The King’s English

Leviticus 13:45-46; Mark 1:40-45 I’ll never forget when Mark told me he was HIV positive.  The two of us were in a cafe in London and had just ordered all day breakfasts.  Many people had tried to help him off the streets and off the drugs but he’d finally succumbed to a dirty needle. He […]

Leviticus 3:1-17 When we think of a “peace offering” we picture guilty husbands hastily purchasing flowers.  Or meek penitents bringing gifts to their fuming friends.  The one giving the peace offering feels dreadful.  The one to whom the offering is made is tapping their foot saying “This better be good.”  And maybe, just maybe, they […]

Leviticus 1:1-4; Ephesians 2:11-22 Can an ex-offender atone for his crimes? Can a sportswoman atone for her blunder?  Can a husband atone for his callous remark? If we answer ‘yes’ it’s usually because we think that the guilty party can make amends. But the Bible has a fresh angle on the question of atonement. Atonement […]

Exodus 40:12-16 Federico Fellini has been called the ‘High Priest of Italian Cinema’.  Bill Hicks, ‘the High Priest of Stand-up Comedy’.  And Prince, ‘the High Priest of Funk, Soul and Rock n Roll’. It’s the idea of being an authority.  One who mediates the genre out into the world.  They are the go-to person when […]

Exodus 34:1-14 “Describe yourself” says the interviewer, with a glint in their eyes. You really want the job.  How to sound humble but also omni-competent? “What to reveal about myself?” Probably the less the better. “Why is he asking?” you wonder.  “Doesn’t my track record speak for itself?  Won’t he see pretty quickly who I really […]

Exodus 33:7-23 Children love “staring competitions” with their parents.  But the “competition” is a front.  We know what the child wants, we know what the parent wants.  Face to face. Or think of the long-distance relationship.  Lovers who are sick of letters and phone-calls.  They want face to face. Or the misunderstandings of work colleagues, […]

Exodus 32:21-35 If a ploughman’s ox refuses to turn the way he wants, he calls the obstinate beast “stiffnecked.” Nine times in the Bible, that’s what the LORD calls His people.  The first occasion is in Exodus 32: “I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that […]

Exodus 32:1-20 How long does it take a nation to fall away from its spiritual heritage? Well in Exodus 32 it’s been 50 days since the Israelites had arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai.  They had been redeemed from slavery, brought through the Red Sea and carried by the Angel of God on eagle’s wings. […]