This morning’s reading from Matthew is not likely to turn up on anybody’s list of their most beloved passage of scripture. A set of instructions for conflict resolution is just not that exciting. But things don’t have to be exciting to be important.
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Today’s reading from Matthew is unsettling to say the least. And a bit chaotic… We begin in the region of Galilee and we’re heading for the region of Tyre and Sidon – a coastal region north of Israel. It would have been a multi-day journey from Galilee – perhaps about as far as from here to Sommerset West. But remember, they were travelling on foot…
…This week the Church keeps the feast of St James the Great. He is an important saint in many ways. He gets the title “Great” however, not as a mark of stature, but to distinguish him from the other James, James the Less, also a disciple… And while the Gospel reading is very specific to James the Great, the name does not appear. Instead, we hear about the sons of Zebedee, also known as the sons of thunder, also known as James and John…
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Here we are at the tail end of Eastertide and on the verge of Pentecost. A very important event took place this past Thursday… Jesus ascended to heaven. A very important event happens next Sunday, the Holy Spirit comes to us. So here we are in the space between two momentous events; the interregnum if you will between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This is the odd period when, it seems, nobody is in charge… We should be considering what kind of trouble we can get into in this unsupervised time.
Of course, the truth is we hardly need to be left unsupervised to get into trouble. Some wag has a variation on the Lord’s prayer which says: “Lead us not into temptation, we can find our own way…”
…Sermon for the 7 Sunday of Easter (Year A) Volmoed 2023Read More »
When I was growing up the Cold War was raging, and the US was in a particularly fearful and paranoid way. Communists, or as we said back then “godless communists” were spotted behind every shrub. The Soviet Union was the great instrument of Satan and all things bad – and so the US was the great instrument of God and all things good. The rest of the world, at least in the American mind, was left to fit into one or the other sphere of influence, the good sphere (ours) or the bad. In the US we like things to be very binary, very black or white.
…Today we embark on a three-day period known as Triduum or Three Great Days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday… the days that lead up to Easter.
The name, Maundy Thursday, comes from the Latin of the anthem that was part of this day’s liturgy in ancient times: Mandatum novum do vobis. It is from the Gospel according to John; “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another…” The Latin word for commandment is mandatum. Perhaps in ancient times this was known as ”the Thursday when we sing Mandatum Novum… “
…Jesus seems to be on a bit of tear this morning… He seems to be saying “let’s take the various demands of the law of Moses and up the ante. For example, you know you should not commit adultery – but I say if you’ve even looked at another person, you have already committed adultery.” It sounds like trouble for those of us who are human.
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Much of our Christmas tradition and, for that matter, much of our Christian tradition is built around the notion of good news. In fact, the word Gospel could just as accurately be rendered “good news.” And so, on this Christmas morning, we can rejoice that we are hearers of good news… of glad tidings. But while the news may be good, it’s not simple and it’s not easy. So, let’s savor this good news for a bit.
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Welcome to the second half of Advent. Christmas, the coming of Jesus, inches ever closer. Three candles are now lighted on our wreath. I have a list of things that I think must be completed before Christmas, and I can’t say that I’m making progress. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come…
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We should have noise makers and such – since this is New Year’s Day… We should be celebrating just as they will do in a few weeks at Times Square in New York, the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh (where its Hogmanay, not New Year’s), or the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, which I gather is a major New Year’s hub. But that’s all in a few weeks. This week the Church celebrates the new Liturgical Year with the first Sunday of Advent. Hold the fireworks and noise makers for the other new year’s…
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