This word, agape, is the word used most frequently in our Scriptures; it is the love word used to describe the love that God is, and that God shows. It is a love of choice, not driven by overwhelming emotions. It is the love that Paul writes of in the famous ‘love chapter’ in his first letter to the Corinthians. It is the love Jesus tells us, that is to be the beginning, the end, the core of all that we do, in relation to God, and in relation to the world around us.
Sermon for Pentecost 21
‘We need to hear again the words of Saint Augustine to his people at Hippo: “You are the bread on the altar; behold your mystery.” The consecrated gifts,’ Louis Weil says, ‘are to us as a mirror, the Body of Christ in our hands a mirror to the Body of Christ within us.’
Sermon for Pentecost 20
It has been said that religion should ‘comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable’. The theologian Amy-Jill Levine suggests that Jesus’ parables deliberately seek to do just this; afflict the comfortable. She writes: ‘If we hear a parable and think, “I really like that” or, worse, we don’t hear any challenge, we have not heard Jesus’ words’.
Sermon for Pentecost 19
When we stop rushing on, and take time to really look at the world in this beautiful season, we see the Creation, even in the unexpected places, that God adores.
Sermon for Pentecost 18
I hear a clear message in this section of Matthew’s gospel; whilst our words are important, they are worth nothing if they are not in accord with how we live. Doing the will of God: living in ways that heal divisions; creating community; protecting, caring for and loving all who are in need; seeking justice for those who are victims of injustice; and always, through prayer, seeking to know the will of God.
Sermon for Pentecost 17
God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. That includes those I might hate, and it also includes how God is towards me.