Articles
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
The Star
Around 1600 Johannes Kepler worked out the mathematical mystery of the orbit of the planets. He thought they rotated around the sun in perfect circles, but his observations led him to the view that they traveled in elliptical orbits. Once he had discovered this he then worked out the mathematical equations that could describe the path of the planets at any time and from any viewpoint on earth.
Kepler was a believer and he started to calculate what planets could have been seen from Mesopotamia at the time of Jesus’ birth. He was hindered because he did not know the exact year of Jesus’ birth. And his calculations took a long time.
Nowadays with computer programs it is fairly easy to have a picture of the night sky for any night of the year in any place. And back in about 6 or 7 BC it seems that there were conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn (three times some say) and Mars joined in too. So astronomers (or astrologers as they probably were) would have sat up and taken notice. Their own theories about these planets may have led them to believe the conjunction indicated an important ruler was to be born. But they may also have heard prophecies from the Jewish community which indicated that they were expecting a ruler that their prophecies referred to as a star (Num 24.17).
So was God giving the Magi a secret message?
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Christmas and death
Christmas and death; Christmas and violence; Christmas and war. The December headlines always seem to remind us of the chronic corruption of humanity. There seems to be no end to the evil and suffering which people inflict on each other. Even the people and nations that consider themselves good are seen to act more out of self-interest than natural goodness. All this is in contrast to the advertisements, the piped music in shops and the general sentiment that surrounds Christmas.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the two had nothing to do with one another at all. And as far as the general sentimentality of Christmas is concerned this is nearly true. The connection between them is that the sentimentality can be seen as a form of denial, a refusal to take seriously, or perhaps to escape for a while from the terrible state that the human race is in.
But denial does not improve things. It should be obvious by now that humans have only limited power to improve things. The best ordered and most civilized societies are still full of corruption and evil. And death itself continues to haunt the human race.
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Shall we see the like again?
This week has seen amazing scenes of tribute, thanksgiving and grief for Nelson Mandela. Many of us can look back to the time when we first saw him emerge as a leader in his country. Some of us saw this earlier than others. Those who have lived in South Africa were no doubt aware of his emergence up close.
For all of us I suppose there was a process of changing our mind. Or becoming more aware of what the issues were. For some it was not so much a matter of understanding the issues but of seeing where a solution might lie. Or of changing our minds about the kind of solution that would be best.
Many have rightly paid tribute to the courage and persistence of Mr Mandela. Some have asked whether we shall see his like again. Let us hope we will. (It would be good to hope that we wouldn’t need to, but we do.) We have seen his like before. Not often, but from time to time a person has been used to make a huge change in a nation. Gandhi is a great example. And Aung San Suu Kyi is still on the way.
We pray that Syria, Egypt, and other nations might also have the benefit of a great and uniting leader to restore their life.
Where do these leaders come from?
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Are we there yet?
Advent Sunday can be the start of a confusing time. We know it has something to do with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But with at least two comings to deal with, it is easy to get disoriented.
And that is without taking into account a couple of other comings that are mentioned in the Bible.
Most of us don’t have that frustrated urgency of the children in the back seat of the car wondering whether they have reached their holiday destination before they have even got onto the main highway. Many of us have settled into the frame of mind of the endless serial that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
A sort of Home and Away religion. So is Jesus returning? After so long?
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Christ the King?
When Jesus sends out his disciples on one of their practice runs, he gives thanks for what has happened on their mission. He prays to his Father, Lord of heaven and earth (Luke 10.21). After his resurrection, when he again sends out his disciples - this time for the real mission - he tells them that he has been given all authority in heaven and earth (Matt 28.18).
What will he do with that authority? He calls the nations to believe and obey him. He tells his disciples to go to the nations and make them disciples too. Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you, he says.
Paul became a disciple a bit later. He too was sent to the nations. He understood that his task was to proclaim God’s great message. A message that concerned his Son, Jesus Christ the Lord (Rom 1.1). He was sent to bring about the obedience that results when people believe that Jesus is the Lord.
Paul thought that this was an important idea. He begins and ends his letter to the Christians at Rome with the same phrase, “the obedience of faith”.
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
A resurrection people
“A resurrection people” was one of the phrases we heard last week from the Archbishop. The text he gave the young people being confirmed was Luke 20.38, “He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
This week we have a similar idea, one which many of us can recall from the Prayer Book funeral service. “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Rom 14.8). It reminds me of the text given at my Confirmation from Philippians 1.21 “For to me, to live is Christ …”.
I think they left out the next part of the verse when I was confirmed “… and to die is gain.” Perhaps dying was not thought a great motivator for a bunch of 14 year olds.
But dying has different meanings.
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Freely
Next week we will launch our Annual Anglicare Appeal. In past years we have asked people to contribute food and various kinds of Christmas fare and presents. This year Anglicare has decided not to provide Christmas hampers. Instead they will provide needy people with finance so that they can buy what will be most suitable for their family.
So next week we will hand out special envelopes which we ask you to return by December 1. The envelopes are especially designed for paper money.
At this time of year there are many appeals for help. Or perhaps another way of describing it is that many organisations are providing us with opportunities to share our wealth with others at Christmas. The Bible Society, TEAR Fund, Barnabas Fund, CMS, ABM, various Anglican Overseas Relief funds will all help us share.
But is this a good idea?