The Beatitudes - a reworking of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount

On becoming bread and, in that, becoming bread for one another

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New post on Interrupting the Silence Could We Be The Bread of Life? – A Sermon On John 6:35, 41-51 by Michael K. Marsh We so often hear Jesus say, “I am the bread of life,” and we assume he is the only loaf in the basket. But what if that is not what he is saying? What if he is not claiming to be the exclusive loaf of bread in this world? What if he is teaching us is what the bread of life looks like so we can find it in this world, so we can become that bread, so we can be that bread for another? Read more of this post Michael K. Marsh | August 23, 2018 at 11:17 am | Tags: Bread of Life, Bread of Life Discourse, John 6:35 41-51, Proper 14B | Categories: Sermon | URL: https://wp.me/pprAI-2N8

Social media and a plastic alphabet tiled notice board. The language of the people?

Let me introduce you to Father Rod Bowers!

Father Rod has become something of an institution in Australia in recent years thanks to social media. He is the master of the pithy comment.  Many, many love him.  Many, many loathe him.  I am pretty certain that to-day's comment (the Islamic equivalent of Merry Christmas or Happy New Year for Christians) will drive the fanatics and the bigots nuts.  However, that doesn't both Father Rod.  Go here and you will find a mass of his epigrams for people to enjoy or be driven nutty.  But he won't be stopped!

If you want something a little bit longer and meatier than Father Rod's succinct signage, you can get his sermons. They are erudite and meatier and you can get a feel for the man himself in action.  People sometimes wonder out aloud what Father Rod's boss, the Bishop, thinks of all this. First of all, I think everyone in the Diocese of Newcastle is used to all this.  Second of all, thanks to electronic media, he has acquired as much or more fame than Jesus did in His day and - what is more - he uses it wisely and well.  

So, please join me and many other Australians tonight at 9.35pm.  Father Rod - or to give him his precise title the Venerable Rod Bower - when he appears on the ABC current affairs television program, Q and A.

.... and a little more over here. 

The Royal Wedding Sermon

https://resistanceandrenewal.net/2018/05/19/rev-currys-sermon-summed-up-why-i-am-a-christian/

Rev. Curry’s sermon summed up why I am a Christian 

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Jon Kuhrt

There has been an incredible reaction to Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon at the Royal Wedding today.

Both the content and the manner of his talk broke the formality which so easily straight-jackets Anglican services and especially any religious events involving the Royalty.

There was power, authority and a bold confidence in the way that Bishop Curry spoke.  As the world listened to him, I realised he was summing up why I am a Christian.

He spoke personally – so often, vicars, priests and ministers can lose people with religious jargon or abstract terms,  but straight away Rev Curry connected the theme of his talk to the experience of everyone listening:

There’s power – power in love. If you don’t believe me, think about a time when you first fell in love. The whole world seemed to center around you and your beloved.

He spoke passionately – there was an urgency to his words as he spoke about a power (or fire) that was desperately needed if we are to heal the world we live in.  It was not overly intellectualised but rooted in an urgent struggle for justice and change:

The late Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. once said and I quote: “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that, we will be able to make of this old world a new world, for love is the only way.”

He spoke about justice – surrounded by the wealth and power of Royalty, Hollywood and a sea of military uniforms, he spoke boldly about poverty, war and the injustices that scar the world:

When love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again. When love is the way, poverty will become history. When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary. When love is the way, we will lay down our swords and shields, down by the riverside, to study war no more.

He shook things up – good preaching should always comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.  A very British blend of bemusement and mild discomfort was obvious in members of the Royal family as he spoke. Perhaps they had never heard a sermon like that ever before.  But actually people want to hear someone who is really saying something – not safe, bland platitudes that no-one could disagree with.

He spoke about Jesus – even in church circles, especially at the more formal end, it can be controversial to actually talk about Jesus. The person at the heart of the Christian faith is easily smothered in liturgy, theology or religious cliche. But Jesus is the only person who can save Christianity from irrelevance. We have to use the J-word just as Rev Curry did today:

Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in human history: a movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world – and a movement mandating people to live that love…

He died to save us all. He didn’t die for anything he could get out of it. Jesus did not get an honorary doctorate for dying. He didn’t… he wasn’t getting anything out of it. He gave up his life, he sacrificed his life, for the good of others, for the good of the other, for the wellbeing of the world… for us.

Power and relevance

Bishop Curry preached the gospel to the widest possible audience today – the world was his congregation and they heard the good news.  He showed the power and relevance of the Christian faith.

The former leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, a confirmed atheist, tweeted in response:

Rev Michael Curry could almost make me a believer