What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Not drowning but thriving – sermon from 10 August 2014

     

    Turn your eyes upon Jesus
    Look full in his wonderful face
    And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
    In the light of his glory and grace

     

    When I was growing up – that’s exactly the kind of thing that I would have been singing on a Sunday morning.

    And it came to mind when I was starting to think about what to say about the gospel this morning.

    You see, the gospel reading that we have today tends to lead to sermons which represent that kind of mawkish sentimentality that suggests that Jesus will solve everything.

    I’ve found in life that Jesus doesn’t solve everything. If he did, the world would already be a very different place.

    I’ve learned that if Jesus does anything he calls us to build that better place not simply with him but with people of goodwill wherever we find them.

    Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

    That’s the thing about this passage – the evangelist lays on that sentiment with a trowel. Peter leaps out of the boat and starts to sink – only when he looks at Jesus is he safe. And thus, so many sermons will say – we need to fix our eyes on the saviour and all will be well.

    Well, I certainly think that Jesus can be a brilliant inspiration and I look on him as Saviour and Lord.

    But when I look at Jesus I find that he is looking at the world and asking me to gaze with compassion upon it with him. (more…)

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13 responses to “Who is welcome?”

  1. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    I seek forgiveness for my sins, William. I don’t seek forgiveness for being gay, because I don’t believe that that is a sin: I am as God made me. If a church views my sexuality as a sin, I am welcomed not as a child of God who is loved just as I am but as someone who needs God to fix her. And as the Church as a whole has a long and chequered history of believing exactly that, I see an enormous difference between a church that welcomes sinners and a church that welcomes gay folk. It’s the difference between feeling marginalised and excluded, and feeling loved and valued and included.

    Reply
  2. Carl Avatar
    Carl

    Amen Sistah!

    Reply

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