Christ at the centre

Colin McCahon

An excerpt from my Passion Sunday address:

The Trial
What was the choice?
For Pilate: Do I set free a murderer or an innocent man?
For the crowd: Do we call Jesus Lord or do we demand him crucified as an imposter?

We have to choose not out of our certainties – because some things are not always provable using the many formulas and devices of thinking…

Is Jesus Lord or is he not?

Is what he says, and who he is, the truth?
In the trial Pilate asks Jesus ‘what is truth?’ – Jesus remains silent. Jesus remains silent, for Pilate to work it out,
for the watching crowd to work it out and for us to work it out.

‘Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ,’ says John in his prelude…
If we want to know the truth – it has a face and a name…
I AM… the alpha and the omega – the One at the beginning and the One at the end.

Jesus dares us:
Let me provide the basis by which you address what you understand to be true.
Let me be the framework through which you build your worldviews.

I AM the way the truth and the life
– let me be at the centre.

And from the centre
I will walk to the deepest place of human suffering on order to be with you.

Easter words

Roddy Hamilton produces some great material on his Mucky Paws page: http://abbotsford.typepad.com/abbotsford/

Here's one that Anne and I are working with this Easter:

Rebellious Welcome
When our table is open only to members
may we find a new table
When our community is open only to those who are polite
May we find a new community
When we sing the songs familiar only to us
May we find a new song
O that the Gospel were for nice people
the beautiful the famous and the clean...
But God
you welcome the lost
you feed the hungry
you honour the prostitute
you kiss with the leper
you eat with the sinner
you break bread with the stranger
It is a hard Gospel for our world
all closed up against what we do not know
protective of what challenges us
avoiding what we do not understand
It is a hard gospel to be open
welcoming
affirming
growing
faithful
redeeming
But it is the gospel nonetheless
When we use our faith to shift us away from the stranger may we find a new faith
When we use the church to avoid what happens on the outside may we find a new church
When we use the Bible to divide us into sheep and goats may we find a new bible
Hear us
O God of welcomes
O God of grace
So be it