Reflections from the belly
In a world racked by climate change, we need the wisdom of custodians. (Listen.)
This week, following the hottest, driest September on record, out-of-control bushfires have been raging in Victoria. Fires are also burning in New South Wales and Tasmania. Regions of New South Wales have been declared an extreme fire danger zone; and some regions of Victoria which were burning this week were flooded the very next day. Continue reading “Matthew | Called to be custodians”
It takes a special sort of energy to plant something new; now it’s time for me to move on.
I recently heard a wonderful story. Words from Sanctuary had sparked an awareness in someone in another congregation that, even if things don’t come out the way we want or plan, ‘if God has anything to do with it, there will be new life, new friends, and plenty of justice and joy.’ She read those sentences over and over again, to herself, to her husband and even to their prayer group. For her husband was preparing for a driving assessment, and very anxious about it he was. And indeed, despite all his practice and prayer, the assessor concluded that it was no longer safe for him to drive and his licence could not be renewed. Continue reading “Church | Jesus, now lead on”
Sometimes, you gotta fight for a blessing; sometimes, it’ll cost you. (Listen.)
A few weeks ago, I organised and hosted a ministers’ gathering. Near the end of the session, one of the ministers suddenly went on a rant about the failings of the church in the West. The church is collapsing, he said, because of the blurring of gender roles that began in the 1960’s and continues to this day. And there was I, sitting in a room full of men with my boots and jeans, close cropped hair, zero make up, and not a floral in sight—and all the authority which was conferred upon me through the rite of ordination (which in Baptistland is, admittedly, not much). Continue reading “Genesis | Striving with God and men”
Jesus embodies ancient hopes for justice, nonviolence, and peace between all peoples. As people grafted into this righteous branch, we must embody these qualities, too. (Listen.)
So it’s Advent: a paradoxical time-slip in which we look forward to the coming of the one who was born, and lived, and died, and was raised, and lives among us now. It’s a time of anticipating more than ever God’s kingdom come. It’s a time of hopeful expectation of a world turned rightside up, a world where love and justice reign, and vulnerable people are raised up, and the arrogant are cast down. Continue reading “Jeremiah & Isaiah | A tender shoot of love and justice”
Esther shows that when insecure fools are in charge, even the most disempowered person may trigger a radical policy reversal. (Listen.)
Esther is not a love story; it’s a story about powerful men. Esther is not a love story; it’s a story of faithfulness and courage. Esther is not a love story; it’s a story about the hiddenness of God. And yet ‘love story’, even ‘beauty pageant’, is the interpretation of Esther that many of us were taught. So today, we’re going to blow that reading out of the water: then we’ll look more closely at what it’s really about. Continue reading “Esther | Esther, empire and the hiddenness of God”
The church is the body of Christ, and so it is our joy to be broken and shared to feed a hungry world. (Listen.)
Do you feed on success, or achievement, or excellence? How about winning, or seeing your team or country win? Do you feed on other people’s approval or praise or pity or love? Do you feed on wealth and power, or being followed on social media? What about the dopamine hit of other people’s ‘likes’? Do you feed on beauty? Do you feed on titbits of gossip, or righteous anger or outrage? Do you need to win every argument? Do you feed on being needed? Do you feed on your wounds? What do you feed on? Continue reading “John | With Christ as our centre and source, we too become bread”
Jesus exorcises voices of family, church and society. A metaphorical mix up of demons, dwellings, and healing. Note: Beelzebul is the demon king, and also the demon of the dwelling place. (Listen.)
When I first introduced the man who was to become my husband to my extended family, not one but two different people said to me, “Wow! We never thought you’d meet anyone, let alone a Collins Street lawyer.” Never mind that my husband’s office was on Queen Street; the message was clear. All my life I’d been told by family, church and society that no man wanted an outspoken wife. I was insightful, articulate, prophetic, forceful: great qualities in a man or, perhaps, a celibate single professional woman. But if I wanted to ‘catch’ a good husband, I would need to dumb down and shut up, because the person God had made me to be was unattractive and unlovable, and would make a dreadful wife and mother. Continue reading “Mark | The strongest one”
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth … From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. (John 1:14, 16)
When I was in training, I encountered many theories about what a pastor is and does. Nouns flew around: shepherd, leader, manager. Verbs, too: healing, guiding, sustaining, reconciling. Sometimes it sounded like I was supposed to be a CEO; other times, a badly trained therapist; still other times, a salesperson for the gospel. I was told to work out where I fit in the APEST model—apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd-pastor or teacher—and was told, simultaneously, that the church has no need for pastors or teachers these days. I explored Biblical metaphors—struggling Jacob, raging Jonah, and Simon’s mother-in-law, whose healing led to ministry—but the powers that be told me these reflections were irrelevant, even faintly ridiculous.
‘There are no final proofs for the existence of God; there are only witnesses.’ Abraham Joshua Heschel. (Listen.)
Like you, like me, John was not the light. Instead, he was sent as a witness to testify to the light which is the life of the world, and he does this in three movements: through his identification with Scripture; through particular activities; and through grounded self-knowledge. Before we hear somebody else’s witness, let’s take a closer look. Continue reading “John | Witnesses to the light”
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?”
Alison and the whale 