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Homily by Rev. Dorothy McRae-McMahon
Day of Pentecost, Year C
South Sydney Uniting Church
May 19, 2013

Acts 2: 1-21; John 14:8-17

‘The Holy Spirit who speaks to us in our own language’

You may have noticed that, in both our readings today, the Holy Spirit is referred to in the feminine. This is a very ancient practice. It is included in the earliest Hebrew writings where the word for Spirit, “ruach” is feminine. Particularly in the Old Testament, it is often linked with “wisdom”. Much later, the Greeks altered the reference to neuter gender and the Romans later to male.

Obviously, holding to the feminine creates a nice balance in the person of our Triune God. We do, as you may have noticed in our liturgy, refer to both the Mother and Father of Creation. Jesus, clearly, had to be one gender or the other as God in human form and he was a man. Then we have the fundamentally female Spirit.

Homily
Easter &, Year C
South Sydney Uniting Church
May 12, 2013

Psalm 97; John 17:20-26

‘One love’

God be with you …

On Thursday night our biblical scholars discussed the Gospel text set for today – known as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. We discussed the nature of the oneness for which Jesus prays. What kind of unity is it? A unity of thought or doctrine, a unity of practice or purpose or service? We tended toward unity of service.

We discussed whether Christian unity is a task or a gift – more gift than task, we thought, but a task nonetheless – and a challenge that sometimes entails, paradoxically, the maintenance of good boundaries. Jesus prays for unity, not for uniformity. Respect for difference lies at the heart of Christian unity – we might have explored this in relation to the Holy Trinity.

Homily
Easter 6, Year C
South Sydney Uniting Church
May 5, 2013

Psalm 67; Acts 16: 9-15; John 14: 23-29

‘Circle of responsibility’

The death toll for Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster has climbed to 511 as the army continues to clear out debris at Rana Plaza, a garment-factory building that collapsed on April 24. Police have arrested Abdur Razzaque Khan, an engineer who worked as a consultant to Sohel Rana, the 38 year-old owner of the collapsed building. The government has also suspended Savar Mayor Muhammad Refatullah (for alleged corruption). Bangladesh’s garment factories face increased scrutiny after the building collapse (which followed reports of cracks in the structure) and also a November fire that claimed 112 lives. Western retailers and labour activists have been wrangling over a two year-old memorandum aimed at improving safety in the South Asian country, which supplies cheap clothes to stores around the world.

Today’s reading from the Book of Acts features Lydia, a first-century Asian woman involved in the garment trade. Her conversion is expressed in words and acts of generosity and hospitality. The Orthodox Church gives to St Lydia the title “Equal to the Apostles”, which signifies her importance and level of holiness. Jovana [Terzic] of Enmore depicts St Lydia with a pelican, ancient symbol of generosity and hospitality. Catherine [Wood] of Waterloo maintains St Lydia’s Library here at SSUC on behalf of members and visitors, each one deemed important and holy. God be with you …

Homily
Easter 5, Year C
South Sydney Uniting Church
April 28, 2013

Psalm 148; John 13:31-35

‘New love’

At its best, the reality television show The Voice is about responding wholeheartedly to a Spirit of music, beauty, truth, humanity, humility, redemption, connection. The Voice of the title may be heard as the Voice of God. I said that last week. This week I need to think it anew. It hardly needs to be said that The Voice, for all its virtues, is bombastic and hyperbolic – and all but destroys the thing it seeks to nurture – the voicing of hope and love. It all but destroys this in the name of competition – in the false belief that one beautiful voice must “battle” another – and ultimately, that one singer alone should prevail. We know this isn’t true just as we know the “winner” of such a competition is unlikely to enjoy for long the artistic status thrust all-too enthusiastically upon him or her. We will suspect that this artistic status is a projection of those (judges/coaches, TV and music executives) keen to convince us of their star-making powers. In fewer words, we’ll suspect that it’s all about them. Today’s Gospel, too, invites us to think anew – about true love, about the “golden rule”, lest we project. God be with you …