November 3, 2024
24th Sunday after Pentecost – Bill Harkins
The Gospel: John 11: 32-44
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
October 27, 2024
23rd Sunday after Pentecost – Ted Hackett
Lessons 10: 6-27
Job and Evil
The last four Sunday’s Hebrew Bible readings have been from the Book of Job.
In those four readings we have pretty well covered the Book …
Hebrew Scriptures…our Old Testament…
Have four parts…
The Law…the first 5 books, the Prophets, and then pretty much everything else … called the “Wisdom Literature”…
Wisdom contains a lot of good sage advice about how to live….plus some stuff that doesn’t fit any particular category.
The Book of Job goes here.
You all know poor Job…and the saying : “The patience of Job”…and of course we have read selections from it over the past four weeks.
So basically…you know the story…
but let’s review…
It’s a very theological story!
Job is a good and righteous man…
He is generous…supporting widows and poor people…making civic gifts..
He is so well respected that when he goes to sit among the men of the community where they gather by the front gate of the city…that the other men do not speak…out of respect.
And Job was very prosperous…
Property, crops, livestock, Sons and Daughters
And in his time and place…
According to orthodox theology…
Such success was proof of his righteousness…
A leader,
October 20, 2024
22nd Sunday After Pentecost – Byron Tindall
They just didn’t get it, again for the umpteenth time.
Zebedee’s sons, James and John, indicate what kind of kingdom they are expecting when Jesus takes over the leadership of that kingdom. “…and they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’”
The place of honor at a ruler’s court at that time was just to the right and left of where the ruler sat. It seems like James and John were expecting Jesus to come back as some type of political ruler or a leader who would be recognized as such by the way his court was organized.
“But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’”
The brothers agreed that they were capable of following Jesus down that road and told him so.
About this time, the other 10 disciples got wind of the conversation that was going on between Jesus, James and John. They got a little miffed.
Jesus called the 12 to come to a meeting where he tried to explain to them that his kingdom was unlike any other kingdom ever seen on earth. They just didn’t get it.
Matthew and Luke report similar incidents in their Gospels.
October 13, 2024
21st Sunday after Pentecost – Ted Hackett
Today’s Gospel reading from Mark sounds pretty…
Well…pretty tough. Let’s look at it with some care.
As often happens…Jesus is about to hit the road…
He seems to have pretty much lived on the road with his disciples… stopping at villages along the way to preach and get food and sleep.
So today he and his gang are setting out…
And first thing…a devout young man appears, falls down on his knees in front of Jesus and beseeches him…
“Good Rabbi… “What do I have to do to have eternal life”…
Jesus scolds him:
“Don’t call me good…only God is good!”
Oops! Not a good start!
But then Jesus speaks to him in a kindly way…
“you know the ten commandments…”
And he recites three of them…
Interestingly…the three relate to how we treat each other and don’t mention God.
I’ve never known what to make of that…
But then, Jesus often baffles me…
But anyway…the young man says: “Rabbi…I have kept the Commandments all my life…”
I doubt that anyone of us could make that claim…to have kept all ten commandments all our lives! How about never coveting a possession of a friend?
Even as a kid?
Boy! Did I ever covet Billy White’s new sled!