Sermons And Gubbins

This poem was written for our church monthly poetry group. The theme was either ‘Jesus’ or ‘Crime’. This one was the latter… Hope you enjoy reading it! Give me my country back They'd like to have you think  It is a crime to speak your mind, To love your country, To wave a flag. "We can't say these things any more!", They say Whilst posting on Twitter and Facebook, And ranting on Talk Radio, And addressing thousands of people at rallies and demos; Televised and monetised for the whole world to hear. Thank God we have these every-men, These foreign-backed, violent, every-men, These stinking-rich, grifting, every-men, Standing up to defend Our Country  From the tyranny of the Liberal Elite,   With their shiny dog-whistles, their home-spun names, and their offshore bank accounts. Otherwise  We might not notice  If it became illegal for protest to be disruptive. We might not notice  If it became illegal to support those opposing genocide. We might not notic...

 This sermon was preached on our Sunday morning service on 8th September. The gospel was Mark 7:24-37 . I hope you enjoy reading it! The Jesus of the first half of today’s Gospel is – I have to say – a Jesus I don’t really recognise. I don’t know if you feel the same? It starts off normal enough; in our gospel, we hear that Jesus leaves his own community and sets off travelling. Maybe he’s visiting extended family, or perhaps he’s on a tour, spreading the Good News to other members of the Jewish faith (or, potentially more apposite to today’s Gospel, the Jewish race ). Either way, he’s in foreign climes. Whilst there, he finds a place to stay. He’s approached by a local woman who asks for his help. Not for her, but for her daughter, who, she says, is possessed. And here’s where Jesus looks to go off the rails. He says ‘no’.   Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman     He says ‘no’, and really not politely. He’s rude to her. His language is discriminatory...

  This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on Sunday 16th August. The gospel that morning was Matthew 15:21-28 Today’s gospel is difficult. Difficult because it presents us with a Jesus who – at least at first – doesn’t seem particularly Christ-like. Jesus in this passage is parochial. His concern is for his people and his nation. He’s got a mission to the House of Israel, and that is where he believes his focus needs to be. He's not concerned about helping the Canaanite woman who begs for his aid. She is not Jewish, and she is, seemingly, not worthy. I’m sure you’ve heard it before that different Gospel-writers had different focuses. John, for example, was particularly concerned with writing a theology about Christ, and Mark was writing for the benefit persecuted Christians in Rome. Matthew – who wrote our passage today – was particularly writing for a Jewish audience. Perhaps this makes Jesus’ viewpoint here more understandable; it’s an expression of solidar...