Sermons
In St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians that we heard today, Paul offers a prayer for the people. He prays that they may be rooted and grounded in love. And he also prays that they may know the height and length and breadth and depth of the love of God. A love that surpasses knowledge, Paul says. When people are filled with this love, he says that God, through us, can do infinitely more than we can ask for or imagine.
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”
We are to be sowers, all of us, scattering the seeds that come from our experience of God’s love for us. I love this image of us just going all around, here and there a seed, a kind word, a smile, a compassionate conversation, a very real help in a time of trouble, a shared experience of the divine, a powerful moment together.
Listen to or read Ryan’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”
The next thing the Disciples do is something normal as we process grief, and try to go back to the way it was before. We pretend the loss didn’t happen. We try to recreate the past, as if we could. What do the Disciples do? They say there used to be twelve of us. We lost one, that Judas guy, so let’s pick a new Judas. So they create a criteria for the next Disciple.
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the final Sunday of the Easter Season by clicking “Read More.”
It is also a story of a clash of two different world views or mindsets, imaginations of how this world should operate. One mindset is the one of the brothers, who are afraid. It is a mindset of punishment, revenge, vengeance, an eye for an eye justice. They know they did wrong, they know they should be punished for it, and are afraid of what that punishment is going to look like. That is their view of how things are probably going to go.
The other mindset is the one that Joseph has, which is the imagination of forgiveness, of mercy, of grace, of reconciliation. I think the brothers’ mindset is probably where most of the world is. A lot of the time, most of us feel that same way, too.
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”
Jesus is teaching us the Gospel message to love. I know it is not always easy. In fact, it is rather difficult sometimes. We think of love as being that feel good feeling, but love is so much more than that. Love is the very intentional practice of caring about another person, even when there doesn’t seem to be very much to care about. Love is that act of blessing and not cursing that Paul talked about last week. Love is not an easy thing. It is one of the most challenging things to do sometimes.
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”
In today’s gospel, we continue the story of Jesus teaching his disciples on the mountain. Jesus began his public ministry with the call to metanoia, a changing of heart, mind, and action. And he declared that God’s kingdom, (which remember for Jesus this kingdom is in contrast to the kingdoms of the world, whose ways of ruling emphasize power over others, in this kingdom that Jesus proclaims, governance is more equal, more relational, more connected, with everyone working together as kin, so Jesus’ kingdom is more of a kindom), and this kingdom slash kindom that he declared, was very near, and in fact, was being created in their midst through Jesus’ works of healing and love. And Jesus invited everyone to help create this kindom.
To read Ryan’s entire sermon, click “Read More.”
