Sermons

…if you do good, you will be rewarded. If you do bad, you will be punished. It’s simple and effective. Our world works on a similar principle—most of the time, anyway.
But it doesn’t seem as though it’s the same principle that Jesus operates under. At least not consistently.

All Saints’ Day doesn’t simply celebrate the saints as good examples – it celebrates the saints as ongoing participants in the life of the church, reminding us that the church is much bigger than what we see on a Sunday morning or even the collection of every Sunday morning across the world and through the generations. The church encompasses the faithful on earth and the faithful in heaven, transcending life and death just as Jesus does.

this is totally absurd. This would never happen. It’s not meant to be believable. It’s a parable, not reality.
And that’s just the point that Jesus is trying to make. Nobody would say no to a feast like that (let alone treat the messengers so horribly).

Hattie and Brenda each shared a reflection on their own… read more

God is the author of life, the forgiver of sins, the restorer of God’s people. God’s reign is revealed not in death but in resurrection – a truth that the priests and pharisees and all of us whose knowledge of God’s justice is shaped by Scripture should know.

This isn’t a parable about authority – at least not exactly or obviously. Rather, it’s a parable about words and actions and the opportunity, for better or for worse, to change our minds. It’s a parable that invites elders and priests – and us – to reflect on their own choices in relation to God’s authority rather that getting hung up on Jesus’ or John’s authority.

If one worships the sunset because it paints such a beautiful picture on the horizon, what or who is responsible for that? If one marvels in the eyes of a beautiful human being, who gets the credit for placing those eyes there?

Jesus is creating something new, a new church – a word Matthew uses but Jesus and Peter almost certainly didn’t – and people are working out what this church should look like. And Jesus’ answer, then and now, is this: it should look like the Kingdom of Heaven.

So, even though the law plainly stated that the punishment for certain offences was death by execution (usually stoning), in practice, what was usually done in Jesus’ time was probably something more like “excommunication” as we understand it today.