I've been reading Thomas Keneally's The Office of Innocence. It's a great novel, which says some very honest things about the illusions and fantasies of being in ministry. One phrase from the conclusion stood out: the main character is said to be "depending on the spaciousness of Christ". It's a beautiful phrase that rang so many bells for me. I suspect that Christ is more spacious than we give often think. But to depend on that spaciousness is to know that we are on the edge of ordinary religiosity. This is not a safe place ...
Cages and Trees
A Sermon for the Feast of the Hallowing of Derby Cathedral Jeremiah 7.1-11 ; Luke 19.1-10 Nothing befits the solemn festivities of the feast of the Hallowing of Derby Cathedral more than a quotation from one of the foremost theologians of our age. So let me share this as a theological gift to mark this feast: “I may not know much about God, but we built a pretty nice cage for him”. “I may not know much about God, but we built a pretty nice cage for him”. The theologian, for those who did not spot it, is Homer Simpson, patriarch and star of the long running animated family saga The Simpsons . In one episode, Homer becomes a missionary in the South Pacific, and builds a chapel for the natives. As the final piece of the chapel is put into its place, Homer says “I may not know much about God, but we built a pretty nice cage for him”. Jeremiah would, I think, have recognised the satire behind Homer Simpson’s theology. ...
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