Romans 6:12-23.                                 Whose slave are we?               26/6/11

(12)  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. {13} Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. {14} For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. {15} What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! {16} Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? {17} But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. {18} You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. {19} I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. {20} When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. {21} What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! {22} But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. {23} For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Whose slave are we? Who or what are we serving in our life day in and day out? That surely is the base question that comes out of this reading here this morning. The answer that we give [not just verbally] determines either death or life for us. So this is an important question that we have to face in our lives all the time. So let us prayerfully consider this issue as Paul addresses it to us.

 It is here today, that our society, and all too often we ourselves, have a huge problem with this whole idea of being a slave and of serving. This whole concept is abhorrent to us. We are our own person. We are to be free to be who we are and who we want to be. No one should be a slave to anyone or anything. Each person must be able to do what he or she wishes.

This has become the ruling philosophy in our society and in our own lives; and pedantically so. We can see this coming out in so many laws and attitudes today. In fact it has become something that is being pursued with great determination: to the point that we have become slaves to this way of thinking. We must obey this philosophy at all costs.

If you are not so sure, just look around at what is being taught to our young people; what the media is presenting to us continually; the songs that we are singing; the laws that are being passed and the judgements that are being made. Then look even to our own attitudes and thinking, and I am sure that we can see this more and more coming to the fore.

And saddest of all, we can even see that this philosophy has taken a hold within the Christian church today as well. Again and again it is me and what I want that is determinative of what is right and good. The teachings and Confessions of the church are no longer important. What makes me feel good must be what I must have. Even Scripture must be read in such a way that it fits within this philosophical framework. Look at those who are running to hear what their itching ears want to hear. He who has ears to hear let him hear, and eyes to see, take note.

 Here then let us take serious note of what God says to us here through Paul.

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Slaves to sin – surely not! Surely now I have gone too far! But is not what I have said thus far, sin? Is not this focus on me and what I want at all cost, sin? Yes this is the heart of sin itself. This selfish, self-centred attitude has reign in our mortal body so that we obey its evil desires. It is the placing of me and myself at the centre that is open rebellion against God. And we are making ourselves slaves to this very thinking.

To this attitude let us remember the clear consequence that results: it leads to death.  This selfish, self-centred approach to life is a disaster in the making. We can already see it happening; even though we are hell-bent on following this philosophy. In just a few ways we can see the consequences: the loneliness and alienation the come with greater selfishness; The breakdown in relationships and the increased violence: the degradation of sex and the open abuse of others, simply for ones own pleasure is growing: The corruption and heartlessness of so many; and list could go on. The end result will be the death of the society that is built on this philosophy and the individuals within it. And most tragic of all, is the death of any meaningful relationship with God Almighty himself and therefore eternal death. So, what a disaster we have in our midst!!

Surely however, we have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Surely because we have been baptized into Christ Jesus, we will have died to the old sinful, selfish, self-centred way of life; and have been raised with him into a new life; a life that is centred on righteousness. In fact we have become slaves to this righteousness. Surely!

Because of God’s love for us in sending Jesus to die on the cross for us so that we might be forgiven and restored back into God’s family, our focus now will be on him and what he wants, not ourselves. Because the wages of our sin brought about the death of Jesus, we now know that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, so now all that we say and do will be in aimed at that which is in accord with a right relationship with him.

That is what this righteousness is: recognising and living in a right relationship with our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is: recognising that we are selfish, sinful people, who constantly need to be forgiven and redirected away from a focus on ourselves, to Christ and the cross. Then in response to this love and forgiveness we will constantly look to God and his Word to lead and direct us in all that we say and do. We will always look to him and his Word because we know that he and what he says is what is good and right for us.

Knowing all this then, we will see to it that we are slaves to this righteousness. Instead of being slaves to sin, we will see ourselves as being in total submission to God and his Word. Everything we say and do will be directed by this righteousness that is now ours through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ and the cross will be that which determines who we are and what our status is in the world. Because we are forgiven, we will forgive others. His Word will no longer be interpreted by us to suit our ends, but will be God’s Word which directs and enlightens us. When he says take up your cross and follow me, we will do so knowing that he has gone before us in doing so. He is now Lord, not me. He is the absolute Boss of my life.

So now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

As a result now slavery is no longer an abhorrent thing. It is no longer a thing to be fought against and looked down on as such a terrible thing. In fact now that we have been set free by Jesus Christ and been assured of eternal life with him, we will willingly give of ourselves and serve him in every way that we possibly can.

He is the great and loving Almighty God who truly has good in mind for us. His Word is right and true and so will be taken as that which is good for us: that it does tell us what we really do need to know with regard to our salvation, without us having to add to it our sinful reason and feelings; it will also tell us what is good for us to know with regard to issues such as ‘women’s ordination,’ homosexuality and other church practices, without us having to twist it to suit the societal whims of the day;  it will also guide us in that which is a good and right way for us to live and act as we go about our day to day life, without us seeing those good things as bad and boring. Also the Teachings and Confessions of the church will be seen and held up as that which is good to keep us on track, in the face of ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ who are trying to lead us up the garden path to death’s door.

Yes now the Lord Jesus Christ will be the centre and focus of all of who we are and what we do. Now we can sing his praises and give him all glory and honour; now and always. AMEN.

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

2 Corinthians 13:11-14.          The Triune God with you all. 19/6/11

(11)  Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. {12} Greet one another with a holy kiss. {13} All the saints send their greetings. {14} May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Here on Trinity Sunday our attention is drawn to the greatness of God Almighty himself. We are drawn to recognise that he is the ultimate Supreme Being who created the universe and all that is in it. Not only that, he created us human beings, as both the Old Testament reading and the Psalm remind us, as the reason for the creation. In other words he created us as the foremost of his creation so that we might be in a relationship with him, as he is with himself as triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Now this is important for us to remember, just is it was for Paul to remind the Corinthian Christians, because they had put their thoughts and ideas; themselves in many ways, as the centre and core of life itself. They; and we too, have that tendency, to twist and turn Scripture to put ourselves and what we do as ultimate. When that happens, divisions, rivalry and one-upmanship abounds, and Satan has a field day. God Almighty is not glorified.

So here Paul concludes his letter to the Corinthians reminding them, and us, of who and what is of greatest importance; and then the impact that that surely has for us. He says; May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. This Supreme, almighty God who is over all in every way, and is hugely greater than we could ever think or imagine, is yet a God who has chosen to extend his grace, love and fellowship to us. He wants to give us a new and better life if only we would allow him; if only we would not put ourselves up against him as being the centre of life.

This being the case, let us reflect for a moment on who this great God is and how he has chosen to reveal himself to us. Now this surely takes a lifetime of reflection to grasp how great and wonderful he is, and we here only have ten minutes, yet we will seek to focus on the basics.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, reminds us that this Jesus who walked this earth two thousand years ago is the Lord. That is this Jesus was not just an ordinary man; even though in every way he was as you and I. As we read in Philippians 2:6-8;  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Yes this Jesus is the Lord; the great “I am who I am,” The Almighty who is the Supreme Being over all things. He is the God who created all things: The God who holds the being and destiny of everything in his hands. And who is the Judge of all things, who can and has destroyed just as easily as he has created.

Yet this Lord Jesus has come as the Christ: the Messiah. He has come in grace to save us from the mess we have gotten ourselves into. Way back in Old Testaments times, after Adam and Eve fell into sin, by wanting to be equal with God, he has promised that he would send the Messiah; the Christ to come and save us; to provide a way out for us. (Zec 9:9)  Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. There is passage after passage in the OT which makes the same point that God is sending his Anointed One: The Christ to save us and to rule over us.

This is pure grace: here we see the absolute essence of God’s undeserving love that he extends to us wayward, rebellious, enemies of his. Despite the fact that we have chosen to ignore God and put ourselves on the pedestal, and then in turn seeking God to act according to our wishes, he in grace comes to us to do what is necessary for our salvation. He dies in our place on the cross and thereby forgives us all our sin. He rises again to assure us of life eternal with himself in heaven.

Surely we would not turn our back on this Good News and go back to living with us in the centre of life! Surely we would not reject this wonderful grace that has been extended to us! Which of course, ultimately, means that we lose out on that which Christ has won for us.

However in this wonderful blessing that Paul reminds the Corinthians and us of, there is even more.

He reminds us of the love of God that is with us all as well. Again this God who is the Almighty Creator of all things; who has put all things in their places; continues to ensure that everything happens for the good of us his people. This God did not just create this and then leave it to its own devices.  We are told that in the beginning he created all things and that it was all very good. However because of our disobedience this good creation now suffers and even creation itself groans as a result of our sin. God now allows tsunamis and other catastrophes; sickness and death, to be a part of life. He is a holy and just God, and sin therefore has its consequences.

However in his love for us he now uses all of these things for our good. He now seeks in the midst of a sinful world to do what is good for us. That means using that which happens to us, to remind us that we cannot live without him. Through these things he seeks to help us to see that we need him and the forgiveness that he has extended to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to remember that his ultimate aim is to have us share all of eternity with him, rather than simply allowing us to have all that we want here, and yet miss out on that which is of ultimate value for us. So out of his love for us he seeks to continually draw us to look away from ourselves to him who is the Almighty Lord of all.

That then leads us to the remainder of the blessing: The fellowship of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit of God is His Almighty presence moving across all of eternity seeking to bring all things together as the Lord intends. His presence was there at the creation of all things bringing life into our very souls, and continues to work throughout to bring all things together into perfect fellowship with the Triune God. (John 16:13)  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

In Luther’s Small Catechism we read of the Holy Spirit’s work in this world of ours. ‘He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.’ This then reminds us of his ultimate purpose for us: to bring and keep us within the fellowship of God Almighty himself, through our Lord Jesus Christ. He wants us to have perfect fellowship with God himself. Here in this worship service, through Word and Sacraments, he does just that.

This then is the Almighty God at work through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is how he has chosen to reveal himself to us.

However there is one more aspect to this blessing that has only been alluded to so far. Remember the conclusion to this blessing: be with you all. Yes this great and Almighty God has chosen to be with us all. This God who is holy and majestic, Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, has declared that he will be with us all. His grace, love and fellowship is with us as we go about our lives. This total God in all his fullness has come to be with us as we as his people go about our lives as Christians. Imperfect as we might be; struggling as we are; divided, yet knowing we are one; in the bad of life as well as the good; this God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is with us, always seeking to pull us through. Because he is the Almighty God that he is, we therefore can go forward with confidence and hope knowing that he not only has our eternal welfare at heart, but that he has the power to bring us through. How comforting and strengthening that surely is for us. How awesome it is that he chooses to be this way for you and me, and all of us together.

Therefore let us, Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

 As you go remember  the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with you all. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

John 20:19-23.                        The giving of the Holy Spirit.             12/6/11

(19)  On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" {20} After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. {21} Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." {22} And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. {23} If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Today we are reminded of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: God’s gift to his Church. Now in light of the focus and importance that is placed on the Holy Spirit in Christian circles today, we need to look closely at what his role is for the Church: for us. We have much ado about the Holy Spirit and his place in the lives of Christians today that is not central to what Pentecost and the gift is really all about. The result is much confusion, wrong-focus, and ultimately delusion.

This being the case I believe that we first and foremost need to go back and listen to what Jesus himself has to say with regard to the Holy Spirit and his coming to his disciples. Here in the Gospel of John, we have Jesus saying quite clearly; "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."  Hear this again.

Yes, you heard right. The real gift of the Spirit has to do with the proclamation of forgiveness of sins. This is the essential work of the Spirit; not first and foremost speaking in tongues, prophecy and all that kind of thing that is associated today with popular Christianity. Nor is the Spirit’s primary role that of giving us a special message that is above and beyond the Scriptures. No Jesus clearly states that the gift of the Spirit is tied to the message of forgiveness.

It is not that this is just one isolated text that is making this point. In fact every time Jesus speaks of the giving of the Holy Spirit in connection with the work of his disciples it makes the same point. Let us read;

(Luke 24:46-49)  He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.  I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

(John 6:63)  The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. The Spirit gives life. How does he give life to souls that are dead in sin? Through the forgiveness of sins. It is not the worldly, human things that we can see that are important: not me and what I have and do that counts. It is Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins that he has extended to us that gives life.

(John 16:7-11)  But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

(John 16:13-14)  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. Again what is it that Jesus wants us and all people to know? And what is it that that Jesus constantly preached to the people? The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the Good News; the Good News of the forgiveness of sins through his death on the cross.

(Acts 1:7-8)  He said to them: "..... But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Witnesses of what? Of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. Yes in every instance there he makes the very same point with regard to the work that is associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

From there then we come to that Pentecost Sunday when the Spirit did come on the disciples. There in the Acts reading we hear that; All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. So at a quick glance here we might get the idea that here we have clear evidence of the thinking that seems to be so prevalent today. Yet what do we find as we read on? What was it that they were speaking? Clearly discernable languages, and with a very clear message that is fully in accord with the Scriptures.

"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him....... God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.  Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.........When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

So here again we see this very clear message come to the fore. We have the Holy Spirit at work, doing what Jesus said he would do. Even his ongoing work in those people connects and draws their focus continually to that same message. We read: Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

That being the case we need to be wary of much of the thinking and hype that is peddled about the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not primarily about gifts and spectacular happenings. It is not first and foremost about personal experiences and good feelings. Nor is it about some new message or personal knowledge with regard to having a good life here in this world.

Yet what do we hear again and again being focussed on by so many?

Let us remember, the Spirit of God wants people in heaven, not to have heaven on earth. He wants them to recognise their sin and need for help and a saviour, not that they are OK and for them to feel good about themselves, so that they can live as they please. No, the Spirit seeks for people to repent, recognising that humanity does not have all the answers and turn away from a focus on ourselves, rather than on being positive and not wanting to acknowledge that there is so much that is bad and wrong.  God wants people to know about Jesus and his death on the cross and its absolute importance for us and for our salvation, rather than simply about Jesus and his miracles. In worship he wants us to focus on God’s Service to us through Word and Sacraments rather than what we do for God. And the list could go on.

Yes the Spirit wants us to focus on Christ and the forgiveness and eternal life that he has won for us. That is what he was sent to do. That is what is important for us and all people to know. When the Spirit leads us and others to know this Good News then he has truly done his work.

That being the case let us thank God that he has sent us his Spirit, and thank God that he has done his special work of getting through to us that which is important for us. He has made known Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins to us. To him be glory and honour now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

   

Acts 1:6-11.                            Witnessing or witnesses??                  5/6/11

                                                Spectators or participants?

(6)  So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" {7} He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. {8} But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." {9} After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. {10} They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. {11} "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Today we are reminded of Jesus’ Ascension back into heaven after his death and resurrection. He has now completed the work he had come to do, and so that this Good News of what Jesus has done for us through his death and resurrection, may be spread world-wide, he departs. As I

read through this text in preparation for this sermon, there was one thought that particularly struck me: Those first disciples were there on the hillside witnessing this event: their eyes for a long time looking up to where Jesus had gone. They were spectators in the events preceding this and now his ascension. But what had Jesus called them to do before he left them? He said they were to be his witnesses: to tell others the Good News of what Jesus has done for us all. Now that raises an interesting thought for us here today. Are we just here witnessing what God has and is doing in life for us: are we spectators in life and in the Church, or are we being his witnesses? In simple words are we spectators in the Church or witnesses?

Are we like the little boy who raced outside when he heard the roar of a  FA18 jet fly low overhead? But of course he was too slow: the plane had already long gone and all he could hear was the roar in the distance. But then suddenly he heard it approach again, and this time saw it in detail, even though it was a quick glimpse: the shape and its markings, and he even thought he saw the pilot in the cockpit. But in flash it was gone: disappeared into the horizon. The little boy just stood there looking up into sky – amazed, and he just continued staring into the sky, hoping that it would come back: wishing to get another look: hoping to spot it once again. Eventually his mother come out and told him to go and tell his brothers and sisters what he had seen. But he just stood there, gazing into the sky, hoping that he might be able see this mighty machine once again. It was not until evening and the sky grew dark that he finally lowered his eyes and then raced off to tell the family, but they were no longer interested – it was too late.

Now that story is interesting, but the question has to be asked, in so far as our Christian lives are concerned, are we too, spending too much time gazing into the sky, waiting for the power of God to manifest itself and for Christ to return. Are we too concerned only about ourselves, our own life, and our own relationship with God that we have failed to be concerned about being the witnesses that Christ has called us to be, to our fellow human beings, and sadly even to our own children. Thinking, that as long as we keep up our own faith by coming to church occasionally, then that is good enough: As long as we just maintain our own belief in Jesus Christ, then that is all that matters. Everyone else can and need to look after themselves. They need to make up their own minds; and we must tolerate their views and not impose ours on them. If that is our thinking then we too are only spectators, witnessing what is happening, but failing to be the people that our Lord wants us to be. We are failing to be his witnesses.

Today's reading reminds us that Jesus has ascended into heaven, and that he is no longer visibly present with us. Up to this point: his ascension, Jesus because of his humanity was limited to only one locality at any one time. He could only be with one certain group of people and no more. He couldn't be in Jerusalem, Rome and Australia all at the same time.

Now the important work that he had come to do as a human being was finished: now he had taken on himself the punishment for all our sin, in his death on the cross, and had become the atoning sacrifice for all that we are and have done wrong, and so he has restored that broken relationship that was there between us and God. So now all who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus and what he done for us can enjoy eternal life with our God. No ifs - no buts - no maybes! We have been forgiven and restored as children of God, and all we need to do is to believe that: to accept the fact that we are a part of God’s family because of Jesus, and go on living as a member his family.

So there is no need for us to stand gazing up into heaven. There is no need for us to struggle at preparing ourselves so that we will be right for the second coming: making sure that we know enough and that we have got it all sorted out in our brain so that we might be acceptable, and so making worship something that is there merely to keep us strong enough so that we won't miss out on the last day.

But at the same time it doesn't mean that we will be slack about our Christianity either, thinking then, that we only need to come often enough so that we do not lose our faith. That it doesn't matter if we miss a Sunday here and there; because after all Jesus has saved us and that is all that matters. It doesn’t really matter how we live and act.

The whole thing about Jesus and his death, resurrection and ascension is that we can forget about ourselves now, knowing that we are safe in the keeping of our great God, and so get on with doing what he wants, not what we want. Now we can simply trust that Jesus has taken care of our salvation, and so turn our attention toward living and being children of God. We can and are called to be witnesses for and of Jesus Christ, as he has commanded us.

When he said, ‘Be my witnesses’, he was calling and encouraging his disciples, and that includes you and me, to look outward from ourselves, to others. Instead of, as we so often do, to ourselves or simply to heaven. All our efforts and energies can now go into reaching out to the lost, lonely, and hurting. Out of thankfulness to Jesus for our salvation, and knowing the greatness of who God is and what He means for our lives, we will want others to know of his saving work as well. That is why we now come to worship regularly, and study the Scriptures, to prepare, strengthen and encourage ourselves for this witness: so that we are able to be witnesses to the greatness of our God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus ascended for this very purpose. So that Christians all over the world would experience the same guidance and direction that those first disciples had as they walked with him. Jesus ascended so that he could send the Holy Spirit to live amongst us, his people: so that his Spirit could guide, strengthen and encourage us and every other Christian, as we be witnesses of the greatness of what Jesus means to us. Jesus’ ascension means, that we are now called to be his presence to the world around us; and that we are to share his message of the Good News of forgiveness and new life, with those around us. As we do so, we are enabled to share that which is so important, with those many people out there who are desperately in need of it. We are his witnesses: people who tell others of the great things Jesus has done for us all.

So let us seek the power and encouragement from the Holy Spirit, who has been given to each and every one at our baptism, to do this work. Instead of closing ourselves off and being selfish in so far as our own salvation is concerned, let us reach out and be Christ's presence to others, knowing that we are in the care and keeping of our gracious Lord. Knowing all the while, that the same presence and power of God, goes with us, as it did for those first disciples, and that it goes with us into every aspect of our lives.

Let us be sure that the accusation, that ‘we are so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use’, can not be levelled against us. And at the same time, not allowing that to be an excuse for not doing what we are called to do either; that is to be his witnesses to the world around us. Instead of looking  to ourselves - let us look up and out beyond ourselves and reach out to those who need this wonderful message. Always keeping in mind, Jesus ascended so that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit and be witnesses of the love and forgiveness that God has extended to us all through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So let us not stand about as spectators - witnessing what is going on around us, but instead out of thankfulness for all that our gracious God has done for us, and in obedience to his call, let us be his witnesses. To him alone be all glory and honour, now and always.  AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish