How many Anglicans does it take to change a lightbulb?<\/p>\n
Change?!!! Change!!???<\/p>\n
I know, of course, that this clich\u00e9 would never apply to us here at All Saints, but it does illustrate the complicated relationship that many of us have with change. Each of us will have our own appetite for change, how comfortable or uncomfortable we are with change. It is another clich\u00e9 that we are living in an era of change that has been more rapid than any other era in human history. For some of us, this is exciting and inspiring, others of us feel left behind or bewildered. I wonder how you feel about change? <\/p>\n
Aiden’s parents have experienced huge changes over the last eight months with the arrival of Aiden. The changes that a new baby brings in family life are extensive and deep. Some of them are easier to live with than others, if my experiences of having young children are anything to go by. There is the delight of exploring what it means to have a new member of the family, and the joy that brings. There are the challenges of sleepless nights and changed routines to accommodate the small person\u2019s needs. <\/p>\n
Over the last few months we\u2019ve been exploring and celebrating different aspects of God\u2019s character, who God is, and what difference that makes to us, and our relationship with God. This morning we\u2019re thinking about the fact that God\u2019s nature is unchanging \u2013 what God is like doesn\u2019t change \u2013 and what that means for us. <\/p>\n
In our first Bible reading this morning we heard from the book of the prophet Malachi. In this book he shares God\u2019s message for God\u2019s people, including some warnings about things that they were getting wrong, and how they needed to change.<\/p>\n
The first six words of the reading set the theme. \u201cI the Lord do not change.\u201d <\/p>\n
This is the starting point, the foundation, of the message that God has for the people. \u201cI, the Lord, do not change.\u201d <\/p>\n
Now, if you\u2019re the kind of person that likes change this might not fill you with joy. After all, things that don\u2019t change can be stagnant, boring, out of date. I don\u2019t think that this is what we want to say about God, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s true about God, so what might be more positive ways of thinking about the fact that God does not change?<\/p>\n
Well, there is a sense in which saying \u201cdoesn\u2019t change\u201d or \u201cunchanging\u201d is describing something by what it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s a negative definition. What would a positive definition look like? <\/p>\n
How about saying things like God is reliable, dependable, trustworthy, faithful?<\/p>\n
These are all true about God. They emphasise God\u2019s consistency over time, God\u2019s commitment to creation, God\u2019s constancy. They are deeply comforting descriptions of God that we can rest in. <\/p>\n
And yet. I wonder if they are sometimes a little bit too comfortable? Do they run the risk of taming God, making God sound a bit like a favourite uncle or maybe a Labrador. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s seems to me that I want to say something stronger than this. Again and again in Psalms we hear God described as a Rock. Psalm 62 is a great example of this. <\/p>\n
\u201cTruly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the force of God\u2019s unchanging nature, of God\u2019s faithfulness, that God is a rock \u2013 a rock that we can anchor our lives to, that we can run to for shelter, that will never be moved. <\/p>\n
This is why we bring our children for baptism. It\u2019s why Aiden is here this morning, because we trust in God\u2019s unchanging nature to be a rock that will anchor his life and provide him a strong foundation to build on as he grows and gets to know God for himself throughout his life. <\/p>\n
Through this sermon series we have considered a number of God\u2019s characteristics. That God is love, merciful, powerful, Light amongst others, and we still have some to come through the summer. All of them are underpinned by this one \u2013 \u201cI the Lord do not change.\u201d God\u2019s love, mercy, power, light \u2013 they don\u2019t change. You can anchor your life to them. <\/p>\n
As we read on in Malachi we find worked examples of this. <\/p>\n
Firstly we read about God\u2019s protection of God\u2019s people. Because God doesn\u2019t change, the people have not been destroyed, God has protected them. Even though they have turned their backs on God time and time again, their unfaithfulness has not broken God\u2019s faithfulness. God is still there, looking out for them, waiting for them to return to him.<\/p>\n
Secondly we read about God\u2019s generosity. God loves to bless God\u2019s people, and to pour out what they need on them. God calls the people out for their lack of generosity and contrasts this with God\u2019s own commitment to generosity and blessing. Now, we have to be a bit careful here. I wouldn\u2019t want us to fall into the trap of treating our giving as an investment opportunity. We don\u2019t give because we want to earn God\u2019s generosity and blessing. <\/p>\n
Having said this, trusting in God\u2019s rock solid generosity does free us to be generous ourselves. This is why as a church we give away 10% of our income to other organisations working for the kingdom \u2013 because we trust God to provide what we need and so are free to be generous to others. It\u2019s why we teach that it is good for us all to be generous in our own giving, and that 10% of our income is a good benchmark for that. As we demonstrate our trust in our faithful and generous God by being generous, so we will discover all kinds of blessings. <\/p>\n
One of the things that we have been seeing over the last couple of months is the consistency between God the Father\u2019s character and God the Son\u2019s character, and the way in which God\u2019s nature does not change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. God is who God is, and that does not change. In Hebrews 13:8 we read that \u201cJesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything we have been saying about God applies to Jesus, because Jesus is God. <\/p>\n
What then are we to make of our reading from Matthew\u2019s eye witness account of the good news of Jesus\u2019 life and ministry?<\/p>\n
This is a strange little encounter, isn\u2019t it? At first sight it doesn\u2019t seem very \u201cJesus-y\u201ddoes it? <\/p>\n
The first thing that happens is that we meet a woman who is desperately concerned about her daughter who is being oppressed by evil spirits. She comes to Jesus for help. And Jesus doesn\u2019t respond to her. Jesus friends and followers, the disciples, try and get him to send her away, but Jesus doesn\u2019t do that \u2013 he just comments that he believes that he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman isn\u2019t taking no for an answer, and now comes and gets in Jesus\u2019 way. She kneels at his feet and begs, \u201cLord, help me!\u201d<\/p>\n
I wonder how you imagine Jesus\u2019 tone of voice as he talks to the woman for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not right to take the children\u2019s bread and toss it to the dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Describing people as dogs was no more polite in 1st century Palestine that it is today. With the wider evidence of what Jesus was like with people in other conversations, I believe that he found a way of saying it that took the sting out of it, but I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ll ever really understand why he used such a horrible phrase. Some people have suggested that the word used meant \u201cpet dogs\u201d but they weren\u2019t really a thing in that time, and to be honest doesn\u2019t make it much better.
\nAnyway, the woman wasn\u2019t put off, and comes at Jesus \u2013 \u201caren\u2019t we even worth the crumbs?\u201d<\/p>\n
At that Jesus changed his mind, and seeing her persistent faith, healed the woman\u2019s daughter. <\/p>\n
Now, this could be a bit embarrassing. I spent the first chunk of this morning talking about how God doesn\u2019t change, and then emphasised the fact that whatever is true of the Father is true of the Son, which means that Jesus doesn\u2019t change either. So what is Jesus doing changing his mind if he doesn\u2019t change? <\/p>\n
Well, it seems to me that Jesus\u2019 change of mind is entirely consistent with, and in fact demonstrates, Jesus\u2019 consistent nature. Jesus is consistently full of grace, willing to show mercy, and loving. Because this nature is reliable and sure, unchanging and dependable, Jesus is free to change his decisions. If this were not the case, if Jesus were bound by what had been said to people, despite changes in circumstances and attitudes to Jesus, then the character of Jesus would have to be different. People who can\u2019t change their minds when new evidence comes to light, or insights are gained aren\u2019t being consistent, they\u2019re being obstinate, and that is not what God is like.<\/p>\n
God does not change. God will always be holy, just, loving, and merciful. God\u2019s purposes do not change. God is always reconciling, always with us, always rescuing us from the messes we get into. God is always blessing and being generous to us. Let\u2019s hold on to this, trust it, and build our lives on it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How many Anglicans does it take to change a lightbulb? Change?!!! Change!!??? I know, of course, that this clich\u00e9 would never apply to us here at All Saints, but it does illustrate the complicated relationship that many of us have with change. Each of us will have our own appetite for change, how comfortable or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[431],"tags":[854,131],"class_list":["post-1128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wellington","tag-malachi-36-12","tag-matthew-1521-28"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}