Sunday's coming!

Ah - much. much too long! Here's the unexpurgated version - editing will have to wait another couple of days. Lectionary readings are: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35 Lent 2 - trusting God There are times when it’s hard to see any real link between the 3 readings chosen by the wise people who wrote the lectionary. And there are times when it’s hard to see any link between those readings and our lives today. And there are times when it is hard either to see a link between the readings themselves or to see a link between real life and any one of them - and then writing a sermon feels like hard work! But then as I was reflecting on the readings I started to think about some of the real lives of people I’ve come across this last week: people struggling with bad news from the doctor, like the woman I had a brief conversation with who aid she was living with terminal cancer; people feeling like strangers in a strange land, like the man I know who is...

Lent 1 (Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Luke 4:1-13) What is it about the story of the temptation of Christ that makes it so important? So important that we start our observations of Lent with this story every year. Well, of course the pattern of our observation of 40 days of Lent before our celebration of Easter is, in part, echoing Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. It is a time of preparation, even of hardship, for those who observe a strict fast in Lent – and some people do. But I think we have to beware making too strong a comparison between Jesus’ time in the wilderness and our Lent. For one thing, the temptations Jesus suffers are hardly the ones with which we wrestle – turning stones to bread, seeking world domination, proving our power by death-defying feats. We should beware feeling that the temptations Jesus faces are nothing to do with what we face in our lives and that therefore this story tells us lots about Jesus but nothing about our own lives or our relationship with God On the...

So, the readings are Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13 Well, yes you can have Romans too but believe me I'm struggling enough with those two. So here's the thing - I have a funeral Thurs & Fri & a planned, booked, can't be cancelled honest-to-goodness day off on Saturday. So here we are on Wednesday &.. not much ideas-wise. Hmmm. Thought to myself 'I've preached oin the temptation of Christ many, many times before - wonder what I said... (sneaky thought of recycling entering my head - was it a temptation?). I can't find ANY of my previous attempts on disc, memory stick, or the back of any envelopes. I know we pray 'lead us not into temptation, but this is ridiculous. So - where to go? Deuteronomy - A wandering Aramean was my father.. and all that - lots of promises from God that the wilderness years will end, the promised land years begin - all will be well. So what is Jesus doing out in the wilderness? Choosing - how to build the kingdom, how ...

Put a lot into the sermon this week - wanted to really open this story to a congregation that is having trouble seeing a future & is fearful of change. Read, wrote, prayed, re-write, talked to friends, read, re-wrote.. etc. Then on Friday, as part of an attempt to get more healthy I went for a long-ish brisk walk in some boots I thought were broken in, Result - 2 very raw heels & I can't put shoes on this morning. So I had to preach in the only backless shoes I have - some flowery clogs. Result - no-one remembers a word I said - everyone goes home discussing my feet. Minister is kept humble - and a good thing too!

After a very helpful comment (from a good, wise and experienced friend) that I needed to change things around and not assume that people will stick with it right to the end, here is the final version, with, I hope, more 'punch'. Transfiguration The story of the transfiguration of Jesus stands out as being unlike the stories of Jesus’ teaching, or healings, or the call of the disciples - it’s not a story we can easily try to imagine or relate to. Perhaps the best approach is just to listen to the story itself, because listening to a story carefully is sometimes the only way to begin to understand it - and the more strange the story is at first hearing the more carefully we need to read it. But before we look again at the story, I’d like us to think about the difference that this story makes to us: why is this story important? Sometimes in our church life we can be like Peter – we get caught up in concerns about structures and buildings, we can only think about how to keep things...

Thanks to thinking about this with my friends at Revgalblogpals, it's only Wed afternoon, and here's version 2! Less getting bogged down in the Biblical parallels (fascinating though they are) and more focus on how this story impacts on us. It might even go through a third draft before Sunday! Transfiguration The story of the transfiguration of Jesus stands out as not being like stories of Jesus’ teaching, or healings, or the call of the disciples - it’s not a story we can easily try to imagine or relate to. Perhaps the best approach is just to listen to the story itself, because listening to a story carefully is sometimes the only way to begin to understand it - and the more strange the story is at first hearing the more carefully we need to read it. I’d like to suggest three possible ‘ways in’ to understanding this, or indeed any gospel story. We can ask: • Why does Luke tell us the story - what is it ‘doing’ in this part of the gospel? • Who are the significant figures in th...

Readings are Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a] At one church we have a 'creative church' service on the theme of love (St Valentine's Day). But at the 8am and at the second church of the day I will be tackling the readings. I began thinking about what a strange story this is (so strange that at least one commentator suggests it's a resurrection appearance that ended up in the wrong place!) and then got side-tracked by the number of parallels between this story and many others. So this is what I have so far: Transfiguration What do we do with the story of the transfiguration of Jesus? Read it. But how should we read it? It stands out as not being like stories of Jesus’ teaching, or healings, or the call of the disciples - it’s not a story we can easily try to imagine or relate to. Perhaps the best approach is just to listen to the story itself, because listening to a story carefully is sometimes the only way to begin to understand it...

I love to dip into Revgalblogpals, and though I don't usually 'play' at the Friday five questions, I thought that with no sermon to do I would, for a change: Sally writes: Candlemass is past, and Christmas is well and truly over, here in the UK February looks set to be its usual grey and cold self. Signs of spring are yet to emerge; if like me you long for them perhaps you need ways to get through these long dark days. So lets share a few tips for a cold and rainy/ snowy day.... 1. Exercise, what do you do if you can't face getting out into the cold and damp? I do find it therapeutic to clean the house vigourously - but if you could see the dust you'd know I don't often get round to it! I also make a point of always running, rather than walking, upstairs - something my mum always did until her stroke. 2. Food; time to comfort eat, or time to prepare your body for the coming spring/summer? I try to eat healthily, but my body craves carbohydrate. 3. Brainpower; do...

Readings for this week are: Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13] Psalm 138 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Luke 5:1-11 I'm fascinated by the contrast between the jaw-dropping vision Isaiah gets in the temple of God on a mighty throne, attendant creatures, smoke, etc... and the simple call the fishermen to follow Jesus (although it is accompanied by the miracle of the large catch of fish). I love the 'Miracle Maker' version of this story, which, if you haven't seen it, you can view at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE-KkMK0fE4&feature=related I'm not sure I can post it as a link but I'll try! Maybe it takes a miracle to convince us that the awesome God of Isaiah is come to us in Jesus of Nazareth - or maybe in the end that IS the ultimate miracle. I won't be preaching this Sunday - it will be interesting to see what others make of these texts as we continue to travel from Epiphany to Lent.