Reflections from the belly
A religious scholar, a wounded traveller, a Samaritan and two sisters walk into a kitchen … (Listen here.)
Some years ago, I attended a church which held a meal after the service. As a bunch of mostly women heated soup and sliced bread and as I set the table, a seated-as-usual woman said smugly to me, ‘I’m such a Mary. I always sit and listen to Jesus.’ Quite frankly, I wanted to slap her.
Continue reading “Luke | Mary and Martha, united”
Last week, a couple told me this story about their day. I loved it so much that, with their permission, I shaped it into a parable to share with you.
What is the kingdom of God like? With what shall I compare it? Perhaps … the kingdom is like an email about church finances. Buried in the text a woman discovers a pearl: ‘We trust in a God of infinite goodness and creativity, who can always find another way. It might not be the way we wanted or planned, but if God has anything to do with it, there will be new life, new friends, and plenty of justice and joy.’ Again and again she reads these sentences aloud, to herself and to her husband. Continue reading “Parable | The kingdom is like …”
Finding new metaphors for the kingdom for God. (Listen.)
What shall we say the kingdom of God is like? With what shall we compare it? Perhaps this: The kingdom of God is like a Facebook post with zero ‘likes.’ But somebody reads it and it takes root, nobody knows how. Gradually it grows, producing in them prayers and images and conversations and hope: and these seeds are shared abundantly. Some take root in other people, and so the post lives on. Continue reading “Mark | The parable universe”
Each year as we recreate our Cloud of Witnesses at All Saints, I am asked some version of, ‘Does my saint need to be Christian?’ Many of us have had significant friendships or encounters with non-Christians which have deepened our Christian faith. So, do these people count as ‘saints’? The short answer is, Yes! For the longer answer, read on.
Continue reading “Saints | Not every saint is a Christian (gasp!)”
Lindsay was a pillar of the church. He had been there for over fifty years, and was the longest-serving member. And he was a good and faithful servant. Every week, hours before anyone else arrived, he unlocked the building. He set out the chairs higgledy-piggledy, drew the curtains, and otherwise prepared for worship. Then someone else turned up and rearranged things just so.
Continue reading “Saints | Every church needs a saint like Lindsay”
Moses lives; Moses dies; but God’s story continues – and we are all invited to participate. (Listen.)
It’s the end of the road: Moses is dead. So let us remember him. He was born into slavery, slated for genocide, yet saved by brave midwives, his sister, and Pharaoh’s own daughter. He grew up to be nothing much, a shepherd and a fugitive, when God called him into service. And despite his reluctance, his anxiety, and his stutter, God used Moses to set the people free. Continue reading “Deuteronomy | What is your next step in God’s story of liberation?”
We are all called to be actors in God’s great story of salvation, reconciling people, land, culture, and even trees. (Listen.)
On the other side of Gariwerd, along the Western Highway, you’ll find a camp. It’s the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy. Elder Aunty Sandra Onus, Zellanach Djab Mara and others are there. They are protecting an 800-year-old birthing tree. They are protecting a 350-year-old directions tree. They are protecting 3,000 other trees: and by protecting these trees, they are protecting their dreaming. Continue reading “Exodus | Aunty Sandra Onus, Lidia Thorpe, and a pharaoh with no name”
In this current moment, despair feels natural: but we are only partway through a story, and the ending has not yet been written. (Listen.)
Young Joseph had it all. He was his father’s favourite, a spoiled brat. He was given a beautiful coat with long sleeves: because no one expected him to do any real work, anything which required him to roll his sleeves up. He had vivid dreams which showed he would one day be top of the heap, and he had God-given interpretive gifts. He was on the wide road to success, power, affirmation, acclaim. Continue reading “Genesis | Becoming prisoners of hope”
The urgency and adventure in Acts can feel daunting to a small young church – so, where are we up to in our story? (Listen.)
The adventures of Paul and Silas are so very dramatic. Shipwrecks. Exorcisms. Courtrooms. Preaching. Beatings. Jails. Earthquakes. Freedom. And people turning to faith wherever they go. There’s such an urgency and a power in their activity that, when we hear their stories, we might be tempted to look around at our little congregation, so young, so busy, so distracted, so tired, and throw up our hands. Where is the urgency? Where is the power? Where are the conversions and the parties into the night? Continue reading “Acts | A story of courage and freedom”
Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you.
You are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride;
you tenderly draw us from hatred and judgement;
you comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds;
you nurse us in sickness and feed us with pure milk. Continue reading “Mothering Jesus”
Alison and the whale 