The Narrow Path

  Saturday, March 1, 2025 Psalms 1; 2 Genesis 34 Luke 8:26-39 Observance: David, bishop of Menevia, Wales (d. 601) Return; Declare; Proclaim! (Luke 8:39) I sometimes wonder if it is a uniquely Australian past-time to discuss American politics. As polite as we are amongst ourselves when discussing our own politicians (apart to say that they are all the same and we might as well go to the beach instead), we seem to have this strange (and quite possibly morbid) fascination with what is happening in that nation. All this to say that we should remind ourselves of the second Psalm, which we read today: “Why do the heathen so furiously rage together: and why do the people imagine a vain thing? He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: the Lord shall have them in derision. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and so ye perish from the right way: if his wrath be kindled, (yea, but a little,) blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” (Psalm ...

  Friday, February 28, 2025 Psalms 143; 146 Genesis 33 Luke 8:19-25 Hear And Do (Luke 8:21) How do you get close to God? One of the great advantages I have found in expressing my faith through Anglicanism is that there is a vast amount of spiritual resources from which I can draw. This means that there is a near-endless cellar of treasures I can dive into whenever I feel my love threatening to flicker. However, what this also means is that there is a lot in those resources that are of no help whatsoever. There is simply so much help available that it was inevitable that some hindrance slipped through as well. And so when we come to today’s gospel passage, these funny-sounding words from Jesus come into focus when we realise he is telling us how we can get close to him. His mother and brothers and sisters wanted to push through the crowd; they, like everyone else, wanted to get close to Jesus. But that isn’t the way to get close to Jesus. The...

  Thursday, February 27, 2025 Psalm 140 Genesis 32:13-32 Luke 8:8-18 Observance: George Herbert, parish priest, poet (d. 1633) Bearing Fruit With Patience (Luke 8:15) I have recently come across a concept which, as it turns out, everyone else knows about already: that of “intrusive thoughts”. It is an unpleasant thing to have to deal with; so I wonder, does the Bible have anything to say about it? Jesus is teaching us the meaning of the parable he told us yesterday. In so doing, he explains why he teaches in parables by quoting Isaiah, specifically chapter six, verses nine and ten. While Isaiah does seem to be one of the favourite books of the New Testament (going by how often it is quoted, especially by Jesus), does this help us understand Isaiah any better (or the bits of the New Testament where it is referenced)? And how might this help us with the problem of intrusive thoughts? While we are not getting a specific answer to our question, ...

  Wednesday, February 26, 2025 Psalms 137; 138 Genesis 31:43-32:12 Luke 8:1-8 My Whole Heart (Psalm 138:1) Something to note about how our readings are set, is that during the week, they simply come one after another. There is no deliberate link between readings; any connection is a happy coincidence (or “God-incidents”). Today’s two Psalms are such an example. Both of them refer to singing. The first, Psalm 137, is about how difficult it is to sing when times get tough. It refers to the Babylonian Exile, when Jerusalem was besieged, assaulted, sacked and pillaged, and the survivors were carried off to Babylon. They were a people cut out of their homeland; not only that, the Babylonians had committed horrific atrocities; so horrific, in fact, that many people will ignore the final three verses of this Psalm because of the great violence of the act they describe. Our second Psalm, immediately following in Psalm 138, is about how David is singing God’s...

  Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Psalm 135 Genesis 31:22-42 Luke 7:36-50 Much to Love (Luke 7:47) A fun game to play with these stories of Jesus is to try and place ourselves within them. Take today’s gospel passage about this feast. Who are you in this incident? Are you the pharisee, taking Jesus at his word that he likes a good meal with friends? Perhaps you are Simon, the disciple with whom Jesus used this incident as teaching opportunity. You might be happy just to be one of the party-goers, watching everything unfold over a big plate of meat and bread. There is a difference, however, between who we would like to be, and who we ought to be. And in this story, the woman is the high ideal for the Christian disciple. Jesus draws a strong link, pretty much a direct line, between forgiveness of sins and love. Specifically, the more Jesus forgives us, the greater our love for him is. The Pharisee (and Simon, and potentially the others in the house) a...

  Monday, February 24, 2025 Psalms 130; 131; 133 Genesis 31:1-21 Luke 7:24-35 Observance: Matthias, Apostle and Martyr The Purpose Of God (Luke 7:30) There is a line in today’s passage that is one of those “hard sayings” of Jesus. It doesn’t seem to line up with where we think he is going, and so the “hard” bit is trying to figure out his train of thought. “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.” So far, so good. “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Common understanding seems to revolve around the idea that this refers to the fact that John was great because he was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and therefore filled with the Holy Spirit. Yet John is least in the kingdom of God because he died before Pentecost, and was never indwelt by the Holy Spirit. While this interpretation does not do violence to scripture, it doesn’t seem to quite line up nicely enough to solve this “hard saying” of J...

  Saturday, February 22, 2025 Psalm 118:1-18 Genesis 30:25-43 Luke 7:11-23 He Had Compassion (Luke 7:13) The fact that Jesus knows how to speak strongly is a well-known fact. He has some very strong words that he speaks, for example, to those who came to try and trap him in his words. Hypocrites, vipers, and whitewashed tombs are some of his most famous. But look at today’s gospel passage, because we see another way in which he spoke strongly. Seeing that which he came to destroy, that is, death, he stopped and had compassion. Surely the devil, rejoicing at the tragedy of a widow losing her only son, must have felt like he had just gotten a swift kick up the pants when he saw that Jesus stopped. But, notice this – it is not yet time for strong words. Jesus, turning to the mourning widow, is filled with compassion. “Do not weep”, he says – empty words when spoken to us by a fellow human, but this is no normal human. He is about to give her a good reason to s...

  Friday, February 21, 2025 Psalms 121; 122; 123 Genesis 29:31-30:24 Luke 7:1-10 Set Under Authority (Luke 7:8) There is an old joke that makes the claim that men cannot go a single day without thinking about ancient Rome at least once. Thus, when reading this passage from St Luke’s gospel about the centurion, my first thought was to the opening scene of the TV series Rome, which gives an excellent example of why the ancient Romans were such an effective fighting force. The centurion (who turns out to be one of the main characters) is surrounded by his men, all lined up in ranks, with shields up and swords at the ready. Their barbarian enemies charge with no sense of discipline, falling on the shield wall like water upon rock. After a short while, the centurion blows his whistle, and with military precision the front rank move in an orderly fashion to the rear, allowing the next rank to move up. All the men doing the fighting are therefore kept fresh and re...

  Thursday, February 20, 2025 Psalms 114; 115 Genesis 29:1-30 Luke 6:39-49 Observance: William Grant Broughton, first bishop of Australia (d. 1853) Blind Leading The Blind (Luke 6:39) Jesus concludes his Sermon by making sure we don’t get a big head. Isn’t he so good at predicting human nature? The first difficulty to overcome in our walk of discipleship is to live up to his teachings. He has set before us the ultimate standard to try and reach. But he hasn’t set it for us in the expectation we will never get there – with diligent prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with believers, we will get ever closer (keeping in mind, of course, that perfect blessed righteousness only comes after the resurrection). Jesus knows this, and so he concludes the teaching with these words on pride and hypocrisy. It would seem that the issue we need to be aware of, and so avoid, is that overcoming sin in our lives can make us proud. And while we should be helping ...

  Wednesday, February 19, 2025 Psalms 110; 111 Genesis 28 Luke 6:27-38 Expecting Nothing In Return (Luke 6:35) There is a social phenomenon you may have noticed, which seems to come about when people get to the age when they have to start thinking about aged care. That is, while people seem (generally) more than happy to help others, they find it much more difficult to receive help. Maybe we all have a little bit of the pagan mindset leftover somewhere in the back of the mind; a sort of karma-style system, where if we are good to the universe, then the universe will be good to us, and if we start taking, then we will run dry. But, as Christians, we don’t believe the universe runs off some impersonal life force, operating on arbitrary principles of right and wrong that seem less like morals and more like a series of cogs and pulleys. We know that, in fact, there is a personal God who made the universe, and has a set of morals that are absolute and unchanging...

  Tuesday, February 18, 2025 Psalm 107:1-22 Genesis 27:30-46 Luke 6:12-26 Leap For Joy (Luke 6:23) Over the next three days we travel through St Luke’s transcription of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. If you have a keen eye, you may notice St Luke calls this not a mountain but “a level place”. However, the pattern of St Luke seems to be that he is actually more accurate than anyone else, and this is no different; there is a plateau on the side of the mountainous region near Capernaum where Jesus preached this sermon. However, in spite of the fact that it is always fun to point out the fallacies of non-Christian biblical scholars, all this is neither here nor there. St Luke’s translation of Jesus’ words into ancient Greek leads him to this nicely balanced double grouping of fours: four types of circumstances, in which a person is either sitting on one side or the other. Depending on which side one sits leads to either a blessing or a woe. And they all cul...

  Monday, February 17, 2025 Psalm 106:1-24 Genesis 26:34-27:29 Luke 6:1-11 Observance: Holy Innocents [ if not observed on December 28 ] Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5) In a time when we hear so much of the importance of mental health, it is good to have a few mental fitness tips and tricks up our sleeve. A good one is to always have something to look forward to – plan a day out, or some time with a good friend, or have a book that you have been looking forward to ready to go on your next day off. In other words, rest is a gift that God has given humanity, and he has given it to us to use for our profit. Today’s showdown between Jesus and the Pharisees revolves around what constitutes a godly use of rest, specifically with regards to the biblical laws surrounding the Sabbath. This discussion is covered in other places (like Matthew 12), which give greater detail as to Jesus’ teaching on the matter. But today we are looking through the camera shot chosen by ...

  Saturday, February 15, 2025 Psalm 104:1-25 Genesis 26:18-33 Luke 5:27-39 The Old is Good? (Luke 5:39) As a qualified church curmudgeon, I feel obligated to say straight out of the gate that: no, you may not use this verse to argue against singing the classic hymns in church. Nor is it to be used by wine snobs, in either direction. What our Lord is teaching us is that our faith is to be a living faith. The way we live as Christians is to be relevant to the circumstances before us. How so? Well, take Jesus’ illustration of the wedding party to start with. Jesus is feasting with repentant sinners. This is no cause for fasting and misery; and earlier this week (in the episode with Simon and the fish) we saw how Jesus does not dwell on sins forgiven, but treats them as a critical turning point from which to move on to the joy of forgiveness. This day is holy to the Lord: do not mourn or weep. (Nehemiah 8:9) There will be time for fasting: the days wi...

  Friday, February 14, 2025 Psalms 108; 109:20-30 Genesis 26:1-17 Luke 5:12-26 Observance: Cyril (d. 869) and Methodius, bishop (d. 885) missionaries to the Slavs Extraordinary Things (Luke 5:26) Wondering is a most joyful Christian pastime. We have our Scriptures; we have our Common Prayers; we have our liturgy; we have our welfare ministries; we have our fellowship. All these aspects of the Christian life contain within them that spiritual sweetness that whispers of the heavenly glory yet to come. But wondering is probably the closest we can get to the eternal things on this side of the veil. It opens our spirit to the Holy Spirit, to reflect on what we know and what we think we know, to consider all the works of our hands and the attitude of our soul, to lay bare our love and wait for the vessel to be filled to overflowing. A wonderful point on which to wonder is the fact that Jesus “would withdraw to desolate places and pray”. Surrounded by the bu...

  Thursday, February 13, 2025 Psalms 101; 102:1-11 Genesis 25:5-11, 19-34 Luke 5:1-11 Do Not Be Afraid (Luke 5:10b) St Luke, the author of today’s second lesson, has been accorded the title “The Physician”. It is easy to see how he gained it, considering how his gospel is chock-full of healing miracles. In fact it was just yesterday that we read about Jesus healing not only Simon’s mother-in-law, but all those who were sick with various diseases. If you are involved with prayer ministry in your local congregation, it is not a bad idea to begin your prayers for healing by addressing Jesus as “Our Great Physician”. Jesus is not only the one who cures physical ailments, but spiritual as well. On top of this, his bedside manner is an instructive lesson, not only on how we ought to speak of heavenly things to one another, but how Jesus speaks to us. Simon has already seen his mother-in-law healed, and been close to all the other miraculous healings Jesus h...

  Wednesday, February 12, 2025 Psalms 99; 100 Genesis 24:50-67 Luke 4:31-44 Word Possessing Authority (Luke 4:32) If you have ever had the displeasure of composing a research assignment, then you would be familiar with how to construct an argument convincing to the academic world. It is not so much a case of putting forward a series of logical steps arriving at a reasonable conclusion, but rather hours of laborious reading, pulling together quotes and references, and demonstrating that, in fact, you have nothing original to offer: whatever you have to say has already been said, and look, here are the people who said it first to prove it. The response of the people of Capernaum was a happy realisation that Jesus did not do this. We have a fuller version of this realisation in Matthew 7:29, after Jesus preached his sermon on the mount: that he preached with authority, not like the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus does not need to pull together references outs...

  Tuesday, February 11, 2025 Psalms 95; 96 Genesis 24:22-49 Luke 4:16-30 On Hearing These Things (Luke 4:28) If you could tell God what to do, what would you demand? I sometimes wonder if a popular misconception about God is that he is like a toddler. We look around at the mess on the floor, and we demand that he put his toys back in the box, put his dirty laundry in the basket, and sit quietly on the floor. He can amuse himself, but only if it is quietly, and he must make sure the toy either stays in his hands or gets packed away. And if he refuses our clear instructions, then we rant and rave and, cowering under the full force of our displeasure, meekly acquiesces. Let us admire the cuteness of the little child; but don’t let him be his own man and go against our desires. Jesus, a man known to all in this small, intimate community declares himself to be God’s Messiah. He doesn’t exactly seem to fit the mental image of the Messiah the people had dreamed up...

  Monday, February 10, 2025 Psalms 92; 93 Genesis 24:1-21 Luke 4:1-15 Until An Opportune Time (Luke 4:13) It has been said that the life of Christian ministry is a life of the highest highs and the lowest lows. The closer one gets to that edge of human life, where the spirit and flesh meet, the more dazzling are the views of victory and tragedy. To approach life face-on as a Christian is to experience all things with continually increasing clarity. This kind of life requires no little amount of courage. And we see the results of failing courage all the time. To truly inspect our heart, to allow the Great Surgeon to remove the darkness within, to follow a life marked by the cross; to also rejoice in high spiritual things that the world considers nothing, like a single baptism, or a mercy from God: Christianity is a grand adventure. But the temptation is to stay indoors and leave the dragon-slaying for someone else. Dull the spirit with drugs, or alcohol, or scr...

  Saturday, February 8, 2025 Psalm 89:1-18 Genesis 23 Luke 3:23-38 The Price Of The Field (Genesis 23:13) Is there anything more Australian than thinking about real estate on a Saturday morning? Our economy runs on it; we are obsessed with it; Saturday mornings are when the suburbs are flooded with agents opening up houses for inspection and selling them off. There is a delicious irony in reading this twenty-third chapter of Genesis on a Saturday morning. Abraham has finally seen the first part of God’s promise come into existence: he has a son of his own. Now, in looking for a grave suitable for the mother of the nations, he gets a taste of the second: his first official piece of the Promised Land. There are several suggested interpretations of this passage. One of my favourite is that Ephron, the landowner, is eager to give away this bit of land so that he doesn’t have to pay taxes or upkeep on it anymore. Another is that Ephron didn’t ever intend...