An online presence for St Francis Anglican Church, Tairua, NZ
Admit it: society thinks of the well-to-do as ‘somebody’, treating them with respect and honour, while we treat the destitute with scorn and judgment. We think of them as a ‘nobody’.
In Jesus’s story of a rich man and a poor man notice how he reverses that. The rich man is not named; other than his riches he’s nobody in particular. But the poor man is somebody. He has a name: Lazarus … [To read more, click on the title]
Every commentator I have looked at in order to get some guidance in interpreting this text starts by saying how difficult it is; one reflection that I read calls it ‘baffling’ and says that people have struggled to make sense of it for centuries. That gave me great confidence! … [To read more, click on title]
It has been said that if Jesus came and walked the streets today, people in Christian churches might not recognise him or want to hear what he had to say.
Jesus wasn’t known for his politeness around the dinner table; or … Jesus wasn’t known for his politeness. The Gospels record him bluntly challenging the social order of the day many times. … [To read more, click on title]
Reunions can be awkward things. Meeting people you went to school with forty years after you went to school with them can be disconcerting, triggering feelings of painful nostalgia, envy and jealousy, or even smugness, that at least I didn’t turn out like them. Lacking the particular brand of adventurous, or masochistic, spirit required, I’ve avoided them. Except once … [To read more, click on title]
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