Tag Archives: Year of Matthew
Sermon: Social and Physical Health
This is one reason that I think Reverend Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre is such a bad clergyperson. How could he possibly have read the gospels and concluded that caring for people’s bodies would starve their immortal souls? How could he ignore the many examples of Jesus feeding the hungry and healing physical illness by fabricating a Bible verse, ‘if ye suffer hunger or thirst for my sake, happy are ye’? God created us as embodied beings; of course God cares about our bodies! Continue reading
Sermon: Trinity Sunday
There is no room for self-sufficient rugged individualists in the church. We are creatures created in the image of the God who is community, and we are called to live as members of a community that includes everyone. That is how we will gather around the Lord’s Table later in this service. As I say every month, ‘Everyone who wishes to eat and drink at this table is welcome, because Christ turns no one away’. Continue reading
Sermon: With gentleness and reverence
I have also found it incredibly heartening to hear why these people believe that they have been called into ministry in the Uniting Church. Most often, they talk of the inclusivity of the Uniting Church, of our diversity, of the way in which we respect each other’s differences and do not demand that everyone follow our way of being Christian. We are an entire Church that shares our faith ‘with gentleness and reverence’; that seeks to find common ground between us and those who are not Christian. Continue reading
Sermon: Life in abundance
Do we use our money in such a way that it leads to the life in abundance that Jesus came to bring, for us and for others? Do we, for instance, give money to causes that bring health and hope to people in need? Do we buy things that have been produced in fair and sustainable ways? Do all the many people involved in getting food to our tables receive a living wage? Can we say with Justin Martyr that, ‘We who once took most pleasure in accumulating wealth and property now share with everyone in need’? Can we say with Tertullian that ‘our care for the derelict and our active love’ identify us? Continue reading
Sermon: On not being terrified of eating and drinking with Jesus
Each month we imitate these disciples on the road to Emmaus. We gather around the Table at which our Lord is the Host, knowing that we are welcome there, and then we leave the table to share God’s welcome with the world. Fed by both metaphorical and literal food, we go out to share both metaphorical and literal food. We receive what we are, and we become what we receive – the Body of Christ. We rejoice as we are regularly reminded that Christ is here: in our hearts; in our lives; and in our midst. Continue reading
Sermon: Where, O death, is now your sting?
If we ever worry that our sins, our faults and failings, make us unimportant, unacceptable, unlovable, that we deserve punishment rather than acceptance, then we can rejoice. Jesus said that he came to bring mercy, not sacrifice, and God affirmed Jesus’ teachings in the resurrection. Continue reading
Sermon: Death and Life
The funeral service used to contain the reminder that ‘in the midst of life we are in death,’ which apparently comes from a battle song by tenth-century monk Notker the Stammerer and, while that might strike our twenty-first-century ears as morbid, it is simply a fact. If we accept that, today’s reading can offer us comfort. Continue reading
Sermon: A man born blind
We are just as prone to blaming the victim as the religious authorities in this story. I have preached before about the deeply human tendency, and we have just seen an appalling example of it in the Robodebt Royal Commission. We will need to wait for the Commissioner’s final report to know exactly how things went wrong, but I have been listening in to the live stream as I have worked, and the apparent attitudes of some politicians and senior public servants to people who need to access Centrelink have been dreadful. ‘Robodebts’ were illegal, unethical, and inaccurate, and yet they seem to have been imposed because of a false belief that welfare recipients must be ripping off the system. Continue reading
Sermon: A woman at a well
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church Third Sunday of Lent, 12th of March 2023 John 4:5-42 Today’s story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is one of my favourite stories in the entire Bible, with one of … Continue reading
Sermon: Chocolate, Milton, and Lent Event
I have given up chocolate for Lent. I do this at least every few years and I always feel a little ridiculous about it. Jesus is walking towards his death, the most humiliating, painful and lonely death the Roman Empire could impose, and to show my solidarity with his journey I am giving up a completely voluntary sweet treat. Continue reading
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