The way of imagination

  “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” (Luke 17.20-21)      Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.   Jesus’ teaching has a harsh, prophetic tone; indeed, the notion of repentance is emphasized.   The motif of repentance fits within the overall theme of Jesus’ teaching – namely, the kingdom of God.   Israel’s hope was that Yahweh would reign over his people, perhaps through a Messiah and, through this “anointed king”, rule all the nations of the world (cf. Ps. 2).   There would be one God, one world, one kingdom (needless to say, whichever empire happened to be oppressing the people of God when Yahweh decided to establish his kingdom would be dealt with…).   Every sect within Ju...

  “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” (Luke 10.2-3)      Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.   Jesus has been identified as the Messiah, God’s anointed king (Lk. 9.20).   The (true) king of Israel now conducts a “royal tour”, seemingly intent on visiting every village between Capernaum and the capital.   Jesus, who is doomed to die in Jerusalem, is concerned to “gather in the harvest”, i.e. to prepare the people of God against the day of judgment which looms on the horizon (cf. Lk. 10.12-14).   Jesus is on a prophetic mission, which resembles that of Elijah (cp. Lk. 9.61-62 with 1 Kings 19.19-21).   Once again, he enrolls his followers – 72 this time – to participate in his work of healing and proclaiming the kingdom.   The role of t...

  “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9.51)      Destination: Jerusalem.   Once more, it’s time to take to the road.   Today is Ash Wednesday, which signals the start of the 40-day season of Lent which will prepare us to celebrate Easter.   In chapter 9 of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus embarks on a journey which will culminate in his arrival, in chapter 19, in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.   This section of Luke is called the “travel narrative”.   What gives this narrative its potency is the fact that we know Jesus is travelling towards the national capital with a dark purpose – his face “is set”.   Indeed, a few verses earlier, Jesus tried to prepare the apostles for the fate that awaits him (cf. Lk. 9.44-45).   Moving backward again, we find Jesus on a mountain-top, conversing with two prophetic figures from ancient times – Moses and Elijah (Lk. 9.28-36).   As if that’s not...

·         Text : Gospel of Luke, chapter 9      Destination: Jerusalem.   Once more, it’s time to take to the road.   Lent begins this coming Wednesday – Ash Wednesday – the day which signals the start of a 40-day season which will prepare us to celebrate Easter… in Jerusalem , as it were.   If we’re going to celebrate in Jerusalem, we have to get there.   We must embark on a kind of pilgrimage, a thoughtful journey during which we will open ourselves once again to the power of the Holy Spirit to transform – transfigure? – us into the image of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 3.18).   Let us join Jesus as he sets out to walk to the capital of his nation to celebrate the Passover festival, yes – but also to be the Passover lamb (cf. 1 Cor. 5.7).   Indeed, Jesus has several reasons to go to Jerusalem, and none of them are pleasant.   Today, we are going to begin to explore the “dark side” of Jesus’ ministry – t...

  ·         Text : Philippians 3.2-11       Think, for a moment, of your most successful, conventional, respectable, upstanding, “normal” friend.   You know, the predictable, dependable one – the one with a steady job (or perhaps retired after an honourable career), the one who gives you a sense that all is well in the world.   Now, imagine the phone ringing this afternoon, picking up the receiver (if you’ve got a land line) and hearing your friend’s voice say – “I’m in jail. Can you please come and post my bail?”   Several things might go through your mind at that moment – is this a joke? …a prank in poor taste?   Then again, that kind of chicanery would be completely out of character for my serious, respectable friend.   What could they possibly have done? …has there been a mistake?   Should I just hang up, forget my friend’s existence, and carry on with my quiet, pleasantly boring life?  ...

Listen to the sermon here: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/cedarparkunited/episodes/Letter-from-an-Ephesian-Jail--Sam-Farrugia--January-4--2026-e3dfih6/a-acdi12g       Other people’s mail.   I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy reading other people’s mail.   Just to be clear, I mean to say that I enjoy reading letters that some people (or, more often, their literary executors ) have chosen to publish for public consumption.   Whether it be the correspondence of Henri Nouwen, J.R.R. Tolkien or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I always find it enriching to read these personal dispatches, which were most probably not composed with their eventual publication in mind.   All this to say that a good part of the New Testament is made up of just this type of communication.   Paul’s letter to Philippi is a brief, personal piece of writing, composed in a buoyant and affectionate spirit and addressed to people whom Paul knew well and whom he obviously...