Shrewd Investment (Luke 16:1-13)

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Luke 16:13

Money is a part of life, but it does not need to be master of our life. Christians, of course, want to serve God. We are called to follow his good commandments. But do we allow Money to be another master in our life?

Ultimately, we need to choose who we serve. Will we serve the hard taskmaster of Money, or the loving and gracious God, who made us and gives to us freely? The choice is yours.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Shrewd Investment (Luke 16:1-13)

Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner is out of the government. Earlier in the summer she was accused of underpaying stamp duty on an £800,000 seafront flat in Hove. What followed were denials and excuses over a number of weeks. But the pressure mounted, and the enquiries became more thorough and ultimately it was shown she had not taken enough care to make sure she paid the full amount of Stamp Duty and so she lost her place in Cabinet and as Deputy Prime Minister.

 It seemed her desire for money had ended her political career. Money can be an awful master, and the court of public opinion very unforgiving.

The Story of the Sacked Manager

In Luke 16, Jesus tells his disciples a story. Like most of the stories Jesus told, this was a parable. A story seemingly rooted in ordinary everyday life but intended to teach deeper spiritual truths about God and how we relate to him. Stories that at first glance look run of the mill, but on deeper reflection often contain many surprises.

 Most of the stories are straightforward and their meanings not too difficult to grasp. However, the story we are looking at today, about a manager who is sacked by a rich landowner, is probably one of the most difficult to understand!

 Let’s begin by trying to make sense of the story, and the surprises that we need to take note of.

The Rich Landowner and His Manager

The two main characters are a rich man and his manager. The rich man was probably a wealthy landowner. He would have owned many fields and vineyards. Rather than farming the land he owned himself, he rented the land out to others for a fee, probably a share of the expected crops. So, later we see that some of those renting owed him a certain amount of wheat for a field they would have rented to grow wheat, whilst another person owed a certain amount of olive oil, probably in exchange for renting an olive grove from the man.

 The manager, would have been responsible for handling all the accounting, collecting the rent and finding new renters for the fields and so on, a bit like a modern estate agent today. He would have been an able person and probably paid well for his work.

 The rich man hears that the manager has been wasting his possessions. It is not clear whether this is down to incompetence or corruption, but it is likely to be corruption. The word for ‘wasting’ is the same word used for the son in the previous story in Luke’s gospel who takes his inheritance and wastes it on wild living in a foreign land. The manager has probably been fiddling the books taking some money for himself and funding a wild lifestyle. But, like Angela Rayner, he has been found out.

Surprise 1: No Excuses

This is where we have the first surprise in the story. In most ancient stories like this, the expectation would be that the person accused would make all kinds of excuses and try and talk his way out of his predicament. Indeed, that is how Angela Rayner behaved, when she was first accused of not paying the full stamp duty.

But this manager does not do that. He says nothing to the master in response to the accusations. His silence betrays his guilt. All he can do is face up to the response of the manager. But that is where we have surprise number 2.

Surprise 2: No Jail

At this point, you would expect the landowner, irate that the manager had basically stolen from him, arrange for him to be locked up, possibly hoping that he may be paid back for what had been taken from him.

But the rich man does not do that. Rather, he simply says, ‘You cannot be my manager any longer.’ In other words, the master bears the costs of the managers wickedness, but he cannot continue to allow him to be his manager, if that is how he will abuse his trust. In the end, this is a fair but surprisingly generous judgement to pass on the manager.

The Cunning Plan:

The manager responds by speaking to himself and coming up with a cunning plan. In the preceding story, the son who ran away and wasted his inheritance also speaks with himself and comes up with a plan. In his case it is to go home to his father and hope he finds a welcome.

 The manager’s plan is also designed to ensure a welcome. He knows that his situation is desperate. He needed a job, or he would starve. He wasn’t strong enough for manual labour and he didn’t want to resort to the humiliation of begging, so he has to find a way to ensure he will be welcomed into people’s homes.

 The details of the plan become clear in the next couple of verses. Aware that he needs to act quickly before it becomes known that he is no longer the manager, he calls in the master’s debtors, those who owed rent on the fields or vineyards when the harvest came in. They still think he is the manager for the landowner, someone who had the authority to set the rental value. Such values could be renegotiated, if say, it looked like there was going to be a bad harvest. But, now the manager is offering them a special deal. Perhaps he is saying to them, look because your such a great guy, I have persuaded my master to reduce you’re rent. Here, take your bill and change it to half its amount!

Notice, that in verse 6, he tells the renters to change the bills quickly, he wants to do it before news of his sacking gets out, so that the change in contract remains valid, and those whose bills are changed will return the favour by welcoming him into their homes in the future.

Surprise 3: The Manager is Praised!

But then the landlord finds out what is happening. How is he going to respond to even more of his money being lost? This time you would expect him to be furious and to want the man thrown into jail.

But that is not what happens. In fact, what happens is he praises the manager for being so shrewd or clever. He knew he was in trouble, and he came up with a very clever way to survive. Perhaps such a clever manager is worth keeping after all. Indeed, although he had lost the landowner more money, at least he had made him look good and generous among those who rent his fields.

The Key to the Story:

So, that is the story, but what is the point that Jesus is making. What spiritual truths does it teach us about God and what it means to be his.

First of all, Jesus is not teaching us to fiddle the books, if we are accountants. At the end of verse 8, he says that the manager in the story is an example of someone of this world, not a person of the light. We are not meant to fiddle the books. Nonetheless, the implication is that we are meant to learn from his shrewdness.

So, what are we to learn? To help us with that, it is worth considering who each of the characters in the story are meant to represent.

The Landowner is clearly the person in charge or the owner in the story, the one with authority. In all of Jesus’ parables, such figures represent God. In the stories Jesus tells, it is where these characters act in surprising ways, that we are shown the teaching points about God.

So, although it is not the main point of the story, it does shows us something of the mercy and generosity of God.  The first surprise was that the manager was not jailed. The landowner showed great mercy and generosity towards him, whilst not wanting to allow the defrauding to continue. In the same way, the God of the Bible, is not a harsh judge. He is merciful and generous. Indeed, he sent Jesus to pay the price for our sin, to ransom us from the consequences of our wickedness. God cannot allow us to continue in wickedness forever, but he wants to offer us a way out from the consequences of our sin.

The last surprise also shows that he is concerned for his reputation. The manager commends the manager, who has made him look generous to those who rent the fields from him. We pray in the Lord’s prayer, ‘Hallowed be your name’, we should know that what matters is that God is glorified as a generous and merciful God before all people.

But the main character in the story is The Manager. Who does he represent? This is trickier. But Luke makes it clear in verse 1, that this story is addressed to the disciples and in verse 9, Jesus tells the disciples to behave like the manager.

So, in what sense is this dishonest manager a symbol of a disciple? In the story, the manager is someone who understands that his previous life has left him in a terrible situation. He does not make excuses to his boss, neither does he pretend to himself that everything is OK, he accepts that his situation before his boss is desperate.

In the same way as disciples of Jesus, we know that we cannot argue our way into God’s good books. We can’t come to God with excuses and expect him to let us into his eternal home. We have wasted the life, gifts, talents and resources God has entrusted to us on our own wants and desires. We have failed to give to God the full stamp duty he deserves. Like the manager, we deserve to be punished, but like the manager, we know by faith, that we are living in a moment of God’s mercy, that by the generosity of the cross, we do not have to face the punishment we deserve. That is what it is to be a disciple of Jesus.

So, as those who find that for the moment, we still have the gifts, the talents and resources that God has entrusted to us, how are we to use them now? The manager used them to secure his future, to ensure he would be welcomed into the houses of others in the future. In the same way, Jesus says, in verse 9:

“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9)

In other words, Jesus is saying, that shrewd disciples will not hang on to their wealth, which is ultimately God’s wealth, to feed their own selfish desires, but they will use it to make friends in this life, who will welcome them into heaven. In other words, they will invest it into the work of the church, to help ensure that others can learn of the generosity of God. Such people will then be with you in eternity, literally eternally grateful to you for the part you played in helping them find faith in Jesus.

So what?

Perhaps you are not yet a disciple of Jesus? If not have you come to understand how merciful and generous the God of Jesus Christ is. That you cannot make excuses to him, but need to trust in his mercy and generosity and live in the light of that? Will you become a disciple of Jesus?

 Are you already a disciple of Jesus? Then do you see what difference that should make to how you use your wealth? Are you investing for your eternal home or wasting your wealth on the here and now?

This Sunday – 21st September 2025

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

(Luke 16:13)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening reflection: Money!
  • Key notices: Dare to Pray, Harvest Service, Myriad Taster Event
  • Coming Up: Macmillan Coffee Morning, The Birth of St. George’s, Men’s Night, Male Voice Choir
  • From the Wider Church: Baby loss support service, ACTS quiz evening
  • Interesting Blogs: The Death of Charlie Kirk
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

We all need money. Without it you can’t pay your mortgage or rent, you can’t buy food for your family or pay the bills to heat your house. You simply canot live without money. Jesus himself earned and spent money. There is nothing wrong with taking part in the economy.

Money is a part of life, but it does not need to be master of our life. Christians, of course, want to serve God. We are called to follow his good commandments. But do we allow Money to be another master in our life?

Jesus says you cannot have two Masters. If you do, then at some point, the commands you receive from them both will conflict and you will have to choose which one to obey. As Christians we cannot let God become another master in our life.

So, what does it mean for Money to be our master? It means that when it comes to key decisions in life, the trump factor will always be about what gives us or saves us the most money.  Should I spend more time with my neglected family or take the overtime offered at work? Money will demand taking the overtime. Should I buy the cheapest product or the most ethically sourced product? Money will demand going for the cheapest. Should I give generously to God’s work or only a token amount? Money will demand giving only the token amount.

Ultimately, we need to choose who we serve. Will we serve the hard taskmaster of Money, or the loving and gracious God, who made us and gives to us freely? The choice is yours.

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

Dare to Pray Prayer Meeting – This Saturday, 9:30-10:30am

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain!” Join us for this essential monthly meeting as we pray for the development of our vision. St. George’s Church.

Harvest Service – Sunday 28th September

Our Harvest Service, next week, will be an All Age service starting at 10:00am. We are hoping that this will be an opportunity for both the 9:30am congregation and Sunday School families to join together in a short service of thanksgiving. There will be a simple Holy Communion in the choir stalls before this service at 9:30am.

We will also be having a special collection, which will go towards Christian Aid.

We will be collecting non-perishable food items at the service, which will be donated to the local Salvation Army Food Bank. Please bring some non-perishable food to offer at the service.

Myriad Taster Event

Part of our Vision 2030 is to create new worshipping communities. One way that could happen is through the support of Myriad, which trains small teams of lay people to start small new worshipping communities. If you are interested in finding more about this, then there will be an online taster event for Myriad in Canterbury on either Thursday 25th September or Tuesday 30th September from 7:30-8:30pm. Please see Paul if you are interested. Why not also sign up to help develop this part of our vision on the New Worshipping Communities workstream. Go to form.

Coming Up:

Macmillan Coffee Morning at Café 4 All

On Thursday 25th September from 10:00am to 11:30am, Cafe4All will be hosting a Macmillan Coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. You’re welcome to bring a cake or something yummy to share (homemade or bought). Find out more or share on social media…

The Birth of St. George’s – Saturday 4th October, 3pm

An illustrated talk by Margaret Bolton looking at how Ramsgate developed up to the Regency period and what prompted people to build a church. Why did they call it St George’s? Where did the money come from? Why was it designed to look as it did? Who worked on the project? How has it changed since?

Tickets are £5 on the door or in advance from the website. All proceeds to the St. George’s Restoration Fund. Fliers available at the back of church.

Men’s Night – Thursday 9th October

Sadly, due to weather the Petanque evening was cancelled. The next event is the Pool Challenge at the Frames Snooker Club on Thursday, 9 October.

Thanet Male Voice Choir – Saturday 11th October, 7:30pm

‘We Shall Overcome’ present Thanet Male Voice Choir in concert at St George’s Church. The proceeds will be shared between St George’s Church and East Kent Mencap. Tickets £9 + booking fee. Find out more…

From the Wider Church:

Baby Loss Support Service

Canterbury Cathedral 11am, 4/10/25

This service is for anyone who has either personally lost a baby at any stage of pregnancy, at birth, or in early years, or who has been affected by family members’ or friends’ loss. Whether the loss was recent or 80 years ago, everyone is welcome to attend. We have also extended the services, and gladly welcome anyone who is grieving the fact that they haven’t had children. This may be due to circumstance, infertility, or for other reasons – but all are welcome. Babies and children are also invited to come with their families, as the Saying Goodbye service is truly a family event for all. Find out more…

ACTS Fundraiser Quiz Evening

Friday 3rd October, 6:30 for 7pm start at St. Philips Church Palm Bay

£5 per person, you need to book a ticket. For more information see poster.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

The Death of Charlie Kirk

This week, rather than share a couple of different articles, I thought I would signpost some discussion on the murder of Charlie Kirk. He was a conservative Christian speaker and blogger, who was shot dead whilst debating students at a university campus in Utah. Whilst many of us would have agreed with some of what Charlie Kirk said, no doubt there would have been much we would have disagreed with. Nonetheless, the murder of someone whilst speaking publicly is always shocking and tragic and rightly condemned. But, in the context of the culture wars what is the significance of this tragedy.

Here are a variety of takes on the murder’s significance and what can be learnt from it. Khalil Greene surveys the perhaps shocking reaction of many younger commentators who don’t feel bad about what happened to Charlie Kirk, because of the views he expressed, not least his support of American’s right to bear arms. Graham Tomlin sees it as a warning about the dangers of anger in society. Glen Scrivener in this podcast talks about how the death was so shocking, but reflects on the problem of violence being used to silence speech and explores how this is one way to look at what happened to Jesus.

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 21st September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist – (St George’s, 9:30am), Reading: Luke 16.1-13

Monday 22nd    

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Hall) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 23rd       

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 24th      

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 25th       

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Church) – 11:30am-1:00pm

PCC Meeting (Soup Kitchen) – 2:00-4:00pm

Saturday 27th    

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 28th – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Harvest Short Communion – (St George’s, 9:30am)

All Age Harvest Service – (St George’s, 10am), Reading: Luke 8:1-15

Online Forms

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

St. George’s Website

  • What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
  • Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
  • Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.

Finally, let’s keep Jesus and His Father as our Master.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

God’s joy (Luke 15:1-10)

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons
who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)

This week we continue our series on the stories Jesus told, we will be looking at the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Our reading today from scripture. Luke 15:1-10

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

This Sunday – 14th September 2025

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven

over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons

who do not need to repent.”

(Luke 15:7)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening reflection: God’s Joy!
  • This Sunday: Luke 14:15-24
  • Key notices: The Bible Course, Ladies Tea Party, Myriad Taster Event, Charity Support
  • Coming Up: Heritage Open Days, Dare to Pray, The Birth of St. George’s, Men’s Night, Male Voice Choir
  • Interesting Blogs: Immigration, The Old Testament Prophets
  • Prayer Requests
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

What makes you happy? What causes you real joy? When do you celebrate?

I have recently been reading a book about Artificial Intelligence and its recent developments. Interestingly, those developing Artificial Intelligence learnt a lot from human psychology, how we think and how our brains develop. Psychology has shown that what sparks feelings of happiness, is not being in a good situation, but discovering that your situation has improved.

This fits with the emotions of joy that Jesus describes in the parable of the lost sheep and lost coin. In the story of the lost coin, the woman who has ten silver coins loses one. She becomes £100’s poorer. So, she searches frantically for the coin and when she finds it her situation suddenly improves. She has suddenly regained £100s! Her joy is so great she throws a party.

Jesus applies this human psychological principle to God. God cares deeply about the condition of our souls and feels poorer when we, who are created in his image, go our own way and live life without reference to him. In a real sense we are lost to God.

But, when the situation changes, when people turn back to him and choose to live as belonging to him (the Bible calls this repentance), then Jesus says God is supremely happy. There is rejoicing in heaven.

If we love God, then we should want to make God happy. How do we do that? By encouraging others who are lost to God, to turn back to him.

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

The Bible Course – Not too late to Join!

We have had a great start to the Bible Course with 26 on Monday and another 20 on Thursday lunchtime. If you missed the first week, it is not too late to join, and it is easy to catch up with videos you miss through the Bible Course hub. So do join us either on Monday nights, 7:30-9:00pm in St. Luke’s Hall or Thursday’s 11:30am-1pm in St. Luke’s church.

Ladies Afternoon Tea Party

The recent tea party organised by Claire Pay and hosted by Beth Patterson raised £181 for Breast Cancer Research. Thank you to everyone who attended and for the tea and cakes!

Myriad Taster Event

Part of our Vision 2030 is to create new worshipping communities. One way that could happen is through the support of Myriad, which trains small teams of lay people to start small new worshipping communities. If you are interested in finding more about this, then there will be an online taster event for Myriad in Canterbury on either Thursday 25th September or Tuesday 30th September from 7:30-8:30pm. Please see Paul if you are interested. Why not also sign up to help develop this part of our vision on the New Worshipping Communities workstream. Go to form.

Charity Support

At our last PCC meeting, we decided rather than paying from church funds into a few chosen charities, we would seek to promote the charities at special services through the year and encourage people to donate generously at those times.

In order to start this, we want people to suggest charities to support. We will choose three charities: one with an international focus, one with a national focus and one with a local focus. Ideally, the charities should be Christian. Please send suggestions for charities to support to Sue Martin in the next week, so that the PCC can consider which three to choose.

the summer to complete these courses and help us ensure we are a safe church for all?

Coming Up:

Heritage Open Days – Saturday 13th and 20th

St. George’s will be open on Saturday 13th and 20th for the Heritage Open Days for Tower and Crypt Tours, and also on 13th September as part of the Festival of Sound and with a Yard Sale.

Dare to Pray Prayer Meeting – Saturday 20th, 9:30-10:30am

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain!” Join us as we pray for the development of our vision. St. George’s Church.

The Birth of St. George’s – Saturday 4th October, 3pm

An illustrated talk by Margaret Bolton looking at how Ramsgate developed up to the Regency period and what prompted people to build a church. Why did they call it St George’s? Where did the money come from? Why was it designed to look as it did? Who worked on the project? How has it changed since?

Tickets are £5 on the door or in advance from the website. All proceeds to the St. George’s Restoration Fund. Fliers available at the back of church.

Men’s Night – Thursday 9th October

Sadly, due to weather the Petanque evening was cancelled. The next event is the Pool Challenge at the Frames Snooker Club on Thursday, 9 October.

Thanet Male Voice Choir – Saturday 11th October, 7:30pm

‘We Shall Overcome’ present Thanet Male Voice Choir in concert at St George’s Church. The proceeds will be shared between St George’s Church and East Kent Mencap. Tickets £9 + booking fee. Find out more…

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Immigration

Graham Tomlin explores how right and left use Christianity to bolster their arguments on immigration policy. The real solution, however, is to embrace Christianity… Read more…

The Old Testament Prophets – A message for Today

In this more academic article, Tony Watkins reveals how the Old Testament prophets are a powerful voice speaking to today’s world about finding human flourishing in God. Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 14th September – Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist – (St George’s, 9:30am), Reading: Luke 15.1-10

Sunday School (St George’s, 10:30am)

Monday 15th   

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Hall) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 16th      

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 17th      

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 18th       

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Church) – 11:30am-1:00pm

Saturday 20th    

Dare to Pray Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 21st – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist – (St George’s, 9:30am), Reading: Luke 16.1-13

Online Forms

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

St. George’s Website

  • What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
  • Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
  • Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.

Finally, let’s dare to share our faith so that we can make God happy!

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

You are invited (Luke 14:15-24)

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15)

This week we begin a series looking at the stories Jesus told. This week’s story is about invitations and excuses.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

You’re Welcome (Luke 14:15-24)

A Controversial Invitation

Later this month on 17th September, President Trump will arrive for a State Visit to the UK. He received the invitation from the king, when Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister visited the White House in February. Trump’s response at the time was that this was a “great, great honour.”

Not everyone feels that Trump should have been invited. Apparently, The Stop Trump coalition, is planning a ‘Trump Not Welcome’ demonstration for when he arrives.

Part of the three day visit will include a State Banquet at the St. George’s Hall in Windsor Castle. Along with Trump many VIPs from the UK will be invited to the banquet. For them the invitation is a real honour, it shows that they are important in the country, no doubt it will be a delicious meal and it will also be a chance to chat with other significant people in the country.

But the question of who is invited and who is going has itself not been without controversy. Nigel Farage, a fan of Trump, is reportedly upset that he has not been invited, whilst Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has decided not to attend, out of protest at Trump’s lack of action to stop Israel’s military operation in Gaza.

Trump hasn’t yet arrived, yet already things are proving awkward.

An Awkward Dinner Party – 14:1-14

Our Bible Reading today, is set in the context of a dinner party. If you read the first part of chapter 14, you will see that Jesus has been invited to dinner at the house of a prominent Pharisee.

But things are rather awkward. Jesus firstly challenges them all about healing on the Sabbath, then the guests because they were trying to position themselves in high status seats and finally the host because he should have invited those who couldn’t have invited him back. If he’d done that Jesus says, he would be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Three times, Jesus criticises them. This dinner part was turning very awkward, I am sure you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. 

An Amazing Banquet – 14:15

But at this point, one of the guests tries to turn the conversation in a more positive direction. He says, in verse 15:

“Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15b)

This man has clearly understood something of what Jesus has been saying. Far better to be invited to God’s eternal banquet, because you invited the poor, than to be invited to dinner at your rich neighbour’s house.

Let’s just pause to reflect on the truth of this statement. Perhaps like Nigel Farage you wish you had been invited to the State Banquet with Donald Trump at Windsor castle. It would be an amazing honour, involve amazing food and no doubt you would meet some amazing people.

But to be invited to the feast in the Kingdom of God, is so much better than that.

It is an Amazing Honour to sit with the Creator of the whole universe, the Eternal and Everlasting King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one whose power and might dwarfs even that of the President of the United States.

It will be an Amazing Menu. Just think of your favourite food. It comes from God’s creation and has been cooked by chefs who have taken on board centuries of cooking tradition. To be at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven, will be to experience the great variety of foods that God has created, but also in Revelation it says that ‘the glory and honour of the nations’ will be brought into the heavenly Jerusalem – I think that includes all the best recipes and skills of the best chefs. This will be the most amazing meal ever.

Finally, it will have Amazing Guests. The wicked will be no more, only the righteous (or at least those who have been made fully righteous through their faith in Christ) will be there. This will be a chance to be with people made perfect in Christ, with all the sinful, destructive bits taken away. It will be a true love feast with perfect relationships.

The man who spoke to Jesus says:

“Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15b)

Surely, he is right. Certainly, nothing Jesus says afterwards says that this statement is wrong.

  • So, how excited are you about being part of the banquet?

Do you see this opportunity, this invitation as the most important thing to have in life. If you were invited to the state banquet at Windsor Castle I am sure you would be excited about the opportunity. Surely, ss Christians we should be even more excited about the prospect of being a part of the feast in God’s Kingdom.

An Advisory Tale – 14:16-24

But, although Jesus clearly agrees with this statement, he responds with a story or Parable, that is a kind of advisory tale. He is kind of saying, “Yes, you are right it will be an amazing blessing to be at that feast, but be careful, lest you end up missing out!”

So, l am going to call Jesus’ story an Advisory Tale. Like most Parables, at one level it is just a story with normal people and events, but at another it stands for deeper spiritual truths. So, before we look in more detail let’s consider who the people in the story are meant to represent.

Who’s Who?

  • ‘The Great Banquet’ stands for the ‘feast in the Kingdom of God’
  • ‘The Host’ represents God, as the one who invites us to the feast in the Kingdom of God.
  • ‘The Servant’ stands for those who declare that God’s Kingdom is near and that people should respond to the invitation now. At the moment of Jesus’ telling the parable, this was Jesus’ role, but by the time Luke wrote his gospel, this has become the role of the church more widely.”
  • ‘The Initial Invitees’ stands for people like those at the dinner who assume they have a place in God’s Kingdom banquet.
  • ‘The Later Invitees’ stands for those who are surprising guests at the banquet.

To grasp the thrust of what Jesus is saying, I am going to focus on the two sets of invitees.

Feeble Excuses wrong Focus – vs. 18-20, 24

First there are the initial set of invitees. These are the people who in the story you would expect a wealthy home owner to invite to their dinner, the rich and the well to do neighbours. But, at the Spiritual dimension, they represent those like the guests at the Pharisees house who saw themselves as basically decent people, with a Jewish heritage that meant they would expect to be at the feast in the Kingdom of God.

But shockingly in the story, Jesus says, when the time to come to the feast arrives, they all begin to make rather feeble excuses. Here they have the opportunity to come to a great banquet, but instead they are more excited about things, that quite frankly could wait until another day.

The first, says that he has just bought a field and needs to inspect it. He represents people more excited about their possessions than God’s Kingdom.

The second, says that he wants to try out his new oxen. He represents someone more excited about their work than God’s Kingdom.

The third says, I have married a wife. He represents someone more excited about their relationships than God’s Kingdom.

None of these things are bad things to be excited about: possessions, work, relationships. They are the stuff of life. But, when they become more exciting and important to us than God’s Kingdom, when we see these temporary things as the main blessing in life, rather than a place in God’s eternal Kingdom, then we are in danger of missing out on God’s amazing invitation to us.

In fact the attitude of these guests is a terrible snub to the host. Similarly, if we turn God away, because we are more concerned about our possessions, work or relationships, then we are snubbing the creator of the universe.

The response at the end of the story, is that the host will snub the invitees, that God will snub those who ignore his invitation.

  • The point is this. If you live your life more concerned about your possessions, your work or your relationships than you do about your place in God’s Kingdom  then you are snubbing God and you will miss out on that amazing banquet. Like Nigel Farage at the State Banquet, you will find yourself shut out.

And let’s be honest, this is the way most people live. If coming to church is a sign that you are part of God’s Kingdom and looking forward to his heavenly banquet, then how many people do we know who stop coming, or never come because they are more interested in looking after their possessions, worried about their work or more concerned about their human relationships. Let’s be careful not to miss out on what matters most, because we are too caught up in these other things.

Amazing Grace: Inviting the Unimportant – vs. 21-23

The first invitees were the respectful well-to-do people you would expect to be invited to a rich man’s feast. What happens next in the story, is a surprising response from the host. He tells his servant that since the VIPs won’t come, those who the world considers unimportant, the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame, will be invited instead. The normal social order is turned upside down.

This shows us that although, God may snub those who snub him, he is not interested in just VIPs in the world’s eyes. Rather, he is the God who invites the poor and unimportant to come and be VIPs at his amazing banquet.

As Jesus says in the previous chapter:

“Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” (Luke 13:30)

  • There will be some here, who may feel that the world treats them as unimportant, that they do not matter. Perhaps because you are not well, not successful or not rich. But, this story Jesus tells should be an encouragement to you. You have a VIP invitation to God’s amazing eternal banquet.

And for those of us who are part of the church, this is an encouragement to invite not just the people like us, but the people who might be considered of lower status in the world’s eyes. We exist not to attract those who will bless us in return, but those with nothing to offer us, because that is what God does, but also because when we do that God will ultimately repay us, just as Jesus said in 14:13-14

” But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:13-14)

How do you respond?

I wonder how the man who spoke the Beatitude in verse 15 felt after the story Jesus told? How are you feeling after thinking about the Parable?

Awkward?

  • Don’t like the challenge, would prefer the status quo.
  • Perhaps you realise that you are more concerned with possessions, your job or relationships than you are about being part of God’s Kingdom. But you would rather not change your attitude?

Advised?

  • You realise that you need to take on Jesus’ advice and be more excited about the Kingdom of God and eager to invite even those with lower status than you to be a part of God’s Kingdom.

Amazed?

Or perhaps you are amazed that despite how insignificant you feel that God has invited you to the great banquet of his Kingdom.

This Sunday – 7th September 2025

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

(Luke 14:15)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening reflection: You’re Invited!
  • Key notices: The Bible Course, Charity Support
  • Coming Up: Prayer Breakfast, Men’s Night, Heritage Open Days, The Birth of St. George’s
  • Local Church news: ACTS newsletter, Course on Psalms, Thanet Prayer Diary
  • Interesting Blogs: Dear Kemi, Does ChatGPT have the answer
  • Prayer Requests
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15)

What would you love to be invited to? A banquet at Buckingham Palace? The after party for a Taylor Swift concert? A chimpanzee tea party at your local zoo? What invitation would you feel is too good to miss?

The man quoted above was at a dinner party with Jesus. In response to Jesus’ mention of the resurrection he declares how good it will be to be part of God’s heavenly banquet. In other words how good to share in the joyful celebration of eternal life that God offers. Jesus responds with a parable about people who refuse at the last minute to attend a host’s party with flimsy excuses. The host is furious and invites others to the party and vows that the original invitees will miss out on the feast.

The point Jesus is making to the man is this: You say it will be a blessing to be at the feast of the Kingdom of God, but I am here now telling you that the Kingdom of God is near, the feast is ready. If you refuse to accept my invitation you will miss out. This is a challenge and warning to everyone who likes the idea of being invited to God’s heavenly banquet, but focus instead on the less important matters of possessions, work and personal relationships.

September is a time of new starts for many. Children are starting a new school year and many of us are gearing up again after a summer break. It is a good time to consider again Jesus’ invitation. For some that may mean starting to attend church, perhaps for the first time or perhaps having fallen out of the habit of attending in recent years. For others it may mean committing to a deeper pursuit of growth in faith, maybe by joining the Bible Course. Whichever it is be assured you are invited and we would love to welcome you.

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

The Bible Course – Starting this week!

The Bible Course is an opportunity to see the big picture of the Bible and understand how it all fits together. There are eight sessions in which we will watch videos explaining how the Bible fits together and its relevance today. There will also be opportunities for discussion in small groups and guidance on reading the Bible for yourself. You can join us either on Monday nights, 7:30-9:00pm in St. Luke’s Hall or Thursday’s 11:30am-1pm in St. Luke’s church. We will be giving out course books, for which there is a suggested no obligation donation of £10. If you cannot make every session you can catch up on what you miss online. No need to book, just turn up and give it a try.

Charity Support

At our last PCC meeting, we decided rather than paying from church funds into a few chosen charities, we would seek to promote the charities at special services through the year and encourage people to donate generously at those times.

In order to start this, we want people to suggest charities to support. We will choose three charities: one with an international focus, one with a national focus and one with a local focus. Ideally, the charities should be Christian. Please send suggestions for charities to support to Sue Martin in the next week, so that the PCC can consider which three to choose.

the summer to complete these courses and help us ensure we are a safe church for all?

Coming Up:

Churches Together Prayer Breakfast – Saturday -9-10am

Join other churches for breakfast and prayer at St. Laurence Church this Saturday.

Men’s Night – Wednesday 10th September, 6pm

Petanque Evening at Charlotte Court. £5, but includes sandwiches. Please let Bruce Stokes know if you are going (07708 682464, bruce.stokes@btinternet.com)

Heritage Open Days – Saturday 13th and 20th

St. George’s will be open on Saturday 13th and 20th for the Heritage Open Days for Tower and Crypt Tours, and also on 13th September as part of the Festival of Sound and with a Yard Sale.

The Birth of St. George’s – Saturday 4th October, 3pm

An illustrated talk by Margaret Bolton looking at how Ramsgate developed up to the Regency period and what prompted people to build a church. Why did they call it St George’s? Where did the money come from? Why was it designed to look as it did? Who worked on the project? How has it changed since?

Tickets are £5 on the door or in advance from the website. All proceeds to the St. George’s Restoration Fund. Fliers available at the back of church.

Local Church News:

ACTS newsletter:

Find out the latest from the local Christian schools work charity: Page 1  — Page 2

Course on the Psalms:

Robin Plant is running a course on the Psalms called, ‘Thirsting for God’ at Newington Free church on Tuesday evenings. The first session is this Tuesday 9th September at 7:30pm. Find out more.

Thanet Prayer Diary

Please check out the latest Thanet Prayer Diary for September and October. Copies available at the back of church or via this link.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Dear Kemi…

In this article Graham Tomlin responds to Kemi Badenoch over the summer where she explained that she gave up on faith because of the unanswered prayers of Elizabeth Fritzl, who suffered at the hands of Josef Fritzl for years. Read more… (5 mins)

 

Does ChatGPT have the answer?

This article asked ChatGPT about what people today ultimately desire. The answer was surprising… Read more (5 mins)

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 7th August – Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist – (St George’s, 9:30am), Reading: Luke 14:15-24

Monday 8th   

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Hall) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 9th      

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 10th      

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Men’s Group (Charlotte Court) – 6:00pm

Thursday 11th       

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

The Bible Course (St. Luke’s Church) – 11:30am-1:00pm

Saturday 13th    

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 14th – Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Eucharist – (St George’s, 9:30am), Reading: Luke 15.1-10

Sunday School (St George’s, 10:30am)

Online Forms

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

St. George’s Website

  • What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
  • Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
  • Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.

Finally, let’s make sure we don’t miss out on the invitation.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Rejoice Always, Pray Continually! (1 Thessalonians 5:12-28)

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Today is the last in our series of talks on 1 Thessalonians.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

The Good Life (1 Thessalonians 5:12-28)

On reading the closing lines of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, if we didn’t know better, we might think that it consisted of a rag-bag of all the stuff the apostle wanted to railroad the Thessalonians into doing. If we didn’t know better, we might think that Paul was giving the church of Thessalonica a list of dos and don’ts which they could use to conduct a tick-box exercise:

  • we’re good at respecting our leaders – let’s give ourselves a tick for that one,
  • we have some experience of encouraging the timid – another tick,
  • we’re really good at being patient with everyone – two ticks for that one,

and so on. If we didn’t know better, we might think that the reason the apostle Paul wrote his letters was simply to tell people exactly what they had to do to live better Christian lives, or else.

It is in fact part and parcel of our human nature not to know any better than this. The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther once wrote that “in our hearts there is always the desire not to be nothing and not to accept that Christ has accomplished everything himself. Rather”, writes Luther, “we always want to be involved in action, doing as much as possible in the service of God, in order to make God see what we are doing so that he will forgive us our sins and be gracious to us on account of what we have done”. And here comes Luther’s warning: “This should not be! This cannot be! For if this were to happen, then Faith and Christ himself would [be unnecessary and] perish”.1

But we do know better than to think that it’s all down to us to live morally praiseworthy lives, and this is thanks in no small part to Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, which tells us about the utter indispensability of faith, and of Christ, from the beginning to the end. At the start of its first chapter, we read that the Thessalonians’ work was produced by faith, their labour was prompted by love, and their endurance was inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ (1:3) – in other words, that it wasn’t the result of any superhuman effort on their part. And here in the last chapter, we have, not a checklist to use to score ourselves, hoping that we will measure up but fearing that we might not. Rather, we have a beautiful description of the Good Life, the life which it is open to us to live as a result of the superhuman effort which was made on our behalf by Jesus Christ. ‘He died for us’, Paul writes in verse 10, ‘so that … we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up’, on this solid foundation.

Here in the closing lines of the first letter to the Thessalonians, there are at least three things to note about the Good Life: firstly, who is it for? Second, what does it look like? And third, what is its source and destination?

If we read carefully, we will see that this Good Life is for everyone in the Christian family. The apostle Paul uses the household terminology of ‘brothers’, but of course this is not meant in a gender-exclusive way, which is why our modern Bible translations correctly render this as ‘brothers and sisters’.

It’s interesting to note the different ways in which Paul uses this word. We can see examples of this at the end of the reading, in I Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 25 to 27. ‘Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss … Have this letter read to all the brothers.’ So here brothers and sisters are asked to greet fellow brothers and sisters in the way members of a family would, and some brothers and sisters are asked to ensure that Paul’s letter gets read to all the brothers and sisters, presumably because there were some in the congregation were literate and could read, and there were others who could not read, and who had to rely on hearing what Paul had written. And then if we look back to the start of our reading, to chapter 5, verses 12 to 14, we see that the word ‘brothers’ is used there in two different ways. First in verses 12 and 13 the ‘brothers’ are asked to respect their church leaders and hold them in high regard because of their work. And then in verse 14, the church leaders themselves, also described as ‘brothers’, are told what their work is to consist of: warning the idle, encouraging the weak and so on.

The use of this family language, even when describing distinctive roles and responsibilities within the congregation, is built on the assumption made by Paul of a mutual and radical equality between leaders and followers in the Thessalonian church. The language is not of father and son, or master and servant, but of brother and sister. It reminds me of the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew chapter 23, verse 9: ‘Do not call anyone on earth ‘father’, for you have one Father, and he is in heaven’. The use of this language also suggests the deep and sometimes complicated intimacy, respect and affection not so much of friendship, but actually of family. And, finally, the use of this language is broad and inclusive. The Good Life which is described in this passage is for everyone in the Christian family, everyone who has been invited by Christ to call God their Father.

So what does the Good Life look like? So many aspects to this are described in this passage that it will take me most of the rest of my time to talk about them. However, I can’t do complete justice to any of these aspects in what I say now. The Good Life is for living, rather than for being spoken about. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say.

So here are some of the ingredients that help make up the Good Life recipe, here are nine words or phrases to describe what the Good Life is like: respectful, hardworking, peaceful, forgiving, encouraging and supportive, patient, joyful and thankful, prayerful, and discerning.

  1. The respect that the Thessalonian brothers and sisters are asked to show their church leaders in verse 12 does not amount to a blind attribution of status, putting leaders on a pedestal and considering them above criticism. That would be unhealthy and dangerous. It would tend to bring out the worst in people, and would open the way to ugly coercion and abuse. Rather, respect consists of a recognition of the vital function of leaders within a community. Respect them, Paul writes, because of their work. Respect is a two-way street. “Service should be rendered, and … those who render it should receive affectionate recognition and gratitude”.2
  1. The Good Life is also hardworking. In chapter 5, verse 12, leaders are to “work hard”, and according to verse 14 anyone who is “idle” is to be warned. Of course, there is a balance to be struck here. We all know that it can be soul-destroying to be over-worked, but we are also aware that time passes more quickly when we are busy, and that it is damaging to one’s sense of self to be under-employed. What Paul tells us in verses 12 and 14 is that every member of the church has a role in it, and that everyone is diminished when anyone is unwilling to play their part.
  1. The Good Life is peaceful. “Live at peace with each other”, we are told in chapter 5, verse 13. What we are talking about here is an active commitment to peace-making in the church. Anyone with the slightest experience of church communities knows what an essential requirement this commitment is. Despite appearances, we are not always on our best behaviour in church. In Thessalonica, it is likely that “the leaders in the church had not been sufficiently highly regarded, and their authority had been resisted. Also, in all probability, they had not exercised that authority as tactfully as they might have done.”3 They, all of them, needed a reminder to “live at peace with one another”. Christians today need the same encouragement to peace-making, because they too live in a communities whose imperfections are on show, not always in outright hostility, but sometimes in simple pettiness, self-absorption, and thoughtlessness.
  1. The Good Life is forgiving. “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong”, we are told in chapter 5, verse 15. Paul’s teaching here is a mirror of that of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:44-48) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:27-36). Being gracious, forgiving, and non-retaliatory follows logically on, of course, from being peace-making. It is a costly way of living, make no mistake, because it requires a person to surrender a sense of their own rights. But it is part and parcel of the Good Life not to have to keep and hold on to a record of wrongs, which would be exhausting, and would leave a person bitter and twisted.
  1. The Good Life is encouraging and supportive. ‘Encourage the timid, help the weak’, we read in chapter 5, verse 14. The timid, “for all [their] conscious inadequacy and diffidence, [are] to be encouraged and made to feel [that they] count”.4 Reasonable adjustments must be made for those who are weak. In the absence of such gentle encouragement and support, those who regard themselves as marginal or even worthless to the Christian community are likely to melt away from it, and the only thing left would be an unattractive rump of the strong and the strident.
  1. The Good Life is patient. ‘Be patient with everyone’, we read at the end of verse 14. Our fellow Christians are not going to have their sharp corners rubbed off according to any schedule we may impose on them. Thinking about it, our own personal sharp corners must surely place a great strain on others, as well as on God himself, on whom we rely to be ‘compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love’ towards us (Psalm 103:8). So to be constantly demanding perfection of others would be to commit to a life of misery, but to exercise patience is to live gladly and well.
  1. The Good Life isjoyful and thankful. ‘Be joyful always’, we have in chapter 5, verse 16, and in verse 18, ‘give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’. This is not an unthinking thanksgiving and joy, that denies the reality of suffering and flies in the face of sorrow. We are told to give thanks in all circumstances, not for all circumstances, just as we are told elsewhere, not that everything that happens is good, but that in everything, God works for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. It is a joy and thanksgiving secure in the knowledge that though we fear our faith will fail, Christ will hold us fast.
  1. The Good Life is prayerful.‘Pray continually’, Paul writes in chapter 5, verse 17. For a sense of what this means, I am going to refer back to Martin Luther, who wrote that “wherever there is a Christian, there too it, in reality, the Holy Spirit, whose only activity is to pray constantly. For even if the Christian is not always moving his lips or producing words, his heart and his arteries are constantly active in his body, giving out sighs: ‘O dear Father, let your name be hallowed, let your kingdom come and your will be done in us and in everyone …’ And if temptations and tribulations increase their pressure, there is a corresponding increase in sighs and entreaties of this kind so that it is impossible to come across a Christian who does not pray as it is to encounter a living person whose heart does not beat…”5
  1. Lastly, the Good Life is discerning. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt”, we read in chapter 5, verses 19 and 20 – and then in the verses that follow: “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” Discernment was a gift the Thessalonian church really needed. They were possessed by the Holy Spirit, but they themselves did not possess any of the Gospels, or any of the rest of the New Testament, because none of it had yet been written. All they had to guide them into the truths of the Christian faith were the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the memory of the teaching of the apostles who founded the Thessalonian church, and the prophetic utterances of the leaders of the church of Thessalonica. And they needed more.

In response to this situation, the apostle Paul did something which was at that time completely without precedent. For the first time in history, he put apostolic teaching into writing and sent it to them. His first letter to the Thessalonians is by common consent the earliest book of the New Testament. And in time the New Testament itself was recognised by Christians as the repository of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, a measuring rod by which good and evil, truth and error could be distinguished. And here we are two thousand years later, still reading it, and gaining from it an understanding of what makes for the Good Life: who it is for, and what it looks like.

And finally, we consider what is the source and destination of the Good Life: where does it come from, and where will it take us? Here at the end of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, we learn that the Good Life did not originate with us, or come about by the dint of our effort. None of the nine aspects I have outlined are the product of our moral striving, any more than we can take the credit for nurturing and harvesting the ninefold fruit of the Spirit famously listed by the apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 5. In Galatians chapter 5, the clue is in the name: love, joy, peace, patience and so on are the fruit, of the Spirit. And here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 we read, in verse 23: ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through’.

God himself, by the power of the same mighty strength he exerted to raise Jesus Christ from the dead, is at work in us, and he himself is the source of all the constituent elements of the Good Life. Likewise, he is the destination towards which it heads. ‘May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ This moral endeavour is not down to us. We have not been left alone. ‘The one who called you is faithful’, verse 24 assures us, ‘and he will do it’. He will sanctify; he will keep blameless. That is why Paul ends the entire letter by invoking the greatest and most needed of all God’s gifts to us: ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you’.

In this way, far from being unnecessary, both Faith and Christ himself stand in for what we are utterly unable to do. “Faith”, to return one last time to the words of Martin Luther, “is a confidence of the heart, living, serious, comforting and … so glorious that we become one with Christ and, through him, one with the Father. … There is something busy, active and powerful about Faith, so that it is impossible for it not to do Good Works without ceasing. Faith does not ask if Good Works need to be done. It has already done them, and is still doing them before even being asked.”6

This is indeed the Good Life, both for the Thessalonians two thousand years ago, and for us here today: work produced by faith, labour prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in which hope we will never be disappointed.

1 Luther Brevier: Worte für jeden Tag (Wartburg Verlag, Weimar, 2007), p. 123.

2 F.F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, page 119.

3 Leon Morris, The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, pp. 99-100.

4 Bruce, ibid., p. 123.

5 Luther Brevier: Worte für jeden Tag, p. 121.

6 Luther Brevier: Worte für jeden Tag, p. 122.

Ready for the Day (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:10)

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Ready for the Day

Wouldn’t it be nice to know the future?  It’s what I call the ‘almanac factor’, taken from that series of films “Back to the future”.  Biff, who’s a total air-head, has nevertheless managed to procure from his future self an almanac which gives all the sports results for his own time.  It doesn’t take too many bets for him to accumulate an absolute fortune.

History has thrown up its prophets, or more precisely its seers.  People like Nostradamus, a French doctor who published a book of predictions in the 1550s  –  credited for foreseeing the Great Fire of London (1666), the French Revolution (1789), the atomic bomb, as well as the lives of people like Louis Pasteur, Adolf Hitler, Charles de Gaulle and Mikhail Gorbachev.  Some early Christians were convinced that Jesus would return in the year 1000, and thereafter many tried to put a date on it.  The Methodist John Wesley plumped for the year 1836, Joseph Smith of the Mormons 1861 and Herbert Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God 1975.  It’s funny that Christians should think they know better than Jesus!  Jesus said that His return would come suddenly and unexpectedly: No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36).  And Paul, doubtless reflecting on those words of Jesus, said it would come like a thief in the night (verse 2)  –  suddenly, unexpectedly, like labour pains on a pregnant woman (verse 3).

Jesus’ return triggers two thoughts for Paul relating to the idea of day and night, light and darkness.

  • Firstly, a lot of bad stuff goes on at night as darkness provides a good cover  …  crime, drinking, partying, prostitution, murder.  And he goes down a path of contrasting the people of the night with the people of the day.  Christians are supposed to be people of the day, so our task is to bring light into the darkness.
  • But then the other feature of night-time is sleep, and Paul sees that as a metaphor for the Christian life.  Following Jesus is not something you switch on and off.  We need to be alert at all times, not just avoiding evil but positively doing good.  He writes: We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  So then, let’s not be like others who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober  …  putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet (verses 5-8).

Paul lived his whole life in the Roman Empire.  The emperor was in total control.  Successive emperors had built the empire through brute force and repression  –  a significant percentage were slaves.  And yet ironically one of Rome’s favourite slogans was ‘Peace and Safety’ (verse 3).  Rome was an autocracy and it was hot on law and order.  It offered a sophisticated, state of the art experience.  There were roads and sanitation systems and entertainment and very lax morals, where citizens were encouraged to satisfy their appetites and cravings, no matter how perverse, invariably by abusing their slaves.

Such is empire through the ages!

Communism was very popular among intellectuals during the years between the two world wars.  Much of what had happened in Russia was somehow kept under wraps  e.g. the fact that there was a six-year civil war following the 1917 revolution in which 10million died, the appalling government-inflicted famine on the people of Ukraine during the early 1930s in which a further 3million perished.  When the Nazis invaded Russia in 1941 they were applauded in by the Ukrainians as liberators, but the Nazis rapidly set about executing Ukrainian Jews.

All empires, it seems, repeat the cycle of initial butchery, later artistry and eventual collapse.

1st Century Rome was no different.  If you ever stepped out of line and challenged the ‘Pax Romana’ (Roman Peace!!!), you would be crushed.  The lucky few who had Roman citizenship drifted through life thinking ‘this is as good as it gets’.  They were not about to jeopardise their own good fortune by standing up for the victims of Roman butchery!

And yet that’s exactly what Jesus calls us to do  –  to step out of line, to live by His rules, to live in the expectation of His imminent return.  And if Christ is going to return, then we must not drift through life.  We must be alert, prepared for the challenge of what following Jesus means.  We are called to be children of the day, to live in the light, to see life differently, to live by a narrative which draws Christ-like actions and reactions from us.

We are all called to be purveyors of a better world.  We can all see what’s going on outside our windows, but does how we speak and act promote a better way?  I once came across some words that I subsequently used to read before communion  –  they explored the thought of re-membering, of putting the broken members of Jesus’ body back together again.

We come to re-member Jesus  …

the hands that touched the untouchable, healed the hurting and did no violence;

the feet that got dusty along city streets and at the lake’s shore;

the arms that welcomed the stranger and embraced the outcast;

the legs that entered homes and synagogues and danced at celebrations;

the eyes that blazed against injustice, knew how to cry and saw the potential in everyone;

the belly that shared table with unexpected people and shook with laughter;

the lips that wove stories and painted pictures of a new community and a better world.

This blessèd body that was broken, abused and rejected, we come to re-member.

Is this the person that inspires you and shapes the way you think and live?   Are you a child of the night or a child of the day?  Have you bought into the consumerist values of this age, or are you driven by the hope of the age to come?  Has Jesus radically changed the way you think and the way you behave?  I still remember the evening I first turned my life over to Jesus  –  there have been ups and downs, and no end of regrets and recommitments, but the perspective of Jesus has always made sense to me.

Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life.  There are plenty of competing claims, but His is worth your full consideration.  Christians look forward to His return when God will establish a better empire of justice and joy.

A dying Christian once dictated a final letter to a loved one.

I am still in the land of the living, he began, but then paused and began again.

I am still in the land of the dying, but soon I will be in the land of the living!

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.  This is our faith and hope.  This is our compass through life.

The Bible Course

This new and improved course will help you discover how Bible characters, stories, and themes are connected, from Genesis to Revelation. A great opportunity to be equipped for your own engagement with the Bible, whether you are exploring the Christian faith or a long time believer.

We will be running the course on two sessions each week:

  • Mondays, 7:30-9:00pm, St. Luke’s Church Hall, from 8th September
  • Thursdays, 11:30am-1:00pm, St. Luke’s Church, from 11th September

Please note these sessions are a repeat of each other, so you only need to come either on Mondays or Thursdays.

Everyone is welcome. Just turn up to the first session and give it a try. We will be providing the course book for free to those who attend, but a donation of £10 to cover the cost of the book would be welcome.

You can find out more about the course on the Bible Society website.