Pastorals
Rev 2:1-11
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Letters to the 7 Churches 2 - Ephesus and Smyrna
I receive lots of letters each week, from various organisations, and I have to say, most of them end up in the cardboard file on my floor - waiting to be recycled. Some, though, I take more notice of than others. Some I deal with immediately. Others I put in the pile in the centre of my desk to be dealt with as soon as I can get to them. How do I differentiate between these three groups? Sometimes I glance at the contents briefly and if it's something like an offer for life insurance or another credit card they go straight in the bin. But in other cases I check who they're from. I got one from the tax office last week, talking about my next tax return. That one I carefully put aside until I do my tax. The sender of a letter makes a big difference to the attention we pay it doesn't it?
Well look at the way this first letter begins: "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands." Think back, if you were here two weeks ago, to the vision that John saw of the Son of Man standing in the midst of the 7 lampstands, clothed with a long robe and a golden sash, with his head and hair as white as wool, as white as snow, eyes like flames of fire, feet like burnished bronze, a voice like the sound of many waters, holding the 7 stars in his hand and with a sharp 2-edged sword coming from his mouth, and his face shining like the full force of the sun. It was an overwhelming image of glory and majesty. And now the postman arrives and in his pouch is a letter from that same Son of Man.
Rev 4
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Throne Room of Heaven audio (4MB)
I applied for ordination in 1988 - in another diocese from this. When I went for the interview to see if I was acceptable, one of the questions I was asked was “What is God like for you?” It’s a good question, isn’t it? What is your image of God? Now I have an idea that the answer I gave wasn’t the right one because they ended up telling me to come back in a year’s time to ask again. Or perhaps it was the right one but not the one that most of them thought was right. It’s very easy to get a mixed up view of what God is like, isn’t it? Popular views of God change with the popular culture. I think if you asked many Christians in the west today their answer would be something along the lines of “God is a God of love” or “God is my friend” - “my mate” as one of our kids songs puts it. Or God is the all-loving, ever-patient, longsuffering parent who’s just waiting for us to come back to him. All of those ideas are true of course. God is all of those things. But none of them sums up his nature sufficiently. What we find in our passage today is so far beyond anything I just mentioned that it’s likely to blow your mind.
Rev 1:1-20
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
7 Stars and 7 Lampstands audio (4MB)
Today we begin a series on the book of Revelation. You may be aware that this is not an easy book to follow so let me give you a short introduction. The first thing to understand is that this is not a work of history, though it is firmly rooted in the history of the Church since Jesus Christ. It’s not wisdom literature like the psalms or proverbs. It is a letter, but not like any of the other letters you may be familiar with. It’s what’s called Apocalyptic. If you’d lived in the first century when John was writing this you’d understand exactly what that meant, but since you don’t, let me try to explain. Apocalyptic writing uses strange, often fantastic, imagery to describe what might happen in the future. The closest thing we have to it today would be science fiction/fantasy literature. But even that doesn’t really explain it because what we find here isn’t a linear story. It uses picture language, but the picture is moving. Someone has described it as mobile metaphor. Sometimes it’s like we’re looking at the same scene from multiple vantage points - the same characters and events pop up but the picture is different each time.
But let’s look at how the letter begins. He writes: “This is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.” This is a message from God via Jesus Christ who sends an angel to John so he can pass the message on to us. And it’s a revelation. That is, it’s the unveiling of something that was previously hidden.
Christmas Eve (Training for Godliness)
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- Written by: Heather Cetrangelo
I’ll never forget, something my high school principal once said to me:
“Success in life is 5% ability and 95% blood, sweat and tears.”
I guess I’ve always believed that with hard work and dedication we can achieve almost anything we put our minds to. My motto in life has always been, ‘forget what’s reasonable or practical … with blood, sweat and tears, we’ll make it happen’ …
It strikes me that that 5% ‘ability’ that is needed to succeed, might only be 5%, but it matters a lot. Without ability, all the hard work in the world won’t be enough.
Take, for example, my performance in mathematics. I don’t know if you know what it’s like to work really really hard at school, just to achieve a pass grade … well, that was me in maths. In maths, all the hard work in the world, was never going to get me a high distinction … because I just didn’t have the ability … it’s like that part of the brain that grasps mathematical concepts, just isn’t in me. I could work really hard at it, but I will never be successful at it because I don’t have that 5% factor: ability.
But you know … that 5% ability factor that my school principal was talking about … it doesn’t just apply to study does it? It applies to life.
Suffering for the Gospel
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- Written by: Rachael Lie
1 Peter 2:11-25 audio (3MB)
By Rachael Lie
Today is St. Thomas' day, so let's think about Thomas the apostle. Thomas boldly proclaimed Jesus as his Lord and his God (Jn 20:28), and tradition tells us that he then became a passionate evangelist of the gospel who was willing to travel far to Asia to tell about Jesus Christ.
We're not all called to be full time missionaries like the Jacksons in Japan, but we are all called to be full time gospel bearers to demonstrate the good news of Jesus who suffered, died and was raised after three days. Do you realize that we all should be full time gospel bearers? When I say full time gospel bearer, I am not talking about those ministers who are hired full time and therefore they are the ones who should be preaching and sharing the gospel 24/7. I am talking about you, everyone of you, including Chris, including myself, who are full time gospel bearers. As we look at today's passage, this concept will get clearer.
Peter is writing to people who are suffering from persecution by the government and suffering from discrimination of the society that results in maltreatment in everyday life. However, Peter says to them, yes, it's a tough life, but,
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. And then, conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge V.11-12.
