family

Love Over All Else

So what do we make of Jesus saying to hate anyone, let alone your family? Let’s take a step back from this reading for a moment and look at it in its bigger context. Jesus, as that moment in time, is moving towards Jerusalem where he is going to be crucified. He knows that. He’s talking about that, although no one else understands what he is talking about. And as he goes toward Jerusalem he is teaching, he is healing, he is acting in love, and he is getting pushback. He doesn’t get much pushback for the words about love, but he does when he performs actions in love, like when he tries to heal someone on the Sabbath.

Listen to or read BIngham’s full sermon by clicking “Read More.”

The Family of God

Just as Jesus is gaining friends and followers, he is also gaining enemies, people who are not concerned about the danger of the crowd, but rather concerned about Jesus and the danger that he and his teaching pose. So they are going around saying things like, "We are not so sure about this Jesus guy and all the stuff that he is doing and saying. We are not really sure the spirit behind him is of God. Maybe it is a different kind of spirit--you know what I mean--an evil spirit." They are trying to sow the seeds of doubt in the people and to rile up the crowds against Jesus.

Click “Read More” to read or listen to Bingham’s entire sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost