Pastoral Letter 18

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,

I hope you are well and safe during these unprecedented circumstances. For the last several weeks we were pleased to hear that things were getting better and the virus infection curve was flattened, and the restrictions were easing week by week. Now gatherings are allowed with bigger numbers. Some entertainment programs have commenced and the social distancing area has been changed from four metre squares to two.  The signs are good and promising. But unfortunately, Victoria is facing a second wave so NSW and other states are being cautious. I hope and pray that we will not go through a second wave, although in many countries around the world the numbers are continuing to go up. Sadly, Armenia is almost at the top of the list for its population to infections ratio. Let’s hope for better days and virus-free times.

As I have mentioned in my last week’s Pastoral Letter, some churches from the Lower North Shore will open their doors. Willoughby Armenian have opened their doors two weeks ago, Willoughby Uniting will commence this Sunday, Crows Nest on 12 July and Neutral Bay on 19 July. Here, at St. Andrew’s, the Elders and Church Council will meet this Wednesday to decide if we are ready. In the meantime, we will continue what we have been doing.

Please again join the others tomorrow morning in worship, following the Order of Service. The hymns are suggested by Mark. Do not forget to light a candle, if you wish, but most importantly, a small roll of bread and a small cup of wine or juice to share together the Lord’s Supper.

Also, if you have any hymns to be included in our future Orders of Services, please let me know.

 

Prayer points:

1. Pray for the congregations, who have decided to reopen their doors. Pray for the safety of those who will attend and the leaders who have taken on board the responsibility of providing a safe space.
2. Continue to pray for those countries who are still in the midst of the pandemic, where the number of cases of COVID-19 is still growing.
3. Pray for those who are struggling financially.
4. Pray for those who have lost loved ones and are still in pain.
5. Pray for those who are not well and lonely.
6. Pray for world peace.

If you have any prayer points, please let me know and I will include them in the next week’s letter.

 

Krikor

Your Minister

 

 

Message Summary

Rest for Our Souls

Matt. 11:29

The first six months of the year 2020 are already gone. We have concluded the Financial Year 2019-2020, in a way we couldn’t have anticipated. In very strange times, we had the Lent, Easter, Accession and Pentecost services and celebrations. We have cancelled and postponed many of our church activities, as well as our overseas trip plans, not knowing if we will be able to do them in the future.  Now we move forward in the second half of the year and head towards the end of the year, when we will celebrate Advent and Christmas and with great hope, start the new year praying that things will be different from what it was and is now.

From our experience of this year so far, we are reminded that we live in the world of a COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, environmental disasters, religious fundamentalism, food shortages, homelessness, poverty, broken relationships, depression, loneliness, fear, difficulties, joblessness, discriminations, inequalities, pains, sorrows, sicknesses, suffering, fake news, negative effects of social media, hate, terror and death. The list goes on.

We could say that we are burdened with a lot.

In the passage preceding the one we read this morning, Jesus gives woes on unrepentant cities of Israel, like Korazin and Bethsaida, denouncing them for their unrepentant heart. He says that it will be more bearable for Sodom (known as the city of sin and immorality) on the day of judgement, than for the people of God (verses 20-24).

After saying these words, Jesus exclaimed as Matthew has written:

“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure’.” (verses 25-26)

Why did Jesus praise the Father, God, during this time?

A reason is that God is the One who created heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1). God created all these things His order, image, likeness, and for His purpose. We may argue that God did not create heaven and earth and say it is the creation of religion and religious people.

A few questions to those who tell us that God did not create the heaven and earth:

Who arranged heaven and earth in order?

Who designed all these plants, leaves, flowers, fruits, and so on so beautifully?

Why are all these planets, plants, birds, animals, and humans in this world?

What is the purpose?

Wise men and learned people may not agree on the questions.

As a believer of God, the Almighty and All Powerful, we can understand that God reveals this to the little ones, to those listening to Him.

God is not revealing these things, because we are wise, learned and educated, but, because we have trust, belief, faith in God, the Creator. It is not, because we trust, we believe and we have faith, but it is revealed to us.

The Gospel of Matthew says: “Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” (Verse 26)

Yes…. God is so gracious. He showers us with His grace with His blessing.

It is not because we are wise, and learned, but because God is gracious that He reveals to us this mystery in and through Jesus Christ as again we read: “All things have been committed to me by my Father.” (Verse 27)

How does God reveal?

God humbly reveals His order, image, likeness, and purpose as we read from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah:

“Thus, says the LORD: Rejoice greatly, O Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will take away the chariot from Ephraim, and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9-10)

He comes on a donkey not on a horse. He reveals Himself from tiny creatures to massive animals. He reveals Himself from small flies to huge birds. He reveals Himself from tiny seed to the tallest trees.

We can go on and on in His dominion over the earth. But everything is gracefully revealed in a simple and humble way. That is why, Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

We say that we are worried and burdened with our life without understanding what God is revealing through His creation.

We know when Jesus says that all who labour and are burdened, Jesus indirectly says that there are also people who do not labour and are not burdened. But Jesus calls all those who labour and are burdened, who do not understand the mystery of God or the revelation of God in creation.

So, to understand the mystery or the revelation or the salvation of God, we have to take up our labour and our burdens to Jesus as He calls us to take His yoke upon us:

“Take my ‘yoke’ upon you.” (Matthew 11:29)

According to the dictionary, a yoke is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a heavy load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do.

A yoke needs two persons to pull together a heavy labour and burden. As Jesus shoulders our labour and burden on one side of a yoke, we need to take our labour and burdens together along with Jesus on the other side.

Then, Jesus further says: “Learn from me.” (Matthew 11:29)

What do we learn from Jesus?

We learn from Jesus that He is ‘gentle’ and ‘humble’ in heart.

A. Gentle

1. Gentle means treating people in a careful way so that they are not hurt.

Jesus didn’t hurt anyone, on the contrary, He treated everyone who came to Him in a careful way without hurting them and showing them, God’s forgiveness and mercy and He said, “Peace be with you.”

He never hurt Peter for denial. He never hurt the disciple for running away. He never hurt Thomas for his doubt. He never hurt us, when we deny Him, or we hesitate to trust Him

2. Gentle means ‘being kind’.

Jesus was kind. He was kind even to the thief on the Cross and said to him that he will be with Him in heaven. He was kind to the persecutors, when He said: “Father, they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He always showed love and kindness to all.

3. Gentle means ‘being humane’.

Jesus showed compassion and love. His acts were humane. He showed us how to be humane and care for others as He did. Yes, sometimes He seemed to be harsh with His words, giving the impression that He does not care, for example when He said to the Canaanite women: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs” (Matt. 15:26). But her request was granted, because the woman had a great faith. Jesus cared for her and her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus was humane and caring

4. Gentle means ‘being sensitive’.

Jesus was very sensitive. He wept hearing the death of Lazarus (John 11:33). He wept over Jerusalem, when He saw the city as they were approaching during His triumphant entry to the holy city. He was in pain and He knew what was going to happen there, what the people of God were going to do to Him in the next few days. He was being sensitive and at the same time He was getting ready to accomplish the work that He had come to do.

He was sensitive when He said to John at the foot of the Cross, “Here is your Mother.” (John 19:27)

We learn to be gentle from the life and the acts of Jesus. He made this clear and expressed it in so many ways and He expected from His followers and still expects from us all to do the same.

B. Humble

Humility is one of the greatest attributes of God. The Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnificent God, who lives in the highest places, humbled Himself and came to us in the form of a human being. God humbled Himself and took the form of human in Jesus Christ as Paul would say: “Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)

God did not only humble Himself when he came to us in human form through Jesus Christ, but He also came to set us an example and show what it really means to humble the self. In the Gospel of John, we read about a demonstration, which was presented when Jesus and His disciples were in the Upper Room. John writes: “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.’ Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:12-15)

Being gentle and humble in heart, Jesus not only teaches us how to take His yoke upon us, but also gives us rest for our souls. A rest, that we all need, especially now, during the crisis that the world faces today. Jesus’ promise is a need we all have today, with no exception. With the things happening around the world and in our country today, we need that rest, the rest for our souls in these troublesome times.

We need that rest for our souls, which only Jesus can give. But we ask: “How do we rest in Jesus?”

Paul writes: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” (Romans 8:9, 11)

By having the Spirit of Christ Jesus, we learn from Him at the same time we find rest for our soul.

Then, Jesus says: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:30)

Yes, our labour and burden become easy and light with the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Paul says: “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)

Living by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we die to our flesh and acknowledge that: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27)

Jesus makes it very clear that He knows the Father. And in and through Jesus alone, the final revelation of God, with the help of the Spirit, we experience and rest our soul in the Salvation of God, the Father.

Jesus calls us to go to Him. He is the source of all the good we need, especially for our troubled and disturbed souls, as well as to our world. Jesus invites us to offer rest, peace, joy, love and prosperity.

Looking to the world where we live, we surely need what He offers. He offers rest and love as our loving, gentle and humble Lord.

May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all.

Amen!