Readings for Sunday, June 26, 2016

Hello Everyone,

I am now back from my final one week vacation. About the only thing Cheryl and I did was go to St. Croix Falls, Osceola, and Stillwater for the weekend to do some "touristy" things. We visited several antique shops, a tea shop, an "oils and vinegar" shop (WOW, what wonderful flavors), ate at a fancy Italian restaurant which is built at the entrance of a cave, and ate a banquet dinner on a riverboat. We had a wonderful time.

Wow, I am really behind on posting my lectionary comments; nearly two months. I resolve that I will post every week (until I don't)!

This week is busy so I am feeling like I can't do full justice to all of our texts for this coming Sunday. Maybe enough the whet your appetite for the readings. This Sunday our sermon series on "The Outsiders" focuses on "The Homeless".

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 - It was time for the prophet Elijah to turn his ministry over to his protege Elisha. Elijah tries to dissuade Elisha from following him out into the wilderness but Elisha insisted. The last time Elijah talks to Elisha he ask Elisha what he could do for Elisha. The response, "Give me twice the spirit you have." Elijah tells him to watch and if he sees Elijah being taken up, he will get his request. When all is done, Elisha put on Elijah's mantle and used it to part the waters of the Jordan. What took Elijah up to heaven?

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 - In the opening two verses the psalmist cries out to God for relief from his troubles. In the other ten verses, she remembers all that God has done in creation and in redeeming his people.

OR
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 - After Elijah's encounter with the "still small voice" on Mount Horeb, he is instructed to go back to anoint a king for Israel and anoint Elisha as his successor.

Psalm 16 - After opening with a plea for protection and a statement that those who do not worship God will sorrow, the psalmist tells her hearers why she has chosen to follow God.

Galatians 5:1, 13-25 - Paul urges the churches and the church people in Galatia to not be re-enslaved to the Law and/or to the desires of the flesh. He seems to be using these words, law and flesh, as synonyms. But if you think about it, when we fall into the desires of the flesh we often rely on Law to counteract it, usually failing. If we have been freed from the desires of the flesh then we will be freed from using the Law, against ourselves and against others. In our reading this week, Paul give us a list of "the desires of the flesh" and a counter-balancing list of the fruits of the Spirit (there is no law against these) which come to those who have been set free from the law. Finally, if we allow the Spirit to guide our lives we will not fall back into rivalry.

Luke 9:51-62 - There are two sections to this reading. For the first section, my Bible has the title "A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus". The various titles in our Bibles are placed there by the editors of the edition we are reading. I think that the title in my Bible is wrong. A close reading will show that Jesus has "set his face to go to Jerusalem". Perhaps Jesus decided to bypass the town because of the urgency of going to Jerusalem. Perhaps the town planned a big reception for Jesus but because he needed to keep moving they were not able to "receive" him. The disciples then try to blame the citizens of the town and want Jesus to do what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah. They are "Samaritans" by the way. (The story of the "Good Samaritan" is coming up in two weeks.) Are we like them when we want to blame someone when thing don't go as planned?

The second section of our reading is about various people's excuses for not following Jesus immediately. One want to follow but Jesus reminds him that there will be no place to rest. Jesus asks another but that one needs to bury his father (who may not even be dead yet). And a third says that he must say go and say goodbye to his household first to which Jesus says that those who look to the past are not fit for God's (in-breaking) Kingdom.

The synopsis for this week's sermon series is:

"There are homeless people all around us, some are without a physical home and others without a spiritual home. This passage reminds us that even Jesus was homeless. Even Jesus was cast out and turned away. [A reference to the Samaritan village, but see my thoughts above.] Whether we are welcoming those without a physical home or confronting our own need to find a spiritual home in Christ, this week we claim the reality of a new home as followers of Jesus. To claim our home in the Kin-dom requires us to let go of our former home and look toward our home with God."

So, how are we as followers of Christ ministering to a homeless world? Is there any urgency?

May God bless you in the reading of scripture this week.

Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor

Readings for Sunday, May 8, 2016

Hello Everyone,

This coming Sunday is “Ascension Sunday” when the church remembers Christ’s ascension on the 40th day after his resurrection (which is technically this Thursday. It is also the Seventh Sunday of Easter AND it is Mother’s Day!

The readings for Ascension Sunday are:

Acts 1:1-11 – In the first five verses, Luke writes his friend Theophilus that the first letter he wrote, the Gospel of Luke, he told the story of Jesus’s ministry, death and resurrection. In the resurrection Jesus appeared for 40 days to many people and with convincing proofs. In verses 6-11, Luke recounts the last meeting Jesus had with the disciples. They want to know when God and Jesus will restore the kingdom of Israel. Saying that know one can know that time he send them to be witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.” Jesus then rises into the air and disappears in a cloud. Two men in white robes (angels?) then tell them that Jesus will one day appear in the same manner as he left them. We, the followers of Jesus, must still remember the charge he gave us: to go and be witnesses in Long Prairie, Grey Eagle, Todd County, Minnesota, and all the world. Even if we can’t go into all the world, are we being witnesses where we are?

Psalm 47 – The psalmist praises God who is the Ruler of all Nations.

OR Psalm 93 – The psalmist declares that God is the king over all creation and even the crescendo-ing sound of the floods and the crashing thunders of the waves do not compare to the majesty of the Lord.

Ephesians 1:15-23 – Paul gives thanks to God for the church and people of Ephesus. He prays that God will give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they should know the hope of God’s calling, the riches of God’s inheritance, and the greatness of God’s power for believers. The connection to Ascension Sunday is in verses 20-23: God raised Jesus from death, gave him a seat in heaven above all authority, power, rulers, dominion, and every name here on earth.

Luke 24:44-53 – This is Luke’s first version of the disciples’ last meeting with Jesus and it actually begins in verse 36. (In verse 41 Jesus asks for some fish to eat.) It is not exactly the same as the Acts 1 version. The meeting with Jesus is longer here in Luke and the ascension portion of the story is longer in Acts. Once again, we hear Jesus command the disciples, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are my witnesses of these things.” Are we being witnesses for Repentance and of Forgiveness? You don’t need to go to “all the nations” but are you witnesses where you are (and where God has put you)?

The readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter are:

Acts 16:16-34 – Paul and his co-worker Silas are working in Philippi. A young girl, a slave, who can fortune-tell, follows them for many days telling people that Paul and Silas are proclaiming the way of salvation. Now it seems to me that Paul and Silas would like the free publicity because she is not saying anything false. However, Paul gets annoyed and casts out a demon that gives the girl her power. The owners of this girl were making a lot of money off of her power and when she lost that power their revenue stream suddenly ended. (Note, never mess with a person’s revenue stream.) They complained and the authorities threw Paul and Silas into prison. Around midnight, while singing and praying, a mighty earthquake opened the prison doors and broke their shackles. The jailer, thinking that Paul and Silas escaped, feared for his life because he would be blamed. Paul and Silas did not leave and they reassured the jailer that everything would be OK. The jailer wanted to know how he could be saved. “Believe in the Lord!” they answered and the jailer and his entire household believed and were baptized. Does it take a dramatic event to bring people to the Lord? Sometimes. But we can’t wait for those events. We must be declaring God’s salvation to all people.

Psalm 97 – Once again the psalmist declares that the Lord is king. Using imagery of earth, coastlands, clouds and darkness, fire and lightning, mountains and heaven, the psalmist declares that all of creation praises the Lord God. And the Lord will look after those who oppose evil, are faithful, and are righteous. Rejoice and Give Thanks!

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 – As is typical of the Lectionary, it skips those verses that prove to be problematic. Verse 15 is one of those verses. Verses 18 and 19 are warnings to the readers that no one should add to or subtract from what is written. This was a common practice for documents that were circulated amongst many groups so that the author may have some assurance that other readers will not receive defective documents. These are the final words from Jesus and God and they end with a blessing.

John 17:20-26 – In the Gospel of John Chapter 13, Jesus gathers with his disciples for their last meal together and where Jesus washes his disciples feet giving them a new commandment. Jesus then teaches them about getting through the next several days. This teaching, along with the disciples’ questions, are recorded in Chapters 15, 15, and 16. Jesus finishes the teaching with a prayer that is recorded in Chapter 17 where our reading comes from. In verses 1-5 Jesus prays for himself. In verses 6-19 he prays for the disciples. In our verses this week Jesus prays for future followers; us. He prays that we may be one together in him. In being one together the world will know God’s love. Over the centuries the Church the Jesus established has splintered into thousands of pieces: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant; Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican, and Anabaptist; Fundamentalist, Evangelical, Mainline. How can we claim to be the One Church that Jesus prayed for?

I pray you have a blessed week serving God by serving the neighbors in need.

Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor

Scripture Lessons for Sunday, May 1, 2016

This Sunday is the Sixth Sunday of Easter and we continue with our readings in Acts, Revelation, and the Gospel of John. At this point in time I believe I will be preaching on the Revelation text.

Our readings include:

Acts 16:9-15 – In the three preceding verses we read that Paul and his companions were “forbidden” by the Holy Spirit to go to any of the cities in Asia Minor (Turkey). What would it feel like to think you need to do something and then feel like God was forbidding you? In verse 9, Paul has a vision in the night of a man urging him to go to Macedonia for which he immediately sets out to do. (Of note here, the voice changes from third person “he, she, they” to first person plural “we, us”.) They eventually get to the city of Philippi and on the Sabbath they go to the gate of the city by the river where they talk to the women gathered there. One of the women, Lydia, heard their good news and was baptized by Paul along with her entire household. Has God ever prevented you from doing something so that God’s work could be done in another way, or place, or with someone else?

Psalm 67 – A Psalm of Praise to God for all God’s blessings. This psalm urges all peoples and nations to praise God singing for joy and gladness. As God continues to bless us, do we give our praise and revere God.

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 – This reading should begin at verse 9 where an angel offers to show John the Bride of the Lamb. The angel takes John to a high mountain and shows him a city. The verses between 10 and 22 are a physical description of that city: length, width, height, jewels used in the architecture, and the number of gates. Beginning at 21:22, John describes the other aspects of the city: no temple for the temple is the Lord; no sun or moon for the Light of the Lord shines forever; the gates are never closed so all the peoples and nations may walk into it; the River of Life that runs through it with the Tree of Life and its twelve fruits; and, finally, the Throne of God and the Lamb will be there. This is a glorious vision of what life may be like when God’s Creation is set right. It is also the hope for which all Christians should be working for here on earth. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen.

John 14:23-29 – Jesus’ final discourse in the Gospel of John starts in chapter 13 and goes through chapter 16 (though there seems to be a conclusion at the end of chapter 14. In verse 23, Jesus is responding to a question from Judas (not the betrayer who has already left the scene), “How will you reveal yourself to us and not the world?” Jesus’ answer doesn’t seem to answer the question because Jesus talks about those who love him will keep his commands and the Father will come to them to make their home with them. Jesus then goes on to say that the Holy Spirit (literally the “Advocate”) will come and teach the disciples everything. Jesus promises to leave them his Peace which is not the same thing as the world’s peace (which always comes with the sword and the threat of violence). What does it mean that the Holy Spirit will teach us (the disciples) everything? What does it mean to live with and in the Peace of Christ? Was the teaching of the Holy Spirit closed out when the Bible was completed (or canonized)? Is the Peace of Christ negated when we use force or the threat of force to keep some semblance of peace?

OR John 5:1-9 – Jesus heals a man who had been crippled for 38 years. It was on the Sabbath. Uh-oh! He broke the rules! Is it OK to break the rules if it means life for another?

Have a great week serving God by serving your neighbors.

Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor