Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is God the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, who was before He came into this world through Mary, to suffer and die, to be resurrected and ascended by God the Father into His rightful position as ruler and LORD over all creation. All authority and power has been given to Jesus, and He calls all who seek life, life to the full, to turn to Him and receive all that He has to offer.

This offer of grace is free, and is freedom. How will you respond?

Here we move into a higher understanding of who Jesus is. Luke wrote a snapshot of Jesus’ younger life as a twelve year old, reasoning out high level theological arguments with the religious leaders in the Temple. If this boy had no sinful impediment to learning and understanding, therefore having clear wisdom and knowledge, His intellect and argument must have been astounding – leading to days of discussion with the Teachers of the Law.
Then we hear of Jesus’ baptism and anointing, the trial in the wilderness and His victory over all that would undermine His knowledge of Himself and His reason for being here.
So by the time we get to Luke 9:18-27, when Jesus asked His disciples “Who do people say that I am?”, He knew who He was and what He was here for.
Peter was the one who declared “You are the Christ of God.” This was an explosive declaration, pregnant with expectation. “The Christ of God” was widely recognised as the One who would rise up and restore the national fortune and sovereignty of God’s chosen people. He would be enthroned in Jerusalem to the fanfare of the nations. And all who stood against the Lord and His anointed would be destroyed as a rod of iron smashes pottery (Psalm 2).
Jesus affirmed Peter’s declaration, and immediately told His disciples not to tell anyone. Such heightened expectations would hamper the work Jesus had to complete before His time came to go to Jerusalem.
Because Jesus did have to go to Jerusalem. God’s Anointed One rode triumphantly into the city to the fanfare of the crowds. He was received by royalty dressed in shackles. He was whipped and humiliated. He was paraded under the weight of a wooden cross. His coronation was being nailed and raised up on the cross, His crown made of thorns. The Christ of God died a brutal physical death at the hands of the powerful and the corrupt.
But that was the purpose for which He came. He understood this as He reasoned and explored the Hebrew Scriptures, of the meaning of the Messiah and the Suffering Servant. He knew the Christ of God meant the perfect sacrifice for once and all for the sin of the world. Jesus the Christ knew His coronation would bring victory and salvation to all who turn to Him in faith, blessing to all who took refuge in Him – and destruction to all who did not.
His kingdom was not of this world, and yet will overcome the kingdoms of this world. His resurrection is evidence of His truth and life, and His ascension is the evidence of His glory and the promise of His return.
Jesus the Christ always knew what this explosive title meant. I think too often we forget, or worse ignore, the expectation and power of the title. And for those who use Jesus’ title and name blasphemously, as a swear word or in a derogative manner, they will find that their bluster that is as brittle as clay is no match for the sceptre of the living Christ.

When we looked at Jesus in the Gospel of Luke as a historical figure, as a “Good Teacher” and as a revolutionary, it didn’t require belief in any transcendent or supernatural qualities of Jesus. Unbelievers could, and do, understand Jesus in these ways, and are happy to leave Him like that.
The next three views of Jesus are supernaturally oriented as we explore His influence in the “seen and the unseen” realms, in other words, this physical world and the unseen spiritual world.
Prophets are recognised in many spiritual traditions and religions. Their universal role is to bridge the seen and unseen, to reveal the spiritual to this present age. But not all prophets speak truthfully and prophecy can be used to increase personal gain in terms of influence, money or gratification. None of these end up well.
The LORD God gave Moses some strong boundaries for engaging with the unseen realm in Deuteronomy 18:9-13. Clearly, there are dangers in the spiritual realm not to be messed with. As our ‘secular’ nation drifts further from Christ and His Word, isn’t it fascinating how such spiritual practices are being pursued?
In the very next passage (Deuteronomy 18:14-22) Moses taught the people of God of the Prophet who would be raised up and who would do exactly what was required. God told the Israelites that He had initiated the line of prophecy and prophets to reveal His Word to His people across history, as they had struggled to stand directly in His presence (Deuteronomy 18:16 and Hebrews 12:18-24). The prophets spoke God’s Word while the kings rose and fell, when the superpowers raged around and through Israel, and within and outside of the Tabernacle/Temple institution.
Moreover, the LORD told them how to discern a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20-22): If what they said didn’t happen, then they weren’t a prophet. Unfortunately, this principle was not recognised to the detriment of God’s people – then, and now.
So, to Jesus as a Prophet. Clearly Jesus bridged the seen and unseen realms. He frequently spoke of things unseen, which came to pass. He spoke with authority and backed it up with powerful works that revealed His dominion over creation, sickness and the evil spiritual forces.
When the disciples of John the Baptist came to ask Him on behalf of John “Are you the One who we are waiting for – or do we still have to wait for another?” Jesus immediately demonstrated His power, fulfilling prophetic words of Isaiah 29:18-21 and 35:5-6 – releasing, restoring, reviving and renewing.
He told John’s disciples to return to him and tell him everything they had seen and heard, and to stay strong because Jesus is the One he was waiting for.
Jesus then turned His attention to the crowds, to admonish them for their pigeon-holing of the prophets. If they were out in the wilderness, dress rough and eat rough – “he has a demon!” says the crowds. If they move around the city and attend parties at the houses of powerful people, “he is a glutton and an alcoholic!” says the crowds. Jesus told them to stop judging the appearance – and listen to what they are saying.
“Wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Those who listen to what Jesus said will find life and truth. He had a unique insight into the seen and unseen realm. He now has full authority over all of it, and His rule will be seen by all people on the Day of the LORD when He wraps all history and fulfils all the promises and prophecies we wait for.

There are lots of people who believe that Jesus was a key historical figure, and that what makes Him unique is His wisdom in teaching. Jesus is so understood as a “Good Teacher”.
This is based primarily on His affirmation of “The Golden Rule”: ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you’ [Matthew 7:12]. Jesus also said it in the way of the Hebrew Scriptures: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’ [Leviticus 19:18].
This Golden Rule is held up by most cultures and peoples as the highest ethic, the foundation for “good” society, and therefore Jesus is esteemed by believers and unbelievers alike for His emphatic teaching on this.
But here is the issue… Jesus called this ethic the ‘second’ commandment, which is “like the first”. What is the first commandment?
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” [Deuteronomy 6:5]
If “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” is the ‘Golden Rule’, here is the ‘Platinum Rule’ in Jesus’ teaching. But it’s not popular or considered worthy by a world that values other gods and idols as worthier (and therefore worshipful) than the LORD God.
“One thing is needed” [Luke 10:42] Jesus told Martha as Mary sat listening intently to Him. What is this one thing? Luke goes on to record Jesus teaching His disciples about prayer, about being in living relationship with the living LORD – listening intently as the feet of our LORD.
If Jesus is esteemed as a Good Teacher, then we should also heed His teaching on loving our enemies. This radical ethic is emphasised as Jesus told a Jewish scholar the story of the Good Samaritan. The Jewish scholar had asked “Who is my neighbour?” [Luke 10:29]. Jesus showed him how even his enemy was his neighbour – and that he should go and do likewise. This is radical love – then and now.
If we understand Jesus to be a Good Teacher, let us take heed of the words of Paul in Philippians 2:1-11. If we find anything good in Jesus, then why aren’t we following Him, and more so, His example? He is the highest example of humility, obedience to the LORD, even to death on a cross. His teaching was a reflection of His love of the LORD, and His earthly life was lived in whole and holy obedience to the mission He came here for – to open the way for you and I to follow Him, to live out the “one thing”, and then to love our neighbour as ourselves – even if they are in opposition to us, hate us, and especially if we are moved with anger toward them. Let us love them, as Jesus spoke and prayed on the cross about those who hated Him.
Jesus’ teaching doesn’t endorse or elevate teaching from human experience or desire as being “good”, and does not validate the beliefs of other religions or spiritual paths. He explicitly warns His followers to beware of all that ensnares and threatens our love for the LORD our God with all we have. For our love for others springs from our love for God, especially when we are mindful of disagreement and antipathy towards “them”.
In Jesus’ teaching, “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” follows “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

A revolutionary is a proponent of change. Sometimes revolutionaries will push for action no matter what the cost. In their way of thinking, the end justifies the means.
Since Jesus’ incarnation, activists and revolutionaries at various times have used Jesus as a figure-head for their cause – some good, some definitely not. In the last century, there has been a number of attempts to colour Jesus “red” in the socialist cause. His blessing of the poor and woes for the rich, His challenge to the tax collectors and the powerful elite, His cleansing of the Temple and His teaching about the “kingdom” which they have understood as a revolutionary, ‘equal’, utopian society in this world have all been put forward.
However there are other revolutionary streams of teaching of Jesus that are not embraced by modern revolutionaries. These include ‘loving your enemies’ and ‘taking up your cross daily’, or dying to your own desires and dreams of power. Jesus calls us to acknowledge God’s existing authority and power, and receive from Him the abundant blessings He provides in this life – and to an unimaginable degree – in the next [2 Corinthians  4:16-18, Romans 8:18-25].
Then there is the great scandal of Jerusalem when the innocence of Jesus is confirmed by Pontius Pilate before the revolutionary crowd, and yet convicted and crucified on the Roman cross. Meanwhile, the crowd cries out for the release of the revolutionary Barabbas, well-known to be a leader of chaos and murder in the cause of Jewish independence against the Romans.
Jesus’ revolutionary teaching cost Him His life. He managed to offend just about everyone. But no one could accuse Him of an actual crime.
Should we follow this revolutionary teacher? Are the poor blessed and the rich evil? Not necessarily, but we should be alert to the entrapment of loving wealth and recognise how much we do have, rather than live for more. Should we follow Jesus to the cross? Here, in Australia in 2017, it’s not really an issue. Or is it? It is becoming an issue, and will continue to do so. I can see a time when Christians in Australia will be punitively punished for speaking the words of Jesus, for following Him in defiance of the world. In many places in our world, this is already happening, and many innocent Christians are victims of evil and hatred in dreadful ways.
By the way, over many centuries many innocent people have been the victim of the Church too, in ways of evil and hatred that should bring us to our knees in confession, and tears to our eyes in shame.
So we should follow the revolutionary Jesus who was a proponent of change, who knew that the end justified the means. In His case, ‘the means’ was His own death by crucifixion was for the guilty (you and I), and ‘the end’ is our justification with God. Jesus opened the way for our souls to be saved by faith through grace. The revolution of Jesus is His sacrifice for the life of many.
It’s revolutionary grace, and it defies imagination and understanding in its beauty, simplicity and complexity. Jesus’ revolution is not of this world, but will end with the destruction of all power structures opposed to His kingdom, including those inside of us that still demand that we be the sovereign of our own soul.