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Tag Archives: Year of Matthew
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
Posted in Sermons
Tagged death, Easter, Easter Sunday, eucatastrophe, J. R. R. Tolkien, old age, resurrection, Year of Matthew
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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
Posted in Sermons
Tagged death, Easter, funerals, George Herbert, Hope, John 11:1-45, Kevin Hart, Mourning, resurrection, William Shakespeare, Year of Matthew
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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
Posted in Sermons
Tagged exclusion, John 9:1-41, Lent, Lent 4, man born blind, robodebt, Year of Matthew
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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
Posted in Sermons
Tagged John 4:5-42, Lent, Lent 3, Samaritan Woman, women, women in the bible, Year of Matthew
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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
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Ash Wednesday, Genesis 2:15-17 3:1-7, Lent, Lent 1, Lent Event, Matthew 4:1-11, UnitingWorld, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: Salt and Light
We often worry that as churches get smaller we can no longer answer God’s call to us, that we can no longer serve God as God desires. But Jesus is calling us to be salt, and a small amount of salt can change the flavour of an entire dish; Jesus is calling us to be light, and one lamp on a lampstand can give light to an entire house. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Isaiah 58:1-9a, Matthew 5:13-20, Sermon on the Mount, Third Isaiah, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: The Beatitudes
Maybe it would help to put them in contemporary terms: Blessed are the boat people, for they will find a safe and welcoming home; blessed are those on unemployment and disability pensions, for they will be treated with dignity and respect; blessed are the First Nations people, for they will regain their stolen land; blessed are the do-gooders and trouble-makers, for they will be called the children of God. Continue reading
Sermon: Peace Sunday
I suspect that the people of Israel heard this prophecy as true for the same reason that we are hearing it in church two thousand years after the birth of the one we Christians believe is the Messiah. Prophecies of the peaceable kingdom speak to our deepest longings. They describe what we believe, in the core of our hearts and our guts, God’s good creation should be. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Advent, Advent 2, Isaiah 11:1-10, John the Baptist, judgement, Matthew 3:1-12, Peace, Prophet Isaiah, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: Jesus’ female ancestors
I lived through a ‘think of the children’ scare campaign as a young gay woman; I do not appreciate politicians, political candidates, and neo-Nazis replaying it with trans people today. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2 Samuel 11:1 – 12:25, Advent, Advent 1, Bathsheba, Book of Ruth, Genesis 38, LGBTIQ, matthew 1:1-17, Queer People, Rahab, Ruth, scare campaigns, Tamar, transgender, Year of Matthew
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