kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . .”

The following is the text of the sermon I preached at the 8.00am Holy Communion service on Sunday, 27 July; at Church — St Mary the Virgin, Godmanchester.

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . .”
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

May I speak in the name of the living God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Longing for change
“The kingdom of heaven is like . . . ” — I wonder what Jesus’s disciples would’ve thought when they first heard him say those words? I wonder what they would’ve hoped to hear? They were probably longing for a change in the political scene of their country, and most likely hoping that Jesus, who they thought of as the promised Messiah, was going to instigate such a change.

Their nation had been oppressed for hundreds of years; occupied by Persians, Greeks, and now Romans. They’re desperate for political and radical change, to bring them freedom from that oppression. And they long for the kingdom of heaven.

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . .” — We’re fortunate to be living in a country that has a good government. Yes, I know there are many that would want to question that statement. But in comparison to many places around the world, we are living under a good government. There are places where the people are longing for freedom from government oppression, and the hope of a better life, just as those disciples did two thousand years ago. Think, for instance, of recent events in Zimbabwe, or of the protests in Tibet, or of those in the camps of Darfur, longing for a new regime that will give them protection and a livelihood.

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ASBO Jesus passes comment

ASBO Jesus has passed comment in his own inimitable style on one of the hot topics currently doing the rounds of the Christian and, to a certain extent, political, blogosphere.

Dave Walker writes one of my favourite blogs, which has been linked to in my sidebar since starting this blog: The Cartoon Blog. He’s been served a cease-and-desist notice because he’s allowed his blog to become a focus for information surrounding the takeover of the SPCK bookshops by SSG. I’ve followed the story on there for some time, and always felt that Dave has done a good job with the way he’s handled the subject, and not allowed the comments to go overboard, as they could so easily have done at times.

He also happens to be the artist-in-residence at the Lambeth Conference, one of the biggest jobs in his career to date. So this has all happened at a pretty bad time for Dave, with regards to defending and/or fighting this notice. He has therefore acceded to the notice — at least for the time being.

Today, I visited another of my favourite blogs, ASBO Jesus, to find a typically witty and thought-provoking cartoon by Jon there. I always like the way Jon cuts through all the baggage and gets right to the point in his cartoons.

To read more about the background to this, and see what’s happening with the subsequent campaign, see An Introductory Guide, and A Press Room Post, and several other posts on The Wardman Wire