Sharing some thoughts

John F Kennedy in his inaugural address as United States President, famously said, ‘ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.’ Barack Obama opened his inaugural address with the words, ‘I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors’. There are many famous quotes which can be taken from inaugural speeches, whether of Presidents or Prime Ministers, or people in many other capacities – but few give quite such a powerful inaugural address as that from Jesus recounted in our gospel this morning (Luke 4:14-21). He went home to Nazareth to give the address. In the synagogue he was given a scroll from the prophet Isaiah to read, and he read, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim th...

One afternoon at a prestigious university the faculty gathered for their weekly meeting. A professor of archaeology brought with him a lamp recently unearthed in the Middle East. It was reported to contain a genie who, when the lamp was rubbed would appear and grant one wish. The dean, not wanting to miss a chance for advancement, grabbed the lamp and stroked it. Suddenly the genie appeared, and made the Dean an offer, a choice of three rewards: wealth, wisdom, or beauty. Without hesitating, the Dean selected wisdom... "Done!" said the genie who disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. All heads turned towards the dean, who sat surrounded by a faint halo of light. Eventually, one of his colleagues, wanting to hear a jewel of wisdom whispered, "Say something. What wise insight do you now have?" The Dean sighed and said, "I should have taken the money." Making the right choice is not always as easy as we think it is, and yet we are faced with...

The story of the growth of the early Church is one of crossing many boundaries; some social, some geographical, some ethnic, some religious and the reading this evening (Acts 16:11-15) marks the crossing of yet another boundary, and it’s a very important one for us. It marks the crossing of the boundary from the Middle East into Europe. Paul was on a trip through what today is Western Turkey and has a dream. He wanted to continue North but the Book of Acts tells us that ‘The Spirit of Jesus did not allow him to do so’ (Acts 16:7), and then he had this dream where a man from Macedonia asked for help. Macedonia was a strip of land connecting Turkey and Greece – Athens was only 100 miles away. And it was on this trip that Paul met Lydia. We are told a few things about her – first that she was a worshipper of God, secondly from the city of Thyatira and thirdly that she was a dealer in purple cloth. Then we are told that the Lord opened her heart and she and her household were baptised. And...

There are many wonderful things about the account we heard in the gospel (John 2:1-11) of Jesus turning water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana. The most important is that it showed an incredible power – the power of God enabling transformation of water into wine, and the same transformation that can lead to lives being changed completely. This was the first recorded miracle of Jesus, and it laid out a path for his ministry – of miraculous power and of the giving of abundant gifts. But today I want to think about something else which I think is special from this account, and that is the fact that it reminds us that Jesus was happy to be at a party ! This morning I want to think of 3 kinds of parties which we share with each other and crucially, with God. The first is the party of life. Sometimes life really doesn’t seem to be much of a party – individual problems and world problems can be witnessed all around us… But life is a party because life can be a celebration of a wonderfu...

A father was in church with three of his young children, including his five year old daughter. Bravely he sat in the very front row so that the children could properly witness the service. During this particular service, the minister was performing the baptism of a baby. The five year old girl was taken by this, observing that he was saying something and pouring water over the infant's head. With a quizzical look on her face, the little girl turned to her father and asked: "Daddy, why is he brainwashing that baby??" Many people believe that in baptism something magic happens and there is an extent to which that is true, although it’s not in the way that some people would like to think. For some the symbol of baptism is considered to be enough to completely transform a child, regardless of what else they may ever do in their lives. In fact though, the magic is that baptism offers an incredible symbol of God’s unbelievable grace. It is the beginning of a journey of faith. T...

Winston Churchill once said, ‘Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.’ With many qualities and different tasks there are different ways of achieving the initial aim. This evening our readings (Isaiah 43:1-7 & Matt 7:13-27) give 2 apparently different thoughts about calling and conversion. The reading from Matthew offers the teaching of Jesus as he offers those listening some stark and difficult choices. First there is the advice to enter through the narrow gate, not to take the easy option, and try entering through the wider gate. Then there is the advice to beware of wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing, and of how a tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus goes on to offer thoughts about those who genuinely want to follow him, and the dangers of calling on him when it’s too late. Finally in this section there is the well known account of the wise man building his house upon a rock wh...

At the beginning of a New Year it’s customary to look back at the old year, but also look forward to the coming year. We can think of personal, national and international events that have taken place, such as the inauguration of the first black president of the United States… 2009 like most other years, has been a good one for some and a bad year for others, but whatever has happened, it is at this time that we can start to look forward, to think of the future, not forgetting the past, but building for that future. I don’t tend to make new year’s resolutions, but there is one thing that is of value for every one, every year - and this has been seen in the readings that we heard earlier. This one thing is knowing truly what it means to be a child of God. The gospel reading this morning may have brought an inward groan; it did to me if I am honest. Over Christmas the reading from the beginning of St.John’s gospel is one that we hear quite a lot. It is a great reading and one that really ...

This week I watched on the BBC Breakfast programme an article they had about an alternative Christmas concert – it was set up to compete with Church carol services and stressed that it was possible to celebrate Christmas without God being involved at all. I thought how sad it was that people could really think that, although I know there are plenty of people that do. I went on to think how sad it was that the BBC should give such coverage to what was very much a fringe event – they did drop in to the story that 14 million people attend Church services at Christmas compared to 7000 attending this concert in various places throughout the country, but they seemed to think that was a reasonable balance. Then of course there was another case this week of a lady suspended from her job as a supply teacher for offering to pray with a pupil who was sick and unable to attend school – the offer was made over a cup of tea to the child’s mother, not to the child, and when the offer was declined the...