The Whitehouse Church Podcast

For the kingdom of heaven is like… a place where people have their needs met regardless of when they arrived or how much they can contribute. Where all people are treated with dignity and value. Where we have the privilege of serving in God’s garden and joyfully labouring under the sun for the work of justice and kindness.

Is this relationship safe for me and for the community I am in? Or do I need to step back to protect myself and allow for this other person to live in the consequences of their actions?

Jesus never misled his disciples about the nature of his kingdom. They just couldn’t see past their cultural worldview. They couldn’t see past their religious nationalism and their desire for retributive justice to the kingdom of peace, love, mercy, and restorative justice that Jesus was building.

As is common, there is a lot more going on behind this text than we first imagine.

When the woman is viewed as a representative person from an elite economic class that has habitually taken advantage of the peasants of Galilee the conversation takes on a different tone. Jesus’ comments could very well reflect the real-lived experience of bread being taken out of the mouths of Galilean children to be given to their rich Gentile neighbours.

The challenges of life: the grief, wars, famines, floods, fires, diseases, death, anxieties, worries, suffering, misery, and injustices of history are the groaning of God’s good world.

We are in the groaning time. But it isn’t just meaninglessness. The groaning is like childbirth and at the end of all this pain there will be a beautiful reconciliation. Destruction, corruption, and death will not be victorious. 

The only reasonable response to finding a treasure is to pursue it, and so it is with the kingdom of heaven.

Awful things happen in the world. The weeds are apparent in every facet of our lives. Big weeds like war and famine, but also in the small things. Even in the church there are weeds among the wheat. But the good farmer, the Son of Man, is waiting. He is not powerless and one day he will command his angels to harvest and sort the crop. The kingdom of God is going to uproot the kingdom of the world, it is going to overthrow the corrupt systems and rulers. It is going to restore what has been broken, free the oppressed, and comfort the mourning. The end of the age will signal the end of everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

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The story of Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice to Yahweh presents Christians with a challenging portrait of God. If we are to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and contend that God is like Jesus, we do not have the liberty of dismissing or embracing the violent portraits of God.

Rather, we must find a way to interpret them in light of what we know about God through Jesus, who is the ‘radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being’ – Hebrews 1:3.

Jesus calls unlikely people to partner in his mission: His mission to bring good news. His mission to bring the restoration of all things. This is the way of the kingdom. Jesus calls the unlikely to lead the unworthy to sometbeautiful.

Matthew is retelling the story of his midlife crisis and in the midst of that story Jesus heals a paralysed man and an unclean woman, and then he raises a girl from the dead. This is what following Jesus was like for Matthew. The day Jesus called him was a day of salvation and resurrection. A day of mercy and breaking cultural taboos to bring life.   

The narrative of Amos describes the people of Israel as devout in their adherence to cultic ritual but also as devoid of genuine concern for justice and righteousness (Amos 4:4-5; 5:21-24). As God’s covenant people they were meant to reflect his care for the most vulnerable but instead they oppressed the poor, withheld justice, and engaged in acts of sexual abuse, slavery, financial misconduct, and extortion (Amos 2:6-8; 4:1; 5:10-12).

The crimes and negligence of God’s people in the book of Amos are shockingly mirrored in the crimes and negligence inflicted against First Nations people here in Australia. All our church meetings and conferences, the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer in parliament, our grand cathedrals, and our Bible studies are meaningless if we ignore the cries of the oppressed and deny justice to the innocent. Our God is a God of justice and righteousness.

It is disappointing that the type of divisions Paul was addressing in the Corinthian church can still easily be seen in churches today. Celebrity pastors and culture in the church, gender-based hierarchies, reserved seating and car parking, barista coffee for the rich and instant coffee for the poor. The more trivial of these examples sadly belie the deeper issues of division in modern Christendom across denominational and theological lines. One can only wonder about the stern rebuke that a contemporary epistle would contain for the segmented church on view in our cities today.

I have frequently talked about the simplicity of Jesus’ command to love but it is so important for us to remember. When I look at history and even when I look around today, it is apparent that many people in Christendom think that loving looks more like correction than washing feet, and more like judgement than cooking meals, and more like condemnation than compassion, and more like wrath than comfort. But I am convinced that following Jesus’ commands means building a community defined by love and characterised by a deep experience of belonging.

The statement, “because you are with me” is in the exact middle of this Psalm and represents the central theological claim of the entire passage.

It may be dark and bleak, but the shepherd is in the valley with you. The shepherd knew the way into this valley, and he knows the way out the other side, the way to grassy pastures and still waters.

So don’t be afraid.

In this message Chevelle shares intimately and thoughtfully about her own experience of death and grief.

We had the pleasure of hearing from Wendell Mullet today who shared an encouraging message delving into Anabaptist history and our present calling to represent the beautiful kingdom of God.

Rather than perceiving this woman as prostitute, a harlot, or a sinner, there is a narrative here that can present this outspoken and theologically astute woman as an unfortunate victim of her circumstances that boldly steps into a place of faith and then chooses to go forth as an apostle to her people. If this story was about a man, it would likely have been interpreted differently for the last 1900 years.

There are many things that the Bible actually says, and even more that have been tortured out from its pages that cannot be considered consistent with the life and teaching of Jesus. Bad exegesis and interpretation can easily create false gospels.

The post-transfiguration life for Christians means walking away from – repenting of – violence, power over, and authoritarian control. It means repenting of a gospel that promotes bad news as a means to manipulate people, and a gospel that exclusively promotes personal salvation and personal morality but ignores corporate repentance, social justice, and institutional change. The post-transfiguration life looks like sacrifice, joyful service and love.

Just as the Ten Commandments were the foundational laws in the society of Israel, Jesus is presenting a manifesto for the new community of the kingdom of God. In all these teachings Jesus expresses what the true fulfilment of the law should look like, not as a doctrinal statement but rather as a beautiful vision of a holy community relating towards one  another with love and respect.

A tent of meeting tried to contain something of God’s nature. There was a tabernacle, and a temple, and an ark, and a Holy of Holies, but none of them could not contain God. They all passed away, yet God still desired to dwell among his people, he still wanted to be with us. And so, he took on flesh like us. And within Mary’s womb became the temple of the very enfleshed Word of God! The one who could not be contained was now contained! The incarnate Son of God within her. Theotokos, the God-bearer, the fulfilment of the Law and the beginning of a new Covenant of grace whose name is Jesus Emmanuel, God with us!

Jesus’ kingdom isn’t from this world, which should be obvious because worldly kingdoms always defend themselves with violence. Worldly kingdoms are insecure and fragile realms led by insecure and fragile kings that are founded on the blood of their enemies. But Jesus’ kingdom is from another place, and instead of violence, trickery, and insurrection, his kingdom is founded on the love of his enemies, on truth, and resurrection.

It is not foremost our orthodoxy and creeds, or our pageantry and performances, or our offerings and sacrifices that make us Christian. It is our love of God and the love of our neighbours that shows how close we are to God’s kingdom.

Somebody needs to lead and somebody needs to hold power, it’s just that Jesus simply doesn’t recognise this as a prerequisite for greatness. Having the most power, prestige, influence, money, or might is irrelevant to Jesus’ definition of greatness. It is obvious who Jesus thinks is great. He draws attention to the widow with a few coins, the good Samaritan, the faithful Centurion who petitions for their servant, and the Canaanite woman who seeks healing for her child. These are the people that impress Jesus.

Our picture of God must be shaped by our understanding of Jesus. He is the only true perfect representation of the father, and he is the lens through which we must interpret all Scripture and revelation. His teaching and example are superior to all others, and when we are faced with complex theological and moral conundrums the sensitivity, graciousness, and kindness of Jesus must be our model for both contemplation and practice.

We must trust that war and violence, death and suffering, greed and malice, and all manner of evil will ultimately be done away with in the kingdom of God. We must trust that the unjust, apathetic, unmerciful and  evil empires, powers, and authorities will receive judgement and that the poor, the oppressed, the broken, and the innocent victims of the world’s corruption will receive life everlasting through Christ who died for them!

Today we have the wonderful Chevelle Hibberd sharing about favouritism from the book of James.

Even though the psalmist of Psalm 84 longs to be back in the courts of the Lord, he knows that there is a blessing for the pilgrims who seek out God. God gives his children the strength to carry on even through the Valley of Weeping. God is just as real on the journey as he is in the temple. God is just as present on the difficult road as he is in the sanctuary of his courts.

Solomon had a listening heart but sadly the later part of his life was dictated by him listening to the call of his wives’ pagan worship and idolatry. Solomon is an example of wisdom, but he is not the fulfilment. Jesus is the true beacon of wisdom that we should seek to follow.

The crowd that followed Jesus missed the signposts that were pointing them to his true identity. They were able to connect the dots and see how Jesus was like Moses, but they couldn’t see past their physical reality to the spiritual reality being revealed.

Today we have something a little bit different as our face-to-face  meeting was shifted online due to Covid. Instead of a regular sermon Geoff guided us through a Bible study in John 6:1-21 using a range of visual tools including maps and interlinear Bible resources.

The church should be a place of healing, not a place that causes trauma. And not just miraculous physical healing, but the kind of healing that  comes from deep abiding relationship, from connectedness, intimacy and belonging. The kind of healing that comes from extended times of  listening, from tea and from coffee, and from the breaking of bread.

Today we have something a little bit different as our face-to-face  meeting was shifted online due to Covid. Instead of a regular sermon Geoff guided us through a Bible study using a range of visual tools to help show how he reads the Bible and prepares his messages.

These incredible stories are signposts for us in the gospel of Mark. Jesus didn’t heal everyone in the world or raise every dead person in the region. But in these examples, we see what his kingdom will be like in the time to come. God is remaking the world through Jesus and one day his kingdom will look like all the signposts that Jesus left behind in his ministry. The oppressed are set free, the afflicted are healed, the blind have their sight restored, the dead are raised, and all injustices will be made right. The greatest signpost of all being the cross upon which Jesus died as a sign of his great love and his power over sin and death.

The mustard bush was not a plant that any farmer would sow into his field. They are an invasive plant that grows and takes over! It is a weed! And the kingdom of God is like this, it will get into every nook and cranny, it will find every space and it will grow. There is no stopping it! The kingdom of God is going to uproot the kingdom of the world, it is going to overthrow the corrupt systems and rulers. It is going to restore what has been broken, and free the oppressed, and comfort the mourning. And it will be a refuge for all people.

Ultimately, spiritual maturity is about balance. We want to be sensitive to the subtle and emotive voice of the Holy Spirit whilst being tempered with the wisdom and discernment that the Holy Spirit offers. Simply being stoic and emotionless does not make you mature; it makes you a cold and unfeeling. At the same time, always being ‘led’ to do things without wisdom, discernment, and appropriate restraint does not make you a spiritual giant it makes you a weirdo. Neither of these extremes produce good fruit or are helpful in building up the body.

God is love. God is not some warmongering, violent, capricious, malicious, angry being in heaven that hates everyone who disagrees with him. God is love and he sends his son as the witness and example of that love, and his son dies for us. This is the ultimate example of love: To lay down one's life for one’s friends.

There are definitely things in your life that need a pruning. Old ways of thinking, habits, toxic ambitions, destructive behaviour, selfishness… even grief and hurt. These things must give way so that new things can grow.

Jesus’ physical incarnation, physical death, and physical resurrection, marked by Christmas and Easter, are central to his embodiment of humanity and show us that the flesh is fundamentally good and capable of housing the divine presence.

Our bodies are not bad. Our flesh is not bad. This world is not bad. When God created the earth and everything within it, he called it  ‘good’, and when he made humanity from the dust of the ground, he proclaimed us to be ‘very good’.

When the judgement ultimately comes it will not be the destruction of the world, it will be the destruction of death and the restoration of the world.

I choose to believe because the world truly needs to be saved and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the beautiful kingdom that he represents are honestly the hope of the world. As I have studied and travelled, as I have sought wisdom and truth, I keep coming back to Jesus as the centre of my life.

Part of what Jesus does on the cross is to take back the power that humans have handed over to demonic forces. By defeating the devil and his schemes Jesus sets the scene for a new creation and a new earth where humans fulfil their purpose as image bearers.

What have you made sacred that is should not be? What has become commonplace in your life that creates a stumbling block to your worship and faithfulness?

"The Son of Man must suffer and die, and if you want to be my disciple you must also pick up your cross and follow me. You must resist the beastly temptation to define good and evil, resist the temptation towards violence and greed; resist the beast. And in doing that you will find life!"

May the God of all Goodness and Mercy
follow you on this Lenten journey
and may the barren parts of your life
be made fruitful through the grace of Jesus Christ
and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We were blessed to hear from our dear friend Chevelle Hibberd today.