Why the conflict between St Cyril of Alexandria and Hypatia has far-reaching consequences.
Monday, February 09, 2026
Sunday, February 08, 2026
Sowing a tale of two Kingdoms?
Sermon for Sexagesima Sunday
What is the Kingdom of God like?
We know that
when Jesus utters these words,
He is telling us something
about the way
God rules His Kingdom.
As we hear
His parable of the sower,
are we being told
something
of the Kingdom of God?
[PAUSE]
It seems that the answer is, "no."
First, we see Jesus
addressing the crowd,
and He begins straightaway,
"A sower went out
to sow His seed..."
He does not begin
with "The Kingdom of God is like..."
Is the parable of the sower
about the Kingdom of God?
If not, then what is Jesus
telling us?
[PAUSE]
It's after talking to the crowds
that the disciples ask about
this parable,
and Jesus tells them
that this is about
the Kingdom of God.
He tells them
that it is for them
to know the mysteries
of the Kingdom of God,
but for the others
they may only know the parable.
Why is that?
Listen to the parable of the sower.
A sower sows seed.
Some goes by the wayside
and gets trodden on and eaten by birds.
Some goes on rock
and withers away through lack of soil.
Some goes into the thorn bush
where it is choked up.
Some goes into good soil
where it thrives.
What is this telling us about
the Kingdom of God?
What is this telling us about
the way that God rules
His kingdom?
[PAUSE]
Turn the focus
on the sower.
He sows seed.
He sows it everywhere.
Everywhere He can,
He casts seed
giving it every opportunity
to grow.
Jesus tells us
that this seed
is the Word of God.
It's Him.
Jesus is being sown
- sown everwhere.
Everyone has the opportunity
to receive the Word of God,
but many receive Him
on their terms
and not God's.
Some just let the Gospel
get trodden underfoot
and taken away by the Devil.
They hear the Word of God
and say, "who cares?"
Some receive the Gospel,
but don't pay it any real attention.
They say of Jesus, "oh He's nice!"
and then give Him not a further
sensible thought.
Some receive the Gospel
and try to turn it
into a thing of the word,
tangling it up
with politics, ideologies,
capital, finance,
social justice
and liberation.
They choke the meaning
of the Word of God.
They have their salvation,
and then they lose it.
All of these hear the Gospel
preached in a parable
because they have
only their agendas
and reject the Kingdom of God.
Something else rules them.
But notice
how they still hear
the Gospel preached
because the Heavenly Sower
still wants them
to hear the Word of God.
The seed is there for them
to receive,
and it is upto them
to let it grow.
[PAUSE]
We are given this opportunity
to receive the Kingdom of God.
If we are given a parable,
do we want to know what it means?
If we do,
if it niggles us,
if it confuses us,
if it makes us want
to come to Jesus and say,
"Please Lord, explain it to us!"
then it has done its job.
It has done its job
because it has given us
the opportunity to become
a member of the Kingdom of God,
by bringing us
to the King Himself.
If we accept His rule
and allow His love
to grow within our lives
then we will bear fruit
and enter into His courts
bringing our sheaves with us
rejoicing.
This is the seed
that is sown in us
and we are here
in church
to let it grow.
God's generosity
means we get to
hear His Word,
but does it matter enough
to us
to want to
understand it
- really understand it?
Monday, February 02, 2026
Sunday, February 01, 2026
Liking the Kingdom of Heaven
Sermon for Septuagesima
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like..."
Our Lord says these words
several times,
but He usually goes on
to compare the Kingdom of Heaven
to something that doesn't
seem to make sense.
The Kingdom.of Heaven
is like workers working in a vineyard.
But it's also like a grain of mustard seed.
It's like leaven in bread dough,
treasure in a field,
a merchant man seeking goodly pearls,
a net cast into the sea,
a householder with treasures old and new,
and a marriage for the King's son.
Eight times Our Lord
tells us what
the Kingdom of God
is like
and all only in
St Matthew's Gospel.
We hear Our Lord
describe a situation
in a parable
nut leaves us looking
for where the Kingdom of Heaven
actually is.
Look at this parable
of the vineyard,
we see the labourers
some come at the beginning
of the day
agree a fair price
and start work.
We see some labourers
coming in the middle of the day
even at the eleventh hour
and getting the same wages.
This is what
the Kingdom of God is like,
but it's a struggle to see
where it is.
[PAUSE]
We can see the King,
that's clearly the owner
of the vineyard.
But who are his subjects?
The labourers?
Does that mean
that the Kingdom.of Heaven
contains people
who are invited in
to do some work
for wages?
Does that mean
that the Kingdom of Heaven
contains people
who complain about
how much they are being paid?
That doesn't ring true
with the idea of
the Kingdom of Heaven
being a place of everlasting joy.
In this parable,
we see the king
but where are his subjects?
[PAUSE]
Perhaps we're looking
at the wrong thing.
We have an idea
of there being eternal joy
and bliss
in the Kingdom of Heaven,
but perhaps
in these eight parables,
these eight ways of saying
what the Kingdom of God is like
we aren't actually looking at it
like a place on a map.
We aren't looking about
who is the king
and where is his castle
and what the Lord Chamberlain
had for breakfast.
Perhaps these parables
are more about
how Our Lord
governs His Kingdom.
[PAUSE]
This makes sense
for this parable of the vineyard.
The focus is not
on the labourers
it's on the fact that
the Owner gives
the same fair wage
to those who came late.
It's about his fairness
(no one gets diddled)
and his generosity
(he can use his money how he likes).
This is what we can expect
the Kingdom of Heaven
to be like.
The generosity of God
is so great
that it is scandalous
to those
who have a worldly way
of thinking.
The invitation for us
to enter Kingdom is there
and our work for that Kingdom
will not go unrewarded.
It is interesting to note
that only those
who complain about their wage
get told to go their way.
In refusing to see generosity
and accepting that
this is the way things are,
they find themselves
out if the vineyard
with their wage
but none of the appreciation
of the Owner's willingness
to give good things.
[PAUSE]
God shows us
how He rules His kingdom.
He shows us the terms
that we can expect
and the price of entry,
but also how warm it is,
how full of love and joy.
We accept it
on His terms,
not ours.
He is King
after all,
and Who is like Him?
Monday, January 26, 2026
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Conversion Contradicted
Sermon for the feast of the Conversion of St Paul
There are those
who read the bible
looking for any excuse
to find contradictions.
The story of St Paul's conversion
is mentioned three times
in the book of Acts
but they are not all the same.
The conversion is related
by St Luke as part of the narrative
in chapter 9
and then twice more
in chapters 22 and 26
as St Paul tells the story to others.
People tend to focus on
the fact that these accounts differ.
There is some inconsistency
about whether everyone ses the light
or hears the voice,
or whether everyone falls down.
If you read these accounts
for yourselves,
you might come away
not really knowing
how those travelling with St Paul
bear witness to what happened.
But does something happen,
or is it all in St Paul's head
- a result of a seizure,
or a stroke,
or an hallucination?
[PAUSE]
First,
we can be sure that
something is happening.
Before Damascus,
Saul is breathing out
fire and threatenings
against Christians.
In Damascus,
Saul becomes Paul
and seeks to serve
the One whom he persecutes.
In many ways,
the evidence of St Paul's ministry
speaks for itself.
You know his letters.
They are reasoned,
passionate,
compassionate,
intelligent,
spiritual
and full of the praise of God.
That's evidence enough
that something is happening
on the Road to Damascus.
Second,
those around St Paul,
are affected.
St Paul himself may not be
fully aware of what others are seeing
but then, he is rather more concerned
with the Voice calling him out
for persecuting the King of Heaven.
In the confusion,
some of the others may see the light
some may hear the voice,
some may understand the voice,
some may have fallen down.
It depends who you ask!
And in the confusion
not all may experience
exactly the same thing.
What matters
is that the event is about
one man's conversion,
one man's redemptiom
and one man's shame being turned
to his praise.
This is his experience
and that experience
can be supported
by those who were there
and by those who owe
their coming to faith
by the persecutor
turned apostle.
[PAUSE]
And the conversion
still has an affect on us,
twenty centuries later.
We have to reconcile
the persecutor with the apostle.
We have to reconcile the man
rejoicing in the death
of St Stephen
with the man rejoicing
in the strength of the Church
as the executioner
ends his life.
They are the same man.
And it shows why
we must love those
who persecute us.
We can't hate Saul,
because then we hate Paul.
How can we hate Paul
even when he is Saul?
To see him
before his conversion
is to see ourselves
before ours.
We have to start
somewhere.
The Christians that Saul kills
are those Christians
who welcome him into heaven
with cries of joy
and warmth and love.
That's how we need to be:
loving our enemies,
accepting persecution with joy!
This attitude makes us
contradictions in this world
but perfect sense in heaven.
This attitude
helps Sauls become Pauls
and allows Heaven to ring with joy
over each repentant sinner.
And if Sauls become Pauls
then the Christian faith
is enriched upon the earth
allowing
for more conversions
from contradictions.
Monday, January 19, 2026
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