Talks, Sermons and Reflections

  Luke 10:25-37 Two years ago, nine months after the invasion of Ukraine, I was about to conduct a Remembrance Day service in St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Moscow – where I was the chaplain. On the opposite side of the road there was a group of about 20 protestors. They were chanting their slogans, in Russian, which included phrases like “defeat to the Anglo Saxon vampires”,  “ Go home ”  and, best of all, “Freedom to Scotland”. It was very controlled, very organised – someone had brought along all the banners - and incidentally very illegal. The Russian authorities brought in a COVID law that said it was illegal to hold an outdoor protest where there is more than one person – and they forgot to lift it when the COVID risk was reduced. But, of course, the police were not going to intervene. So I decided, wearing my cassock, to go across the road to ask them what they were protesting about, and if they would respect a church service. They asked me, ‘Why are the NATO ambassadors gather

John 11:32-44 In John 11:32 we are told that Jesus, seeing Mary weeping and the people with her weeping, is deeply disturbed.  Why? The audio of this talk can be found here He knew that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. It was the reason he had delayed going to Martha and Mary when he was first told that Lazarus was seriously ill. He knew that glory would come from this: glory to his Father and a revelation of his glory. If it had been me, I would have gone with a sense of excitement and anticipation – of the joy of Mary and Martha in seeing their brother alive again. But we are told in verse 38 that Jesus ‘again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb’ I want to suggest that Jesus is deeply disturbed because 1. He sees the devastation that death brings He sees the despair and brokenness of Martha and Mary. They have lost probably the one who was the rock of their family, and as two unmarried sisters without a brother they would have suddenly become very vulnerable And Jes