John Hebenton's Podcast

John wonders what repentance means this Lent, having described Lent as a time to reflect on what has been life giving for you and us, and to use this time to learn to live in more thankful and life-giving ways, and last week wondering how we have experienced God’s faithfulness over these last couple of years.  What I want to happen: For people to bear fruit of living gratefully in ways life giving...

John explores the theme of God's faithfulness in the readings for this Sunday, particularly Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18   and Luke 13:31-35, and what that might mean for us.   He wonders how we have experienced God’s faithfulness over these last couple of years? how does that help us be thankful and live in more life giving ways? We finish with a video from the diocese of Wellington that is part o...

John explores Luke’s version of the testing story – not as temptations but a test of how Jesus will live out being the “Beloved Son” . And we do that by looking at how that flows into the sermon on the plain.  They work together to show how Jesus will not live being the "beloved Son", and how we will live that out. In all this Jesus in Luke is the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophesy/dream of...

As we listen to more of Jesus’s sermon on the plain, John wonders who are my enemies, and what does it mean to love them? The Parihaka story helps us see this teaching as how we are to live God’s non-violent resistance to all that seeks to destroy life giving community. AS MLK says, we are to be extremists for love: blessing, giving, praying for and living for those beyond our borders. In light of...

John explores Luke’s version of this block of teaching, noting that the world Luke and all biblical writers were writing for was based on family and community, not the individual. Jesus in Luke is the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophesy/dream of the restoration of life-giving community for all, for all life. The sermon on the plain is a warning about the priorities that destroy community, and offers s...

John uses the call of Isaiah and Peter, James and John,  to talk about “call” being about re imagining who we are and how we are and what we are called to do He wonders h ow this  helps us engage with the ongoing work of honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi as we build back in this pandemic? You can read the notes here

For some who follow the C of E calendar,  this coming Wednesday marks the end of the 40 days of the Christmas-Epiphany season. What is this season about? -          revelation who Jesus is -          response to that? John explores why he  stuck with readings for 4th Sunday rather than presentation readings -          really like Jeremiah – got smacked in mouth by coal and became prophet to kind o...

A Christmas reflection using my poem " We Gather this Christmas " and "God Would Kneel Down", by Daniel Ladinsky . What does God hope for this Covid shaped Christmas? What do we hope for those we love?

John explores this wonderful intimate and somewhat radical moment in Luke between two women which results in the  “Magnificat”. He then uses Rachel Held Evans' work on the Shema and Love to explore what might life behind the Magnificat. Finally use Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase to ask in what way are we bursting with God-news and joining the dance to the song of God this Christmas? He finished...

How might we open ourselves to receive the gift of joy this Christmas? The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams, in “The Book of Joy - Lasting Happiness in a Changing World” offer these three ways of being joyful; the ability to reframe a situation positively; the ability to experience gratitude; and the voice to be kind or generous. John the Baptist invites us to go further – to offer the...

John explores how advent helps us remember that Christmas is important, but it is not the point. Advent points to Christ in history, Christ in mystery and Christ in majesty. What does peace look like in all that? How is peace often described and enforced? What might true peace involve? What might be needed for us to find peace this advent? The notes for this sermon can be found here

Christ the King has a few issues. It’s history. How it is used today by various groups opposed to the government’s response to Covid. John uses the reading from John’s Gospel to explore some of that, and then quotes Liz Fitzmaurice's opinion piece in Stuff as an example of what the reign of Christ might look like today  He asks -          What does the reign of God look like in a Covid world?...

John uses Mark to explore what we give our attention to and notes he gives a lot of attention to covid updates, vaccination numbers, traffic lights and vaccine mandates. He wonders in what ways he is like those disciples, amazed at the grandeur of Herod’s temple and freaked by Jesus apocalyptic utterances.  This is also the end of our year in Mark, where we have been invited to have our minds blow...

John begins by talking about some of the commemorations  going on around this Sunday: and uses them as a way of helping us own our sense of anxiety and grief at where we are at with covid right now He looks at Ruth and what she offers us as an example of how to respond to our own grief, frustration, and questions, and in doing so honours and gives space to their grief, anger, and questions, and pr...

Bonnie uses the story of Ruth and Naomi to explore who our saints might be.  She finishes by asking us to reflect on - Who are the saints in your life? What qualities of theirs do you give thanks for? In what ways do you honour their memory?

John continues to explore what God was up to with Jesus. One way of answering that is that Jesus is like God and God is like Jesus – what does that do to your thinking about the life of faith.  Job invites us to hold lightly all that we think we know about God and to find comfort in the uncertainty. And then to live in hope. Reminds me of Mark 1:15 – let your mind be blown Bartimaeus comes at end...

John uses Mark 10 to explore how we use stories to make sense of life and God, and the invitation within the gospels to let them go, and embrace some new stories.  The question Mark keeps asking, and we need to keep asking are  what do you think God was up to in Jesus?  what does this say about God?  what does this mean for how we live in our own dark and troubled times?  The notes can be found he...

Francis understood at a deep level God’s deep desire that all creation might thrive. He also understood that for that to happen relationships between people, and people and creation needed to be restored. This is the deep longing in scripture. It is what the covenants longed for. It is what Jesus came to complete. It is what he taught and lived. We see that in the story today – Deuteronomy allows...

In this Season of Creation to explore the need to imagination our relationship with and place in creation – our common home; and courage to live that out. Esther offers an example of what reimagining your place looks like, the risks and the rewards – a story still celebrated by Jews today at Purim. Esther also offers a chance to honestly reflect on where we are in our current plight. In this last...

John reminds us about what the Season of Creation is about, and what the theme for this year is. And then explore the theme for this week Oikoumene, ecumenical – -          is also about all humanity sharing our common home with each other, and all life – even viruses.  -          is about the kind of relationships that sustain our common life. -          About the whole church and its work living...

John reminds us what the Season of Creation is about. And he explores this years theme “A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God”,  and the central image of Sarah and Abraham's tent which is open on all sides  offering welcome, shelter, refuge, and safety to ALL in our common home - human and non human. He then offers an Earth Examen from the Season of Creation Resources to help people engag...

John introduces this year’s theme for the season of creation, - A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God – joining worldwide church in responding to God’s invitation to work together to renew our world as an interconnected and interdependent global beloved community. This week invite us to join in praying, using the Season of Creation Prayer Season of Creation 2021 Prayer  Creator of All,  We are...

It turns out in these Covid times that being kind is quite hard work. But Jacinda and James the Just are both pretty clear about how important it is to be kind, compassionate. John looks at the letter from James and Mark 7 and talks about Jesus teaching around paying attention to what is going on in the heart as a way of becoming kinder. And then he introduces the daily examen as a way of paying a...

As we start again in level four lockdown, John acknowledges the various responses to this lockdown. And he wonders how the readings from John 6 help us to respond as disciples to this situation, knowing that we are being fed by living God in all we do. He finishes by inviting us to prayer the alternative version of the Lord's Prayer in Night Prayer (in a New Zealand Prayer Book), suggesting t...

John notes that last Friday was Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony– acknowledge brutality and cost of western war machine He then talks about that in parts of Australia there have been antilockdown marches, many with an Antivaccine sentiment, particularly, Jesus in my vaccine. He wonders if a quick reading John 6 might support this? He goes on to look at John, starting by exploring what the exodus...