Making possible the impossible

From Helen...

In our readings this morning we have heard about many things including the problem of anger. There was a passenger on an airplane from Los Angeles-to-New York, as the plane was making a stop in Dallas the passenger told the flight attendant to wake him if he fell asleep and make sure he got off in Dallas. The passenger awoke just as the plane was landing in New York. Furious, he called the flight attendant and demanded an explanation. The attendant mumbled an apology and, in a rage, the passenger stomped off the plane. "Gosh, that man was angry!" another crew member observed. "If you think he was angry," replied the flight attendant, "you should have seen the guy I put off the plane in Dallas!" 

The section within which we hear this teaching about anger is one of teaching by Jesus of the right way to live, it is part of a section which encourages us to seek to be more like Jesus as we approach the world and Him. This section is concerned with the way that life should be as we follow Jesus.

The gospel reading this morning seemed very hard core, there is a lot to do if we are to be more like Jesus, but the point is that God doesn’t expect us to do the impossible but He expects us to try and be more like Him.

Jesus did the impossible, He forgave His enemies, He went to the cross for those who may never love Him but He did it so that we could grow more like Him, knowing the freedom and love that He brings.

In our readings this morning we have been reminded of the right way to live on the one hand but on the other hand we have been reminded of the total shift that can come in our lives as we seek to be more like God.

This means not judging each other, maybe people we know fall short of the commands of Jesus in our eyes, but how perfect are we? We are to love and not judge, we are to seek to follow Jesus more closely by seeking to make our lives more like His. This is how we are meant to work, this is how we are meant to be. We work in relationship with God and with each other, which means accepting that no one is perfect except for God.

In the reading from Deuteronomy people were given instructions that would help them to make sure that they remembered to put God first, that the more they went to God and followed His commands the more their lives would mirror the commands of God naturally, the commands of God would become a part of them.

In the reading from the letter to the Corinthians, the people were reminded that it was not one person who was responsible for their growth as followers of God, but rather it was God Himself. Paul reminded the people that he and Apollos were both servants of God.

In fact the word used in Greek for servant could mean waiter. So, people may serve the food but God cooks it, He prepares it. Please do not think of lunch just yet ! God gives us the truth, He helps us to follow Him but in order for us to live up to these seemingly impossible commands that we have heard in the gospel reading we have to remember that God understands us, He knows that we can’t always be perfect.

In our readings this morning we have been reminded that we need to work together, as we all follow God.

Jesus teaches us in the gospel reading that everything which gets in the way of our relationships with each other and with Him needs to be got rid of. He talks about us making sure we are right with God and with each other before we go to the Altar.

It’s all about relationship, and if there is one single thing that we could define our faith with it would and should be that word relationship. God loved us so much and wanted a relationship with us that He died for us. We love God and we are here today to worship Him and to further our relationship with Him by looking to be more like Him. It is by being more and more like God that we can develop our relationships with others.

The commands may seem impossible but the more we try to be like God, the more our lives will reflect Him. We will all make mistakes and God doesn’t hold these mistakes against us, rather He asks us to take our concerns to Him and to start again.

For our relationship with God to work, we have to admit that we can’t do it on our own, we need God and we need eachother !

We can seek to be more like God by recognising that He has done a good job. I only have to look in the mirror of course to see this !! Seriously though we should always think of the good things that God has done for us, think about the fact that He has never left us then we can get through every situation.

We will be helped in following God when we turn to each other and ask for support. It is as simple as talking to each other, praying for each other, this is how we get support. It is true the more you are with like minded people the more like each other you become. That’s why some dog owners …… well I’ll leave you to work that one out, except to say that the dog I had when I was growing up had the same colour fur as my hair !!

In order for us to follow God, in order for our lives to reflect His then we need to let God take control. We need to put Him first and then we have to be ready to be transformed into the people who God saw as possibilities but the type of people thatperhaps we could never even imagine ourselves !

May we be people who are ready to be changed by God, to be brought more and more into His likeness. We will not always be perfect but as we seek to be more like God, as we remember that we have each other and that none of us are perfect but we are called to love then we will be the people God has called us to be. AMEN