Mark Whittall

I need to say a word about our second reading from first Corinthians this morning before we turn our attention to the gospel from Luke which we just heard. The passage we read from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is one of those passages that has a history of being used in unhelpful ways, in ways that can actually be quite damaging to some people. Sometimes it’s a risky thing to look at a short excerpt of scripture in isolation from the rest of the Bible. Because if y

What is the opposite of bad? Good. What’s the opposite of dark? Light. What’s the opposite of fear? Now, many of you will answer courage, and I’m not saying that’s wrong. But in our scriptures, and perhaps in our lives as well, the opposite of fear is not courage, but faith. Our readings this morning are all about fear. Abram, who has just demonstrated plenty of courage in battle, is nonetheless afraid that he and Sarah will never have children. The psalmist, surrounded b

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, who abide in his shadow for life, Say to the Lord ‘my refuge, my rock in whom I trust.’ Today’s readings are about trust. In whom, or in what, do you place your trust? When you are in the wilderness, when you are tested, where will you put your trust? We are being tested in our world today. Are we able, does it still make sense, to place our trust in God? The psalmist urges us to do so. In the beautiful words of the hymn which we j