The risen Christ confronts us with both the gruesome consequences of our violence and the terrifying shock of grace.
The death of Christ strips us bare, but in his resurrection we are clothed in Christ and become participants in his resurrection life.
God will do great things with us, but will not impose them on us, so we have to relinquish control before God brings about the growth we crave.
Violence must be a constant temptation for God, but in absolute love, God has vowed never to resort to it.
In Jesus, God is calling us to see and hear a gospel that takes us beyond rule making and sacred violence.
God’s new culture of forgiveness is entered by faith, and sometimes it is even vicarious faith.
The gospel calls us on a road to healing and wholeness, but its steps are so deceptively simple (which doesn’t mean easy) that we often don’t take them seriously and so don’t do them.
When we know ourselves as known by God, the demonic power of violent naming is broken and new life dawns.
In the encounter with Jesus, our self-delusion and our scapegoating are painfully exposed, but with the possibility of forgiveness and freedom.
After the big event of Christmas, it is faithfulness in our everyday living that produces growth and godliness.
In the nativity we see the light of living grace, in all its vulnerability, shining into the darkness of the world’s violence and divisiveness.
To those for whom the griefs of yesterday or the fear of tomorrow is just too much, come Lord Jesus.
In Advent, we wait to discern more carefully the One for whom we wait, and the One who waits for us.
Every relationship in the universe – between God and creation, between humans, and between humans and creation – is driven by three dynamics: justice, mercy and faith.
We are given gifts from God – faith, love and hope – to help us cope with all that is less than God – especially when ‘principalities and powers’ overwhelm us.
God longs to bless us in the land we have been given, but if we fail to live in faithfulness to the welcoming God, we will destroy ourselves and alienate ourselves from God’s blessing.
One of the implications of grace may be that instead of taking swords to the less good and pure, we learn to express the openness of God to the mixed bag of people who are on the journey with us.
We are called to stop defending ourselves and fighting off the intruders in the vineyard, but rather to welcome the spirit-sent opportunities that will demand of us, but will also change us.
God will open the way through the world’s chaos, and it will be grounded on extravagant mercy.
All of us, oppressed and powerful, are invited to act against violence and exploitation, to leave behind the oppressive ways and walk towards a new way of life.