Words of Welcome

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 It seems strangely appropriate to hear an apocalyptic reading from scripture at the close of a week featuring rising COVID cases and a bitterly contested Presidential election. Are these signs that Jesus is about to return and take us home? If so, are you ready?    In last Sunday’s reading from 1 Thessalonians 2, we heard Paul commend the Thessalonians for embracing his message as a word from God ( 1 Thess. 2:9-13) . Now, Paul addresses the matter of Jesus’ return in glory and the fate of those who had already died. This reading draws on Jewish apocalyptic imagery that envisioned the replacement of the old, broken, world order with God’s new creation. This is the message Paul had preached in Thessalonika.  The only difference is that he envisioned Jesus being the agent of this dramatic break in human history. The Thessalonians were looking forward to this new day, but they were worried about the fate of those who had died before all of this too...

Young Clergy Man Reading 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 We come together to worship on the eve of an election. I know many of us are anxious about the outcome and the aftermath of this election. All I can say is, if you’ve not voted, drop off any absentee ballots at your clerk’s office or go vote on Tuesday. Then pray hard! We also gather on All Saints Day to remember and honor all God’s saints, “who from their labors rest.” The word we hear from Paul and his companions to the church in Thessalonika is the oldest document in the New Testament. This is about as close as we get to the very beginnings of the Christian story, which continues to unfold into our day. This community lived with a great deal of anxiety. Part of this anxiety was rooted in their expectation that Jesus was going to return any minute. With this expectation came questions about those who had died. Would they get caught up with Jesus when he returned? I don’t think we experience the same kind of anxiety as the Thessaloni...

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 We have reached the Third Sunday of Advent. We have lit the rose-colored candle, which symbolizes the message of joy. The Psalm for the day declares that “The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.” Then in the closing verses of the Psalm, the people sing: “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves” ( Psalm 126:5-6 ). As we gather to celebrate this message of Joy, we hear the words of Paul to the church at Thessalonika. If you want to get a sense of what the church looked like in its earliest days, this letter to a Macedonian church is a good place to go, since this is believed to be the oldest part of the New Testament. What we have read are Paul’s final exhortations and benediction. There’s a flurry of information here that can overwhelm the reader and leave the preacher puzzled as to how to deal with it. Fortun...

Mark 13:21-23 A little over a week ago Fred Phelps died.  If you don’t know who Fred Phelps is, he was the leader of a small fringe Baptist church from Topeka, Kansas.  Fred and his church, which is composed mostly of family members, are well known for picketing religious gatherings and funerals, especially military funerals.  They have a two-pronged message –  “God hates fags” and “God hates America.” I first encountered this group when we were living in Kansas.  It seemed like every time we drove to Topeka on a Saturday morning, they were just finishing up their protest march at the local shopping mall.  I’d never heard of them until I got to Kansas in 1995, but since then they’ve become an increasingly visible presence across the country.   They claim to represent God.  But do they?  Many claim to be prophets, but who really speaks for God?  How do you know who is speaking truth?  Does the message of hate proclaimed b...

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 On more than one occasion Rial has said that “Words Matter.”   I think that what he means is that a word has a definition and we should pay attention to it.  I agree, but words also have nuances, and context often determines meaning, especially in the English language.   Now, I realize that you didn’t come to church today to get a lesson in English grammar, but I believe that Paul has something important to say about words in our text.  It’s not an issue of grammar or definitions, but whether our lives match our words.   Because Paul was a traveling preacher, he was something of a talker, but unlike many other contemporary preachers of his day and ours as well, Paul was a straight-talker.  He said what he meant and meant what he said, and so people could have confidence in his message.  Paul’s own confidence in God’s calling on his life gave him confidence in his message as well.  Therefore, he had the courage to pr...