• Sermon – the Maker, Troublemaker, Peacemaker

    Here’s what I said on Sunday in the pulpit about that tricky gospel reading.

    Not peace, but a division

    Sometimes one reads the Gospel in church and everyone nods knowingly. You can tell that people think that what is being said is wise and good.

    When we tell the story of the Good Samaritan, perhaps. Or the Prodigal Son. Or the stories of his response when people brought him those who were sick.

    We hear Jesus being clever, holy and gracious. We see him healing and enlightening and blessing.

    And we approve.

    We approve of this Saviour for he is made in the image of all our hopes and our dreams.

    This is a God whom we can like. He would not be out of place in our company. We would be honoured to take him home for tea.

    But the truth is, Christianity is about something a little more than this. It is about following a Saviour who sometimes turns around and says things that we find tricky, difficult or bewildering. (more…)

One response to “Odd”

  1.  Avatar
    Kelvin

    Re: Odd
    Hi,

    I happened by because I was googling o­n the word “thurible”.  I'm a US Episcopalian, and I'm currently in the Inquiry process about becoming a vocational Deacon… which, as you know, is supposedly a lay ministry. 

    But I know what you mean… we do a commissioning sort of a thing every year for our vestry and teachers, but it's all ad hoc and out of various slightly suspect books of supplemental rites.  It would be niceto have an approved liturgy for blessing a Lay Eucharistic Minister, for example.

    If you don't mind, I'll be about again… feel free to look at my blog, http://www.livejournal.com/users/lirazel/.

    I'm 50, with a lot of younger friends due to interests in Japanese animation and science fiction and such… so please pardon us of some of the language is even more opaque than is commonly the case when people from the British Isles and Amurrrricans try to understand each other.

    Regards (how appropriate for viewing someone's blog!)
    Lirazel

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