Colourful Dreamer

This can be listened to here Gate Pa – Year A 30 th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Reformation Sunday, 30th Anniversary of my Ordination as a Priest Readings: Psalm                          Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 First Reading :               Deuteronomy 34:1-12                     Second Reading :        1 Thess 2:1-8                                  Gospel :                        Matthew 22: 34-46...

Last weekend at our St. George’s Day celebration I was reminded what a blessing it is to be the vicar of this parish. It is a privilege to be among such good people serving as your vicar. To be part of a church community situated on this sacred hill, this wahi tapu, with this story of tragedy and hope is a gift. And to have St. George, Hori Tapu, as our patron saint is such a bonus. Over the last few weeks we have been exploring St. Paul and his letter to the churches in Rome. I have used the work of N.T. Wright and others to remind us that Paul was always a Jew. A radical Jew indeed, but a Jew none the less. For him the coming of the messiah was all about the fulfilment of the covenant with Israel – which was not about getting into heaven, but about the restoration of humanity and renewal of creation – the return to Eden. Paul believed (as did the gospel writers) that in Jesus death this was achieved, and that the people of God, including Gentiles (us) were to live in this new ...

It is almost the end of another year; another church year and another calendar year. In a few weeks the new church year will be upon us – yes it is nearly Advent. This offers us a chance to reflect on what this year has offered us and what the future might bring. Last year at this time I quoted one of the people I read when preparing my sermons. Howard Wallace is an Old Testament scholar from Australia. In talking about the Israelite journey through the wilderness into the Promised Land he writes, “ It is as if the people see the gift of the land as an end in itself and the wilderness journey as simply a preliminary stage. They fail to recognise that the gift of the land is more than just ‘a good and broad land’, and the law given at Sinai, more than just a way to that land. The land is a place where the people are to live in God’s presence and know that presence in many ways. The law is their guide for living in that presence. The divine promise is, in the end, all about God’...