Receiving the grace of eternal life

Revd Rob Lamerton
Pentecost 22, 28th October 2007

• Joel 2:23-32
• Psalm 65
• 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
• Luke 18:15-30

In today's reading we begin by hearing that Jesus told a story "to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt." Then he proceeds to tell about the Pharisee who told God how good he was!

This was evidently not unusual. Dr Caird in his commentary on this passage says:

Rabbinic literature provides enough parallels to show that Jesus' portrait was no caricature. An old prayer from the Jewish Prayer Book runs: 'Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast not. made me a Gentile. Blessed art Thou who hast not made me a slave. Blessed art Thou… who hast not made me a woman' (cf. Gal. 3.28). It is reported also in the Talmud (Berakoth, 28b) that Rabbi Nehunia ben Hakaneh used to pray daily on leaving the rabbinical school: 'I give thanks to thee, O Lord, my God, that thou hast set my portion with those who sit in the house of instruction, and thou hast not set my portion with those who sit in street corners, for I rise early and they rise early, but I rise early for words of Torah and they rise early for frivolous. talk; I labour and they labour, but I labour and receive a reward and they labour and do not receive a reward; I run and they run, but I run to the life of the world to come and they run to the pit of destruction.'

The Pharisees is self congratulatory. In fact he is so good that he has not recognised his need for mercy.

The tax collector, on the other hand, is totally aware of his humanity and failure and of God's mercy. "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" He recognises his great need, and the grace of God. He is the one who is justified (put right) with God. He is the one who truly recognises what the prophet Joel had said, that "every one who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

The Psalm is all about God's wonderful blessings. The Pharisee missed the need to recognise God's gifts, preferring to claim some preferential treatment.

The story of the tax collector is one of humility and trust. Luke has placed the stories of the children brought to Jesus and of the rich young ruler immediately afterward to add to the whole story of trust and dependence.

The story about the children is a rebuke to the attitude that regards children as less than adults or of lesser value to God. It is the ability of children to be receptive and open to God and to things spiritual that Jesus commends. "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it." It is almost an illustration of the attitude of the tax collector, which is repentant, trusting and receptive. The Pharisee, however, was closed off.

So children are natural models of discipleship!

The story of the rich young man (Luke says he was a ruler, whereas Matthew's gospel tells us he was young) seems to a depiction of the Pharisee who knows all that is needed of basic religious teaching. He was satisfied with what he had done and thought he could pick up a few tips on entering eternal life!

Jesus pointed out that he had needed to let go and trust God. When Jesus asked, "Why do you call me good?" and said that no one is good but God alone, he was pointing the man to the source of all goodness and blessing! The eternal life that the man sought is not about gaining more theological knowledge. It is about living in the presence of God day by day. The man had failed to understand the question, let alone find the answer.

In this case, the man's wealth and possessions stood in the way of receptive faith (faith like that of the child!). He trusted in his riches. The same can be true of all sorts of other things we value — intellectual, moral, even spiritual wealth. It really is about grace!

Neither does Peter understand, thinking that he and the other disciples deserve a better deal because they have made the sacrifice. Jesus, however, promises that they will have much more before they get to eternal life in the age to come.

Humility, receptivity, and letting go are the things that enable us to experience the grace of eternal life.

Report from the 14th General Synod. by Brian McKinlay

Brian has more on his own web site/blog at: http://nottoomuch.com/

A most productive gathering

14th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia, held in Canberra this past week, was productive gathering. A great deal was done and it was good to be part of it.

• Mission : the formation of Fresh Expressions Australia encourages the development of health and vitality of the church nationally. Excellent ideas were shared to grow communities of faith in Australia.
• Climate change : through resolutions and a canon (church law), dioceses have been asked to reduce their environmental footprint and to consider the impact of climate change in Australia and on the poor of the world.
• Indigenous Australians : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives will have seats in the national Standing Committee. The Synod expressed a strong sense of solidarity with our indigenous peoples and called for a long term approach to close the gap of disadvantage. A Commitment and Affirmation of Faith and Justice, uniting indigenous and non-indigenous Christians was agreed with acclamation.
• Drought : a task force to explore the effects of drought on regional churches and communities has been established along with an national appeal to provide assistance.
• The Synod strongly embraced the Millennium Development Goals and called on all dioceses and the Australian government to reach the financial assistance targets of 0.7% of annual income.
• Women bishops : though not all welcome the eligibility of women to be bishops, the clarity brought by the Appellate Tribunal to the question was welcomed.
• Listening process : the Synod paused to listen to the stories of four gay people. The exercise sought to go beyond the politics and to listen with sensitivity and compassion.
• A national register was instituted as a means of ensuring that people with unresolved allegations of abuse against children and parishioners will no longer be able to move from parish to parish without their record being known was adopted.

The primate, Dr Aspinall said, “I believe that despite our differences we have entered a new stage that can only see the Anglican Church of Australia grow stronger. Our experience this week has been far from schism and fracture that is often publicly associated with the Anglican Communion. General Synod members here in Canberra have displayed a maturity that permits differing opinions to be heard, discussed and reflected upon.”