St. Michael and All Angels September 29, 2019 Genesis 28 :10-17 Revelation 12 :7-12 John 1 :47-51 Jacob’s ladder is probably one of the best-known dream stories in the whole Bible. It might even be one of the best-known dream stories in the world’s literature. It has inspired the imagination of story writers, poets, artists…
Pentecost XV September 22, 2019 Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1 I Timothy 2:1-7 Luke 16 :1-13 Over the past decades, it has become the vogue amongst those who study the growth and development of parishes to describe each parish in terms of its size and ministry. There are supposed to be four or five stages of…
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 15, 2019 Jeremiah 4: 11-12, 22-28 I Timothy 1:12-17 Luke 15:1-10 One of my favorite aspects of the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn is the necessity of going through my wardrobe to find coats or trousers more suitable for the change in the weather. I have…
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost 8th September 2019 Jeremiah 18:1-11 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33 There was a curious piece of publicity being shown on the television which was intended to advertise an investment or an insurance company – I forget precisely which. It showed two people at a table sitting across from each other. An older…
Pentecost +12 September 1st, 2019 Jeremiah 2:4-13 Hebrews 13:1-8 Luke 14:1-14 I am always puzzled by the programs that public television chooses to show during a fund-drive. In order to solicit contributions from viewers, the managers of the stations concerned invariably air some guru or other who tells us how we can change our lives…
Pentecost XI August 25, 2019 Jeremiah 1:4-10 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17 In the town where I grew up, Sunday was a day for going to church, eating a long lunch around the table with the extended family, and refraining from shopping (the stores were all closed anyway). If possible, all tedious work-related tasks were to…
Pentecost X August 18, 2019 Isaiah 5:1-7 Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2 Luke 12:49-56 As we studied the gospels of the New Testament this last spring, we discovered that the four gospels are not really ‘biographies’ of Jesus. Unlike most modern biographies of famous people, they don’t explore Jesus’ psychological development or the key moments of…
Pentecost 9 11th August 2019 Genesis 15:1-6 Hebrews 11:1-16 Luke 12:32-40 Nobody really knows who the author of the book of Hebrews was. It was certainly not Paul; the book dates from a later period, and its main purpose is to inform the Christian communities all over the Greco-Roman world of their Hebrew origins. After…
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost August 4, 2019 Hosea 11:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 Jesus’ parable of the rich fool which we heard in our Gospel reading this morning is the only one of the parables in the New Testament where God himself has a speaking role. Of course, God appears in the other parables –…
Afrique fête July 28, 2019 Hosea 1 :2-10 Colossians 2 :6-19 Luke 11 :1-13 When I studied the history and language of ancient Egypt I spent three months in the guest house of Anglican cathedral of All Saints on the island of Zamalek in Cairo. There was a beautiful little garden attached to the guest house, at…