If necessary, use words
7th Sunday after Pentecost, July 3 2016 2 Kings 5.1-14; Psalm 30.1-12; Galatians 6.1-16; Luke 10.1-11, 16-20 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem Great things sometimes happen when a congregation irritates its minister. Thirty years ago, in a small town in Maryland, twenty miles from the city of Baltimore, a mostly middle-class congregation did just …
Follow me
6th Sunday after Pentecost, June 26 2016 2 Kings 2.1-14; Psalm 77; Galatians 5.1, 13-25; Luke 9.51-62 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem “To share an island with the English is the lot the Almighty has assigned to the Scots and the Welsh.” This is how the late Ian Henderson begins his little book Scotland: Kirk …
Repent and forgive
4th Sunday after Pentecost, June 12 2016 1 Kings 21.1-21a; Psalm 1 (CH4 1); Galatians 2.15-21; Luke 7.36-8.3 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem At Tabeetha School in Jaffa, the pupils are busy preparing for exams next week. Or perhaps, as some of their teachers fear, they are just eating ice-cream on the beach. In …
The one who longs to make us whole
Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 5 2016 1 Kings 17.8-24; Psalm 146.1-10; Galatians 1.11-24; Luke 7.11-17 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras und alle Herrlichkeit des Menschen wie des Grases Blumen. Das Gras ist verdorret und die Blume abgefallen. This is not how I usually begin a sermon. But …
Proud towers which shall not reach to heaven
Pentecost, May 15 2016 Genesis 11.1-9; Acts 2.1-21; John 14.8-17, 25-27 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial, Jerusalem “Did you hear the gunfire?” Vivien asked me on Wednesday evening. It wasn’t gunfire, although it easily could have been. It was fireworks in the night, to celebrate Israel’s Day of Independence; but not everyone in the land or …
Out of sight
Ascension, May 8 2016 Acts 1.1-11; Psalm 93 (CH4 57); Ephesians 1.15-23; Luke 24.44-53 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial, Jerusalem The point of Christian faith, like the point of political commitment, is to take us out of ourselves and connect us to a larger purpose. But we are human, creatures of frail flesh and even frailer …
Tikkun olam
A sermon for the planet 1st Sunday after Christmas, December 27 2015 1 Samuel 2.18-26; Psalm 148; Colossians 3.12-17; Luke 2.41-52 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial, Jerusalem Two days ago, Jesus of Nazareth was born. Today, he is 12 – a rapid growth spurt, even for someone who is the saviour of the world. And when …
A world that knows not love
December 16 2015 Carrie Ballenger Smith is a pianist, in between serving as pastor of the English-speaking congregation in the Church of the Redeemer in the Old City. Jonas Schaefer is a guitarist, in between working at the Ecumenical Accompaniment office in Jerusalem. My wife Vivien is a soprano soloist, in between being my wife …
Why are we here?
St Andrew’s Day sermon, November 30 2015 Isaiah 55, Psalm 9.7-11, John 12.20-36 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem Barbara Trapido’s first novel, published in 1982, was called Brother of the More Famous Jack, a book that redefined the coming-of-age novel.[1] My next St Andrew’s Day sermon will be called Brother of the More Famous …
Happy New Year!
September 15 2015 We don’t get much Bible study in the Guardian or the New York Times. But in this as in so many other ways, Israel is different. Haaretz – the liberal daily that most resembles these two newspapers – is just one of many sources to offer reflections on the portion of the …