Sunday's coming!

Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 Jesus spoke in parables. When people asked him about God, about God’s rule, about God’s kingdom, he told stories of sheep, or fish, or seeds. “The kingdom of God is like..” or “may be compared to…” Jesus began his stories. The story is there to make us think, to help us reflect: the stories are designed to chew on. And Jesus’ parable are never straight forward stories – there is always something in them to pull us up short, to surprise us, to make us want to say to Jesus ‘hold on a moment?’. So where are the moments of surprise in today’s story? The kingdom of heaven is like someone who sowed good seed in his field. So far, so good – actually last week’s parable told us that the kingdom was like a sower sowing seed. But last week Jesus had us concentrate on the ground into which the seed fell, and this week, he draws our attention to the seed. “But while everybody was asleep” continues Jesus “an enemy came and sowed weeds among the...

(Genesis 22: 1-14 & Matthew 10: 40-42) “God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.” God said to Abraham… ‘take your son & offer him there as a burnt offering’ and Abraham said …? Nothing. Not a word. No argument, no need for an explanation, no qualms. God said sacrifice your son & Abraham saddles the donkey, loads it with wood, and sets off with Isaac… to kill him. Because that’s what God has just told him to do. I hope we haven’t heard this story so often that we’ve lost the sense of outrage we should feel. I h...

Acts 2: 1-21 What were the disciples expecting on the day of Pentecost? They were expecting a celebration in the temple – Pentecost was a harvest festival in the time of Jesus. 50 days  (‘pente coste’) after the first reaping of the harvest, baskets of grain were brought to the temple so that thanks could be given to God for the fruitful harvest. It was also known as the festival of Shavu’ot – a time to give thanks to God for the giving of the Torah – God’s law: 50 days after the Passover. The Passover celebrated the freedom of God’s people from slavery – and then 50 days later the people gave thanks for God giving them the spiritual gift of the law to live by. It’s because it was a big festival that there were people in Jerusalem from all over the known Jewish world – people from all those places in our reading that are so difficult to pronounce – representing all four points of the compass. People had come from North South, East & West to give...