Transformation only God can bring....

From Helen

Life is full of agreements and promises. From a promise to someone else to a promise to God - our lives are full of promises.

There was once a little boy who was in trouble with his teacher. The teacher said, ‘Didn’t you promise to behave.’ ‘Yes’, said the little boy. ‘Well,’ said the teacher, ‘What did I promise to do if you misbehaved.’ ‘ you promised to punish me’ said the little boy. The teacher said, ‘ Well then you know what to expect.’ The little boy replied, ‘ well, as I broke my promise I don’t expect you to keep yours.’ 

Promises are great particularly when they are kept. In our readings this morning we have heard about promises and we have also heard about what happens when we don’t trust someone to keep their promise.

In the Old Testament reading (Gen. 15:1-12,17,18) we heard of the great promise from God to Abraham, a promise that God kept of Abraham having a huge number of descendants. It is often quite interesting to read about Abraham. This manwhom we respect because he followed God and trusted him so much it turns out was actually a little bit of a whiner. 

You know the type of person who has a lot and still wants more.  God told Abraham that he did not need to worry, he told Abraham that he would have a great reward and Abraham, rather than saying thank you said, well what am I going to get then? Can you imagine it? If a child did something like this we would call them cheeky. Abraham had been helped by God to defeat his enemies. He was a wealthy and respected man. But, you give someone an inch and they take a mile!

We don’t know what Abraham was afraid of, except perhaps of his enemies coming back to get him, but instead of focussing on the offer of protection he wanted something more. In return Abraham was given an incredible promise. A promise of everything being better, a promise that the unthinkable could really happen. Abraham was to have children. What a promise !

From this reading we came to the incredible praise of the Psalm (27), that God is our light and our salvation and we have no – one to fear. God’s promise to us means us trusting in Him. God took a risk with Abraham but because of the faith of Abraham God rewarded him. 

God rewarded Abraham with a promise that was never broken. In the epistle reading (Phil. 3:17-4:1)we heard more about promises as we heard of the change that God can make in our lives. Paul the writer of the epistle was bemoaning the people who did not trust God’s promises. That is the people who didn’t turn to God. The people who wanted to rely on small things as a way to experience a better way of life. How many time have we seen people put their trust in things expecting them to be the best thing ever and then for thosethings to collapse around them ?

Paul in the epistle was not saying that the little things are unimportant but he was making the point that there is only one thing that we all need. There is only one promise, there is only one offer that will never fail and that offer is the transformation that Jesus brings. 

This is not to say that our comforts aren’t important but they are nothing compared to the transformation we get from Jesus.

This is an amazing promise which is also reality. God promises good things to us and He will rescue us from all ourfears, in as much as, He will give us the confidence that we need. 

In the gospel reading (Luke 13:31-35) we heard the harsh words of Jesus calling Herod a fox. This is not very nice and not what we would expect from Jesus, however Herod like the Pharisees questioned the mission and work of Jesus and tried to prevent Him from the work He needed to do. That work was to go to Jerusalem and be crucified for us. Jesus had the ultimate promise to fulfil and that promise was for our salvation. In this passage Jesus grieved. You can hear the pain as He talks of Herod being like a fox trying to take His children away from Him. 

Jesus pictures Himself as being like a mother hen protecting her brood. Jesus was protecting people by doing the incredible for them. That incredible was too die for us. This passage comes after a sentence that we only get in the gospel of Luke. This sentence is that Jesus had set His face towards Jerusalem. He knew what was going to happen and nothing was going to deter Him. 

The determination of that sentence is perhaps one of the most humbling sentences we can ever hear. Jesus set His face to Jerusalem and He did it for us.

Regardless of the ways that people turned away from God, regardless of the fact that people didn’t trust the promises of God there was a plan. That plan was to bring us back to God.

In the same way that God had determined to keep His promise to Abraham so He keeps Hs promises to us. God never leaves us. Jesus was determined.

It does make me think about promises to the world today. We all make promises to one another, we all make promises to God. In this time of lent we may have made extra promises. It is good to have a discipline. It is good for us to seek to draw closer and closer to God. 

God has made a promise to us and that promise is that with determination God has saved us. That promise is not just that God does care and understand our needs for help, but it is also that God wants us to turn to Him like a chick to a mother hen. What a beautiful image.

God loves us and wants to protect us, He is our light, He is our salvation and we do not need to be afraid. How will we show our gratitude? Will we be like those in the epistle who had sought after other things, or will be those who are ready and waiting for the transformation that only God can bring? AMEN