Courageous and tender, gentle and brave
21st Sunday after Pentecost October 29 2017 Deuteronomy 34.1-12; Psalm 90.1-6, 12-14; 1 Thessalonians 2.1-8; Matthew 22.34-46 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem For the last nine Sundays, we have been wandering through the book of Exodus like the Israelites in the wilderness. Now suddenly our lectionary fast-forwards through the Torah, skipping past Leviticus and …
A little child shall lead us
Christmas Day, December 25 2016 Isaiah 52.7-10; Hebrews 1.1-5; John 1.1-14 Rev Páraic Réamonn, St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem Who would think that what was needed to transform and save the earth might not be a plan or army, proud in purpose, proved in worth? Who would think, despite derision, that a child should …
Just say yes
Christmas Eve, December 24 2016 Genesis 18.1-21; Isaiah 9.2, 6-7; Luke 1.26-35, 38a; Luke 2.1-7; Matthew 2.1-12; John 1.1-14 Rev Páraic Réamonn, St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem No wind at the window, no knock on the door; no light from the lampstand, no foot on the floor; no dream born of tiredness, no ghost raised …
The day and the hour
Advent Sunday, November 27 2016Isaiah 2.1-5; Psalm 122.1-9; Romans 13.11-14; Matthew 24.36-44Páraic Réamonn, St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem Welcome to Advent! In this season we look back, remembering the coming of Christ at Christmas and all that this means for us. But on this Sunday – Advent Sunday – we look forward, reminding ourselves …
Two masters
Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost, November 13 2016 Isaiah 65.17-25; Isaiah 12; 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13; Luke 21.5-19 Páraic Réamonn, St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem In Flanders fields the poppies grow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place: and in the sky The larks still bravely singing fly Scarce heard amid the guns …
Two kinds of people
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, October 23 2016 Joel 2.23-32; 2 Timothy 4.6-8, 16-18; Luke 18.9-14 Páraic Réamonn, St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew in the days of the second temple, calling his people to repentance and renewal. Luke the evangelist was a gentile Christian two generations later, writing his …
The arc of history
Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, October 16 2016 Jeremiah 31.27-34; Psalm 119.33-40; 2 Timothy 3.14-4.5; Luke 18.1-8 Páraic Réamonn, St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem On Thursday in New Hampshire, Michelle Obama lifted the US election campaign out of the gutter in which it had lain captive far too long and set it free to fly. …
Rekindle the gift of God that is within you
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, October 2 2016 Psalm 137; 2 Timothy 1.1-14; Luke 17.5-10 Murrayfield Parish Church, Edinburgh Psalm 137 is a hymn. But it’s a peculiar kind of hymn. Six centuries before Jesus was born, the empire of Babylon captured the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the first temple, and led the leading families of …
To be radical is to go to the root
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 4 2016 Jeremiah 18.1-11; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14.25-33 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem To be human is to change, said John Henry Newman, and to be perfect is to have changed often. He forgot to add that change is hard, and radical change excruciatingly painful. To change my deepest …
God wants everyone to be saved
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 18 2016 Jeremiah 8.18-9.2; 1 Timothy 2.1-7; Luke 16.1-13 Hopeman Church, Moray, Scotland God wants everyone to be saved. There is so much going on in scripture and so much happening in our world today that often we can miss the wood for the trees. But First Timothy comes straight …