The Narrow Path

  Monday, 1 December, 2025 Psalm 74 Isaiah 40:1-17 1 Thessalonians 1 Observance: Andrew, apostle and martyr [ Transferred from November 30 ] Not In Word Only (1 Thessalonians 1:5a) ...because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. What kind of men must they have been? What is St Paul talking about, when he says that he came not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction? There is a type of religion that is all head. We know the doctrines; we know the meaning behind the phrases of the ancient creeds. But if it has not penetrated into the heart; if it does not have what St Paul describes as “full conviction”, then it is nothing. Too much mysticism is much the same thing. If we are all about feelings, emotions, spiritual experiences, and wanderings of the imagination, then there is...

    Saturday, 29 November, 2025 Psalm 69:1-16 2 Kings 25:21-30 Mark 3:20-35 Out Of His Mind (Mark 3:21) And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” There is a lot of rivalry between Christian denominations that can be safely ignored. Things like who puts on the best spread at functions (Anglicans, obviously), or who has the richest musical tradition (again, Anglicans). But there is one that does cause me to shuffle uncomfortably in my seat – the accusation of religious stuffiness. We don’t seem to have much time for religious enthusiasm. There is the benefit that we have this cultural safety-guard in place; we do want to marry zeal to wisdom, after all. But in today’s second lesson, Jesus has obviously gotten a little too enthusiastic. His family tries to drag him home, claiming he is “out of his mind”. When it comes to religious zeal of our own, what are we worried about? ...

  Friday, 28 November, 2025 Psalm 71 2 Kings 25:8-21 Mark 3:7-19 Observance: Ember Day He Gave The Name (Mark 3:16-17) He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder) Nicknames can be fickle things. Usually they are fairly dull and harmless; perhaps a reduction of syllables, and maybe a “zz” or “za” stuck on the end, depending on your gender. Two places, completely opposite in every other respect, provide the best nicknames: English grammar schools and Australian construction sites. Nicknames from those places tend to be both creative and humorous. On top of this, they are usually pretty accurate, too. St Mark gives us a list of Jesus’ apostles, and adds in a couple of nicknames. St Peter gets a pun for “rock”, while Saints James and John are “sons of thunder”. We can immediately form an image of what type...

  Thursday, 27 November, 2025 Psalm 68:1-20 2 Kings 24:10-25:7 Mark 2:18-3:6 Observance: Ember Day They Were Silent (Mark 3:4-5) And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. It feels so good to be right! But something I have noticed about that feeling is that it only works if there is someone else who is wrong – that is, to feel good about being right, it requires someone else to “lose”. Internet arguments are notorious for this sort of thing. Debaters seem less concerned with presenting a convincing argument as they are about “winning”. And if there are winners, there are also losers. Jesus found himself in the midst of a group of people like this. They were arguing about some irrelevan...

  Wednesday, 26 November, 2025 Psalms 65; 70 2 Kings 23:31-24:9 Mark 2:1-17 Observance: Ember Day In Need Of A Physician (Mark 2:17)   And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” A wounded conscience is a terrible thing. I think all of us have some memories would rather forget – indeed, some memories that make us physically recoil. Just like a medical malady, we can either try to ignore it, or actually do something about it. And just as someone who refuses medical treatment is in a sorry state, so too the one who refuses spiritual healing for the conscience from their heavenly Physician. So if we want the cure offered by Christ, what is the medication? How do we take it? Well, Christ’s words today come off the back of his forgiveness of sins. Our sins caused the disease in our conscience; he extracts those sins...

  Tuesday, 25 November, 2025 Psalms 62; 63 2 Kings 23:16-30 Mark 1:40-45 Observances: Ember Day; James Noble, pioneer Aboriginal deacon (d. 1941) If You Will (Mark 1:40) And a leper came to [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Here in our second lesson we read the first of many instances of what some call the “Messianic Secret”. Jesus, upon healing the leper, sternly tells him not to tell anyone. What a conundrum for theologians with too much spare time on their hands to think about! Context (as always) helps us here. Instead of going around and making a big deal of it, Jesus wanted rather this man follow religious protocol: to show himself to the priest, be approved as cleansed, and worship God in an unrestricted way. This seems more like what Jesus wants: for every human being to approach God in free and full confidence. Just as John the Baptist pointed to Christ, Christ points us to t...