Posts

The Word that makes us glorious. Easter day 2026

-
Image
Matthew 28:1-10 This was a sermon preached at a family service when we created a living model of this image. An icon of the myrrh bearing women. Prosopon school. Painted/written by Alison Rogers The icon above shows the women who came to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body Or maybe you have been given an artist’s impression of a potential crime scene! And here on the ground we have a coffin marked out by our forensic experts. I would like us to visualise this scene and see how it helps us understand what we read in Matthew 28 Our witnesses are three women Mary Magdalene, another Mary (Mark and Luke tell us that she is Mary the mother of James – in other words, they are saying, you may not know her, but you know James and she is his mum). And there is a third woman mentioned by the other writers. They come to the tomb of Jesus. They know it is his tomb. They had seen where his body was laid. They had seen the stone rolled across the entrance. But when they get there, they find that the bod...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dangerous Holy Ground—and an Open Door. Good Friday 2026

-
Image
Hebrews 10.19-25 This passage seems to be addressing a problem we don’t have. It is talking to people who are afraid of praying, of coming into the presence of God. Most people – if they believe that God exists – don’t have that problem. They may have a problem about coming into a church for a service – in the same way that I might feel awkward going into a night club. It is just not my world. But we have been taught that we can come to God as we are; that we can pray to him wherever we are; that we don’t need to use special words. And yet this passage assumes something very different: that people tremble to come into the presence of God. They knew something that we have largely forgotten. They had a concept of God as totally other, as holy, as set apart, as awesome. He is eternal – we are mortal He is the creator – we are the creation. It is the difference between a fruit fly and a human being. All the wisdom of Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Hume, Weil, Einstein, Wittgenstein put ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to take over the world - on a donkey!

-
Image
Matthew 21:1-11 How do you take over a country – especially one that does not want to be taken over? Do you take out the leadership, a le Trump? Do you use military might – shock and awe? Do you use economic muscle and sanction your enemy into submission? Or – do you find a donkey, throw some rags on it, ride it into the capital claiming that you are God’s King. The audio of this talk can be found here Jesus enters into Jerusalem. A contemporary mural from the Anafora Coptic Cathedral, Egypt. The movement is from right to left rather than left to right.  It is a bit of a joke. It is Monty Python-esque It is a sure way of getting yourself crucified And it is the way that Jesus chose to come into Jerusalem So what is going on here? 1. Jesus is leading a revolution. He is now finally openly declaring himself to be the Messiah, God’s king. He is very deliberately choosing to fulfil the prophecy of Zechariah. “Look your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Rumour to Sight: Lord, I Want to See

-
Image
Mark 10:46-52 I’ve been reflecting for the last couple of weeks on this story – of the healing of blind Bartimaeus. 1. Bartimaeus has heard rumours of Jesus . He is blind. All he has to go on is what other people are saying. Perhaps he asked people, ‘What does this Jesus say?’ Christ healing the blind man. The Andrews Diptych, a 9th-century Carolingian ivory artwork And they will have told him, ‘He speaks about the Kingdom of God – that it is very close. He speaks of the reign of God that was promised in our writings – when his Messiah, his King, will come and bring peace and justice. There will be no more war or fear or oppression. There will be security, abundance and laughter. There will be no more suffering or death. We will be free to become together the people who God made us to be: full of love and joy.’ And Bartimaeus will have asked them, ‘What does this Jesus do?’ And they reply, “He seems to do Messiah stuff. People are healed. Others have been set free from evil spirits. P...
Post a Comment
Read more

Living water for a thirsty soul

-
Image
John 4.4-42 We seek the things of this world. At the very basic we seek water and food Jesus here asks the Samaritan woman for a drink. He is tired and thirsty. His disciples ask him if he wants something to eat because they think he is hungry But there is another kind of hunger. A hunger for spiritual food. A hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the Kingdom of God, for God himself. I guess we could say that there is the water and food which washes and refreshes and feeds us on the outside – and the water and food which washes and refreshes and feeds us deep on the inside. So, when his disciples ask Jesus if he wants something to eat, he says to the disciples that he has other food – real food – which is to do the will of his Father And Jesus says to the Samaritan woman that just as he has asked her for physical water, so she should be asking him to give living water – water which is the gift of God, which will never run out and which will satisfy us for eternity. And...
Post a Comment
Read more

When we are desperate. Matthew 15:21-28

-
Image
Matthew 15:21–28 The woman in our story is desperate.  She is a Gentile yet she comes to a Jew, and not just any Jew. She recognises him as Messiah, 'Son of David'.  She is shouting. She is going to get his attention She keeps on shouting even when Jesus' followers try to get rid of her.  She persists when Jesus says nothing: 'But he did not answer her at all' (v23) She even persists when Jesus tells her bluntly that he was not sent for people like her. He calls her a dog. To put it in context, this is a rabbinic exchange: sharp but opening up the conversation and not ending it. It invites a response. What I love about this woman is that there is no attempt at self-justification. She does not bristle at what could be taken as a racial slur She does not argue for rights. She asks for mercy.  She simply recognises that she is coming with nothing and she is asking for gift.  Yesterday I was speaking with someone who was struggling to understand why the Ch...
1 comment
Read more

Before you throw the first stone ..

-
Image
Letter for the March 2026 Burnham Magazine There were rumours among some journalists that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was going to be moving to Burnham Norton. I think they got their Marsh Farms muddled up. But I began to wonder what I would say if the press approached me. The simple solution is also the correct solution. I would never talk about parishioners to the press without their permission. But there is one other thing that I may have said - if I had had the courage - and it feels particularly appropriate as we begin this season of Lent. Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery.   Vasily Polenov. 1888 Lent began with our Ash Wednesday service on 18 February. One of the readings for the day tells of the woman caught in adultery ( John 8.1-11 ). She may well have been a victim; she may have been set up to trap Jesus. She alone was dragged before him - and not the man - and the crowd demanded of Jesus that, because she had committed what was then an unforgivable sexual offence, s...
Post a Comment
Read more