St Paul's
Beaconsfield

Anglican Church near Fremantle, Western Australia

Sermon Highlights

Our parish is a community that seeks God and the fullness of creation by finding ourselves in relation to others. Our giving to the common, to the other, our sharing of ourselves is our commitment to this endeavour.

Readings each Sunday
Vanderbilt lectionary library

Second Sunday of Epiphany 15th January 2012

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John Dunnill

This trust which he shows first as a child when he opens himself to hear God's word, and to reveal what he hears whether he likes it or not, sets a pattern for his adult ministry as a prophet. Because of it, he plays a crucial role in rescuing Israel from its calamity.

But the story of Samuel emphasises a third way. It tells us that as well as these ways of seeing God, as a constant presence in the universe or in the depths of my heart, God is also a Holy One who may encounter us, from time to time, in specific and non-repeatable ways, who may enter into the world's history, or my life-story, in ways that can have a dramatic effect.

If the finger of God should point to us, for a moment, would we recognise it?

Such moments do not come all that often, but they tell us a lot about who we are. Everything depends on whether we can recognise the moment and respond. I suppose it might be worth giving some thought to what such a moment might look like, and what it might reveal about who we are, and who is the is the God who calls us.

Christmas Day 2011

Is 9: 2-7; Titus 2: 11-14; Luke 2: 1-14
John Dunnill

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The Greek word doxa which we translate as 'glory' means appearance, reputation, impressiveness. So a king has doxa, glory, majesty, because he's powerful and important, and everybody does what he says

But in the Old Testament, in the Book of Exodus and elsewhere, there's a completely different kind of glory, especially found in the phrase 'the glory of the LORD'. The Hebrew word kabod which we translate 'glory' really means weight, substance, so 'the glory of the LORD' is not about God's reputation or impressiveness, or what people think about God, it's about what God is, the substance, intensity or depth of God – and that substance revealed among humans bringing good.

We must be aware that in the Bible the glory of God always comes as a surprising response to human need – bread in the wilderness, life out of death – and we rightly sense at this season that God's heart is open to those who are sad or lonely or distressed – those who often find the glitzy side of Christmas (the superficial glory) only makes them feel worse.
It's to the sad and the needy that God's heart is especially open at this time, and I hope ours are too, as we remember that the real glory of God is the infinite compassion through which God's son comes into this hurting world, and a hint of that glory is seen in the compassion which arises in our hearts in the face of real human needs.
May we enjoy Christmas as those who know its real meaning and its real joy.