Let’s face it, since we have no access to TV live recording of Jesus and his interactions with those he met, the best we can do is start by checking with those who collected stories about Jesus all those years ago.  But don’t forget that it took up to three years of the Jesus ministry to generate the original events and memories on which the gospels were based – followed by a few decades of telling and retelling the stories before they were recorded in the form we now read in today’s Bible.  We are fortunate that virtually all the material selected appears sufficiently fresh and vivi ..read more

This week the sermon was borrowed and slightly abridged (with acknowledgement) from a different Peddie, my sister the Rev Dr Barbara Peddie (at that time on secondment to the Presbyterian Church of St Ninians in Christchurch)  (Thoughts on Acts 3: 12-19 and Luke 24: 36b-48) We’re still in the season of Easter – the season of celebration. And we’re also in the season of autumn and endings. Later this month on ANZAC Day, much of this nation will remember the tragedies of war and celebrate the courage and commitment of many. Part of that remembering will include honouring those of our own ch ..read more

IN DEFENCE OF DOUBTING THOMAS While it is true that the disciple Thomas has become famous for his initial hesitation to accept that Jesus had somehow been resurrected, it is unfortunate that he goes down in many Christian histories first and foremost as “doubting Thomas”.  Yes, it is true we can see why gospel writer John is anxious to stress that the now scattered followers of Jesus should set their personal doubts aside.  Remember John is writing well after the Thomas encounter at the time when Jesus was no longer present in the flesh.   We should therefore understand tha ..read more

I wonder how many preachers would be prepared to read Peter Rollin’s monologue at their Easter day service.   It started…. “Without equivocation or hesitation, I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think.” Then a dramatic pause……. and continued… “I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ..read more

Good Friday attracts us to safe familiar paths. Each year, there we find the call to what risks being an in-group of religious spectators and churchgoers to rehearse once more the familiar sufferings endured by Jesus.   And yes, we seem encouraged, listening again to the reminder that in some way these sufferings were for our sins, and to hear those familiar words : “Jesus died that we might be saved.” Yet I wonder if the story has become too familiar and even too remote to matter in the way we currently live and order our lives. It’s not that the standard formula, that Jesus died fo ..read more

Palm Sunday? – If we are honest, we should admit the shouting, palm waving crowd when Jesus came to town riding on an ass (or a donkey) is a bit hard for modern Westerners to understand. Perhaps it is just as well to remember that even in Jesus’ day there is every reason to suspect from the gospels that the original crowds lining the road were reported as being equally confused. But did you notice in John’s version of this event the disciples who presumably knew Jesus well were also just as confused?  Perhaps assuming the disciples took a while to understand, then today almost two thousan ..read more

ROOM FOR GREEK STRANGERS? I suspect many of us might be more relaxed newcomers who seem to be like us.    If we prefer to leave it to others to do the greeting when it comes to strangers who appear to be different perhaps this should be an indication of where we are in our Christian journey? So, when some Greeks – who of course would have been Gentiles as far as Jesus’ Jewish disciples were concerned, turned up with a request – “Sir we would like to see Jesus”.  What does Phillip do?  We can imagine him thinking. “Foreigners – not like us. Probably foreigners with stra ..read more

WHERE ARE WE IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH? The Greek word for truth (Aletheia) means “making obvious the unknown”. But there is something else which is often overlooked. Truth, in practice, is uncovered a little (often a very little) at a time. This I believe is true in both science and religion. Think about it. In science the Greek philosopher Democritus postulated many years ago that matter might be cut into small discrete particles now called atoms. There has been a long and uncertain path of discovery ever since Democritus with many blind alleyways, twists, and turns before the scient ..read more

A TEMPLE IN NEED OF CLEARING? Putin claiming the God of the Russian Orthodox Church is on his side, ex President Trump waving an upside-down Bible to assure followers of God’s blessing in his renewed election attempts, or thinking way back to those Air -Force chaplains blessing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should all suggest a few questions about faith in practice.   At the very least we should admit the way some 21st century people practice their faith is not necessarily tied to what Jesus once talked about as being important.    More to the point how ..read more

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me“. Mark 8:34 Say what?… Oh so… such familiar words.  But what do they mean for our generation and our current congregations.    Take up your cross and follow? Here is a thought…did you know that the original meaning of the word martyr meant witness?     Crosses are not actually part of our thinking in the world we encounter today. For most of us I suspect, the only cross we ever consider is Jesu ..read more