Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was delivered at our Evensong service on Sunday 23rd July. The Old Testament reading was 1 Kings 3:16-28 ; the Judgement of Solomon. Our Old Testament story tonight is surely one of the most famous tales in the Old Testament. The story of the Judgement of Solomon – maybe one of the first ever detective stories – is known the world-over, by people of faith, and people of none. It’s a story, purportedly, about the wisdom of a king, who shows cunning – and, let’s be honest here – a great deal of deceit to arrive at a good judgement in a case that seems unsolvable. Solomon is petitioned by two mothers, to arbitrate in their heart-breaking case. Overnight, it seems, one of the women has tragically rolled over onto her child, and smothered him. The first woman tells the king that after accidently killing her baby, the other woman got up and swapped the children round. She displays a larger amount of inside-knowledge than one would expect from someone who was sleeping thro...

This sermon was given at our Evensong service on July 2nd 2017. The New Testament reading was Luke 17:20-37 . I had half a mind today to preach a sermon about Grenfell Tower tonight; a proper, Old Testament-style sermon, full of anger and judgement, proclaiming: “Woe unto you, you pen-pushers and bureaucrats, who value money and cost-efficiency more than life – or, at the least, the life of others . Woe unto you, you hypocrites, who would rather cover the poor with a flammable veneer than have to look at the cost that your comfortable lifestyle has upon those around you, let alone have to deal with the mess your money leaves in its wake. Woe unto you, you authorities and law-makers, who bow and fawn to the whim and every wish of big business, refusing to pass laws that would ensure landlords bear the smallestounce of responsibility in ensuring their tenants live in buildings fit for human habitation . And woe to you, you landlords, who exploit the vulnerable and...