In the violence and suffering that surround the Christmas story, we find the revelation of a God who does not inflict violence and suffering, but suffers violence to bring love and peace.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Matthew (Page 6)
In Joseph we see an impressive example of someone with the integrity and courage to embrace God’s new directions despite considerable personal cost.
Jesus Christ is the coming one who will fulfill the hopes and yearnings of the world, but we will imperil our faith and hope if we keep trying to set the agendas for him.
God’s visions of the future are often dismissed as unrealistic because our limited vision causes us to expect only more of the same.
In Christ, God is made manifest to the world as King, Light and Lover.
It is in our woundedness, this woundedness we try to avoid and would rather not acknowledge, that we find our identity as the body of Christ, our identity as the church.
The feeling of distance and separation from God – which we all feel – is perception not reality… it is the fruit of our fear and our holding-back.
Joseph models a courageous willingness to be stripped of his sense of entitlement that he might become all God wanted him to be.
In our desire to see mercy and compassion expressed for the needy, we must beware of falling into desiring the exact opposite for those who have not shown mercy and compassion.
You cannot serve two masters; for a slave will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.
Our readiness to welcome and celebrate Christ is integral to his becoming present and active among us.
Jesus does not burden us with crippling moral expectations, but humbly takes our burdens on himself and frees us to relax into the life of God.
As we gather with the saints of all times to worship the crucified victim, we are immersed in a culture that is so at odds with the values of this world that those who truly embrace it just appear odd for now, but strangely and alluringly familiar too.
We are invited to work towards visions of God’s reign, knowing we will never be entirely successful, but sustained by imagining the possibilities.
There are many stories in the Bible that can appear to portray God as involved in terrorist acts, but Jesus invites us to read them in new ways.
We pray for our neighbours to be blessed, but could we actually be being called to give a blessing?
God’s grace is so extravagant that it will offend us as long as we are measuring our worth in comparison to others.
What would happen if violence were met with bread, with blankets, with hospitals, with forgiveness of debts?
Christ is present to us in love, unity and reconciliation, and thus these are essential to our worship.
Faith is a gift created in us as Jesus shows us that the pathway of courageous love and self-sacrifice is not impossible to walk.