Shabbat shalom and a blessed Late Chag haMatzah or Feast of Unleavened Bread to you all! I hope you all enjoyed the Pesach Haggadah or Passover Service and Meal last night although the broadcast did not work out too well. For those of you who are joining us online from abroad, welcome, and especially those of you who may be observing the Feasts of Yahweh for the first time. For you, especially, a new adventure has begun, one that is both physically tangible as well as infinitely deep spiritually.

Like everything else in life, you reap in proportion to what you have invested. For those of you who have been observing the divine moedim (appointments) for many years or even decades, there is the very real danger of such observances becoming fossilised and losing inner meaning. When that happens, it is time to reflect on the essentials, those things which are supposed to undergird all that we do outwardly and which are verily our inner life, even as it is written:

"This is what Yahweh-Elohim says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other'" (Zech.7:9-10, NIV).

In short, take care of one another, love one another, give special congregational care to wives who have lost provider-husbands, children who have lost protector-fathers, foreigners who feel adrift and culturally isolated in countries not their own, and the ubiquitous poor who may be homeless, hungry, in rags, and particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous people. Though the secular state has assumed much of this responsibility over the last 50-75 years, as the West becomes poorer it will again devolve upon the churches and messianic assemblies to breach the gap, as they already do in poorer nations in the absence of a welfare state. In the very last days the Messianic Community will assume more and more of the provision previously provided by the state both because of state bankruptcy and persecution.

Moreover, our own personal happiness is a fruit of how we treat others - always. So getting rid of the chametz or leaven of self-centredness in the Chag haMatzah motif is probablty the first and most important thing we can do, for it is the basis of a happy and thriving society, and of families and congregations. This will mean using the tithe the way Yahweh originally intended, with a third of the tenth being reserved for taking care of the poor which up to now has been 'stolen' by the 'church' along with the second third of the tithe which Yahweh has commanded to be used by families to finance their attendance at the three annual pilgrim festivals for fellowship and praise.

This Passover Season, which is always in the spring, incorporating Pesach (Passover) itself, the seven days of Chag haMatzah (of which this is the first day) and including Yom haBikkurim on the second day of Chag haMatazah (the third day of the Passover Session), constitute the first of the three pilgrim festivals. Anciently, the pilgrim festivals had to be attended by at least one male member of each family in Jerusalem, which was a costly business, unless you lived more locally and could afford to bring your whole family. Today, while we await the return of Messiah and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Messianic Israel in the Promised Land (not the modern Israeli Republic), several congregations in a particular area or region are encouraged to assemble together at these times, and may welcome families from even greater distances as their resources allow to prevent local congregationms becoming too insular and cut off from the wider world. In NCAY, a central assembly, when such exists and has the facilities to look after a large influx of visitors, is the focus for such gatherings though rotating between congregations is also an option (see Article 5 of the NCAY Constitution).

The other two pilgrim festivals are Shavu'ot (Weeks, 'Pentecost') in the summer and Sukkot (Tabernacles) in the autumn/fall. The point is, the contemporary Messianic Community or Church must completely rethink its finances, the ministry learning to rely on 67 per cent less than it has been accustomed to taking, which will force it to completely restructure, if it follows a tithing system at all. It will also mercifully kill off the 'prosperity' or 'health-and-wealth' movement, preventing corrupt leaders from robbing the poor qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) by appealing to their lusts. Acknowledging the mandatory festivals of Israel and financing them Yahweh's way, will cause a necessary revolution in the Body of Messiah! So, remember, a third of your tithe/tenth is for the poor amongst you first of all (and then, if there is any surplus, for members further afield and abroad), a third for financing the festivals (travel, accommodation, food, etc.), and a third for the ministry and Kingdom-building such as evangelism. How I look forward to seeing the death of ostentationalism, greed and the love of money (which is "the root of many kinds of evil" - 1 Tim.6:10) for it will be a great liberation for Yahweh's people and establish them in righter-relationship with Him!

To live this way is to take a major step in the right direction in the perennial search for happiness. But when we choose, rather, to focus on promoting our own happiness, it's not long before dark waters start lapping on our shores and things start going wrong. Yahweh recently showed me how this happens in vision and it was quite scary. It reminded me a little of the nightmare of all sailors and their fear of having to abandon ship and jumping into the sea covered with an oil slick. This descend to darikness was a characteristic of Israel when she became wealthy and prideful, or otherwise prioretised the search for wealth as so many modern charismatics do. It's what's happening in the West and why it has turned away from Elohim (God) in the pursuit of the gods of materialism.

Zechariah continued his warning:

"But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the Torah (Law) or to the devarim (words) that Yahweh-Elohim had sent by his Ruach (Spirit) through the earlier nevi'im (prophets). So Yahweh-Elohim was very angry" (Zech.7:11-12, NIV).

But don't go and misunderstand that divine anger. It's not vindictive, petty, selfish anger. This isn't human anger at all. This is the anger of a caring parent who is furious that the agency that He gives us all has been used to turn away from Him, the source of all emet (truth) and ahavah (love), and instead to the father of lies and destroyer of all beautiful relationships. New believers are sometimes surprised to learn just how our Father in Heaven feels about us. Again, in the Book of Zechariah, Yahweh says:

"'I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.'

"This is what Yahweh says: 'I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Emet (Truth), and the mountain of Yahweh-Elohim will be called the Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) Mountain" (Zech.8:2-3, NIV).

Zion, you see, is (allegorically-speaking) His Beloved Bride, meaning, He views His people with the same level of interest, compassion and passion as a husband toward his wife. He is moved by covenant-love, that unfailing commitment and loyalty that weathers every storm. And therefore, when we choose to wander from Him, having covenanted to give ourselves to Him in baptism, so that when we are faithful we do not become, as it were, widows, orphans, foreigners and the impoverished, He must arduously - but with the tenacity of one who loves passionately - nudge us little by little with whatever modicum of permission we give Him, until we finally open up and run back into His arms. Then He can return to us, then He can dwell in us, and then, once more, we become vessels of emet (truth), and spiritual mountains of holiness. Chag haMatzah is all about the cleansing we must agree to in order to return - or maybe even come for the first time - to that state of blessedness. That does take a certain amount of will-power, just as it does to do our duties around the hourse, garden, or wherever we are under obligation.

The manual of returning and of restoration is the Sermon on the Mount, and if you want to especially know what it is to enjoy a state of blessedness, happiness, or bliss, then all you have to do is follow the instructions in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7. But its contents may catch you off guard and surprise you. If you're looking for a catapult out of unhappiness, oppression, depression, frustration, anger, defeat, aimlessness, or whatever it is that is troubling you, you will find not only nourishment for your soul but a constructive escape, unlike Satan's deceptive escape routes which are always self-destructive, offering short-term solutions with disastrous long-term results. Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, Yahweh knows exactly what you need to extricate yourself from yourself (remember, self is spiritually dead) so that you might fully find life in Him and so be fully satisfied.

Let me illustrate what I mean. Winn Collier tells the story of one of the victims of Ravensbruck concentration camp, who did not survive, a terrible place where 50,000 women perished. It consists of a prayer written on a piece of crumpled-up paper discovered by the liberators of the camp. It read:

"O Lord, remember not only the men and women of goodwill, but also those of ill will. But do not remember the suffering they have inflicted upon us. Remember the fruits [that are] thanks to this suffering - our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this. And when they come to judgement, let all the fruits that we have born be their forgiveness."

We have no idea of the fear and pain inflicted on this terrorised woman who wrote that prayer back in the early 1940's. We can't even begin to imagine the kind of inexplicable grace - the undeserved loving kindness - these words required of her. Like Corrie ten Boom, also a concentration camp victim who herself survived but lost family members, this unnamed woman did the unthinkable: she sought Elohim's (God's) forgiveness for her oppressors. This echoes Yah'shua's (Jesus') prayer, "Father, forgive them" in Luke 23:34. After being wrongly accused, mocked, beaten, and humiliated before the people, Yah'shua (Jesus) was "crucified along with [two] criminals" (Lk.23:33). Hanging, with mutilated body and gasping for breath, from a roughly-hewn cross, you would have thought He would have pronounced judgment on His tormentors, wouldn't you? You would have expected Him to seek retribution or divine justice. However, instead, Yah'shua (Jesus) uttered a prayer contradicting every natural human impulse: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing" (Lk.23:34, NIV).

That is what this Passover Season is ultimately all about. The forgiveness Yah'shua (Jesus) offers us seems impossible, but He offers it to us nonetheless. In His divine grace - His unmerited favour (because we don't deserve it) - impossible forgiveness spills free. This strange, 'impossible' thing, is what we must show others too, but it is verily the secret of divine ahavah (love) and the reason divine atonement was made for us. Our part is to simply live in the same ahavah (love) and chesed (mercy) toward others.

Let's conclude by reading William Barclay's inspiring translation of the Beatitudes so that you will know the spirit that both motivates authentic preaching and enabled Christ to forgive His persecutors and tormentors on Calvary:

"O the bliss of (blessed, happy are) those who realise the destitution of their own lives, for the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven are theirs here and now.

"O the bliss of those whose sorrow is sore, for they shall find courage and comfort.

"O the bliss of those whose strength is in their gentleness, for they shall enter into possession of the earth.

"O the bliss of those who hunger and thirst for all that sets them right with Elohim (God), for they shall be satisfied to the full.

"O the bliss of those who treat others with mercy, for they shall be treated with mercy.

"O the bliss of those who are pure in heart, for they shall see Elohim (God).

"O the bliss of those who make men friends with each other, for they shall be ranked as the beni Elohim (sons of God).

"O the bliss of those who are persecuted for their loyalty to Elohim's (God's) way of life, for the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven are theirs here and now.

"Yours is the bliss (blessedness, happiness), when men shall heap their insults upon you, and persecute you, and tell every wicked lie about you for My sake.

"When that happens, rejoice and exult in it, for you will receive a rich reward in heaven, for it was thus they persecuted the nevi'im (prophets) who lived before you" (Mt.5:3-12, Barclay).

I wish I had time to cite the whole of the Sermon on the Mount but obviously we can't do that today. Rather, let me draw out from it what is perhaps the most important of the Master's sayings that I feel is applicable to the theme of this Late Passover Season. It's His comments on the Master's or Lord's Prayer (Mt.6:9-13) that He taught His talmidim (disciples) to make the foundation and grid of their prayer life:

"...if you forgive your fellow men for the wrongs they have done to you, your Father will forgive you; but of you do not forgive your fellow men, then your Father will not forgive you either for the wrongs you have done to Him" (Mt.6:14-15, Barclay)

As evil multiplies and the battle between good and evil rages fiercer and fiercer, and as civil behaviour is eroded and disintegrates more and more, as, for example, we're seeing now increasingly in countries like South Africa where a murderous madness is gripping so many people unable to forgive and desirous to exact a revenge far out of proportion to the wrongs previously done to them, where it's no longer safe just because of your skin-colour, so we will need to forgive more and more, both because it's right but also to preserve our own integrity, peace of mind, and wholeness of life. For we cannot be without Elohim (God) when we resist the tornado of evil and sin unleashed by the evil one that seems to strike us more and more frequently as the world disintegrates into anarchy. We must have His ahavah (love) both to survive and prosper. We must not succumb to evil in any way.

Tomorrow there will be a short Yom haBikkurim broadcast for those interested in joining with us again and then, unless Yahweh comes with a message inbetween, there will be a last address on the 7th day of Chag haMatzah with is a High Sabbath. Have a blessed sabbath and ongoing Feast of Unleavened Bread! Amen.