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Prayer and politics
Praying is no substitute for politics. When we abandon living in the world, when we no longer love the earth, when we ignore the neighbour on the road, prayer is left empty, make-believe piety. We no longer walk with Jesus, Word made flesh, whatever our orthodox profession. Politics, even when it has not collapsed into…
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Looking for the heavenly Jerusalem – on earth
GIVEN a choice, would you live in the country or in the city? Many of our cities have declining populations because people get away if they can. We have enough hassle travelling into work in the city, we do not want to live there as well. Why is the city so uncomfortable? It jams so…
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Praying in our exiles
Sometimes people go far away, for a holiday perhaps. They find themselves alone in strange places and discover the experience is stimulating, educational even. Millions of people are now tourists; but millions more are refugees and exiles: they find themselves alone and lonely in strange places. Theirs is a destructive experience. Being an exile means…
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Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?
Sermon on Luke 7.18-23, preached at Moortown Baptist Church, 25 February 2024 You can watch this at the link below, from 26.40 – 56.40 minutes, followed by the hymn ‘Fold to your heart your sister and your brother‘.
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Love Your Enemies
“You have heard, you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. (Matt 5:43) These words sound like a call, even a command. But we fear the risk. So the miserable-go-round of the world continues – we have enemies, and we hate them,…
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A good politician’s reverberating mistake
Readings : Nehemiah 13.23-31; Matthew 5.38-48 You can watch this sermon here (27:00-52:00, with prayers from 52:00-54:00). I respect and value Nehemiah because he was a politician – a good politician, good hearted, good ideas, great skill and courage. Politics is unavoidable in our living together. We know how much we need good politicians every…
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Monday morning
Monday morning, I sit down to write this piece, only a few hours left before it is due. And very little idea – or perhaps too many ideas, probably most won’t do. A clue-question I will follow: What is my world this morning? ‘My world’ is the great created living world as it comes to…
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Earth cries! Are we the gods that must step up?
Earth cries! We are the gods that must step up to the biggest crisis in history | Ben Okri | The Guardian Reflection and Commentary In this prophetic poem, lamenting, warning, calling, Ben Okri points to the crisis now: Words for the day.Denial. Justice. RightTo protest. And Earth cries.O when will we wake up?Gulf Stream…
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Illegal Boat People
Originally posted on the Network Leeds blog here. Government makes a decree, like Knut on the beach, which says ‘These are illegal immigrants’. But they are human beings seeking life. Is any creature and child of God, ‘illegal’? If God lets down from heaven a great sample of all his creatures and says, Rise and eat, shall we say with…
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Reading Mark 2 with Zelenskiy and the Ukrainians
A sermon preached at Moortown Baptist Church on Sunday 13th March 2022. The sermon can be watched here. I want you to know that in this talk I am aiming to tell the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God, in company with Mark. I also want you to know that in trying…
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Reading the Bible, Searching for Faith
This was written in response to a recent article published in the New Statesman, in which Lamorna Ash reflects on reading the Bible and searching for faith. 1. My confession of faith The search for faith, in a Christian way, has been a central thread of my life. Reading the Bible, by myself and in…
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Foundational vision of the Earth
The government says its immigration policy is ‘fundamentally compassionate’. That provokes me to wonder: what is compassion? How does God show us compassion and call us to share it? Psalm 145 8-9, 13-16 pictures earth thriving in peace, as it lives under and from the compassion of God, who opens his hand and fills every creature…
While it is yet day
Haddon Willmer