What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Sermon preached on 10 November 2013


    What are you fighting for…in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?

    The gospel reading that we’ve just heard is a very particular one. The question is – if a man dies and his widow marries his brother, and six brothers die and she marries her way down the family, whose bride will she be in heaven.

    What deep truth does this question and Jesus’s answer convey to us.

    Well, I wasn’t supposed to be preaching today and swapped a couple of days ago with one of my colleagues.

    The deep truth that this passage conveys to me today is always to check what the bible readings are before you agree to swap a date in the pulpit.

    I’m going to start from a different place though and work my way back to what is going on in the gospel reading this morning. For the question is not straightforward at all, never mind the answer. (more…)

    , ,

7 responses to “The Antisemitism Notice”

  1. Gordon Avatar
    Gordon

    Helpful, thank you

    What is the concern with the reproaches? I’m not familiar with them

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      They can be interpreted as being directed at us the listeners. But they can also be interpreted as speaking to Jewish people as all the imagery is from the Hebrew Scriptures and doesn’t reference the experience of those who actually were around Jesus during his life on earth.

      For example:
      “I led you out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
      and you have delivered me to the chief priests.”

      Who is being addressed here?

      Reply
      1. Nick Drew Avatar
        Nick Drew

        That’s interesting, because whenever I have sung the Reproaches I have always felt them as being expressions of personal repentance rather than accusations thrown at the listener.

        Reply
  2. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    I must admit I had always read the Reproaches as directed to the listener. That the Egypt from which we are delivered is the Egypt of the modern world, the slavery of ghastly jobs (I’ve had a few, in fact a lot) and the oppression of terrible political systems. But I come from a totally different thought world to that of most people today, and I absolutely see they wouldn’t commonly be read that way.
    But I think it would benefit everyone to find a way of expressing BOTH what faith can offer in terms of freedom AND the mess we do make of the world, and sitting with that tension.
    And I think the church as a whole urgently needs to find a compelling and deep reaching way of doing both.

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      You might be interested that we’re looking at Isaiah 59 as a helpful text for this year, given the current ways of the world.

      Reply
    2. Christine McIntosh Avatar
      Christine McIntosh

      I’m of much the same mind. (A mind that is still blown away when I hear them sung)

      Reply
  3. Dan Floyd Avatar
    Dan Floyd

    Thank you

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Easter Update

    I’m not sure where the energy came from for last night’s evensong. I was beyond speech, but somehow managed to sing the Rose responses as though I knew them. The choir belted through Dyson in D, one of the Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs and a glorious Howells Te Deum. +Idris reappeared to join us,…

  • More on the bikers

    More pics of the bikers on the BBC Website.  (NB the fifth pic – thanks Stewart)