Ordinary Times

Sermons for Ordinary Times

A Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (28/08/22): When Is A Parable Not A Parable

Luke 14:1, 7-14 Once again Jesus is the guest of honour at a meal. And as usual he observes the behaviour of his host and those around him, which leads him eventually to comment:When he [Jesus] noticed how the guests chose the places of honour he told them a parable.Actually we don’t hear a parable. …

A Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (28/08/22): When Is A Parable Not A Parable Read More »

A Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (21/08/22): Sabbath of Freedom

Luke 13:10-17 The WomanJesus, as is his custom, is in the Synagogue, on the sabbath, teaching. He is with the whole gathered community, with them for praise of God and for learning. And just now there appears a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. Into the midst of their regular …

A Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (21/08/22): Sabbath of Freedom Read More »

A Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (14/08/22): Know how to interpret the present time!

Luke 12:49-56 Jesus says:“You know how to interpret the signs of the earth and sky but you do not know how to interpret the present time.”Human ability to forecast the weather has advance a great deal since the time of Jesus. When you see a cloud in the west, you know it’s going to rain. …

A Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (14/08/22): Know how to interpret the present time! Read More »

A Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (31/07/22): The Foolishness of Greed

Luke 12:13-21 “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. . . . But God said to him, ‘You fool!’ ” The story which Jesus tells is usually called “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” But on the face of it, we might not call the farmer in Jesus’ story, a fool. He certainly has …

A Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (31/07/22): The Foolishness of Greed Read More »

A Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (24/07/22): You have Received Christ Jesus as Lord

Colossians 2:6-15 The problem we have with the letters in the New Testament is that we have only one half of the correspondence. We have the replies, not the letters which prompt those replies. It is as if we are listening to someone talking on the telephone. We hear them speak, but not what the …

A Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (24/07/22): You have Received Christ Jesus as Lord Read More »

A Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (17/07/22): The One Thing Needful

Luke 10:38-42 Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him [Jesus] and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?” The evening has been a long one. And through it all Martha has not had a moment’s rest. Since before …

A Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (17/07/22): The One Thing Needful Read More »

A Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (10/0722): Amos and Amaziah

Amos 7:7-17 How does a Christian preach or even read the book of Amos? What message could Amos possibly have for us now? Amos is very nearly unrelentingly bleak. He delivers condemnation after condemnation. In his pronouncements no one is safe from the judgement of God. His words are almost all destruction by fire and …

A Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (10/0722): Amos and Amaziah Read More »

A Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (03/07/22): God Is Not Mocked

Galatians 6:1-16 Not so long ago I had reason to say in a sermon: “If your preaching of grace isn’t causing offence, you’re not preaching it hard enough.” I stand by that declaration. And I think it is important enough to bear repeating. Christianity is a religion of grace. It is all about what God …

A Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (03/07/22): God Is Not Mocked Read More »

A Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (26/06/22): Jesus: Rejected Leadership

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 …

A Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (26/06/22): Jesus: Rejected Leadership Read More »

A Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (19/06/22): Healing the Gerasene Demoniac

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 …

A Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (19/06/22): Healing the Gerasene Demoniac Read More »