Wife: Mmm, this just speaks to my soul. Doesn’t it just cry out for introspection and evoke questions of perception, existence and meaning? It challenges the viewer to confront the void, explore the boundaries between abstraction and reality, and define personal truth. It’s just stunning!
Husband: Looks like a canvas with a bit of blue Dulux slapped on to me.
I took the above photo at one of the most prestigious art galleries in the world: the Tate Modern in London. (The dialogue is imagined, but probably not far from reality)
I wonder if God were standing in front of that painting what would he see? Actually, I wonder if God were standing in front of those two people, what would he see?
Identity theft. It’s a big deal these days. Watch what personal information you put into emails. Watch who you give details to. I’ve even taken to shredding any document with my address on it. Is that overly paranoid?
Actually, when I think about it, if someone wants to steal my identity so badly I must be valuable in some way! I might need to reassess my opinion of myself.
What about you? Do you know who you are? And, I wonder if anyone would want to steal our Christian identity? How valuable is that? How much is that worth to us?
60% of Australians fear dementia.
85% of Australians fear the effects of climate change.
90% of Australians fear for the future of our world.
62.3% of Australians fear that 50% of statistics are made up.
It seems we are becoming more and more fearful. Perhaps for good reason. But, living in fear is hardly conducive to a full and abundant life. Fear saps hope. I wonder if there isn’t great opportunity for the church to cut through the statistics with a different message, a gospel message, a life-giving message, a message our world so desperately needs to hear?
NOTE: The audio recording is from a different sermon Pastor John gave at the 10.00am Confirmation service for six young people: Amelia, Olivia, Evie, Lily, Anton and Henry.
A few definitions . . .
Family: the picture-postcard holiday snaps of smiling, tanned, glowing people we post on Facebook.
God: an omnipotent, immutable, untouchable heavenly Being.
Jesus: a blond-haired, blue-eyed, perfect Messiah.
How do they sound to you?
Now that my youngest son has his licence he is regularly using my car to get around. Whenever I get in the car after he has driven it there are two things I always have to adjust. First, I move the seat forward because his legs are much longer than mine. Second, I switch the radio over from the Bluetooth setting (he streams his favourite music from his phone) back to ABC Classic FM. Well, the playlist may be different but we both have a soundtrack that gets us moving.
Do you have a soundtrack that gets you out of bed in the morning, that gets you going for the day, that keeps you going? I hope so. Actually, I hope that soundtrack is ‘hope’. Without hope life stops. I’ve always found the best place to find hope is in the music of the gospel. That’s ‘gospel’ as in the good news that Jesus is risen from the grave, death is no longer a full stop to life, there is always more to come.
If you haven’t tuned into that station for a while, I recommend having a listen. How about today?
In the business world the aim of recruiting is to match the right person to the right job so the expectations of employer and applicant are met. In today’s tight labour market, it sometimes seems applicants will only look for jobs that suit them on their terms.
Jesus has a different approach to recruitment. Jesus is looking for people who will trust even as they struggle to trust. He is looking for people who don’t have the skills, who don’t have the talent, who don’t have a clue about fishing for people, who are not worthy even to be in God’s presence. Jesus is looking for people who aren’t even looking for him, who are distracted by other things, and who have got their life mapped out for themselves. Jesus is looking for those sort of people, and when he finds them he says: “Let’s go fishing”.
“Where is love?” Thus sang Oliver Twist after being thrown into the cellar of a funeral parlour. (If you’re singing it in your head now, you have to elongate the ‘Wh – er – e’)
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love”. Thus warbled Hal David to a Burt Bacharach melody.
“All you need is love”. Thus sang the Beatles (although no one could hear them above the screaming of teenage girls).
“Without love I am nothing”. Thus growled Paul of Tarsus (I am imagining some Leonard Cohen whiskey and gravel)
Oliver’s question is a good one. If love is so important why is it so hard to find in our world? And if it’s so hard to find in our world, what does that say about us?
Paul pulls no punches when he writes to the church in Corinth. I suspect he would be slightly bemused to see his ‘Chapter 13’ has become a smash hit in the pop charts and on the wedding circuit.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow’s a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present. – The source of this famous quote is unknown, but it is spoken best by an elderly tortoise, Grandmaster Oogway, in Kung Fu Panda.