Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
1st of November 2026
1 Thessalonians 2:1-13
Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus said, ‘You are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.’
Once a year I put on a long black robe with red facings, a red academic ‘hood,’ and a floppy black velvet hat with a red tassel. Together with my colleagues, I process slowly into one of Melbourne’s cathedrals or large churches, and if my name were listed anywhere, it would be as ‘Reverend Doctor.’ All this even though I am a member of the Council of the University of Divinity, which was created to teach theology and ministry. Then there are the times when I wear a special shirt with a white clerical collar, and today, as I lead our worship, I am wearing a robe called an ‘alb’ (white) to show that I am baptised and a stole to show that I am ordained. No wonder that Emeritus Professor Brendan Byrne, who taught me New Testament, writes that, ‘scarcely any injunction of the Lord has been so ignored as this ruling out of titles and, by extension, accoutrements of dress and ceremonial.’[1] Continue reading
