Wake up!

If you are celebrating  the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost then there are some great readings (Proper 12) These include 1 Sam 17:1-49 (The story of David and Goliath) and/or 1 Sam 17:57-18:5. 10-16; Psalm 133, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; and one of my favourite passages  Mark 4:35-41 (awaking the sleeping Jesus

I always think when I read this story in Mark  4 of Jesus calming the storm
that my life almost always feels like a boat that is about to be swamped!
It is an image the Mark uses deliberately, I think, to speak to us about the nature of our lives.
The feeling of being swamped is ever with us.
What this story reminds us of too
is that Jesus is also always with usThis is his resurrection promise
-I will be with you always-
but we treat him as though he is asleep
it's often more convenient for us that way!!

The gist of the story is straightforward
we awake the sleeping Jesus and he can deal with the situation,
but there is more here than that.
He actually rebukes his disciples for their lack of faith.
Is he telling them here
that they should trust their own faith?
like David or like Paul,
and not simply drop their bundle and say to God ...Here you sort it all out!
This is often the way we treat God.
Let him sleep until we get into trouble!
then wake him up and drop the problem in his lap.
The rebuke that Jesus utters is about God expecting more of us than this.

We are to be people of faith
and to use that faith
....do not let God's grace be in vain...
but rather act out a life of faith.
It is Jesus's promise to us
not that he will make all our problems disappear
but rather that we will be able to live our life in God's power
to do what God wants us to do
and to be faithful.
So it's not that Jesus can't meet our needs
it's that we also need to recognise that our needs can be met
by what God has given to us.
God does not expect us 

to allow ourselves to be overpowered 

by the divine majesty
but rather to cooperate.
This is what David did
this is what Paul did.
It is the way that Jesus shows us.

ConclusionI hope that we see that 

these stories move us on.
From a dependent immature faith
to one that acts powerfully in accord with God's will.
Our brashness, like David's, needs to be tested
we should not just presume on God's mercy.
But let's not waste what God has already done for us.
And being conscious of Jesus 

ever with us
we also are called to act as he acts.
This is powerful and important stuff 

that we are called to. 

Let this be the character of your life

and of mine.

Happy birthday to John

 Readings for Sunday 24th June...the Birthday of St John the Baptist are Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 139:1-11; Acts 13:16-26; Luke 1-57-66,80
Last week (June 17) I put in our parish daily prayer roster that we were celebrating the Nativity of the Rector.
That's me! A few people picked it up
This Sunday you may wonder why we celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist
Only a few people get their birthdays celebrated in the life of the Church
There is of course the Eternal Word who the world goes crazy about on December 25 (but doesn't seem to bother about otherwise)
And of course his mother, The God Bearer  iconically pictured here. There are good stories about Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Moses, Samuel...both Isaiah & Jeremiah and the Psalms talk about how God knows us in the womb (and before...a mind-blowing concept in and of itself)
And we all know stories of births in our families,
I delight in the births of Harry, Ruby and Maddy who have all added to our extended family in the last few months (I remember being deeply shocked (perhaps not the right word) at our family Christmas party last year when I realised that our already great number would be increased by 3 newbies in the next year
And the birth of each of my three children is as clear to me today as it was on the day of their birth
What John the Baptist speaks to us about is that God's plan
goes beyond our imaginings
that our vision is often limited
and that, often in retrospect,
we can see the hand of God
working out its purpose
and inviting us to share
in the mystery of life and faith.

VERY TRADITIONAL
This of course is a very orthodox way
of thinking  about
God and Life.

There is, I suspect, more to be encountered here
We seem to get more energised
and understand more clearly
when we think about children, newborns

We recognise potential, hope, struggle, growth
maturity, boldness, career, vision
These are big words.

And in John the Baptist we get it very clearly.
This is a child of very deep longing
He is not "the one" but nevertheless
his role is critical
God know and sustains him from before the time of his birth


How might this be speaking to us?
What is our deep longing?  (This is an, perhaps the,  important question)
Because it is what we really long for that drives us.
God understands that our role is critical. Do we?
What ever we may think about the smallness of our life
are we able to see as God sees
and to value what God values?
Can we believe that God knows
us deeply, and has always known us this way
and will always know us this way?
What is it to be known by God?


THIS WEEK
Try and get in touch with what's going on inside...give yourself ten quiet minutes each day
What is my role?  Have I allowed myself to think I am unimportant or irrelevant? How do we imagine God sees us?
Reflect on your life? How has God's hand been evident since before my birth and beyond 

Walking by faith

Readings for Sunday 17th June 2012 (Proper 11) The Third Sunday after Pentecost can include 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13, Psalm 20; 2 Corinthians 5:6-17*, Mark 4:26-34

Although it would be easy to think that ‘applying the Gospel’ is just common sense; we are reminded this week that we do not always see things in the way that God sees them
God looks on each human being with love and affirmation
there is nothing about me or you that God 

     does not,
     cannot
     and will not love

BUT
that does not mean that God validates everything we do
in fact we are rather told that it is the other way around
We need to try and see as God sees
rather than to bludgeon God
into seeing things the way we do.
Perhaps our prayer
and spiritual effort
is better spent
trying to hear what God is inviting us to be and do
than in trying
to manipulate God
to do what we want.
St Paul says of this journey
we are called to walk by faith
That is to discern God’s will for us and to do that.
A little sign of this is given when Samuel is discerning who will succeed Saul as king, and he is reminded that so often we look at fairly arbitrary human characteristics
Popularity, success, physical stature
even age and experience
(this is the way of the world)
but Samuel is reminded to look at the heart.
Jesus uses the image of the seed
growing secretly and surprisingly
to remind us that it is
God who guides growth
and development.
and fruitfulness is often surprising
and different from what we expect

THIS WEEK
As we look at the week ahead
can we pray for openness to God’s purpose
Pray for insight to see
where we are trying to manipulate God
instead of being open to the Spirit.

Lord of the hearts

fill me with your love 

this and every day

that I may be open 

and ready to respond to your gracious spirit

and that I may be fruitful

Blessed be God for ever

In this week after Trinity we reflect and give thanks for the sacrament of Holy Communion (Corpus Christi) Readings can include  Exodus 24:3-8, Psalm 116, 1 Corinthians 10:14-21, Mark 14:12-26

When the power goes out for a couple of hours ( as it did in our street a few weeks ago)
you suddenly find all sorts of things don't happen
No light, no hot water, you can't cook
how on earth do keep yourself entertained without TV
and keep in touch without the computer.
We are suddenly confronted about how much we take for granted
The sacrament of Holy Communion may have something of this character
Are we taking it for granted?
Have we forgotten how much it gives to us? Do we even recall what's going on?

The Real Presence
Traditionally we have talked about Jesus being 'really present'
in this sacrament
It seems to me that this idea is an important statement of what Christian life is all about
In the last few weeks (Lent to Pentecost) we see the mystery of Jesus's life played out
and Jesus makes certain promises about his presence
Chief amongst these is the promise to be with us when we are together

'For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’ (Matt 18:20)

Now I don't really care how Anglicans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Catholics or Orthodox
explain what's going on in the Eucharist
I think we would all say ----that Jesus is there in our midst
(I don't imagine that Richard Dawkins gets this...but hope he might one day!!)
And the sacrament is the assertion of the statement Jesus makes ten chapters later

'And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'    (Matt 28:20)

This is said just immediately before the physical presence of Jesus is removed ( see the homilies in the last few weeks (here , here, here and here for what this might be about)

The Real Absence
Because of course what this sacrament also proclaims
is that Jesus is absent
we rely on the tokens of bread and wine
precisely because the physical presence of Jesus
is no longer with us.
This is deliberate.
Because what this sacrament also proclaims
is that we are the Body of Christ
for the World
for the Church
for others

So the sacrament is reminding us
that not only does Jesus become Bread and Wine
but Jesus becomes you and me!

What does Jesus say?
We know the story of Jesus well!!
What do we hear him say and see him do?
For me, it is the proclamation of forgiveness
it is is the assertion that God loves me, indeed
that God loves everyone!!!
He is not out to get us
he wants us to have eternal life
he wants us to know that we don't have to compensate
for our human inadequacy
he wants us to love and be loved.
Of course most of us
are also entranced by the Jesus
who reaches out, forgives, touches and heals

Let me reassert then what this sacrament of the real absence
is saying to you and me
It is not saying that Jesus is not with us (quite the reverse)
but that WE are the Body of Christ

Each time we receive the Holy Communion
we are being reminded, reassured
that forgiveness, eternal life, healing
is committed to you and me
WE are the Body of Christ

I suspect it is really important
that we are reminded of this day by day
and week by week

THIS WEEK
Where am I being asked to speak God's forgiveness into the life of someone? (Do I need to say sorry? Do I need to forgive?)
Where am I being invited to help a greater vision of what God might be doing in someone's life? Can I offer encouragement, pray, offer solidarity?
Where can I be an agent of healing...here am I send me!


This is really important
Important that we not take it for granted!

Dying you destroyed our death

Joan Coleman 1918-2012

Joan, who was a long term parishioner, friend, mother and grandmother lived for over 60 years in this parish

There are a lot of things 

To say about people at a funeral

Much we could and have said about Joan 

One thing I do know about Joan 

Is that she was profoundly faithful

Deeply in love 

In so many ways

And capable of persistence

And endurance

As a person

As a wife 

As a mother and grandmother

As a Christian

.....that is a pretty impressive life.

You would not look at her 

In the last few years 

And easily see any of that

Thank God 

That most of us will have much better memories of her than that

In the Christian tradition

We Believe that God continues 

To sustain and uphold

Each one of us after we die

As he has in this life, so the next

Quite how that happens, and what it means

Joan knows today and we have yet to find out

I have had a strong sense of Joan's continuing life

Since she died

I have faith that she is close to God

One really important thing I know about Joan

Is that she was a good pray-ER

A priest looks for such people in the parish

Remember that about her

That she has prayed vigorously for you and me

Whether we believe or not

She prayed for us.

Remember also that the Christian tradition has it

That the saints, and I count Joan amongst their number,

Continue to pray after death.

They of course are still alive in God

Indeed we might say they are close to God

So in a sense this could be her most productive time yet.

Do not hesitate to ask your mother, grandmother, friend

To pray with you.

She was good at it

And she is now closer to God...which is saying something

May Joan not so much rest in peace

But enjoy this eternal nearness to God 

Which all her life she has longed for

Sanctus, Holy, Kadosh!

Readings for 3rd June, 2012,Trinity Sunday, can include Isaiah 6:1-8, Romans 8:12-17, John 3:1-17 & Psalm 29

Perhaps the most ‘doctrinal’ Sunday of the year we celebrate the Christian mystery that God is Trinity.
But we misunderstand Trinity if we think it is highly theoretical or speculative.
At the core of the Trinity is the idea that our God is the God with whom we are in relationship.
The language, Father Son and Spirit is the language of close relationships like a parent and a child
like those with a deep spiritual connection
it is not impersonal or abstract
So this week 
Take a little time to nurture your personal relationship.
Listening and talking is the way to do this

The second dimension that we encounter today
is that each member of the Trinity is there as an agent of Love.
The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, the Spirit is there to enable the love to deepen and grow.
This relationship or rather these relationships
are there to serve each other.
This is the nature of the Godhead
the mystery of the Trinity
each person is there for the welfare of others

• The Father loves the world so much
• that he gives his Son
• the Son loves the world so much
• that he gives his life
• the Spirit so loves us that we are filled with love for the Father and the Son.

The idea of Trinity
is that we are fulfilled in community in so far as we give our life for others.

When Isaiah get his glimmer of God’s glory
he is reacting as Godly people have done throughout the generations

“How,” we ask “are others to hear about God?”
“Who will speak? Who will tell?”

The answer is that Trinity life...God-life is about living for others
and we are challenged to say “Here am I send me!”
THIS WEEK
Where does God call me to live my life for others?

Is there someone who I am called specially to be here for this week?


As part of my call to be a worshipper of the Holy Trinity God I commit myself to this in this coming week.

Do I need to pray the prayer of Isaiah...Here am I send me?

Oh Freedom!

More thoughts for Pentecost 2012: Galatians 5:1 & 16-26

I was once asked in an interview what my guiding principle or manifesto was
I quoted Galatians 5:1

For freedom Christ has set us free

It's somewhat cryptic but it stays with me
both as  what God might be saying to me
about my own life
and also about what Christian communities
could and should be about
Their own freedom
and working for the freedom of others!
At the end of that chapter St Paul exhorts us
to reject the works of the flesh
They are crucified with Christ on the Cross
 and, by contrast,
to allow the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us

This shouldn't be, he says,  a cause for conceit;
it's not a competition against each other
but rather a deep desire to live our lives properly and well.

This is a particularly important reflection for us at Pentecost-Whitsuntide
because Paul begins these two injunctions
with the simple command:
Live by the Spirit.
We fight the battle with sin
by the grace that God has given to us
though the gift of the Spirit
and he is telling us simply
it's obvious what is wrong

 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

(I could, but won't, observe that "homosexuality"
is not on this list...at least this time)

He contrasts this with where our proper focus should be

 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 

This, Paul says, is the fruit of the Spirit

If we are to understand what God is doing in us
it is growing the good stuff (virtue, character, Godliness) and getting rid of the bad stuff.(sin)
And I would agree with St Paul
--all this is obvious---
it may not be...indeed it is not. EASY
And it is certainly not a competition

THIS WEEK
Let this week be one of intense spiritual focus as we remember we have a Holy Spirit live and active in our lives.
So there are two focuses:

• The 'works of the flesh' are obvious...at least mine are...throw some Spirit power (prayer, fasting, energy) into dealing with the jealousy, anger, impurity, drunkenness, fornication...etc. etc   what ever it is that depletes you...and let the Spirit attend to your wholeness, forgiveness, healing, pain, weakness....this is obvious!
• Pray for the fruit of the Spirit....which one do you particularly need at this time: peace, generosity, gentleness, self-control....and always Love.  God is growing that in us

COME HOLY SPIRIT: AND MAKE ME NEW,SET ME FREE, LIVE IN ME!

Weeks, Harvest, Law, Spirit and Joy

Readings for Pentecost, 27th May 2012, can include  Acts 2:1-21; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 104:24-35; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:-4-15

The last few days of the Easter season are filled with high points.
The Ascension (on Day 40) is really a great expression of God's desire to trust humanity
to be agents of grace and goodness (see the previous post)
This week we celebrate Pentecost which is the 50th Day after Easter.
In the Jewish tradition it is called Shavuot (sometimes called the Feast of Weeks) and is essentially a great Harvest Festival
The Jewish religious tradition holds that this is the day God gave the Law (the Torah) 
to Moses
So it is a day full of possibility, optimism and hope.
The Christian events of that day are described in Acts 2. 
The early disciples would have been in the Temple for this great festival.
 What  happens at  Pentecost is of great significance 
because it prepares us for our life as Christians
the gift of the Holy Spirit to the faithful and expectant disciples
is the gift of the Father to live the life that Jesus, the Word of God calls us to live.
It is "become what you receive!"
The Body of Christ for the world and for the love and worship of God.

The readings talk of many things:

    Renewal

    Life being breathed into what looks as though it is dead

    Truth

    Peace 

    Joy 

And each of these deserves its own individual treatment.

Indeed this demonstrates to us that the Holy Spirit is not a quick fix...

but is about God dealing with us comprehensively and completely.

Why would we expect anything else?

This is about the whole of our life and the whole of the world.

Indeed a prayer we often pray is 

Come Holy Sprit and renew your whole creation

So often we seem to think that God is just dealing with my little patch

It is about "the whole creation"

It is also about God dealing with us deeply

and not just tinkering in a titillating or superficial way.

This JOY that the Spirit brings

which is so evident in the Acts of the Apostles 

each time the Holy Spirit is encountered

is not merely an amusement or an entertainment 

it is about the absolute delight and sense of privilege 

that we know in being caught up in the mystery of what God has been doing 

since before the foundation of the world.

It is perhaps the surest sign of the Spirit’s activity in our lives.

Where do you experience the deepest joy in your life?

It is a challenging question.

So often we mistake amusement for joy

yet often joy is about difficult stuff

about working through the challenging issues of life

and realising that although we are often confronted with danger, struggle, weakness

that the Joy that the Spirit brings transforms our life

This week

●Where has God given you the greatest JOY

●How can I nurture this?

●What is God inviting me to be, know and do, by this active power and presence of the Spirit?

Getting to the guts of it

Thoughts for Sunday 20th May ...easter 7 or the Sunday after the Ascenbsion  (this is a rejigging of some of my previous blog material and I will be adding more material later in the week about thoughts I have been having recently)
Readings can be from Acts 1:1-11, 15-26; Psalm 1, Psalm 47, Ephesians 1:15-23; 1 John 5:9-13; Luke 24:44-53; & John 17:6-19

Now this can either be hard or easy!
Because, either the point of the physical removal of Jesus
that we call The Ascension
is an insurmountable obstacle to 21st century rational-scientific minds
or it is as easy as recognising
that in order to mature
we cannot go on having others
doing for us what we need to do for ourselves!
I opt to think, today, about the Ascension
in this latter way!

In the most obvious sense
God wants mature men and women.
People who will have depth and understanding
that is not achieved
by always stepping in making up for our inadequacies.
Any parent knows the truth of this.
Indeed anyone in any relationship whatsoever
needs to understand this,
we are not called to step in and make up
for the inadequacies, mistakes and failures
of others.
However well-intentioned,
this breeds immaturity and over-dependence,
rather than freedom, initiative
and sophisticated maturity.

There is a difference between supporting people in difficulty
and in not allowing people the opportunity to make their own mistakes!

The withdrawal of the physical presence of Jesus
rather than being an expression
of God's disappointment and heartbreak with the world
can and should actually be seen
as a statement of faith by God in you and me.
God believes that we have within us
the means to be effective people
God believes that we have within us
the means to be effective church
God believes that we have within us
the capacity to fail and to know that failure is not the end

This is what is going on

Two encouragements
This is something about the very nature of what relationship
with God is all about
We are not passive observers
of a world in which God is active
but we are ministers of God's presence to the world.

Now what does a minister do?
A minister acts on behalf of someone
So, a Minister of the Crown exercises authority of behalf of the Queen and the Government.
A minister of the Church
acts on behalf of God.
And we understand that Baptism
confers upon you and me
the responsibility
to be Minister of Jesus
We will say We are the Body of Christ
So Jesus can say to the Father...

I am no longer in the world but they are in the world.

Now this 'they' who he is talking about is you and me


We may feel as though this is too hard sometimes
Jesus prays for our protection
he prays that we may be united to each other
and that we may be filled with joy

He does not pray
that we should be relieved of responsibility
or taken out of the world.
But rather that we should exercise this responsibility

It is a great statement of the trust that God put in you and me
as ministers
to act with confidence in the name of the God who equips us for ministry.

May this be ours too

This week

• Can we look for opportunity to a faithful minister and commit ourself deliberately to God's care and protection as you seek to be more faithful
• Look at the circumstances in which we live and see where God is calling us to serve others.
  Pray deliberately for joy where ever we find ourselves to be

What do we want? when do we want it?

Readings for Sunday May 13 2012 include Psalm 98, Acts 10:44-48, 1John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17

St John in the section of the first letter that we read today

reminds us that we come to understand 

what life is about

and how things fall into place

by faith.

This is the victory that conquers the world,

our faith.

This is a seemingly innocent, even predictable, statement

which we may gloss over.

But it is also in a real sense the key.

We proceed to live life in a different way because of faith.

This is about a decision that we make to choose to live life in a deeper

more authentic way.

John hammers home Jesus’s bold assertion that everything flows out of the reality that God loves us.

It is not the declaration of rules and laws, but the reality of a commitment to live life in a radical and deep way

(Perhaps what Scott Peck called  “The Road Less Travelled”)

So we are confronted again by the challenge to go out and bear fruit

and we hear the promise

that this fruitfulness will be undergirded by God’s provision of whatever we ask for 

and need to be fruitful.

Notice (as last week) this is not 

wish-fulfilment (the new bike syndrome)

this is purpose-driven   

God makes provision 

out of his love

for everything we need

to live the kingdom life

which brings us the promise of abundance

—–let’s not play games with God

thinking God is a slot-machine

—–we are trying to live the life of faith

so we are likely to need:

—–forgiveness, love, reconciliation, patience, generosity

much more important than 

a new bike, or even wealth

Abundant, eternal life

will in the end seek to draw out of us

a life of faith 

This is the victory that conquers the world...our faith

THIS WEEK

What do we want  and need  to live a life of faith?

What is to stop us asking for it?

True life, true vine!

Readings for today (6th May 2012...Easter 5) might include Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21, John 15:1-8

South Australians in particular appreciate this image of the vine that Jesus uses in John 15
Because we live in the premier wine state of Australia
and one of the greatest vine growing areras in the world.
I am proudly South Australian!

It is a sumptuous and engaging image

and bears much thinking about, with reflection and prayer.

God wants us to be fruitful

he wants us not to have meagre lives

but abundant lives.

Some times we need to understand that fruitfulness comes about by a process of pruning

that is by cutting back

by curtailing ourselves

This process is for long-term fruitfulness

even though in the short term 

it may limit or even seem like it hurts

The passage from 1John reminds us that God’s sole motivation is  love for us

We are not the puppets of a dictator

we are the lovers of a God

who wants only our welfare.

DEEPER RATHER THAN SHALLOWER

All this prompts us to think that what is being suggested here

is deeper rather than shallower.

It is long-term transformation

rather than short- term titillation.

So when we read (as we do twice in this chapter) 

“ask what ever you wish and it will be done for you” 

we should realise that this is more than just wish-fulfillment.

God is seeking to respond to our deepest need.

I suspect that our deepest need is not to have more stuff or money

It is about attending to this, our need to be loved

and to love

In the end ...this will always be what we want
it certainly is what we need

However we name it, even if we have to begin with 

               “But I really want a new car!”

God is offering more than just to be Fr Christmas.

We know this because of John’s assertion over and over again

               God loves me! God loves you! God loves us!

So much so that he is prepared to confront death for us.

There is more being offered here than a new bike, a big house or a pile of cash.

THIS WEEK

Can you sit with the question...what do I really want?

Can we wrestle about that with God? (Why do I want more? Why do I need trouble to disappear)

What, God, are you offering?

Probably much more than we think!