Rev elations

Jesus talks about money a lot in the Bible. At some point in their life the disciple will have to face full on the battle between God and money.   What is money? Money of course is not the issue, but rather the promises that money makes. Come to me and you will be secure! Come to me and you will be welcomed by others! Come to me and you will have power and status! The things that money can buy are things that we as humans crave: a sense of complete security, acceptance and status in society, freedom from vulnerability and servitude. We see evidence all around us that the poor are dependent, vilified, judged, lacking in status and power, rejected and needy. In order to follow Jesus and to have God as our Lord and Saviour we must fully face the false promises that money dangles before us. Jesus’ story or parable from Luke 16 verses 1-13 is about just that. He describes a wealthy man and his manager. The manager has been squandering the wealthy man’s property and on being found ...

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Feast Day of the Birth of Mary, Prophet  8th Sept 2019 Congratulations it's a girl! A huge, recent, analysis of worldwide population data suggests sex-selective abortions have led to at least 23 million fewer girls being born in the world. The majority of these “missing” girls are in China and India.   (The New Scientist, 16 th April 2019, Deborah MacKenzie) This puts in very real terms the effect of the devaluation of women which is directly linked to their lack of economic power. If girls will be a financial burden to a family living in poverty, the choice to abort when it becomes available, is understandable if not ethical. Throughout history women have had to earn their value (if they make it into the world) through brave and creative responses to the unprotected and perilous positions they find themselves in. Think of Ruth in the Old Testament who is commended for her faithfulness to her mother-in-law, Naomi. All the men in their family die and Ruth’s sisters return...

'Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?' Jeremiah 23.23-29 Luke 12:49-56 As Christians we live with paradox – we believe after all in God made man ; perhaps the greatest example of a paradox that there is. Jesus talks in our passage from Luke about bringing division – which seems highly paradoxical, as isn’t he the Prince of Peace ? Why would Jesus come to divide households, mothers against daughters and fathers against sons? Surely, we can’t worship a God who proclaims such a message? The reason that Jesus brings division, and that he is labouring to see it completed (‘what stress I am under until it is completed’ ) is because the Word of God is not neutral, bland or irrelevant. As the Living Word our response to Jesus can’t be neutral or bland either. The Word of God is, as the prophet Jeremiah says: ‘ like fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces’ Or, ‘ The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edge...

The Guest who brings the Word of Life We are entering into the holiday season; being abroad, or in a new place means we encounter something of what it feels like to be a foreigner or a stranger – not speaking the language, not knowing the local geography, not knowing the local people means we become more dependent on others. Travelling means that we might have to rely on strangers and not just our smart phones! Travelling brings with it some unavoidable vulnerability; the further we go and the more different the culture, the greater the vulnerability. The missionary nature of the Christian faith means that Christians have always travelled to spread the good news. St Cedd after all journeyed from Lindisfarne to Bradwell; St Paul heeded the call to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles and travelled intensely as he did so. The work of missionaries and travelling friars have been an integral part of the Christian tradition. To be a missionary in a foreign land means to experience vulne...

References: Romans 8:1-11; Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 77 St Paul has a thoroughly religious understanding of the world, so even though his dramatic ‘Damascus Road’ conversion has become paradigmatic of the conversion journey, his conversion was from one understanding of salvation to another understanding. It was a movement within monotheism. ·          His movement through Judaism to Christianity is a movement from within one religious framework to another religious framework, one that shares a common heritage and language English society does not operate from a shared religious framework anymore: ·          It has the memory of one, but the language, themes and concepts have been generally rejected, not just forgotten ·          to move into one again would involve a radical departure from the current arc of history Paul’s struggles as eviden...

St Peter, free on pixabay I work at Chelmsford Cathedral as the newly installed Canon for Evangelism and Discipleship and what better model than St Peter when we're thinking about discipleship? The first thing we learn from St Peter is that it’s normal to get things wrong, miss the point, not understand. Peter is so eager and keen as a disciple, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t make mistakes. The most profound and painful learning experience for Peter comes after Jesus’ arrest. Despite Peter’s enthusiasm, despite his confident claim that he will follow Jesus whatever the cost, he is found wanting at the time of trial. The context for the passage from John’s Gospel that we are using (see below) is Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus after Jesus’ arrest. At three separate occasions and by different people Peter is recognised as one of Jesus’ followers and each time he denies that he is: ‘ You are you not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He denied it a...