St Barnabas, Fendalton

New growth from the tree trunk

This morning, we mark All Saints Day. At the heart of All Saints is that the universal church is united in time and space. In the New Testament, the word “saint” appears 64 times, always in the plural.This All Saints Day is about being a community of faith. This, of all days, is where we might ask ourselves, “what does it mean to be this community of faith?” This is more than a ‘church'. This is more than a building; but does take both of those things. It also takes 150 years almost of those who have gathered here as the Parish of Fendalton, in whose footsteps we walk, on whose shoulders we stand, and from whose decisions we benefit even now.There are eight ways we can be All Saints together

The first thing I'd want to say about today's gospel reading is that we should all follow the example of the Pharisee.Seriously.That's where we begin.If we think somehow that we shouldn't because, say,we think we're not at all like the Pharisee,that we never look down on people,that we never pray with ourselves as the centre of our prayers,that we never compare ourselves with others so that we come out on top,that we never list categories of people in our prayers as a way of making ourselves feel better,then, well, we are exactly like the Pharisee.

Goodies & baddies - just who does God welcome?

In today's gospel, we have before us a persistent woman and a JudgeAt one level this is a story about why persistence, especially persistence in prayer, is something that is worth pursuing.And it's also about a widow. Widows in the Bible are held out for our special attention, along with orphans and strangers.We also have the story of Jacob from Genesis.Jacob's struggle appeared to be with Esau and his parents, but his struggle is really with God. This is not just sibling rivalry, which we find in every family. This is something more profound. This is a story for those for whom life is a battle, for whom resolution never fully comes but is only ever experienced as a limp.

In the gospel reading today we meet the Samaritan once again in Luke's gospel: the first time is in Luke 10 with the parable of the “Good Samaritan”, the second time is here. The Samaritan is both an actual figure and a representative one: representative of the outsider, the outcast, even the enemy. In this gospel reading, as in the Good Samaritan story, it is the Samaritan who is held up as the exemplar: the only one who returned to give thanks.

Today's readings have a multitude of images in them: there's mustard seeds, mulberry trees being thrown into the sea, slaves at work, and tablets with visions.There's all sorts of threads that tie them together – the size of our faith, the size of our vision, even the size of our ego, particularly if we feel we're being compared with mere servants. And one of those thread's is humility.

I think the first thing to say about today's gospel is it's not about the hereafter. It's about the here and now. It's a parable, not a prescription about how to get into heaven. And it's a parable about wealth and poverty, about a rich man's table and a poor man covered in sores. It's about a man who enjoys a feast and a man who lives in famine. And read alongside the reading from Amos, it's a wider message about too much comfort and too little discomfort, about being preoccupied with material possessions such that the agony of those around them is ignored. It's a parable and a prophetic word that could just as easily have been written today.

It's the little things that matter. Welcoming the stranger, orphan and widow. Pursuing peace and seeking justice. Caring for the poor and the needy.

We are continuing in the gospel of Luke, where we are right through until Advent, and this week it's all about how good it is to be lost. Jesus in the parable here does something he so often does; he turns everything upside down: If you're lost, you will be found.

Luke 15:1-10 This sermon explores Jesus' parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin as sharp, funny, and even outrageous stories aimed at the religious elite of his day. Jesus imagines God as a reckless shepherd and an extravagant woman, turning social expectations upside down to show how deeply God values the lost. The humour - like a shepherd abandoning ninety-nine or a woman throwing a huge party for one coin - highlights God's excessive, almost absurd love. For the lost, this is comforting; for the complacent, it is a challenge: God's circle of welcome erases every boundary of “us” and “them.”

This sermon wrestles with one of Jesus' most challenging sayings: “Whoever does not hate father, mother, and even life itself cannot be my disciple.” Jesus shocks his hearers into attention. The message is not about despising people or possessions, but about releasing the grip of possessiveness and focusing on the journey to union with God. To follow Christ is to travel light, keeping God as our ultimate goal and measure of value.

Following Jesus: The cost and hope of life

Luke 14:1,7-14Jesus often spoke of God's reign in the language of meals and parties, where everyone is welcome and honour is redefined. In a culture where honour was thought to be limited and gained at another's expense, Jesus revealed God's honour as abundant, freely given especially to the marginalised. The Eucharist continues this vision: a meal where status, reciprocity, and self-promotion are overturned by grace. At God's party, we are called to humility, generosity, and manakitanga — lifting others up without fear of losing our own place.

We sometimes talk about Jesus' “comfortable words”. Well, the gospel today, and the Isaiah reading that accompanies it, could be described as “uncomfortable words”! It's the sort of text where we'd much rather go to the preacher's 10 greatest hits of Scripture passages that are familiar, reassuring and not quite so pointed. The lectionary doesn't allow us to pick and choose, and it's just as well really, because sometimes, like today, we need to be reminded that it's a slippery slope to self-righteousness.  These texts exclaim, with both barrels, that we are hypocrites. And then we must, at all costs, resist the temptation to respond, “no we're not!” which only serves to make the point.

Lifting up those bowed down - sometimes Jesus calls us to do this in prayer for others, like those in Gaza, and sometimes to bow down to actually sit with people on the floor.

Jesus has a story for each one of us and calls us to be faithful to our own story and journey. What he calls others to do is between them and God.When we fail Jesus, he does not cast us aside but seeks and calls us back to life.Our response must be to live out our calling faithfully. We must run the course that God has chosen for us. The Kingdom of God is about faithfulness to our story and journey.

Hebrews 11 gives us cameo shots from the family photo album, warts and all!

One of the reasons we light a candle in our services, or at other times when we share Eucharist or pray with people, is because it's one way of signifying the Christ is with us, his presence is here. We recognise that in that action of lighting and in that focal point of the candle lit.

We remember Jesus' transfiguration in glory on the same day as the bombing of Hiroshima 80 years ago.

The gospel reading today is about prayer, and a particular prayer that we recite time and again.It's also about persistence. The persistence of the friend who knocks on the door at midnight asking for three loaves of bread.The persistence of the one who asks, searches, receives and finds the good gifts God gives God's children.

When Jesus debriefs the mission trip team, what was the most important thing they learned?

When Jesus called Peter to follow, he didn't expect it to be such a rollercoaster...

Earlier this week in the parish, as part of our Faith and Film evening, some of you might have watched the fictional film Conclave. Good timing! Today we mark the feast day of St Peter, by tradition the forerunner of the Pope, and of St Paul.

Jesus welcomes us home, back from the edge, back into the family and community of faith.

This Pentecost Sunday reminds me of those two worlds – “of all that is, seen and unseen”. The work of the Spirit is sometimes evident, experienced and in full view. And it is sometimes beyond our horizon, understanding, and grasp; sometimes it's subterranean.

Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice. I know my sheep. And they follow me.” How do we listen to God's voice? In the busyness of family life and social media life and school life and work life and hanging out with the other sheep life, how do we hear the Shepherd speak to us? It might be that you have a really good system in place, really good rhythms of daily office and of prayer and of worship and of walks in nature. Or it might that, a bit like Yvette and me, you sometimes need to be jolted so God can put you somewhere where he has your attention, where there's nothing more than four people, three horses, two shops, and one art gallery.

This week saw the election of a new chief Shepherd in God's Church, Pope Leo XIV, called to care for the sheep.

There is an old children's song that goes “it's from the old I travel to the new, keep me travelling along with you”. The Resurrection is really a signpost to the ‘new'. It marks out new territory. It even provides the garments to wear along the way. This story my grandfather told in his diaries of living as a missionary in China in the 1940s explains it best…

The message this Sunday is one of Peace.  Jesus appearing to his anxious disciples after his death and resurrection and offering them peace.  Once they realised it was Jesus, by seeing him and his scars, he then breathed the Holy Spirit upon them.  How hopeful for us all to hear and take in his peace at such times as these.  The scripture passage goes on to tell us of the disciple Thomas being absent, and so wanting to see Jesus for himself.  Here we get the saying 'doubting Thomas'.  And so Jesus did come to him to personally show him his scars and resurrection! Then on seeing he was able to say 'My Lord, My God'.  This is for us to believe and hold onto our faith.  May it continue to burn with fire within us so we too can stay strong - being able to know his love and peace for us.  Also realising that being in community encourages and supports us in our faith and with each other.  Jesus /Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!  He is risen indeed. 

Some of us are like Thomas who need to know that the risen Jesus still bears the scars of the cross

Easter Day - The tree of shame became the tree of glory - and an Easter egg tree!

For most of this past week, my laptop has had a small but really significant problem. The letter ‘e' doesn't work most of the time.T here are a lot of words in the English language with the letter ‘e' in them, including the words ‘English' and ‘language'! What started as a small annoyance quickly turned into a major impediment. Entire words, sentences, paragraphs, even sermons, risked being incomplete, which is another word with not just one, but two ‘e's! Two words, however, that are typable are ‘Christ' - no e's in there, and ‘is' - no e's in there either. But it's the next word where I needed help.

John 12:1-11 is the account of Mary's anointing of Jesus' feet.  It is a beautiful story that gives us insight into the nature of humble service and can inspire us with its stunning example of extravagant devotion.

We are coming now to the end of things. Six days away, we're told. The countdown has begun.And we have here a remarkable scene; a collage of characters, two of whom take our attention. There's Mary, this named woman with this extraordinary action. And there's Judas, this named disciple, whom we will meet again soon, and who here we get a thumbnail sketch that begins to tell us a little more about him.

This Sunday, we celebrated Harvest festival  and the bountiful crops that we receive, which tied in with the Gospel reading of the celebratory party given for the lost or returning son. This parable is about two sons and their father.  One who goes off and squanders all his money and comes back abject and sorry.  The other who is a faithful and hardworking son who gets jealous of the other brothers return and the fathers joy.  Jesus uses this to explain how it is with God. God is the loving, welcoming, rejoicing father to all of us.  We only have to remain faithful or turn back to face him when we have wandered away.  God is so full of joy - full of love for each of us - with ever open arms to welcome and enfold us.

The gardener in Jesus' parable of the fig tree understands me: “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.” The gardener believes that if he moves the dirt around, enriches it with fertilizer, and pays more attention to it, then something might happen. In other words, let me keep trying. Not for the sake of my ego, but for the sake of life. Give it another chance. Because, yes, I know what it means when someone doesn't give up on me, and when God doesn't give up on me.

Jesus raises the issue, and his answers aren't quite what you might expect...

In Lent, we might be thinking a lot about appetites, and how we have set aside our appetite for chocolate or wine or chips or whatever in the spirit of giving up for Lent, in the full knowledge that come Easter Sunday we can resume our gluttony with fervour.But there's something about appetite that we need to retain – it's not all fasting and sour faces. In giving up our appetite for some things we may, instead, grow our appetite for God.

Jesus compares himself to a hen with chickens rather than a fox!

We have in our gospel reading today the three temptations of Christ, like three knocks on a big door. The first temptation is to be relevant. The second temptation is to be spectacular. The third temptation is to be powerful.

As we read the passage today of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, we too can relate to being tempted in different ways and at different times.  We can be tempted in letting go, giving in or saying 'whatever' especially as we are encouraged to try some fasting, extra praying and giving to others.   Jesus is our example of keeping strong in believing and hoping in God.  As Psalm 91 says 'My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust'.

Maybe the temptation this year is just to give up for Lent...

The gospel reading today gives us these four images: The blind leading the blind. The speck of dust in another person's eye and the log of wood in our own. The good tree that bears no bad fruit. The house that's built on sand and the house that's built on rock.

I find it enormously helpful to have a view of people, including myself, that recognises that all of us have the range of human vices within us. All of us, too, are also, simultaneously, being renewed daily by God's mercies that are new every morning. And both of those things exist at once. This is the truth of the human condition and the grace of God's compassion.

What's it really mean to love our enemies?

What we have here in Luke's gospel is the grittier version of the Beatitudes we find in Matthew's gospel. There, it's the Sermon on the Mount. Here, it's the Sermon on the Plain! And here, poor means poor. We may want to sanitise it and say that it really means only the poor in spirit, which is a phrase we find in Matthew's gospel, but not here. Luke isn't going to do nuance. He isn't going to spare blushes or avoid offence. He's grounding the message and driving it home.

As we marked Waitangi Day on Thursday, I recalled an event that involved my dear friend and colleague, the late Kāumatua (Elder) Huikakahu Kawe, from whom I learned so much. I've shared some of this in this week's Connect – so if you've read that, then you can take this opportunity to have a nap! But I do want to say a little more here, how it connects with our lectionary readings for today, and how we might respond.

I've seen a couple of good video clips lately about mercy, one in Washington and one at Waitangi...

The story of Simeon and Anna, perhaps even your own story, perhaps even the story of this parish on the cusp of its sesquicentennial, is a story of “by faithful waiting and being guided in prayer and patience to the point where they recognise the glory of God in the child they see.”

Farewell Jo! Our deep thanks and appreciation for your ministry with us over the last 5 years as our Pastoral Care Co-Ordinator. Go well in your new role!