Colourful Dreamer

Summer continues to burn brightly out my window. But it is time to return to work and resume teh routines of life, routines that sustain and hold me in place. And so we begin with a new theme for the week. The theme this week is clearly all about God’s call: hearing it, understanding it, responding to it.  Too often we miss that Jonah is not history. It is a satirical story offered in response to the self-important who denied salvation to any but people like them. In this story Jonah hears a call and runs. This is the wrong call at the wrong time. These Assyrians are accursed conquerors who have murdered and displaced people all across the Middle East. And Jonah is confident that God is entirely in the wrong and does all he can to have nothing to do with offering these scum any chance of salvation. He goes the wrong way. He sails and then offers to sacrifice himself rather than fulfil his call. And when God uses a whale to bring him to heel, he does the bare mini...

This sermon can be heard here: Gate Pa – Advent 4 2014 Readings: First Reading:             2 Sam 7:1-11, 16         Second Reading:        Rom 16:25-27              Gospel:                        Luke 1:26-38                What I want to say: I want to explore the role Mary plays helping us enter into the mystery of Christmas, and living out God’s faith, hope, peace and hope for all people the rest of the year. What I want to happen: Who is Mary for me? How does she help or hinder my life in Christ? The Sermon      1.        Introduction: Fo...

We enter the fourth week of Advent, this time with the theme of love. This Sunday traditionally focusses on Mary. To hear some of the back story to Mary and her son we take a break from Isaiah this week and instead hear David’s request of Nathan that he, David, build a permanent home for God in his, David’s, city. It was an astute political and religious move on David’s behalf – Jerusalem was his and his families, and it would tie God’s presence and action for ever with them. But God says taihoa, and instead offers to build David’s house and establish his family on the throne. To move our attention to Mary, the gospel reading shifts again from Mark – our gospel of the year – this time to Luke. Luke is the one gospel to exalt Mary. The others are much more low key in their presentation. So on the day we traditionally focus our attention on Mary it is right to hear from Luke. Mary has been presented in a number of ways or is downplayed and ignored. Luke exalts Mary not as a moth...