Contacts: Minister: David Coster, Office: (03) 332 7129 Home: (03) 322 5612 or email minister@cashmere church.org.nz Church office: Gail Weaver, Phone: (03) 332-7129, Fax: (03) 332 7130 2 Macmillan Avenue, Cashmere, Christchurch 8002, or email office@cashmere church.org.nz

Sunday 25th July - Pentecost 9

LUKE 11/1-13 LORD’S PRAYER AND STORY

There is an old story about a farmer who was asked many times to become an Elder in his Parish and he always refused. His reason which he kept to himself was that he understood that if the Minister was unable to fulfil his duty especially for a Service that it would be up to him to do something to fill the gap. He felt inadequate about that, esp. when it came to praying, which he found quite difficult. But one day in a devotional book he came across a well-worded prayer that he felt could be used on any occasion. If he had that with him, he could do a Bible reading, and get by in an emergency. So then he agreed to become an Elder. To make sure that he had the prayer with him whenever he went out, he placed a copy of it into the inside brim of his hat.

It was some years before the Minister was unavoidably delayed for a Funeral at a home in the country. He got the Elder on the phone, and said that if the Elder could do something at the house, he would meet them at the cemetery and hold a fuller Service at the graveside. So the Elder got a Bible and his hat and asked the people to gather round the casket. After he read the 23rd Psalm he said "Let us pray." Then he said, "My God I’ve got the wrong hat!"

We could all say that prayer isn’t easy especially at times, and knowing that, we are in good company. The disciples found prayer quite difficult too. When they saw Jesus in prayer it seemed second-nature to him. So they said to him one day, "John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray, so can you give us some help and perhaps a basic prayer that we could use at almost any time?"

So Jesus began, "When you pray, say. Simply start." A certain famous man always wanted to be an artist. He bought an easel and board, paints and brushes, and set himself up facing a landscape that he wanted to paint. But he couldn’t get going. After holding back for some time, he finally said to himself, ‘Just start,’ and he did. If he hadn’t, Winston Churchill would never have become the creditable artist that he was.

So Jesus says to us, "When you pray, say, speak, think words in your mind or even out loud. And the first word you can start with is ‘Father,’" When I was a young minister in Southland, the Chaplain at the Invercargill Borstal, a kind of prison for young offenders, said he had difficulty conveying to the boys the idea of God as Father. Any suggestion that God might be anything like their old man put them off entirely. He got round it by helping them work out the kind of Father they would like to have.

To the Jews of the First or Old Testament as we call it, the word for a Father God was Abinu. Abinu meant a rather authoritarian father who could be pleased or angry or strict or very punishing at any time. Jesus however used the word Abba, meaning more like a good personal friend. But to ensure we don’t get too ‘pally’ and familiar and take God for granted, Jesus adds the words ‘Father, your name is holy.’

In Jewish thinking a person’s name summed up the nature of that person. A few years ago I took part in a funeral of a man who died at 101. He had been in one of the Eldercare Homes when I was Chaplain there. He was very with-it, intelligent, interesting, and a lot of fun. When we were together we somehow stimulated each other with witticisms. His surname was Johnson, and he was affectionately known as ‘Johnna’. Any time I think of the name ‘Johnna’ I immediately conjure up the whole delightful nature of the man.

The word that conveys the significant nature of God is ‘holy’. So to say of God, "your name is holy" is to command the utmost respect for a personal Father.

"May your Kingdom come," Jesus continued. What more is needed, and what more could we want? Wouldn’t it be great if the reign of God based on faith hope and love grew mightily in our midst? Where what God wants is carried out by us and everyone else! That is a tall order, but something of it happens all the time, and all the more when we ask God for it to happen, and we are willing to help God bring it about.

So the initial focus of the prayer starts with God, who God is, and his Kingdom that he wants to grow on earth through us. Then and then only can we turn our attention to our own needs. One of the needs we all have is for food, for bread that represents the basic necessities of life. Jesus says we are not to ask for great stores of them. We are simply to ask for enough for today. It is best to take one day at a time, and ask God to provide the necessities just for the day. Before Jesus goes on to elaborate on this with a story, he indicates two other things to pray for.

One has to do with forgiveness, also a basic necessity of daily life. Luke has a slightly different twist here, "Forgive us our sins because we forgive everyone who does us wrong." That is not easy to do, to sort out our forgiveness of others who hurt us, before we turn to ask God to forgive us. But that too is a challenge to sort it out on a daily basis. We need the help of God’s holy spirit to do that.

And the other thing that concludes the prayer, centres round the fact that Jesus recognises that life isn’t a bed of roses. We will face many challenges along the way. We cannot avoid them, and they are there for us to grow in character and faith. So we can simply ask God that we will not be led into situations that we cannot cope with, "Do not bring us to too-hard testing." In other words, "Father, when I land in difficulties, help me deal with them adequately."

So Jesus gave us a basic prayer which we can pray and ponder on at any time. He then goes on to tell one of his amusing stories to illustrate the nature of God our Father and his relationship with us his people.

"Suppose," he says as he invites us to let our imaginations run away with us somewhat.

Suppose at midnight there is a loud banging on the door and it doesn’t stop. "Who is it?" the man of the house calls out. "It’s me!" calls the neighbour from next door. "I am in a highly embarrassing position. A friend of mine has just arrived unexpectedly, having been delayed on his journey. He is very hungry and it is my sacred obligation to set some food before him. The trouble is we have used up our food. Have you got omething, anything, even a few bread rolls that you can lend me? It would get me out of a real predicament."

Now what would we do if a friend and neighbour wanted some food at midnight? Give it to them, yes? Why? Because we would do what we could to help out, especially if we are friendly with the neighbour

But what does the man in the story say? "Go away! The door is locked for we are done for the day. And me and the wife and the kids are all abed on our mats by the fire. If I get up, I am bound to trip over the kids in the dark, and they will wake up crying. And that will wake up the sheep and the goats and the hens that are in the lower level by the door. That will create a great hullaballoo. So go away, and leave us in peace to get some much needed sleep."

Then the man tucks himself under his blanket, but he can’t sleep. His neighbour is still banging on the door, and he knows they have some left-over bread, in case the same situation arises as his neighbour’s. "Oh alright I’m coming!" And Jesus adds that you would get up and give him what he needs not because he is a friendly neighbour, but because you understand his need is great, and he is not afraid to keep asking.

Jesus adds, "Ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." For us it mightn’t work exactly the way we envisage, but let’s give it our best shots. After all God wants to give us what is helpful for us.

"Ask and it shall be given to you." How many of us don’t like to ask. It is truly said that there is no harm in asking, as long as we allow the other person the right to say yes or no, or offer something different. It is OK to ask. In the mid-fifties I taught in a boarding-school, and the boys there had a saying, "Those who ask don’t get, and those who don’t ask don’t want!" "Not so," says Jesus. "Those who ask usually do get something, and those who don’t ask don’t want it enough to ask."

In his illustration about prayer, Jesus is not saying that if we persist knocking on God’s door, that God will in the end give us what we want. Certainly not. But he goes on to say that even if a reluctant human father finishes up doing what is best under the circumstances, how much more will God give us what he knows we need and is best for us. After all human fathers don’t play bad jokes on their children. If one asks for some fish he is not given a snake! Or if one asks for an egg, he won’t hand over a scorpion! Just as human fathers can have the right idea, how much more will God willingly give us what is right and best at the time?

Jesus concludes by saying that God our Father is only too willing to give us his Holy Spirit, at any time. That gift puts everything in perspective. What more could we want?

Amen. So let it be.

Ivan Pierce

Sunday 18th July - Pentecost 8

The Widening Gap!- Amos 8:1-12 & Luke 10:38-42

Some years ago I was in the archivist’s room at Knox having a discussion with her. While I was there she told me of one of my colleagues who was spending time researching for a PhD on evangelicals in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. The Archivist had diligently looked at the documents lodged, in the archival records of the church, by those whom she considered to be Evangelical Ministers, and made them available to the student. He quickly went through a "sheep and goats" process saying "He is an evangelical – he is not!" When questioned by the Archivist as to what his criteria for being an evangelical was, the PhD student replied, "I have my criteria!"

We may smile but I recently received a letter from Sojourners, a Christian Social Justice organisation in the USA telling of an invitation which was extended to its Director, Jim Wallis, to be guest speaker at a Christian music festival, Lifest, in Wisconsin. Once it became public that Jim Wallis from Sojourners was to be the Guest Speaker at the Christian music festival a firestorm erupted among the local Christians. A local Christian Radio Station and a local pastor started circulating attacks against Jim Wallis. They suggested that he was a communist, a deceiver, and an advisor to President Barack Obama. They spread word that he was an avowed Marxist and that any young person who heard him would be in ‘spiritual peril.’ They were especially concerned that a social justice message and agenda promote a secular humanism seed and seek an unholy alliance between the Church and Government.

Pressure was put on the organisers of the Lifest by the Christian radio station and the local Pastor to cancel the invitation to Jim Wallis.

One of the positive sides to all of this debate was that it was very public. TV and radio wanted a slice of the action and local church Ministers were publicly apologising to Jim Wallis for the attitudes of the Christian Radio Station and some of the local Pastors.

The young people at Lifest responded very positively to the address Jim Wallis was asked to give on "The Call to Jesus and his Kingdom of Justice."

In his address Jim Wallis said to the young people, "When we have controversy and conflict in the church and speak badly of one another as Christians, it actually turns people away from Christ. What unites us is not our different cultures, nationalities, or political views. What unites us is the gospel of Jesus and his kingdom." Jim went on to say that as the up coming generation it was their job to make sure that that message was clear. The young people cheered as he said, "any gospel that isn’t good news to the poor is not the gospel of Jesus Christ." He went on to say that we need to heed what the bible says about serving the poor. That seeking justice was not about social action or politics but rather about nothing less than restoring the integrity of the Word of God in our lives, neighbourhoods, nation and world.

We may feel that this is a modern setting of what it is to be a person of faith in the multifaceted world which we live in. And I suppose in some ways it is. Life and faith seemed so less complicated and controversial when I was younger.

But, today, in our Old Testament reading we heard the words of the Prophet Amos, and those words were not too dissimilar to those spoken by Jim Wallis at the Lifest Christian Music Festival in Wisconsin.

Let me give you a little of the background. Amos prophesied during the long and peaceful reign of King Jeroboam II (786-746BC). This period was one of enormous political and economic prosperity for both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. This economic vitality was, unfortunately, matched by a lack of devotion to Yahweh – God. With increasing economic prosperity devotion to God fell away.

There was another little consequence of the enormous economic and political prosperity of Israel at this time and that was the increasingly widening gap between the wealth of the elite and the poverty of the lower classes. Basically Amos was saying that the ‘trickle down’ theory did not work during the time of the reign of Jeroboam II.

Amos went on to say that even though people continued to observe the religious rituals they were in fact meaningless because of their dependence upon military might, grave injustice in social dealings, abhorrent immorality, and shallow meaningless piety. Essentially Amos was saying even though the righteous Jewish people observed all of the 613 laws of the religious rituals and regulations as defined in the Torah, they were meaningless simply because they didn’t behave in a manner acceptable to God.

Such words don’t make for friends – especially friends with those who see their wealth as a favour from God because of their faithfulness. Like Jim Wallis, the prophet Amos became embroiled in controversy with the religious leaders of his day. Leaders who were greatly benefitting personally because of the economic and military prosperity of their country. Their attitude was one of "let’s make hay while the sun shines."

For people of faith today, there are several principles that we can take from Amos. All of us, whether we are "good religious people" or not are called to be just in our economic and political relationships. We are also called to be just and fair in the way we speak of and treat each other as members of the Body of Christ, the Church on earth. We have sufficient non Christians knocking the church without us knocking and ridiculing each other because we may view the faith differently to each other. Jesus and Paul both showed that diversity of viewpoint is a gift of God used by God for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom and the up building of his Church on earth.

The Jewish people had major difficulty in coming to terms with the fact that mere observance of religious practises will not earn God’s favour if they did not act justly with their neighbours in the worlds of business, politics, commerce and the workplace. In fact I think the people of the nation of Israel still struggle with this message today.

Is such an attitude reflected in the relationship of the two sisters when Jesus came to their home?
Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and talked with him; Martha busied herself with making the home hospitable and comfortable for Jesus, their guest. Martha becomes exasperated by her sister leaving her "to do all the work" and lets it be known.

We can easily sympathise with Martha. Few of us like being left with the dishes, the vacuuming, the meal preparation and washing while others in the family sit around and converse over a glass of wine.

The response of Jesus to Martha is that our actions must be grounded in a solid understanding of why we do what we do. If we busy ourselves on numerous tasks without reflecting on why we are doing them, much of our work and effort may be in vain. Too often, says Jesus, we can be reactors rather than actors.

So we come back to where we started this sermon. What is it that causes the widening gap – the break down in our relationship with God and our relationships with each other?

For Amos the answer lay in wealth and success as being prime motivators. For Jesus it was to be found in focusing on what is most important in our world –fussing over little things or focusing on things eternal?

Where do you think the answer lies?

To God be the glory. Amen

David Coster

Sunday 11th July - Pentecost 7

Help from a most unlikely quarter! - Luke 10:25-37

For our discussion this morning I would like you to spend some time talking to your neighbour answering the question, "If you were in significant trouble who would it be that you would least expect to receive help from?"

Discuss and listen to answers!

Next question then: "Who do you think would be most likely to assist you if you were in significant trouble?"

Discuss and listen to answers!

Where do the Boy Racers, the Black Power, the Mongrel Mob and the Hells Angels fit in to your assessment?

Allow me to explain the reasons behind my questions. You see when the lawyer came and asked the question of Jesus “Who is my neighbour?” he had a very clear idea in his mind exactly who his neighbour was. His neighbour was any other God fearing Jew who faithfully observed all of the 613 religious laws that he did. Out of this Jesus told him the Parable of the Good Samaritan which we could also call the Parable of the Bad Priest. Which makes me more than a little concerned, for the Parable Jesus told was essentially against people like me – people who should have known better.

The Samaritan in the Parable was the one least expected to give assistance to a Jewish person. The ones most likely and expected to give assistance were the Priest and the Levite. Neither of these did!

Both for what they would term good reasons. The priest didn’t want to touch a dead body for if he did he would be seen to be unclean and forbidden from his turn exercising his duties as a Priest in the Temple. The Levite was a Lay Assistant to the Priest. He also didn’t want to be deemed unclean but also he didn’t want to stop in case this was a trap, an ambush. His motto was safety first.

When Joy and I were in Cambridge in England we were out walking with our friends one evening when we came across a man vomiting black liquid. Joy, being a Nurse, stopped to help when John and Cliff grabbed her and told her to keep walking as the man could have a knife and she was putting all of us at risk. The Police would find him and help. We kept walking but I wonder, even now, how much we – three ministers and a nurse were like the Levite and the Priest leaving it to the Police who were the Good Samaritan.

What do you think?

The real question Jesus was asking was not "Who is my neighbour?" which is what the Lawyer wanted to debate. Jesus question was "To whom can I be a neighbour?"

And what is the answer? The answer is "My neighbour is anyone in need!"

What is it to be a neighbour? "To be a neighbour is to show mercy!"

Sunday 4th July - Pentecost 6

Doing the Right Thing! - 2 Kings 5:1-14 & Luke 10:1-11 & 16-20

General Stanley McChrystal and his advisors made some ill judged comments about the civilian administration in the White House and their conduct of the war in Afghanistan to a reporter from the Rolling Stone magazine. Stan has now retired from the US Army and has been replaced by General David Petraeus as Commander in Afghanistan.

Whether General McChrystal intended for his comments to be reported is open to debate. Some have felt he was ‘making a point’ with his bosses in the USA while others have felt that though the comments have validity they were ill advised.

This recent experience of General McChrystal with his political bosses is a modern day example of what has been a point of constant tension between those who fight war and those who are their political masters. The question is "Whose voice do you listen to - the Military or the Political?"

Often our response depends on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. In our reading from 2 Kings for today we find a very ancient example provided of a Military leader, a King and a Prophet of God.

Naaman was the very successful commander of the army of the King of Aram. (Syria). An uneasy peace had existed for a number of years between the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Aram. Unfortunately, Naaman had leprosy, or some other debilitating skin disease, which carried with it the stigma of social shame and isolation. Successful as a military commander yet still a man trapped by the isolation and concern of ill health, Naaman sought a cure.

Naaman’s wife had a servant girl who had been captured from Israel. This young lady mentioned to her mistress, "If only Naaman were with the prophet in Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy."

Naaman has tried every treatment going for a cure of his disease. None has worked so he takes seriously the advice of the unlikely young lady prophet from Israel.

Being a Military Commander, and therefore a servant of the King, he knows he must observe correct Diplomatic protocol. (Something General McChrystal forgot or ignored) Naaman visited the King of Aram and asked for his blessing on his visit to the Prophet in Samaria. The King sends Naaman off with Letters of Reference and rich gifts for the King of Israel. So desperate is Naaman for healing that he is prepared to make the long and dangerous journey facing the risks entailed.

Spies for the King of Israel reported to him that Naaman was on his way. The King freaked out in fear tearing his robes and crying, "Am I God, to give death or life… he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." Elisha, the Prophet hears that the King has torn his clothes and fearful. He tells him to send Naaman to him.

This is where the story gets very interesting. Naaman arrives at Elisha’s home with servants, chariots and great wealth. But Elisha doesn’t even come out to greet him. He sent a messenger to Naaman to tell him, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh will be restored and you shall be clean."

Naaman is furious. He is outraged. He has come a long way and expects acknowledgement of his status and a dramatic cure. The least Elisha could have done is to come out, greet him and anoint him or something. Why tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan? There were many good rivers in Aram. What is so special about the Jordan?
Naaman was offended and annoyed that his time had been wasted.

But one of Naaman’s servants convinces him to do what the prophet had said to do. Naaman’s pride just about prevented him from dipping himself in the Jordan but he did as asked and was cured of his leprosy.

This story raises all kinds of questions for us today – not only questions about a skin ailment being cured by dipping seven times in the River Jordan. It also raises for us questions about how we respond to what may seem to us to be a ridiculous suggestion. It raises questions about how we may be encouraged to do the right thing but pride, stubbornness and fear of ridicule surface to become guardians of our behaviour.

"What is the right thing to do? Whose advice do we listen to? Who is speaking the prophetic word in our ear?"

Many are the prophetic voices of our age tempting us with what seem to be totally reasonable solutions to some of the major concerns confronting our world and future. At times I am sure we feel like Atlas who, in ancient Greek mythology, was condemned to carry the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. Atlas is always pictured bowed under the pressure of his huge task. We also can feel the same as Atlas weighed down with heavy burdens and decisions concerning "What is the right thing to do?"

We must remember that we are not God. Only God is God. We are left with the choice of "What is the right thing to do?" Ours is the freedom to choose and with that choice comes the responsibility of living with the decision made.

I am sure that the seventy (or seventy two as some accounts state) sent out by Jesus were more than a little unsure of what they had let themselves in for. The number seventy is significant for it is the number of elders who were chosen to help Moses with the task of leading and directing the people in the wilderness. It was the number of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Council of the Jews; and it was held by the ancients to be the number of the nations of the world. Which ever way we look at Jesus sending out this number of disciples he, and the Gospel writers, were viewing this as people sharing in Jesus’ mission to the world.

Jesus and Elisha were very much people of the same mould – people who gave of themselves in the service of others. Albert Schweitzer was such a man. He was a Nobel Prize winning theologian, philosopher, physician, music scholar and writer. He believed that only those who served others would ever be truly happy. He made his choices and he lead by example.

In his twenties Albert Schweitzer wrote outstanding works on Bach, Jesus and the fundamentals of pipe organs. He became an admirable organist, church Minister and theological teacher. At the age of 30 he became aware of the plight of the people in Africa and of their desperate need for medical care. He entered Medical school, graduated as a Doctor and with his wife, devoted the rest of his life serving the people of French Equatorial Africa.

Out of his experience Albert Schweitzer developed an ethical principle called "reverence for life." This philosophy spoke to the need for humans to respond to others amidst the experience and needs of living.

What is it that motivated Albert Schweitzer? It was his faith in the God we know in Jesus Christ. That was the force within him for motivation and for change.

Some times we can choose to trivialize our lives by listening to the voices which would lead us astray – voices offering a quick fix, something more, something better.

What is the right thing to do?

I believe that God intends us for service, for leadership, for faithfulness to the values that revere life, other people and God. It is this that gives life its true meaning. This Elisha knew. This Jesus knew. And this Naaman found out too- to his great surprise.

To God be the glory. Amen

David Coster

Sunday 27th June - Pentecost 5

Keep your eye on the ball - Galatians 5: 1 & 13-25: Luke 9:51-62

I am sure that there is not one of us here at worship today that doesn’t have a great sense of pride in the achievement of the All Whites Football Team at the World Cup in South Africa. The New Zealand herald headline, "Unbeaten, unbowed" aptly summed up the respect we have for a team ranked 78th in the world.

Joy and I rose from bed at 2.00am in the morning to watch the game against Italy. I have to say with Joy having to be up at 5.30am to go on duty at The Princess Margaret Hospital we didn’t get up to watch the game against Paraguay but when I heard the result at 5.30am on Friday I have to say I was impressed with the with the result even thought it meant the All Whites didn’t proceed to the next round.

I have played sufficient sport to know that whether it is rugby, golf or soccer it is important to keep your eye on the ball. If you wish to succeed at any sport then both practise and concentration are important. Ask Mark Paston, the goal keeper for the All Whites - he knows full well what it means to focus and keep his eye on the ball and not on the spectators. Many were the vitally important ‘saves’ he made during the games the All Whites played.

One of the things I less enjoyed about some of the games were the ‘Hollywood’ acts by some of the players. In an unsportsmanlike manner they used any opportunity to attempt to dupe the referee into granting a penalty. Although angered by such behaviour the All Whites kept their focus and were not sucked into retributive play which would have resulted in the team being punished.

It is something like that which Paul was telling the young Christian church in Galatia. Having been set free from the power and effects of sin in their lives, they had set out to follow the way of Jesus with enthusiasm and joy. But gradually, they had begun to "take their eye off the ball" and were in danger of slipping into their old ways of living characterised by destructive and retributive behaviour. Their coach and mentor, Paul, in his letter encouraged them to stay in the game and "live out your love daily as you serve each other." The way he said to do this was to keep focused on the Holy Spirit.

So often in our Christian walk of life and faith we are tempted to "take our eye off the ball." We can become distracted by other things which demand our attention or seem more important at the time. We need to remain open to the Holy Spirit in our lives as we live out the good news of God’s love for us.

To live such a way is not easy. Many are the distractions in a world that is horrendously imperfect tempting us to take our eye off the ball. Many are the disappointments and hurts which tempt us to react in negative ways causing further hurt and distress.

It is an integral part of the Good News that as we keep our focus on Jesus we walk "in step" with the Spirit, who frees us from becoming distracted. The Spirit empowers us to walk together as a community of Christ’ followers, encouraging and enabling one another to better live a life of love and respect. As this happens God’s love becomes manifest more clearly in our lives bringing out our God colours and God flavours in our homes, communities, countries and world. We gradually become aware of God’s love, joy, peace and patience in our lives bubbling over into all the little things we do every day of our lives.

In our Gospel reading Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem where he will experience rejection, condemnation and death. While on his way to Jerusalem Jesus walks into a Samaritan village and encounters rejection there – a foretaste of what awaits him in Jerusalem.

James and John take their eyes of the ball forgetting completely what Jesus had taught and showed them over the three years they had followed him. During this time they had seen him heal, feed and forgive. They had heard him telling them to love their neighbour and forgive those who sinned against them – even to love their enemies including those who abused and persecuted them. They had seen him transfigured talking to Moses and Elijah. But at the first sign of rejection they revert to default mode and desire retribution asking Jesus to burn up the Samaritans with Holy fire. That will get them back and teach them a lesson.

Unfortunately it is not only rejection and abuse which cause us to take our eye off the ball. Often the very things that give us life and a sense of well being also cause us to waver in our attention.

While he never said so, Jesus could see that the first would be disciple was trapped by his possessions. While everything he owned contributed to his enjoyment of life and his sense of well-being, Jesus looked deeper and saw that the man was actually trapped by his possession. He wanted all he had and Jesus as well. Was following Jesus for him another status symbol and one that would bring him greater popularity and wealth? His eyes Jesus thought were "off the ball."

Jesus wasn’t being insensitive to someone in crisis when he told the second person to "let the dead bury the dead." It was the solemn responsibility in Judaism for a son to bury his father. The man was willing to follow Jesus but wanted to ‘put it off’ until his father was dead and buried and he had fulfilled his family obligation. His eye, according to Jesus was "off the ball."

The third person wanted to go around all his family to inform them of his decision to follow Jesus and to seek their advice and blessing. Jesus reminded him that he needed to keep focused and keep his eye on the ball. To focus on what really mattered not the opinion of his family and friends.

At times we can be a little harsh judging these people and others of our day who don’t quite meet our expectation of what it is to follow Jesus. Prior to every family service I send out an email inviting a number of parents to join me in planning for the service. Often I receive an email back thanking me for the invitation but indicating they can’t be present because their children have sport. It is a matter of priorities isn’t it? And I know the pain of those parents and the difficulty of the decisions they are facing because I have had children whose sport was played on a Sunday morning.

We need to be careful about harshly judging others and those early disciples of Jesus for the thing we condemn is often alive and flourishing in us.

How often have we reacted in a negative way when someone is driving slowly in front of us unsure of where they are going or feeling that their driving skills are inadequate for the amount of traffic? How often have we "blown our top" when someone takes the car park we had our eye on. How often have we stood in a queue thinking "why did I have to get caught behind that incompetent nincompoop?"

Is it that we react for exactly the same reasons Jesus’ disciples did? Is it that we can take our eye “off the ball” – loosing our focus becoming distracted by anger and hurt seeking retribution rather than allowing forgiveness and love to be paramount in our relationships with God and each other?

Jesus has a vastly different purpose in life than reacting negatively to what often amounts to petty problems. And he calls us to follow him in the same way.

To God be the glory. Amen

David Coster