Sermons on Spiritual Life (Page 6)
Desire
It is the distorted desire of humanity that separates us from God and one another: it is the desire of God that brings life and flourishing.
On Hubris, Humility and being Human
We mark ourselves with ashes as a reminder that we are human and the path to a deeper walk with God is through humility rather than hubris.
The Language of Love
Jesus doesn’t just tell us to love, or teach us to love, Jesus IS love. And we are God’s beloved, shining like suns.
Community and Compassion
Intention as well as actions matter in community life.
Fulfilling the Law – a Paradox
Jesus says not one little bit of the law may be ignored, but Paul said that we are no longer under the law. Who is right?
Getting Back to Jesus of Nazareth
Bishop Michael Curry has encouraged us to get back to Jesus of Nazareth to counter Christina Nationalism and other ideologies that conflate Christianity with political agendas. What could be more “Jesus of Nazareth” than the Beatitudes?
The Lamb in your Telescope
The Webb Space Telescope is bringing us many new images of the universe and changing the way we understand it. In a similar way, John the Baptizer gave us the image of Jesus as the Lamb of God and that has influenced our understanding ever since.
Unity is not uniformity
Conflict is sure to happen when intelligent and creative people get together and try to create anything, especially a faith community. What keeps us together is not ignoring the conflict but finding our unity in following Jesus’ model of loving respect and listening for God’s purpose.
Intentional but unexpected
God’s mission is the light coming into the world and dispelling the darkness, but God’s intention, unexpected as it is, is that we are the ones to make that happen.
the Christ had superpowers
The Christ or Messiah was a superhero who had been anticipated by the prophets but he didn’t have any of the normal superpowers – he couldn’t fly or make himself invisible or shape-shift. His superpower was something quite different.