Postkiwi

I had the privilege this morning of speaking and presiding at communion at Trinity College, the Uniting Church theological college in Brisbane. I was working with a small group of staff and students to lead worship, focusing on the John 12 passage in which Jesus is visited by a group of Greeks who say to Philip, “We want to see Jesus”. The chapel was strewn with banana and sugar cane plants, helping us connect with the people who are cleaning up after the cylone last Monday.

I spoke this morning on John 12:24: “Unless a Grain of Wheat Falls to the Ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” The graphic comes from Heartlight Gallery. I found some inspiration from a sermon preached by Cornelius Plantinga at his installation as professor of systematic theology at Calvin College.

Pivotal to this morning’s message was the realisation that the germination of the seed - the seminal moment - is unseen by the human eye. Likewise, the seminal moment of Jesus’ life - his resurrection - was unseen by the human eye. We reflected on the acts of God that are usually experienced in humble surroundings rather than in front of large audiences. Participation in the life of a seminary has an element of being buried like grain. In fact the word ’seminary’ refers to a seed bed. We finished by reflecting on the challenge of being embedded in everyday relationships.

I’ll see if I can post more on this at Gospel Notes on Tuesday or Wednesday.