Talks, Sermons and Reflections

Luke 18:9-14 I love this story. It is the story that I go back to time and time again It warns me against the presumption that leads to arrogance and lack of love. It tells me of my God who has mercy. 1   It warns us against presumption The first character is the Pharisee. He had status and respect in the community. He was a good man. And it is important that we do not forget that he had made some life-style decisions which cost him significantly. He fasts twice a week (much more than the law requires). He tithed. He gave away a tenth of everything that he had. Just think for a moment what that would mean for your giving? Everything you receive, you give one tenth away. And when he says that he is not a robber, or an evildoer or an adulterer, we can take him at his word. He was upright, obedient to the law of God and self-controlled. And remember that Jesus said in Matthew, that unless our righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees we could not be But what we also see is t...

Matthew 5:21-26 Last week we looked Matthew 5:17-20 . There Jesus tells us that the Old Testament law and prophets really matter. 1. They are all about him. He is the fulfillment of the law. The law and the prophets point to him. And because the law is about him, he is the one whose interpretation of the law is the right one.  In other words, Jesus stamps his authority on the law, he makes it his own. He shows the direction that the law is pointing in, and thereby – in places – he intensifies the law, and in other places – he annuls the law 2. They matter because obedience to his interpretation of the law and the prophets, is essential. When everything is accomplished, when the Kingdom of God comes in its fullness - that is when obedience as a requirement becomes unnecessary. We will then choose to live God’s way. But until then, obedience can be a delight, but it is also a duty. And now, in these next verses, Jesus looks at what it means to obey the law He deals with 1...

Luke 16:19-31 Sartre famously wrote that 'Hell is other people'. For the existentialist, at the centre of reality, the other person is hell: they are an affront to my independence and to my autonomy. Why should the rich man in this story not do what he wishes? Why should he show any compassion to Lazarus? Lazarus is an inconvenience, an irrelevance. The problem for Sartre is that life, as we experience it, is full of other people. And Jesus, through this story, teaches the complete opposite of Sartre's aphorism. Hell is not other people. Hell is when we live blind to God and blind to others, alive only to self. Hell is yourself. In this story, we have a rich man. He thought that he was at the top of the world. He dressed in the best clothes; he ate the best food. He had the good things in life. But he dies. And then we get the first shock of this story. He goes to the place of torment, to hell. Why? Because he was rich? Certainly Jesus has warned those who are rich, and...

Luke 15:1-10 In this chapter, Jesus tells us three stories. The first is about a shepherd who goes to search for a lost sheep. He finds the sheep and rejoices. The second is about a woman who searches for a lost coin. She finds the coin and she rejoices. The third (which we didn’t have read today, but is known as the story of the Prodigal son) is about a father who does not go to search for his lost son, but he does wait for his son to return. And when his son returns, he rejoices. But in this story there is also an older son. This older son has stayed at home. He has played by the rules. And when he sees his father welcoming back his younger brother – after all that his younger brother has done, he is furious. It seems that all his work at home has been pointless. And now the Father does go searching. He goes outside to his older son; he pleads with him; and he begs him to come in. [There is, as elsewhere in Luke’s gospel, a hint of Trinity here. The Father, the Son...

Luke 12:32-40 Followers of Jesus are called to be citizens of another kingdom, of another world, while living in this world. Some Christians withdraw completely from this world. They form tight communities, apart from the world. They may ignore the world, or they may occasionally go out on a mission into the world.  Other Christians end up so identifying with this world that it is very hard to see what is different and unique about them: we end up with folk religion or even civic religion - where the purpose of the church is to bless what is. But this passage gives us some hints as to how we are to live as citizens of another world in this world. Don’t be afraid: we have a hope Jesus has been speaking words to people who have nothing. They  are anxious about the essentials of life: what they will eat, drink and wear. He has just said, ‘Seek God’s Kingdom first’ and all these things will be ‘added to you’ (Luke 12:31: the Greek word really does mean 'added to you', an...