Thoughts and reflections on what it means to be human.
Category: Sermons
We belong together: A sermon for All Saints’ Sunday
Marlborough College Chapel, 5th November 2017
One of the first things that comes to my mind when thinking about Saints is the word ‘belonging’. Why? Because today we are reminded that we not only belong to each other in the present, but also we belong to those who have gone before us and, indeed, to those who will come after us. Continue reading “We belong together”
Homily preached at St Mary’s Marlborough
Bible Sunday: Nehemiah 8.1-12 & Matthew 24.30-35
When looking at this morning’s Gospel reading, we seemed to be faced with a problem. Two problems, actually, if you ask theologians and believers throughout the centuries. The first one is a general difficulty for most Christians: in how far do we take seriously the images that are given of the day of judgement, the second coming? Not only here, but also, for example in the Book of Revelation.
The second problem, and the one I would like to look at in a bit more detail, is when this might happen. As some of you may remember, in Paul’s letters, there is a real sense of immediacy about when the Messiah will come again. And today we even hear Jesus himself saying that ‘this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.’ Continue reading “It’s alright to be wrong”
Sermon preached at St Mary Magdalene Winterbourne Monkton
22nd October 2017: Trinity 19; Readings 1 Thessalonians 1.1-10 & Matthew 22.15-22
‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’ They are to many of us, I suspect familiar words. They are easy to remember, maybe not least because they are so deceptively simple. At face value, Jesus seems to say: there are two categories: worldly things and Godly things. The secular and the sacred. Put whatever it is you’re unsure about in one of those two categories, and you’ll be fine.
Thus, it has something to say about the importance both of our secular tasks, our jobs, our daily busyness, and about the sacred, about our worship and about the church. However, as with so many if not all of Jesus’ sayings and teachings, what seems so simple, actually points to the complexity of human life. The complexity of our relationships with each other, and with God. The complexity of negotiating our way through our civic and sacred duties.
Sermon preached at St Peter at Vincula, Broad Hinton on 15th October 2017
The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 22.1-14
I have to say that I agree with Martin Luther when he said whilst preaching 1531 that he thought this was a ‘terrible gospel’ to preach. This month, churches throughout the world commemorate the start of the Reformation, which was marked by Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg in Germany.
Scholars and theologians still debate whether Luther wanted to start a revolution by doing this, or whether he wanted to reform the Church from the inside, without causing any factions. As many of you will know, Luther’s main objection to the practices of the Church at that time was the selling of indulgences, by which people could pay money to reduce their time in purgatory.
Discovering Life 