May I have your attention, please?

I have called todays sermon, “May I have your attention please?” Because that's kind of what I see going on inside the scriptures today, amongst all the very intense theology we are being asked to unpack the voice of the living God seems to be saying to us “Hey guys I'm over here” Now I must confess that when I saw the first reading intended for this morning in my mind I went oh man I don't want to talk about that. Churches can get too obsessed with buildings and projects and all kinds of things that we often know can turn into distractions almost to a form of idol worship, but as I calmed down, I realised that like so many things in life there was more than what appeared on the surface, so let's take a look shall we? if you turn with me now to Haggai 1:15-2:9, what do we see?

Well, we see a group of people being called to find, their common identity: and purpose with God. Like what happens so often when we read Holy Scripture. It is hard for us as modern readers to understand the enormity of what The Hebrew people were facing, as they were called to rebuild their temple. Just take a minute with me if you can, to reflect upon the idea of being descendants of people who lived in captivity, they would have heard all kinds of stories of faith hope and struggle. I imagine also they would have heard a great deal about life before slavery.

Can you imagine going home and being called to build some sense of a normal life?

One of the first things we see is that the people seem to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before them. Of course, that can apply both on the individual and the corporate level. Here's today's first pause, can you recall a time where you were called to do something that seemed overwhelming, either in an individual way or a corporate way? Take a moment to think about that. Here's where we can start feeling a degree of comfort, this scripture tells us two really important things the first is, that we are never alone because as Christians we are called to live in a sense of community, and the second is God is with us.

Over recent years, I've started to develop a bit of a love affair with the Jewish peoples way of connecting their past and their present as we read the word we see countless examples of the Jewish people exploring the idea that the God of their past is in the present and their future. Here's this morning’s next pause, take a moment to think about how God has been in your past and walked with you through life, now add to that the idea that the same love is with you this morning. What does that make you reflect on?

Take a moment to think about that. Inside todays first reading, we see the idea that we are called to focus on the heart and activities of God, to the readings intended audience the temple was the centrepiece of their lives the place where God showed up, the place where they reconciled their past their present and pondered their future. The temple is also seen as a form of light to the world. It's also interesting to think about the concept of service being an act of worship doing something for others in the name of the living God.

I don't know about you but when I serve others it helps me to clear my vision and see others as Jesus does. Here's today's next pause where's your centrepiece? where do you go to find God and experience his love? gardening maybe? Meditation? Journaling? Conversations with others? Prayer? Take a moment to think about that. As we turn to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 We enter that all too familiar situation of being relatively settled in life, then an event or relationship or concept arises that shakes our comfort. Inside, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, the event and concept being unpacked is end times theology.

I have to admit again: to a little bit of a cringe factor going through my head, due to the fact: as you heard me say before that end times theology is a subject that I've not seen the church handle very well, it is either a subject talked about and extreme terms or ignored altogether. One of the things worthy of note, as we look at today's reading was that when the concept of the end judgement was being discussed, the intended audience believed that it was going to happen within their lifetime so, of course people would have reacted intensely to discussion around it.

What I like about this reading is that Paul, some scholars say not Paul is encouraging his audience and us not to live with a reactionary faith but to live with a faith grounded in the hope that we have lived out and with the hope that we have been promised. It kind of reminds us of the words of Jesus when he says no one knows the date or time only the father. One way that we might look at this reading for ourselves, could be the challenge not to become bad news dweller's that's a very easy trap to slip into: what with Facebook, Covid, And an endlessly streaming number of negative news headlines. It would be easy for many among us to say “Right this world sucks I give up” However, we are told in the word to do just the opposite. Our reading today tells us to focus on a living hope, the hope of Christ and we are told to always remain thankful inside that hope. While I'm not disputing the role or validity of eternal hope, I do think it's important not to become so heavenly focused that we forget to live now, so I believe part of the challenge to remain thankful and Christ focused is to think about how we can put aside our distractions, theological or otherwise and focus on the heart of God and his promises now, right now.

Not some week from next Tuesday but now, here is our next pause do you have any distractions to put aside? So that you can focus on your daily growth and experience your Living salvation in a new way? Take a moment to think about that.

Inside the Gospel for today we are confronted by yet another distraction, of course many around us would argue that it is an important distraction, pondering the question how does resurrection work? Of course, those of us who've been in the church awhile will understand that the question was posed in order to trip Jesus rather than to find out what he actually thought. The question about the fate of women is interesting because it was posed within a community who had very limited ideas about women and their role in society,we all know that unmarried woman we're viewed almost with a sense of pity and that many believed that women had no real social value unless they were married.

What limited ideas do we need to reshape or shake off. I really love Jesus’s response after the long-winded question about the seven brothers, he takes it right back to what we might call God reality. He reminds his audience that God is the God of the living and not dead that his purpose is to bring life not death. It certainly was an interesting question to pose to the Lord, since he spends a lot of time in the Gospel telling people how to treat widow’s, orphans and those without support. To me, it raises the idea that those who call themselves Christians will be judged on how they treat and love widow's, orphans and those without support.

So then one of the questions that we might ponder this morning is, how do we take the faith we know and the love we know out to those in need? Particularly those who aren't part of our normal lives, who is it that we are being called to go in search of? Where does that take you this morning? Here is our next pause, take a moment to think about that.

Of course, we note that Christ doesn't discount the law, he bluntly challenges how it's applied and points out when it is placing unnecessary limitations on people, the ultimate challenge of the gospel today is to ensure that our doctrine leads to life and enhances life, rather than being something that places a limit on the love of God. Haggai 1:15-2:9 is reminding us to always view the world through the heart and activities of God, and always go where we are called and do what we are called to do even if the task seems or is enormous. 2 Thessalonians is encouraging us to stay grounded in the hope that we understand and to be people of a reflective faith rather than a reactionary one.

Our Gospel Luke 20:27-38 is cautioning us not to get so distracted by how we understand eternity as to forget Our Calling to participate in the creation of the living eternal Kingdom right now. We are being challenged to ensure that through our belief system we are giving others a glimpse into eternity into an undeniable hope, an unbreakable hope, an eternal hope, a hope beyond measure and ultimately beyond death. God bless you all and may love and grace be the languages you hear and speak now and always. Amen