Sermons for Ordinary Times
Luke 9:51-62 As Jesus turns towards Jerusalem and begins to plough his furrow in that direction, he says to his would-be followers:No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God. One of the hardest things for Christians to grasp is what kind of leader it …
Luke 8:26-39 Possessions, indeed any sickness or any evil, affect not only an individual but whole communities. On the face of it the Gerasene demoniac is the victim of “Legion.” It is he who is tormented to the point of nakedness. It is he who has no home except among the dead. It is he …
Romans 5:1-5 Today is Trinity Sunday. This is the one Sunday in the year when we are invited to consider, directly, the doctrine of the Trinity. That is, the preacher is called to speak, and the congregation is invited to reflect on, the distinctively Christian doctrine of God. There is no doubt that it is …
Luke 9:28-36 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. How did they know? As readers of Luke’s account of the transfiguration, one of the questions that must surely occur to is: how did …
A Sermon for the Last Sunday after Epiphany (27/02/22): How Did They Know? Read More »
Luke 6:27-38 There is a basic level of kindness which is probably common to all people. It is a sort of shared concern for our fellow human beings which might be present everywhere. It is that sense that if a person’s needs are great enough, for example if they were drowning, and that if the …
A Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany (20/02/22): Love Your Enemies Read More »
Luke 6:17-26 Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God.This is a familiar line from Jesus’ teaching.It is the first of the Beatitudes.But woe to you who are rich for you have received you consolation.It is followed by a somewhat less familiar line from Jesus’ teaching. Luke recalls that for …
A Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany (13/02/22): God speaks from among the poor Read More »
Luke 4:21-30 When John, rather than Luke recounts the story of Jesus’ life and ministry he says:“He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” (John 1:11)To begin with, when Jesus goes to those who were most his own, in the place where he had grown up, to begin …
A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (30/01/22): Is Not This Joseph’s Son Read More »
Luke 4:14-21 At the synagogue in Nazareth Jesus reads a passage from Isaiah and then preaches a one sentence sermon:Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” We could think of Jesus’ life and career in conventional terms, in the way we would any other historical figure, …
A Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany (23/01/22): Manifesto at Nazareth Read More »
John 2:1-12 Jesus did this, the first of his signs in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.One of the characteristics of John’s telling of Jesus’ story are the “signs.” At key moments in his ministry Jesus does something, a miracle, a sign, which reveals, in action, some aspect …
A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany (16/01/22): His First Sign Read More »
John 18:33-37 Pilate asks Jesus two questions:Are you the king of the Jews?And then when he is not satisfied with Jesus’ first answer he asks him:What have you done? When Pilate asks, “Are you the king of the Jews?” it means something different for him than it does for the chief priests who put that …