What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • The Anglican Covenant and Communion Motions

    The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church will debate and decide on the Anglican Covenant next week on Friday 8 June 2012 during a session that is timed to last from 0915 until 1045.

    The General Synod will debate two motions.

    Anglican Covenant

    Motion 26: That this Synod agree in principle to adopt the Anglican Covenant and instruct the Faith and Order Board to arrange to bring forward appropriate canonical provision for consideration for first reading at General Synod 2013.

    Anglican Communion
    Motion 27: That this Synod

    • Give thanks for the part played by the Scottish Episcopal Church in the early stages of the evolution of the Anglican Communion through the consecration of Samuel Seabury in Aberdeen;
    • Affirm its desire to continue to be part of the Anglican Communion as it seeks closer union while celebrating its diversity;
    • Call on the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates’ Meeting, the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council to encourage the development of bonds of shared mission, respect and mutual support through which the Anglican Communion can help spread the love of Christ across the world;
    • Affirm the work of the Anglican Communion Networks, bodies and initiatives through which those bonds can be nurtured.

    The notes from last year’s General Synod ‘indaba’ process are available.

    There is also a paper from the Faith and Order Board.

10 responses to “Sermon for Christ the King 2014”

  1. Julie Mansfield Avatar
    Julie Mansfield

    Kelvin, I follow your blog and I often find your conversations on facebook a lot of fun. But often, too, I don’t really understand what you are saying – such as your last paragraph there; ‘Like love. Like compassion. Like truth. Like hope. Like justice. Like joy. Like peace. Like the Way. Like the very essence of life itself.’ It sounds wonderful but what does it actually mean? Are you saying that the word, ‘God’ is a synonym for other worthwhile words which already have meanings I do understand?

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      What a good question.

      No, I’m not saying that, or at least not quite. I would say that we can’t describe what God is like in language, but one of the closest ways we can come near to talking about God is to talk by analogy – to talk about what God is like.

      The bible is full of times when people use analogy and metaphor to describe the reality of God which we can never completely comprehend.

      In this sermon I’m saying that whilst God may be like a king, God is also like a lot of things that one doesn’t immediately associate with kingship and monarchy. That string of words that you picked out in the sermon are all ways that the bible uses to speak of God. I was using them to do the same.

      Does any metaphor contain or enclose or sum up what we can say or know of God. The answer is always no.

      Reply
  2. Joy Jones Avatar
    Joy Jones

    I loved your sermon. And have subscribed to your blog.

    No, I have not met the Queen, but I have met the King! And continue to get to know Him more and more every day. His love, peace joy, truth, etc.

    Our priest in North Carolina, said on Sunday, that
    it was hard to tell the difference between sheep and goats.
    Since you live in Scotland, you see a lot of sheep and goats….why did Jesus picked those animals?

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      Thanks for your comments, Joy.

      Actually, I don’t see that many sheep and goats in Great Western Road in the middle of Glasgow. I do see sheep when I drive in the countryside but very rarely goats.

      I think that it is the case that in the Middle East, sheep and goats are pastured together and do sometimes need sorting out. Here in Scotland, sheep and goats (especially wild goats) look very different. However I think in the Middle East, that’s less true.

      Reply
  3. Julie Mansfield Avatar
    Julie Mansfield

    Kelvin, I’ve only just found your reply! Thanks so much for bothering. I really mean it. I thought you must have just ignored it. Yes, I see what you are saying but… I would say that all those meaningful words in the Bible about what God is like only make sense in the context of understanding who God is. ( i.e. that He came into being as the personification of the worldview of the marginalised Hebrew people, later taken up by Jesus, just as all of the other communities of the ancient Near East had gods representing their worldviews. I study with this bloke here http://www.bibleincartoons.co.uk. ) What I am trying – !! – to say is that God obviously cannot be everyone’s ‘truth’, ‘joy’, ‘justice’ etc because in society there are contradictory ideas about what these things are.

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      Are there contradictory ideas about truth, joy and justice?

      I’m not so sure. Surely we can still speak of these things as though they had some commonly understood meanings.

      Reply
      1. Julie Mansfield Avatar
        Julie Mansfield

        oh absolutely there are, Kelvin. Just one of many examples: these immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Their truth and joy and justice is to be allowed to come and live here. Many folk here get their truth, joy and justice in seeking to put in controls. Whose truth, joy and justice is right? As I see it, the god of the marginalised Hebrews would side with the immigrants but I’m not sure about the Church…

        Reply
        1. Kelvin Avatar
          Kelvin

          I was speaking about God, not ethics. That’s not to say that there isn’t a lot that is interesting to say about the two, but they are quite different I think.

          The fact that people disagree about how to show love. does not, to me at least, negate the assertion that God is love.

          Reply
      2. Julie Mansfield Avatar
        Julie Mansfield

        Oh absolutely there are contradictory ideas, Kelvin. Just one of many examples; these immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Their truth and joy and justice is to be allowed a place to live and thrive. For many folk here, their truth and joy and justice depends on keeping out as many immigrants as possible because they affect housing, medical care, schools etc. As I see it, the Biblical god of the marginalised Hebrews is on the side of the immigrants…

        Reply
        1. Julie Mansfield Avatar
          Julie Mansfield

          sorry I didn’t see your reply! My difficulty is that you use words as if they have a universal meaning. E.g. love is not a neutral word. there are many different types of love such as conservative paternalistic love or socialist love or non-marginalising love. They are all love. How can God be them all?

          Reply

Leave a Reply

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

Previous Posts

  • Working for an Inclusive Church

    I'm impressed with the o­n-line petition that has been set up o­n www.inclusivechurch.net, in response to the events in the Church of England this summer. I've signed it and would recommend that anyone who wants an open and inclusive church does so. The fundamentalist parts of the church seem to want to dictate who is…

  • Sunday Sermon – 24/8/03 Fighting the Good Fight

    The Whole Armour”How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts.”So said the psalmist in the psalm we read together this morning (Psalm 84).One of the things which I tend to do when I am o­n holiday is to make for the dwelling places of the Lord of hosts ? or at least make…

  • Buying a TV

    I've just bought a television. I've lived for about 5 years without o­ne, but have decided that the time had come to try having it in the house again. I'm going to be off work this week following a minor operation I'm having o­n my mouth o­n Tuesday. The TV is supposed to help. I wonder…

  • Thurible Spotting

    I visited two different priests of the Scottish Episcopal Church yesterday in their homes and each had the most extraordinary thurible hanging in their houses. [A thurible is what you use to waft incense around a church]. It turned out that each had been the thurible of the Catholic Apostolic Church, that glorious denomination dedicated to…