Sharing some thoughts

Today as we celebrate All Saints Day our readings naturally concentrate on God’s love, his grace, on the many blessings that he gives to us every day, and ultimately upon the victory which he has already won – the victory over everything that is wrong in the world and in our lives today. In the reading from Isaiah (25:6-9) we are given a picture of an incredible feast – good food, good wine, no worries about anything, tears removed forever… And there’s a similar feeling in the reading from the Book of Revelation (21:1-5). The reading tells of the new Jerusalem, a city fit for God to live in, a city where mourning and crying and pain are no more.  And then in the gospel of John (11:32-44) we have the account of Jesus weeping as he hears of the death of his friend Lazarus, but then performing the miracle of raising him from the dead.  These three readings are useful tools as we think of All Saints Day, because I think there are 3 elements to the day – the first is a look ...

In my work I often have funny occasions, such as people asking me strange questions, or being shocked that I am a priest – I never know how to take that, or people telling me I seem quite normal, I am even less sure of how to take that ! People build up ideas of what someone is like just by their title, where they are from …. Or even what their beliefs are. Perceptions can cause more damage than reality. How many times have you heard people say, ‘They’re a Christian so you would expect better,’ or as happened to me when I was 9, when another little girl said, ‘as a Christian I guess that you only ever listen to Aled Jones (now nothing against Aled at that age I was convinced I was going to marry him…) but I protested that I did listen to the Bangles as well. The little girl responded, ‘O, you are normal then.’ I was once told that as Ian and I are both priests we would never understand what it was to have an argument …… Anyway, perceptions. People expect something of all of us...

A new Vicar moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his parishioners. All went well until he came to one house. It was obvious that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he had knocked several times. Finally, he took out his card, wrote on the back "Revelation 3:20" and stuck it in the door. The next day, as he was counting the offering he found his card in the collection plate. Below his message was a note just saying, "Genesis 3:10." Revelation 3:20 reads: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in, and will dine with them, and they with me." Genesis 3:10 reads: "And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, but I was naked, and I hid myself." One thing that this joke reminds us of is that the Bible can literally be used in all kinds of different ways I don’t want, and I suspect you want even less, for this to sound like a second sermon but a...

In the film ‘Oh God’ which came out in the late 1970’s, the idea was mentioned that the reason God gave Adam and Eve no clothes to wear was because God knew that once they had clothes, they would want pockets, and once they had pockets, they would want  money ! Talk about money is always a little bit controversial in Churches – some people think it should never be mentioned, that it’s somehow a dirty subject, however Jesus taught more about money than any other subject.  Twenty-seven of Jesus' 43 parables, have to do with money and possessions. One of every ten verses in the gospels deals with money in some way. The Bible includes 500 verses on prayer, fewer than 500 on faith, but more than 2000 on money.  Today’s gospel reading (Matthew 22:15-22) is one of those passages that  deals  with money and more precisely taxes. There’s a story about a little boy who wanted £100 desperately. He prayed for one week but nothing happened. Then he decided to writ...

One Sunday afternoon, two church members were going door to door to invite people to visit their services. When they knocked on one door, it was clear the woman who answered was not happy to see them. She told them that she did not want to hear their message, and before they could say anything more, she slammed the door in their faces. To her surprise, however, the door did not close; in fact, it bounced back open. She tried again, really putting her back into it, and slammed it again with the same result - the door bounced back open. Convinced these rude young people were sticking their foot in her door, she reared back to give it a slam that would teach them a lesson. Just then, one of them said quietly: "Before you do that again, you really need to move your cat." Many people assume that is the sort of reaction we might get if we invite people into a relationship with Jesus… And, sometimes it may even be true. But I wonder what is wrong with the message that we are gi...