Tag: enemy

Matthew | So you’re God’s child. Now what?

Being God’s children is never in question. It’s what we do next that counts. (Listen.)

‘Since you’re the son of God,’ says the devilish examiner in Matthew’s story, ‘turn these stones to bread.’ Use your power for your own ends. Whip up a miracle, and feed yourself. ‘Since you’re the son of God,’ says the examiner, ‘jump off The Pinnacle.’ Create a spectacle, sell tickets, hold a circus. Let everyone see God’s angels save you: it’ll be great advertising for your little movement. And anyway, it’s all in scripture. According to Psalm 91, ‘The angels will catch you and raise you up — you won’t even stub your toe!’ (vv. 11-12). Continue reading “Matthew | So you’re God’s child. Now what?” →

Matthew | Kill ’em with kindness

Be like God and kill ‘em with kindness, no matter what the bastards dish up. (Listen.)

‘Love your enemies,’ says Jesus. ‘Pray for those who persecute you. And when somebody slaps you around, let them do it again.’ Really?? Is this what Jesus is actually saying? Are we supposed to be nothing but doormats? You can probably guess my answer, but to understand my firm ‘No!’, let’s go back to the social context of Jesus’ sermon. Continue reading “Matthew | Kill ’em with kindness” →

Luke | The Good Samaritan: A guided meditation

Using sacred imagination to inhabit multiple viewpoints, and to experience healing at the hands of an enemy. (Listen.)

Today, we are going to use our sacred imaginations in a guided meditation. To make the most of this, set aside some time, and allow plenty of space between the questions to wonder and to notice what emerges in you. When you are ready, relax your body; uncross your legs; uncomplicate your heart. Ask God to help you surrender to whatever it is that God wants to do in you or say to you today. Breathe slowly and deeply in, then out. When you are ready, with sacred breath, push open the door. Continue reading “Luke | The Good Samaritan: A guided meditation” →

Luke | Christ, our mother hen

The power of Christ is seen in a mother hen: warm, vulnerable, disarming. (Listen.)

Where is God? We see Russian troops invading Ukraine and desperate people trapped; we hear of Rohingya Muslims being persecuted and Burmese protestors mown down in the streets; we watch Israeli settlers seizing more and more Palestinian land by force; we read of military atrocities and police brutality and institutional violence; we know the reality of domestic abuse; and through it all we wonder: Where is God? Why isn’t God protecting the innocent? When will God punish the violent and keep vulnerable people safe? Continue reading “Luke | Christ, our mother hen” →

6 | I wouldn’t pull the trigger #Lent2022

Jesus says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27-28)

When I was younger, I remember waking up early with dad to play one of my favourite games at the time, Battlefront 2 on the X-Box. For context, Battlefront 2 is a shooter game set in the Star Wars universe, and my family are diehard Star Wars fans. But that isn’t the point, the point is when I was playing the game I stumbled across an interesting situation. I had crouched down in a bush with a teammate, and suddenly a storm trooper (the bad guys) had found our hiding spot. He crouched down and shot my teammate, and then aimed at me. Continue reading “6 | I wouldn’t pull the trigger #Lent2022” →

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Luke | If you are God’s child …

Jesus’ resistance to the devil is grounded in knowing himself beloved. (Listen.)

*If.* It’s a very small word with a very big weight, and I hear it all the time. If only I prayed hard enough … If I were a good enough Christian … If I read my Bible more … If I just tried harder … If I really trusted God … How many times have I heard some iteration of this, sometimes from the people I listen to, sometimes within my own head? Continue reading “Luke | If you are God’s child …” →

Luke | Enemy-love, community, and the healing of the world

Alone, few of us can love an enemy, perpetrator or abuser; in community, we can do it. (Listen.)

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also … Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” These words of Jesus are all very well if you are a six-foot male and built like a truck, or a burly fisherman, perhaps, with eleven brothers behind you. But too often these words are spoken to victims of violence in ways which cause terrible harm. Continue reading “Luke | Enemy-love, community, and the healing of the world” →

25: Do good #Lent2021

Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.’ (Luke 6:27-31)

There’s a story that I absolutely love about Thurman, that he tells about his grandmother — that his grandmother owned some land, and there was a white woman who was adjacent to the land and did not like the fact that this Black woman owned land. And so she decided he was gonna get back at Thurman’s grandmother and went to her chicken coop and got all the manure and dumped it on her land and upon her tomatoes and her greens and everything she was growing, to destroy it. But his grandmother, when she realized there was all this manure [that] just had destroyed everything, she would get up in the morning and take the manure and just mix it in with the soil as fertilizer. And so the woman would dump at night, and Thurman’s grandmother would get up in the morning and turn it over and mix it.

Continue reading “25: Do good #Lent2021” →

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John | Holy Spirit: Defence lawyer, healer, friend

A testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit in my own life, and a promise to all who have been judged and found wanting. (Listen.)

I grew up in a hypercritical atmosphere. I know my mother loved me deeply; nevertheless, I was told every day that nothing I did was good enough. I’d wipe the kitchen bench, and be screamed at for holding the sponge carelessly or for knocking a few crumbs on the floor. I’d sweep, and she’d shout that I was doing it all wrong; when I changed how I held the broom, things only got worse. Once, I dropped a drinking glass; amid sobs and shrieks I was accused of destroying something precious and irreplaceable. Of course, I became a timid, anxious, furtive kind of child; and a cripplingly self-conscious adolescent who was so defensive and so filled with rage that there were times when I could barely breathe. Continue reading “John | Holy Spirit: Defence lawyer, healer, friend” →

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