Talks, Sermons and Reflections

John 20.19-31 Jesus gives peace to people who are afraid The disciples are in a house with a door that is locked because they are afraid of the authorities. That is what fear does. It locks us in We are so often paralysed by fear: by fear of other people, by fear of being shamed, by fear of failure, by fear of condemnation, by fear of losing something or someone that has become so precious to us that it is part of us, by fear of being hurt or pain, by fear of death. It is because of the fear of being rejected that we do not invite someone out for even something as simple as a coffee or a drink It is because of the fear of humiliation that we are not prepared to share our weaknesses and vulnerabilities It is because of the fear of the consequences that we do not do what is right. Many years ago I was going into one of the churches where I served, when I noticed two young men go up to an older drunk man who regularly used to sit on a bench in the park in wh...

Mark 16:1-8 I wrote to Mike to let him know what I was thinking of saying: that the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate happy ending. This is the fairy tale on which all fairy tales are based. Jesus is the knight who turns the scullery maid into a princess, who rescues the princess shut up in a tower, who wakes her with a kiss. And Jesus is the princess who saves the prince, enchanted by a wicked witch, from their life as a beast or a bear or a frog. And here is a story in which they do all ultimately live ‘happily ever after’. And it is a story that is based on a historical fact – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is a great idea, nicked in my case from Tim Keller who, I believe, stole it from CS Lewis. But Mike pointed out to me that Mark 16 doesn’t end with the ‘happily ever after’. It ends with some serious confused, scared and silent women. It is a very odd ending, and the reason that we ended there is because most people think that Mark ende...

Matthew 28.1-10 I’d like to introduce you to Alice and her friend, Humphrey. Here is Alice and here is a picture of her friend, Humphrey Humphrey is 8 ft tall, he is blue and is a very furry rabbit. He is also invisible. Humphrey is Alice’s great friend He is always with her She talks to him and tells him her secrets. He knows everything about her And he comforts her when she is sad or scared. What then of Jesus? Is he just a grown-ups’ version of Humphrey? Someone who knows me, is with me and comforts me when I am scared or lonely? Today's reading tells us that Jesus is not an imaginary friend. It is the story of what happened on that first Easter morning. And it tells us that: 1.       There really was a person called Jesus He was as real as .. Ben, here. You could shake his hand. You could have a conversation with him. You cou...

Luke 24.1-12 The first consequence of Easter morning was not joy but confusion. You see we live in a universe that appears to be ruled by death. We come from dust and we return to dust. And if the current cosmological theories are right we live in a universe that began in darkness and nothingness and that will end in darkness and death. And we learn to live with it. We will live, we will do stuff, stuff will be done to us and then we will die. And that is it. ‘Life’, said Ernest Hemingway, ‘is a dirty trick. A short trip from nothingness to nothingness’. And as far as the dead are concerned: We remember them. There is a great line in the film, ‘Good Night, Mr Tom’. The boy is grieving for his friend who has been killed in the blitz. He can’t get over it. So Mr Tom takes him down to the grave of his wife. ‘Look’, he says, ‘They do not die. They live on. In here. In your heart. In your memory. ‘ Yes, we remember the dead. And we honour the dead. ...

Mark 16.1-8 We love the idea of Easter. It is about bunnies, eggs, chickens and chocolate   (I have an egg here. With the words ‘Death’ and ‘Myself’ painted on it. I had fun when I went into Thorntons!) It is about hope: seeds in the ground are springing up into new life It is about life after death: maybe there is something after this life It is a story of how goodness, love and life win in the end. But we have become too familiar, too comfortable with Easter.  We have turned Easter into an idea, and forgotten that Easter was an event. If you remember from our reading, the first reaction to the resurrection was not joy, but trembling, bewilderment and fear (Mark 16.8) ON THAT FIRST EASTER GOD SHATTERS EVERYTHING.   1. The resurrection shatters death. Nobody expected anything would happen. He was dead.  The women were coming to anoint his body.  (ask for volunteers) They bring spices (give them some spices from th...

Matthew 28:1-10 [Ask children to give out stones to everybody in the congregation, and then use them to act out the first point of the talk] Today I'm going to ask us to look at our stones and use them to remember two particular stones. 1. The stone at the tomb We read of two women today: Mary Magdalene and another Mary, the mother of James and Joseph (we don't know who she is)  They come to 'look at the tomb'. They wanted to see the place where Jesus was buried.  People do that. It helps them think of the person who has died.  Let's imagine this is the tomb.  Can I have a few people to be the stone. [stand them in front of the 'tomb' - and tell them to look rock-like, big and mean - nothing is going to get past them]. We put stones in front of tombs to keep the living from the dead, and the dead from the living.  On this particular occasion they didn't just put a stone between the body of Jesus and us - they also p...