Colourful Dreamer

You can hear this sermon here Gate Pa –31st Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C - 2022 Readings: Psalm -                         Ps 119:137-144                                                             First Reading -             Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4                     Second Reading  -       2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12          Gospel -                       Luke 19: 1-10                                     What I want to say: Using Amy-Jill Levine I want to retell the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus a couple of different ways to open up the option of more than one way of reading a parable. How do we feel when we read this story? Do we read verse 8 in the future tense, as something he will do in response to Jesus wanting to come to dinner, or in the present tense as a defence of against the grumbling. Or both? The Greek goes either way. What echoes of other stories in Luke do we hear? What uncomfortable questions does it ask of us? What I want to happen: Where is the challenge in this st

When we read a passage from the bible, one of the important things we need to do is put it back. We need to constantly put the passage we are reading back within the book it is set. They are not stand-alone wise sayings.  And we need to put it back into the context it was written, including the wider religious setting. That includes remembering that all of the bible was written by Jews who wrote out of the Jewish world view of that time. I am currently reading “Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi”, by Amy-Jill Levine. She writes from a Jewish perspective, reminding us that parables have a long history within the Biblical tradition. Think David and Nathan. Both within the scripture, and in the rabbinic tradition of reading that scripture, and within the wider Jewish life, parables were common and often had echoes of other well-known parables. And they made people uncomfortable. Think David and Nathan again. She writes that “what makes a parable myst

Some thoughts for this week’s gospel reading.  I am not preaching so there will not be any sermon notes. Luke 18: 9-14  invites us to wrestle with the same questions from last week, which is not surprising given this is the follow on story from last week -  Who is this God we pray to? Does God hear about prayers? Does God act? What is prayer anyway? Why pray? If you think you understand what Jesus is saying and you are feeling ok about that, then beware. I am currently reading “Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi”, by Amy-Jill Levine. She writes from a Jewish perspective and reminds us that parables withing he Biblical tradition were designed to disturb and to set people back on their heels. They are open ended and invite debate. They never contain a simple moral. So, this story is also a hard reading. It is very tempting to pass judgement on the Pharisee’s motivations, assumptions and understanding of God, and in doing so assume barriers between h

You can listen to this sermon here   Gate Pa –  29 th Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C – 2022 Readings Psalm -                   Psalm: 119:97-104                                               First Reading -       Jeremiah 31:27-34 Second Reading -   2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5                      Gospel -                   Luke 18:1-8                                                          What I want to say: This is a reading that seems straight forward but turns out not so much. It asks how we encounter God – acting for justice in the world or slow to act like the judge.   And I wonder what the invitation to pray incessantly for justice really invites us into:   a passive praying, an praying like the Negroes of Southern USA, or pestering active praying like Greta. How do we pray and what for What I want to happen: People to name the issues of justice around us today, to pray incessantly, and to be open to being called to engage in that work of justice making – for ther

  Today’s gospel reading (Luke 18:1-8) seems so straight forward. Luke tells us what the story Jesus is telling is about. God is not like the unjust judge. God will act. So be like the widow and pray incessantly. But the story is less straightforward and a little bit subversive. In Jesus’s world most widows had very little agency and were at the mercy of those around them, particularly men. But not this widow. Rather than meekly and helplessly accepting her lot she demands justice until she receives it. I wonder where those listening to Jesus, and to the story Luke tells, see themselves in the story. Where do we see ourselves? And while we hope God might act, often my experience is that God seems more like the unjust judge. Justice seems to take a long time. Maybe that is why Luke includes this story in his gospel. To remind the people of his community that God is not unjust and is acting to bring in

This sermon can be listened to here    Gate Pa – 28 th Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C -2022 Readings: Hebrew Scripture:      Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7       Psalm:                          Psalm: 66:1-11 Epistle:                         2 Timothy 2:8-15         Gospel:                        Luke 17:11-19 What I want to say: Use Karoline Lewis’s framework as applied to the story of the 10 lepers to talk about living gratitude. Then use that to show how Francis made room for God and lived gratitude. Finish by listening to “ All Creatures Lament” by The Porter's Gate (feat. Fernando Ortega & Molly Parden) reflecting on how we are called to live gratitude What I want to happen: What are we being invited to be attentive to, so that we might turn back and praise God for who God is, that we might grow in gratitude to God and then go on our way living gratitude, continuing to be attentive. The Sermon        1.     Introduction: Gratitude is something talked a lot