The Afterword

Category: Sermons

  • The Despised – Luke 19

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    Peter
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    ‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. There are peoplewe would rather Jesus did not love. We know what they have doneThe harm they caused,the lives they broke,the trust they betrayed.We know where they belong.Outside. Justice matters.The wounded must be heard,the vulnerable protected.But what happenswhen the one who caused…

  • Jesus and Foreigners – Matthew 8:5-13

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    Peter
    in

    ‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. We are always drawing lines.Who belongs.Who does not.Who was here first.Who speaks like us.Prays like us.Understands the way things are done. And then a foreignerwalks toward Jesus.A Roman centurion.A man wearingthe uniform of occupation.He comes with no claim to belonging.Only need.Lord,my servant…

  • Things We Forget – Exodus 17

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    Peter
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    There are thingswe forget by accident.And there are other thingswe forgetbecause fear has become louderthan memory. Israel is thirsty.It is a real thirst.Desert thirst.Three-days-and-you-die thirst.And suddenly Egyptlooks different in the rear-view mirror. The sea has been crossed.The chains are gone.Manna lies on the ground each morning.Cloud still moves before them by day,fire still burns by…

  • Jesus & LGBTQI+

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    Peter
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    ‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. Luke 7:36-39, Luke 19:1-10 I have been weepingmore than I expected.Not because the questions are new,but because the faces are not. Someone who stayed away from churchfor over thirty yearsbecause being gayand belonging to Jesusseemed impossible. Someone who lived in silencefor twenty…

  • The Invisibles

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    Peter
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    ‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. There are cruel waysto make a person disappear.A child learns it early:You’re not coming to my birthday.You’re not my friend.And perhaps cruellest of all—to look straight through someoneas though they were not there. We grow older,but we do not always grow out…

  • The Women

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    Peter
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    ‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. Luke 7:36-50She entered the roomalready carrying a reputation.Simon saw what kind of woman she was.Jesus saw more.She stood behind him weeping,washed his feet with her tears,dried them with her hair,poured out perfume. Simon thought:If he were a prophet,he would know.But Jesus did…

  • The God Who Will Not Run Away – Jonah

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    Peter
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    Do you think God has a plan?We say we do.God knows what he is doing.God has this sorted. Then we look aroundat census numbers,churches rising and falling,Christians persecuted in Nigeria,the world refusing to behaveas we thought it shouldand wonder:Is this really going to plan? Jonah receives the word of the Lord.Go to Nineveh.He hears God…

  • Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly – Micah 6:1-8

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    Peter
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    Micah is the Batmanof the prophets.He walks into a citythat looks respectable from a distancebut is rotten underneath.The powerful protect themselves.Leaders have lost their way.The poor are trampled.Justice is for sale.Gotham with temples. And Micah comesnot from the palacebut from the country.A nobody from nowheresent by Godto stand beneath the city lightsand say,God sees you.He…

  • Let Justice Roll – Amos 5:1-27, 9:11-15

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    Peter
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    The lion roars.Not because God delights in fire,but because the poor are being trampledinto the dust.The innocent sold for silver.The needy tradedfor the price of sandals.And the terrible thing is this:these are God’s people. The people called to bless the nationshave become like the nations.Those entrusted with justicehave learned the habits of injustice.Those meant to…

  • The Smallest Book – Obadiah

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    Peter
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    ObadiahThe smallest bookin the Old Testament. A prophetwe know almost nothing about.Only his name:Servant of Yahweh. He speaks after Jerusalem has fallen,after Babylon,after exile,after people have lostalmost everythingexcept God. And the word comes:Edom will be judged.Edom—the children of Esau,brother of Jacob.Family. Yet when Judah fellthey stood aside.They watched.They despised.They looted.They blocked the escapeof those fleeing…

  • How Can I Give You Up? – Hosea 1:1-9, 11:1-11

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    Peter
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    Hosea is a bookthat defies common sense.God remains faithfulto a faithless people,steadfast toward thosewho have given their heartsto almost everything else. Most systems tell usto improve,to climb higher,to bring something impressive. But the Lord is not like that.We have erred and strayedlike lost sheep.Prone to wander.Still pursued. Hosea is toldto marry betrayal,to build his homeinside…

  • Rend Your Hearts – Joel 2:12-32

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    Peter
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    Return to mewith all your heart.Not with torn garments,careful wordsor borrowed sorrow.Rend your hearts. Israel had returned from exilebut had not returned to God.The old sins remained,deep in the soil,deep in the people,the ancient fracture of the gardenrunning through every kingdomwe build for ourselves. And still God lets them stand.Still he toleratesour empires,our violence,our hunger…

  • At the Table with Jesus – John 5:1-15

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    Peter
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    I am a classically avoidant man.I delay,displace,compartmentalise,run until the problemseems further away. But distance spreads.Church becomes too hard,so we stop going.Friendships become complicated,so we let them fade.Family becomes stressful,so we stay home. Soon avoidance becomesa household,a church,a society saying,We do not want to deal with this.Send someone else.Send a link.We will contribute. But Jesus wentto…

  • A Culture of Life – James 5:13-20

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    Peter
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    Is anyone among you in trouble?Then pray.Not because prayer is a leverand God is a machine,but because trouble reminds uswe are childrenturning againtoward the Father. Is anyone happy?Then sing.Praise is prayerwith its hands open,naming goodnesswhile it is still before us. Is anyone sick?Then call the elders.Let the community come close.Let oil be brought,medicine and sign,ordinary…

  • Ask for Patience – James 5:7-12

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    Peter
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    It was the best of timesand it was the worst of times,and James knew it. He wrote to peoplecaught in contradiction,faithful to Jesus,yet still suffering,still divided. Stress exposed weakness.Weakness found a tunnel.Pain became frustration.Frustration became grumbling. So James says,be patient.Not passive.Not numb.Not pretending.Patient. Long suffering.Able to take a hitwithout returning one.Able to choose gracewhen irritation…

  • What It Rests Upon – James 4:13-5:6

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    Peter
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    The tone changes here.No gentle encouragement.No careful instruction. A prophet has walked into the room.Like Jonah in Nineveh,James points and says:Look. You stand condemned. The merchants make their plans.The wealthy count their coins.The powerful drag their own peoplebefore the courts.Silver. Gold.The things that seem untouchable.James says, Look again.Even the things we trust mostcannot carry the…

  • On the Camino – James 3:1-12

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    Peter
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    On the CaminoI found a fountainwith two tapsVinoand Agua.Cheap local wine from one,rough on the tongue.Water from the other.Two liquids.Two sources. James saysit should be as clear as that.Fresh waterdoes not comefrom a salt spring.A fig treedoes not bear olives.And yetour mouths confuse the sources. We bless Godand cursethose madein God’s likeness.We sing praisethen gossip.We…

  • Pentecost – Acts 2:1-21

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    Peter
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    Three times a yearthe scattered people gathered—Passover,Pentecost,Booths. They came by the old roads,by memory,by moonlight,by the calendar of God. Jerusalem filledwith accents,dust,old prayers,the smell of harvest,the ache of distance. Fifty days. Seven sevensand one more,as though time itselfhad been waitingfor something to overflow. The grain was gathered in.The nations were gathered in.And hidden in an…

  • Vital Signs – James 2:14-26

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    Peter
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    Faith is not a wordkept safe in the mouth. It is not the old habitof belonging somewhere,the family name,the Sunday seat,the language we learnedbefore we knew what it meant. James asks the hard question:what does your faith look likewhen someone is cold,hungry,standing in front of youwith no coatand no bread? A blessing is not bread.A…

  • Mercy Triumphs – James 2:1-13

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    Peter
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    Last time Jesus was on earth,crowds followed himlike a rockstar,not fanboys,not fangirls,but the poor,the sick,the unclean,the hungry,the frightened,the ones who had run outof other doors to knock on. And he did not turn them away. Often late into the nightcompassion kept him awake,healing one more body,touching one more wound,answering one more desperate hope. Then, in…