The readings for this Sunday are for those of the Baptism of Christ (Epiphany 1):

• Isaiah 43. 1-7
• Psalm 29
• Acts 8. 14-17
• Luke 2.15-17, 21, 22

You might like to use the link below to find the above readings, and click on any of the reading above that you wish to use: http://www.katapi.org.uk/CommonWorship/CWLectionarySelV.php

Collect of the day

Let us first spend a few moments in silence to centre ourselves,
to gather ourselves in our souls,
to come before the Lord just as we are with our joys and sorrows,
our hopes and our fears, our loves and our pains.
Let us just focus our minds and hearts on Jesus who is the answer for every problem.
Let us pray that the Spirit will work through our lives
to bring Christ to the world.

Silence is kept …

Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit
in the Sacrament of Baptism,
that we may be faithful to our calling
as your adopted and beloved children
and share your love with those in need;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen. 

The Prayer after Communion

Lord of all time and eternity,
you opened the heavens
and revealed yourself as Fatherin the baptism of Jesus
your beloved Son:
by the power of your Spirit
complete the heavenly work of our rebirth
through the waters of the new creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Prayer before the Sermon

Loving Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the words you have given us today.
We know they are words of life and salvation.
Open our hearts O Father,
touch our souls,
help us to respond to your word
and know that you are indeed our Lord and Saviour.
May we experience in our hearts
your love and your presence always.
Amen.

A homily based on the readings of today is given below:

“You are my child, the beloved, with you I am well pleased!” (Luke 3.22)
“I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43.1)

1. Introduction

This morning the Church Calendar reminds us of the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. As such, the Church wants us to remember our own Baptism.

In fact, the Word of God has a great message for us today. It is the message of being “called” and “chosen” by God.

The key verses that, I think, come to the fore are Luke 3.22: “when Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’” and Isaiah 43.1: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.”

The two verses remind us of Jesus’ baptism but also ours. In fact, when you and I were baptised years ago, God was telling us: “You are my child, the beloved, with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3.22) and the same sense of call and selection is reflected in the words of the prophet Isaiah:“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43.1b)

2. Baptism affirms a Christian’s identity as God’s child

We human beings all seek affirmation; we seek to be taken notice of, respected and appreciated. We all want to be loved and to love. Now, to be affirmed by God your Creator and Saviour is the greatest thing that can happen to you or anyone alive. In fact, when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and you are baptised, God accepts you as his child. God affirms you as his child. He tells you as he told Jesus at his baptism: “You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke, 3.22). He is also telling you, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43.11)

What happens in Baptism is something truly marvellous. We haven’t understood the meaning and mystery behind the holy sacrament of Baptism.

If you feel you are alone, that nobody really loves you as you are, that you are just a ‘nobody’, that you don’t matter, God is telling you quite the contrary. He is telling you: “I love you. I have redeemed you. You are mine.” Isn’t that the most wonderful thing on earth? To be loved and accepted and forgiven and affirmed by God? This is the mystery of Holy Baptism.

3. My Baptism

You all will have your story of Baptism and how you came to Jesus Christ. It would be wonderful to hear the stories of faith of each one of you. If you would like to join a group just to share stories of faith, do let me know.

Anyway, let me just share with you how I became a Christian. I belonged originally to a Church that claimed its origins to the mission and ministry of Saint Thomas in India. My parents shared their faith with me when I was only a week old when they took me from the hospital to the church for me to be baptised even before I was taken home! I’m so grateful to my beloved parents who did that for me. They couldn’t have given me a better gift than the Christian faith. I feel it has been a great privilege to have been baptised at that very tender age! Like, as if, possessed and owned by God early on in life! I couldn’t have asked for more. My parents nourished that faith in me, was confirmed, and as an adult personally and convincingly accept Jesus as my Personal Lord and Saviour. This happened when I was 18 years of age while in college.

Of course, my life has not been all of a straight line! Whose of us is? I have fallen many times and always tried to get up and move on. Sometimes I have taken God for granted, but the personal love and faithfulness of the Lord Jesus has always continued to redeem me again and again and support me in my life. I can now absolutely tell you that I have experienced the personal love of Jesus over and over again, in spite of my weaknesses. And God has helped me on in my life, in all circumstances, good and bad, and in all places, and I have been to quite a few!

I would like to joyfully affirm that Jesus is a wonderful and beloved Saviour! Jesus makes all the difference in my life. Without Jesus, I’d be lost. I’d lose the compass of my life, the fulcrum of my human existence. Jesus is everything to me, the real answer to all problems. With Saint Paul, I joyfully affirm that Jesus as the “yesterday, today and forever!” (cf. Hebrews 13.8) of my life! My life means nothing without Jesus!

This is what Baptism and allegiance to Christ has done for me! I wish to testify for Jesus to the world and say: You are God’s child! The beloved of God! No matter who you are, you are personally loved by God!  And with prophet Isaiah: “Do not fear, for God has redeemed you; He has called you by name, you are his.” (Isaiah 42.1)

4. God loves you and calls you into an intimacy with him!

Each one of you will have your faith story. For God loves you and calls you to an intimacy of relationship with him. He calls you to be united to him in faith and love.

That is why the Word of God today is beautiful as it is powerful – you are chosen by God. You are called by God. You are loved by God. You are His!

Unfortunately, some have got it all wrong. Some think Christian life is joining an exclusive club. Some think Christian life is a particular theology or a particular policy. Some think Christian life is merely studying the Bible. Others think it is all about rubrics, rituals and sacrament. Some think Christian life is action.  These are good and needed, but primarily, Christian life is following Jesus Christ! It is all about your trusting surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ in your life.

This is what the Baptism of Christ and our own Baptism reminds us today, that we have a special identity as a child of God and we are called to follow Jesus Christ every day and every moment. Let me read again the key words of the Word of God that we heard and reflected this morning:

“You are my child, the beloved, with you I am well pleased!” (Luke 3.22)

“I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43.1)

Pause to pray …

Lord Jesus,
I believe you are the Son of God.
Thank you for becoming one of us.
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.
Thank you for rising from the dead
to give me hope and the gift of eternal life.

I repent of my sins
and invite you into heart and life
as my Lord and Saviour.
Please grant me your Holy Spirit
so that I may know you, love you
and follow you every day of my life.

Amen.

[Revd Dr ST Mattapally, Rector, Springline Parish, Diocese of Lincoln]

The readings for this Sunday are for those of Advent 3:

• Zephaniah 3. 14 – end
• Canticle: Isaiah 12.2 to end
• Philippians 4. 4-7
• Luke 3. 7-18

You might like to use the link below to find the above readings, and click on any of the reading above that you wish to use: http://www.katapi.org.uk/CommonWorship/CWLectionarySelV.php

Collect of the day

Let us first spend a few moments in silence to centre ourselves,
to gather ourselves in our souls,
to come before the Lord just as we are with our joys and sorrows,
our hopes and our fears, our loves and our pains.
Let us just focus our minds and hearts on Jesus who is the answer for every problem.
Let us pray that the Spirit will work through our lives
to bring Christ to the world.

Silence is kept …

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

or

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Post Communion

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.

Amen.

Prayer before the Sermon

Loving Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the words you have given us today.
We know they are words of life and salvation.
Open our hearts Father, touch our souls,
forgive us our sins especially our lack of faith,
help us to respond to your word.
May we know that you are our Lord and Saviour
who promises us the power from on high,
your Holy Spirit.
May we experience in our hearts your love
and your presence always.

Amen.

A homily based on the readings of today is given below:

Luke 3:7-18 (The Gospel)

⁷ John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹ In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” ¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³ He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵ As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,^[a] 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with^[b] the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

All:     Praise to you O Christ.

“Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”

(Luke 8.8)

1. John the Baptist and the message of repentance:

 “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (verse 8)

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (verse 9b)

The message of John the Baptist is strong, radical and difficult but it is a message that is still very relevant also for us today. We must see this message in the context of the expectation of the people of Israel for the Messiah, the Liberator-Saviour. Unfortunately, many of them thought that the Messiah would be a political liberator who would free them from the oppression and occupation of foreign powers like the Roman occupation of the time.

John the Baptist, who is a prophet and the last of the prophets, is anything but a political messenger. As we know, prophets seldom mince words and always speak and proclaim the truth of God’ will, plan and purposes. John the Baptist, the archetype prophet, challenges the people to a repentance and a change of heart, a change of life, spiritual regeneration. He uses examples and metaphors to explain his message. (verse 9b.)

God wants to see us regenerated, renewed, changed, converted, become new people, John proclaims. In fact, St Paul says, writing to the Philippians: “If you are in Christ, you are a new creation.” (2 Corinthians 5.17)

John is telling us as he told his listeners more than 2000 years ago:

Don’t be happy with your repetitive, habitual, half-hearted life that has become a vicious cycle, day after day, doing the very same things again and again! No! He says! Repent! Have a change of heart! Come out of the prison of vicious cycle of habits, addictions and ordinariness that does not help to be a new creation in Christ.

2. What shall we do?

And the people asked him, “What shall we do?” (verse 10, repeated in verse 12 and 14) It occurs twice more in the gospel of Luke in chapter 10. 25 and 18.18 in which a lawyer and a ruler respectively ask Jesus for an authoritative response about what they must do to inherit eternal life – and they receive different answers. Thrice in Acts of the Apostles (2.37, 16.30, 22.10) this question occurs and, in each instance, Christian baptism is part of the answer.

In answer to their question “what shall we do?” John does not enjoin the offering of sacrifices or the performance of ascetical practices like fasting. His injunctions are far more radical and practical, namely a selfless concern for one’s disadvantaged brothers and sisters:

• sharing with the poor (verse 11)
• just living (verses 12 and 13)
• don’t extort money (verse 14)

We remember the words of the prophet Micah (Micah 6.6): “What does the Lord God ask of you but to love tenderly, act justly and walk humbly with your God!”

3. The Baptism of fire

In verses 15-17, John gives us an idea as whom to wait for as the real liberator and saviour: “I baptise you with water; but one who is more powerful that I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thongs of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (verse 16)

We know that fire cleanses, consumes and gives light.

That is what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit does to people – cleanses
and purifies us, enlightens us, gives us light and consumes us
with his love.

This happened at Pentecost – “tongues of flame.” (cf. Acts 2.3)
This happened at the “burning bush” on Mt Sinai. (cf. Exodus 3.2)
The baptism of fire, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, happens to
everyone who sincerely and deeply accepts Jesus as Saviour and Lord  of their lives.

4. Conclusion: “Bear fruits worthy of repentance”

How does the Word of God apply to us today? You and I know what and where we need to repent and change so that we can bear fruits for God. There may be things that we can do, small things to start off. But we can’t just stay where we are and do nothing. “Faith without good works is dead” (James 2.26) Let me share with you a thought that I found useful while reading this book “Greater” by Steven Furtick. He says that we must dream bigger but start smaller and that is how you can ignite God’s vision for your life.

We see in 2 Kings chapter 3 that king Joram, Jehoshaphat of Judah and the king of Edom who are attacked by the Moabites have run out of water for their armies and animals and they come to prophet Elisha.

Elisha tells the kings to take a small, ludicrous step first. “This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches.” (2 Kings 3.16) In other words: You want water because you have a drought. You are thirsty. Your animals are thirsty’. But dig the ditches first if you believe God will send you the rains. In other words, he is saying: ‘Start doing something. Don’t stand there doing nothing expecting God to do everything!’

“It all comes down to this: What small steps and practical preparations is God asking you to make for the greater life He wants you to live? What ditches is He asking you to dig?

You can’t expect God to entrust you with a big dream if he can’t trust you to make a small start.

You can’t have the apostle Paul’s walk with God overnight.

Big dream.

But you can pray ten minutes a day beginning tomorrow.

Small start.

You can’t entirely mend a broken relationship overnight.

Big dream.

But you can have a conversation and open the door, write the letter, make the call, say, ‘I’m sorry.’

Small start.

If your kid is far from God, you can’t bring him back overnight.

Big dream.

But you could start prayng for him every day.

Small start.”[1]

God wants to do things in your life but you have to take the first step!

And the first step is always to turn to God with a sincere, repentant heart. It is to tell him of your desire to make a new start in life.

Have you really given your heart to God? Have you received the Holy Spirit in to your heart? Have you begun well but slowed down spiritually over the years?

You might want to bring about a change in your life and live a more faithful and free life in Christ. It is never too late for God. There is no better time than Advent time to do that. That is why we celebrate Christmas. “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3.16).

One way we can definitely do something is to be a more active members of the Church, to offer ourselves and our talents for God’s work. As Archbishop Justin Welby says: “When the Church is working, it is the most mind-bogglingly, amazingly, extraordinarily beautiful community on earth. It heals, it transforms, it loves. It changes society and it brings people face to face with God. It’s wonderful. God chose to create the Church in order to carry on the work of Jesus, so the mission of the Church is to build the community as God intended it.”

“Bear fruits worthy of repentance!”

Are we listening to God in our hearts and committing ourselves to Christ in a new way this time around at Christmas?

Pause to pray …

Lord Jesus,
I believe you are the Son of God.
Thank you for becoming one of us.
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.
Thank you for rising from the dead
to give me hope and the gift of eternal life.

I repent of my sins
and invite you into heart and life
as my Lord and Saviour.
Please grant me your Holy Spirit
so that I may know you, love you
and follow you every day of my life.

Amen.

[Revd Dr ST Mattapally, Rector, Springline Parish, Diocese of Lincoln]
[1] Steven Furtick, “Greater” (Multnomah Books Colorado 2012), p.68

May the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts be now and always acceptable in your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

Sixteen years ago, in a service I held at the Cassino War Cemetery on behalf of the National Council of the Royal British Legion Annual Pilgrimage in 2001 to Italy South, I met an elderly lady who had regularly made the British Legion Pilgrimage to Italy continuously for 39 years in honour of her husband who died in the Allied invasion of South Italy in 1945. She walked on the well mown grass along the rows of white gravestones, holding on to the hands of her son. Her son told me that he didn’t think her mother would be able to make the pilgrimage again, that probably that would be her last.

I will never forget that meeting! It brought home to me the devastating nature of war that simply shatters and tears apart lives and loved ones for years and years. Along with remembering the dead and wounded, it’s also about all those broken lives, broken families, orphaned children, widowed spouses. No words can fully describe the horror that war brings on humanity.

Pause…

The poppy that we all wear today is a symbol of reflection and hope.

The First World War caused widespread devastation to areas of Northern France and Belgium, but the poppy flowered every year bringing colour and hope to the devastated landscape. Colonel John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Armed Forces, was deeply moved by what he saw and, inspired by the poppies, wrote the poem “In Flanders’ fields.’

Col McCrae died in a military hospital on the French coast shortly after writing his poem, but it was published in Punch magazine, showing the world what conditions on the battlefields were like. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day on the eleventh month in 1918 the First World War ended.

Today we have an opportunity to plant a poppy around the memorial in remembrance, not just of those who died in the First World War, but those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and have given their lives in conflicts since that time, so that we might experience freedom and peace.

Pause…

Memories prolong the life of a person. When we don’t remember someone, it is as if that person has died twice. That is why today we want to “remember” all those who gave their lives that we might live. We remember the fallen, as well as wounded, men and women of the two great wars, but also all other wars and even the present ones.

Pause…

Remembrance was placed on the national school curriculum by the government about 13 years ago after lobbying from the RBL

World War II veteran Len Jeans who (was 83 years old then) had fought in France and the Netherlands, was one of the many veterans who visited schools on behalf of the RBL. He said: “All children should have the chance to meet a war veteran while we are still all around.  I would hate to think that when we’re all gone the sacrifices we made will be forgotten and Remembrance Day will simply fizzle out.”

The 13 year old Rebecca of Highland School in Enfield, London who listened to Mr. Jeans that day said “My friends and I were all moved by what we learned,” she said.  “It is so important young people learn about the horrors of war. We are the future.  “We can’t let the mistakes of the past be repeated again and again.”

Pause…

Some years ago the BBC carried a story about the oldest war veterans and former enemies who become friends. The oldest British WWI veteran at the time and his German counterpart were introduced to each other for the first time. Henry Allingham – the UK’s oldest man at the time, he was 110, and the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland – met Robert Meier, 109, in Witten, near Dortmund.

The men greeted each other warmly and laid a wreath at the WWI memorial near Witten’s town hall. Mr Meier said it was “amazing” that they were “both still alive”. 

He was Germany’s oldest man having fought at the Western Front in France in 1916.  He said: “It is so good to see people happy to see us here together. Why did we have to have a war? “Why can’t we all be friends?”

Similarly, Mr Allingham, who said he was “very happy” to meet his German counterpart a former enemy, said: “No man who knows war wants war again. I want to forget it.”

Pause…

In the two great wars we fought against imperialism and totalitarian ideologies. Today it is not imperialism, it is not Nazism – it is terrorism and fundamentalism wherever they come from. Our men and women who died are not dying in vain. They are making the ultimate sacrifice for us –

that we can walk down our street safely to buy a newspaper or bread;
that we can take our kids to school without fear;
that we can board our trains, our planes, our buses without having to look back or to the side;
that we can profess our faith and not be ashamed of the signs and symbols of our faith.

As Christians when we celebrate Holy Communion (or The Mass or The Eucharist as it is also called) and share the bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus Christ, we remember that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of love for us when he was killed on the cross and shed his blood for us that we might live. We also believe that Jesus rose victorious in glory from the dead. We too, therefore, have a firm hope amidst our afflictions and our sorrows. He died that we might live. “I am the resurrection and the life” he said, “he who believes in me, though he dies, will live forever.”

Today he tells us:  “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.”

When we reconcile conflicts,
when we make peace with one another,
when we share peace with each other,
when we make peace and not war,
when we are peace-makers and not warmongers,
we shall be called children of God.

Pause…

To be a peacemaker today is not an option – it is a responsibility if we want to leave something of the world we have enjoyed to our children and grandchildren.

Pause…

The other day my wife and I visited the International Bomber Command Memorial at Canwick, not just the latest addition to the Lincoln skyline but an outstanding national and international centre of pilgrimage and reflection to remember our heroes especially the 58,000 who gave their life for the freedom we take for granted today.

On this day in memory of those fallen men and women of various wars, and in memory of the war veterans who are with us, and in memory of our valiant sons and daughters who paid the ultimate price, let us resolve to build a better and safer world for all by committing ourselves to be peacemakers as children of God, brothers and sisters and heirs of His Kingdom of peace and justice. And we tell them again with affection and with gratitude: we thank you! We think of you! We love you and above all, we remember you!

[The Revd Dr ST Mattapally, Rector,, Springline Parish]

The readings for this Sunday are for those of Trinity 19:

• Wisdom 7. 7-11
• Psalm 90
• Hebrews 4. 12-13
• Mark 10. 17-30

You might like to use the link below to find the above readings, and click on any of the reading above that you wish to use: http://www.katapi.org.uk/CommonWorship/CWLectionarySelV.php

Collect of the day

Let us first spend a few moments in silence to centre ourselves,
to gather ourselves in our souls,
to come before the Lord just as we are with our joys and sorrows,
our hopes and our fears, our loves and our pains.
Let us just focus our minds and hearts on Jesus who is the answer for every problem.
Let us pray that the Spirit will work through our lives
to bring Christ to the world.

Silence is kept …

O God, forasmuch as without you
we are not able to please you;
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

or

Faithful Lord,
whose steadfast love never ceases
and whose mercies never come to an end:
grant us the grace to trust you
and to receive the gifts of your love,
new every morning,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Post Communion

Holy and blessed God,
you have fed us with the body and blood of your Son
and filled us with your Holy Spirit:
may we honour you,
not only with our lips
but in lives dedicated to the service
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer before the Sermon

Loving Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the words you have given us today.
We know they are words of life and salvation.
Open our hearts Father, touch our souls,
forgive us our sins especially our lack of faith,
help us to respond to your word.
May we know that you are our Lord and Saviour
who promises us the power from on high,
your Holy Spirit.
May we experience in our hearts your love
and your presence always.

Amen.

A homily based on the readings of today is given below:

“Come follow me!”

The supreme and sovereign value in life

The first reading speaks to us of the power of the Word of God that penetrates the darkness and dichotomies of our hearts and our spirits and reveals to us the truth and wisdom of our human existence and christian living. It is above all the “Word made Flesh and dwelt amongst us” that makes such a difference in our lives!

The gospel story narrates a dramatic, if not tragic, event in the public ministry of Jesus which teach us a lot about the mystery of life and the meaning of christian life. It is the tragic story of a man who fell in love with God but failed to take that extra step to supreme and total abandonment and commitment to God. this story stands in very sharp and parallel contrast to other stories of discipleship, like that of Peter, James, John, Matthew and the other disciples of Christ who left everything and followed Jesus when he called them.

God calls some of us to “something more” than just be owners and administrators of large wealth or properties. God calls some of us to a deeper discipleship and following of him. But quite often we fail to respond to Jesus.

Let us briefly look at the gospel story.  we are told that a man came up to Jesus, knelt before him and asked him that most significant of questions. We find it Mark chapter 10, verse 17: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It is, indeed, really the biggest question of life. He is a good man as we read in verses 19 to 20 that he keeps all the commandments of God. Jesus loved this young man who truly was a good man. He found great potential in him. Jesus, therefore, challenged him to a deeper relationship of commitment and mission. He told him, we see this verse 21, “Come, follow me.” Jesus challenged him to look beyond his wealth and his power and to reach out to him for a fascinating walk of faith and action. Tragically, the young man found it difficult to leave all and follow Jesus; he went away from Jesus and we never hear about him again.

In this story, Jesus underlines the problem wealth can become when one wants to follow a more spiritual path. (verse 23) But he also says that “for God all things are possible!” (verse 27 and he also outlines the rewards of those who follow Jesus in verse 29.

The young man asked the right questions; he did the right things. But God was not central in his thoughts, his life and action, it would appear. It is a sad story of a man who came face to face with God and yet did not recognise him – his heart was where his treasure was! In fact, in another place, Jesus clearly tells us, “You cannot serve God and mammon!” Similar stories are rare in the bible but we do have other contrasting stories like that of young king Solomon who, when he was asked, did not ask for more wealth or power or glory but for wisdom to discern right from wrong and to follow God with an upright heart! The saints like Francis and several others left all their wealth and followed Christ and we remember them even today.

I believe the problem, the most tragic of all, is not economic breakdown, social meltdown, moral impasse, environmental disaster or political confusion. The real problem today is a moving away from the supreme and sovereign value of all – God. This is our real problem. All our social, economic, moral, religious, environmental and political problems will be easier to resolve if, and this is vital, we retrace our steps to God and make him the supreme value in our lives.

God does not oppose wealth. But, He must be given sovereign, supreme value in life. It is He who needs our worship and adoration, not our perishable goods, our wealth. I remember an experience at a conference of insurance agents and prospective candidates for the job in 4 star hotel many years ago. There were all these people in 3 piece suits and all elegantly attired, men and women and at a certain moment all were asked to kneel down for a moment…we felt an eery feeling, a deep disturbance in our spirits. It looked like all these people were asked to kneel to the god of mammon, wealth rather than to Creator God!

What is your supreme, sovereign value that guides your life? Is it wealth, health, pleasure, success, privilege, prestige, power or ….. is it God? Your decision and your answer is vital for the success of your life, especially eternal life. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul?” (Mark 8.36) For “God so loved the world that He gave His Own Son so that anyone who believes him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3.16)

Pause to pray …

Lord Jesus,
I believe you are the Son of God.
Thank you for becoming one of us.
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.
Thank you for rising from the dead
to give me hope and the gift of eternal life.

I repent of my sins
and invite you into heart and life
as my Lord and Saviour.
Please grant me your Holy Spirit
so that I may know you, love you
and follow you every day of my life.

Amen.

[Revd Dr ST Mattapally, Rector, Springline Parish, Diocese of Lincoln]