Welcome to the November 2025 Archive. You are welcome to read the entire archive, or find a topic on the list below that is of interest to you. Just click the link, and you will be taken directly to the day it was written. Enjoy, and may you know God's peace as you read His Word.
    You are welcome to use these writings or pass them on. All we ask is that in all things you remember the Author and give Him the glory, and remember this vessel which He has used to bring them to you. Peggy Hoppes

A WORD FOR TODAY, November 2025

November 3, 2025

“If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. For, ‘All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; but the Lord’s word endures forever.’ This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:17-25, WEB

We have been doing some remodeling in our house. One of our rooms is now a tv/game room, a place where we can relax and play. We have several old game systems, including a Wii and an Atari (modern rerelease) which have been buried in a box. We set them up so we can use them again. We laughed this morning about how we are sixty-somethings with a game room as if we were in our teens again. Of course, teens today don’t use the kind of game systems we had, but we can reminisce about our younger years. I wished that I still had the Pong game I had when I was a kid. I know the graphics are ridiculously simple, but it was fun, and I was pretty good!

The room will also be used for movie nights. I still purchase CDs. I even have a few VCR tapes and a player I can use! I have so many old movies on DVD and Blue Ray and a few new ones we haven’t watched yet. Movies were often the focus of our family time. Bruce and I have rented a cabin where we went to spend a weekend just watching movies. We had movie parties for our children’s birthday parties. We don’t take the time to watch as often as we should, but maybe the new tv room will entice us into having regular movie nights.

One of the movie parties included a screening of the movie “Shrek.” We enjoyed popcorn as we watched the craziness of that modern day fairy tale unfold. Shrek is an ogre, an extremely ugly and rude character who described himself as an onion, with many different layers. In the movie, other fairy tale characters are evicted from their homes and end up in his swamp. Shrek went to the evil Lord Farquaad to demand he restore the creatures to their homes so he could have his privacy. Shrek won the opportunity to rescue a princess that Farquaad wanted to marry. If he succeeded, Farquaad would get the creatures out of his swamp. Shrek and his buddy the Donkey traveled to the foreign land to save Fiona.

Fiona is a beautiful princess, trapped in the tower of a castle protected by a large dragon. After some perilous adventures, the three began their journey home. Fiona had some definite ideas about how her fairy tale was supposed to end, and an ogre was not part of her expectation. She reluctantly went with Shrek and Donkey, but a relationship bloomed during the journey. Fiona was not completely honest; she hid herself at night because she had a deep dark secret. She became an ugly ogre at night, but she was sure that when she married Lord Farquaad and kissed him with love’s first kiss the spell would be broken, and she would live forever as a beautiful princess. The three friends had a misunderstanding and though she began to love Shrek, she went with the evil Farquaad to be married.

In the end, Shrek’s true heart was revealed and the two kissed love’s first kiss. Fiona’s wish came true, though not as she expected. Instead of becoming a beautiful princess, she became an ogre forever, just like her true love. They realized that true love is not necessarily as we expect, but something much deeper and more real.

The same is true of the love of God. The Jews had an expectation of what the Messiah would look like, and how he would fulfill the promise. For many years they followed false messiahs looking for an earthly answer to their problems. They missed Jesus completely when He was in their midst because He did not fit into their expectations. Yet, He was the answer to all their prayers, giving a deeper love than anything they could even imagine. Sadly, we tend to miss the truth and love of our Lord because we are looking for the fairy tale ending.

I’m sure our house is much too big for the two of us, but we have made our home a welcome place for everyone who might come to be part of our family, even if it is only for a brief time. We laughed about being old folk with a nostalgic room full of old movies and games, but it will be a way that we continue to live the love that we found with each other and share our love with our friends.

Fiona thought she had to give up the ugly ogre to find true love, but she really was giving up real love for something evil. In our Christian walk, we often seek love in the wrong places: in the law or in the perishable things of this world. However, true love is found in the truth of Jesus Christ, the twist at the end of the fairy tale. Jesus died so that we might have life. In His death we are resurrected to be something very beautiful, a beauty that will live forever. With His life in us, we love as He does, sincerely and deeply, from our hearts.

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November 4, 2025

“Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple. For in the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me. I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh. Hear, Yahweh, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also on me, and answer me. When you said, ‘Seek my face,’ my heart said to you, ‘I will seek your face, Yahweh.’ Don’t hide your face from me. Don’t put your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Don’t abandon me, neither forsake me, God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then Yahweh will take me up. Teach me your way, Yahweh. Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies. Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.” Psalm 27, WEB

“Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.” These words are found repeatedly in the scriptures, particularly in the form “Be strong and courageous.” Moses said it to the Israelites when he was old, and they were nearing the fulfillment of the Promised Land. He spoke the words to Joshua as he passed the mantel of leadership onto his shoulders. God said it to Joshua as he began to lead the Israelites. The people of Israel said it to Joshua, to encourage him when he faced rebellion. Joshua said it to the leaders of the army when they were set to defeat those who opposed them. David said it to Solomon, to encourage him as he turned the throne over to him. Hezekiah said it to the people of Israel when they faced their enemies. Each time, these words were accompanied by the promise that God would be with them. “He will go with you,” the encourager always said. Their courage and strength would always come from Him.

As I was reading through the second book of Samuel, I found similar words spoken by David’s son Absalom. I was a bit shocked by this phrase in its context. See, Absalom said it to his servants when he commanded them to kill his brother Amnon.

David was a great king of Israel, beloved by the people in His day and for every generation of Jew since. However, David was less than perfect. He had a heart for God, which is why God continued to bless him, but he also acted according to his flesh over and over again. The most obvious sin in the scriptures is found in the story of Bathsheba, the married woman he slept with while her husband was serving as a commander over David’s army. They were in the field while he stayed home. Bathsheba became pregnant from the encounter, do David tried to cover his sin, by calling Uriah to Jerusalem. “Go home and love your wife,” David said, but Uriah refused to embrace the comfort of home and wife while his troops were in danger on the battlefield. David then ordered his commander to ensure Uriah would die on the battlefield. Bathsheba mourned but then married David. The child died, but she had other children by him, including Solomon, who became king after David died.

God continued to bless David’s house, but his actions were not without consequences. Besides the death of the child, Nathan warned David that, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’” David’s family relationships were very complicated from that moment on. His sons fought one another. His sons tried to usurp his throne. His sons fought the chosen king Solomon.

One of the most horrific stories among David’s sons is the rape of Tamar. Tamar was Absalon’s sister, Amnon’s half-sister. Amnon wanted Tamar, and asked Absalom to make it happen. Absalom sent Tamar into Amnon’s chamber to care for him in an illness, but Amnon had other ideas. He wanted her to consent, to sex, but when she refused, he raped her. She begged him to leave her alone, because it would ruin her. He took her anyway, and then afterward rejected her, leaving her desolate. David did nothing about the rape, and Absalom began to hate his father. Absalom also hated his brother but did nothing for a time. An opportunity came two years later. This is when Absalom spoke to his servants, commanding them to kill Amnon. “Be strong and valiant,” he told them, and then obeyed.

Absalom became a thorn in David’s side, though David loved all his sons (he had many!) This episode was just one of many that would plague David’s house while he was king, the consequence of his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. However, David still lived a righteous life, trusting that God would be faithful to his promises, and that He would deal with the struggles in his house. Many around him thought he should punish Absalom. Even when Absalom tried to usurp his throne, and eventually did take it from David, David refused to fight. He even fled from his son. David was restored after Absalom died, but he did so with great grief at the way his son died.

The thing we learn from Absalom, and David, is to trust in God. He sang in today’s Psalm, “Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?” David accepted God’s judgment but also trusted God’s promises. Absalom, however, decided to take matters into his own hands. He not only rebelled against his father David, but he also rebelled against God in many ways. He took revenge on his brother Amnon, rather than waiting for God’s justice. He usurped David’s throne, rather than honoring God’s intention for David’s family. Absalom died in battle, and David withdrew from life in mourning over his son, who was lost to him not only by death, but also in life. It took Joab to remind David of his responsibility to the people of Israel to lead them.

The story of David teaches us about God’s justice and mercy, as well as the power of God to fulfill His purposes despite human failings. highlights the enduring themes of divine justice and mercy, as well as the fulfillment of God's purposes despite human failings. As we read today’s psalm, which is attributed to David, we are reminded to wait for God. “Be strong and courageous, because God is with you.” God is with us. He calls us to obedience and trust. He calls us to put God first, to live according to His Word, to embrace God’s goodness that is never far, even when our lives seem chaotic. Our story will never be as convoluted as David’s, but we will experience the consequences of our sin. Thankfully, God has also promised us His mercy, and He is faithful. Wait for Yahweh. Be strong and courageous, because He has promised to always be near.

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November 5, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for November 9, 2025, Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost: Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 148; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17; Luke 20:27-40

“Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, WEB

A few years ago I received an email from a woman doing research about her family heritage. She was distantly related to our family through our mother and she was interested in knowing more about the history of our family and their immigration to America. I didn’t have much information but shared my mother’s last living brother’s information so she could get talk to someone who could give her details. A few years later, I received a message from a young man curious about the same familiar ties. He was the great-grandson of my mother’s sister. I still did not have much information, and all the siblings were gone. I was able to give him some photos, including some from a picnic where his grandmother and my brother were children.

These encounters made me curious about our history, especially since we seemed to have such little information. So much information is available online, but the best sites require subscriptions to use the services. I was not able to delve as deeply as I would have liked because I couldn’t afford the membership, and quite frankly, I didn’t want to get caught up in the time that it takes to jump from one “leaf” of the family tree to another. I managed to find a website that had a picture of the tombstone of some family. I couldn’t really put together the connection, but it was interesting to catch a glimpse of my ancestors.

I recently found another website, a free one with more information. With the help of a family bible from my father’s mother, I was able to confirm that most of their information was accurate. I spent too many hours clicking through connections and discovered that my father’s family went back to 15th century Germany. The history was a bit different than I expected, but I really did not have time to go as deeply as I wanted. The more you search into the past, the more branches there are on the tree to click through. My father’s ancestors immigrated to America in the mid-eighteenth century and settled in New York. In one story, my ancestor’s brother and his daughter were slaughtered by a rogue group of loyalists and natives during the time of the Revolutionary War. There is apparently a historic sign somewhere near Albany with their names.

When I worked on my mother’s family, I still did not find as much information as I wanted. I did discover that my great grandparents immigrated from England and Wales in the mid-nineteenth century, and I found an interesting article about the death of my mother’s father, who was a constable that was killed by a train while serving his community. I spent too much time chasing after the branches of my family tree, but I enjoyed reading the stories about my ancestors. I would like to do more, and perhaps someday I’ll spend the money, and the time, chasing on one of the subscription sites.

Human beings like roots. Our identity is often caught up in our history. Matthew begins his gospel with a list of the genealogy of Jesus. This was vital to the Jewish community to which Matthew was writing. The genealogy established the rights of Jesus to claim the throne of Israel through the line of David. Matthew even takes the genealogy back to Abraham, typical of a Jewish family tree. Luke’s genealogy is slightly different, defining Jesus as the Priest King whose line goes all the way back to Adam. These genealogies established for the first believers Jesus’ role and define his position and authority as the Messiah of Israel.

Most of us are not so dependent on our heritage when it comes to our lives. I doubt that very many of us have the job we have because we were born into it. In our world, people are less likely to even stay near family. We are a mobile and transient society, choosing to live according to our interests and abilities. I live nearly two thousand miles from my hometown, having landed here as the wife of a military man. Despite the distance, we still like roots. We may not be able to define generations of ancestors, but we do look to the future. We hope that our children will continue the life begun in the past so that we will live on through them. For some families, there is a desperate need for a male heir so that the family will live on.

What I found interesting in my research is that it is sometimes difficult to be certain about the connections because names often change. As I clicked through the centuries I discovered that my father’s surname had more than a dozen spelling variations. Families coming to America often changed their surname because the one from their homeland was too difficult to pronounce or spell. Others changed it to avoid persecution. Sometimes the name was changed because a scribe made a mistake when recording the information. Language changes, so ancient names evolved with the language. Other names are translated from one language to another.

The Sadducees were concerned about the type of eternal life that is founded in procreation. A person lived forever because they begat offspring to carry the family name and estate into the future. They did not believe in an eternal life that came after death. When a person died, they were dead unless they had children. To them, the idea of resurrection was just foolishness and easily ridiculed. They thought their logic was solid enough to make a fool out of Jesus with their questions. After all, resurrection of the dead made no sense because it caused all sorts of problems in the afterlife, such as this situation presented to Jesus.

Jesus would not allow them to make a fool of Him. He answered them with two points. First of all, the eternal life that comes with the resurrection of the dead is not like the world in which we live. It is different. It is new. It is not defined by the laws or practices of the earth. There will be no marriage, no need for procreation. Eternal life is not dependent on heirs. So, Jesus told them that the question itself is ridiculous because it assumed that nothing would change. Then He used scripture to prove that eternal life is something that comes after death, that death was not the end of one’s life but just the beginning. He said, “Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.” God told Moses to tell the children of Israel that He is, “the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Since Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead in flesh when Moses stood before the burning bush, then they must have still been alive.

We can certainly take an interest in our past and have a hope for our future. We can give our kids solid roots and tools to do well in this world so that our life will have had meaning and purpose and even a future. Yet, our position in God’s kingdom is not founded in our genealogy and our hope for the future does not rest on our children. We are children of God by faith and by faith we will live forever.

My family research was made easier because of the Internet. When I heard from the woman, and later heard from the young man, I couldn’t find the resources to do a good study. However, the information grows every day as people input details and create new and better websites.

The Internet has made things very easy for us. In just a matter of minutes we can sit down at a computer, do our banking, pay our bills, purchase our Christmas presents, and send hundreds of people an email. I can easily look up background information for my studies and devotions, accessing the writings of theologians and historians to put more depth into the work. What used to take hours pouring through books and encyclopedias or running to the library. We get so much more done in less time. I love to use the internet to shop or plan trips. I often use it as a resource for my arts and crafts. It is amazing how easy it is to accomplish so much in very little time.

Unfortunately, the Internet has also given criminals a new outlet for their illegal behaviors. We have to be especially careful when dealing with our personal information online. I have received emails over the years that appear to be from national, recognizable companies. These emails have official looking logos and email addresses. The emails are designed to look like the real thing. The links in the email look normal, but if you check out the code you find that it directs you to a completely different site. These emails are phishing for information. They deceive you into believing that the company needs you to update your account. Many of these emails aren’t even from companies with which I do business, banks where I do not bank or stores where I’ve never shopped. However, these scammers send the email to millions of people, expecting that at least one or two will fall for the deception. It is so easy to click a button, and the cost is minimal, so it only takes a few fools to make them rich.

Quite frankly, we all think we can’t be deceived. We believe we ae too intelligent or observant to fall for the deception. However, these false emails are very convincing. Some of the online scams are so obviously false that only the most foolish people will fall for it. The design is less professional; the text is filled with error. I even got one that had the name of the company misspelled in the subject line. However, some of them appear so real that even savvy people can be misled.

Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians addresses an issue that most of us would rather not discuss: the end times. The language of eschatology is difficult even for theologians. Which images are literal, which are figurative? When should we be concerned about the prophecies? Were the apocalyptic texts written for our generation or has it all come to pass in a way we did not recognize? Who is the man of lawlessness? Was he a character in the days of Paul or is he someone yet to come? Will the coming of Christ be a physical return or spiritual? While there are those who insist that they have all the answers, there are perfectly acceptable arguments from many different points of view. We argue about what is true. We even argue about the definition of the terms. I suppose that is why it is so confusing to the average Christian, and why it is something that most Christians would rather not discuss.

Paul wrote in this letter the message that really matters: God loves you and He chose you to be fruit, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and called by the Gospel to obtain the glory of Christ. Paul also reminds us that though it is God who chooses, sanctifies and calls, we have a responsibility for our salvation: faith in the truth. We are called to stand firm in the Christian faith we have been given, no matter the circumstances we face. Jesus might return this very minute, or He might not return for a thousand years. We may be totally surprised by the way things play out in this world in which we live, but we do not have to be surprised by the outcome. We have been given faith and by God’s grace we have a hope that reaches beyond the mystery of the eschatological promises of God.

I always wonder about the images we have of that life. Will we really spend the rest of eternity worshipping God? I remember that as a youth I used to get bored with an hour of worship, easily distracted by my thoughts. I’m not that much different today. My mind still wanders. I still think about the busy-ness of tomorrow and replay the events of the past. If we can’t possibly sit through one hour of worship, how will we do it for eternity?

The point that Jesus makes in today’s Gospel lesson is that it will be different. Imagine if it had been you on the mountain instead of Moses? How would you have reacted? How would you have answered His call? Moses was in the presence of God Himself, hearing His voice and witnessing a form of His glory. “Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.” Despite Moses’ fear, he was even more afraid of what God was calling him to do. He had many excuses. He was not eloquent enough. He was not important enough. He was not informed enough. “How can I do this? What should I say?” God answered with a promise, “Certainly I will be with you.”

It was not easy. Moses faced a people who had become comfortable in their discomfort. He faced people who had more power than he did. He was proposing the impossible to both the Israelites and Pharaoh. Why would anyone follow him? And yet, even today, we remember Moses for his faith and for his obedience to God’s call. Moses established a lasting legacy. But do we remember him because of his own work and righteousness? Do we remember him because he left behind the Pentateuch and the Law? Or do we remember him because he humbly followed God’s word and acted as God’s chosen one despite his own fears and uncertainty?

We all want to leave a lasting legacy, something that will keep our memory alive for a long time. We seek to have that eternal life that comes with having an impact on the world. I am sure most parents see that in the lives of their children, just like the Sadducees, but Jesus points out that eternal life is something much different. A picture of our tombstone may appear on the Internet. We might become part of an ancestry website. We might be remembered for a long time for the things that we have done, but that’s not the promise of God. I always hoped that one day some of my paintings would appear in a museum. Unfortunately, once we are dead, we will never know if any of that will be true. We won’t know what has been written about us or whether our work will be on display for the world to see. We won’t know if our words are quoted or if our tombstone epitaphs have eroded away. However, we will know is the joy of standing in the presence of God, the blessing of standing on holy ground and hearing God’s voice with our own ears, seeing His glory forever.

We might not look forward to the end of days because the promise of the end is frightening to those of us who still live and want to have an impact on the world. There was a dying woman who liked to hang out in an internet chat room I frequented. We did not know she was dying; she never revealed her pain or suffering. She simply shared the Gospel with people. As her days drew short, she became desperate. She was changed by her fear, and it was like she was trying to reach a quota. Instead of sharing the message of mercy and grace, she became threatening those who would not change to her point of view with a warning of impending danger. She was angry. She was so passionate about her “ministry” that she risked harming the relationships she had built over the years to accomplish her goal. We did not understand what happened until after she was gone and her family informed us of her death.

Fear is rampant in our world today. People feel frightened about so much; sometimes they do not even know what frightens them. We are afraid of illness, terrorism, poverty, and oppression. We are afraid of our neighbors because we disagree about everything. We have too many people on our prayer lists dealing with cancer. We struggle with the possibility of other diseases, known to us only by the commercials for drugs that promise to make us better. It seems like the weather is worse today than in any past generation. We watch the news and see violence in our streets, confusion in our youth, hatred between people. It doesn’t help that every generation has some prophetic “voice” claims that this is happening because we have come to the end of all days.

We have so much about which to be afraid of, but even with the threats we face, the scriptures tell us not to be afraid. The reality, whether we want to admit it or not, is that we are enemies with God and it is Him that we should fear. We are enemies because we sin against Him. Even the smallest infraction on our neighbors is an offense to His holiness. He has the power to destroy us, for He is the One who created us. His judgment is right, and His wrath is just. And yet, it is God Himself who is our refuge. He sent Jesus to take His wrath upon Himself and all judgment fell on His own shoulders as He hung on the cross. By His blood, God makes us His children rather than His enemies and He protects us from all that might bring us harm.

We will face fearful things in this world. Sickness and war threaten our lives. We might even run into a gang of criminals or find ourselves surrounded by hoodlums. We might make a mistake by answering that email from a scammer. The fear we experience can paralyze us. Some people are so afraid that they are unable to live daily in this world because of their worries. Fear can make us reject, persecute, or avoid others. Fear can make us hate, kill, or lust after things which are not ours. Life in fear is not life; it is bondage. Yet fear in God is true life because it frees us to live in the salvation, He has provided for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God is our refuge and our strength, not because He is a kind and loving God, but because He is more fearsome than our worst enemies. We need not live in fear of the things in this world that might hurt us. Instead, let us live with fear and trembling in the shadow of the Most High God because that is where we will find peace in the face of our enemies. Sometimes our greatest enemy is ourselves, as we try to hold on to the things that do not matter, letting go of the thing that matters most.

The most important thing about faith is that God is the God of the living, not the dead. He is worthy of our fear and trembling, there we will find His grace and His peace. He calls us to live the life of faith in this world. Sometimes that life will seem like a contradiction, especially to those wishing to make us look foolish. However, God is with us. He will see us through. Our hope rests not in this world but in the life He has promised for us through Jesus Christ. This God who is with us now and forever is worthy of our praise.

The psalmist wrote “Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh from the heavens! Praise him in the heights.” We are called and gathered by the Holy Spirit to join with the entire creation to sing praises to God our Father. He hears our praise wherever we are, because everything He has made sings along with us. Yet, there is something very special when Christians raise their voices together to glorify God in the here and now. When you consider the entire creation, the heavens that reach far beyond our imagination, the microscopic organisms that could destroy a population of humans, the redwood trees that reach so high we can’t see the top, the depths of the sea that are too deep for our technology, it is easy to see the greatness of God. It is also easy to see that we are not much in the entire scheme of things. It is humbling to realize our place in this world. Yet, He has created us to be the crown of His creation. Should we not want to glorify Him together with one voice of praise above our own legacy? He gave us the heavens and the earth. He gave us the sun and the wind and the rain. He gave us the animals, birds, plants, and trees. Most of all, He gave us other people to love in ways that glorifies Him.

Several years ago, there was a story about two men in Australia who decided to get rich quick. They created the perfect one-million-dollar bill (American dollars) and took it to the bank to be deposited. They thought that by using a counterfeit American dollar in a foreign bank, they would be long gone before the bank knew it was not real. Unfortunately for the men, the bank teller was smarter, and they were arrested for trying to pass off a denomination of dollar bill that did not even exist. The American Treasury department does not produce a million-dollar bill.

Satan is much more intelligent than those two guys in Australia. He does not counterfeit that which does not exist. Rather, he takes the truth of God and adds a twist, and though it appears real, it is not, the way the internet scammers try to fool the people they email. God did not set the world into motion and then step back to allow it to move on its own. God is amongst His people. He is still changing lives. He is still creating and redeeming His people. He still paints the sunrises and forms the babies in the womb. He is still speaking through His chosen ones so that the world will know He exists. He continues to have mercy on sinners. And He promises that the day will come when He will be present in a very real way, in a way we will be able to see and hear with our own resurrected bodies. He promises that we’ll be with Him for eternity, dwelling in His presence forever.

For now, however, we are called to live in faith in this world. It is up to us to create a legacy that matters, not one that will make us remembered in museums or on the internet, but one that will share the promise with the generations to come. Children might help keep our name alive forever, but that’s not the reason we have children. We procreate because God has created us in His image, as creators. We are blessed with children so that we can pass our faith to them. Our place in God’s kingdom is not founded in our genealogy from the past or in the future. Our hope does not rest in any legacy we can create. We are children of God by faith and by faith we will live forever by His grace. We can rest in the reality that Jesus has the answers to all our arguments. He comforts us and establishes our work that will leave the greatest legacy: a life that glorifies God.

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November 6, 2025

“Yahweh, how many are your works! In wisdom, you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches. There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals. There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there. These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season. You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good. You hide your face; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust. You send out your Spirit and they are created. You renew the face of the ground.." Psalm 104:24-30, WEB

Evidence means, “testimony in proof of something.” For evidence to be admissible, it must be clear and must provide a fair representation of the facts to the judge and jury. The testimony can be oral, by a person who witnessed the event or who can give character information of those involved. Other types of evidence may be physical, such as pictures, video, objects found at the scene or other such things. The evidence may directly support the case or may be circumstantial. Circumstantial evidence means that the facts can be reasonably deduced from the testimony.

Any sort of lawsuit or criminal trial is dependent on the evidence provided. The testimony is based on the words of witnesses and the items that are presented in the case. Of course, evidence is important outside the courts. There were moments when I found myself quickly reacting to situations with my children because I was not fully aware of the evidence. I jumped to conclusions without getting the facts. How often do we make decisions and judgments without looking studying all the issues? How often do we regret our decisions because we did not consider the evidence before jumping to conclusions?

Sometimes we have to trust people and circumstances with little evidence. There were times that I just had to accept the word of my children because there was nothing to prove what they said. We often purchase products based on their advertisements. We vote for politicians based on what we see in campaigns, often finding things were hidden that would have changed our choice until after election day.

What about the Word of God? Many people are not willing to believe based on the oral testimony of Christians or the written testimony found in the scriptures. They seek physical proof of the existence of God. We can see the truth of God in everything around us and in His creation. Psalm 104 speaks of God’s mighty hand as He made everything and set the waters in motion. The psalmist gives praise to God for the animals, the earth and the heavens.

Though this evidence will do nothing to change the mind of one who has judged that God does not exist, creation does provide constant reminders to those with faith that God is very close and active with His people. It is impossible for me to not see the hand of God in the world whenever I walk out my door. He is visible in the landscape, in the faces of my neighbor, and in the circumstances that come my way. I pray today, as you go about your work and play, that you will look for God in everything: in the running water, in the laughter of children, in the food upon your plate. God’s works are many, His love is complete, and His provision is very real. You can know this by the evidence of His creation, but you must have faith. Thankfully, He gives that too.

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November 7, 2025

“Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes.” Proverbs 3:5-6, WEB

Have you ever asked God for clarity. “Lord, I’ll do whatever you ask, but please make it clear that this is really from you.” I have done this many times in my life. I ask God for a sign. “Show me I’m going the right way.” I confess that I’m a little jealous of Biblical characters like Gideon whose prayers are answered so clearly. Take Gideon, for example. In Judges 6, God calls Gideon to lead the people of Israel, but Gideon doesn’t know how he could possibly be the right guy. “Oh, Lord. Me? How?” God assures him that He will be with him. Gideon said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me.” He made a cake for the messenger delivering this call and the messenger accepted the offering. The reality of the encounter frightened Gideon, but God said, “Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid.” God often reminds us not to be afraid and to have peace in our hearts. He has commanded that of me when I’m wishing He would be clear.

So, the encounter between Gideon and God went on as God commanded Gideon to destroy the false gods and build an altar to sacrifice to God. Gideon did as he was told, but the people of that city were angry. “Give us your son for a sacrifice!” They wanted to appease their gods. Gideon called Israel to gather to fight their enemies. Still Gideon was not sure he was doing what God intended. Gideon asked God for clarity. “Lord, I’ll do whatever you ask, but please make it clear that this is really from you.” He asked God to show him a sign. “If this is you, make the dew fall on this piece of fleece, but let the ground be dry.” God answered this prayer, the fleece was wet and the ground was dry, something that could only happen by the hand of God. Despite this proof, Gideon asked again. “If this is you, make the dew fall on the ground, but let the fleece be dry.” God answered this prayer, too. Then, and only then, Gideon believed and went out to fight Israel’s enemies. He believed that God would be with him and would be faithful.

If only God would answer my prayers so clearly. In another story, God shows His providence clearly to Abraham’s servant. Abraham was very old, a hundred and thirty-seven years. He knew his time was growing short, and his son Isaac was not yet married. He was afraid that Isaac would choose a local girl like his half-brother Ishmael, so he sent his servant to his family to find a wife for Isaac among his own people. The servant was uncertain. “What if they won’t let her come?” he asked Abraham. Abraham trusted in God’s providence. The servant went hundreds of miles with an abundance of gifts. When he arrived at the right area, he prayed. Now, the servant referred to God as “my master’s God,” so he may not have even been a believer. Yet, he prayed a very specific prayer. “God of my master, let the woman you choose for my master, offer to water my camels when I ask for water.” Even as he was praying, Rebecca arrived on the scene and did exactly what the servant wanted. Still, the servant wondered. “The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey prosperous or not.” (Genesis 24:21, WEB) When he asked about her family, she was from the right family. He gave her the usual gifts in contemplation of marriage. The family agreed and Rebecca went with the servant. It was love at first sight when Isaac and Rebecca met.

If only God would be so clear when I want to know if I was going the right way. God doesn’t seem to make the fleece wet for me. He doesn’t seem to put the right person in my path. I always wonder if I am really doing what He intends. Perhaps I don’t get these kinds of answers because I don’t ask the way Gideon or the servant asked. I don’t get so specific. I just ask for signs. And perhaps He does give me signs that I don’t really understand at the time.

Abraham was one hundred and thirty-seven years old when he sent his servant home to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham looked back on his life and saw God’s hand throughout. Things happened just as God intended for them to happen. I can look back on my life and see similar things, moments when God’s hand is obvious in my life. I didn’t always recognize them at the time, but I can see God really does lead and guide me as I make decisions about my life. He really does give me signs, though they aren’t as miraculous as Gideon. They are more like the servant’s experience, divine appointments that we don’t expect but are clearly God’s work.

I like to call these things God-incidences. God-incidences are moments that the world might call luck or coincidence, but people of faith see God’s hand in the midst of them. The proverb reminds us to trust in God with our whole hearts and to acknowledge Him in all we do. Perhaps I’m blind to the moments and wish God spoke with more clarity, but God can be glorified in our lives even when we don’t realize how near He is. He can accomplish amazing things with the most unexpected people and circumstances. He shows us stories like Gideon and the servant, not to make us jealous of the way He dealt with them, but to remind us how amazing He is. We just have to watch and believe, acknowledging that He is in the midst of it all. God doesn’t always do things miraculously. As a matter of fact, He usually does things simply, according to the natural world in which we live. If we look for God’s hand in the ordinary experiences of our lives and trust that He is guiding us to walk in His ways, we will discover that He is always proving His faithfulness to us over and over again.

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November 10, 2025

“Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb. Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture. Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this: he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun. Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.” Psalm 37:1-8, WEB

November 10th is a day I always remember because of the people who were born on this day. It is the day in 1453 when Martin Luther came into this world. My father was born four hundred and forty-four years later. My relationship with Martin Luther is not personal, but it is about the direction of my faith and understanding of God. My father, on the other hand, had a direct impact on my life. Martin Luther never knew me, but my father loved and provided for me and our family. His heritage is my heritage. At least a few of his genes have affected every aspect of me: my health, personality, and appearance. Though their influence on my life has been very different, I wish I could bake them a cake to celebrate the day of their birth.

It is necessary to go through a series of steps to bake a cake. First, you must gather your ingredients. It may be necessary to preheat the oven and prepare the pan with grease and flour. You need to take each ingredient and carefully mix them together so that the batter is properly prepared. After the batter is poured into the pan, the pan is put in the oven. At this point, there is nothing left to do but wait. Checking the cake every two minutes does more harm than good, since opening the oven door causes the air inside to cool. Watching the clock, pacing the kitchen, or worrying about the cake does not help the cake to bake. You must be patient and wait until the appointed time.

There’s a story you have probably heard about an old farmer who attended a potluck dinner at his church. Since he was an elder in the church, the pastor asked if he would say grace for the meal. The old farmer stood up, everyone bowed their heads and the he began, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.” The preacher opened one eye and wondered to himself where this was going. Then the farmer loudly proclaimed, “Lord, I hate lard!” Now the preacher was overly worried. However, without missing a beat, the farmer prayed on, “And Lord, you know I don’t care much for raw white flour.” Just as the preacher was ready to stand and stop everything, the farmer continued. “But Lord, when you mix ‘em all together and bake ‘em up, I do love fresh biscuits. So lord, when things come up we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you are sayin’ to us, we just need to relax and wait till You are done mixin’, and probably it will be something even better that biscuits. Amen.”

The ingredients of a cake are slightly different than a biscuit, but the concept is the same. We don’t like the ingredients alone but put together they are delicious. Neither Luther nor my father had easy lives. There were struggles, some dangerous, others heartbreaking. They did the best they could, and our world would not have been the same without them. Of course, Martin Luther’s impact was much greater for many, but I was blessed in so many more ways being the daughter of my dad. God has this way of speaking to our needs, a way that is beyond our comprehension. I needed both these men in my life and I am thankful that I can remember them both on this day, even if their influence was so different. They were ingredients to the biscuits that God is making in my life.

We don’t see the outcome. We want to know what is next. We want to eat the biscuits! But God sometimes calls us for patience. He’s making biscuits and we just don’t smell them baking just yet. Note that in these eight verses of Psalm 37, the psalmist writes three times, “Do not fret!” Fretting is worry, and worry doesn’t help matters at all. Worry keeps us from trusting God, and discipleship means trusting God above all else. We have to live in this world, and we have to deal with the struggles and joys of this world, but we have to do it from the point of view that God knows what is coming.

So, what are we to do while the biscuits are baking? God answers that question in these verses. The psalmist exhorts us to trust in the Lord, do good, dwell in the land, cherish faithfulness, delight in the Lord, commit to walking His way, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently. Cherish faithfulness seems to be translated differently in every version of the bible, but it seems to mean letting the Word of God become part of your whole being. As Christians, righteous before God because of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we are to live as disciples no matter what. Discipleship in this world, in good times and bad through suffering and joy, means living according to God’s Word, glorifying Him, and doing what is right for our neighbors. The more we live as God is calling us to live, the more we will see how He has been making biscuits all along with the people and circumstances of our lives. We can trust that one day we’ll be feasting on them in heaven for eternity, and not just biscuits, but also cake!

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November 11, 2025

“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. I command these things to you, that you may love one another.” John 15:12-17, WEB

I’m not usually a fan of extreme outdoor art installations. Even as an artist, I don’t always appreciate the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude or understand the value of wrapping 1.5 miles of Australian coastline with a million square feet of fabric. What purpose did Nele Alzevedo’s “Ice Sculpture of Melting Men” serve, since the hundreds of sitting ice figures melted within hours of being placed in display. Where is the beauty in Doris Salcedo’s “Chair Building”? The artists have a point to make, their installations are often poignant and amazing and despite the temporary nature of their creations, they are artists. I appreciate their creativity, but I’m not really a fan of their work. That’s ok, they would probably think that my art is commonplace or perhaps even boring.

I do recall an art installation that really impressed me: Paul Cummins’ “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.” The work was installed in the moat at the Tower of London during the summer/fall of 2014 and unveiled on November 11 of that year. It was made up of 888,246 red ceramic poppies, each one represented the life of a British or Colonial serviceman who was killed during World War I. The poppies were individually made and placed in the ground by a team of artists and volunteers. It included a cascade of poppies flowing out of a window and a spray washing over a bridge. The moat was red with flowers, just as Europe was red with the blood of heroes more than a hundred years ago.

The impact was extraordinary when you considered that each and every one of those nearly 900,000 poppies represented the lives that were lost from one nation in one war. Think about these numbers: the population of Great Britain and Ireland was about forty-six million people in 1914. Of those, ten percent were mobilized for the war. Of that number, more than twenty percent died. Too many young men lost to our foolishness. It is no wonder that we cry out for an end to all war. It seems pointless; too often it is like big boys are fighting over worthless toys. The “toys” are usually land, power, or money, but you get the idea.

Why would we want to remember so much blood that was shed so long ago? It is important for us to remember what has happened in the past so that we do not let it happen again. It might seem to some that the soldiers died in vain, but they believed in the cause for which they fought. War is tragic and horrific, but sometimes it is necessary to stop the wrong that is done and the injustices that are perpetrated. We try to remember so that we will guard against despots that exercise absolute power in a brutal or oppressive ways. Hitler rose to power in the years following World War I, at first seeming like the answer to prayers and then leaving the world tattered and torn from a second, even bloodier war.

Sadly, we do forget. There are even those who deny what happened in Europe in those years, rewriting history to the point of even removing Hitler’s name from the record as if he had no role in the horror. Books have been written rejecting the claims that Nazi gas chambers killed millions and others uplifting the positive impact he had on Germany. This is the first step toward allowing another to gain control and do unspeakable things. The next Hitler may even be in a classroom today, preparing for his or her chance to take power. We remember the dead of the past so that we will be on guard, watching for the signs that should have warned us about the coming trouble.

There will always be those who are willing to do anything to be in control. The Tower of London, the site of the poppy installation, is the site of many innocent deaths, particularly in the medieval period. There were 112 executions, including Henry VIII’s wives Anne and Lady Jane Grey as well as others who were beheaded because he was afraid that they were plotting against him. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother of Edward IV, imprisoned his nephews Edward and Richard in the Tower and stole the throne. The boys disappeared; though it is likely they were killed in the Tower, their disappearance remains a mystery even today. Twelve men were executed for espionage during the First and Second World Wars. Blood literally poured on that grass over the centuries.

But the poppies in the art installation stand for something more than blood and death. I am sure you have seen, at some point in your life, people giving away red paper poppies, especially around holidays that celebrate the lives of those who have served. Veteran’s groups do this to remind everyone of the sacrifices that have been made for the sake of our country and every American. The “Buddy Poppy” program helps disabled American Veterans, who are paid to make the paper poppies. Donations also support VFW programs that help veterans and the families of fallen service people.

The aftermath of war leaves behind a land destroyed by bombs, leveled by powerful machines, turned into mud, and blackened by fire. It might be said the only color is the red of the blood of the dead, yet even that quickly dries into the reddish-brown shade of carmine. It isn’t pretty.

Poppies are flowers that leave behind abundant seeds that begin to bloom when the soil is disturbed. When the bodies of World War I soldiers were buried on the fields of Flanders in Belgium, the ground bloomed with those bright red flowers, leaving the impression of the blood of the fallen on the hearts of those who were left behind. Lt Col John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, was so inspired by the sight of poppies that he wrote a now famous poem called “In Flanders Fields.” McCrae was mourning his own losses, but in the midst of the carnage and destruction, he noticed the delicate but resilient Flanders poppies grew in the thousands, which gave him hope.

In the midst of death there is always hope.

“In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place: and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders’ fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe; to you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high, if ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders’ Fields.”

It is sad to know how many were left behind, but the poem by John McCrae reminds us that it is up to us to continue the work and continue the fight for their sake. The poppies remind us that there are those who are willing to die if the cause is right. They have become a symbol of remembrance, not only for those lost, but also for those who took the risk to stand for what is right, the veterans who have fought the battles that keep the rest of us safe. They have taken up the torch from previous generation, faithfully working toward the world for which they died. They remember the sacrifices of those long gone by continuing to fight for what is right.

On this Veteran’s Day we are thankful for those who willingly risked everything for the sake of others. Most of all, however, we are thankful to the One who has set us free from even death. By faith in Him, our Lord Jesus Christ, we have eternal life. He has called us to go forth into the world, fighting the battles that do not spill blood on the land against an enemy that we can’t always see. He has saved us from death so that we can take His life to the world, overcoming the darkness and pain wrought by those who seek control by any means possible.

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November 12, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for November 16, 2025, Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost: Malachi 4:1-6; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:(1-5) 6-13; Luke 21:5-28 (29-36)

“By your endurance you will win your lives.” Luke 21:19, WEB

The Church calendar has a very specific purpose and pattern. It is meant to take it through the story of God and our place in God’s kingdom each year. We begin in Advent with the promise and the coming of Christ at Christmas, experience the revelation of His light and purpose during Epiphany, then journey to the cross during Lent. Holy Week tells the story of His triumph over the world on Palm Sunday, to the seeming triumph of Satan and the world on Good Friday, to the ultimate triumph of God over sin, death and the devil when He raised Jesus on Easter Sunday. The Easter season ends with the birth of the Church, Pentecost, and the reminder of the Trinitarian God we worship. The very long (nearly half the year) season of Pentecost teaches us how to be disciples of Christ. At the end of the year, we experience a foretaste of the feast to come with the promise of an eternity with God on All Saints. The focus of the end of time during the weeks between All Saints and Christ the King remind us that even with faith, our life is not life in this world always safe and secure and that persecution, sickness, and death is still a reality for Christians.

The church year shows us over and over again our need for Jesus, particularly in these weeks leading up to Advent. God’s promises are real, and they are ours today, but eternity is a future hope. We still live in a world of darkness that cries out for a Savior. That’s why we begin the year with Advent, the light growing in the darkness as we journey with John the Baptist and the other prophets toward the birth of the Jesus. The last Sunday before Advent is Christ the King and though we struggle with the reality of evil and suffering in this world, we celebrate that Jesus is King now and forever. We can’t see Jesus, or touch Him, or feel Him in tangible ways, but we trust by faith that He Is and that He will come to make all things right. For this moment all we have is hope.

It is hard to hope when the world seems to be falling apart around us. We aren’t the first generation to deal with the struggles of life, however. As a matter of fact, our struggles aren’t nearly as bad as we think they are. We forget that we do not deserve God’s grace. We are proud and we are wicked. There are aspects of our lives that would best be destroyed. We sin, we doubt, we hate in one way or another. We deserve to be destroyed by the fire. But that’s where God differs from the human analogies that we use to describe Him. We listen to the prophets of the age and become afraid and angry, forgetting that God can use our struggle to build in us strength, courage, and wisdom. Sometimes it takes getting to the bottom of the barrel to realize our need for His grace.

I love to visit unique architecture when I am traveling. This was especially true during our years in Europe. I was constantly amazed by the grand cathedrals, the massive fortresses, the magnificent country estates, and the quaint cottages. One thing I found interesting is how all those places were often under renovation. I suppose it makes sense since so many of those buildings were hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. Some changes were necessary to keep up with modern technology, but the places we visited often had a museum attached to show us what the building looked like over the years. One of my favorite places to visit was Warwick Castle, which gave the visitor a look into every era of the castle. One area was from the 11th century, when William the Conqueror invaded the British Isles. Another area had a wax display of guests at a turn of the 20th century garden party. There was a dungeon with an oubliette, walls and towers built throughout the centuries, a stronghold keep and a country house. You could see much of the history of England and it’s architecture in a matter of hours. Sometimes they even held Renaissance festivals! It became a tourist destination in the early twentieth century because it was said that the “walls have seen something of the splendor of every generation of our English story.”

I sometimes wish I could have seen the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day. The scriptures give us a hint of the incredible beauty of the place, as the walls shone brightly for the pilgrims as they journeyed to Jerusalem for worship. I have never visited the site, but I have heard that they have a scaled model of the Temple to visit while you are in Jerusalem. There are also virtual tours available on the Internet. These recreations give us an idea of its beauty and size, but they can’t even come close to the reality of what it would have been in that day. It is like the Redwood trees in the Northwest. You can see a million pictures of them, but you can’t really understand how big and beautiful they are unless you stand at the foot of one.

People were more than willing to put their money into the building and decoration of the Temple. It was a massive structure, built with the best stone and other materials. It was not meant to be a fortress, but it was probably very secure. The Temple was a sanctuary from the fears and dangers of the world. Visitors and residents must have felt safe within its walls. Jesus’ words to the disciples in this week’s Gospel lesson must have been shocking and unfathomable. How could that great place be destroyed?

There were a series of movies starring Harrison Ford as an archeologist named Indiana Jones who searched for the greatest treasures of the world. He was a good guy whose quest was to protect those treasures from bad guys who always wanted to use them for selfish and self-centered reasons. Indiana Jones learned early in his life that there were many greedy, evil people and he made it his life’s purpose to protect the things that defined our lives. I doubt archeologists really have the kind of experiences we see in the movies. Indiana Jones is always getting into some sort of trouble. In “Raiders of the Lost Ark” he sought to recover the Ark of the Covenant because the German Nazis wanted to use its power to take over the world. His quests always included so many difficulties. Someone was always trying to kill him. He crashed planes, jumped off waterfalls, faced cannibals. He found himself in pits with venomous snakes (“Snakes, why is it always snakes?”) He was constantly being chased, and yet somehow always managed to save the artifact and fall in love with the girl.

In one scene from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades,” Indiana Jones was attempting to get through an ancient obstacle course to the hiding place of the Holy Grail. The obstacles did not just make the path difficult. They were dangerous. He had to solve riddles as he pushed forward step by step. A wrong answer meant being impaled by spears or falling through a hole into a bottomless cavern. Meanwhile, he was surrounded by bad guys who were trying to kill his father. The pressure to succeed was intense.

The Holy Grail was believed to hold the power of eternal life. Indiana’s father had been injured by one of the bad guys and the only hope of saving his life was to find the cup and give him a drink of water from it. The bad guys wanted the cup to abuse its power and control the world. They followed him as he made his way through every obstacle. The chamber at the end of riddles was filled with a hundred different goblets. Which one is the right one? Choosing wrongly meant immediate death. One of the bad guys chose a precious goblet of gold with magnificent stones, thinking the Christ most surely would have the best of the best. She drank some water and immediately died. Indiana knew better. He knew that Jesus Christ was a carpenter. The Holy Grail was not some fancy gold goblet, but a simple pottery cup. He took the cup, filled it with water and took it to his father.

During his quests, Indiana Jones was always pushed forward by a sense of purpose. The purpose was not power, fame, or wealth, but rather a search for the truth and the protection of the world’s precious treasures. He went in faith, not that he would accomplish the task but that the thing for which he searched existed. In other words, his drive was not about the benefits he would receive from finding the treasures but the treasures themselves. The risks didn’t matter as long as he was able to reach his destination. Guns, rolling stones, ancient obstacle courses, and bad guys never kept him from reaching the end of his quest.

For many of the people living in Jesus’ day, the Temple was the destination of their greatest quests. The Jews took pilgrimages to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and to worship their God. They believed that the courts of the Temple were as close to God as they could get. It was a magnificent place, constantly upgraded with new, more beautiful aspects. It was dedicated to God and it honored Him well. However, when Jesus prophesied the destruction of the Temple, He was not just threatening a pretty building. He was threatening the very foundation of their faith. It was a terrifying possibility. What would they do? Where would they go? How would they do sacrifice to their God? Where would they find salvation?

There is a story that makes the rounds on the Internet, particularly during fire season, about a mother bird that was found in a national park after a fire. She was charred beyond recognition, but the forest ranger found several chicks under her wings. Supposedly they had survived because of the sacrificial love of the mother bird. The moral of the story is that God covers us with His wings to save us from the dangers of this world. It is a beautiful story. Unfortunately, it never happened. Scientists have confirmed that the mother bird could never have saved her chicks in that way. W love to find real life examples that help us understand the loving and caring nature of God, but human analogies often fall short. There are images of God in the scriptures that truly touch our hearts, but there are also some that are unreasonable. It is better to remember a mother bird protecting her chicks than to think about those birds dying in the forest. We prefer the idea of a loving, caring God and would rather ignore the God who would all the fire to burn anyone until they no longer exist.

Well, we don’t mind the fire when the person being destroyed is our enemy. Unfortunately, we also know that we are not holier than those we want God to defeat. We are proud and we are wicked. We know there are aspects of our lives that should be destroyed. Our sin, doubt, and hatred: we all suffer from these things in one way or another. We deserve to enter into the furnace that Malachi talks about in today’s Old Testament passage. We like to make up analogies, but God doesn’t fit our human ways of describing Him. He is like the mother bird in the legend, but He can save those who trust Him. He covers us with His wings when the fires come.

We are reminded, however, that He is also like the fire. He burns away the pride and wickedness in our lives, leaving behind a cleaner, purer person. He brings healing and righteousness.

There are times when it feels like we are burning, but God is working good things in our lives, bringing us to the place that He intends us to be. The perfection for which we strive will never fully be realized in our flesh because we continue to be sinners even while we are saints. We continue to go through the fire of cleansing that burns away the stubble of our lives. Those who persevere through the fire, resting on the promise of Jesus Christ, will see the other side.

When Jesus told the disciples that the Temple would be destroyed, they asked the most natural question, “When.” Though the Temple has been destroyed, we continue to ask the question because we know that there is more to the story. We are waiting for the return of Jesus Christ. We have been waiting for His return for nearly two thousand years. When? Jesus lists the signs, but every generation of Christian has seen these signs. We might be the generation that sees the return of Christ (Come, Lord Jesus) but He might not come again for another thousand years. Our quest in this life is not to wait for His second advent, but to live our lives in a way that glorifies Him at each moment.

The Gospel lesson is about the end of the age, and many people want to believe that we have reached that day. They point to wars and rumors of wars. There are plenty of false prophets touting their goods in the public squares these days. I’ve even seen some people claiming that the aurora borealis that has been so visible across the world is a sign that we have reached the end of days.

There are plenty of reasons to be afraid. Like every generation, we can read Jesus’ warning as one for our own time and place. Will our walls come tumbling down? Jesus reminds us that we have a purpose in this life, and worrying about the end times will not make anything happen or make anything better. Our purpose is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to be His witnesses in this world.

Jesus began the lesson with a warning about the destruction of the Temple and then ended it with a promise that the hair on their heads would be unscathed. The Temple was “God’s home on earth.” It was the place where He dwelt among men. It was so beautiful, covered in the offerings of the many believers who had passed through its gates. In the story just before this message, Jesus pointed out to the disciples a widow who gave a measly mite to the Temple offerings. His point was that she gave more than the others who had put so much more into the offering plate because she gave everything. She gave her only coin, her well-being, and her future to God. The others were giving just a portion, and even if that portion was a large amount of money, they still kept something for themselves.

Jesus said that not a hair on our head would be harmed, but we must not read this as a promise for earthly protection. Saints throughout the ages discovered what it meant to be a witness for Christ in the world. Many of them died the martyr’s death. Martyr means witness. They were beheaded, impaled, hanged, and slaughtered for their faith. In this passage Jesus told us what we might face: “But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake.” Persecution leads to the opportunity to be witnesses. The earthly promise of faith is persecution and death.

We are reminded that through it all, God is concerned about even the most insignificant parts of our flesh. He has counted to the number of strands of hair on our heads; He knows our every thought, prayer, concern, and doubt. He also knows that every bit of His creation is perishable. All that we have built up over our lifetime will pass away. But that doesn’t matter, because when we stand firm in God’s promises, we will gain life. We might want to sit and wait in expectation, but there is work to be done.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that each member of the community has a part to play in the Kingdom during this life. The fellowship of believers is a family; we are brothers and sisters in Christ. When everyone does their part, everything works well. Paul’s instruction goes beyond the work of the church. He encourages all Christians to be active participants in the world around them, working to provide for their own needs and for the needs of the community.

The church to which Paul was writing was living in a time of uncertainty. They knew that Jesus would return and that the time was short. However, they could not define the time. Many assumed that the end would come during their lifetime. There were some who believed that the flesh no longer mattered, the Gnostic heresy that caused them to believe that they did not need to work, to use their hands, or to care for their physical needs because soon they would have no flesh for which to labor. They did, however, ensure their bellies were full, eating the food shared by the other members of the Christian community. They did nothing to provide, but took advantage of the grace of others, leaving few resources for the people who were really in need.

There are always people who need help, and it is up to us to ensure their wellbeing, but too many take advantage of the system. As Paul reminds them, “If anyone is not willing to work, don’t let him eat.” The thing we need to remember is that even those who need financial and physical aid are able to play a role in the work of the community. Many of the widows were unable to provide financial support to the community, they could teach and guide the young women by offering their time, wisdom, and experience to help them grow into the women God was calling them to be. Sadly, some of the widows spent too much of their time being busybodies and gossiping rather than helping. It is said that “Idle hands are the devil’s playground,” and these women felt they had no worthwhile purpose in the community, so spent their time doing things that would never benefit the other believers.

As part of the community of believers, we are all called to be faithful witnesses of the Gospel in words and deeds. Our work will never gain us salvation, but as Christians it is up to us to live as God has gifted us to live. As part of the family of Christ, we are meant to do our part for the smooth and successful operation of the Church, God’s kingdom visible on earth. We are not seeking some state of perfection. We are unlikely to finish our quest unscathed. We are called to be witnesses for Christ while we journey in this world. Like Indiana Jones, our goal is not to get something out of it, but to keep moving forward toward the prize which is eternal life for the sake of others. Our faith should not be in our ability to gain the treasure, but in the treasure itself, which is God. We might face many difficulties along the way, but step by step we are called to shine the light of Christ and to live according to His promises.

God is faithful, and because He is faithful, we have all we need to live and work in His promises. The psalmist calls us to make a joyful noise and sing praises to God. Paul encourages us to be active, working to make our own living so that we’ll have enough for ourselves and for those who cannot provide for themselves. Though it seems like the world is about to end, we should not be idle.

More than two thousand years after the apocalyptic warning from Jesus, we are still seeing the signs of the end. Jesus’ words warn us today as much as it did His first disciples. We still have temples that will fall. Our temples are not just places of worship. Other temples might include our jobs, our homes, and our relationships. Sometimes God shakes the foundation of our perishable world so that we will look to Him and toward that which is imperishable.

Jesus has come and will come again. Until that day, we will struggle. We might experience persecution, and we will all die. We might think we can predict the day, but even Jesus tells us He doesn’t know what the end will come. We need not worry or be afraid. “When” is not the right question to ask. We should be asking, “What should we do?” We are called to endure in faith, to wait patiently through the fire, and to do whatever needs to be done in the meantime. God is always working, and though we may not understand what He is doing, we can trust that it is good, right, and true.

Jesus warned them, “Do not be fooled.” The scriptures at the end of the Church year are not pleasant. Malachi talked about the day of the Lord, when the arrogant and evildoers would be burned. Paul warned those who were idly waiting for Jesus because they believed the Gnostics that they would starve. Jesus talked about the destruction of the Temple and the danger to the believers. Even the psalmist talked about vindication and judgment.

When the world around us is confused and without hope, it is easy to be fooled. We listen to the wrong voices. Jesus knew that some would claim to be from God, offering promises they could never fulfill. He warned us not to believe every charismatic speaker who promised prosperity and wealth or every leader who said that they would take care of us. He knew that desperate people could fall easily for lies.

The walls of our Temples might come tumbling down, but God doesn’t dwell in our buildings, He dwells in the hearts of believers. So even if the walls are gone, God is still here. There isn’t much left of the Temple in Jerusalem, but God is still among His people because they believe, not because He has a beautiful house. Knowing this, we can enjoy what we have and do the work we are called to do. When our world falls apart, we must hold fast to the promise that God is faithful. He is always with us.

We look forward to the day when Jesus Christ will come again, but we should not reject the things of this world. God has given us life to live and His Word to share. The hair on our head may not last, but it doesn’t matter. The temples we build might fall down, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that God is with us through it all and He has promised us something greater. Those who persevere resting on the promise of Jesus Christ will receive a place His eternal kingdom and dwell with God forever and ever.

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November 13, 2025

“At my first defense, no one came to help me, but all left me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear. So I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:16-18, WEB

George Matheson was a 19th century Scottish pastor and hymn writer. He started going blind when he was a teenager, but that did not stop him from accomplishing great things. He went to school for theology with the help of his sisters. They learned Latin, Greek, and Hebrew so that they could help him study. He was a gifted preacher, able to memorize the scriptures and his sermons. Many who heard him never knew he was blind. Yet, despite his success and the love of his family, George knew heartache. He was engaged to a young lady, but she refused to marry him when he went blind. He was heartbroken and so hurt by the rejection that he never married. Even though he was happy when his sister found a husband, her joy reminded him of his pain. The only consolation he found was God’s presence.

His suffering led to the writing of the hymn, “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.” He said, “It was composed with extreme rapidity; it seemed to me that its construction occupied only a few minutes, and I felt myself rather in the position of one who was being dictated to than of an original artist. I was suffering from extreme mental distress, and the hymn was the fruit of pain.”

It is an unfortunate consequence of the human condition that people are often self-centered and unable to handle difficult situations. It is easier to walk away from struggles than to deal with them. Too many marriages fall apart because it is hard to deal with the challenges of life like illness. With Veterans day this week, we are reminded that the service member is not the only one who sacrifices, the spouses and families do also. Sadly, many families fall apart because they can’t deal with deployments. Marriages fall apart for many different reasons, but too many do not know how to survive the trials of life. It is heartbreaking for the one left behind, because they are not only dealing with the pain and suffering of their trouble, but they have to do it alone. It is no wonder that George never trusted anyone to love again.

There are some who are blessed to realize that even though the world has abandoned them, they are never left alone. Like George, they know there is one greater than man who is faithful in all things. Knowing that God would not leave him, George was able to write these words, “O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.”

We may never be abandoned as George and Paul experienced, but human relationships are fragile. The ties that bind us are not as strong as we would like and a minor disagreement or a life-changing disease can break those connections. People will break our hearts, and it is difficult to recover from the rejection that leads to brokenness. It is especially difficult when they leave us when we need them the most. George and Paul remind us that we are never alone. Just when we think we cannot survive, when our loneliness is overwhelming, and the suffering is more than we can bear, God makes His presence known and brings us through the storm. Whatever your trials, the Lord is near, giving you strength and courage to face the difficulty of your life. You are never alone.

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November 14, 2025

“Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:29-32, WEB

I have been reading the bible along with a theologian who posts daily texts and a video that expounds on something we have read. The reading plan has not followed the books from Genesis to Revelation. We have skipped around the Bible, completing each book in a few days (or a day for the short ones, and two months for the Psalms). Sometimes we’ve read a few chapters from just the Old Testament, and other days have included a New Testament chapter. I have read through the entire Bible several times, using different reading plans, and I have enjoyed this one because of the additional devotional materials that have been provided.

Reading through the Bible is not easy. There are long sections that are just not very interesting. Most of us love to read the book of John, or to use the Psalms for our daily devotion time. Some books are particularly difficult, like Leviticus or the book of Hebrews. We read most of the Bible as tidbits in our daily devotions, a verse or chapter at a time, which allows us to skip the boring sections. We can’t avoid those chapters when we are reading through the whole Bible. I confess, however, that I often skim some of the chapters, particularly the long sections of genealogy. It seems unimportant to hear that so-and-so begat so-and-so and so forth.

We began the book of 1 Chronicles a few days ago, and the chapters have been this type of writing. This information was important to the Jews. They needed to know their family tree to know where they belonged in the kingdom of Israel. Which tribe is their heritage? Which patriarchs were their fathers? I have been skimming the texts during my reading the last few days, although I realized as I went that there are brief but important mentions among the genealogy. You may have heard of Jabez from the book that was written a few years ago about his prayer. His story is two small verses in 1 Chronicles 4. In chapter 9, we learn about a man named Mattithiah who made flat bread for the temple.

One of the people I read about this week is Sheerah. Her story is found 1 Chronicles 7. She is covered in just one verse, “His daughter was Sheerah, who built Beth Horon the lower and the upper, and Uzzen Sheerah.” She was a descendant of Ephraim, and I stopped when I was reading that chapter, wondering about this woman. Women were not often mentioned in the Bible, rarely named or described with such an important job. Sadly, she’s not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. We don’t even know much about the towns she built. How is it that a woman had the power and authority to build three cities? She is the type of role model that many modern female bible teachers want to emphasize. Yet, we have nothing more to say. What does this mean for us?

We are reminded by these one or two verse stores, not only in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles, but throughout the Bible, that even those unknown people were important enough to God to mention them in the scriptures. Jabez, Mattithiah, and Sheerah are even mentioned by name. There are many others who are mentioned, sometimes unnamed, that teach us lessons about faith or obedience. They aren’t always faithful or obedient, but they are worth considering for a moment. If they weren’t important, they would not have ended up in the scriptures.

“What does that have to do with me?” you might ask. After all, your name will never be written in the Bible. You might be remembered for a generation or two, but in a hundred years it will be difficult to find any evidence of your life. We can look at Jabez and realize that God remembers our prayers and Mattithiah and know that God honors even our most humble work. We can look at Sheerah and know that God sees us even when we do not fit societal expectations.

We skim over those long lists of names but buried within are people who quietly served God just like you and me. He calls us to live our life of faith and obedience to His glory whether we will ever be recognized for it. He knows every hair on our head. He hears every word we say or think. He knows our hearts and loves us so much that He has done everything necessary to accomplish His work in our lives. He remembers us in His book, not just a tidbit but whole chapters of the ways we have quietly served Him and His people, glorifying Him in simple and ordinary ways.

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November 17, 2025

“Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that God’s Kingdom is near. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly. For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth. 36 Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:31-36, WEB

There is an episode of “The Big Bang Theory” during which Leonard, Howard, and Raj went out into the desert to see a meteor shower. They didn't rough it while they were out there. They took a satellite television and coolers full of good food. Others set up camp around the area, including some older middle school teachers. Howard found them attractive and as was typical flirted with them. They were hippy types and give Howard a bag of cookies. It didn’t take long to realize that the cookies were spiked with marijuana. The guys weren’t used to the drugs and became very silly. In the meantime, they completely missed the meteor shower, even wondering at one point if they were missing something important.

We listen to an oldies radio show on Sunday mornings, reruns of Casey Casem’s American Top Forty form the 1980’s. We race to figure out which year, a game that is sometimes easy and sometimes a bit hard. Was it early, middle, or late in the decade? Sometimes I can guess because I identify the songs with high school or college. Bruce can figure out some of them because of where he was stationed at the time. We can usually guess within a year or two. The thing is, we wouldn’t have to guess if we paid attention at the beginning of the show. Though Casey didn’t announce the year forty years ago, the modern edit of the show does tell us the date. I am determined to listen each morning when I turn it on, but I usually manage to miss it. I get distracted and realize moments after the announcement that I’ve missed it again. They announce the year repeatedly throughout the show, so we eventually know if we are right, but it is always frustrating that I am not listening at the right time.

We live our life of faith on a balance beam of sorts. We are meant to keep watch, to wait patiently and expectantly for the Lord. Yet, we are also meant to be busy while we are doing so. I don't know about you, but I tend to miss the important things when I am busy with the tasks of life. I miss the date of the radio show much too often, but I’m sure I miss many other things, also. Have you ever discovered, much too late, that you missed the opportunity to help someone in need? Have you been so busy doing things that you missed the chance to share the Gospel with a neighbor? Are you so busy talking about what you will do when Christ comes that you miss His face in the homeless man on the corner?

There will come a day when Christ comes in His glory. We don't know when that day will be. I could be today or in a thousand years. Many in this generation, as in every generation before us, believe that we will be the ones who will see that great Day. Some have even tried to predict when it will happen. Over the years prophets have set the date, only to set it back when it does not happen according to their prediction. They are so busy studying the scriptures to interpret the signs that they don't realize that Jesus Christ called them to live in this day as His witnesses and workers. We should be watching, but not as people with our heads in the clouds or our eyes in our books, afraid of what might happen. We also must beware that we aren't spending so much time at our daily life that we miss the very thing for which we are waiting, our Lord Jesus Christ. He will come one day, but He comes to us every day in the lives of those who need us in this world.

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November 18, 2025

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10, WEB

Someone once said, “A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle.” This quote is easy to understand in a very literal way. Anyone who has ever lit a candle using another candle knows that the second candle does not take half the light away, but the light is doubled with another burning wick. With two candles, the darkness is lessened twice as much.

The original speaker was thinking in metaphorical terms: the meaning of the quote depends on the point of view of the hearer. I did a quick search of this quote and though I could not find a name of a person to whom it is attributed, I did find dozens of websites that used it to inspire, challenge, and encourage visitors. The devotions range from understanding the light as love, knowledge, hope, and peace. Generosity can’t be compared in the same manner, because if you give something away, you have less of that thing, but the quote still holds true because you find yourself blessed in other ways when you are generous.

I like to think about this quote from a spiritual perspective. If Jesus is the light, giving a bit of Jesus to our neighbor will not take away any of our own relationship with Jesus. Sharing the Gospel won’t diminish the Gospel in our life, and we will be blessed by even greater light because it has been shared. When two people know Jesus, the world is a little brighter.

It is hard to believe but we are quickly nearing the start of Advent, that season of the church year when we watch in the darkness for the coming of the light. The season will be busy with the usual preparations for the holidays; it has already started for many. The stores are having sales, and the aisles are full of Christmas things. A few of my neighbors have already put out their Christmas lights. We’ll see in the Advent texts how Christ came to bring light into the darkness, how the light grows as we get closer to that day, just as the light grows around the world with the secular trappings of Christmas. Now is the time for us to share that Gospel message, to share that light with others so that in spirit as well as in the world, the darkness will be overcome by the joyous light of Christ. We lose nothing by telling our neighbor about Jesus, by sharing His word, His life and His salvation with them. As a matter of fact, we will find the world is a little brighter with hope and peace of God because more people are aflame with God’s grace.

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November 19, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for November 23, 2025, Christ the King: Malachi 3:13-18; Psalm 95:1-7a or Psalm 46; Colossians 1:13-20; Luke 23:27-43

“Oh come, let’s worship and bow down. Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker, for he is our God.” Psalm 95:6-7a, WEB

We have been studying the Nicene Creed in our adult forum at church on Sunday. The Nicene Creed was written 1700 years ago, with the first version established in 325 A.D., with some additions made in 381 A.D. The Nicene Creed was written to establish a foundation of belief for the Christians, specifically designed to overcome the teachings of some theologians that did not define Jesus as fully God and man, eternally begotten of God, equal to Him, sharing His essence, Light from Light, true God from true God.

A man named Arius did not accept this doctrine. He emphasized the supremacy and uniqueness of God the Father, claiming that Jesus the Son did not possess the eternity or true divinity of God the Father. He taught that Jesus as “like God,” but not equal to God, that He was “made God” by the Father’s permission and power.

As we read through some of the proof texts from the Nicene Creed, we noticed how much came out of John’s gospel, particularly the first few verses. John wrote to prove that Jesus was truly the Son of God, not just a son, but true God from true God. John wrote, “Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31, WEB) Jesus did things that only God could do.

He is the King we worship. We remember that truth on the last Sunday of the church year. If Jesus were not God, He would not be worthy of our worship. Yet we see repeatedly in the New Testament that Jesus was worshipped by those closest to Him. They saw Him do things that no human being could do. He stilled the storm. He fed five thousand with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish. He healed the sick and raised the dead.

Jesus controlled nature, after all He was the Creator. That is what Paul meant in today’s epistle lesson. Christ is the image of that which we cannot see. He is the Word made flesh, the God of creation dwelling with us. He was there when God laid down the foundations of the earth and it was through Him all things were made. In Christ we see that God did not make the world and disappear; He has been with us always, planning even in the beginning the redemption that was to come. Everything is His, and through Him we are re-created and reconciled to God our Father in heaven, part of the body of Christ and blessed with eternal life in Him.

We learn as children that we have five senses, the sensory systems of the human body that help us relate to the world in which we live. We have the senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Some scientists number our senses at eight, including three that relate to the inner world of our bodies: balance, movement, and feelings of our internal organs such as hunger. I read one article that included temperature. The external senses help us understand the world, and the internal senses help us understand our bodies.

In some ways we might consider another sense which has a more religious focus.

The movie “The Bells of St. Mary’s” was made in 1945 and starred Bing Crosby as the lovable, independent priest Father O’Malley who was sent to a failing catholic school run by nuns including Sister Beatrice who was played by Ingrid Bergman. Father O’Malley and Sister Beatrice did not agree about much of what happened at the school. She thought he was disruptive; he was simply trying to save the school.

There was a student at St. Mary’s named Patricia who did not feel like she belonged. She has difficulty doing the work and keeping up with the other students. Father O’Malley knew that she just needed a little push, a bit of encouragement, and a chance to shine. He visited her one evening and found her trying very hard to write an essay. The topic was “the Five Senses.” Though she knew the five senses we learn as children, she did not know what to say about them. Father O’Malley gave her some ideas which she was able to put into a wonderful essay.

She began the essay with the title, “the Six Senses.” Of course, Sister Beatrice was taken aback at first because the assignment was about the five senses. Patricia continued, “The Six Senses: To see, to hear, to taste, to smell, to feel... to be.” She went on to say, “To be (or not to be) is the final sense, the common sense and the most important of them all.”

It isn’t enough to just be aware of the senses we have. We should experience the things of this world with our whole being. Take a rose, for instance. How many of us pass by rose bushes on a regular basis and barely even notice? Perhaps it is cliché to say, “Take time to smell the roses” but there is truth in that saying. God created that rose, just as He created each of us. We are part of the creation that God both made and loves. We are connected by the same creative powers that were present with Him at the beginning, experiencing them with more than our five senses, but also with our whole flesh.

“To be” is a sense that is both external and internal.

Scientifically, there is a reality that all things are connected. We experience the world with our senses: seeing the flowers, hearing the birds, smelling the bread baking in the oven, tasting that turkey, and feeling the touch of a friend. It all seems separated by space and time. Yet everything in God’s world is made up of the same thing: atoms. Atoms are made up of parts. Those parts are connected by an indescribable force. A rose may seem like a solid thing, but it is made up of atoms and the parts of those atoms that are swimming together in space. Scientists, when they discovered the indescribable force holding the parts of an atom together called it “The Colossians Force.” Note that verse 17 in our lesson from Colossians says, “He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.” He is the Colossians force holding all things together.

Sometimes we don’t pay enough attention to our senses, external and internal. We don’t take the time to appreciate and enjoy everything that God has given us in creation. We forget the great and wonderful things God has done that can’t be experienced with our senses. If we don’t enjoy the roses, birds, bread, turkey, or friends and attribute them to the One who brought them forth, how can we really every grasp God’s mercy and grace found in His redemption and re-creation of His world? How can we ever truly be?

What happens when we do not pay attention to our senses? In the example of the rose, we might miss something beautiful, but it can be more vital than that. If we ignore the smell of smoke, we might be caught in a house fire. If we keep our hands on a hot surface despite the pain, we might get a severe burn. Our senses help us stay well. This is especially true of our inner senses. Problems with balance and movement might indicate that we need to see a doctor. Hunger pangs make us eat and a high temperature sends us to bed. The senses are God’s gift to help protect our bodies so we can live long and productive lives. We are more likely to find peace when we are well.

Instead of serving God, the people in Malachi’s day served self. “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?” They thought it was a waste of their time and resources to serve God. The scriptures teach us, however, that peace comes when we do not focus on ourselves, but to our actions and thoughts toward others. Early in the chapter from Malachi, God said, “Return to me, and I will return to you.” They didn’t understand. God told them that they were focused on the wrong things. They were more interested in themselves. Instead of sharing their blessings with others, they were keeping it for themselves.

I know it isn’t Thanksgiving yet, but it is impossible not to know that Christmas is coming. The stores quickly replaced the ghouls and goblins with angels and nativities. Christmas music can be heard on the radio and on the speakers everywhere we go. We’ve been seeing “Black Friday” advertisements for weeks already. Some early shopping is understandable, since crafters need time to make presents and people who ship to distant family need to send boxes soon. This is collection week for the Operation Christmas Child boxes, so many of us have been shopping for presents for weeks. We try to do these things because they make others happy, but all too often we serve self. We worry about our reputation and our duty. All too often, we do what we do for Christmas because we are chasing our own happiness.

In the verses that come before our text from Malachi, God asks the prophet, “Will a man rob God?” This question encourages us to think about our response to God’s grace. Where do we get our joy? Do we get it because we truly want to share our blessings with others, or because we are meeting the expectations of those around us? Do we get joy from taking care of ourselves or by being obedient to God’s Word?

Helen Keller once said, “Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes real happiness. It is not obtained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” Eric Hoffer said, “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.” Kim Hubbard said, “It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness: poverty and wealth have both failed.” Bertrand Russell said, “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.” George Burns said, “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”

That last one was a bit of humor in the midst of an important subject. What is happiness? What does it mean to be happy? Verse 15 of the reading from Malachi is a sad statement, but one I think many of us can identify with: we call the proud happy. The NIV translation says, “We call the arrogant blessed.” The Message says, “Those who take their life into their own hands are the lucky ones.”

Arius was taking his understanding of God into his own hands, ignoring so much in the scriptures that pointed to Jesus as more than an earthly King. He is the eternal King, a king worth worshipping. Other theologians in his day recognized the need to establish a foundation of our Christian doctrine so that we would be one body in Jesus Christ, the true Son of God. In Him we find joy.

True happiness comes when we do not put the focus on ourselves, but turn our actions and thoughts to others. Those who take their lives into their own hands are not the lucky ones. God said, “Return to me, and I will return to you.” They didn’t understand. “How have we turned away?” “How have we robbed you?” God told them that they were focused on the wrong things. They were more interested in themselves and their own happiness. Instead of sharing their blessings with others, they were keeping it for themselves. Our happiness comes from living the life God is calling us to live, with Him in the forefront, doing His work in this world.

It is interesting that many churches choose this time of year for their stewardship programs. We will be presenting our pledges for the next year on Sunday at our church. I suppose it is partly because we tend to be more generous at this time of year. We are reminded at this time of year that we are called to give God our hearts and our worship in tangible ways as we prepare for the coming of Jesus the King who was born in Bethlehem.

Stewardship is a word that evokes fear in the hearts of many when it is brought up at church. “Oh, no. Not again. They are going to ask me for more money. I already give more than I can spare. I have bills to pay and children to feed. I just can’t give any more than I already do.” Wait! What is the motive here? Where are the hearts for God? Where is the obedience to His will?

Abel gave the best of his flock out of his love for God, but Cain merely gave some of his fruit out of duty. Everything we have comes from God. How do we repay Him for His many blessings in our lives? By grumbling? With excuses? We are invited to return to the LORD what was first His, not only our material blessings but our whole lives. He gave us senses, internal and external, to help us live our best life. That includes how we live our faith. Do you just go to church on Sunday and drop a twenty-dollar bill in the plate? God demands our first fruits, the best of all we have. This isn’t the command of a tyrant, but a call from the One who created and saved us. Jesus wants us to give our best selves for the sake of His kingdom.

I have a collection of crosses. They hang on the walls of my office and my home. I often take a moment to look at all the different types of crosses that I have collected over the years. There are crosses from all over the world. In a small oval frame is a Belgian lace cross. There are several made from wood. Numerous crosses are Mexican, some are pottery, and one is made from silver. One of the crosses has a bunch of grapes with the passage from John in which Jesus says, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” The crosses bring back memories. Some were gifts. Some are handmade. Some were bought to support ministries.

Some people are disgusted by the image of the cross. They are offended by the idea that we would put so much importance on an object of ancient torture. It is impossible not only to see the beauty in my collection, but also the underlying sadness about it. The cross was used to kill people, to punish them for their infractions against the state. It was used to kill Jesus. It was not a thing of beauty in His day. As a matter of fact, the reality of the cross is ugly and horrifying. They were little more than two pieces of wood and a few nails covered in the blood of previous victims. The death experienced on the cross was slow and painful, terrifying and disgusting. The death was not only physical, but also emotional and spiritual. It was humiliating to hang on the cross as the witnesses threw insults and accusations.

Why would we want to remember this? Why would we want to hang this symbol on our wall? Why is this cross so important? Why would we choose to remember that moment of Christ’s life – His death – on a day set aside for Christ the King? In the passage we are reminded of the sign placed above Jesus’ head on the cross, the sign that calls Him “The King of the Jews.” The sign was an insult, meant to call attention to Jesus’ foolishness. How could a king end up hanging nearly naked by a few nails on a cross?

We celebrate a different kind of king. Jesus Christ did not have a typical coronation. The kings and queens of the world celebrate their elevation to monarch with grand parties and ostentatious ceremonies. For some monarchs, the coronation ceremony is so important that they take a year or more to organize. Some have acted as monarch for months and even years before they officially take the crown to their heads. New gowns, new jewels, and new furnishings are created. Dignitaries are invited and accommodations are prepared. Some even build new palaces, churches, or banqueting halls before hosting the party of their lives. It was such an important moment that they wanted everything to be new, beautiful, and perfect.

Jesus’ coronation was much different. A week before He was lifted onto the cross, Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem like a king. He rode a donkey and was surrounded by people singing thanksgiving to God for giving them a Messiah. In less than a week He was hanging on the cross, having disappointed everyone who put their hope on Him. The followers turned because He did not lead them into battle against Rome. Even His closest friends betrayed, denied, and abandoned Him.

Yet, it was at the very moment that Jesus cried out one last time and gave up His spirit that He was crowned King. It was at that moment that He fully lived out the purpose of His life, bringing the entire burden of God’s justice on His flesh. His obedience to God’s will earned Him the greatest crown of all.

He is King because He died.

We see many images of God throughout the Church year: Abba, Creator, Redeemer, Friend, Master, Shepherd, and Teacher. He loves and encourages and disciplines His people. He even scolds and rebukes us when we go the wrong way. He guides and teaches. He saves and calls us to live out our salvation. This is true not only of God the Father, but also Jesus the Son who is our Lord and King.

On the last Sunday of the Church year, we are given the image of Yahweh of Armies and are reminded that Christ will come again to lead His people to victory. He won’t come on a donkey, as He did when He entered Jerusalem before His crucifixion. He will come on the clouds with thunder and lightning, with a double-edged sword. He will come to fight the final battle, to finally and completely destroy the last enemy. He will come as King! He is coming to finish the work He began at the cross where Jesus Christ was crowned not just with a ring of thorns. He was crowned with glory, and the cross was His throne, because of His obedience to His Father on that first Good Friday. Now we wait expectantly for His coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is the One who can truly save us.

We have been waiting a long time for Christ the King to come, and it is incredibly hard sometimes. Our kings fail us too often and we constantly turn away from God by trying to create our perfect world on our own. We are looking forward to a Kingdom of beauty and peace and joy. We long for a King who will not abuse His power or take advantage of His people. We look forward to the day when we will truly dwell in the Eternal Kingdom. But we have a hard time waiting for God to make these promises happen.

The scriptures for Christ the King show us images of God that are hard for us to understand. He is Yahweh of the Armies and the King of the cross. We can trust that He is by our side and that He is ready to save us from all that wants to destroy us; He will even save us from our own fallen and imperfect nature and forgive us our sin. Just like that criminal on the cross, we can cry out in faith to Jesus, “Remember me!” We worship this God who came to save us, to make everything right in His time and in His way.

As the Church year ends, we look to the End times. The warnings of Malachi as are vital for us to hear today as it was for the people in his day. Are we living self-centered lives, seeking happiness in all the wrong things? Or are we focused on the God we want or the God who is? Do we look to Lord Jesus, true God and true man, who was crowned our King when He obediently fulfilled God’s purpose by dying on the cross? Do we worship Him who is worthy of our complete submission. We don’t always understand everything about the faith we have been given, but We can rest in the promise of God that one day everything will be clear.

For now, it is up to us to be, to live as God calls us to live, no matter the circumstances of the world around us, doing His work in the world. As we wait in faith, let us encourage one another and keep our eyes on Jesus, resting in the assurance that our cries of woe will be turned into joyful alleluias of praise and thanksgiving, soon. Come, Lord Jesus is a cry on my lips often.

Yet, we can’t live as if today is that day. Jesus said that no one will know the hour or the day. We should not sit around waiting because there’s too much left to do. We still have a journey to travel; but we are reminded to be aware, to be on guard, to keep watch, for He is coming. We don’t want to be caught unaware. We don’t want to miss any opportunities to shine the light of Christ in the world.

The end will come. The birth of Jesus was just the beginning, and in the next four weeks we'll look forward to Christmas day. But let’s not get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season that we miss God along the way. We can experience Him with all our senses, especially the sense “to be.” You never know what moment Christ will come, and He calls us to be constantly at His work, preparing His way, so that many will experience the joy of knowing Him.

Are you ready for Christ to come, for Christ to rule as King forever? Or are you ready to celebrate just another Christmas? Are you ready to go on a journey of hope, or have you already arrived at the manger? This journey is just beginning, so let’s go! Let’s journey together to see what God has waiting for us along the way, appreciating and enjoying the great and wonderful things He has done, everything we can see and all that we can’t see with our senses, the things He has done to make Him worthy of our worship.

We might just find, in the midst of the ordinariness of another Advent, that Jesus has some surprises for us. Be ready, for He is coming, not just on Christmas Day or in some future end of all days, but in our everyday life. Be ready to share God’s peace and joy with the world. It is in this life we’ll find true happiness.

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November 20, 2025

“For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot would say, ‘Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,’ it is not therefore not part of the body. If the ear would say, ‘Because I’m not the eye, I’m not part of the body,’ it’s not therefore not part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now they are many members, but one body. The eye can’t tell the hand, ‘I have no need for you,’ or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need for you.’ No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant modesty, while our presentable parts have no such need. But God composed the body together, giving more abundant honor to the inferior part, that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, WEB

The human body is an amazing thing. It is imperfect and each body will fail one day, but it adjusts remarkably to various circumstances. Take, for instance, a person paralyzed from the waist down. Their upper bodies grow much stronger, adapting to the loss of legs by giving them the strength to move their bodies with their arms. The hearing of blind people becomes more sensitive. People who have lost the use of their arms able to use their feet as if they were hands. Many find a way to get around a disability.

The same can be said of a congregation of faithful people. Paul wrote that each part of the body is necessary for the body to be whole. This is true. It is certainly much easier if we can use our arms and our legs, our eyes and our ears. We adapt to the circumstances as much as possible. Medical science has made it possible to do incredible things with bodies that are disabled in some way, but it will always be better for the body to be whole.

We might think we can live without the person in our congregation who is focused on only the administrative things. Church is about worship and prayer, right? Why worry about how much paper we use for the bulletins? What about that woman who does nothing but pray? Shouldn’t she come out for the clean-up days to help scrub the bathrooms and rake the leaves? After all, we all pray. Shouldn’t every member share in all the work?

There are times when we have to adapt. What happens when the person who is terrific at organizing potluck dinners has to move out of town? We have to find a way to continue holding those dinners even though a part of our body is missing. Unfortunately, those holes are usually filled with people who are already doing everything around the church. It is easier to allow them to take on the project than to search for new people who are gifted to do those tasks for the sake of the Church. In other words, we look at the parts of the body not as individual with unique purpose, but bodies that can be put wherever they are needed. However, God has created the Church as a perfect machine, with every part specially created for a purpose. We may think we don’t need an eye, but God has appointed someone to be the eye. We have to help each believer discover their gifts and find their purpose to fill all the parts of the Church as God intends it to be.

We can survive by filling the holes. There are tasks that just about anyone can accomplish around the church. It doesn’t take someone special to print the bulletin, light the candles, clean up the sanctuary after worship. Or does it? Yes, printing the bulletin means pushing the right buttons on the copier, but it also takes someone with patience and a sharp eye to ensure that the bulletins are accurate and easy to follow. It is important to light the candles with an air of solemnity and worship. Cleaning the sanctuary after worship takes a sharp eye, so that the old bulletins are removed and the books are returned to the right place, available for the next service. These might seem like unimportant tasks, tasks that anyone can accomplish. But God has ordained someone to do these tasks, and every task. Can we help them find their place in our fellowship? They are important for the body to be whole.

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November 21, 2025

“If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13, WEB

Bruce and I went to a charity gala last night. It was a sparkling event, with colorful lights and pretty flowers on the table. The charity serves children who have disabilities, with intervention services that empower them to discover new possibilities. They give families the resources necessary to navigate difficult situations. I’ve been to charity galas in the past, but I was impressed with the generosity of the guests. The bids for the auction items were thousands of dollars, but they also had a time when they sought donations with no strings attached. The auctioneer asked how many people were willing to give gifts of thousands of dollars, each step of the ladder a little less than the last. It was hard to keep up, but it seemed like over a hundred people gave at least $500. One guest bid on every number!

This is the season to be generous. I don’t know about you, but my mailbox has been full of donation requests from many organizations. There are opportunities at church, in the stores. Charities are using television, radio, and social media to convince viewers to give to them this year. It is not surprising that this is the time of year for donation requests. The holidays fill our hearts with faith, hope, and love, and we share these feelings in tangible ways. For Christians, our thankfulness for God’s blessings, especially the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, makes us more willing to give blessings to others. As long as we are buying gifts, we might as well buy an extra toy to give to a collection for those who are struggling.

In the World English Version of the Bible, Paul wrote, “The greatest of these is love.” Other translations of this passage use the word “charity” instead of “love.” We assume that the word charity refers to the act of giving to someone in need; when we think of charity, particularly at this time of year, we tend to think in terms of dropping a few coins in those red kettles or giving canned corn to the local food bank. But charity goes beyond kindness to the stranger. To be charitable is to be kind and lenient, forbearing with the imperfections of others. The dictionary definition includes a very broad understanding of loving one’s fellow man. And while it is important to remember that love is more than just an emotional response to someone who interests us, that it is about the act of meeting the needs of our neighbors, I like the use of the word “love” here, because sometimes we forget why we do these things.

How many of us give food to the food bank without really considering the people who are receiving those gifts? I once heard someone grumbling about how times are tough for everyone and though willing to share, they wondered if the people taking charity really need it. The gifts are more about duty than love. But if we consider everything we do through the eyes of Christ, we will realize that charity is not simply about meeting the physical needs of those in need. If we are charitable at all, our charity will take many forms, just as love takes different forms in our relationships with family, friends and neighbors.

Are you willing to forgive the person who hurt you this year? Are you willing to admit your own failure to do what is good and right? Are you able to allow someone else to do the things you would prefer to do and take upon yourself the tasks you don’t like to do? These are all ways of acting charitable; they are all ways of acting out of love.

One of the problems with the word charity is that sometimes people are much too proud to accept those gifts. A story in a devotional called “Everything Christmas” written by Elece Hollis describes how one man discovered the joy of giving love rather than charity. It was during the depression in the Midwest where financial troubles were made worse by the dust bowl drought that affected the whole region. The people were poor and hungry. The family was in better shape than the rest because the father owned the grocery store which also acted as gas station and post office. Though people did not have much money, they still needed flour, milk, gas, sugar, kerosene and coffee. They needed needles and thread.

Of course, few people could afford to buy anything, but the grocer did not worry. He allowed his neighbors to take food for credit and promised to do so as long as he could get supplies and feed his own family. He was not always paid back. Some people had to leave town to find work in other places where conditions were not as terrible. He didn’t care. He could not allow people to starve. Eventually, long after the depression was over and the man had forgiven the debts, some of those families sent checks to pay their accounts. “Thank you for what you did for us. Here is the balance of our account,” said the notes in those letters.

The most heartbreaking part of this situation for the grocer was seeing the faces of the poor children and the hunger in their eyes. They desperately needed a taste of candy, a touch of grace. And yet their families were too proud, they could not take “charity.” The man didn’t think of it as charity, but the children still refused. How could he give these children a treat and allow the families to keep their dignity? He figured out a way. He prepared bags full of treats, fruit, and nuts and gave one to every person who attended the school Christmas pageant. The people could see those packages as gifts, rather than charity, and they readily received what he had to give.

The continued by saying that though we are not living in such desperate times, many Midwestern towns continue the tradition of paper bags begun by that grocery so long ago. We aren’t in the midst of a depression, but I know there are many families who are having difficulty with Christmas treats this year. These are often people who will not accept charity, but who could use a little extra help. How can you give a “paper bag” gift to those families this year? How can you act out the love you have for your neighbor while allowing them to hold on to their self-worth?

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November 24, 2025

“He said, ‘What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.’” Luke 13:18-19, WEB

I went into a dollar type store the other day and they had a sign at each register that said, “Due to the shortage of pennies, if you are paying cash, please use exact change.” I usually carry a certain amount of change in my wallet because I do pay with cash often, but I had a different purse with me. As it turned out, I had some change in my pocket from our previous stop. When she read my total, I was flabbergasted because the change in my pocket was exactly what I needed! I don’t know if it was a coincidence or a “Godwink” but it made us all smile because it doesn’t happen very often. Everything we have comes from God, so perhaps he planned that moment!

The reason for the shortage is because the Federal government has stopped minting the coin. It costs more to produce a penny than a penny! We laugh because we know that there is not really a shortage. We all have a bucket full of pennies somewhere in our house. The shortage is in the marketplace where coinage is traded for goods. All the pennies are hidden away. Some stores have begun rounding the total of customers’ orders because of this penny problem. The truth is, you can’t buy anything for a penny anymore; you can’t even find things to buy for nickels, dimes, or quarters!

Even a dollar isn’t worth much anymore, is it? I can’t think of very many things I can buy with a dollar. You might be able to buy a cup of coffee in a fast-food place or a can of soda from a machine, although even those are usually more than a dollar. Candy bars have gotten so expensive, well over a dollar for a full-size bar. You can’t buy food for a simple meal like macaroni and cheese or tuna fish. I think it has bee years since I’ve seen cans of vegetables that are four for a dollar. Even the merchandise at the dollar stores sell for more than a dollar. I’ve begun calling it the “dollar and a quarter” store. Even that is a thing of the past, as many of the items are not $1.50.

Of course, the items at those stores are not usually very good quality. Jay Leno used to do a bit on the Tonight Show with items purchased at one of those stores. The packaging was funny, poorly worded and often completely different than the item inside. Every so often I see an article about the things you should never purchase at one of those stores. The cleaning products might be similar to the name brands, but they are so watered down that they are useless. The food is often just short of expiration date, already stale and sometimes even moldy. The electronics are previously owned or from bad production runs. It might seem like good stewardship to save money at a dollar store, but sometimes that dollar actually gets you much less than it would if you put it with a second and bought something of better quality.

An article in Reader's Digest asked a number of creative thinkers, “What is the best way to invest a dollar?” This seems like an impossible question because it would take lifetimes for a dollar investment to show any worth. There’s nothing you can do with a dollar! Yet the answers given were creative, thoughtful and amazing; some of them were realistic, some idealistic.

One respondent talked about going to a small town, most of which are struggling to keep Main Street from dying. He said he’d offer to buy the closed movie theater for a dollar, do some fundraising and reopen it. He said it had already happened in one small town, perhaps it could happen in another. Another respondent suggested that the best investment would be to buy seeds for a tree, plant the seeds and watch it grow. That investment would take years to bear fruit, but it would last for decades. An old proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is today.” Martin Luther once said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree today.”

Several people responded with charities or people they’d support, investing in a credit union, sharing with a street musician, giving to a nonprofit or tech company developing resources for third world countries. One dollar might not seem like much, but if a thousand people all gave a dollar, then there would be a thousand dollars, which can do something. One respondent talked about the framed dollars that hang on the walls of small businesses, and how that one dollar was just the start of something fantastic. By shopping in small businesses, or supporting an artist, you are investing in the human spirit.

One suggested changing that dollar to four quarters and finding an old school video game to have an hour's worth of fun. Another suggested buying a newspaper to read about current events to stay informed and be ready to strike up an interesting conversation with a neighbor (I’m not sure you can buy a newspaper for a dollar anymore!) Another thought it would be fun to bury the dollar in a beautiful place and then create a hidden treasure map so that someone might have a fun adventure in search of it years later. Finally, one respondent said that they would buy (a cheap) cup of coffee for someone they admired and talk to them for a while. It is amazing what you can learn over a cup of coffee.

So, what would you do with a dollar (or your monetary equivalent)? Would you invest that dollar in a person or a business you want to support? Would you use it to buy a small gift or to share a moment over a cup of tea with a friend? Would you combine it with other dollars to make a difference in the world? Would you combine it with your time and talents to create something new and beautiful? Would you use it to plant wildflowers on the side of the road or vegetables in your garden? A dollar might not be much, but every dollar can make an impact.

Most of us don’t have a lot of resources; as a matter of fact, most of us have just enough to pay our bills and do what we have to do. But even one dollar used well can glorify God and do His work. We just have to be wise stewards of all that we are given. As we enter into the holiday season, we’ll be thinking about money in so many ways. Will we drop a coin into a kettle? What gifts will be buy for those we love? How can we share our lives and our resources with our neighbors?

The text for today refers to the faith we have been given by God, but our faith is manifest in the way we use the tangible resources that we’ve been given. Every dollar comes from God and by faith with God’s help we can use every dollar to grow His kingdom in this world.

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November 25, 2025

“Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises! Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody. With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn, make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh. Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together. Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.” Psalm 98, WEB

Isaac Watts was born in Southampton in 1674. It was a turbulent time in England, with dissent rampant in the church. The official church of England was the Anglican Church; it was the church that held the power, the monarchy, the politicians, and every other aspect of life in the land. The effects of the Protestant Reformation had made their ways into the congregations of England with people following the teachings of men like Calvin and Luther. Isaac Watts and his family were nonconformists. They were part of a movement that did not think that the Anglican Church had gone far enough reforming the Church. There was persecution, but most of all, the nonconformists were not able to attend university.

Isaac Watts was brilliant, obvious from a very early age. He learned Latin, Greek, French and Hebrew by the time he was thirteen. Someone recognized his abilities and offered to send him to Oxford or Cambridge. He would have been readily accepted if he renounced his nonconformist convictions. He could not do so but decided to attend an academy sponsored by the Dissenters, an institution created for those denied acceptance at the universities. He was a prolific writer. He began writing poetry while he was in school. He wrote works on logic, theology, metaphysics, astronomy, and even children’s books. He was known as a powerful and inspirational preacher. His congregation hung on his every word. However, he is best known for his hymns.

Isaac Watts was part of a church that followed Calvinist teachings. They believed that the only acceptable music in worship was the singing of psalms or scripture. Isaac found the music to be awkward, sad, and stodgy. He felt that the music was putting people off worship. His father answered, “Why don’t you write a hymn.” He wrote his first hymn that day and the congregation sang it at worship that evening. He went on to write more than six hundred hymns. Some thought that his hymns were too worldly for the church. His work split many congregations and got many pastors fired. Isn’t it amazing how more than two hundred years can pass and we are still dealing with similar problems? How many churches are facing upheaval because some want to introduce contemporary music and others think it is too worldly?

There was nothing about Isaac Watts that was extraordinary, but he was unusual. He suffered from recurring emotional and physical problems. He faced persecution for his passions. But he had a deep and personal understanding of the grace of God, how He takes over our lives with His love and draws us into His heart. He celebrated the immensity of God, seeing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as seemingly insignificant moments that had eternal significance. He knew that God was bigger than our human imaginations could ever envisage. His hymns often had a theme of God’s sovereignty, His majesty, His rule overall.

He wrote, “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” And “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.” In his music we see Jesus Christ as our King. We see His Kingdom, and we see that the cross is where it all began.

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November 26, 2025

Lectionary Scriptures for November 30, 2025, First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122 Romans 13: (8-10) 11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

“Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.” Matthew 24:44, WEB

The church calendar is cyclical. We begin with Advent, go through the seasons of Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and then Pentecost. The last few weeks of each year, during the month of November, we look forward to the coming of Christ the King. The lectionary is a great way to see the whole story of God in a year, to celebrate the works of His hands, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. We see the life and ministry of Jesus develop until He is finally given the Kingdom forever first on the Cross, through the empty tomb and then on Christ the King Sunday. One of the disadvantages is that we go from Christ the King directly into Advent, thus moving from the promise fulfilled to the promise yet to come. It is hard to go back to the beginning once we’ve seen the end.

We begin the season of Advent in darkness. Today’s Gospel lesson is not very hopeful. Jesus told his disciples to keep watch for the time of His coming, and to do everything He commanded: love God with our whole heart and love one another as ourselves. That’s what the season of Pentecost is all about: learning how to be the people of God as the Church and individual Christians. Those last few weeks of the church year help us remember that we live in hopeful expectation of the time when all God’s promises will be fulfilled. Yet, we are constantly reminded that we are called to keep busy while we wait because there is always work to do in God’s Kingdom.

Some people think they know the time, so they stop working. They hide away or do foolish things, thinking that nothing will matter because Jesus is coming. We see in the lesson that no one will know the time when the Son of Man will come. Jesus warned them to prepare their hearts so that they will be strong against those who try to confuse them with false doctrine. False prophets will come as they have in every generation of Christian since the beginning.

As the day grows closer, Satan becomes more desperate to deceive the children of God. His tactics become harder to detect, easier to pass from one another. Yet, these deceptions have been around throughout the two-thousand-year history of the Church. We’ve been looking at the Nicene Creed during our adult forum on Sunday morning, which was written seventeen hundred years ago. Every phrase was written in response to some heresy or false teaching that was rampant in the early days of the Church. Those same heresies are still taught today, because Satan is always lurking, trying to turn Christians away from the truth of Jesus Christ.

Jesus made it clear that even He would not know the time that all things will end. There is a scene in the book of Revelation that shows the Temple emptied of everyone and everything except God Himself. The Temple filled with smoke, then God commanded the final act of His story as the bowls of judgment were poured out upon the world. At that moment, God gave all people a final chance to choose between joining in the heavenly worship and the earthly blaspheming of God. And when it was over, God Himself proclaimed that it was done. Jesus could not command those angels with the bowls; only God knew the time when it would happen.

If Jesus doesn’t know when the time will come, we can’t possibly know. This is why it is vital for us to be ready always for the end times.

What does it mean to be ready? My husband was in the military for thirty years. He wasn’t deployed at the spur of the moment very often, but he always had to be ready just in case. He had several bags that were always packed, including one that had personal items like underwear and shaving kit. Those bags were kept close at hand because he could be told that he would be leaving in an hour with no time to pack. He barely had time to kiss his family good-bye.

There were times when the call was expected, so he could go through the bag and make sure that the underwear was not holey, and the can of shaving cream was full. However, sometimes the time was short, so he went with the pack as it was, even if it was not complete. It is funny, I think that he still has a bag collecting dust in the garage. I doubt anything would fit and I can’t imagine the hygiene products would be any good after decades. That bag, at this point, is probably useless. He won’t get called to deploy, but would he be ready to leave if he had to at this moment?

How about you? Are you ready for Christ to come? I’m sure you aren’t ready for the Christmas celebration even if you started early, after all the holiday is twenty-nine days away. That’s not the question. Are you ready for Christ to come again? We tend to get complacent when things are going well. We pray half-heartedly. We read the scriptures, but shrug if we miss a day. We are too tired to get up and go to church, so we stay in bed. God doesn’t take attendance, so it doesn’t really matter, right? But what if Jesus came during those moments? Would you be ready?

The world is preparing for Christmas. The stores are filled with gifts and decorations to buy. Invitations for parties have been mailed. The shipping places are already busy with people taking packages to send to family and friends who are far away. It seems hard to believe that we are less than a month from Christmas. Yet, there is a season we must pass first: Advent. The apathy we feel about religious things when we are healthy, happy, and satisfied, is exactly why we enter Advent in darkness. Even though the decorations are up and the lights are twinkling, the attitudes and expectations of the people are exactly why Jesus came in the first place. People are looking to the world instead of to God. People are more interested in fulfilling some quest for the perfect gift (although I imagine a lot of the shopping is not even for others) than in spending time thinking about the reason for the season.

Advent is a dichotomy. It is a time when we wait for something we know has already come, and yet we also wait for something that we know is still coming. It is a time of looking to the past while looking to the future. We hope for something we know exists by faith, but which has not yet been completely fulfilled. We wait for the baby in the manger even though we just celebrated Christ as eternal King.

It can be confusing to hear texts from the final days of Jesus’ life as we prepare for His birth. But that’s what Advent is all about. It is about seeing Christ as He was, as He is and as He will be all at once. When we think of Christ only in terms of the past, the present, or the future, we do not live fully in His presence. If we stay in the past, we live as if there is nothing left to be done. We do not bother to keep watch or to wake up from our slumber. If we stay in the present, then we think what we do matters for our salvation. When we look only to the future, we think we have time to get ready and we put off the things we should do for the sake of Christ.

In other words, this first Sunday in Advent we are reminded that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. As we live in this truth, we realize that our faith is not a past, present, or future reality; it is all three. Our faith is eternal because the focus of our faith is eternal. We die with Christ through our baptism. We live with Christ in this present reality, a reality that includes faith and grace and the hope of the promise to come. We look forward to the fulfillment of the promises: yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

At the same time, we are living in this world, and we have to find a way to keep our focus on the one in whom we have faith. That means making choices that are God-pleasing, ready at a moment’s notice to receive Him. There will be a time when Christ comes again in glory, a time when we will see Christ the King as victorious Lord of all. But Christ comes to us constantly in our daily living: in the request from a charity for food, in the paper ornaments on an Angel Tree at the mall with the wishes of children, a knock on the door from a neighbor who needs a listening ear. Christ comes to us in those busy crowds as we are fighting over the last hot toy or cheap television. He comes to us in that car that needs to merge on the highway and in the parking lot at the mall. Will we choose to be selfish or generous? Will we glorify God this Advent, or will we chase after our own needs and desires? It is in our daily faithful living that we show that we are prepared for Christ to come.

What if Jesus came tomorrow? What would He find on earth? Would He mind if He found you in line to buy the latest gaming system at the Black Friday sales? Quite honestly, I don’t think so. He would mind if you pushed and shoved to get the last one on the shelf. It is about attitude, and Advent is about making our hearts right before God so that we’ll be ready to receive our King, both as a baby in the manger and as the Victorious One at the end of all the ages.

Jesus said, “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one will be left.” This passage is often interpreted to describe the rapture, when Christ will come and take away the faithful. However, isn’t this also how it is on our everyday journeys? Don’t some of us see Christ in our neighbors and others completely miss the opportunities to glorify God in their daily lives? Don’t some of us live our faith and others just go about toward an unknown end? Don’t some of us live in darkness while others have seen the light?

Jesus calls us to be ready so that we’ll embrace every opportunity to share Him with others. Christmas can be about presents and parties and decorations, but it is also about sharing Christ with our neighbor. Isaiah says, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” Isaiah is pointing not only to the Jewish believers, but to the Gentiles who will come to believe. The day will come when non-believers will seek the LORD and His Word because they have seen Him in us and respond to our invitation to know Him. Even as the book of Revelation talks about the destruction of those who do not believe, God offers second, third and more chances. It is up to us to do His work in the world so that they might believe.

Those who have been invited will seek God and learn from His wisdom. It is in the way we live out our relationship with God that they will see Him and seek His grace. They see our faith and wonder what it is that gives us that joy and peace that is visible in our lives. Why are we happier waiting in long checkout lines? Why are we willing to give bags of food at a time when our own purse strings are tight? Why are we excited about going to a boring worship service with a bunch of hypocrites? What is it about Jesus that makes our life different?

We should not stop living while we wait for Jesus to come again, but we should always be prepared so that when He does come, He’ll find faith on earth. Will He see faith in the crowds in the stores as we shop? Will He find faith in the piles of Christmas presents? Will He see faithful people living faith-filled lives in the hustle and bustle of the season and in the holiday celebrations ahead of us this month?

We don’t need to reject having wonderful holiday. It is in the gifts and the gatherings that we share our love with family and friends. Perhaps our problem is that we try too hard to separate our secular celebration from our Christian faith. Christians don’t keep Christ out of the season; I’m sure many shoppers flocking the stores this weekend will celebrate in many faith-filled ways. They will display a nativity in their home, maybe even on their lawn. They will go to church. They will sing Christmas carols. They will be generous to the charities that ask for donations. Let us consider, however, whether we are glorifying God when chase after the latest things that the world loves, but that God hates? Do we consider how our choices might impact on the faith of our neighbor?

It is not easy being a Christian. This has been true of all time, not just this time. Jesus told us to expect that we will face persecution. Generations of Christians have been beaten and killed because they believed the Gospel. Christians are being kidnapped, oppressed, and abused. Churches are bombed. Believers are beheaded. Jesus warned us that the world would hate us, but He told us not to worry because He will be with us. On this first day of Advent, let us remember that He is here now just as He was there then and will soon be with us forever.

Isaiah wrote, “House of Jacob, come, and let’s walk in the light of Yahweh.” We are the house of Jacob now. We are the witnesses of God’s light and love and mercy. While individual prayer and devotional time is a good thing and is encouraged for everyone to help make their hectic lives a little more peaceful, we are sent into the world to share that peace with others. They will not see the Christ in Christmas if we are too busy to share Him with the world.

The psalmist wrote, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let’s go to Yahweh’s house!’” Those who hear the Gospel message and experience the love and mercy of God are glad when they discover that which has been with them all along. God is not asking us to reject the secular aspects of the Christmas season. He’s relying on each of us as Christians to shine His light in all that we do.

There is a petitionary prayer in today’s psalm. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Those who love you will prosper. Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces. For my brothers’ and companions’ sakes, I will now say, ‘Peace be within you.’ For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God, I will seek your good.” This prayer for peace is for Jerusalem, more specifically for the Temple. Yet, the heart that loves God is now His temple. That is where God dwells. So, the prayer is for peace within the hearts and lives of those who love the LORD.

What is peace? This is a particularly difficult question in our age when it seems like there is always a enemy waiting to war with us, whether it is a shopper trying to get the last sale item or a nation who desires more territory. However hard we work for peace between peoples, that type of peace will never last. True peace comes from God. We can work and negotiate for a peace settlement between warring nations, but there will soon be a new war. Our Christmas wish that there be peace on earth is admirable, but our task as Christians is to share the peace of God with the world.

Jesus tells us that we will not know the hour of the coming of the Son of Man. We don’t know when it will happen, but we are reminded that we are not just waiting for the birth of a baby in a manger. We are waiting for the coming of the Judge and King. Jesus is calling us to be prepared. For the Christian, this means being aware of the presence of God in the every day. The people in Noah’s day were so caught up in the ordinary that they missed the extraordinary. Most of the people in Bethlehem when Jesus was born were so caught up in the ordinary that they missed the extraordinary. We are often so caught up in the ordinary preparations for Christmas that we miss the extraordinary moments when God’s grace slips into the world.

So, we are called to wait, to wonder, to hope and to dwell in the peace of God. We are called to be ready, we do not know the time when He will come again. We only know that He has promised to come and when He comes the nations of the earth will be righteously judged. As we wait, we trust in God. As we wonder, we see His faithfulness in the midst of our unfaithfulness.

How hard it must have been for those first believers. The language makes it sound as if the return of Christ was imminent. For those Christians, they must have thought that they would see Him again in their lifetime. But it has been nearly two thousand years since Jesus ascended into heaven. How disappointing it must have been for those early Christians whose lives were changed by the Gospel and the hope for His coming. Yet, the Church has lived on. In our modern age, as in every age, people are still yearning for the coming of Christ. Unfortunately, this waiting makes us apathetic, questioning the reality of His promises.

Perhaps we should be looking at the imminence of His coming not in terms of earthly time, but in terms of God’s time. The scriptures tell us that for God a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. He is not limited by time like us. What has happened then is happening now and will happen in the future. The salvation of Christ is given at the cross to all who believe, but it is also given in this day and in the final day. Christ is near in time, not because the Day of Judgment will be today or tomorrow, but because everything that He does is timeless. When we think of Christ only in terms of the past, the present, or the future, we do not live fully in His presence.

Paul encourages us to live godly lives in Christ while we wait. That does not just mean taking time during Advent to attend worship more often or spend time in prayer and devotional study. It means living as if now is the moment that Christ will come. It is. He comes every time we share the Gospel with a stranger in word and deed. He comes every time we shine the light of God’s love. He comes every time we invite our neighbor to come to the house of the LORD, welcoming them to dwell in the peace that comes from Him and Him alone.

During this Advent, we are called to live in Christ, keeping from deeds of darkness. The people in Noah’s day had no idea what was to come, they kept living as if they were safe from the judgment of God. The same is true of all those who are wandering through this Christmas season as if it is only a time of presents and parties. It will also happen to all those who do not prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus in His glory, for this will be a day of judgment for those who continue to walk in the darkness.

It is up to us to live as if today were that day, to share the love of Christ with the world so that they might see and come to dwell in the house of the LORD. It will be a day of joy and peace for those of us who have died with Christ and live with Him in faith. Is this not the greatest joy and the foundation of true peace? Is this not something we should want to share with others? Let us live this Advent aware of the subtle reminders of God’s presence in this world so that others might catch a glimpse and wonder what it is all about.

Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome that salvation is nearer at that moment than when they first became believers. That promise continues today. We know this is true, and yet we wonder. So much time has passed since Paul wrote his letters. It might be closer, but it is possibly still a thousand years away. That’s why it is so easy to become apathetic. We’ve heard for two thousand years that each day brings us closer to the day when Christ will come again. It is hard to wait anxiously for something that doesn’t seem to be coming. But we are called to wait patiently, look forward to the birth of the King, and remember that our King will come again. We live between the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Until that day, we are to live in Christ, who is as present now as He was then and as He will be in that day.

The world is dark, even when there are twinkle lights on the trees, but the true Light dwells among us. We are sent out into the world to live in faith and shine so others will see Him. Remember that Christ is with you always, whatever busyness the days of Advent hold for you. These weeks will be filled with opportunities and choices. How will you respond? Will you keep your faith separate from your quest for the perfect Christmas, or will you be ready at a moment’s notice to be generous with His grace? Christ came. Christ is here. Christ will come again. Let us live today remembering the past, embracing the present, and looking forward to the future as we dwell in His presence always with a living faith that acts as if He will appear at a moment’s notice.

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November 27, 2025

“Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands! Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100, WEB

Chad Bird, a Lutheran theologian, wrote in a post on Facebook today: “Charles Dickens once suggested that Americans, instead of having just one Thanksgiving Day each year, ought to have 364. ‘Use that one day just for complaining and griping,’ he said. ‘Use the other 364 days to thank God each day for the many blessings he has showered upon you.’ - Andrew Schroer, 364 Days of Thanksgiving.”

We are so very blessed. We should be singing songs of thanksgiving every day of our lives for the many gifts God has given us. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside one day a year, the final Thursday in November, to give thanks to God. Franklin Roosevelt changed it to the fourth Thursday. For many people, the day is not a religious holiday, but one to remember our history and the early settlers who made America. In school, the children learn about the Pilgrims and Indians, recreate the first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time for vacation, for reunions, and for transitioning from the ordinary to the season of Christmas. At home, we say a five-minute grace thanking God for our material blessings, eat too much food, and then watch parades and football all day.

Some people are surprised to hear that Thanksgiving is about thanking God for our blessings. We have forgotten why Abraham Lincoln set this day apart in the first place. In his proclamation, he said, “It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

We have so much to be thankful for; we have warm homes and plenty of food. We have more than we can even list in just a day, an abundance of reasons to be thankful, all gifts which God has given out of His great wealth. Most of all, though, we have the love and mercy of our Father in Heaven, and the peace that comes from life in Christ. May we never forget that everything we have comes from God from the simplest most worldly things to heaven itself, and may we constantly praise Him for His goodness.

On this day called Thanksgiving, let us remember to thank God for His many blessings. In the midst of the football and pumpkin pie, focus on the Father and His Son and the blessing of eternal life, which is the greatest blessing you can receive.

Father in heaven, I thank you for all I was, all I am and all I will be, through your Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.

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November 28, 2025

“See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron’s beard, that came down on the edge of his robes, like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion; for there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forever more.” Psalm 133, WEB

Have you ever woken up to a world that was wet, that looked like it rained but it didn’t? Have you ever experienced a morning when the air was so heavy with water that it fell to the ground, not only as dew on the grass but also as puddles on the driveway? It is refreshing, but in a place where the ground is often drought parched, we would rather have a steady rain. With that type of dew, our cars are dripping with water, but the dew doesn’t wash the dust and dirt off, leaving dimple dew marks all over. This is what is described in today’s psalm. People who have traveled in the region throughout the generations report that the dew is so bountiful on the tents that it seemed like it had rained all night. This type of dew can make a dry place feel fresh and life sustaining.

As the dew falls on the land, so too the oil falls on Aaron’s head, flowing down to cover his hair, face, and even his robe. The oil, which was an expensive offering, was abundantly and graciously poured over the priest to anoint him for the ministry of God. The ointment was powerfully fragrant, strong enough to reach the noses of those who were near, so the experience was shared with the community.

In this psalm we see God’s gracious generosity in both the natural and spiritual worlds. The gifts may not seem like much. After all, dew is not rainfall and the bottle of oil was not large, but they both fell in such abundance in the psalm that they reached well beyond the mountain and the priest. As a matter of fact, Mount Hermon is miles away from Zion, but the rich blessings of that dew benefited the whole region.

Most of us are recovering from a day of celebration with family and friends. How was your Thanksgiving? Did you eat turkey and pie until you couldn’t eat any more? Did you hang out in front of the television watching football all day? Did you spend time visiting with those you love? Was it a pleasant experience? Did everyone benefit from the love and togetherness?

I know that some family celebrations can be difficult. I’ve heard stories about brothers and sisters that just can’t get along. Or about in-laws that are demanding and spoiled children that throw tantrums. I know that some families can’t even bring up certain topics of conversation without getting into arguments. Others fight over life situations, disappointments, and plans. Those family gatherings are not always pleasant experiences. Other families can gather in peace and enjoy one another’s company? Does this mean that they will agree about everything? Not necessarily, but they’ve learned how to get along.

How pleasant it is when brothers live in unity! The blessing of unity does not come from within; it comes from without. It comes from another source like the dew comes from Hermon and the oil comes from a bottle. The blessing of unity comes from God. When we live within the love and grace of God, the effects are far reaching. We benefit, but so do those around us. As we head into the holiday season, with many gatherings of friends and family, let’s remember that unity does not necessarily mean that we’ll always get along, but we can learn to live in His grace and mercy enjoying one another’s company so that the world will see how He blesses His people.

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