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Sermon: Mark 10:17-31

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Sonia and I have both moved house a lot. Both previously to being married together, and since, we have moved home a lot of times. When you move a lot, you realise just how much “stuff” you have accumulated and you can get good at getting rid of things. I think I’m pretty ruthless with unnecessary stuff; trying not to let sentimentality drive the decision on whether a particular “thing” is something I need to take with me to the next house. I have a fairly straightforward principal that if I haven’t used that thing since the last move, then I ask myself “do I really need it?” But then there’s the books. I have quite a few books. And I find it really hard to part with them. I’ve accumulated them over many years and I find it very difficult to think of getting rid of any of them. As an academic, books aren’t just for reading, they are for reference, and so I hang on to them because there may come a day when I need to refer to them. Maybe that’s just optimism, or idealism, or me trying to
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Sermon: Numbers 11

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  Are you the type of person who shops at the same supermarket every time? Do you do a “weekly shop” or do you shop as you need to? Sonia and I will shop anywhere for the meal that is just before us. In fact, since we’ve been together, I’ve learned a fascinating thing about Sonia. She has in her mind a kind of “supermarket categorisation system.” From time to time, we’ll be considering what shopping is needed, and where we’ll go to get it, and she’ll respond with a comment like “that Woolworths at such-and-such a place is no good,” or, “that Coles is completely disorganised.” She factors in things like the layout, how good the selection is, the “vibe” of the place. For me, it comes down to practical matters like parking. Can we get in and out easily? What if it’s raining? We work together well and we like shopping and cooking together, but I have to say I don’t know the full extent of the supermarket categorisation system that exists in my wife’s mind. I’m also pretty sure it includes
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Sermon: Love One Another (John 15:20-26)

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A little over three years ago Sonia and I first walked into this parish. We were tired and broken, and we needed a new church home, but more than that we needed to be loved. Everyone welcomed us warmly. Victor took us out for coffee that week and we sat with him, just across the road in the shopping centre, and we told him our story. He listened attentively and, at the end of it all, he said to us, “I hope this will be a place of healing for you.” I will never forget the impact of those words. Nor will I forward the reality of that healing coming through being loved by this church family. I don’t have to look far at all to see a group of Christians fulfilling Christ’s command from our Gospel reading today, “love one another as I have loved you.” I have seen and experienced the love of God from you. I have sought to love you in return. A lot has changed in those three years. For us personally, but also for this church. This church has had 15 baptisms and 4 confirmations and receptions i
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Sermon: Numbers 21:4-9

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The Old Testament reading this week is an interesting passage. We have this story of the people of Israel, having been rescued from Egypt by God, now travelling through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, and they’re upset about the food. It’s amazing how short memories can be. It wasn't that long ago that they were the victims of slavery. I can’t imagine the Egyptians were serving up food that was much better under those conditions. Yet here they are, whinging and whining, and wanting to go back. The text tells us that, in response, the Lord sent venomous snakes amongst them. We just have to take a moment to sit with this statement. The Bible is written by multiple authors over many years and so we understand that there is not one singular understanding of God throughout the scriptures. Rather, there are many theologies that evolve over time. Here, the author has taken a strict monotheism, that is the belief that there is only one God and there are no other divine bei
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Sermon: Mark 1:29-39

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  Do you think you can keep a secret? I have an important secret. A secret so powerful that it will change your life forever. Can you keep a secret? You probably already know this secret, but I want to make sure you know it. Really know it. Can you keep a secret? Here’s the secret. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It’s a good secret isn’t it? Do you know it? I mean really know it? Mark shares this secret at the start of his gospel account. “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). Mark wants to make sure you know this secret too. There is general agreement that Mark is the earliest of the four gospel accounts. It bears so many similarities to Matthew and Luke that scholars also agree that those other authors used Mark as a source for their own accounts. More recently, it’s been suggested that Mark wasn’t written to be read but rather to be performed. That makes sense given only a few people were actually able to read anyway. Mark is short, sharp, and to
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Fear of Forgiveness

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This last Sunday the story of Jonah appeared in the lectionary readings. Specifically, it was John 3:1-10, which is the part of the story where the Ninevites express their belief in God. More importantly, they expressed that belief in a performed way. In my PhD I drew upon theo-dramatic theology (Hans Urs von Balthasar and others) and performance theory (Richard Schechner and others). In this part of the story, the Ninevites are warned about their behaviour and respond by seeking forgiveness. Actually, they want God to change God's mind.  In classical theism God doesn't change. It's one of the defining characteristics of the divine nature. Here, though, the King of the Ninevites expresses something that seems to contradict that kind of theology; "Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish" (3:9).  To seek this change they perform what we would call, in performance theory, an "offer." In impr
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An end and a beginning...

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At about 4:30pm on New Year's Eve (2023), I submitted my PhD thesis. It was a quiet moment, with my wife by my side. It was a simple moment, with only an email disappearing off my screen to confirm the disappearance of year's of work into the hands of the examiners - no printed and bound copies, no physical copies of any kind. Just a PDF attached to an email. Gone.  It was the end of years of work, struggle, and wrestling. Throughout my candidature, I encountered many doubts and fears. Was my idea good enough? Was I being heretical? Was my idea new enough? Could I do this? Then there was the inevitable imposter's syndrome and writer's block. Wow, did I struggle with these two. There were too many times to count when I sat at my computer with barely more than a paragraph added to a document because I couldn't get the ideas out of my head and onto the page. This, of course, fed the idea that someone was going to figure out that I really didn't know what I was doin
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