Tag Archives: Year of Matthew
Sermon: Living out the Sermon on the Mount
The UN Charter says that its aim is to ‘reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small’. But as historian Tom Holland points out: ‘That human beings have rights; that they are born equal; that they are owed sustenance, and shelter and refuge from persecution: these were never self-evident truths.’ They are Christian truths. They are the truths we see in the Sermon on the Mount. Continue reading
Sermon: Calling and character
It is as citizens of the kingdom that Jesus’ disciples will be enabled to live in the way that he will outline in the great block of teaching that we call the Sermon on the Mount, to which we will listen over the next eight weeks. Continue reading
Sermon: When warnings from history are being ignored
Despite all the world’s danger and chaos, we who follow the Lamb of God know that we live in communion with the Creator, whose intention for the creation is justice and peace. As we take comfort in that relationship, so we also join with God in working for the day when the heavens will sing for joy, the earth exult, and the mountains break forth into singing, because God’s will is finally done on earth as in heaven. This is our calling as it is our prayer, now as throughout history. Continue reading
Sermon: Welcomed into an inclusive Israel
We are recipients of the gift of an inclusive Israel. We exist as a Christian community, worshipping the God described in the Hebrew Scriptures, the One who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it, because a small group of Jews invited Gentiles to join them in walking the way of Jesus. Continue reading
Sermon: Light amid darkness; God amid disgrace.
Terrorists wish to create terror. We defeat them by refusing to be afraid. On Monday night, I attended a Chanukah event at Federation Square with other Uniting Church ministers, and I was so glad that Victoria Police had offered the Jewish community support to continue holding it, rather than advising them to cancel it. Terrorists also wish to divide us. We defeat them by staying united. The weirdest of all the responses to this terrorism was the attempt by Islamophobes to claim that Ahmed al Ahmed was not a Muslim immigrant, but an Australian IT worker called ‘Edward Crabtree’. The response to antisemitic hate needs to be more commitment to the wonderful multicultural and multifaith diversity of Australia, not less. Continue reading
Sermon: It’s not the Rapture
I have wondered whether it makes sense to preach hope and a God of love in such a world. But then I remember that the world has always been like this, and that the church not merely can but must preach hope and a God of love through every crisis. Continue reading
Sermon: There is always enough
Pharoah’s world was one of scarcity, in which the people of Israel had to work without ceasing and make bricks without straw. The Lord’s world is one of abundance, in which everyone has enough, and rest is an essential part of life. Continue reading
Sermon: No peace without forgiveness
But, as always when I preach about forgiveness, I want to warn about forgiveness that is offered too easily. We know only too well that throughout history the church has demanded that victims forgive their abusers, even if those abusers continue to abuse. Continue reading
Sermon: In a boat battered by the wind and waves
I said that the Bible remained important to me, but I did not think I could just pick a verse, “like Matthew 14:27,” I said, making up a verse at random, and have it mean something for my life. A little later in the conversation my flatmate and I decided just to have a look and see what Matthew 14:27 said, and we found that Matthew 14:27 is the verse I just quoted. It could not have been more relevant to a discussion in which I had confessed that I was finding the one holy catholic and apostolic church deeply problematic as I learned more of its history, but that I could not bear to leave Christianity because if I did “I would miss Jesus”. Continue reading
Sermon: I really do love the Apostle Paul!
The theological reflection that is part of the most recent Act2 report says that ‘were the Uniting Church to die as an institution, God would do a new thing’. Despite that, none of us are resigned to the Uniting Church dying, and I am not trying to soften you up for institutional death. But I am saying that we can face the difficulties of the future knowing that none of them can separate us from the God who is for us, and who is always working for our good. Continue reading
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