Gospel Notes

The Cat’s in the Cradle & the Silver Spoon …

September 2, 2006 – 11:04 pm | by Mark Cornford

Father’s Day

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth takes its name

Eph 3:14-15

Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father a does, the Son does likewise.  The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.  Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.  The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,  so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 6:19-23

    “My Dad has to be in a wheelchair but he can do most anything. Except walk and play sprts. But I wouldn’t trade him for anybody, even Mark McGwire!”
Paul
    “I love it when he told me about what happened before he became a teacher. His dad really wanted him to be a shoe salesman like him but my dad went to college. When I think of that I know how strong he is.
Megan
(taken from ‘Me & my Dad’ Compiled and Illustrated by Stuart Hample)

In the mid 1970s the Mattel toy company wanted to market a family of dolls called ‘The Heart Family’ with Dad, Mum and two kids. When testing the dolls with children, many of the children took the Father dolls, put them aside and played with the rest of the dolls. When asked ‘What about the Father doll?’ they replied ‘He’s at work’, and left the doll untouched in a corner!
from ‘Manhood’ by Steve Biddulph (abridged).
How many dad’s are untouched in the corner today?

Whether through work, divorce, out with the mates, violence, couldn’t be bothered, too hard …

The list of reasons could go on for ages - but the result is always the same, generations of children (especiially boys) raised mostly, if not soley by their mums.

Now mums have done a fantastic job and I am certainly not knocking them, but the question remains ‘Where have all the father’s gone … long time passing … they opted out every one … when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn’ (thanks Pete Seeger!)

When I walk around the streets of my community (Deception Bay), talk with mums at playgroup, or kids at kids club, I often hear stories of dads who are not there - either not at all, or dad’s who who live at home but are not part of their kid’s life.

I could go and talk about the effects that this has on children, famiies and whole communities - but it will suffice to say that

  sick fathers = sick communities

(you could put sick mothers = sick communities, but I think that there is little doubt that on the whole mothering is much more healthy than fathering)

I think of myself as a Dad and my two boys Jordan and Micah (2 & 7 mths - they are beautiful! … mostly) and I think what sort of dad to I want to be - what role model of Fathering is going to help me?

Hence the two passages above.

Ephesians
Here Paul is about to embark on a prayer for the Ephesians and he starts off with this strange line which you have to ask - why put it in a prayer at all? Paul uses this phrase to establish God’s authority/power - God is God and every other authority/power comes from him. For our purposes we are interested less in the naming of God as source of authority and power than the idea that all power/authority including our own fatherhood takes its name and origin from God.

Conclusion - our fatherhood (which is an exercise in our power and authority in our family relationships) takes its origin in God’s fatherhood - this is to say more than just we should be Godly fathers, but the whole concept of fatherhood takes place within the relationships of the trinue God. That is - the real Fatherhood is of God the Father in his fatherhood of Jesus (note that while I use ‘his’ I by no means mean that God is male in any way, even when talking fatherhood - we are talking a relationship not a gender). This is why Jesus says ‘call no man Father, execpt your Father in heaven’ and why he says that when we lose families for Jesus sake we will receive a hundredfold ‘mothers, brothers and sisters’ note no fathers!

This may be a hard concept for us as Father’s to grasp (especially on Father’s day) but we need to acknowledge that there is only one true Father of our children - and that is God the Father. We take our fatherhood from his - as a gift and a responsibility.

This leave the question, that if we take our fatherhood from the true Father of our children, then what sort of father do we have to be to live within God’s Fatherhood?

John
Go back to the top and read this passage again - but as you read it don’t let your eyes glaze over! Read it not as a theological treatise but as a statement about the relationship bewteen a Father and a Son.

When I read this passage in this way I go all warm & fuzzy inside! I think of me working out in the garden with my son ,Jordan, and how he just wants to do what he sees his dad doing (however unhelpful this may be to me!). He copies everything I do, uses the tools I use and cannot bear to be out of my sight so that he can’t see what I am doing, and so that I can see how well he is doing everything with is continual ‘Daddy, watch!’. And I think how when anyone says something good about Jordan, I feel good inside and how protective I am if there is any criticism …

This is the quality of realtionship (times infinity!) that I see in Jesus words. Here is a child who adores his father, who will do nothing other than what his father shows him. And here is a father who holds nothing back from his child. Who show his child everything that he is and has to offer.

To have a Father/child realtionship like this! What a dream - but if I take Paul’s words seriously - this is the relationship that God is calling me to, to live out part of God’s Fatherhood for these children that God has gifted me with.

So what do I take practically from this? What do I need to do (the bottom line …)

Presence and Oneness
Presence
The first and most obvious requirement is of TIME, but not just time without involvement. Presence means being there and available, physically, practically and emotionally. How else can I show my child all of me and who I am unless I spend heaps of time hanging out with them - playing, working, doing the shopping, holding them when they are sick, changing their nappies, disciplining them when they step out of line.

Jesus tells how his Father has show him everything of who he is and how he works, how, is a mystery for us, but the point being is that the Fatherhood from whom we take ours holds nothing back from his children and is involved in every aspect of their lives.

Today, the biggest issue is dads off loading their responsibilities to mums (or mums thinking to be the perfect mum that they have to do everything). There is no dad’s work or mum’s work when it comes to the practicalities of rasing children (ok - except breast feeding and having the baby!). Changing nappies, feeding, playing, clothing, disciplining we MUST be involved in all of it. Who we are in the practicalities is different to mum’s - but there is no escaping the fact that we MUST be involved.

For Dad’s reading this - that is MUST - no ifs, no buts, and definititely no ‘that women’s stuff …’

But going along with the doing of the stuff is the showing of the being - we have to show who we are - our thoughts, morals, reasons, feelings (not just anger) we have to help our children know what is right and wrong, good and decent and why. We have to show them everything because they will try to be like us and if we are shallow and show no depth … pity the children.

Oneness
Secondly, related to this presence we see and oneness of purpose, values, character and being between God the Father and Jesus (if you have seen me you have seen the Father …) - this is scary stuff for us. Do I want my kids to grow up like i REALLY am - not juts the me that I put on in public …?

What sort of person am i trying to be? There can be no put on with kids, they see us as we really are - and that truly is a scary thought, but the grace of God is that they love us anyway!

In this oneness we see a Father who does not see himself as separate to his child, but intrinsically related and part of (i guess since they are God they are ontologically the same being). So much so that the FAther is quite happy to give over his responsibilties (judgement, eternal life etc .. the usual dad jobs!) to his child and hold nothing back. So much so the Father wants the child to share in all his honour, and that to honour the child is to honour the father, and ishonouring the child is dishonouring the Father.

This oneness is probably the most threatening aspect of fatherhood for many guys - you are called to be in essential oneness with your child - not to maintain your distance and retreat to be with your mates when ever things get tough. Sure we need our mates for friendship and support, but not as a place to run away to when we can’t cope so that we can leave the mother to deal with it. Your are called to see yourself and your child as sharing an essential unity and oneness that is sacred.

Oh … and the God bit …
Lastly, we take from John’s passage the uniqueness of Jesus and his Father - God alone has the power of judgement and life and he shares that with his Son Jesus - so when we follow Jesus we come into that relationship with his Father that he has. We find that we have a Father who holds nothing back from us, who love us unconditionally, who wants to show us all that he is.

It sounds too good to be true - but that this is the relationship with God that Jesus promises us when we follow him. Jesus promises us that when we follow him, we get to share in his relationship with God …

that God would be a daddy to us … and not like a human daddy but the perfect daddy that we can always go to when hurt, sad, happy, proud, who shares all our joys and fears and holds nothing of his love back from us …

Sound to be good to be true? That is why it is GOSPEL - GOOD NEWS

I for one can’t think of any better news this Father’s day than that I have a God who is my daddy.

All I pray is that I might be a daddy like him to my boys.

Amen

Cannibals for Jesus!

August 12, 2006 – 4:31 pm | by Mark Cornford

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;  for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.  Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

John 6:51-58

Cannabilism and the Early Church
The first thing that comes to my mind when reading this passage is how the early christians were often accused of being cannibals by informers and the Roman authorities. And reading this text it is not hard to see why people might think this!

‘Eat my flesh and drink my blood’ sounds more like something from some dark ancient religion than from our western churches. In fact, I think that we (that is those of us who spend far too much time in churches) often forget how offensive and hard to understand phrases like this can be. So often if someone asks what this means we just say ‘it just means communion - where we drink grape juice and eat a piece of bread and remember Jesus and what he did for us’ - certainly sounds a lot less offensive - but perhaps that is the problem - we have taken something that is meant to be challenging and offensive and turned into a nice little ritual where we can feel good about what Jesus has done for us.

Jesus… hero one day … whacko the next
To gain a better understanding of this passage we need to briefly recount what has just gone before (John ch 6 version according to mc)

* Jesus and large crowd in wilderness
* Jesus feeds crowd from 5 loaves and two fishes (from small boy)
* People like Jesus!
* People want to make Jesus King
* Jesus runs away … goes to other side of lake (transport method: walking on water)
* Crowd goes looking for Jesus and finds him
* Jesus says ‘you want me because I gave you free food … try this for size ..’
* Jesus talks about ‘true bread from heaven, which after people eat are never hungry’
* Crowd says ’sounds great! what do we have to do to get this’
* Jesus says ‘I am the bread of life … I come from heaven … come to me and believe in me’
* Crowd says ‘who does he think he is? We know his parents!’
* Jesus says ‘I am living bread you must eat of me’
* Crowd says ‘how can we eat your flesh? what are you talking about?’
* Jesus says ‘eat my flesh (not shorts) drink my blood’ (today’s passage)
* Crowd says ‘this guy is nuts!’ and leave

Soooo typical of Jesus. People like him, he runs away, people want more of him so he does something to offend them and drive them away. Didn’t this guy read any evangelism books or go to any church growth seminars? This is no way to develop a successful and growing movement …

The crowd in this story are offended for a number of reasons

* Jesus claims to have come from heaven (yeah right buddy … we know your parents!)
* Jesus tells them they have to eat his flesh and drink his blood (obviously loony …)

In many ways these objections of the crowd are the same objections that people have to Jesus today (and this is in the church!!!)

Jesus comes from heaven vs I know your mummy!
Today many people have problems that Jesus might actually come from heaven. While we might not know Joseph and Mary we know the Gospel’s ‘parents’. That is - we know that the Gospel’s were written by people who weren’t eyewitnesses. We know they collected and edited stories and put them together. We know that they wrote with specific communities and issues in mind … in other words we say to Jesus ‘we know your mummy! we know where you came from and the process used to write these Gospels - therefore you can’t have come from heaven - you are just another human’

Drink my blood vs can I have some grape juice please … the non-alcoholic type!
Eat my flesh and drink my blood - hard offensive statements that put people off Jesus and make him an offense to the authorities … not what we want. We want nice consumer Jesus with the action models and bland music and nothing that will challenge our nice Christian middle-class way of life. Eat my flesh!

No more Grape Juice Please …
So what then do we make of this passage - John is very clearly challenging us through Jesus words. What is Jesus saying , why and what does it mean for us?

Eat my flesh, drink my blood … this is the bread that has come from heaven

come from heaven …
Jesus is claiming that he is unique - he is what no other human before or after can say - he is from heaven - what he says and who he is and therefore worthy of acceptance

eat my flesh, drink my blood
acknowledging who he is (ie head knowledge) is only the start. To receive this gift of the bread of life we have to eat and drink of him. While this obviously has references to communion it is far more than just symbolism. To receive God’s gift of life (today and for eternity) we have to Jesus into ourselves (’eat’ and ‘drink’) we have to feed upon him, allow him to become our sustenance. Just as Jesus lives in God in that close relationship, we have to live in Jesus - let his being be our very being.

This is not just some spiritual feeling - this is hardcore business of following Jesus. Showing love where there is hate, proclaiming justice where there is injustice, not being afraid to being an offense to Governments and authorities and most of all rejecting the bland bread and grape juice of modern western Christianity and wanting the real ‘flesh and blood’ of Jesus. Wanting the Jesus who rejected the legalism of the Pharisees and the insitution of the Saducees. who proclaimed a God who was active and involved in the life of all people, not just ‘good’ people, but called all people to a new life, a new community a community of life and faith.

We need more cannibals for Jesus!
People who take Jesus seriously and don’t want the bread and grape juice but want the flesh and blood. Let me give you a concrete example …

Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers … yet if you believe some people being a good christian is rolling over and accepting good ol’ George and co when they tell us that God wants us to make war. Then they lie about Revelation and say that the beast will come in the form of someone bringing world peace … (read Rev ch 13 and find that …) and so they turn the words of Jesus on their head.

Now rather than being cannibals who are an affront to power and authorities we have a nice bread and grape juice christianity who accept almost anything from the Government - as long as they say ‘I believe in Jesus!’.

Grape Juice. Give me the flesh and blood Jesus who wasn’t afraid to offend those who wanted a popular hero, or those in power.

‘Eat my flesh, drink my blood - come and live with me forever!’
Amen.

Soul Food Application - Enjoying Intimate Relationship with God
Often we think of intimate relationship as some fuzzy spiritual feeling (and sometimes in can involve that) - but there is nothing as intimate as eating the flesh and drinking the blood of someone!

Jesus doesn’t just want your spiritual feelings - he wants you to eat and drink from him.

Questions for Reflection

1. How often do you settle for a bread and grape juice Jesus rather than a flesh and blood Jesus?
2. How are you trying to ‘feed’ on Jesus - make him your sustenance and way of life?
3. Where is Jesus calling you to be someone who might offend others through taking a stand?

Expatriate Recognition

July 8, 2006 – 10:58 pm | by Duncan Macleod

Mark 6:1-13 Contemporary English Version

Jesus left and returned to his hometown with his disciples. 2 The next Sabbath he taught in the Jewish meeting place. Many of the people who heard him were amazed and asked, “How can he do all this? Where did he get such wisdom and the power to work these miracles? 3 Isn’t he the carpenter, the son of Mary? Aren’t James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon his brothers? Don’t his sisters still live here in our town?” The people were very unhappy because of what he was doing.

But Jesus said, “Prophets are honored by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their relatives and their own family.” 5 Jesus could not work any miracles there, except to heal a few sick people by placing his hands on them. 6 He was surprised that the people did not have any faith.

Jesus taught in all the neighboring villages.

7 Then he called together his twelve apostles and sent them out two by two with power over evil spirits. 8 He told them, “You may take along a walking stick. But don’t carry food or a traveling bag or any money. 9 It’s all right to wear sandals, but don’t take along a change of clothes. 10 When you are welcomed into a home, stay there until you leave that town. 11 If any place won’t welcome you or listen to your message, leave and shake the dust from your feet as a warning to them.”

12 The apostles left and started telling everyone to turn to God. 13 They forced out many demons and healed a lot of sick people by putting olive oil on them.

Reading this narrative as an expatriate colours my perspective. I grew up in a highly-connected rural area in the south of New Zealand in which strong relational networks provided strength for continuing the status quo. I knew that if I could just fit in with one of the clearly delineated streams of society that I would be fine. I could join the conservative Christian ’salt of the earth’ group, many of whom were related to me. I could join the rugby, racing and beer stream, many of whom were related to me. Only problem was I didn’t quite fit in either of those groups. And so I left and went North, looking for places and roles in which I could be myself without looking over my shoulder or having others look over my shoulder.

Now I’m in Australia, a long way from the networks I helped develop in New Zealand. I’ve come to realise that recognition of capacity starts at home, right with me. It’s my own fears that lead to limitations, as well as my natural liabilities of course. The voices that say “Who do you think you are?” are generally from tapes that I play, not other people.

But occasionally I do come across people who seem to project their own limited thinking on to others. “Because I can’t imagine myself trying that, how could you?”. I find Jesus’ instructions here so helpful. Shake the dust off. Do not take those people’s limitations with you. Do not replay their pettiness in your future undertakings.