patient endurance

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Advent is a season dedicated to waiting and preparation. That can be hard to do for us, especially in our fast-paced world. It often feels like we don't have time to do the practical things we need to do, let alone make time for something fuzzy like preparing our hearts for Jesus. Living at a fast pace we also get used to a short distance between plan and execution. With the fulfillment of Christ's promise to return, on the other hand, almost two thousand years have passed, but we're still waiting. Both in Advent and in our lives in general, the waiting is an opportunity to prepare. What do you want to change or accomplish before Christ comes again?

God bless,
Sam


James 5:7-11
⁷Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

mourning and rejoicing

Good morning sisters and brothers,
I hope the weekend was a good one for you. When the people of Judah returned from exile in Babylon they rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. In this passage we see the people celebrating and praising God for the blessing of bringing them home and allowing them to rebuild the temple. At the same time, we also see the older members of the community weeping because the new temple wasn't the temple they remembered. This moment speaks volumes to the church today. Many of the younger members of the church rejoice at the new things God is doing in our community: deepening spirituality that's evident in our prayer vigils, strong growth and new members in our Bible study, and some new energy for New Beginnings. At the same time, many of us remember the "good old days" when there were more people in the church and life seemed simpler.

The truth is there is much to rejoice over and much to lament. What is lost is gone: the 1960's are not coming back. But God is doing something exciting at Laurelton and beyond. Jesus promises that even the gates of hell won't defeat the church, so we can trust the future to God's hands. We who are excited about the future need to remember that many are also mourning the past; we who mourn the past can also look to the future with hope because God is in charge: "His love endures forever!"

God bless,
Sam

Ezra 3:8-13

⁸In the second year after their arrival at the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their people, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work on the house of the Lord. ⁹And Jeshua with his sons and his kin, and Kadmiel and his sons, Binnui and Hodaviah along with the sons of Henadad, the Levites, their sons and kin, together took charge of the workers in the house of God.

¹⁰When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; ¹¹and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

¹²But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.

the end of exile

Good morning brothers and sisters (good evening night owls),
We've heard how God was with the people of Judah during the exile. Now we turn to the end of the exile. King Cyrus of Persia (which took over the Babylonian Empire) received a revelation from God that he should let the people of Judah return home. The passage mentions this fulfills Jeremiah's prophecy, which stated that Judah would be in captivity for 70 years. If there was any doubt that God uses people who aren't part of the "right" religion, this passage clears that up. God can work through anyone, at any time. How will God work through you today?

God bless,
Sam

Ezra 1:1-11

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a ² written edict declared: ³Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them! —are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; ⁴and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.” 

⁵The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶All their neighbors aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered. ⁷King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. ⁸King Cyrus of Persia had them released into the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. ⁹And this was the inventory: gold basins, thirty; silver basins, one thousand; knives, twenty-nine; ¹⁰gold bowls, thirty; other silver bowls, four hundred ten; other vessels, one thousand; ¹¹the total of the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

hope and judgment

Good morning friends,
Today's reading begins with hope and ends with warning. This progression raises the question Jeremiah voices as an accusation against God at the end of the passage: is there any hope for Israel or is God just offering an impossible promise while the sword of judgment is at Israel's throat? I think God is offering Israel true hope, but a hope they will not take advantage of. God calls his people to turn back to him, but the nation does not.

The good news is that even after judgment and exile there is hope because God's love never ends. Judah is conquered and forced into exile during Jeremiah's ministry. Even in exile, God is there. The exilic period ends up being a critical part of Israel's reformation and the time during which much of the Old Testament took the shape we know today. That time of hardship strengthened Israel's identity in God and prepared Israel for the diaspora that has continued to be the situation of many Jews today. Israel did return to their land as God promised. The temple was rebuilt and worship restored. God's promise and God's story continue through all our twists and turns. God is always faithful, even when we are not.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 4:1-10
If you return, O Israel, says the Lord, if you return to me, if you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver, 2and if you swear, “As the Lord lives!” in truth, in justice, and in uprightness, then nations shall be blessed by him, and by him they shall boast.

3For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. 4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet through the land; shout aloud and say, “Gather together, and let us go into the fortified cities!” 6Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, do not delay, for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction. 7A lion has gone up from its thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant. 8Because of this put on sackcloth, lament and wail: “The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.” 9On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded. 10Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ even while the sword is at the throat!”