What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Sunday’s Sermon

    Many people were kind enough to say encouraging things on Sunday after I preached this. Sadly I’ve got some problems with the video and don’t know whether I can make that appear later.

    In the mean time, here’s the text:

    And the eyes of everyone were upon him.

    In the name of God, Creator, Saviour and Liberator. Amen.

    I have already spoken to some of you of the most powerful moment in my recent three month sabbatical. It was the moment on the US election day when I found myself in Washington DC and someone had taken me sightseeing. As the votes were being counted, I found myself standing on the very spot that Martin Luther King preached his famous “I have a Dream” sermon to the thousands who had flocked to the National Mall.

    As I stood on that spot gazing out into the night, I could imagine the crowds heading off into the distance coming to hear their champion of civil rights lay out his hopes for a better world.

    As I stood there and night drew in I could feel America holding its breath wondering whether the people there had done something most people in that former crowd would scarcely have been able to image – that America had re-elected a black president. It was a moment when I found myself unexpectedly in tears. Tears for the loss of Martin Luther King, tears of joy that though there is much still to do, aspects of his dream have become today’s reality and tears for America – a country where the idea that the blue sky just around the corner is, if not constitutional, almost a theologically defining belief.

    The next day I set out to explore the city and returned to the National Mall. As I walked up and down seeing the sights, (more…)

4 responses to “Here is the sermon…”

  1. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    I remember that workshop being done as part of an LGBT group meeting. I was slightly skeptical about it in the beginning, but ended up getting a lot out of it and thinking about God in ways that I hadn’t consciously before.

    Reply
  2. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    FWIW, in order to dot some `t’s and cross some `i’s, my sensibly heretical book The Five Gospels colours all the speech black apart from the saying about women grinding corn (which merits a grey, at best). Ie, none of the text goes back to any historical Jesus, with the apocalyptic context added by the gospel authors; the `thief in the night’ is an Christian saying of the early churches (witness other epistles, written before Matthew, where the image appears) and therefore probably planted, in that order, in Matthew.

    I guess taking what you most charitably will out of the passage is entirely reasonable, then. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    (I had to read that, and a bit from Romans at church up here, too… was “interesting” turning a blind eye to it. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Tracey Avatar
    Tracey

    Thanks for that Kelvin. When I read that Gospel at the 8:30 service, i remembered the severe fundamentalist church I was brought up in as a child, and it made me uncomfortable. Reading your comments, I remember my first few visits to an Episcopal worship service and remembering how joyful and non-scary it was, and being amazed by the fact that I didn’t have to be afraid of God. Thanks for the reminder.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

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

Previous Posts

  • Bishop Watch

    The Scottish bishops have released a new statement about the usual topic. Its not bad either.Take a look: Bishops' StatementI've been writing a response today, which appears o­n the Changing Attitude Scotland website: www.changingattitudescotland.org.uk 

  • Freecycle

    Here is a good internet idea – the Freecycle network. It works a bit like Ebay except everything is free. The idea is to promote recycling by offering unwanted things to others for free. The network is up and running in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but not in the Stirling/Forth Valley area yet. http://www.freecycle.org

  • Ministry of the Word – 6 March 2005

    I?m not preaching this morning ? there is a baptism in church which takes the place of the sermon today. However, for anyone looking for a reflection on this morning?s readings, here is a little Bible study on the three readings. First let us look at the old testament reading. The calling of David the…

  • Responses to sermon

    Many thanks to all those who have contacted me in response to last week’s sermon. I’ve been astonished by the generosity and warmth represented by e-mails from people all over North America, as well as by the cards and messages from people more locally. Here are a few typical responses: From Liz in the US…