Sermons
Faith is not about getting it all right, faith is about taking the journey, knowing that we can’t fully understand and know everything, at least not during this mortal life. As St. James says in the Epistle today, we all make mistakes. As St. Paul says elsewhere, we see through a glass darkly, we see through a mirror dimly. It is impossible for us to understand it all, to get it all right. It is impossible for us to be perfect.
Listen to or read Bingham's entire sermon by clicking "read more."
It’s hard for me to imagine how this woman must have felt at finding a strange man sitting by the well, a man who upon speaking to her turned out to be a Jew. Her surprise at the situation notwithstanding, the woman did converse with Jesus, though initially that didn’t go terribly well. As in conversations Jesus had with Nicodemus, a well-educated Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, to those he had with his disciples who traveled with him and on some levels knew him well, what Jesus said to the woman and what she heard were definitely not the same thing.
Listen to or read Sharon’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”
In today’s Gospel reading we heard a story that included John the Baptist. We have been hearing a lot about John the Baptist recently. He showed up on two separate Sundays in December, and this is the second Sunday he has showed up in January. So, who is this John the Baptist we have been hearing so much about?
To read Bingham’s full sermon, click “Read More.”
There is a theological concept called the Missio Dei. It is a Latin term and means the mission of God. It is a theological idea that we, the church and members of the church, do not have a mission in this world. This goes against everything we learn about corporate culture that defines an organization’s mission. We have no mission in the world. God has a mission and we can choose to join it or not.
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for Mary Sunday by clicking “Read More.”
But the part we have for today is Chapter 11. Right before this chapter, there is a line that says, “we are not those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.” Salvation comes through faith. This is a profound and important statement that the preacher makes. It is also a statement that raises a lot of questions. One is what is faith, and that is our reading for today. We get the answer to the question, what is this faith in which we find our salvation.
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost by clicking “Read More.”
Before we can talk about today's Gospel reading from the 21st Chapter of John, we need to step back for a moment and look at Chapter 20. More specifically, we need to go back to Easter Sunday morning when we heard the story of Mary Magdalen on the very first Easter Day while it was still dark, going down to the tomb and finding the tomb empty. The body was not there. She was confused, and so ran off to get Simon Peter and the beloved Disciple.
At this point John includes the strangest detail that I can't get out of my mind. It says that Simon Peter and the beloved Disciple had a foot race. Now, we live in Track Town USA, it's marathon Sunday, so we can understand why they would want to have a foot race in that moment. Why not? But why include the detail in the telling of the story all those years later?
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter by clicking “Read More.”
Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures, says the gospel. Don’t you wish you were there? Don't you wish he was here, now, to open our minds to understand the scriptures? The bible, so central to our faith and worship, has been used to promote colonialism, genocide and war, racism, slavery and sexism, greed and hatred and disregard for the creation itself. Some find within it no redemption, and turn away. But we, guided by the Holy Spirit, and made one with the post-Easter Christ, find within it freedom and justice, truth and equality, and a world ruled by sacrificial love. We will either regard the Bible as some old relic or as the most precious pertinent thing in the world.
Click Read More to read or listen to Ted’s entire sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter.
