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Celebrating The Transfiguration just before Lent reminds us that the fully human one – Jesus who fully enters our life and struggles and will experience the reality of violence and death - is also the fully divine one.  A being who shines with holy light. It is as though for a moment the full nature of Jesus is revealed so that we might know who he was and who we are called to become. No one less that God’s fullness has come to dwell with us in the ruins of our individual and

If we are indeed to become salt of the earth and a light on a hill we need to locate ourselves in the tradition of justice and mercy, right action and compassion, that the prophets spoke so challengingly about. (Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. Matthew 5:13-20; Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12); Psalm 112:1-10; and 1 Corinthians 2:1-12.) Sentence:  “Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break

Still in the season of Epiphany - the season of seeing and feeling how the coming of the light is both a beacon of hope and a disturber of those who do not want change or righteousness or mercy to come - still the readings come that speak into our conflicted experience at this time. (Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. Matthew 5:1-12; Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; and 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.) Sentence: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us wh

Many of us have heard, or even preached, a stirring message on being called to discipleship based on these texts (Third Sunday after Epiphany. Matthew 4:12-23; Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27; and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18.). Mostly suggesting that it is personal darkness and sin that we are called out of. And yes, many persons have found the light in response to being called and answering that call. And many more individuals are still in need of the light and repentance and redemption. B

At this precarious moment in history it is comforting and challenging to be reminded that we are called into partnership with Christ. (Second Sunday after Epiphany. John 1:29-42; Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-11; and 1 Corinthians 1:1-9.) So often we hear the story of being called as about beginnings, the moment we first hear our name called. Which for many of us was an exciting moment – and may generations to come also feel the excitement and respond – but now we find ourselves

In the blink of an eye, a turn of the page, one Sunday to the next, we move from acknowledging the arrival of the magi and their kingly gifts for the baby, and turn to celebrating the Baptism and commissioning of Jesus as a mature and fully formed preacher, healer and saviour! (Baptism of our Lord. Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; and Matthew 3:13-17.) And the theme of disturbance that we explored last week continues this week. Last week we considered the disturbance t

Happy New Year. Happy Epiphany. And Merry Christmas – as it is still Christmastide until January 6th, the actual date for Epiphany and the traditional end of Christmas as we remember the magi arriving with their gifts for the Christ child. (Epiphany. Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; and Matthew 2:15-21.) There is a lot going on in our readings and probably in our hearts and minds as we continue to enjoy Christmas and all its joys, as we start another new

Love was born long ago in Bethlehem. The love of God was born in an unlikely place, at an unlikely time, to unlikely parents.  Love is always seeking to be born among us and within us. And we need love to come more than ever into our tired world.  If you are wanting to celebrate Christmas Eve you may wish to read this. We have come to believe that Christmas should be a wonder filled time of unbridled joy, peace, hope and love. And I do hope that you have had Christmases like

To speak of joy while keeping company with imprisoned John the Baptiser seems too great a stretch of the heart (and very un-Christmas like!) and yet this is where the season of Advent and faith leads us! (Advent Three. Isaiah 35:1-10; Matthew 11:2-11) For if joy is more than holiday happiness (nothing wrong with happiness but it is very fleeting!) then joy is also for those who are limping from exile to home, and those who are reflecting on their life in prison. Sentence: “An

At this moment in history, as many times before, we can identify with the yearning and hope for a world of justice and mercy. The words of Isaiah, the psalmist, and St Paul all stir that longing for a world that lives as creatures of the Living God. And we also quicken with recognition of the need for the prophet John the Baptists words that cut through whatever disguise and distraction we may have colluded with! Sentence: “This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke whe

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Emmanuel, God with us, in which we prepare our hearts to both receive the Christ and to birth God in our own time and situation. In Year A of the lectionary we explore the story of the coming of the Christ Child according to the gospel of Matthew.  In the busyness of our world, especially in the lead up to Christmas, it can be very hard to enter into the spacious uncertainty, the yearning and desperate need for a saviour, and