John Davies - Notes From a Small Vicar

The king who always gave people something good

... JESUS got his friends to spread the word that

AT the same time as PILATE was PROCESSING into the other side of town,

THEY WOULD WELCOME THEIR OWN KING,

in their own way.

And so here they came, the poorest, the lamest, the daftest, the  lostest PEOPLE,

carrying branches of trees and whatever else they could find to wave,

and WAITED for JESUS to make his way in through the EAST GATE,

past the people taking out the RUBBISH,

and when HE arrived, they THREW their BRANCHES to the ground, and threw their ARMS in the air and shouted ‘Hosanna to the King!’

AND of course, while PILATE was making his way into town in the brightest and best chariot of all, how was Jesus travelling?

ON A DONKEY! ...

- from my school Easter Service talk, The king who always gave people something good.

"He told me everything I have ever done!" : on being accepted

... 'He told me everything I have ever done!' - finally, a man who knew her fully, understood her entirely, loved her wholly, accepted her as she was. No wonder she was so transformed that day. No wonder that her story made such an impression on those who heard it; because she may have been the most notorious addict for love in the city of Sychar; but everyone else in that place had just the same desires and longings, deep down, too. And the message is that just as he came to them, Jesus comes to give us something that will finally quench our thirst, satisfy our hunger, here and now. How we relate to this woman's story: for we share that deep desire to be known, listened to and understood. We share that ache to be accepted, that longing to be loved. A recent survey among young people who don't go to church revealed that they 'longed to be loved, to have authentic relationships, to experience meaningful community'. I think it’s not just young people who feel this way....

From today's talk about Jesus and the woman at the well, "He told me everything I have ever done!" : on being accepted . At Sutton Montis informal worship featuring contemplation, conversation and this song....

 

Jesus the serpent: healing in a difficult place

"Let us be careful not to put the cross at the heart of our faith, but the Saviour.... for Christians over the years have made an idol of the cross, revering that object rather than the Saviour who was crucified on it. Contrary to our well-intentioned but misguided beliefs, the cross is not at the heart of Christianity - the Saviour is. The necessary sacrifice of blood and flesh belongs to other idolatries - such as in our day and age, the idolatry of nationalism - Jesus stands for only life, abundant life, eternal life."

- from my talk today, Jesus the serpent: healing in a difficult place.

Lent: interrupted by God, learning to love Trump

... This is our challenge this Lent - though we may think that Trump is a monster, we must love him; if we believe that our Parish Council is plain wrong, we must love them; if we find our neighbour annoying, we must love her; if we’re fearful of people of other faiths, we must love them; if we know that our work colleagues are undermining us, we must love them. For this is the way of the teachings of Christ. And let us be sure to understand that this love, which is required of us, is not weak and passive; it is strong and pro-active. This love, through which we model Jesus’ way to the world, is given to us once-and-for-all as God’s generous gift; but it is also something which comes to us repeatedly as we practice it, hour by hour, day by day....

from my Ash Wednesday talk,  Lent: interrupted by God, learning to love Trump.