Turning things around
Psalm 124, Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22; James 5:13-20
I often wonder what the compiler so the Revised Common Lectionary were thinking when they pulled the lectionary, the Bible readings we use in Church, together. Sometimes you can have a look at the readings and the links between the readings are clear. Other times it takes a little while longer. Fortunately, today’s readings were in the former category and as I read through the readings the theme was clear. But let's look at today’s readings, shall we?
We have three readings today. Our first reading from the Psalms is a good a place to start. It’s part of what is known as the Psalms of Ascent and these were sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their way up to Jerusalem for the Passover. It’s a hymn of praise as the pilgrims look at how God protected the escaping slaves during the Exodus. For us as Christians, the Psalm carries additional meaning because it reminds us that God has set us free and that God is in control.
The Esther passage is one of my favorites. Esther as a person is definitely one of my biblical heroes. Her courage to accept the role God has given her and then the courage to stand up for what she believed in is a wonderful model for any person to follow. But this passage, in particular, goes on to show how with courage amazing things can happen.
Then we have the James passage and we see in James what has become the formula for praying for the sick and the emphasis on the power of prayer and I think the focal point is that verse: ‘The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.’
But the question is ‘What do these very different passages, written over 800 years have to say to us today as Christians.’
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the message God was giving us today was a message every Church needs to hear. And the message is God can and will intervene if we ask him.
We live in a time when the message we get contantly is the Church is on the decline and in many people eyes that decline is terminal. The media is full of it. If you use the internet type church decline into a search bar and you will literally get millions of results all either celebrating or mourning the apparent decline of the Church.
We see it around us with aging congregations and churches closing and we wonder what’s next?
But today’s readings are giving us a pointer to action we can take and a promise of a future. The psalmist reminds us that God protects his people. Esther reminds us that God can and does intervene in the life of his people if they have the courage to stand up and James is telling us that the key to it all is prayer.
This is a message we need to hear and have the courage to implement, because it doesn’t matter what our denomination is the answer is the same because the challenges we face are exactly the same. The problems may be different but the challenges of a declining church are the same.
I want to ask a difficult question of you all today. How many of you truly believe that God can turn around the fortunes of his church? Really believe it. Because even I have days when I think that the end is nigh. I sometimes want to walk down the aisles of the churches I preach in with a sandwich board that says repent for the end is nigh! But the thing is I still believe that God hasn’t quite finished with the church here, the church in Yorkshire or the Church in the UK because we are the hands and feet of Christ. We may be the arthritic hands and feet of Christ, but we are still God’s ambassadors.
So how do we begin to see a different future? It starts by recognizing that God has the best interests of hs people in mind. And that those interests may be very different from our own interests. Remember the parable of the talents. The servants that looked after the interests of the master were rewarded. The servant that looked only after is his own, out of fear, lost everything. We need to look and listen to what it is God wants for our communities.
Secondly, we need to stand up and be counted. If Esther had kept quiet, the Jews would have been slaughtered. There would have been no one to return to Jerusalem and more than likely Jesus’ would not have been born. I don’t think I’m being melodramatic when I suggest that for the church we are in the same place. We are facing an environment that doesn’t want to just ignore Christianity, we are living in a time where there are parts of our society that wants to actively destroy it. The rise of scientism, humanism and atheism all point to a prevailing thought system that wants to drive out all forms of religion. So we need to stand up, be courageous and speak out. If we are quiet we will be wiped out.
Finally, we need to pray. We need to spend time at the feet of the throne of God and we need to humble ourselves and pray. James uses the example of Elijah to show us how powerful prayer is if we commit ourselves to pray.
God’s call to us is clear: ‘if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
We need to hear what God is saying to us today. If we want to see the direction of the change we need to recognize that God hasn’t finished with the church but that we need to ask ourselves if we have God’s interests in heart, rather than our own. We need to speak up and stand up for ourselves. If we think that we are doing something that is of God, then we need to be courageous and stand up for God. And finally, we need to come humbly before God and listen to what God is wanting us to be and do.
Until then nothing will change and we will no longer be here in 20 years.
Amen
We have three readings today. Our first reading from the Psalms is a good a place to start. It’s part of what is known as the Psalms of Ascent and these were sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their way up to Jerusalem for the Passover. It’s a hymn of praise as the pilgrims look at how God protected the escaping slaves during the Exodus. For us as Christians, the Psalm carries additional meaning because it reminds us that God has set us free and that God is in control.
The Esther passage is one of my favorites. Esther as a person is definitely one of my biblical heroes. Her courage to accept the role God has given her and then the courage to stand up for what she believed in is a wonderful model for any person to follow. But this passage, in particular, goes on to show how with courage amazing things can happen.
Then we have the James passage and we see in James what has become the formula for praying for the sick and the emphasis on the power of prayer and I think the focal point is that verse: ‘The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.’
But the question is ‘What do these very different passages, written over 800 years have to say to us today as Christians.’
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the message God was giving us today was a message every Church needs to hear. And the message is God can and will intervene if we ask him.
We live in a time when the message we get contantly is the Church is on the decline and in many people eyes that decline is terminal. The media is full of it. If you use the internet type church decline into a search bar and you will literally get millions of results all either celebrating or mourning the apparent decline of the Church.
We see it around us with aging congregations and churches closing and we wonder what’s next?
But today’s readings are giving us a pointer to action we can take and a promise of a future. The psalmist reminds us that God protects his people. Esther reminds us that God can and does intervene in the life of his people if they have the courage to stand up and James is telling us that the key to it all is prayer.
This is a message we need to hear and have the courage to implement, because it doesn’t matter what our denomination is the answer is the same because the challenges we face are exactly the same. The problems may be different but the challenges of a declining church are the same.
I want to ask a difficult question of you all today. How many of you truly believe that God can turn around the fortunes of his church? Really believe it. Because even I have days when I think that the end is nigh. I sometimes want to walk down the aisles of the churches I preach in with a sandwich board that says repent for the end is nigh! But the thing is I still believe that God hasn’t quite finished with the church here, the church in Yorkshire or the Church in the UK because we are the hands and feet of Christ. We may be the arthritic hands and feet of Christ, but we are still God’s ambassadors.
So how do we begin to see a different future? It starts by recognizing that God has the best interests of hs people in mind. And that those interests may be very different from our own interests. Remember the parable of the talents. The servants that looked after the interests of the master were rewarded. The servant that looked only after is his own, out of fear, lost everything. We need to look and listen to what it is God wants for our communities.
Secondly, we need to stand up and be counted. If Esther had kept quiet, the Jews would have been slaughtered. There would have been no one to return to Jerusalem and more than likely Jesus’ would not have been born. I don’t think I’m being melodramatic when I suggest that for the church we are in the same place. We are facing an environment that doesn’t want to just ignore Christianity, we are living in a time where there are parts of our society that wants to actively destroy it. The rise of scientism, humanism and atheism all point to a prevailing thought system that wants to drive out all forms of religion. So we need to stand up, be courageous and speak out. If we are quiet we will be wiped out.
Finally, we need to pray. We need to spend time at the feet of the throne of God and we need to humble ourselves and pray. James uses the example of Elijah to show us how powerful prayer is if we commit ourselves to pray.
God’s call to us is clear: ‘if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
We need to hear what God is saying to us today. If we want to see the direction of the change we need to recognize that God hasn’t finished with the church but that we need to ask ourselves if we have God’s interests in heart, rather than our own. We need to speak up and stand up for ourselves. If we think that we are doing something that is of God, then we need to be courageous and stand up for God. And finally, we need to come humbly before God and listen to what God is wanting us to be and do.
Until then nothing will change and we will no longer be here in 20 years.
Amen
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