judgment and office

Good evening friends,
I want to remind you of a great event next Sunday. The choirs of all our UPT churches will share their gifts at a joint event at 3:30 pm on Sunday at Third Presbyterian. It would be wonderful to have a big turnout to support all the choirs. If you'd like to bring cheese or fruit or cookies, that would be very welcome as well.


This passage is familiar to many of us. It's one of the first passages I think about when I think about faith and politics, which is what we'll be reading, praying and talking about between now and the election. Obviously, I'm not going to try to tell you who to vote for. Both candidates have strengths and weaknesses. As Christians, our job is to seek God's will in our lives, and that includes the life of our nation. We probably have different ideas about what that means, so I'll be interested to hear from you too. This passage gives us a great sense for what's most important to God, by showing us how God will judge us at the end of time. If it's important to God, it's good to keep these things in mind as we choose candidates for office.

Blessings,
Sam

Matthew 25:31-45

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

taxes and inspiring others with faith

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Worship today will include a skit to reflect on the scripture for the morning. We won't be hearing this scripture, but we will be thinking about what is really important in life. I think you're in for a treat. I am hoping yesterday's wind dies down for my race this morning in Toronto. I'll hit the halfway point somewhere in the middle of worship, so prayer would be nice.

In our epistle readings we begin a new letter, this one to the church in Thessalonica. Paul writes that the faith of the Thessalonians is so strong that they are an inspiration for other churches throughout the region. In Matthew Jesus teaches on balancing our role as citizens and as people of faith. Citizenship in a democracy like ours is very different from being a subject in an empire in which one had no input as Jesus was. Still Jesus' teaching helps us remember that we are dual citizens.

God bless,
Sam

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

2We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.



6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.



*Sunday

Matthew 22:15-22

15Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?“ 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

God and Caesar

Good morning all,
Our reading this morning continues Paul's travels and his proclamation in the face of resistance. Yesterday we saw Paul refer to his status as a citizen, basically calling Rome in on his side of the debate. Here we see the Jewish leaders try to use the Roman authorities against the apostles. In the same way the Jerusalem leadership argued to Pilate that Jesus was a threat to Rome because he claimed to be a king, the leaders in Thessalonica tell the city officials that the Christians are a threat to Rome because they follow a different king.

Of course, in some ways that's a legitimate accusation. Christians do follow a king named Jesus and that means that no other power can control us completely. Christianity has pretty consistently taught that we ought to be good citizens wherever we live, obeying the laws and supporting the government. At the same time any time a government or leader tries to take God's place we are called to stand for God. There can be both a Lord of heaven and earth and a Roman Emperor and Christians can obey both. But if the emperor claims our allegiance as god or orders us to do what God leads us to believe is wrong, we have to refuse because ultimately for us there is only one Lord.

God bless,
Sam


Acts 17:1-9
17:1After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.” 4Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar.

While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house. 6When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, 7and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” 8The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, 9and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.