Readings for Sunday, November 13, 2016

Hello Everyone,

This week's email on the scripture lessons will be a bit truncated. Our readings for this Sunday are:

Isaiah 65:17-25 - God gives Isaiah a vision of a better future. This is not a future of destruction and calamity but a new earth where all people will thrive. I am definitely not doing this passage justice because it is one of the most glorious visions of a New Heaven and a New Earth in our Bible. Please, if you only read one passage from this post, let this be the one.

Isaiah 12 - This is the "Psalm" for our Isaiah 65 passage. In that day we will give God our thanks and we will recognize that our only salvation is God. We will then sing praises to the Lord!

Malachi 4:1-2a - There will be a day when the Lord raises the sun that will burn away the evil of this world and yet bring healing to those who love the Lord.

Psalm 98 - Sing a NEW song to the Lord for God has done marvelous things and made known his vindication, steadfast love and faithfulness. Therefore, make a joyful noise!

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 - Near the end of this letter, Paul warns the church people to keep working and not be idle. They are to imitate Paul who worked while he was sharing the gospel so as to not be a burden. Verse 10b is oft quoted to put down those receiving unemployment assistance and/or "welfare". However, it may not mean what those who quote it mean.

Luke 21:5-19 - Some people were overheard to be admiring the size and beauty of the Temple and Jesus warns that the stones of the Temple will be toppled over. Of course, the disciples want to know when that will be. Jesus say to look for the signs and don't be led astray by false Messiahs (Christs). BTW, some 40 to 42 years later the Roman Army will destroy the Temple and slaughter thousands in Jerusalem.

May the Lord God bless you in your work and play this week.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Gary Taylor

All Soul's Day

Hello Everyone,

On Monday we celebrated All Hallow's Eve, aka Halloween, the night before All Saints Day. Yesterday was All Saints Day, when we commemorate the faithful who have died in all times and all places. We particularly remember those who have died since last year's All Saints Day.

Today, particularly in the Catholic tradition, is All Soul's Day, aka Day of the Dead, when the faithful pray for those who have died and may be in purgatory. In the Methodist tradition the word "Saint" refers to all Christians and All Souls Day can be thought of as an extension of All Saints Day. 

I write this because of an email I received today. The writer is Rev. Claudia Aguilar Rubalcava, who was born and raised in Mexico City and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church. She writes:

Beyond the remembrance of our loved ones, though, the overarching theme of Day of the Dead is celebrating life. The names of the living are written on sugar skulls, reminding us that life is sweet, but death is coming. The "papel picado," or punched paper decorations, the flowers, and the treats all are ephemeral, just like life. They also are beautiful and delicious, just like life. In the back of your head, you can hear the word of the preacher in Ecclesiastes, the first of the books of the Bible to gain great popularity among Aztec converts, who says:

[I will include the longer passage of her citation.] Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 "Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do. Let your garments always be white; do not let oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife [or husband] whom you love, all the days of your vain life that are given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in [death] to which you are going." (At https://goo.gl/6e6oez)

Today, remember the dead and what they meant to you: fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, sisters, brothers, and children. Then celebrate life because life is a gift from God.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Gary Taylor

Reading for Sunday, November 6, 2017

Hello Everyone,

Today is "All Saints Day". From the Wikipedia article we read, "In Methodist theology, All Saints Day revolves around 'giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints', including those who are 'famous or obscure'. As such, individuals throughout the Church Universal are honored, such as Paul the Apostle, Augustine of Hippo, and John Wesley, in addition to individuals who have personally led one to faith in Jesus, such as one's grandmother or friend."

Because "All Saints Day" falls during the week, on Sunday we will celebrate all of our saints who have died in the past year.

At Grey Eagle UMC we will remember James Hammarsten, Ardene Reimers, Joan Rahn, and John DeZeeuw.

At Peace United Church we will remember Sandra Lawin, Ardean Christensen, Carol Blake, Adeline Jones, Adeline Schwint, and Eloise Huyink.

This past year I have also conducted the funeral service of the following people who were not members of either church: Karen Perish, Carl Stark, Mary Hanson, Leona Nelson, Violet Zimmer, Sandra Warzecha, Alvin Fortmann, Ridley Kuelbs, Sheri Lemke. Please keep their families in your prayers. Two weeks ago the family of Frances Mollner, who died in 2015, and I interred her ashes. Please keep them in your prayers also.

Our Scripture Lessons for this Sunday are:

Haggai 1:15b-2:9 - The Word of the Lord comes to the people in and around Jerusalem through the prophet Haggai. This is the time shortly after Babylon began releasing the people of Judah and allowing them to return. The Lord asks them if they remember the former glory of the Temple. Then, they should look at the rubble of that Temple. "Why", the Lord asks, "is it still that way? Work now to rebuild and its new glory will be greater than its former glory, for my spirit is with you."

Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 - The psalmist praises God for God's greatness and glory. One generation will proclaim God's glory to the next generation, for the Lord is just in all ways and kind in all things. The psalmist will speak praise for God and all humanity will bless God's holy name.

OR Psalm 98 - The psalmists call us to sing the praises of God for God is mighty and just. God has remembered the steadfast love and faithfulness that is God's way. All of creation will make a joyful noise for the Lord.

OR Job 19:23-27a - Job cries out that he wishes his words were inscribed in a book for he knows that his Redeemer (Vindicator) lives and that the Redeemer will stand on this earth. Job proclaims that even after his skin has been destroyed his flesh will behold God.

Psalm 17:1-9 - The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his enemies. He claims that there is no deceit or wickedness in his heart. He asks God to protect him from his enemies who surround him.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 - In the early days of Christianity, the disciples and apostles, like Paul, believed in the eminent return of Jesus Christ to set the world right. When Paul brought the Good News, Gospel, to the people at Thessaloniki that was one of the things he taught them. His first letter to them might be the first document to be written in the New Testament. That letter reaffirmed the belief that Jesus would return very soon. In our reading in this second letter, Paul asks the church to continue believing in spite of the passage of time or the claims of others to be God (the emperors in Rome). God's rule will come and the deceiver will be defeated. Then Paul reminds them that they have been chosen by God for salvation (through Jesus) and sanctification (by the Spirit) and should therefore remain steady in their faith and proclamation.

Luke 20:27-38 - Jesus has entered into Jerusalem, wept about the fate of Jerusalem, and cleared the Temple of the businessmen. (19:28-46) Luke reports that Jesus taught at temple the days following his entry. In our reading, the Sadducees, who don't believe in the general resurrection, challenge Jesus about the resurrection and centers around the levirate law. (If a man dies before his wife has a son she must marry his brother so the first brother can have a son through the second.) In their scenario, a woman marries a man who has six brothers. He dies before she has a son. She marries the second who dies before kids. So the third through seventh brothers. (If you were brother #4, 5, 6, or 7 would you really want to marry her? Haha!) They ask Jesus, "In the resurrection whose wife will she be?" Jesus side-steps their question by saying there will be no marriage for all will be children of God and children of the resurrection. Jesus then quotes Exodus 3:6 to state that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. God, speaking to Moses, says, I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" implying that they still live as opposed to "I WAS the God of those who are dead."

Who is God to you? A God of the living or a God of the dead? Who is Jesus to you? Will Jesus return soon or will the waiting continue? In the mean time, what do you do?

May the Lord God Creator, Jesus the Christ, God's Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are together One God, bless you in your work and in your play, in your coming and in your going, and in the people you meet along the way. Amen.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Gary Taylor