Urban Vineyard

The french philosopher Blaise Pascal once quipped that "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." He was referring to our penchant for divergence and distraction when faced with the uncomfortable realities of our human fragility and finitude. In this sermon, Jonathan looks at two people in Mark's Gospel who, rather than seeking distraction, brought their hopeless situations before Jesus, told the truth about their lives, and let him meet them in their sorrow. Along the way, they experienced the consolation of God and the miracle of the kingdom. Jesus seeks to meet us as well in that place of truth telling about our lives.

In Mark 2:1-12, Jesus does something perplexing for a paralysed man; in response to the faith of his friends, he forgives the paralytic's sins. We, like the scribes, are baffled by this seemingly unauthorised gift. How can Jesus forgive if he hasn't already gone to the cross? The answer turns out to be that Jesus has always had authority to forgive; it is a gift he loves to offer us. Hear these words, therefore: God forgives you; forgive others, forgive yourself. Amen.

What is grace? And what does it have to do with the kind of kingdom Jesus spoke of? There is perhaps no-where better to go to understand that question than to Jesus' parable of the prodigal son in Luke 16. In this sermon, Makerita brings us back to the heart of the good news of God's grace which we find in the kingdom of God.

The parable of the unrighteous manager is one of the strangest stories Jesus ever told. In this sermon, Jonathan considers whether we might have misunderstood the character of the master in the parable and whether a reappraisal might reveal a fresh view on God. Once again, in this parable Jesus goes right to the heart of our anxieties about the future and reminds us that the only place of safety is in joining his radical work of repudiating mammon and entering the world of generosity that is the coming kingdom of God.

NOTE: The original live recording of this sermon was unfortunately lost so Makerita kindly has re-recorded her presentation for us and we are very grateful!