This week, I started to write down some of the lessons I have learnt about life. 

• Finish what you start
• Do not rush into things
• Pace yourself
• Keep the ball in their court
• Wait and see 
• What can you learn from an experience?
• Hour by hour
• Do not quit
• You cannot please everyone
• Keep your good friends
• Health before wealth
• Do not take things for granted
• Think before you speak
• Your education is never complete
• Have an attitude of gratitude
• Do things for the right reasons
• Think of the bigger picture
• Pray
• Prioritise
• Sleep on it
• Actions have consequences
• Do not be afraid to fail
• Anger is never the answer
• Speak kindly to yourself
• Do not be afraid to ask questions
• Trust in God

If you were to ask me what was the greatest, other than trusting in God, I would have difficulty in saying. I guess it depends upon how I am feeling, the experiences I am going through etc. 

If you were to ask me what was the greatest poem I have ever read, I think If by Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) would fit the criteria. Travelling on the underground recently, I saw a poem, which I think during Covid-19 and these unprecedented times is a new favourite. It is by John O'Donohue. 

This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.

​Jesus was confronted by Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees who wanted to trap Jesus by asking difficult questions. The Gospel reading today asks which is the greatest commandment. There are 613 commandments in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, so which one is the greatest? We know the Ten Commandments, surely it is going to be one of those? Instead, Jesus sums up all the 613 commandments with these words: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He goes on to say the second greatest is “Love your neighbour as yourself.” It is a helpful response, and the two go together because to show that you love God, you surely must love God’s creation. Therefore, we must love our neighbour whoever they may be. 

Both of these commandments are mentioned in the Torah. Deuteronomy 6:5, which is part of the Shema Yisrael that Jews say twice daily, contains the first and "love your neighbour", is taken from Leviticus 19:18. So, it is not new, but Jesus has pulled these two together to summerise how we can truly worship God. It is how our Christian lifestyle is defined; the vertical dimension of loving God crossed with the horizontal direction of loving our neighbour. We know who our neighbour is through the parable of the Good Samaritan. Our neighbour is anyone who is in need. 

I sometimes forget how radical the concept of only having one God is. In Roman times, I think there were over 60 gods that you could worship, including, of course, the famous Olympian Gods: Jupiter, Venus, Apollo, Diana, Neptune and so on. It is radical to go from the safety of having so many powerful gods to pray to when you need help, to having only one. Even more remarkable, this one God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. The Roman Gods never once had a thought for us, so through Judaism, this concept of God, creator of the universe, wanting time and a relationship with us is groundbreaking. 

When I compare the Ten Commandments with the response Jesus gave, worshipping God, having no idols and not misusing God's name fall into place. Loving my neighbour means I will honour my mother and father, I will not commit adultery, murder or steal, and I will not give false witness or covet other people’s goods. The Sabbath reminds us, as Augustine (354-430) said, we have to love ourselves. We cannot love our neighbour as ourself unless we love ourselves. The Sabbath provides us that day of rest whereby we can not only appreciate God’s wonder, but it also allows us to recharge, restore and renew. 

Jesus goes one step further in our reading. After answering all the questions, Jesus poses one based upon Psalm 110. This Psalm, written by King David, is the prophetic notion that the Messiah will not just be of David’s line, but will also be far superior to David, so much so David calls him Lord. Jesus’ question stumps the would-be questioners and silences them. We see Jesus as being beyond human, touching the divine, and it is that acknowledgement of his true self that quiets the crowd. We too have to acknowledge who we are for we often have a mask that we show the world; one we believe the world wants to see for which we will gain acceptance and love. But if we are to truly love ourselves, we have to remind ourselves of our true self rather than the self we portray to others. 

So, we offer to God who we truly are knowing that God will accept us, love us and transform us. 

​Isaiah prophesied from 740-681 BC. This reading highlights Cyrus as doing God’s bidding. Cyrus the Great was born in 600 BC and died in 70 years later, we believe, on 4th December 530 BC, probably in battle. Cyrus became king in 560BC reigning for 30 years and had the grand titles of King of Anshan, King of Persia, King of Media, King of the World, King of Babylon, King of Sumar and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World. The strange thing about the passage is Isaiah wrote it around 150 years before Cyrus the Great came to power; it is a prophecy. 

Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire, now known as Iran. He was a great military strategist and is the only non-Jewish person given the title of Messiah in the Bible. He knew the world of politics but showed humanitarian traits as he respected the customs and religions of the people he conquered. His empire was the largest ever known at the time, spanning two thousand miles, including Assyria and Babylonia. It was Cyrus who allowed the Jewish people to leave their exile and for Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Cyrus is significant in the history of Israel, and Isaiah prophesied it 150 years before. 

In one report, it said because Cyrus read the account of Isaiah, Cyrus made the prophecy come true by invading and freeing the people of Israel. God, therefore, is not limited to using the Jewish population; God can use anybody, Jew or Gentile. It is always important to remember this in our relationship with God; God can and does use us to fulfil God’s almighty plan. 

We move into Matthew and the trickery with which he had to deal. 

To put you in the mood here is a story: 
In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter.

Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over and picked up two pebbles.

Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag.

He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

1.Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.
2. Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.
3. Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.

She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;

“Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.

Moral of the story:

It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation through out of the box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus the Pharisees and the Herodians questioned Jesus. Knowledge of the Herodians is scarce, other than they must be supporters of Herod. Therefore, the Herodians were in opposition to the Pharisees - the common enemy of Jesus brings forth strange bedfellows. Yet, Jesus had the measure of them. The fact they produced a Denarius when Jesus asked for a coin has implications.

On the Denarius it reads "Ti(berivs) Caesar Divi Avg(vsta) F(ilivs) Avgvtvs", which in English means Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the divine Augustus. On the reverse, we have a seated female, believed to be Livia depicted as Pax, the goddess of Peace, with the words "Pontif Maxim".

Having the image of Tiberius was an anathema to the Jews. The fact that it claimed Augustus was God was offensive to the Jewish population. As a result, pious Jews did not carry that coin but did their business using smaller denominations. The coin itself was worth one day’s labour; smaller copper coins, which did not hold the face of the emperor, were quite ordinary and were used for daily life. So, the Denarius must have been produced by a Herodian because a Pharisee, would not carry such a coin. 

So, Jesus comes up with the famous statement, “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's.” In some Bibles, the translation is not "render" but "give to Caesar". I understand the Greek "to render" means to give back, which implies they must have received something already. They were benefitting by the Roman occupation, profiting from the blessings of good communication, transport links, freedom from tribal warfare, stable currency with coins used all over the known world and general peace. It is strange to think of an occupation bringing blessings, and I presume if you live in such a society, the expectations are you give back to that society from which you have taken. 

There is a common theme throughout the new testament. Jesus says to love your enemies, and Paul frequently writes to submit to the authorities, as does Peter. So, the idea of giving back to Caesar reflects they are part of the Roman situation. But when spirituality conflicts with society, Jesus says God comes first; even though we live in society, it is obedience to God that comes first. So, his famous sentence is quite brilliant, as it satisfies both parties and the people posing the question were amazed at the answer. They found the answer quite marvellous. The scene is then set for the Sadducees to have a go at questioning Jesus, but for the minute, Jesus had shown his ability at dealing with tricky questions. 

So, let us reflect: we acknowledge the blessings we receive from living in society; we give back, but we also recognise God’s importance, which means we have absolute obedience to God. In today’s world, Covid-19 means we put our trust in God, but there are also so many other groups who are requesting our support, Black Lives Matter and climate change being two examples. We have to obey the law because it is Biblical, but that does not mean we cannot stand up for others. It is also Biblical that we should stand up and try to change the structures in society that result in injustice. It is a balance, what do we give back to our communities, and what do we offer to God?

Which animals have complete faith in Jesus?
Penguins, because they can walk on water!

The reading is Matthew 14:22-37 (also found in Mark and John) but to fully appreciate this reading, you need to read: ​

• Job 9:8
• Psalm 77:19
• Isaiah 43:16
• Psalm 89:9
• Psalm 107:29

In essence, all these Old Testament readings are showing God’s power over the waters. The reading comes just after Jesus has fed 5000 men, so along with women and children, it was much more. The feeding of the 5000 is a powerful miracle and is mentioned in all four Gospels.

By combining the four Gospels we can get a fuller picture of this story where a boy offers five barley loaves and two fishes, which Jesus blesses and miraculously feeds everyone with twelve baskets of leftovers showing the abundance of Jesus’ grace. The main lessons of this story were to understand what gifts we have to offer, actually offering them to God to use and there is this element of self-sacrifice, that this boy offered all he had, which prompts us to question whether we offer all we have. It shows Jesus’ compassion and is set against a backdrop of John the Baptist being killed. Jesus needs to grieve, he needs to contemplate what this death means to his ministry, but far from going into a quiet place, crowds follow, so he heals, teaches and subsequently feeds the people. 

This week’s text comes right after this event. Jesus is still looking for a quiet place to go. He dismisses the crowd, he orders the disciples to get into a boat, so that he can go into the mountainside alone and pray. He is clearly looking after himself; he understands that he needs to relax and to be with God, to not burn out. This is a very helpful picture for Christians, especially in the ministry, where there is a trend to feel that we have to burn out for God, that we have to continually offer. Bob Pearce, who founded World Vision, believed we should burn out rather than rust out. This beautiful text shows that self-care is part of our ministry; looking after ourselves is part of what we have to do. Self-evidently, if we do not look after ourselves, we cannot look after others. 

Jesus then seeks solitude. Meanwhile, his obedient disciples who went into this boat are having difficulties with a storm that has brewed. It is at this time where they see this ghostly apparition and Peter responds, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

Now, I find this quite a revelation. Peter does not know for sure it is Jesus, there is panic and crisis on the boat. So, Peter reveals something of his own nature. He does not demand Jesus to “still the storm and save us”, for which there is a precedent in Matthew 8:23-27, but he asks Jesus to perform a miracle for him, which I think is quite self-centred. 

Peter recklessly gets out of the boat, stupidity in itself. Yet, is not faith sometimes seen as being illogical? His miracle is that he starts to walk on the water. Anyone who has been in a crisis, however big or small, can now identify with the predicament Peter is in. He takes his eye off Jesus, he sees the overwhelming odds against him and starts to sink. 

Jesus has strength while walking on the water to help Peter out. He is not just standing on water but he has enough purchase to haul a grown man out of the sea. We immediately start to question ourselves: what would we ask of Jesus to convince us that he is real? Would we ask for a self-centred miracle or a major one for others? What does that reveal about us? If we are in a crisis, keep your focus on Jesus. All you can do sometimes is shut out the world and be intent on trusting Jesus and knowing He is stronger than the situation in which we find ourselves. 

This beautiful little passage has two miracles. Jesus walked on the water and then he stilled the storm. So, Psalm 107:29 should be read in conjunction with this: “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.” Peter leaves the security of the boat even though it is being tossed by the rough Sea of Galilee. Peter, not for the first time leaves security behind; he left the security of being a fisherman to follow Jesus, now he is leaving the relative security of the boat where his friends are. I suppose a question for us to ask is when do we leave our comfort zone, when do we branch out, leaving friends and family behind in order to follow our faith. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter is depicted as very much the leading disciple. He is emerging from the group as its leader, the rock. This story combined with Matthew 8:23-27 if gives us a very interesting insight. In Matthew 8:27, at the culmination of them being saved, we read: The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Whereas, in Matthew 14:33, the disciples come to the realisation: “Truly you are the Son of God”. We see the gradual development of the disciples and this, of course, is how our faith grows. It grows by having a constant relationship with God. It grows by trusting God in evermore difficult situations until we come to the realisation of who God is for us. 

In the boat in the storm, Peter asked for his own personal miracle but I was thinking about this and I asked myself whether we limit God by not asking God for enough. Are we very conservative in our requests for God? Perhaps this also limits our faith. Do we ask God for enough miracles or do we limit them because we limit God? I then wondered if we close our eyes to some of the miracles God does anyway. 

I am reminded of a story concerning Napoleon at the height of his powers where people would write him requests asking for things that were impossible for him to grant. He was asked if this was annoying, however, he said not at all as it shows people think I am greater than I really am. In the same way, do we limit what we ask God for or should we pray huge prayers knowing that God is greater than anything for which we could pray?

So, my challenge to us all this week is to be aware and open our eyes and truly look and see the miracles that God is providing in the world and in our own lives. I wonder how many miracles we will be able to report back next week, for we must remember that we worship a God who created the universe and created us so that we could have a relationship with God. So, let us keep our eyes open and see how God is keeping God’s relationship with us.

A disturbing part of the text, which should not be taken literally, tells us if our right eye causes us to sin, we should gouge it out. If a body part causes us to stumble, we should cut it off and throw it away. Maybe Jesus is being humorous but he is definitely using hyperbole to express the point that we should not be doing certain things. In Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 9:6, God expressly tells us not to hurt ourselves. In Leviticus 19:28, God even forbids tattoos. I press this point because there is no way Jesus was telling us to hurt our bodies, which we should keep as a temple to God. 

This text encourages us to examine our lives, recognising our struggles and conflicts. I recent advert for BUPA UK Mental Health Hub says, "There are 7 billion versions of normal. With 7 billion unique people on the planet, there’s no such thing as ‘normal’." We all have different personalities, we are all at different stages of our life, and we are all developing both physically and spiritually in different ways, therefore, it is not unusual for there to be tension and conflict in the world. God, I think, allows that, especially as he gave us free will, but the love that we offer through the grace of Jesus is accepting one another's differences, listening to other people's opinions and in so doing enrich our thoughts and quality of life. 

No one forces people to become Christians. The Holy Spirit is at work, always. It is up to us as Christians to show the distinctiveness of life by putting God first, others second and ourselves third. This reading in Matthew comes after Jesus telling the disciples they had to be like salt and light. This passage helps us see more clearly how difficult it is to follow the commandments, especially in a society where moral values are turned upside-down but if we do want to make a difference, Matthew 5:21-27 inspires us to transform our lives and to be the disciples Jesus wishes. ​

My most recent sermon was based on Matthew 5:13-20 but to enjoy this reading more, you should also look at Isaiah 58:1-12 and the acrostic Psalms 111 and 112. 

Deuteronomy 28 leads us to believe that those who are blessed are those with wealth, power and status. According to Matthew, Jesus started his ministry by challenging this. In the Beatitudes, which is Matthew 5:1-12, we read that those favoured are the humble, i.e. those poor in spirit; those who are hurting, i.e. mourning; the meek, those who hunger after righteousness; the merciful; those who are pure in heart, i.e. their motives and agenda for doing things is focused on God's love; the peacemakers, those who try to unite and bring people together; and those who are persecuted for the sake of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount, echoed in Luke, continues for three chapters: 5, 6 and 7, and might indeed be a collection of his sayings rather than one discourse. In the Beatitudes, Jesus sets out his stall and reveals that being a disciple is going to be costly. 

The standard of following Jesus is high. Matthew 22:37-39 sums up beautifully all that is required: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself." In Matthew 7:12, what has become known as the Golden Rule reminds us to do to others what you would have them do to you. In John 13:34, Jesus adds a new commandment on to of the 613 found in the books of the Torah: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

The scene is set, Jesus has a huge crowd of interested people and he has already invited them in by opening the gates for those who will be blessed by God. Then he goes on to talk about his disciples being salt and light. 

Just for fun, I thought I would look on the internet for all the interesting uses of salt:

• Killing slugs
• Gargling for sore throats
• Clearing away snow and melting ice
• Keep windows frost-free
• Soothe a bee sting and clean cuts
• Kill poison ivy 
• Kill grass growing in cracks in the cement or between patio stones
• Repel fleas
• Clean a glass coffee pot
• Clean tarnished copper
• Clean artificial flowers
• Clean coffee and tea stains from china cups
• Clean a cutting board
• Keep potatoes and apples from turning brown once they're sliced
• Salt is used as a preservative - well before the refrigerator in 1923, fish was always packed in salt and certainly was in the time of Jesus so that the catches never went off. 
• Dishwashers need salt
• Unit of exchange and in Roman times was offered as salary. 
• Add to chips

I believe there are 35 references to salt in the Old Testament and 6 in the New, so clearly salt is important. Indeed, Leviticus 2:13 reminds us that every offering of your grain offering should be seasoned with salt. The Hebrews harvested salt, especially around the Dead Sea. The Hebrews poured saltwater into a pit and let the water evaporate until there was only salt left. 

We are called to be the salt. For salt to work, it has to be involved. If you just keep salt in its container, nothing will happen, but once you spread a little bit, then the flavour is enhanced and the chemical Sodium Chloride (NaCl) can start to interact with its surroundings. Jesus was saying to us that we have to be involved, we have to act with our surroundings and we have to improve things. Our way of life should be distinct from society so that we can show people how things should be done with God at the centre. There is an adage that says people do not care how much you know, they only want to know how much you care. So Christianity has to show love in action. As James says in his letter Chapter 2:14-26, faith without deeds is useless. So, if we are to be the salt we have to interact and improve the circumstances wherever we go. 

Salt cannot lose its taste, however, it can be contaminated to such an extent that the salt is no longer distinctive. It can be added to things, which makes the salt bland. Jesus warns against this by talking about salt losing its taste, so we must be careful about being contaminated, for example, being contaminated by society and enjoying the comforts of technology, which remove us from worship and take us away from God's presence. 

Jesus then goes on to say we must be the light of the world. The usefulness of light is that it removes darkness. When young, many a scary monster disappeared when the light was turned on. Light enables us to see the world as it really is. Light causes growth. Light transmits messages either by code or from a lighthouse as a warning sign. Light can guide and light shows us the path. 

I light a candle. How far away do you have to be before you can no longer see this candle, or what do we have to do to stop you from seeing this candle? Jesus has the words of eternal life, as Simon Peter says in John 5:68, and now his disciples have been told to spread the word to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near and that people can have a new relationship with God, creator of the universe. By loving God, loving your neighbour and loving one another with a sacrificial love, that the Greek word agape sums up, and acknowledging Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, will lead to eternal life.

So we are beacons of light: either a candle or a lighthouse; but we have to shine as a light to the world (Philippians 2:15). I read that you can see a naked flame 1.7 miles away but, of course, we can put things in front of the flame that would stop you from seeing it or extinguish the flame. Jesus warns us not to hide our light under a bushel, which in essence is an 8-gallon wooden bucket. The image is there: shine, don't allow a bucket to be put over you so that your light cannot show guidance or even warmth to others. 

How can we ensure we worship correctly? Micah 6:8 reminds us to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God. Isaiah 58:6-9 confirms what true worship is. “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

What stops us from being salt and be foolish instead? Not being active in the community and allowing ourselves to be contaminated by the standards of today rather than the standards of God. What stops us from being light? Allowing our light to be hidden or diverted or extinguished. If we can remain salt and light then we will be bearers of hope that through Christ our sins are forgiven, a new life created, our relationship with God restored, and eternal life, in whatever form that will take, is assured. 
Amen.