The apostle Paul, in today’s reading from Romans, touches on a struggle that most of us know all too well, the inner struggle between doing what God wants versus doing what we want. And there are two truly difficult things about this, firstly, that we just naturally slide into doing what we want, often without even thinking about it. It just ‘comes naturally’. And secondly, the choice is often so unconscious that we don’t even think about asking God about it--or asking His help or His guidance. In this, we’re probably all ‘in the same boat.’

I find the story of Balaam to be surprisingly familiar, namely in how God may well give us ‘what we want’ or allow us to go our own ways, even though neither is what He really wants for our lives. God can be awfully gentle and permissive in this way, allowing us full range of our free wills, even if it is not really what is best for us. That said, how much better it would be for us if we simply listened and did what He said right away. But then, that’s not always the way it is for us.

Something that I am eternally grateful for is the fact that our standing with God is not at all dependent upon our faithfulness to God, much less our goodness, for in both counts we dismally fall short. Rather, our standing with Him is based solely upon what God has already done for us in Christ Jesus. He remains faithful even if we don’t.

But then, it is only right and proper that we try to reciprocate, to reply in kind, for such an amazing love. Such is our calling and our responsibility as Christians.

My earliest years as a young adult Christian were filled with incredible signs of God’s power, closeness and love. And so, when I entered into my ‘desert years’, where these things seemed so frequently few and far between, or even absent, it was a real test of my faith. But then I realized that I had a huge choice to make: was I going to trust the ‘signs and wonders’, and the great feelings that went with them, or was I going to trust in God Himself as revealed in His holy word? It was a trying and difficult choice, but I went with the latter, and I have never regretted it. God came through, loud and clear, even if there were those times when He didn’t seem to be at work. I learned to trust Him, regardless, which is a lesson for all of us.

Jesus never said that we should not be ambitious, only that we should only be ambitious for the proper things, things like His kingdom and His righteousness. And, in today’s passage, He skips over the generalities, and specifies what He means by this. He says that the proper ambition is not, as our society suggests (to look after oneself) but to look out for others, indeed, to be the servant of others. That, He says, is the proper ambition. Easier said than done.

It is not difficult to see why Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard might have raised some hackles--both then and now. Jewish leaders would have been most upset with the way that newcomers, folks who did not have the same passion for the Law as they did and certainly did not adhere to it as closely as they had, were elbowing their way into the kingdom. And, likewise, some in the early Church, the folks that Matthew was addressing, probably felt the same way about these new converts, Gentiles and other outsiders who did not really ‘deserve it', who were now enjoying all the benefits of salvation. And we in the church today can sometimes feel the same way about newcomers in the church. After all, we are the ones who have stuck around all these years and kept the place going! Anyway, the grace of God recognizes that none of us ‘deserve it’, and that all of us are equal in needing, but not earning, that grace. We all need God’s help and kindness, regardless of our tenure.

We often use the Jubilate Deo, Psalm 100, in public worship, specifically in Morning Prayer, but it would be easy to dismiss it as ordinary and ho-hum. However, it is actually quite exciting, a call to worship God, yes, and more. It identifies some very good reasons why we should praise God, and not just on Sundays, but all of the time.

Let me begin with a question: ‘just what are your expectations of God right here and now? Are we expecting things to continue on pretty well the same as before, with all the world’s hurts and hazards remaining in place, or are we expecting things to be different, for God to show Himself in some dramatic way and make some very big changes to the way things are? For God to surprise us, even as He did for ancient Israel?’ Sad to say, many back then were expecting nothing, and so they missed out on seeing and experiencing it. I would pray that we would not be the same.

Storms, troubles in life: these are things that we all encounter, whether we like it or not, and whether we ‘ask for it’ (deserve it) or not. They are part of life. The wonderful thing is that Jesus is with us in them and fully understands what they’re about from having experienced them Himself. And seeing as He fully understands, ‘from the inside out’, He is more able to help us than anyone else. So, like the frightened disciples in that soon-to-be-swamped boat, it is best to cry out to Him in prayer--and sooner, the better.

Anyone who hasn’t been ‘hiding under a rock’ is probably well aware of the epic, nail-biter hockey game last night between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers, and, just as aware of the exuberance and hysteria of the local fans. And yet, that response should be as a ‘mere nothing’ in us in light of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus--for not only has He ‘come from behind’ in terms of sin, suffering and death, He has defeated them once and for all! God has done this, and much, much more. Thanks be to God.

Sometimes the Scriptures ‘give us problems’ because we don’t want to follow them and obey what they say. Other times, there are problems because we aren’t quite sure how we are to follow them. Today’s passage is, for the most part, in this latter category.

It speaks of ‘those who sin against us’. Well, depending on our personal sense of ‘injury’, this could cover quite a few people and situations, as there are some people who nurse a continual sense of ‘being wronged’ or being a victim in one way or another.

But then, the passage is not ‘about us’. It is about other people, God’s ‘little ones’, vulnerable people that God loves and cares for. And so, even if they should ‘sin against us’ in some way, shape or form, the underlying idea is that they are precious to God and should be loved back in His love and His kingdom if at all possible. And, if forgiving them is the order of the day, our standard should be that of the Lord Jesus, who loved us even when we were rebellious, and to all intents and purposes, His enemies. In other words, as He has loved and forgiven us, so should we love and forgive others.

And so, even all the business of binding and loosing puzzles us, we can know one thing for certain: we are to love and forgive, even as Jesus did with us.

Our world and our society both love to sort people into categories, whether it be on account of age, ancestry, colour, gender, appearance, achievement, or a host of other things. It delights in a kind of ‘pecking order’. The wonderful thing about God’s kingdom is that there is no such thing. We are all equal, all prized and valued, and worthy of respect and honour. And that goes, not just for other people, but for we ourselves as well. We too are precious in God’s eyes. Let us never forget it.

Pontius Pilate once asked Jesus, “what is truth?” and that question has rebounded through the world ever since then.

We, as Christians, believe that the truth has been revealed once and for all in the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and willing to stake our lives, and our eternal destinies, upon it. Even so, there must be raised something of a question, namely whether we always adhere to each and every part of that truth. I suspect that most of us are not entirely consistent in this and pick and choose at times. May God help us to do better with this.

We may well look around ourselves at our world, both locally and elsewhere, and think that it’s ‘going to hell in a hand-basket’, but this isn’t the first time in history that people have felt that way. (Certainly, today’s psalmist thought that way). But people of faith have gone to God in prayer, and yes, God has intervened and turned things around. (Nothing is impossible with God!). So, let us all, with renewed faith and hope, renew our prayers and ask God to move yet again. And thanks be to God, He certainly can do it. I believe that He will.

Today’s passage from Galatians is quite clear on one point, that of our duty to help each other, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. But then certain verses left me puzzled, namely verses 3-5 and 7-8. But then I realized that they have to do generally with our motive in helping each other, and more specifically with our innermost agenda or rationale for helping. If we see ourselves as better than others, or are sitting in judgment over them, our helping will inevitably be flawed, misdirected, and potentially even harmful. And so Paul directs us, rather correctly, to look to ourselves and be ever vigilant and careful in what and why we do things.