Walter Brueggemann, one of the great Protestant theologians of the Hebrew Bible, died on Thursday, aged 92. Brueggemann is widely described as a modern prophet in the tradition of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. He possessed the ability to explain the meaning of the ancient text with clarity and precision, and interpret its prophetic …
Nothing in my hand I bring
Last week, I suggested that, in his inaugural sermon at the Nazareth synagogue (Lk 4:16-21), and in the Beatitudes which must have been taught very soon after, Jesus echoed the words of Isaiah 61:1-7. I said that Jesus came to change the world, to turn the world upside down, to right wrongs, to pour out compassion, …
A guide to the Beatitudes
In what would be his last sermon, Pope Francis emphasised a contrast between the way of the world and the Way of Jesus. He said: Today’s builders of Babel tell us that there is no room for losers, and that those who fall along the way are losers. Theirs is the construction site of Hell. …
The way of transformation
A sermon by Rod Benson Psalm 1 When I was growing up in Papua New Guinea I attended a school where religious education was taught every Friday, and I remember a Swiss missionary, Mrs Jungen, who with her husband Erwin had been pioneer missionaries in the highlands in the 1950s, teaching us to memorise this …
Praying when church is boring
A sermon by Rod Benson Matthew 6:9-13 What do you do when church is boring? What do you do when participating in worship with others no longer satisfies? There are times when each of us grows bored or dissatisfied with the way things are. We may yearn for the good old days, and those old …
iDigress 