Lent 4 Eph 2:1-10 ; Jn 3:14-21

Way back in 2021, I did my first sermon here (or ever) and I talked about my discomfort with unconditional love. I want to return to some of those ideas today, and I’m sorry if you have such a perfect memory that that bores you.

Late in high school at one point, I was in the backseat of my mum’s car when she was talking to a friend about the friend’s son. More specifically, talking about his hair. A few years before that, this teenager had moved from a boy’s school with a pretty strict military-inspired dress code, into a public school, and had grown a lush mane of hair. Just so much wavey healthy hair. It was clearly an expression of freedom and release, and at the time I had heard my mum and this woman discuss it and how positively this reflected his sense of creativity and joy returning.

Now, a few years later, he was considering shaving it all off. That wasn’t the reason the mum’s were talking, though. The point was a funny anecdote about the things teenages say, because apparently one of his friends had said “but your mum loves your hair! You’re sure she won’t like… disown you?” Cue both mum’s bursting into giggles.

[Read more…]

Genesis 9:8-17

Good morning, everyone! My name is JJ, and it is lovely to see you here today.

Today is the first Sunday of lent, which absolutely made me feel like the year is moving very quickly. Lent means different things to different people in this congregation – some of you may pick up a focused study, some may take up a fast or cut something non-food-ish from your lives, and some might not really notice it is happening.

Lent, like advent, is a kind of waiting phase in the church year. But in the same way that easter is a bit more emotionally mixed than Christmas, lent is a bit more mixed than advent. The roguish younger brother to your prince charming. Where advent is joyful eager waiting, lent is penitent, lent is reflection.

In a move that is more serendipitous than calculated, by the end of our lenten waiting, fasting, reflecting, we will have received not only the joy and sorrow of Easter, but a new minister. So today I want to invite us to do some reflecting – to sit in the posture of reflection – as we make the slow trek towards welcoming Hugh and Yoonhee into our community, and prepare to build the next bit of our story together.

[Read more…]

Exodus 32:1-14; Exodus 33:12-17

Before we begin let us consider what has happened before the stories we heard today. The Israelites have been slaves in Egypt until God, through Moses, launches a daring plague-based escape. They are now free! God has promised to take them to a land rich with milk and honey but at the moment they are waiting in the desert for a plan and a path. The only thing they have to eat is miraculous manna, which God provides each morning and they can’t stockpile beyond the day’s needs.

In the first reading today, Moses is away in discussion with God. While they were busy, the community crafts and then begins to worship a golden calf. In response, Moses destroys it, and has many of the men killed. Even more got sick. The relationship between the community, Moses, and God, is rocky to say the least.

By the time we get to the second story, things have calmed down a bit and God has given the go-ahead, has commanded that Moses to begin the trek to the promised land. So in our reading, Moses turns to God and says outright ‘go with us’.

We will come back to Moses. For now, let us sit with his community. It can be easy, for those of us who know how the story ends, to judge the Israelites for their golden calf. It can feel absurd that they, who through Moses have a direct phone line to God, would desire an idol.

[Read more…]

Today I have brought in my bible, which I requested as a gift for graduating high school. It is embarrassingly underutilised, and I wish I could blame the accessibility of online translations. But I’ve brought it up here because it is a parallel bible, and shows each verse as both the NIV translation, which was the norm in my childhood, and the Message translation, which is known for being a tonal translation more than a literal one. This is something I requested because my mum’s bible is like this, and I really liked it.

Part of why I like having both is that I feel that being asked to sit with the imprecision of translation is good for us. Our protestant tradition is built on the legitimacy of translation, of access, and I would argue that that can be a graceful reminder of the complexity, of the historical context, of the living word.

As well as the value of being reminded that our holy text is very old and very alive, I think that the differences of translations can add something to the reading. Blue and red 3D glasses are low tech compared to whatever is going on in the cinema world nowadays. But I think we understand how they work: We have two offset versions of the same image – one visible through the blue lens, one through the red, and when wearing one on each eye we can see a depth that wasn’t there before.

All of that is the long way to say, I am going to read some of the verses we have already had today, but in two translations.

[Read more…]

JJ Hamilton

In the lectionary, today is called Christ the King Sunday. It’s the last Sunday before advent. Which mostly means that you have one more week before you have to be worried that you’re Not Ready For Christmas.

And because the liturgical year starts with advent, that makes this (in some ways) the last week of the year.

So if you’re willing, let’s put our reflecting hats on. Last week was the church’s AGM. We reflected on our community, its struggles and successes over the last year. The Annual Report came out, and in its preparation I am sure many of you thought deeply about the year past.

We also elected and affirmed our church council for the new year.We considered our hopes for the year to come.Circles are like that of course – the ending is the beginning, so in all our reflection we also look forward.

[Read more…]