Sermons on Faith (Page 16)
Faith and Fellowship
Acts 4:32-35 1 John 1:1-2:2 John 20:19-31 When I was a teenager I had a very definite faith. I believed that the Bible was the inerrant word of God. I knew pretty much all there was to know about Christianity, and I practiced it. But as I grew up I suffered from severe depression and my faith gave me no answers. I became confused between the sacramental and symbolic Anglo-Catholic faith that I had grown up in, and the fundamentalist…
It is not yet the end
Alleluia The Lord is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia! We often think of Easter as being the end of Jesus’ story. After years of preaching, healing and challenging the religious authorities, he was betrayed and died. But then, like all good heroes, he turned the tables on his opponents in the ultimate triumph and rose from the dead. This morning I want to suggest to you that the resurrection is not even the climax of the story, let alone…
HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD?
Tonight I would like to share one of many theological theories regarding the idea that God had a master plan at creation, and how the manner of death, burial and resurrection of Jesus was an integral part of that plan. This theory says that God, being omniscient and knowing that man would sin and perish without divine help, had prepared a plan for salvation for us to be reconciled with God. This salvation was to be through the death and…
For God so Loved
Once a year, usually the week before Holy Week, the clergy of the diocese meet together to renew our vows and to bless oil to be used for healing and blessing in the coming year. When we met last week, the Bishop shared a TED talk by academic and author, Brene Brown. Brown has spent hours interviewing people about guilt and shame. She distinguishes between the two by suggesting that guilt is when you feel bad for something you did…
The Big Picture
This is the final sermon in my Lenten series about the nature of atonement and the meaning of the cross. I have been pointing out that although we sometimes think there is just one way to understand crucifixion and salvation, understandings have differed over the years, and in these post-modern times there are multiple sometimes conflicting, sometimes overlapping meanings. The earliest understandings are grouped under the heading of Christus Victor. These suggested that through his death and resurrection, Jesus the…
Mimetic Desire
This morning I’m continuing the Lenten series on the meaning of the cross and of atonement. Today I’m going to focus on the work of Rene Girard. Much of Girard’s early work was in literary criticism, and he became a Christian through studying the work of Dostoyevsky. Later he formulated a specific theory which he and others have applied to theology. It is known as the “mimetic” theory. Girard says that we all imitate one another. In fact, we want…
Metaphors
When I was ordained, many people kindly gave me gifts. I was amazed at how many crosses I was given. Crosses to go on the wall, crosses to go on the sideboard, crosses to hang around my neck, crosses to put in my ears. Now please don’t get me wrong, these were beautiful crosses and lovely gifts. But it amazed me that the symbol which Paul describes as a scandal, foolishness and a stumbling block has become an ornament. At…
Plan A
We are now fast approaching the celebration of the core mysteries of our faith – in Holy Week we remember the passion and death of Jesus followed on Easter Sunday by his astonishing resurrection. So this is a good time for us to think about the big picture – what it’s all about. I’m going to be doing that in my sermons on the Sundays of Lent. As we approach this it’s helpful to remember that no-one really knows what…
Transfiguration
I’ve always been a bit bothered by this gospel. I can understand transformation – when one thing gets changed into another – and in the spiritual life we constantly seek to be transformed into the Christlike beings we were created to be. But transfiguration has seemed fairly pointless. Why would God go to the trouble of changing Jesus’ appearance for a brief time with only three witnesses who were later sworn to secrecy? This year it makes more sense to…