Simon Says ...

Luke 7.36-8.3 Some words from the Gospel reading this morning:   Jesus ‘went on through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.   The twelve were with him, as well as some women’. It’s a great pleasure to be with you this morning.   My thanks to Simon for his invitation, and to you all for your welcome.   I bring greetings to the Cathedral of the Peak from your Cathedral Church in Derby, where we pray for you regularly.   I’m here, I think, because one of the roles I have is as the Director of Curate Training in the Diocese.   So I have been involved with Sue, not least as she prepares to be ordained priest at the end of the month.   I want to say a few things this morning to help us all prepare for that new ministry.   At the end of the Gospel reading this morning we hear that Jesus ‘went on through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom...

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...

A Sermon for Trinity 12. Matthew 18.15-20 Let me start with a little quiz.   It’s very easy, simply try and tell whether these statements are true or false.   1.      Christianity is about following the teaching of Jesus. 2.      Christianity is based on God’s love for us, seen in Jesus, overflowing into how we treat other people. 3.      For the whole history of Christianity, Christians have never disagreed with one another. I’m glad you laughed! Christians do, in fact, disagree.   They have done since the very beginning of the Church.   The first major disagreement comes at the beginning of the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, although there are lies creeping already at the beginning of the fifth chapter.   And of course, there are many stories in the Gospels of the 12 disciples, the pillars of the church, disagreeing with one another (normally about...

A Sermon for Trinity 20 2 Kings 5.1-3,7-15c ; Luke 17.11-19 Our Old Testament reading this morning has something of a Hollywood blockbuster about it.  You can imagine the trailer: Naaman, commander of the most powerful army in the world, yet afflicted with an incurable disease. How will he rid himself of this dreadful illness?  A tale of passion, of strength and of wonder.  Naaman, coming to a cinema near you, certificate 15. So let me ask you to imagine the story we heard this morning as a Hollywood film.  It begins with an introduction to Naaman, a great man, a mighty warrior, in high favour with the king, commander of the army.  A force to be reckoned with.  And then the great tragedy of his life – his leprosy.  Cut then to a quiet timid servant girl, the spoils of one of Naaman’s great triumphs.  ‘There is a prophet in Israel who could heal you,’ she tells him.  Cut again (the bit this morning’s reading ...

A Sermon for Trinity 14. Luke 14.1,7-14 Let me begin with a text, not from our Gospel reading this morning, but from a book called the ‘ Healthy Churches Handbook ’.  It goes like this: ‘Parties and ‘thank you’s make the world a better place and more like the kingdom of God’.  ‘Parties and ‘thank you’s make the world a better place and more like the kingdom of God’.  If you take nothing else away from this morning, please take that.  ‘Parties and ‘thank you’s make the world a better place and more like the kingdom of God’.  To be a Christian, is to be a party-goer and a party-giver! The Gospels are full of parties, and it is clear that Jesus enjoyed a good party (so much so that he was called a glutton and a drunkard, or in the wonderful word of the King James Version, a ‘winebibber’!).  Our reading this morning is all about parties. In fact it’s about a specific party.  Jesus has been invited to a party given by a leader ...