Sunday's coming!

Genesis 12: 1-9; Romans 4: 13-25   It’s been quite a week for politics. Whatever your party affiliations, there has been a lot of unpredictability and upheaval  - there are going to be 3 by-elections very soon - and we might all be left feeling breathless and wondering ‘what happens next?’.   We might wonder what guidance we might expect our political leaders to seek. And we might, this week, have had our own moments of wondering where to turn for guidance or direction in the turmoil of life.    So it’s rather helpful to look at the story of Abram.   Like all good stories this one is long and multi-faceted and well worth exploring.   Just before the part that we heard, we are told (in Genesis chapter 11)  that Terah, the father of Abram, took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (son of Haran, who had died) and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram’s wife, and set off from Ur of the Chaldees for Canaan. But when they reached Harran they settled th...

Genesis 1: 1-5, 24-27      Matthew 28: 16-20   Every year, the week after Pentecost and the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are invited to celebrate Trinity Sunday. But unlike Pentecost, or Easter, or Christmas, Trinity Sunday is based on a theological truth rather than an event. And so Trinity Sunday has become a difficult one in many people’s eyes.  Some people (mainly preachers) wonder how we can explain the Trinity, or at least ask how can we illustrate it or explore it, without mangling the truth and falling into heresy?    Other people might be left wondering why this idea matters anyway – does it really matter whether we look at shamrocks or Celtic patterns or tricycles? How will the Trinity make any difference in my life tomorrow morning?   Perhaps instead of thinking of the Trinity as a puzzle to try to solve, we will gain more by thinking of the Trinity as an invitation – an invitation to join the dance of life.   I...