Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Matthew’s gospel contains the famous “Sermon on the Mount”.  For the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (17 February 2019), Rev. Geoff McKee has Luke’s parallel text (which is shorter and less well-known), The Sermon on the Plain. In its directness of language, it’s a much more uncomfortable read than Matthew’s account. As Geoff explains, it teaches us about the importance of perspective in faithful Christian living. It teaches about the importance of taking seriously the call to live simply. How we identify the “greatest” moments in our lives can reveal a lot about how well we are keeping a Christian perspective on things.

You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.

Luke 6:17-26 (New International Version)

Blessings and Woes
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

20 Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Hugh Latimer once preached before King Henry VIII.

Henry was greatly displeased by the boldness in the sermon and ordered Latimer to preach again on the following Sunday and apologise for the offence he had given.

The next Sunday, after reading his text, he thus began his sermon: “Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou are this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king’s most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life, if thou offendest. Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou comest – upon Whose message thou are sent? Even by the great and mighty God, Who is all-present and Who beholdeth all thy ways and Who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully.”

He then preached the same sermon he had preached the preceding Sunday – and with considerably more energy. [Read more…]

Rev Geoff McKee’s scripture for the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (10 February 2018) is Luke 5:1-11, the story of Jesus calling his first disciples. Creating “fishers of men” resonates with us in a fishing community like Lossiemouth. Geoff explains how God – and Jesus – have continually taken risks for the benefit of humanity. It’s up to us to follow that example – taking risks so that lives are changed for the better.

You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.

Luke 5:1-11 (New International Version)

Jesus Calls His First Disciples
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Anyone who attended the funeral service for Andrew Campbell on 22 December 2018 could not fail to have been impressed by the tribute from Michael Harrington, the young fishing skipper from Castletownbere, Co. Cork in Ireland.

Michael and his crew were having no fortune catching fish.

There was no doubt that the fish were there but they weren’t finding their way into Michael’s nets.

He described how Andrew and friends from Lossiemouth travelled to Cork to have a look at their set-up and routine to try and find a way to break the bad fortune.

The old, wise heads made some suggestions and almost immediately the nets filled and the boxes overflowed with fish.

I couldn’t help bringing to mind the story of Jesus and his first disciples recorded in Luke 5 and the very similar story recorded in John 22.

Like Michael Harrington, the disciples were prepared to listen and everything changed as a result of that. [Read more…]

“No prophet is accepted in his hometown”, said Jesus. Rev. Geoff McKee’s scripture for the fourth Sunday after Epiphany is Luke 4:21-30, in which Jesus’ return to Nazareth is reported and it seems he is lucky to escape with his life. There are difficult issues raised by what Jesus has to say, including how self-centred our faith is, how tolerant we are of other faiths and how willing we are to accept change. Geoff also considers whether, in any situation where you have to receive both good and bad news, is it better for you to receive good news or bad news first?

You can download a PDF version of this sermon by clicking here, if you wish.

Luke 4:21-30 (New International Version)

21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Many situations we encounter in life bring both good news and bad news with them.

• A promotion at work may come with an increase in salary but also more responsibilities and longer hours.
• A workplace evaluation may involve both praise for jobs well done, as well as suggestions for improvement.

When you are about to get a shot of good and bad news, what is your preference—good news first, or bad?

And what should your preference be? [Read more…]

In his sermon for Epiphany (06 January 2019), Rev. Geoff McKee looks ahead to the series of sermons forming the season of Epiphany. Look for an online definition of epiphany and you’ll find the narrow definition as “the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12)” (and that is the Scripture for today) and the wider definition as “a moment of sudden and great revelation or realisation”.  Concentrating our attention on the Magi / Wise Men, Geoff considers (1) what do seekers after truth look like? – and (2) what is an appropriate response to the revelation of the light of Christ? Ultimately, it’s about how the lessons of Epiphany challenge narrow assumptions about the reach of the light of Christ.

You can download a PDF version of the sermon if you wish by clicking here.

Matthew 2:1-12 (New International Version)
The Magi Visit the Messiah
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Is the good news of Jesus Christ for people like us?

The right answer to that question is ‘yes’. Of course it is!

But also, the right answer is ‘yes, but…’

If the good news is only for people we feel comfortable with or familiar with, generally, then it’s a very particular ‘good news’, isn’t it?

The lessons of Epiphany challenge narrow assumptions about the reach of the light of Christ.

After all, the star that drew the Magi to Christ, was visible to all who had the inclination to look up and see it. It was not a private viewing for the privileged but a guide to the seeker after truth.

What did Jesus say later in his ministry? ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7).

The season of Epiphany (for its significance is experienced through a series of epiphanies from the visit of the Magi through the baptism of Jesus culminating in the Transfiguration) is in many areas of the world a bigger holiday than Christmas. [Read more…]