Category: sermon

Luke | Where God’s word comes

The word of God comes to the one who relinquishes privilege and works for justice. (Listen here.)

Once upon a time, long, long ago, I lived in America. My mother was a pastor, and she had been called as parish minister by the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, DC. First Baptist had once been Harry Truman’s church, then Jimmy Carter’s. Older members had fond memories of President Carter teaching Sunday School up in the balcony, protected from sniper shots by a vast stone pillar

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John | Revelation at Armageddon

Military violence never ends, whereas Jesus’ way of nonretaliation leads to a true and lasting peace. (Listen here.)

To get to Armageddon, known in Hebrew as ‘Megiddo’, we drive past an airfield. Our Israeli guide tells us about the Syrian fighter pilot who defected there in 1989. He was flying a Soviet-made MIG-23. The plane provided Israel with valuable intelligence, adding to what was already one of the most sophisticated military forces on earth.

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Mark | The widow’s gift

In a nation living with the legacy of a powerful church, the widow’s gift offers a way forward. (Listen here.)

Many years ago, a student Christian group I knew ran a community lunch in the borrowed hall of a local church. A few had left fundamentalist congregations, and were haunted by vivid depictions of a vengeful God, a burning hell, and a faith built on fear and control. Another had left a church whose senior pastor had unchecked power, and was on a mission to destroy.

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Job | On suffering and shimmering joy

Suffering is indiscriminate, but then again, so is joy. (Listen here).

There is a story in the gospel according to John which begins like this: Jesus was walking along when he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Teacher, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ These days, we’re not quite so quick to blame people for being differently abled or ill. And yet when my mother, Ruth, had multiple sclerosis, I lost count of the number of people who became frustrated, even angry, with her.

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Genesis | Abraham and the teacher trees

An invitation to connect with the earth. (Listen here).

Down by the river, on a gentle bend, there is a quiet spot. You can rest there awhile and listen to the water rippling. If you turn your gaze to the sky, you will see branches. They corkscrew around, twisting and turning, bending and bowing in response to each other so that every leaf on every branch has its own space. No tree is crowding another, for they are crown-shy.

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Corinthians | Without friction, no fragrance

Some people want church to be a super-comfortable shelter from the world: but without friction, no fragrance! Listen here.

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed on a Christian radio program. When the host asked me about my childhood, I said that it had been church all the way, for which I was (now) incredibly grateful. The host told me he had also grown up in the church and said it was a great blessing ‘having a sheltered upbringing and a peaceful home life and all that sort of thing …’

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Mark, Isaiah | Raising her voice

A friend encouraged me to re-preach an oldie, but you can never quite do the same thing twice. So here’s the oldie, changed to reflect recent news events and some fresh weirdness in my life. Listen here. Given to Coburg Uniting Church on 8 September 2024.

‘If you don’t raise your voice, it is unlikely that anyone will hear you,’ wrote Malala, the Afghani girl who was shot by the Taliban simply for going to school. Yet last month, the women of Afghanistan had their voices completely silenced. ‘They must not sing or read aloud in public, nor let their voices carry beyond the walls of their homes,’ reports The Guardian. Why? Because every woman’s voice is now deemed to be ‘a potential instrument of vice.’

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Vision Christian Radio | Sunday Morning Breakfast program

In the weirdness that has become my life, I co-hosted this morning’s Sunday Morning Together program with Vision Christian Radio. You can listen here.

On the plus side, they invited ME. I got to talk about some moments in my life journey, and also preach and lead communion. But if you’re wondering why I didn’t mention ministry, of course I did. However, citing Paul (‘We no longer live under the requirements of the law, but under the freedom of God’s grace’ and  ‘Christ is the only justification anyone needs’) then naming that LGBTQ+ folk were part of Sanctuary was deemed too offensive, and so the entire section about my ministry was removed prior to broadcast. To which I say: People – if your faith is so fragile that you cannot even HEAR that LGBTQ+ people are part of a church, then perhaps you need to rethink your faith. Ω

Revelation | So much better than you think!

Revelation can be read to judge and exclude … but what if it’s not like that at all? Listen here. A reflection on Revelation 6:1-8:1 given to the Vietnamese Evangelical Church of Australia (English language service) on 28 July 2024.

A couple years ago, I met a young woman on a train. I was quietly reading my Bible, trying to be discreet, but she noticed and began asking questions. Gradually our conversation unfolded, and what I learned was this: She was South Sudanese. Her family had fled that long and terrible war, and eventually found asylum in Australia.

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Samuel | Joining the sacred dance

The dance of the liturgy heals and transforms us: but to receive its gifts, we must participate. Listen here.

One of my happiest childhood memories were church barn dances. Once or twice a year on a Saturday night, we’d gather in the hall with a dance caller and bush band, and off we’d go with a do-se-do and twirl your partner! People of all ages skipped and galloped, wove and spun, stumbling and laughing and moving down the reel.

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