Colourful Dreamer

With Easter being so late this year, we get to hear Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain”.   We don’t get to hear these readings when lent starts earlier, which is a great shame.   This is a great piece of teaching and stands in contrast to Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount.” The setting is important – not a mountain top but a plain. Biblically plains are both places of corpses, disgrace, suffering, misery, hunger and mourning [1] ; and places of renewal and hope as promised in Isaiah and Ezekiel. Jesus stands on this plain in the midst of broken people; poor, sick, hungry, shamed. And he speaks to his newly picked out disciples. To these Jesus repeats and expands on his message from his hometown when he read from Isaiah, which echoed his mother’s song of protest. He declares these people blessed, honoured, of great importance. And he warns those whose comfort, wealth and sense of entitlement is built on their poverty, the ones usually seen as blessed, to change their ways. Each week ...

This week we hear the story of “The Indifferent-Man-Who-Could-Have-Listened-to-Moses-and-the-Prophets-and-Followed-God's-Way-of-Life-and-Been-Welcomed-Into-Paradise-by-Father-Abraham-But-Chose-Not-To and Lazarus” [1] The rich man is not necessarily bad, just astoundingly self-consumed. His love for self prevents him from care for others. He does not see Lazarus until it is too late. Please note, this is not a story about what happens after we die. This is a story, in a line of other stories in Luke, about the importance of living the commandments and the law in the way Jesus teaches and lives them now. We are the brothers and sisters in this story, and we still have time to see the poor at our gate. ·        What are the “gates” that separate us from those in more need around us? ·        Who is at our gate, and how are we seeing and responding to them? [1] https://www.holytextures.com/2010/09/...

Today in our church’s calendar it is Social Services Sunday. Today we are reminded that social service is one of the five strands of mission. Responding to human need by loving service [1] is an integral part of our understanding of mission and is central to who we are as people of God living God’s mission in the world. This is how, as we see in the counter-stories of the feeding of the 5000+we live the good news of God’s deep compassion and ridiculous generosity. Anglicancare Waiapu is one way we live out this part of our mission. But the mission belongs to us all. Today we welcome Chancy Rattanong who will be speaking to us about Christians Against Poverty (CAP). At CAP, we’re passionate about working with local churches to release Kiwis from a life sentence of debt, poverty and its causes – into a life filled with hope and freedom. [1] 4 th strand of the 5 Strands of Mission - http://www.anglicancommunion.org/identity/marks-of-mission.aspx

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 ...

I was visiting another church last weekend, and this was in their church newsletter. “Christian Ethics In recent months the attention of the wider church leadership has been around the issue of sexuality. It is not however the only ethical issue that we need to address as Christians. In the Netherlands a 20 year old woman was voluntarily euthanised because she could not live with the abuse she had received. Abortion is a lifestyle choice in a society where casual sex is encouraged by shows like The Batchelor. Biotechnology companies are manipulating the building blocks of life in attempt to control disease but also to make a great deal of money while most of the world is living in poverty. Maybe this issue of sexuality will bring the rest bubbling to the surface and force us to address them. It would be easy to worry, but we can have faith that our God is working through all things.” I was interested in this reflection for what it raised as the issues of Christian Ethi...

I was present for part of the debate about this change to the 5 Marks of Mission. (I was only allowed in if I sat very quietly, didn't approach any of the ACC members, in case I disturbed this weighty debate. I was initially told I could not hear any of it.) It is a good addition. I am also really interested in how the ABM in Australia interpret these.  I wonder how we as church stack up to these?

This is a really helpful article on both tax avoidance and child poverty.  It leads me to want to rant. Here is the rant: My biggest experience of tax avoidance was when my eldest daughter went to university. Sadly we earned too much. We couldn't hide our income so she got very little or no allowance and lots of loan. She now owes a lot of money for a degree that in the end is not going to help her lots get a job. She needs three more years of post graduate study for that, but there are no longer allowances for that. Way more loan. She had several friends from relatively wealthy families who had hid their income. they were on full allowances, and their parents then sent them significant amounts of money because they could not see how people lived on so little. They all finished with small or no loans having had a way less stressful time while at university, financially. By hiding their incomes, their parents fail to pay their way, put added strain on those middle class...