Belief and Faith, Merit and Grace
In many of today’s readings there is this idea of faith. From Romans speaking about the “Father of the Faith” Abraham: “The promise…did not come…through the law but through the righteousness of faith…it depends on faith…he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God…therefore his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:13-25). And from our Gospel reading we have the faith of Matthew who got up, left everything and followed Jesus. And the leader of a synagogue whose daughter had just died who came and knelt at Jesus’ feet, beseeching him to come and lay hands on her so that she might live.
To read Ryan’s entire sermon, click “read more.”
Imagine
Imagine you are in Palestine when Jesus was proclaiming the Good News. You are not in one of the cities or large towns. You most likely haven’t ever seen a king or a Caesar. You know the stories of King David and King Solomon. They were heroic men, but flawed. In their kingdoms there was suffering and hunger, greed and deceit. One day, a stranger comes to your village and there’s much talk about it, about his teachings and his deeds. You go to the synagogue in curiosity, and you hear him teach about the kingdom of God. It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. And you leave the synagogue perplexed at its meaning.
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The Radical Grace of God
God is always more ready to forgive than we are to ask
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.”
Full of Compassion and Mercy
What Jesus reminds us, is that with God it’s not about rules, but about compassion and love. As our presiding Bishop Michael Curry is fond of saying, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” To Jesus, there are no barriers, no qualifications, no “ins” or “outs” for receiving the mercy and healing of God. Nope. That’s not how God works. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.
Listen to or read the Rev. Ryan Baker-Fones’ full sermon by clicking “read more.”
