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Tag Archives: Year of Matthew
Sermon: Two dis/obedient children
Commentator Wendell E. Langley suggests that by telling of two partly obedient, partly disobedient sons, Jesus is concealing a third alternative that describes what the chief priests and elders are doing. Whether they say that the first son, even though he was subsequently obedient, failed to do his father’s will, because he was initially disobedient or they say that the second son, even though he was initially obedient, failed to do his father’s will, because he was subsequently disobedient, then they are left with the question: how much more disobedient must be a son who is both initially and subsequently disobedient? Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged controversies, disobedience, Matthew 21:23-32, obedience, Parable of the Two Sons, parables, Philippians 2:1-13, prostitutes in the Bible, tax-collectors, Temple, The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32) against Its Semitic and Rabbinic Backdrop, Wendell E. Langley SJ, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: Being forgiving is good for you!
I have been fascinated by the Global Flourishing Study, launched in 2021, that looks at different aspects of well-being over time in twenty-two countries. In a recent analysis using data from the Global Flourishing Study, psychologists examined whether people who reported being more forgiving reported better well-being a year later than those who said they rarely or never forgave. They found that those who reported that they were forgiving people had somewhat higher well-being when asked a year later about things like their mental health, purpose in life, relationship satisfaction, and hope. This confirms what decades of previous research had found. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Dietrich Bonhoeffer, forgiveness, Global Flourishing Study, love, mental health, Miroslav Volf, well-being, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: The sinned against and sinning
The church is the Body of Christ. How we treat each other within the church is as important to God as how we as Christians love the world. In fact, how we behave as a community determines how we love the world. Saint Benedict described the church as a ‘school for souls.’ The church is where we learn how to live as God’s people. This means being willing to be honest and open with each other, rather than merely nice. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged church, community, dispute resolution, forgiveness, love, Matthew 18:15-20, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: Being compassionately cheerful, or cheerfully compassionate
compassion is a gift. To care so deeply for the pain of the world that we suffer with those who suffer is a privilege. It means that we are fully human. It means that our heart and soul are congruent with our mind and body. It means that we have not been conformed to this age or to a world that tells us we should only care about ourselves and those closest to us. It means that we are imitating Jesus, who was also moved with compassion for suffering humanity. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Apostle Paul, Bob Hawke, charity, compassion, Isaiah, Justice, love, Martin Luther King, Romans 12:1-8, sacrifice, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: Jesus the first-century Jewish man
Rather than believing that he had been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the risen Christ knew that he had been sent to all nations. I would argue that today’s encounter with the Canaanite woman was an important stage on the path that led to Christian inclusion and universalism. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged BBC, Canaanite, exclusion, inclusion, Israel, Matthew 15:1-21, Matthew 15:10-28, Matthew 15:21-28, Palestine, racism, West Bank, women, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: We tried to kill him; he survived; let’s eat!
A phrase often used to describe Jewish festivals is ‘they tried to kill us; we survived; let’s eat!’ and certainly Passover, which celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery after ‘a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph’ (Exodus 1:8), would fit that pattern. But here at the beginning of the Israelites’ time in Egypt, it is the Egyptians and Joseph, who now has an Egyptian name, an Egyptian wife, and who dresses like an Egyptian (Genesis 41:41-45), who save them from dying in a famine, after Israel’s ten sons have acted as villains. If there were to be a festival to celebrate this occasion, its theme would be: ‘we tried to kill Joseph; he survived and is now feeding us; let’s eat!’ That has a slightly different ring. Continue reading
Combined Pentecost Service with Koonung Heights
today’s gospel story tells us that we have been commissioned by Jesus to publicly meddle. This often takes courage. There are always going to be people who, when Christians speak out for love and justice, will sneer and accuse us of being filled with the new wine of wowserism, do-gooding, or wokeness. We have seen how the current President of the United States, for instance, has responded to the Pope speaking up for peace. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Acts 2:1-21, bravery, breath, Christianity, combined service, commissioned, courage, faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John 20:19-23, KHUC, Koonung Heights Uniting, mission, Pentecost, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: Why persecution does not work on Christians
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 1 Peter 4:12-14 and 5:6-11, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Bible, Christian persecution, Christianity, Easter 7, Ecumenical Patriarch, ecumenism, faith, Fourth Crusade, god, Jesus, John 17:1-11, Persecution of Christians, Pope Leo, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Year of Matthew
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