There is a fundamental culture clash between those who put their trust in God and those who pursue wealth, comfort and celebrity.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Wisdom
Jesus carries and embodies the Biblical tradition of wisdom, calling us to let go of our self-focussed lives and expand into new lives of wisdom, love and compassion.
The world finds the message of Jesus almost incomprehensible because it seems too simplistic and unrealistic to be taken seriously.
We live in uncertain times, unsure of the future shape of the church, but Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to us, not to give us certainty, but to guide and sustain us in the uncertainty.
Much traditional morality is based on the idea of separation into binary categories, good and bad, but the Bible also points a path towards a liberating non-binary future in God.
After horrendous suffering and loss, the most courageous and ultimately transformative response is to reinvest in life and love with passion and hope.
The beginning of wisdom, the entry onto the road that leads to life, is reverence for God, which shapes our character and therefore our lives.
Science, theology and reason can often lead to a sound set of ethical behavioural conclusions which then need to be set aside because, in reality, love demands something else.
God has hung a star in our sky, and called us to follow it to the Christ child, who will receive the gifts that we bring and we will return changed to our homes.
Both the Biblical law and traditional Aboriginal lore tell us to “Care for Country and Country will care for you” but much of the time, profit and greed is put before caring for creation.
Extravagant devotion to the crucified Christ is the foundation of our compassion and care for other victims of the world’s callousness.
When we detach from things, God comes to fill or possess us by God’s Spirit, and suddenly the world is full of life once more.
Advent is a time of deep paradox, a season that speaks to the reality of our world and calls us to be awake.
Any political wisdom which has lost touch with the values revealed to us in the character of God is on the road to disaster. It is not wisdom at all; it is just the mouthings of wealth and power.
God calls us to detach, to empty ourselves of desire, to die with Christ, so that we may truly welcome Christ when he returns to his appointed home in our hearts and souls.
The beatitudes proclaim God’s preferential love for the poor and challenge us to rethink our own dependence on financial security.