The Afterword

Tag: faith

  • 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…

  • Leave Room for Grace

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    Peter
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    What’s a personal mantra or philosophy you live by? “Leave room for grace” is one of the personal philosophies I try to live by. As the principal of a university college, I regularly find myself dealing with complicated situations. Young adults make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes come from immaturity or naivety. Sometimes from irresponsibility. Sometimes…

  • Jesus and Foreigners – Matthew 8:5-13

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    Peter
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    ‘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…

  • Meaning-Making

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    Peter
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    What are your favourite side-hustle ideas? A lot of people have a side hustle. Usually it means paid work done alongside your main job. Sometimes the reason is economic. A person’s main income may not be enough to cover housing, food, education, debt or family responsibilities. For others, a side hustle provides some extra money…

  • 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…

  • Dadirri

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    Peter
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    What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done? Years ago, my wife and I were driving home from a weekend away when we stopped at an art gallery and café. I saw a painting I liked and bought it immediately. That was very unusual for me. Normally I would think carefully about something like that.…

  • 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…

  • Brave or Foolish?

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    Peter
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    What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done when no one was watching? I don’t know whether it was the bravest thing I’ve done or one of the silliest. I was walking along the main street of an inner-city suburb when I heard someone yell, “Stop!” I turned and saw a man running towards us, with…

  • 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…

  • He Forgot. I Never Did.

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    Peter
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    What’s a moment when a stranger completely restored your faith in people? I started school when I was four. I was the firstborn in my family and hadn’t been to preschool. One day I was simply enrolled at the local school. I didn’t really understand what was happening to me. All my friends in our…

  • 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…

  • What Am I Here For?

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    Peter
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    What’s a quote that perfectly describes your outlook on life? Abraham Joshua Heschel once wrote: “It is not enough for me to ask questions; I want to know how to answer the one question that seems to encompass everything I face: What am I here for?” Few questions have stayed with me as persistently as…

  • Not Safe, But Good

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    Peter
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    What is your favourite quote? Yesterday’s sermon briefly mentioned one of my favourite passages from C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. When Lucy hears about Aslan, the great lion who represents Christ, she asks Mr Beaver: “Is he safe?” “Safe?” said Mr Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s…

  • John Ames

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    Peter
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    Who is the fictional character you relate to the most? Of all the fictional characters I have encountered, John Ames in Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead may be the one I relate to most. Ames is an ageing minister writing to his young son. He is gentle without being sentimental, devout without being coercive, and deeply attentive…

  • Presence

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    Peter
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    Do you think everything happens for a reason? I have written before about Kate Bowler, the Duke University professor whose doctoral research examined the North American church’s obsession with wealth, health and success. Then, while still a young academic, she found herself living inside the questions she had studied. She was diagnosed with Stage 4…

  • 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…