Sermon notes
Service Notes for Jan. 20th
Do you remember the first picture of earth from space? Not the one we more commonly see of the whole earth, but the black and white ‘earth-rise’ over the moon. Hard to remember now but that moment was quite a reality check as humanity realised the fragility of our home. It was a moment of awe, but maybe also trepidation. It was a defining moment, when our perspective changed forever.
When John the Baptist began to preach, this was quite a ’reality check’ for Jews. They were called to repent, and they were offered baptism, a ritual normally reserved for converts. The choice made would be a ‘defining moment’ in each life. So too for Jesus! He chose to step forward, and had that choice affirmed by a descending dove and a heavenly voice. Nothing could be the same again!
As we pray this week for Christian Unity, it’s worth reflecting that in the last few years the Church has faced a reality check— we can no longer assume our faith to be the dominant force it was; we can no longer resource ourselves as we did; looking for uniformity no longer relevant. So what do we pray for? Not for uniting of churches, though that may happen, but for a willingness together to be the Servant Church in each local area. This is our defining moment. Will we respond to our ‘reality check’ and our ‘defining moment’?
***********************************************
SERVICE NOTES—Readings Exodus 32:1-2 and 7-11 and Matthew 8:1-12
Have you ever come back from a really good day out—a mountain-top experience—to find yourself amidst some family crisis?
Our readings today are about Moses and Jesus coming down from the mountain, and getting caught up immediately in the realities of life. In Moses’ case he finds the people of Israel have made an idol and are worshipping it. God is angry and Moses has to intercede for the people until God relents and doesn’t punish them.
Jesus returns from preaching the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ to find crowds waiting for him for healing and he heals a leper, the Centurion’s servant, and then Peter’s mother-in-law.
In January I talked about the book I’d read (Christmas Stories by Borg and Crossan) which had highlighted the particular emphases in Matthew’s Gospel, i.e. that Jesus is presented as the second Moses; and that it’s a story about the Clash of Two Kingdoms.
When Matthew presents us with the Sermon on the Mount this is thus intended as a parallel to Moses receiving the Law on the mountain and then presenting it to the people. While Moses comes down to controversy, Jesus creates the controversy on his return by showing compassion to some of the most despised and inferior people of his time. Touching a leper made him ritually unclean; even speaking to a Roman soldier, let alone thinking of going to his house, made him a ‘collaborator’; and giving such care to a woman was just diverting attention from those who deserved it (the men!). However, Jesus was doing what Moses did i.e. standing between God and the people, interceding for them.
The clash of earthly kingdoms and the kingdom of God is seen to be developing in these readings. Such a demonstration of indiscriminate compassion is a threat to the both the occupying political power and those religious people who had become so over-zealous for their faith that they too seek ‘peace’ through victory rather than the true peace brought through justice.
Jesus, the second Moses, stands between the anger of God and the sins of the people, but also stands between the love of God and the pain of the people.
**********************************************
Service Notes for Feb. 17th
Today’s service draws together readings and prayers on the theme of journeys and choices. Abram and Sarai, having settled in Haran, some 500 miles from their home town of Ur, are challenged to move on almost as far again, even though they were at a time in life when they would hardly expect to be moving (Gen. 12:1-4).
Also travelling towards the ‘Promised Land’ were the Israelites led by Moses. They were challenged (probably repeatedly!) to ‘choose life’ and reject the temptation to despair on the long journey (Deut. 30:15-20).
Jesus travelled in the wilderness and was tempted—not to despair but to give in to expected ways of doing things. Should he go for the ‘quick fix’, or the magic mode, or the power trip? Of course, he chose none of those but rather the way of the so called Beatitudes, Jesus’ guidance to us in choosing our whole attitude and approach to life (Matt.5:3-10). Aren’t the most significant choices we make those about the underlying direction in life rather than every day practical decisions
*****************************************
Service Notes for March 2nd(adapted from Traidcraft resources for Fairtrade Fortnight).
The story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11) shows three aspects of Jesus’ approach to people:
To those who brought her he says: ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’. It’s so easy to condemn others whilst actually ignoring our own sin. In fact we may be condemning the other person’s sin precisely because we are hiding from our own—’the pot calling the kettle black!’.
Jesus forgives the woman, showing compassion and refusing to judge her. If we are to follow his example, we need to soften our hearts towards the hurting world around us.
Jesus says to her: ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’. She was expected to change her lifestyle as a result of this encounter. If we have truly met with God, then we should expect our lives to change.
****************************************
Notes for Easter Day
We come to the empty tomb in the company of three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary mothre of James, and Salome (Mark 16:1). As Roy Gillett portrays them in the drama heard today, each comes with a particular view of the event:
Mary Magdalene is in denial; she refuses to believe that Jesus has died.
Mary Mother of James is a realist: she knows he died, so he's dead and that's it;
Salome also knows he died, but thingks he would come back if he could.
Each of them can teach us something about our response, as Christians, to the Easter story, and how we can share it with non Christians.
None of them understands until they met with the risen, living Jesus - and that's just as true today.
*********************************************
Service Notes for April 13th
The Epistle, I Peter 2:19-25, contains words of encouragement for those who are suffering. Peter exhorts them to follow the example of Jesus.
The readings today speak of Jesus both as Good Shepherd, and as the Lamb that was slain. The former is a comforting idea, the latter not at all! It brings us to the theme of Sacrifice, one of the ‘Windows’ on the Cross.
Animal sacrifice is abhorrent to us, but basically it was about repairing and sustaining the relationship with God. Relationships are sustained by giving and sharing food.
Giving—in one form of sacrifice the best of the flock was brought as a gift to God, and burned on the altar. The smoke symbolised communication between earth and heaven.
Sharing a meal—in another form of sacrifice the animal’s blood was poured on the altar and the animal returned to the giver for a feast.
Use of the word sacrifice today is usually about self-giving for a cause. Jesus became vulnerable because he was passionate about the ‘cause’ of the Kingdom of God, which is a Kingdom of love and justice. He became the gift we should have given in response to the love of God. He became the sacred feast to which all are invited.
In the past Peter’s words about enduring pain while suffering unjustly (verse 19) have been used to keep people in submission, but have also inspired people like Martin Luther King to acts of self-giving and passive resistance that have set the oppressed free.
Do you remember the first picture of earth from space? Not the one we more commonly see of the whole earth, but the black and white ‘earth-rise’ over the moon. Hard to remember now but that moment was quite a reality check as humanity realised the fragility of our home. It was a moment of awe, but maybe also trepidation. It was a defining moment, when our perspective changed forever.
When John the Baptist began to preach, this was quite a ’reality check’ for Jews. They were called to repent, and they were offered baptism, a ritual normally reserved for converts. The choice made would be a ‘defining moment’ in each life. So too for Jesus! He chose to step forward, and had that choice affirmed by a descending dove and a heavenly voice. Nothing could be the same again!
As we pray this week for Christian Unity, it’s worth reflecting that in the last few years the Church has faced a reality check— we can no longer assume our faith to be the dominant force it was; we can no longer resource ourselves as we did; looking for uniformity no longer relevant. So what do we pray for? Not for uniting of churches, though that may happen, but for a willingness together to be the Servant Church in each local area. This is our defining moment. Will we respond to our ‘reality check’ and our ‘defining moment’?
***********************************************
SERVICE NOTES—Readings Exodus 32:1-2 and 7-11 and Matthew 8:1-12
Have you ever come back from a really good day out—a mountain-top experience—to find yourself amidst some family crisis?
Our readings today are about Moses and Jesus coming down from the mountain, and getting caught up immediately in the realities of life. In Moses’ case he finds the people of Israel have made an idol and are worshipping it. God is angry and Moses has to intercede for the people until God relents and doesn’t punish them.
Jesus returns from preaching the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ to find crowds waiting for him for healing and he heals a leper, the Centurion’s servant, and then Peter’s mother-in-law.
In January I talked about the book I’d read (Christmas Stories by Borg and Crossan) which had highlighted the particular emphases in Matthew’s Gospel, i.e. that Jesus is presented as the second Moses; and that it’s a story about the Clash of Two Kingdoms.
When Matthew presents us with the Sermon on the Mount this is thus intended as a parallel to Moses receiving the Law on the mountain and then presenting it to the people. While Moses comes down to controversy, Jesus creates the controversy on his return by showing compassion to some of the most despised and inferior people of his time. Touching a leper made him ritually unclean; even speaking to a Roman soldier, let alone thinking of going to his house, made him a ‘collaborator’; and giving such care to a woman was just diverting attention from those who deserved it (the men!). However, Jesus was doing what Moses did i.e. standing between God and the people, interceding for them.
The clash of earthly kingdoms and the kingdom of God is seen to be developing in these readings. Such a demonstration of indiscriminate compassion is a threat to the both the occupying political power and those religious people who had become so over-zealous for their faith that they too seek ‘peace’ through victory rather than the true peace brought through justice.
Jesus, the second Moses, stands between the anger of God and the sins of the people, but also stands between the love of God and the pain of the people.
**********************************************
Service Notes for Feb. 17th
Today’s service draws together readings and prayers on the theme of journeys and choices. Abram and Sarai, having settled in Haran, some 500 miles from their home town of Ur, are challenged to move on almost as far again, even though they were at a time in life when they would hardly expect to be moving (Gen. 12:1-4).
Also travelling towards the ‘Promised Land’ were the Israelites led by Moses. They were challenged (probably repeatedly!) to ‘choose life’ and reject the temptation to despair on the long journey (Deut. 30:15-20).
Jesus travelled in the wilderness and was tempted—not to despair but to give in to expected ways of doing things. Should he go for the ‘quick fix’, or the magic mode, or the power trip? Of course, he chose none of those but rather the way of the so called Beatitudes, Jesus’ guidance to us in choosing our whole attitude and approach to life (Matt.5:3-10). Aren’t the most significant choices we make those about the underlying direction in life rather than every day practical decisions
*****************************************
Service Notes for March 2nd(adapted from Traidcraft resources for Fairtrade Fortnight).
The story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11) shows three aspects of Jesus’ approach to people:
To those who brought her he says: ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’. It’s so easy to condemn others whilst actually ignoring our own sin. In fact we may be condemning the other person’s sin precisely because we are hiding from our own—’the pot calling the kettle black!’.
Jesus forgives the woman, showing compassion and refusing to judge her. If we are to follow his example, we need to soften our hearts towards the hurting world around us.
Jesus says to her: ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’. She was expected to change her lifestyle as a result of this encounter. If we have truly met with God, then we should expect our lives to change.
****************************************
Notes for Easter Day
We come to the empty tomb in the company of three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary mothre of James, and Salome (Mark 16:1). As Roy Gillett portrays them in the drama heard today, each comes with a particular view of the event:
Mary Magdalene is in denial; she refuses to believe that Jesus has died.
Mary Mother of James is a realist: she knows he died, so he's dead and that's it;
Salome also knows he died, but thingks he would come back if he could.
Each of them can teach us something about our response, as Christians, to the Easter story, and how we can share it with non Christians.
None of them understands until they met with the risen, living Jesus - and that's just as true today.
*********************************************
Service Notes for April 13th
The Epistle, I Peter 2:19-25, contains words of encouragement for those who are suffering. Peter exhorts them to follow the example of Jesus.
The readings today speak of Jesus both as Good Shepherd, and as the Lamb that was slain. The former is a comforting idea, the latter not at all! It brings us to the theme of Sacrifice, one of the ‘Windows’ on the Cross.
Animal sacrifice is abhorrent to us, but basically it was about repairing and sustaining the relationship with God. Relationships are sustained by giving and sharing food.
Giving—in one form of sacrifice the best of the flock was brought as a gift to God, and burned on the altar. The smoke symbolised communication between earth and heaven.
Sharing a meal—in another form of sacrifice the animal’s blood was poured on the altar and the animal returned to the giver for a feast.
Use of the word sacrifice today is usually about self-giving for a cause. Jesus became vulnerable because he was passionate about the ‘cause’ of the Kingdom of God, which is a Kingdom of love and justice. He became the gift we should have given in response to the love of God. He became the sacred feast to which all are invited.
In the past Peter’s words about enduring pain while suffering unjustly (verse 19) have been used to keep people in submission, but have also inspired people like Martin Luther King to acts of self-giving and passive resistance that have set the oppressed free.