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pilgrims or planners?

2/27/2015

by Jon Inkpin for Lent 2 Year B, Sunday 1 March 2012

Are you a pilgrim, or a planner?

In many ways there is nothing wrong with being a planner. Good planners, for instance, can make a huge difference to our quality of life. Chaotic places and situations can breed anxiety and violence. Amid the challenges and complexity of our modern world, good planning is helpful and we also need some of it in our personal and community lives. Indeed, in our parish, we even have our own MAP, or Mission Action Plan! Spiritually speaking however, are we not always called to live our lives as pilgrims? This is at the heart of our scripture readings today. This is at the heart of our Lenten journey. This is at the heart of our Faith and salvation...

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beginning: burning, blessing and being beloved

2/23/2015

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Penny Jones for Lent 1: Mark 1:9-15

We are at the beginning of Lent – that annual opportunity to celebrate the heart of our Christian faith. For Christianity is always about beginning again. Our faith encourages us to believe in the possibility of the second chance; of a new start right now. No matter how many times we have gone wrong in the past or will go wrong in the future; no matter how old or how young we are, the Christian gospel is always encouraging us to trust that we can begin again.

So in these forty days we are encouraged to keep the fast in three ways– by abstaining , whether from food, drink, Facebook, TV, excessive work or whatever our soul most needs; by engaging more deeply in prayer, whether at home, or in a study group, or by journallng or walking or whatever most noursihes in us the longing for God; and by committing to the giving of alms – some charitable giving beyond our usual commitments. These three things, fasting, prayer and almsgiving form the heart of this time, and are the means by which we prepare ourselves for the great festival of Easter.
We begin all these things this week...

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becoming luminous

2/13/2015

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Jon Inkpin for the Transfiguration – Last after Epiphany Yr B, Sunday 8 February 2015

In 1934 an American romantic comedy called Carolina was released. Based on the play, The House of Connelly, by Paul Green, the film starred Janet Gaynor, Lionel Barrymore, and Robert Young in a romanticised story about a post-Civil War family in the fading South. They regain their former life and prestige when a poor Northern girl appears among them, eventually charming, not just the young son of the house, but even his obdurate mother. The advertising summed up the poor Northern girl well: ‘bursting into our lives and world – like a flash of sunlight - upsetting traditions, injecting life where there was laziness, love where there was fear and hate.’ What an impact, eh? Much as we might sum up the impact, only more so, of Jesus whom we call the Christ: ‘bursting into our lives and world – like a flash of sunlight - upsetting traditions, injecting life where there was laziness, love where there was fear and hate.’ In many ways this is summed up in our Gospel reading this morning: which, if not a feature film, is a luminous, multi-splendoured picture, or living icon, of the love of God – a Northern Jewish boy lit up with God, lighting up our way to God, and making of us shared lights of God’s glory…

Our Gospel reading today helps us mark what our Christian tradition calls the Transfiguration. This is a fitting climax to the Epiphany: the church season we have been travelling through since Christmas. For Epiphany is a great Christian season of light. It begins with the story of the Baptism of Jesus: what some have called the ‘Great Epiphany’ or revelation of God’s light at the beginning of Jesus’ and all our Christian lives. Transfiguration complements this and rounds it off: being what some have called the “Small Epiphany’, revealing what is the ultimate purpose, or end of our Christian lives – sharing in the glory of God’s very own light. As we prepare to begin Lent, 40 days journeying through darkness to the greatest light of all, Easter, so we are given a vision of this ultimate purpose and goal of our lives...

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sharing the gospel, 'as others'

2/5/2015

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The other day Penny had a little challenge. We had been invited to a wedding reception by one of the leaders of our local Muslim community. What a joy, and what a delightful sign of Muslim friendship in Toowoomba and our growing relationships. What, however, to wear? Penny had not been to a Muslim wedding reception before and was concerned not to offend. With a bit of guidance from others, a solution was found, involving, most importantly, the covering of bare arms. It was a lovely occasion.

Such attention to the outlooks and habits of others is hardly new. We simply could not survive, as a society, if we did not take time to consider the customs and concerns of others. It is a difficult task at times. How do we balance respect and liberty? Recent events in France for instance challenge us to reflect upon how we balance, on the one hand, the healthy right of free speech and, on the other hand, expression with care not to offend unnecessarily. Banning critical comment or cartoons about religious matters is not, I think, a good way forward. Yet unbridled license to say anything, about anyone and anything, can be deeply offensive and destructive. Our Federal Attorney General George Brandis has said that, in Australia, we should preserve the right of someone to be a bigot. This is not illegal. Yet, I would say, if we have the right to be a bigot, we also have a responsibility, morally and socially, not to be a bigot. For this is not just about reducing the potential for harm. It is also about increasing the opportunities for growth in relationship, at all levels. This is at the heart of St Paul’s teaching about sharing the gospel in today’s second reading…

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sermons and reflections from Penny Jones & Josephine Inkpin, a same gender married Anglican clergy couple serving with the Uniting Church in Sydney

pilgrims or planners?

beginning: burning, blessing and being beloved

becoming luminous

sharing the gospel, 'as others'

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