Christ is always stretching the boundaries beyond what we can comprehend, and his ascension stretches his presence to encompass even what seem to us to be his absence.
Seeking and Sharing the Fullness of Life
Seeking and Sharing the Fullness of Life
Sermons on Resurrection
We mostly don’t see ourselves as either terrible sinners or as gloriously Christ-like, but in the resurrection we are called to fully imagine both as world-changing truths.
Jesus calls us to a Resurrection Imagination, praying for courage and discernment on how to use your resources until the dream of a world where there are no poor among us is fulfilled.
It is in the midst of our tears that we discover that Jesus is not dead, but more alive than ever.
Christian hope is rooted in suffering that does not remain unanswered. God answers in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ensuring that everything will not only be fine, it will be better.
Like the Emmaus travellers, Jesus calls us to pay attention to what is happening in these strange times, to what makes our hearts burn within us, and so to be changed ready to live differently.
Jesus’s encounter with Thomas and the first disciples can show us a thing or two about living under lockdown and hoping for a miracle to save us.
As Woody Allen said, 90% of success is just showing up, and in the resurrection, Jesus really shows up!
Jesus leads the way towards a new experience of life that is so utterly alive that death is powerless to threaten, limit or constrain it.
The COVID-19 scare can reinforce our Lenten call to prepare our hearts by facing up to our mortality and the real limits of our control over the world.
There are plenty of reasons to despair of the future, but Jeremiah and Jesus show us a pathway of hope that overcomes despair.
The new humanity formed in the death and resurrection of Jesus speaks a language of love and compassion that transcends linguistic and cultural differences and celebrates unity in diversity.
In Christ’s ascension onto the mysterious cloud, we are gathered together into his mysterious presence.
We have been drawn into an unstoppable rumour that keeps interrupting the dominant story of fear, hostility and death.
By lifting us out our enthralment to evil and death, Jesus sets us free from all that corrupts us and opens us to share real life with him.
When we expected to be shamed as we have shamed others, we are shocked and saved by the unexpected mercy of the crucified and risen Jesus.
There is no neat finish to the Jesus story, because it is far from over. The risen Jesus is always ahead of us, calling us to follow and live the next chapter.
In a world infested by terror and fear, Jesus tells us that becoming the victims of that world is not nearly as dangerous as becoming part of it.
Following Jesus has nothing to do with trying to be good. His love and hope are gifts, rather than demands, and they free us to love and hope freely.
Meeting us on the road of despair, Jesus reveals to us that suffering and defeat are God’s means of bringing new life and hope.