Simon Says ...

Acts 10.34-43 ; John 20.1-18 “We do not know there they have laid him”.   If the stories of Jesus’ appearances after his resurrection have anything in common, then one of the major common factors has to be that they are all surprises.   Mary is surprised by the gardener.   The eleven disciples are surprised to find Jesus inside a locked room.   The two walking to Emmaus are surprised by a biblical interpreted walking with them.   The eleven are again surprised as they go fishing in Galilee.   And St Paul is surprised (to say the least) by Jesus appearing on the road to Damascus.   Jesus turns up where he is not expected, and that seems to be common to all of the stories of his appearances. When Jesus turns up all kinds of things happen.   There is healing of people and relationships; forgiveness and the rebuilding of community; there are lives transformed by love; and hope and confidence is rekindled.   In the Go...

A sermon for Maundy Thursday. Exodus 12.1-14 ; John 13.1-17,31b-35 “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”. Tonight we gather to remember the Passover – the time when God freed his people from slavery in Egypt and led them to freedom in the Promised Land. Tonight we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, given to his disciples at the last supper he shared with them before his death. Tonight we gather to begin our journey through the three days of the Passion of our Lord, his death and resurrection. Tonight we gather to do all these things. But above all these things, tonight we gather to take our shoes off and then to put them on again. So let me ask you now to take off your shoes. Shoes off and shoes on – that is what tonight is all about. Shoes off – shoes on. We find it in the Gospel reading. It is an insight into the very being and nature of God. It is our calling as disciples of Jesus. Shoes off. Shoes on. So let me expla...

The Michael Ramsey Prize is awarded every two years for a work of theology.   Set up by Archbishop Rowan Williams it has been won by some great books, and the shortlists contain some excellent theologians. This year, I saved up my pennies and have bought the whole shortlist.   I plan to read them all before the winner is announced at Greenbelt at the end of August. This year, the shortlist is: Benigno Beltran, Faith & Struggle on Smokey Mountain (Orbis) Stephen Cherry, Healing Agony: Re-imagining Forgiveness (Continuum) Anne Richards, Children in the Bible (SPCK) Francis Spufford, Unapologetic (Faber & Faber) John Swinton, Dementia: Living in the memories of God (SCM) Frances Young, God’s Presence: a contemporary recapitulation of early Christianity (Cambridge University Press) My initial reaction is to note that I have only read one of these prior to the shortlist being announc...

Romans 13. 1-7 ; John 18.33-38a The overarching title of this series, ‘Doing God’ might be taken in some sense to have been building to a talk on politics.   After all, Alastair Campbell when he was Tony Blair’s press secretary once said that ‘We don’t do God’.   Contrary to Campbell, Archbishop Desmond Tutu once famously said that “When people say that the Bible and politics don’t mix, I ask them which Bible they’re reading!”   Tutu is, of course, right – the Bible is full of stories about politics and power.   There is the whole contested nature of the Kingdom of Israel – never really resolved in the Bible.   Jesus speaks primarily about the Kingdom of God, using political language for his teaching.   And, centrally, Jesus is executed by the Roman governor on the very political charge of claiming to be a King.   Politics pervades the Bible. Alongside this, however, are two injunctions that are often said to stand cou...

Synod began, more or less, in silence as we remembered the 21 Coptic Christians martyred in Libya for their Christian faith on the anniversary of their death.   An important moment.   There was little silence thereafter, as we moved into the normal pattern of debates and presentations.   February was a relatively short Synod, across three days.   It was the first meeting of the newly elected Synod other than the short gathering for its inauguration last November.   This means that there were lots of maiden speeches, lots of new voices to listen to. It means that we the newly elected Prolocutors of Canterbury and York (the chairs of the House of Clergy) and the Chair and Vice-Chair of the House of Laity were presented to us.   It feels like the new Synod is still being run in. Business started with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Presidential Address .   This was mostly about the Primate’s meeting, and was clear and helpful.   He spoke of...