Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

We want a King

12th May, Sunday after Ascension

Monarchs are a strange mixture. Nations inherit them, there isn’t much choice, and nobody quite knows how they will turn out. Some are benevolent and conscientious like the present Queen. But then there was King Henry the VIII, defender of the faith, disposer of wives. And King John who lost the crown jewels in the Wash. Sri Lanka had a particularly unsavoury story of an ambitious Prince who plastered his father, the King, into a wall. Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts and Blackadder’s Queenie both enjoyed a good beheading.

Monarchs have fascinated people throughout history. The Israelites, too, were intrigued by the idea of a King. In 1 Samuel 12, we discover that they had a brand new King, not by royal lineage, but by choice. Continue reading →

Love one another as I have loved you

28 April 2013, 5th Sunday of Easter

Many years ago, as a student in Nottingham, I experienced something that continues to remind me of Jesus’ words that we read this evening. “Love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you have love, one for another.”

A vicar and his wife offered me accommodation in the rectory flat. I accepted the offer, because I took an instant liking to David, the vicar, and Pixie, his wife and their four children. I discovered that the flat was rent free but it was also semi-derelict, and completely bare. Its walls needed stripping, and it had no kitchen and no furniture. I returned to Sri Lanka for three months due to family illness and began to worry about how I would sort the flat. Then Pixie emailed me: the church would take care of it. Continue reading →

Love your Neighbour

28 April 2013, 5th Sunday of Easter

The news this week was dominated by the tragic collapse of a clothing factory in the Savar district of Bangladesh. Three hundred and fifty people have died– so far. Six months ago, a fire gutted another factory, killing hundred workers. In the past decade seven hundred have died in forty similar disasters in the clothing factories of Savar. The sad truth is that thousands of workers return, day after day, to dangerous factories, to produce clothes for high street brands – for us!

All these things happen in faraway countries, to people of whom we know little. Apart from compassion and pity, how should we respond?
Continue reading →

Sanctified and Sent

20 May 2012, 7th Sunday of Easter

I wonder if you have watched the series “Rev” – about Alan, a Church of England vicar in London. Alan has an interesting “nickname” given to him by heavy-drinking conspiracy theorist Colin. Colin always greets him with a hearty “Hello Vicarage”, and Alan’s wife is duly addressed as Mrs Vicarage. Continue reading →