darkness

Thread of Light

There is a thread through most of our lessons. Not in the Epistle, where there is a little insider stuff. The Epistle is rarely selected to match the other lessons, except on special days. Generally, we read through one of Paul’s Epistles, as we are working our way through 1st Corinthians now. The Epistle does not match the other lessons today, but the first reading, the Psalm, and the Gospel are selected to have at least one thread that connects them. There is a thread that is pretty clear in these readings today, and it is light.

As we heard in Isaiah, “the people who walked in deep darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined.” And in the Psalm we hear “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom then shall I fear?” And in the Gospel we heard Matthew quote Isaiah in a slightly different translation, “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.” We see this thread of light.

Listen to read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”

The Feast of All Saints

Sometimes we use the word saint to be a synonym for being perfect. I think it does a great disservice to these saints, because if you read about their lives or their histories, you learn they were anything but perfect. They were real people like you and me, who had all kinds of challenges and struggles and doubts in their faith.

But they were something else. There is a great prayer that sometimes gets appointed on these Wednesday mornings services that says that the saints are the lights of their generation. I think that is a much better way to think about the saints.

Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for All Saints’ Day by clicking “Read More.”

Seek the Light. Share the Light.

These three seasons are all about the Incarnation. In Advent we are preparing for the coming of Christ, at Christmas we are celebrating the birth of Christ, and in Epiphany, people are having their epiphanies. They are realizing that in the person of Jesus, there is something happening. He is more than just a regular person. The thing that they are experiencing is the fullness of God dwelling within this human. So we have Advent, a season of preparation, Christmas, a season of celebration, and Epiphany, a season of realization.

Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”

Christmas: A Feast of Light and Love

God wanted to shine a light in the midst of the darkness that we experience. And there is a lot of darkness in this world from the global level down to the personal level, and everything in between. God wanted to make sure that in the midst of all this darkness there would be a light.

Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “read more.”

Advent: Preparing to Welcome Jesus Today

Happy Advent! Today is the First Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday in the new church year. The word advent means coming. During the season of Advent we prepare for the coming of The One. Who is The One? Is it Santa Claus? No. That’s a different kind of advent. Santa Claus is coming to town, but that is not the advent we are talking about. The One we are preparing for is Jesus, the Christ.

Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”

The Church Year

One of the many things I love about our particular way of following Jesus in the Episcopal Church is the emphasis on the church calendar or the liturgical year. We are one of several traditions that follow the ancient practices of the church year. It may seem a bit esoteric at times, maybe a bit insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I think it is a valuable tool to help us in our faith and in our lives as we try and follow Jesus.