This sermon was preached on the 9th of May 2024, the Feast of the Ascension, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: 1 John 5.1-12 Mark 16.15-20 Today we gather to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. This is a big day in the life of the Church… ranking up there with Passiontide and Pentecost. And yet, oddly, many Christians seem to have forgotten about it. There aren’t many churches in which it is specially celebrated. ...
This sermon was preached on the 5th of May 2024, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: 1 John 5.1-12 John 15.9-17 This is my commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you. (John 15:12) This commandment of Jesus is so simple, so clear, so profound; it immediately makes sense even to the smallest child. And I find that it is bittersweet in its simplicity… bittersweet because we so often fail to obey this command of our Lord, despite its clarity, and despite its simplicity. ...
This sermon was preached on the 28th of April 2024, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: 1 John 4.7-21 John 15.1-8 There are a lot of shrivelled up plants up here in the hills at the moment. The rain hasn’t come when it usually does. It’s affecting even the huge, old trees in the forest. Trees that are centuries old are turning brown, and starting to die. ...
This sermon was preached on the 21st of April 2024, Good Shepherd Sunday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 10.10-18 Parables are worlds spun from story. And these are worlds that we are invited into, invited to inhabit, invited to experience. So let’s enter, imaginatively, into the world of the parable we heard today. It’s quite a scary world. Sheep are gathered together, in a fold. That’s a place, somewhere in the countryside, where they would have been enclosed, perhaps to spend a night. A place that helped their shepherd to protect them. ...
This sermon was preached on the 31st of March 2024, Easter Sunday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 20.1-18 Let’s taken a moment to reflect. Reflect upon your experience of Holy Week, and of the great Paschal Triduum, the height of the Christian year. We have journeyed from the gates of Jerusalem, to Calvary, to the garden and the empty tomb. We have journeyed from false triumph, to tragedy, and now we find ourselves gathered in wonder and joy. ...
This sermon was preached on the 30th of March 2024, Holy Saturday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: Mark 14-15 Today, Holy Saturday, the body of Jesus of Nazareth has been taken down from the Cross, and placed in a tomb. Saint Matthew tells us: When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. ...
This sermon was preached on the 29th of March 2024, Good Friday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 18.1-19.42 Good Friday. How can this day possibly be called Good? Today, the Son of God is tried, tried, and sentenced to death. Today, the Son of God is abandoned by his disciples, his friends, even by Peter, his rock. Today, the Son of God is rejected by his people. Today, the Son of God is sentenced to a degrading death. A death reserved for rebels, for traitors, for those who challenged empire. A death as painful and degrading as human beings can make it. ...
This sermon was preached on the 28th of March 2024, Maundy Thursday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: Mark 11.1-11; Mark 14.1-15.27 Would you have let Jesus wash your feet that night? Would you have allowed Jesus to humble himself for you? Would you have allowed Jesus to be your servant? Take a moment to picture yourself in that room, amongst the disciples, gathered together for a meal. Suddenly, Jesus jumps up from the table. He takes his outer robe off, casting aside all rank, all authority. And then he ties a towel around his waist, taking on the role of a servant, a slave, the lowest of the low. ...
This sermon was preached on the 24th of March 2024, Palm Sunday, the Sixth Sunday in Lent, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: Mark 11.1-11; Mark 14.1-15.27 Beware of crowds. Look to your safety when large numbers of people are gathered together, especially when emotions are high. Especially when honour and shame are involved. Especially when right and wrong are involved. Especially when religion is involved. The truth of these assertions is self-evident, given our readings today from Saint Mark’s Gospel. ...
This sermon was preached on the 17th of March 2024, the fifth Sunday in Lent, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 12.20-33 I’m going to begin this sermon with a reading from the Confessions of Saint Augustine: “Anxiety was making my heart palpitate and perspire with the destructive fever of worry, when I passed through a Milan street and noticed a destitute beggar. Already drunk, I think, he was joking and laughing. I groaned, and spoke with the friends accompanying me about the many sufferings that result from our follies; in all our strivings … we ourselves had no goal other than to reach such a carefree cheerfulness. That beggar was already there before us, and perhaps we would never achieve it. ...