Sharing some thoughts

One of the readings that we seem to have quite a lot in the Church is the account of the Transfiguration that we have heard today (Matt.17:1-9). It’s a remarkable account, but as with so many other accounts we have from the Bible we can only really appreciate it best when we allow ourselves to be immersed in the story – and to put ourselves in the positions of the main characters. When Jesus took Peter, James, and John along on a trip up the mountain (Matt 17:1-9), they probably felt very honoured. They must have felt that they were the chosen among the chosen. Or perhaps not, maybe they thought: "what does he want us to do now? Do I always have to do the work? Why couldn't he pick Andrew or Judas, or someone else ?" But whatever they thought, I wonder what they really expected… Some kind of special meeting, a picnic or a prayer meeting perhaps… We don’t really know. But one thing that they almost certainly didn’t expect though was what actually happened. Jesus was transf...

  Today in the Church in Wales is designated as Creation Sunday – and whilst many people will hold different views about creation and about how it all happened, today we are called to celebrate the wonder of creation and our place within it….  The long creation reading (Gen.1:1-2:3) reminds us of the wonderful gifts that God has prepared for us all in his creation. A world of beauty, a world of challenges certainly, but a world crammed full of resources and gifts to be used by all his people. It is a world where men and women are created equally in God’s own image – where every man and every woman has a right to enjoy the resources we are given. In a world where it seems more and more opinions are being expressed about looking after ourselves first, or at least people who look like us or act like us, this is a call to get back to God – to recognise we are made in his image… With all of our differences, we are created in God’s image…  And when God...

 I’m not sure who to credit for the photo but thank you !  Our readings today are very much a call to look at ourselves, a kind of pre-lent preparation, and whenever we might identify a fault in ourselves we hope that both we and others will deal with it gently!  But it was a concept that people such as St Paul, and even Jesus himself would not have understood well. When they saw an issue that needed dealing with they went straight in and did something about it. And the readings today from Isaiah (58:1-9), Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians (2:1-12) and the gospel of Matthew (5:13-20) contain some pretty straight talking. In the gospel Jesus said to the crowds, ‘You are the light of the world…’ (Matthew 5 : 13-20) And he went on just a little bit later, ‘let your lights shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’ This theme of light and darkness is one to which the Bible...

  There’s an old joke about a little boy called Johnny meeting his new baby brother who was screaming. He asked his mum, “Where did we get him?”  His mother replied, “He came from heaven, Johnny,” to which Johnny replied, “Wow! I can see why they threw him out!” I think most of us have a fair idea of what not to say to a new mother – this morning we meet someone who speaks to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and they’re words that are not usually used to greet a new born child…. They are the words of Simeon as Jesus is brought to the Temple. Today we think about the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, sometimes known as Candlemas and we heard in the gospel (Luke 2:22-40) of Jesus being taken to the Temple 40 days after his birth as was the custom under the Jewish law.  Today we reach the end of the Christmas season – you might have thought it went some weeks ago, but actually it officially lasts until today. We’ve reached this point 40 days after Christmas and we go with ...

  For some people the idea of ‘charity begins at home’ is a very important one. I’m sure there are some arguments about well-being that might make this sensible but actually it’s not a sound Christian principle. Some of you will also remember at the inauguration of President Trump back in 2017 when he said, ‘From this day forward it’s going to be only America first….’   Much as that language might sound good and appealing and rabble rousing to some there is absolutely no Christian basis for it at all because God simply doesn’t put boundaries around things – we do that.  God doesn’t say to first look after ourselves at the expense of others. In fact, when we look at Jesus his commands are about love and about concern for others, particularly those who are struggling…  Our readings today help to emphasise some of this and they also remind us where our focus has to be – on Jesus and on the good news of his kingdom… A kingdom that has no...

The journey through life seems to be one with all kinds of ups and downs, and all kinds of different learning experiences. Achievements are sometimes made, but not recognised and just occasionally when it seems we’ve done very little, people can think it’s a great success…   Success means different things to different people – but whatever people regard as success it is something that we should celebrate. It is a natural human emotion. People like to celebrate success – they point to people who can make a difference, whether that difference is perceived or real. We look at all kinds of people and point them out as someone special, and in the gospel reading today (John 1:29-42), this is what is happening. John the Baptist has been preaching in the wilderness, preparing people for the arrival of the Messiah, and now he has come and John points others to him. John had been the success story up to now in a way, drawing crowds to listen to him. He was the slightly eccentric and cou...

January 6th in the church calendar is the feast of the Epiphany, the day on which we remember the Magi (sometimes known as the wise men or the three kings) visiting the baby Jesus and bringing him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We know the story well, so well that perhaps we can take it for granted and not think of the lessons it offers us…  Actually we know very little about the Magi – we don’t really know how many of them there were, or even whether they were men. But regardless of how little we know of the Magi they represent an important part of Christian history...  They were early evidence of people searching for the Saviour who is Jesus. The gifts they brought were a little strange for a baby – I suspect many parents or grandparents would have strange looks if they brought such gifts for a child today but those gifts brought by the Magi were gifts that represented everything Jesus came to bring. The gold represented the kingly humanity – this was a kin...