Tag: repentance

Luke | Mind the gap!

On fancy backpacks, merino briefs, and the responsibilities of the global rich. (Listen here.)

A few  years ago, my colleague Rev Nguyễn Hữu Trí took a group of young people on a trip to Vietnam. They planned to visit Christian communities aligned with factory workers, street kids and people addicted to heroin, both to build connections and to witness the gospel being embodied in these contexts. As Trí tells it, the young people turned up at the airport decked out in brand new gear purchased especially for the trip. And so off they went with their bright new backpacks, ergonomic walking shoes, high tech breathable fabrics and versatile layering options to encounter Vietnam’s poor.

Continue reading “Luke | Mind the gap!” →

Romans | Ruth and the body of Christ

On flea bombs, sick kids, old wardrobes, the Grim Reaper – and resurrection life! (Listen here.)

Hi, I’m Alison, and I’m the daughter of a dynamo! My mother, Ruth Sampson, was a pastor of this church in the 1970’s and 80’s. She was energetic, dynamic, well remembered by many, yet she is long gone. In her absence, I’ve been asked to talk about her contributions, both at Box Hill Baptist and elsewhere in that era, and to draw out some points for your future.

Continue reading “Romans | Ruth and the body of Christ” →

Luke | Three invitations into joy

Maybe the lost are not always the people we assume. (Listen here.)

‘Would you like a drink?’ I asked our friend Carl. ‘No thanks,’ he said. ‘Is that an Anglo no, or a Lebanese no?’ I asked. Our friend Carl is from a Lebanese family. In Lebanon, if someone offers you a drink, it is the height of rudeness to say yes straightaway. It might be 36 degrees, you might have walked across Beirut to get there, you might be so dry your tongue is sticking to the roof of your mouth. But you graciously say no, giving your host the opportunity to demonstrate their generous hospitality by offering again, and again, and again. By the sixth time, you can finally say ‘Yes, actually, now I come to think of it, and in response to your exquisite hospitality, perhaps I could manage a small drink!’ Then your host pours you a long cool glass of something refreshing, and hovers at the ready to refill it.

Continue reading “Luke | Three invitations into joy” →

Matthew | What must I do?

‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ the young man asked in Matthew 19. These days, you might hear it phrased as, ‘How do I get into heaven?’ The answers come cascading down. Believe this, live that way, and don’t, whatever you do, act gay. But what was Jesus’ reply? Keep the commandments, more specifically reject murder, rape, theft and lies. Honour elders. Love your neighbours in this world now … Read here.

A reflection on the closure of the School of Indigenous Studies and, by implication, the church in this land more generally, written for Zadok Perspectives one year on from the referendum and featured on the Ethos blog. Image shows graffiti of Aboriginal flag at Camperdown Memorial Rest Park at Wiki Commons. Graffiti artist unknown.

Genesis | Abram: Our ancestor-colonizer

The story of Abram points to a more just settlement, paving the way to Voice and Treaty. (Listen.)

Leave your country, your kin, and your ancestral home, you poverty-stricken Cornishfolk, for a land which I will show you. It’s the colony of South Australia, Burra to be precise; and it needs people like you to chop down trees and lay out farms and work the mines and subdue the earth. Continue reading “Genesis | Abram: Our ancestor-colonizer” →

Place | Botanic Gardens | Peek Whurrong country

They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone. They were afraid, because … (Mark 16:8)

Easter morning 2020. Pre-dawn, Peek Whurrong country. A group of women appears, walking; one carries a bag with liturgical supplies. One by one, cars roll up, park, and turn off their lights. Figures emerge, hard to see in the shadows. Voices are hushed as people pick their way towards the nature play area, flitting between shadows and trees. Continue reading “Place | Botanic Gardens | Peek Whurrong country” →

Place | Industrial estate | Peek Whurrong country

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now … (Romans 8:22) + And straightaway the spirit drove him out into the wilderness. (Mark 1:12) 

We often think of the wilderness like a modern day national park, that is, somewhere without people. But this is a colonial view. Whether it’s the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Perizzites or the many peoples of the Eastern Maar nation, saying any land is empty erases the Indigenous peoples who have always walked and tended the earth; it is an act of genocide; it forgets that even national parks have been violently emptied. Continue reading “Place | Industrial estate | Peek Whurrong country” →

Place | Mount Noorat | Kirrae Whurrung country

Those who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall soar on wings like eagles. (Isaiah 40:31)

I took myself up Mt Noorat, one of the many sleeping volcanoes dotted around the landscape. Perhaps you know this walk: the stroll past eucalyptus trees; the short stiff climb to the first lookout for a quick breather. Then the scramble up the next slope and over the stile, and a longer pause at the top to catch your breath and look to Terang, Mt Leura, the plains stretched out like a vast undulating blanket. Then the rolling walk around the rim, as peeping birds flit around the grassy slopes and the wind whistles and sings. Continue reading “Place | Mount Noorat | Kirrae Whurrung country” →

Ezekiel | Dem dry colonial bones

A reflection for white settlers living on stolen land. (Listen.)

It’s tempting to reflect on the bones. The massacre site that is now a fast food restaurant just a couple of blocks from Sanctuary. The bones which still wash up from time to time on the beach near Peterborough. The babies’ bones buried six feet under at the missions. The bones which were scattered throughout the landscape, left to rot in every lake, valley and hollow, left lying in the paddocks to dry out in the sun. It’s tempting to focus on the bones: because our history and geography are studded with other people’s bones. Continue reading “Ezekiel | Dem dry colonial bones” →

Place | Scar tree | Djab Wurrung country

We are always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)

When my mum was disabled by MS, I lost count of the number of good Christian folk who demanded to know whether we had ‘tried prayer’ to cure her. Now that I have my own health wobbles, I sometimes find it hard not to blame myself. The pernicious thoughts sneak in: ‘Is this the result of unhealthy choices? Too much stress? A lack of prayer?’ Never for anyone else, mind; just for myself. Continue reading “Place | Scar tree | Djab Wurrung country” →

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