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An Informed Faith

John T Squires

  • The Word of God, Scripture, and Jesus Christ
  • Marrying same-gender people: a biblical rationale
  • Discernment
  • Interpreting the creeds “in a later age”
  • Affirming the Teachings of Jesus
  • To articulate faith contextually
  • Let your gentleness be known to everyone
  • What can we know about the birth of Jesus?
  • “An orderly account”: a quick guide to Luke and Acts
  • Costly discipleship, according to Luke
  • In the wake of the verdict about Pell …
  • Another Time, Another Place: towards an Australian Church
  • Holy Week: the week leading up to Easter
  • Sacrificial death and liberating life: at the heart of Easter
  • The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Easter in Christian tradition and its relation to Jewish tradition
  • The cross-cultural nature of the early Jesus movement
  • Jesus and his followers at table in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Once again: affirming our diversity, celebrating joyous marriages
  • Ten things about Pentecost (Acts 2)
  • The Paraclete in John’s Gospel: exploring the array of translation options (John 14, 15, 16)
  • “Do you believe in the Triune God?”
  • The DNA of the UCA (part I)
  • The DNA of the UCA (part II)
  • Harness the passion, but restrain the rhetoric. Musing on the role model which Paul offers in Galatians.
  • Providing for the exercise by men and women of the gifts God bestows upon them: lay people presiding at the sacraments in the Uniting Church
  • Freedom and unity: themes in Galatians
  • Australian Religious Leaders support renewable energy
  • Human sexuality and the Bible
  • Dividing the unity, splintering the connections: more ACC agitation
  • Giving Voice, Telling Truth, Talking Treaty: NAIDOC 2019
  • Advocacy and Climate Change, Growth and Formation, Treaty with First Peoples: Synod 2019
  • Climate Change: a central concern in contemporary ministry
  • On earth, as in heaven: the key to The Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part I)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part II)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part III)
  • International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
  • In the wake of the verdict (and appeal decision) relating to Pell …
  • Where will we find hope? When will we see justice?
  • Supporting the Climate Strike
  • Gracious openness and active discipleship as key characteristics of church membership
  • Please Leave ?? No — Please Stay !!
  • Stones singing and rivers vibrating … a liturgy for Holy Communion
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part One)
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part Two)
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part Three)
  • Celebrating Transitions: into a strange and graceful ease … (part one)
  • Celebrating Transitions: into a strange and graceful ease … (part two)
  • We wait, and hope, and grieve, anticipating …
  • On the move. A reflection on Christmas.
  • Reflecting on faith amidst the firestorms
  • This is the world we live in, this is the Gospel we believe in
  • Giving up? Or going deep? The opportunity of Lent
  • Passing the peace, sharing the elements, greeting the minister
  • When you come together … reflections on community in the midst of a pandemic
  • Holy Week: a week set apart, in a time set apart.
  • It was on that night that everything came to a head. Maundy Thursday Reflections.
  • Sacrificial Death: to give his life. Good Friday Reflections
  • Liminal Space: waiting and not knowing. Holy Saturday Reflections
  • Liberating Life: a new way of being. Easter Sunday Reflections
  • It’s been just over a month—but there have been lots of learnings!
  • Not this year. So what about next year?
  • The times, they are are a-changin’.
  • When we come together (2) … values and principles in the midst of a pandemic
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (1)
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (2)
  • Saying sorry, seeking justice, walking together, working for reconciliation
  • Worship like the first Christians. What will our future look like? (3)
  • Pentecost: the spirit is for anyone, for everyone.
  • Racism and Reconciliation
  • Paul’s vision of “One in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) and the Uniting Church
  • In memory of James Dunn (1939–2020)
  • Black Lives Matter. Now—and Then.
  • Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), and the commitment to seek peace (2020)
  • Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices Bill: A Christian Perspective
  • Always Was, Always Will Be. #NAIDOC2020
  • The Lectionary: ordering the liberty of the preacher
  • Women in the New Testament (1): the positive practices of Jesus and the early church
  • Women in the New Testament (2): six problem passages
  • Reflections on a significant anniversary
  • What do we know about who wrote the New Testament Gospels? (1)
  • What do we know about who wrote the New Testament Gospels? (2)
  • What do we know about who wrote the letters attributed to Paul? (3)
  • What do we know about who wrote the letters in the name of the apostles? (4)
  • Revelation: a complex and intricate world of heavenly beings and exotic creatures
  • Why the Christmas story is not history (1)
  • Why “the Christmas story” is not history (2): Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2
  • Advent Greetings from Canberra Region Presbytery
An Informed Faith

Day: December 26, 2019

Stephen: deacon and prophet, martyr and disciple

Stephen: deacon and prophet, martyr and disciple

26 December is the day when the Western Church especially recognises Stephen, the person who lays claim to being the first Christian martyr. (The Eastern Church allocates 27 December for this purpose). In reflecting on Stephen, we find a richness in what Luke recounts in his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles. Here are seven things to note about Stephen.

  1. Stephen represents the ministry of Deacon. He was one of the seven appointed in the Jerusalem church “to wait on tables” during “the daily distribution of food”. In this account, we find the Greek term diakonia (6:1,4) and its cognate verb (6:2). These terms have a general reference to waiting at table in ordinary hellenistic Greek usage (Luke 4:39; 10:40; 12:37; 17:8), but here take on the distinctive sense which they collect in Luke-Acts, by referring to a leadership role in the community (Luke 8:3; 22:26-27; Acts 1:17,25; 12:25; 19:22; 20:24; 21:19).
  2. Stephen represents those gifted by the Spirit for ministry. As the first named of the seven, he is explicitly identified as being “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). The phrase “filled with the Spirit” is applied to Peter (4:8), Stephen (6:3,5; 7:55), Saul (9:17; 13:9) and Barnabas (11:24). Earlier, in Luke’s Gospel, other individuals were identified as spirit-filled: John the baptiser (1:15), Zachariah (1:67), Simeon (2:25-26) and Jesus himself (4:1,14). The phrase “full of faith and the Holy Spirit” reinforces the role of the spirit-filled prophet within the messianic Jewish community. Indeed, all members of this community are typically “filled with the spirit” (4:31). They all had a ministry to exercise.
  3. Stephen exemplifies grace, wisdom and power–qualities to be found amongst those in ministry and leadership. Stephen is described as being “full of grace” (6:8), a defining mark of the community noted at 2:47, 4:33, and of power, a divine gift (2:22) exhibited by the apostles (4:33). He is able to perform wonders and signs (6:8), a divinely-inspired capacity (2:19) exhibited by Jesus (2:22) and the apostles (2:43; 5:12). Luke notes again that Stephen speaks with “wisdom and spirit” (6:10), attributes already noted as divine in origin the spirit is a direct gift of God (2:17), as is faith, or believing (5:14); wisdom is given by God (7:10) and is linked with spirit (6:3,10) and other divine gifts (grace, 7:10; power, 7:22).
  4. Stephen also represents those called to the Ministry of the Word. Acts 7 contains the longest speech of the book (and the only one spoken by Stephen). Stephen is portrayed as one powerful speaker. The speech serves to set the events that took place in Jerusalem (the accusations brought against Stephen, 6:9-15; and the stoning of Stephen, 7:51-60) within the broader framework of divine sovereignty (how God has been at work in Israel, 7:2-50). As is typical of speeches in Acts, Stephen makes God the subject of the speech (7:2); we see the same pattern in speeches by Peter (2:17; 3:13; 5:30) and Paul (13:17, 21; 17). The phrase used here, “the God of glory”, is drawn from scripture (Ps 29:3), and retells the story with this consistent perspective: what took place in the past was God working in and through human history. God is regularly the initiator of the actions reported (see verses 2,4,5,6,9,10,20,25,32,36,38,42,44,45,46).
  5. Stephen represents the continuation of the prophetic tradition in the early church. The speech Luke places on the lips of Stephen rebuts the charges that have been laid against Stephen; it demonstrates that, far from speaking “blasphemous words against God” (6:11), Stephen has a fulsome understanding of God’s place in Israel’s history. At the end of his speech, Stephen takes up the charge that he spoke “against the holy place” (6:13). Luke has Stephen quote scripture (7:49-50, citing Isa 66:1-2) in order to show that his criticism of the temple (God’s “place of rest”, 7:49) arises from within Jewish tradition itself. There are numerous scriptural allusions and quotations in this speech by Stephen. He provides a detailed rehearsal of significant parts of Israel’s history, by focussing in turn on Abraham (7:2-8), Joseph (7:9-16) and Moses (7:17-44). Then, after making brief mention of Joshua (7:45a), David (7:45b-46) and Solomon (7:47), Stephen moves to the climactic claim of the speech (7:48-53). Now, lengthy recitals of key features of Israel’s history are already found in Hebrew Scripture (Deut 26; Josh 24; Neh 9; Pss 78; 105; 106; 135; 136; Ezek 20). The long recital of the earlier part of Israel’s history reinforces Stephen’s Jewish credentials. When he begins to speak critically of the temple, and of the Jerusalem authorities, it is clear that he does so from within the Jewish tradition. Stephen is not an outsider, but an insider, offering a prophetic critique. This is at the heart of the proclamation of the good news.
  6. Stephen represents martyrs—those who bear witness to their faith, to the point of offering up their own lives. The Greek word martys actually derives from the word to bear witness; it is applied to Stephen at Acts 22:20, and this usage has come to define its central quality in later Christian thinking. Stephen stands for what he believes, to the point of death. The task of bearing witness is enabled by the gift of the spirit and given to all followers of Jesus (1:8), but Stephen is the first to reveal the extent to wich bearing witness requires total life commitment. The Greek word stephanos means “crown”, and much has been made of this in later Christian tradition (the crown of martyrdom, etc); but Luke avoids any such wordplay in his account of Stephen. In Luke’s description of the charges brought against Stephen in Jerusalem (Acts 6), there are echoes of the charged laid against Jesus, according to Synoptic traditions. Those in conflict with Stephen are Diaspora Jews who have returned to Jerusalem, where they worship in a synagogue (6:9). They conscript agitators to stir up the crowd (6:11-12). This is reminiscent of a detail in the trial of Jesus (Mark 15:11; Matt 27:20) which Luke omits, transferring it to Stephen’s trial. Similar agitation of the crowd will later be encountered by Paul (13:50; 14:19; 17:5,13); in Luke’s eyes, it is a typical characteristic of what was experienced by the early followers of Jesus. Likewise, the “false witnesses” who accuse Stephen of speaking against the temple (6:13) recall the false witnesses who charge Jesus with the claim that he would destroy the temple (Mark 14:55-58; Matt 26:59-61). This is another detail which Luke omits from his Gospel narrative and transfers to Stephen’s trial. The speech which Stephen delivers thus serves as the “defence speech” in his trial; a true witness to God, over against the charge of the false witnesses.
  7. Stephen shows us what it means to follow Jesus. Luke consciously models Stephen’s death on the death scene of Jesus (7:54-60; cf. Luke 23:34, 44-46). He is once again described as “filled with the spirit” (7:55, evoking 6:3,5), and he experiences an epiphany in which he sees “the glory of God” (7:55). At this liminal moment, Stephen is already transported into the divine presence. The same happens for Jesus in Luke’s account of his crucifixion. In 7:56, when Stephen describes the heavens opening, he evokes the Lukan account of Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:21), and his vision of the Son of Man is similar to the apocalyptic  vision which Jesus paints at his trial (Luke 22:69). In both scenes, it is as if God intervenes into the events taking place. Stephen’s two cries “in a great voice” (7:57,60) are reminiscent of the death of Jesus (Luke 23:46), and his dying words, “receive my spirit” (7:59), are patterned on the final words of the Lukan Jesus (Luke 23:46, citing Ps 31:6). He is close to God at his  death—as is the Lukan Jesus. Stephen’s last cry, a petition that the Lord overlook this sin (7:60), is similarly evocative of the words of the Lukan Jesus, offering forgiveness to those who crucified him (Luke 23:34). In life, and in death, Stephen faithfully follows Jesus.

(These reflections are adapted from sections of my commentary on Acts, published in 2003 in the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible.)

See also https://johntsquires.com/2018/12/26/ye-who-now-will-bless-the-poor-shall-yourselves-find-blessing/

Author John T SquiresPosted on December 26, 2019December 26, 2019Categories An Orderly Account: Gospel of LukeTags Acts, Christmas, scriptureLeave a comment on Stephen: deacon and prophet, martyr and disciple

The Beginning of the Good News: Mark

  • The Lectionary: ordering the liberty of the preacher
  • The kingdom is at hand; so follow me. The Gospel according to Mark.
  • Advent One: Towards the Coming (Mark 13)
  • Advent Two: the more powerful one who is coming (Mark 1)

Life during COVID 19

  • Passing the peace, sharing the elements, greeting the minister
  • When you come together … reflections on community in the midst of a pandemic
  • Pastoral Letter to Canberra Region Presbytery on COVID-19 pandemic
  • Pastoral Letter to the Canberra Region Presbytery of the Uniting Church in Australia. 31 March 2020
  • Liminal Space: waiting and not knowing. Holy Saturday Reflections
  • It’s been just over a month—but there have been lots of learnings!
  • Not this year. So what about next year?
  • The times, they are are a-changin’.
  • When we come together (2) … values and principles in the midst of a pandemic
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (1)
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (2)
  • Worship like the first Christians. What will our future look like? (3)
  • Pastoral Letter to Canberra Region Presbytery: June 2020
  • “Greet one another” (2 Cor 13). But no holy kissing. And no joyful singing.
  • Going “back” to church—what will our future look like? (4)
  • When you come together (3) … wait for one another (1 Cor 11)
  • Minimising risks in the ongoing reality of COVID-19
  • Pastoral Letter to Canberra Region Presbytery—September 2020
  • Reimagining—the spirit of our times

Scripture and Theology

  • The Word of God, Scripture, and Jesus Christ
  • Marrying same-gender people: a biblical rationale
  • Discernment
  • Interpreting the creeds “in a later age”
  • Affirming the Teachings of Jesus
  • To articulate faith contextually
  • Let your gentleness be known to everyone
  • What can we know about the birth of Jesus?
  • “An orderly account”: a quick guide to Luke and Acts
  • Costly discipleship, according to Luke
  • In the wake of the verdict about Pell …
  • Another Time, Another Place: towards an Australian Church
  • Holy Week: the week leading up to Easter
  • Sacrificial death and liberating life: at the heart of Easter
  • The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Easter in Christian tradition and its relation to Jewish tradition
  • The cross-cultural nature of the early Jesus movement
  • Jesus and his followers at table in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Once again: affirming our diversity, celebrating joyous marriages
  • Ten things about Pentecost (Acts 2)
  • The Paraclete in John’s Gospel: exploring the array of translation options (John 14, 15, 16)
  • “Do you believe in the Triune God?”
  • The DNA of the UCA (part I)
  • The DNA of the UCA (part II)
  • Harness the passion, but restrain the rhetoric. Musing on the role model which Paul offers in Galatians.
  • Providing for the exercise by men and women of the gifts God bestows upon them: lay people presiding at the sacraments in the Uniting Church
  • Freedom and unity: themes in Galatians
  • Australian Religious Leaders support renewable energy
  • Human sexuality and the Bible
  • Dividing the unity, splintering the connections: more ACC agitation
  • Giving Voice, Telling Truth, Talking Treaty: NAIDOC 2019
  • Advocacy and Climate Change, Growth and Formation, Treaty with First Peoples: Synod 2019
  • Climate Change: a central concern in contemporary ministry
  • On earth, as in heaven: the key to The Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part I)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part II)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part III)
  • International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
  • In the wake of the verdict (and appeal decision) relating to Pell …
  • Where will we find hope? When will we see justice?
  • Supporting the Climate Strike
  • Gracious openness and active discipleship as key characteristics of church membership
  • Please Leave ?? No — Please Stay !!
  • Stones singing and rivers vibrating … a liturgy for Holy Communion
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part One)
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part Two)
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part Three)
  • Celebrating Transitions: into a strange and graceful ease … (part one)
  • Celebrating Transitions: into a strange and graceful ease … (part two)
  • We wait, and hope, and grieve, anticipating …
  • On the move. A reflection on Christmas.
  • Reflecting on faith amidst the firestorms
  • This is the world we live in, this is the Gospel we believe in
  • Giving up? Or going deep? The opportunity of Lent
  • Passing the peace, sharing the elements, greeting the minister
  • When you come together … reflections on community in the midst of a pandemic
  • Holy Week: a week set apart, in a time set apart.
  • It was on that night that everything came to a head. Maundy Thursday Reflections.
  • Sacrificial Death: to give his life. Good Friday Reflections
  • Liminal Space: waiting and not knowing. Holy Saturday Reflections
  • Liberating Life: a new way of being. Easter Sunday Reflections
  • It’s been just over a month—but there have been lots of learnings!
  • Not this year. So what about next year?
  • The times, they are are a-changin’.
  • When we come together (2) … values and principles in the midst of a pandemic
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (1)
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (2)
  • Saying sorry, seeking justice, walking together, working for reconciliation
  • Worship like the first Christians. What will our future look like? (3)
  • Pentecost: the spirit is for anyone, for everyone.
  • Racism and Reconciliation
  • Paul’s vision of “One in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) and the Uniting Church
  • In memory of James Dunn (1939–2020)
  • Black Lives Matter. Now—and Then.
  • Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), and the commitment to seek peace (2020)
  • Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices Bill: A Christian Perspective
  • Always Was, Always Will Be. #NAIDOC2020
  • The Lectionary: ordering the liberty of the preacher
  • Women in the New Testament (1): the positive practices of Jesus and the early church
  • Women in the New Testament (2): six problem passages
  • Reflections on a significant anniversary
  • What do we know about who wrote the New Testament Gospels? (1)
  • What do we know about who wrote the New Testament Gospels? (2)
  • What do we know about who wrote the letters attributed to Paul? (3)
  • What do we know about who wrote the letters in the name of the apostles? (4)
  • Revelation: a complex and intricate world of heavenly beings and exotic creatures
  • Why the Christmas story is not history (1)
  • Why “the Christmas story” is not history (2): Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2
  • Advent Greetings from Canberra Region Presbytery

The First Peoples of Australia

  • The sovereignty of the First Peoples of Australia
  • Affirming the Sovereignty of First Peoples: undoing the Doctrine of Discovery
  • On Covenant, Reconciliation, and Sovereignty
  • Learning of the land (1): Eora, Biripi, Whadjuk Noongar
  • Learning of the land (2): Ngunnawal, Namadgi and Ngarigo
  • The profound effect of invasion and colonisation
  • “Endeavour by every possible means … to conciliate their affections”
  • “We never saw one inch of cultivated land in the whole country”
  • “They stood like Statues, without motion, but grinn’d like so many Monkies.”
  • “Resembling the park lands [of a] gentleman’s residence in England”
  • On Remembering: Cook and Flinders (and Trim), Bungaree and Yemmerrawanne
  • “They are to be hanged up on trees … to strike the survivors with the greater terror.”
  • So, change the date—to what?
  • Learning of the land (3): Tuggeranong, Queanbeyan, and other Canberra place names
  • Learning from the land (4): Naiame’s Nghunnhu—fishtraps at Brewarrina
  • We are sorry, we recognise your rights, we seek to be reconciled
  • Reconciliation on the land of Australia: learning from the past
  • Reconciliation on the land of Australia: Bennelong and Yemmerrawanne
  • Reconciliation on the land of Australia: Bungaree and Mahroot
  • Reconciliation on the land of Australia: Cora Gooseberry and Biddy Giles
  • Reconciliation on the land of Australia: “these are my people … this is my land”.
  • Reconciliation on the land of Australia: living together with respect
  • Dark deeds in a sunny land: the exposé offered by John B. Gribble
  • This is the proper way: no climbing
  • “They appear’d to be of a very dark or black colour”. Cook, HMS Endeavour, and the Yuin people and country.
  • “Three canoes lay upon the beach—the worst I think I ever saw.” James Cook at Botany Bay, 29 April 1770
  • Saying sorry, seeking justice, walking together, working for reconciliation
  • Racism and Reconciliation
  • “We weigh’d and run into the Harbour”. Cook, the Endeavour, and the Guugu Yimithirr
  • Black Lives Matter. Now—and Then.
  • James Cook, the Endeavour, twelve turtles and the Guugu Yimithirr (3)
  • James Cook: Captain? Discoverer? Invader? Coloniser? Cook, the Endeavour, and Possession Island.
  • Always Was, Always Will Be. #NAIDOC2020
  • Invasion and colonisation, Joshua 3 and contemporary Australia

Paul

  • The calling of Saul and the turn to the Gentiles: modelling the missional imperative (Acts 8—12)
  • Freedom and unity: themes in Galatians
  • In the name of the apostle …
  • Rightly explaining the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15)
  • What does it mean to say that the Bible is inspired? (2 Tim 3:16)
  • The sincerest form of flattery? Or a later, imperfect imitation? (2 Thessalonians)
  • For our instruction … that we might have hope (Rom 15, Isa 11, Matt 3)
  • Descended from David according to the flesh (Rom 1)
  • The unknown God, your own poets, and the man God chose: Paul on the Areopagus (Acts 17)
  • “Greet one another” (2 Cor 13). But no holy kissing. And no joyful singing.
  • Paul’s vision of “One in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) and the Uniting Church
  • When you come together (3) … wait for one another (1 Cor 11)
  • The best theology is contextual: learning from Paul’s letter to the Romans
  • The righteous-justice of God, a gift to all humanity (Romans)
  • Sighs too deep for words: Spirit and Scripture in Romans (Rom 8)
  • Praying to be cursed: Paul, the passionate partisan for the cause (Rom 9:3)
  • A deeper understanding of God, through dialogue with “the other” (Romans 10)
  • God has not rejected his people. All Israel will be saved. (Rom 11)
  • Paul the travelling philosopher (1 Thessalonians)

An Orderly Account: Luke and Acts

  • Costly discipleship, according to Luke
  • Advent Four: the scriptural resonances in the Annunciation (Luke 1)
  • Scripture fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:16-30)
  • Sacred place and sacred scripture: forty days in the wilderness (2)
  • Leave everything, follow Jesus (Luke 5:1-11)
  • On a level place, with a great crowd. (Luke 6)
  • The plain, the synagogue, and the village (Luke 6, 4 and 1)
  • The beloved physician, the lover of God, and loving our enemies (Luke 6)
  • Jesus and his followers at table in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Bringing his ‘exodos’ to fulfilment (Luke 9)
  • Listening and learning at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10)
  • Jerusalem, Jerusalem: holy city, holy calling (Luke 13)
  • The discomfort of ambiguity (Luke 15)
  • Don’t take it at face value: on former things and new things
  • Don’t take it at face value: on what lies behind and what lies ahead.
  • What do you see? What do you hear? (Luke 19)
  • Holy Week: the week leading up to Easter
  • Sacrificial death and liberating life: at the heart of Easter
  • The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Easter in Christian tradition and its relation to Jewish tradition
  • A time in-between the times, a space in no-space.
  • The tomb is empty. He is not here. He is risen.
  • He Is Not Here Day
  • A Testing Time: forty days in the wilderness (Luke 4)
  • Discovering new futures … letting go of the old
  • Ten things about Pentecost (Acts 2)
  • The cross-cultural nature of the early Jesus movement
  • On earth, as in heaven: the key to The Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11)
  • “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12)
  • On incense and injustice, of assemblies and abominations
  • Coming to grips with the judgement of God (Luke 12 and Isaiah 5)
  • Disreputable outsiders invited inside: parables in Luke 14
  • Disturbing discipleship: exploring the teachings of Jesus in Luke 14
  • In defence of the Pharisees: on humility and righteousness (Luke 18)
  • Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? (Luke 17)
  • Unjust judge, shameless widow (Luke 18)
  • Zacchæus: patron saint of change and transition (Luke 19)
  • Ministry and Mission in the midst of change and transition (Luke 21:13)
  • Look up to the sky? Look down to your feet! (Luke 20)
  • From Learners to Leaders: deepening discipleship in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • What God did through him: Peter’s testimony to Jesus (Acts 2)
  • What God did through him: proclaiming faith in the public square (Acts 2)
  • Repent and be baptised: Peter’s Pentecost proclamation (Acts 2)
  • The calling of Saul and the turn to the Gentiles: modelling the missional imperative (Acts 8—12)
  • Resurrection life, economic responsibility, and inclusive hospitality: markers of the Gospel (Acts 9)
  • On literary devices and narrative development (Acts 16)
  • Leaving Luke . . . Meeting Matthew

The Book of Origins

  • Leaving Luke . . . Meeting Matthew
  • For our instruction … that we might have hope (Rom 15, Isa 11, Matt 3)
  • The origins of Jesus in the book of origins: Matthew 1
  • Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way (Matthew 1)
  • Descended from David according to the flesh (Rom 1)
  • A young woman? A virgin? Pregnant? About to give birth? (Isa 7:14 in Matt 1:23)
  • Herod waiting, Herod watching, Herod grasping, holding power (Matt 2)
  • Herod was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children (Matt 2)
  • Repentance for the kingdom (Matt 4)
  • Blessed are you: the Beatitudes of Matthew 5
  • An excess of righteous-justice (Matt 5)
  • You have heard it said … but I say to you … (Matt 5)
  • The missing parts of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6 and 7)
  • Towards Palm Sunday (Matt 21): Passover and politics
  • Towards Palm Sunday (Matt 21): Riding on a donkey (or two) as the crowd shouts ‘Hosanna’
  • Towards Palm Sunday (Matt 21): Waving branches, spreading cloaks
  • Towards Palm Sunday (Matt 21): Acclaiming the king, anticipating the kingdom
  • “Go nowhere among the Gentiles” (Matt 10:5). The mission of Jesus in the book of origins.
  • “Even the hairs of your head are all counted.” (Matt 10:30)
  • Come to me, take my yoke, I will give you rest (Matt 11)
  • Parables: the craft of storytelling in the book of origins (Matt 13)
  • The righteous-justice of God, a gift to all humanity (Romans)
  • Let anyone with ears, hear! (Matt 13)
  • Chopping and changing: what the lectionary does to the parables of Matthew
  • A rock, some keys, and a binding: clues to the identity of Jesus (Matt 16)
  • An invitation that you just cannot … accept!
  • Producing the fruits of the kingdom (Matt 21)
  • Darkness, weeping, and gnashing of teeth: the scene of judgement (Matt 22)
  • The greatest and first commandment … and a second, like it (Matt 22)
  • On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matt 22)
  • Sitting on the seat of Moses, teaching the Law—but “they do not practice what they teach” (Matt 23)
  • Discipleship in an apocalyptic framework (Matt 23–25)
  • A final parable from the book of origins: on sheep and goats, on judgement and righteous-justice (Matt 25)

The Book of Signs

  • John (the baptizer) and Jesus (the anointed) in the book of signs (the Gospel of John)
  • Living our faith in the realities of our own times … hearing the message of “the book of signs”
  • The Pharisee of Jerusalem and the woman of Samaria (John 3 and 4)
  • From the woman at the well to a Byazantine saint: John 4, St Photini, and the path to enlightenment
  • In the most unlikely company: confessing faith in Jesus (John 9)
  • In the most unlikely way … touching the untouchable (John 9)
  • Yes, Lord, I believe—even in the midst of all of this! (John 11)
  • Holding out for hope in the midst of turmoil (John 11)
  • “I am the way” (John 14): from elitist exclusivism to gracious friendship?
  • The Paraclete in John’s Gospel: exploring the array of translation options (John 14, 15, 16)
  • In defence of Thomas: a doubting sceptic? or a passionate firebrand?

The Basis of Union

  • What I really like about the Basis of Union
  • What is missing from the Basis of Union?
  • Alongside the Basis of Union, there was the Statement to the Nation
  • Fresh words and deeds
  • The Word of God, Scripture, and Jesus Christ
  • The sovereignty of the First Peoples of Australia
  • Affirming the Sovereignty of First Peoples: undoing the Doctrine of Discovery
  • On Covenant, Reconciliation, and Sovereignty

Marriage and the Uniting Church

  • Marrying same-gender people: a biblical rationale
  • A diversity of religious beliefs and ethical understandings
  • Marriage and the matter of being vital to the life of the church
  • Seven Affirmations
  • Recognising Pain, Working for Reconciliation
  • The “additional marriage liturgy” for Uniting Churches
  • An Explainer, in nine easy steps
  • Marriage of same gender people: a gift to the whole Church
  • Let your gentleness be known to everyone
  • The Uniting Church is not a political democracy
  • So, what just happened? (An Explainer, Updated)
  • A Prayer for the Uniting Church in Australia
  • “When you suffer, the whole body of Christ suffers”
  • Affirmations we can make together
  • Once again: affirming our diversity, celebrating joyous marriages

Archives

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  • The Word of God, Scripture, and Jesus Christ
  • Marrying same-gender people: a biblical rationale
  • Discernment
  • Interpreting the creeds “in a later age”
  • Affirming the Teachings of Jesus
  • To articulate faith contextually
  • Let your gentleness be known to everyone
  • What can we know about the birth of Jesus?
  • “An orderly account”: a quick guide to Luke and Acts
  • Costly discipleship, according to Luke
  • In the wake of the verdict about Pell …
  • Another Time, Another Place: towards an Australian Church
  • Holy Week: the week leading up to Easter
  • Sacrificial death and liberating life: at the heart of Easter
  • The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Easter in Christian tradition and its relation to Jewish tradition
  • The cross-cultural nature of the early Jesus movement
  • Jesus and his followers at table in Luke’s “orderly account”
  • Once again: affirming our diversity, celebrating joyous marriages
  • Ten things about Pentecost (Acts 2)
  • The Paraclete in John’s Gospel: exploring the array of translation options (John 14, 15, 16)
  • “Do you believe in the Triune God?”
  • The DNA of the UCA (part I)
  • The DNA of the UCA (part II)
  • Harness the passion, but restrain the rhetoric. Musing on the role model which Paul offers in Galatians.
  • Providing for the exercise by men and women of the gifts God bestows upon them: lay people presiding at the sacraments in the Uniting Church
  • Freedom and unity: themes in Galatians
  • Australian Religious Leaders support renewable energy
  • Human sexuality and the Bible
  • Dividing the unity, splintering the connections: more ACC agitation
  • Giving Voice, Telling Truth, Talking Treaty: NAIDOC 2019
  • Advocacy and Climate Change, Growth and Formation, Treaty with First Peoples: Synod 2019
  • Climate Change: a central concern in contemporary ministry
  • On earth, as in heaven: the key to The Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part I)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part II)
  • Ramping up the rhetoric, generating guilt and provoking panic: the failed strategy of conservatives in the UCA (part III)
  • International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
  • In the wake of the verdict (and appeal decision) relating to Pell …
  • Where will we find hope? When will we see justice?
  • Supporting the Climate Strike
  • Gracious openness and active discipleship as key characteristics of church membership
  • Please Leave ?? No — Please Stay !!
  • Stones singing and rivers vibrating … a liturgy for Holy Communion
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part One)
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part Two)
  • Faith in Action: a religious response to the Climate Emergency (Part Three)
  • Celebrating Transitions: into a strange and graceful ease … (part one)
  • Celebrating Transitions: into a strange and graceful ease … (part two)
  • We wait, and hope, and grieve, anticipating …
  • On the move. A reflection on Christmas.
  • Reflecting on faith amidst the firestorms
  • This is the world we live in, this is the Gospel we believe in
  • Giving up? Or going deep? The opportunity of Lent
  • Passing the peace, sharing the elements, greeting the minister
  • When you come together … reflections on community in the midst of a pandemic
  • Holy Week: a week set apart, in a time set apart.
  • It was on that night that everything came to a head. Maundy Thursday Reflections.
  • Sacrificial Death: to give his life. Good Friday Reflections
  • Liminal Space: waiting and not knowing. Holy Saturday Reflections
  • Liberating Life: a new way of being. Easter Sunday Reflections
  • It’s been just over a month—but there have been lots of learnings!
  • Not this year. So what about next year?
  • The times, they are are a-changin’.
  • When we come together (2) … values and principles in the midst of a pandemic
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (1)
  • It’s been two months under restrictions—what will our future look like? (2)
  • Saying sorry, seeking justice, walking together, working for reconciliation
  • Worship like the first Christians. What will our future look like? (3)
  • Pentecost: the spirit is for anyone, for everyone.
  • Racism and Reconciliation
  • Paul’s vision of “One in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) and the Uniting Church
  • In memory of James Dunn (1939–2020)
  • Black Lives Matter. Now—and Then.
  • Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), and the commitment to seek peace (2020)
  • Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices Bill: A Christian Perspective
  • Always Was, Always Will Be. #NAIDOC2020
  • The Lectionary: ordering the liberty of the preacher
  • Women in the New Testament (1): the positive practices of Jesus and the early church
  • Women in the New Testament (2): six problem passages
  • Reflections on a significant anniversary
  • What do we know about who wrote the New Testament Gospels? (1)
  • What do we know about who wrote the New Testament Gospels? (2)
  • What do we know about who wrote the letters attributed to Paul? (3)
  • What do we know about who wrote the letters in the name of the apostles? (4)
  • Revelation: a complex and intricate world of heavenly beings and exotic creatures
  • Why the Christmas story is not history (1)
  • Why “the Christmas story” is not history (2): Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2
  • Advent Greetings from Canberra Region Presbytery
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