Tag Archives: Babylonian Exile
Sermon: The Peaceable Kingdom
How can we look at everything that is happening around us, the homes and livelihoods destroyed by what is usually God’s good gift of water, the thousands of people who have died of covid19 in Australia and the millions who have died around the world, and say that God cares about creation? The author that we know as ‘Third’ Isaiah, from whom today’s reading from the Hebrew Scriptures comes, had the same challenge. The description of God’s holy mountain as a place where all creation is renewed seems completely unrealistic. But there was nothing fanciful in what Isaiah was doing. Continue reading
Sermon: God’s priorities, according to the Prophet Jeremiah
It would take a great deal of faith to hold on to that hope while sitting in the ruins of Jerusalem, or while in exile in Babylon, just as much faith as it takes us to hold on to the hope of God’s justice when we look at the world around us. It is much easier to hold on to this hope in community than to try to do it alone and here in Australia, despite anything politicians or the media might say, we do have the great privilege of being able to meet together for worship and to share the words of God with each other. So let us encourage each other in our persistence, as we pray without losing heart. Amen. Continue reading
Sermon: The shalom of the city
God has brought us here; God is already at work here; and in the shalom of our amazing, beautiful, challenging city of Melbourne, and our diverse, multicultural, multifaith, and ‘no religion’ Australia we will find our own shalom. So let us serve this city and the people among whom we live, in all the ways that we can. Amen. Continue reading
Sermon: There is nothing we cannot say to God
Too often throughout history the church has been on the side of the colonisers, not the colonised; the slave owners, not the slaves; the rich, not the poor; adults, not children; men, not women; straight people, not LGBTIQ+ people; paedophiles, not the victims of clerical sexual abuse; and so on and so forth. Continue reading
Sermon: Do not be afraid
We do not need to fear the future or look back on the past with nostalgic regret, because we know that the God who does new things will walk with us into whatever lies ahead. It may be death, but we also know that after the crucifixion comes resurrection. We have nothing to fear. Thanks be to God. Amen. Continue reading
Sermon: Destruction and Newness
This is a dangerous exercise of prophetic imagination. If the ‘least’ as well as the ‘greatest’ know the Lord on equal terms, what will the world look like? It cannot be a world in which those with particular types of education or holding particular offices will have power and privilege, while everyone else knows their place. Continue reading
Sermon: Putting one foot in front of the other
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church 7th of February 2021 Isaiah 40:21-31 Psalm 147 Mark 1:29-39 We woke up on Thursday morning to a new case of community transmission in Victoria. The covid19 journey is truly a wild rollercoaster of … Continue reading
Sermon: The welfare of the city
God has brought you here; God is already at work here; and in the shalom of this amazing, beautiful, challenging city of Melbourne, you will find your shalom. Continue reading
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