Colourful Dreamer

A common phrase used by Christians is that Jesus will meet our needs. But what do we mean by that? In our reading from 2 Samuel 11: 26- 12:13 we hear the ongoing story of David’s need for Bathsheba. Or maybe that was a want. And that “want” distracted David from what was important, and before he knew it, the one who had been rescued from Saul’s murder plot was involved in Uriah’s murder.   That led to all sorts of broken relationships, deaths and betrayals. Nathan tells a story that invokes David’s outrage, and then his utter despair. The trappings of being king had blinded David to his need for God, his need to live in the presence of God. It is easy for us to look down on David, but I suspect we too forget about what our real needs are, and follow our wants instead. In the Franciscan way that is one of the things poverty is about – letting go of everything that might distract us from our need to live in the presence of God. In our gospel reading, John 6: 22-35, the people f...

Today in our church’s calendar it is Social Services Sunday. A day to remind ourselves of the work that we in this diocese do through Anglican care Waiapu. In this parish that means the work of Merivale Whanau Aroha Childcare. Anglican care Waiapu seeks to d eliver quality Christian social services that strengthen and develop communities . Bishop Andrew Hedge states that Anglican care is one of the main means by which Waiapu is able to reach beyond the walls of the Church and provide caring and loving service in response to the needs of the wider community [1] . Social services is one of the five strands of mission. It is intergral to who we are, and Anglican care Waiapu is a central to our living out this part of our mission. But the mission belongs to us all, and we cannot just leave it to Anglican care. In the readings from the New Testament this morning, from Ephesians and John, we are reminded of God’s unbounded love and limitless generosity. We are invited to not only be...

This week’s Gospel ( Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 ) is composed of two passages linked by their similar content: the story of Jesus and the apostles going away to a deserted place for some time on their own, but being interrupted by the crowds with their great needs. And the story of the crowds coming to Jesus in Gennesaret for healing. Between these two passages, Mark tells the stories of the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on water. Mark uses stories within stories quite frequently! In this case, he ties together stories of Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry with an account of his providing bread – a story with eucharistic overtones. I guess that we have all felt like the disciples may have felt – hurried and harried and overtaken by interruptions. Maybe also we have felt like the people who came to Jesus sick in body and sick in spirit – in desperate need of Jesus’ healing touch. Teaching, feeding and healing show Jesus’ concern for people’s physical and spiritual wel...

This Sunday is Sea Sunday, this Sunday we celebrate those manning ships that bring products to New Zealand and around the world. Since Covid took hold in March last year Seafarers have suffered more than most mainly because they have not generally been able to get shore leave while in port. Some 50,000 ships and over 200,000 seafarers have been affected. Most New Zealand ports banned seafarers from leaving their ship after they arrived even though they had not been exposed to Covid or in most cases had been at sea longer than the required quarantine period. Even crew changes were banned. In Tauranga providing services, support and nurture to seafarers is undertaken by the United Seafarers Mission (USM), which comprises three founding mission members: Mission to seafarers (MTS, Anglican), Apostleship of the sea (AoS, Catholic) and the Galilee Mission. Originally seafarers welfare in Tauranga had three separate organisations providing this support; the Flying Angel (now Mission to ...

This sermon can be listened to here   Gate Pa – Year B 14 th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 2021 Readings: Psalm                          Psalm 48                      First Reading :               2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10               Second Reading :          2 Corinthians 12:2-10             Gospel:                           Mark 6:1-13              ...

These are my thoughts on this Sunday's gospel reading from three years ago. I am holiday from friday this week, so I thought I would offer these again Marks telling of the beheading of John the Baptiser (Mark 6:14-29) is a bleak story. Read on its own, which we usually do, if offers no hope. It is a creepy and terrible story, not just for the gory ending, and the dodgy role Herod’s step daughter plays, but also for the machinations of power and the systems of injustice at play. It is a story of people driven by fear and greed who exploit women, citizens and slaves for their own gain. It is the story about the silencing of the cry for justice. There is no good news to be found here. But this story is not on its own in Marks gospel. It is set within the mission of the 12 sent out by Jesus. It contrasts with the two meals that Jesus hosts – the feeding of the 5000+ Jews and 4000+ Gentiles. At Eucharist we are reminded of those later two meals. In doing so we are invited to allow t...