Tag: interfaith

Genesis | Isaac, Ishmael and the Red Menace

If God is as big as we claim, there is no scarcity in God at all.

In her recent address to the National Press Club, the Red Menace rolled out her usual poison about Islam. She reiterated a bunch of frightened and frightening tropes about Muslims. She claimed that Western civilisation and its values are under siege. She blamed migrants for shortfalls in housing and social cohesion. She insisted that Australia must be a monocultural society. And in all this, she reminded me of our ancestor Sarah.

Continue reading “Genesis | Isaac, Ishmael and the Red Menace” →

Genesis | The joint inheritance

Can a common story offer hope? (Listen here.)

‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household, and go to the land that I will show you… ’ says God to Abram. ‘I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed by you … To your descendants I will give this land.’ Then Abram entered the land with some process of negotiation and treaty. However, from the time of Joshua right up until last week in the White House, these same words have been used to justify driving people out.

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Acts | Eating out-of-bounds: The culture of God

Listen here.

Tonight we have a great story about food: and it makes me wonder: Who do you eat with? But first, the story. As a Jewish man, Peter will not eat certain foods; but in a vision God shows him all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds, and tells him to kill and eat. And as prawn-cracker-crunching pork-chop-eating Gentile followers of Jesus, it’s easy for us to roll our eyes and say, Well, duh!! But we can only say “duh!” because we are beneficiaries of Peter’s response to this vision. For while he is still pondering what he has seen, he is invited to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. On the basis of the vision, Peter the Jew accepts. Continue reading “Acts | Eating out-of-bounds: The culture of God” →

Genesis | Ishmael, Isaac, and the shared inheritance

God’s blessings extend to everyone. (Listen here.)

If you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘Biblical family values’ and thought this means one mum, one dad, a couple of kids, and everybody being nice to each other, then the story we just heard should rock you to the core. For here we have the father of our faith, Abraham, being bossed around by his feisty wife Sarah. She is insisting that he send his beloved older son into the wilderness. Years ago, she had arranged for Abraham to sleep with her personal slave, Hagar, and conceive this boy. Now, however, she has her own son, and so the other boy has become a threat. For God had promised Abraham a blessing: land, wealth, and descendants. From him would come a great nation—and Sarah didn’t want to share. Continue reading “Genesis | Ishmael, Isaac, and the shared inheritance” →

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