Paul is suffering because he can't do what he wants. He's imprisoned, his freedom has been curtailed. He is suffering because he's thinking about his mortality and what might be coming. Paul has immense suffering, and yet in the midst of that suffering, he is finding all kinds of ways to rejoice, not just in the suffering, but also because of the suffering.
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Our second reading today comes from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, written while he was in prison. We don't know if this is one of the early times Paul was in prison, or if this the final time […] Paul also wants to address a couple of issues. We don't know how big of a deal they are. This letter is not like some Paul sent to the other Christian communities where there was a great conflict or existential crisis of some kind. But apparently things kept popping up here and there, and he wants to help them with a few reminders to help them grow in their faith.
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When Paul talks about gifts we realize quickly that these aren’t the ones from which great performances arise, rather they’re the ones that enrich our lives on a day-to-day basis. They’re the gifts that are too often taken for granted rather than as something important to the recipient of that gift as well as everyone around them.
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In today’s readings we hear about Peter and from Paul, two of the giants of early Christianity. Contemporaries, they became followers of Jesus very differently, though they reportedly met the same end, martyred by Nero in Rome.
At the time Jesus began his ministry Peter was a fisherman who apparently fished with his brother Andrew and their partners James and John. Based on the fact he was sometimes called Simon, or Simon Peter, he was likely not simply an Aramaic-speaking Jew but rather one who knew at least some Greek as well as Aramaic and perhaps Hebrew. Peter is believed to have lived in Capernaum on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee where he and his brother and their friends fished.
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You are loveable because God loves you. Reflect on that, and then ask yourself, what can I do in response. I, who have this enormous amount of love filling me every day, how can I share that same love with someone else? At work, at home, at school, on the street, in the store, wherever you are think of how you can share that love with my neighbors, with my enemies, with all of creation. How can I share that love that God has already given me in grace? Why? Because God loves you.
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I don’t know about you, but it feels like love is in short supply these days. Two years of a pandemic made us all grumpier, a little shorter with each other, it’s harder to pull that love together. We realize this was going on before the pandemic. If you read history, you know it has always been this way. Love has always been in short supply, even among those of us who profess to follow a God who is love
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost by clicking “Read More.”
Our second reading today come from Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians and in it he says, "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face." These words from Paul strike a different chord nearly two years into this pandemic. This chord resonates more profoundly than ever before.
Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent by clicking “Read More.”
