November 23, 2025

Lectionary Texts

Jeremiah 23. 1-6 — God laments leaders who have abused people, and promises a new order: God will gather God’s people like sheep and provide good shepherds to protect them.

Luke 1. 68-79 — The Benedictus. God has raised up a savior, according to God’s promise. And you, child, will give knowledge of salvation through forgiveness. The dawn from on high will break upon us, guiding our feet into the way of peace.

Colossians 1. 11-20 — God has delivered us into the realm of God’s Beloved. … Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, reconciling all things reconciled to God.

Luke 23.33-43 — The crucifixion

Preaching Thoughts

       The Christian liturgical year is patterned after the life of Jesus: his coming, ministry, death and resurrection, and his life through the Spirit in his followers. The cycle ends with the Reign of Christ Sunday, focusing not on the earthly ministry of Jesus, but on Christ as a cosmic figure, sovereign over all Creation.

Jeremiah
        The prophet criticizes political leaders who promote policies that hurt the poor. God promises to provide a gentle shepherd who will actually care for the people. Jeremiah has in mind a king over Israel. We Christians see in his promise an image of Christ’s gentle, life-giving reign over us.

Luke 1
       Zechariah’s song is one of Luke’s two great psalms (the other is Mary’s Magnificat). The first half celebrates God saving us from all that diminishes life. The second half, addressed to “you, child,” is about the newborn John, who will become the Baptizer, and also, of course, about us. This is our calling: to go before God, paving the way by spreading forgiveness. The beautiful promise of the dawn of new peace doesn’t just descend out of the sky; it is born of God’s grace and forgiveness flowing through us.

Colossians
       Paul describes the Cosmic Christ: the whole being of God, the visible presence of the invisible God, supreme and eternal, in whom and for whom everything exists. Paul wrote this before the idea of the Trinity existed, but he sure describes Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity. Christ is the head of the church, and also reigns over all human power systems, dominions and empires.

Luke 23
       King of the Jews. Jesus displays God’s disturbingly counter-cultural kind of sovereignty: not in domination and invulnerability, but in love, sharing our suffering and offering forgiveness. The fatal torture of a helpless criminal is not most people’s idea of a coronation ceremony. But we worship a pretty unorthodox sovereign. Jesus is a “king” not because he’s tougher than others, not because he exerts dominion, but precisely because he doesn’t. He rules in love, and love doesn’t coerce, manipulate, threaten or control. It doesn’t “insist on it’s own way,” as Paul says. So of course Jesus, who saved others, will not save himself. The power of love is to help others, not to escape suffering.Jesus is sovereign because he will not avoid entering into human suffering. His crown is a crown of thorns. Despite people’s cynicism, Love is the supreme power in the universe. Love reigns, even while evil and injustice abound. The world’s “power” is really just the power to destroy or threaten to hurt. The power of love is the opposite: is the power to heal, to create, to liberate, to give gifts. World power is power over; the power of love is power with, and even power beneath to lift, to raise. Caesar’s power is to extract people’s loyalty to the Empire. Jesus’ power is the power to promise paradise. Caesar’s power is to kill. God’s power is to raise. Though we’re pretty taken by worldly power, here we have the sum of it: Jesus’ love changes the world, and Caesar… well, he gets a salad named after him.
       Today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus isn’t just promising the thief a happy afterlife. He’s saying today, right now, even in suffering, you belong to God and God’s delight. In the same way Jesus actually is the Son of God, even though people don’t believe it, the thief—and each of us—actually is in paradise, even though we don’t believe it. We are in God’s care, part of God’s royal family, and a source of God’s delight. This isn’t just a promise for the future; Jesus is actually, right now, even in his agony, extending love to this guy. Even as he’s being tortured he’s praying for the forgiveness of his torturers. Despite the onslaught of pain and shame in his torture, Jesus is still loving. Nothing can stop love. Nothing, not pain, not violence, not all the power in the world, not even death. Love wins. Love is sovereign over all the world. Christ reigns.

Call to Worship

1. (Colossians 1.15-20)
Leader: Alleluia! Christ is the image of the invisible God.
All: In Christ all the fullness of God is pleased to dwell.
In Christ all things in heaven and on earth were created;
Christ reigns over thrones and dominions and rulers and powers.
Christ is the head of the Body, the church.
Through Christ all things are reconciled to God, making peace by his love on the cross.
This is the love we adore, the love we worship, the love we serve. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: In thanksgiving we gather to praise you, O God!
All: For all of your abundant blessings we thank you, O God.
For the love of Christ, who reveals your presence to us, we praise you.
For your grace and your love, and for the reign of Christ, we thank you, O God.
For your call to serve you, your cry for mercy and justice
that raises us to action, we thank you.
In the power of your Spirit alive in us, shining with your light, we worship you.

3.
Leader: Christ our Savior and our Sovereign,
All: you wear a crown of thorns.
O Crucified and Risen One,
you reign in mercy, with a crown of thorns.
O Prince of Peace, you rule our hearts.
We surrender to your grace, your crown of thorns.
Grant us your peace, that we may be your loyal subjects.
Grant us, Christ, your reign of mercy, crown of thorns,
to serve you faithfully throughout this wounded world. Amen.

4. (Luke 1.68-7)
Leader: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
       for God has visited us and redeemed us.
All: God has raised up for us
       a mighty savior from the family of David.
God spoke through the mouth of the holy prophets from of old:
       to save us from our enemies
       from every power that would destroy us.
God has shown mercy to our ancestors,
       and has remembered the holy covenant.
This was the oath that God swore to our ancestors Abraham and Sarah:
to set us free from the powers of our enemies,
       free to serve God without fear,
holy and righteous in God’s sight,
       all the days of our lives.
Alleluia! God, you who are sovereign over all things, we praise you.
Christ, you who have conquered the world with your grace, we thank you.
Holy Spirit, you who rule in our hearts with love, we bow to you. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of power and might, we profess that Christ, your love embodied, rules over all Creation. Grant that Christ may rule over our own hearts: that we may belong to you alone, that our trust be in you, that our will be subservient to yours, that our lives are wholly in your service. God of grace, we pledge allegiance to you and to your Christ. Speak your Word to us and order our lives by your grace. Amen.

2.
So many forces work woe in this world. So many powers vie for control. But you rule above all others. Save us, O God! So many leaders would claim our loyalty. So many voices would speak for our souls. Overrule them, O God! Take up your power and reign in our hearts. Call us and equip us to serve you for the sake of your Reign of Grace. Speak to us now that we may hear your word, be awakened and changed, and follow. Amen.

3.
Eternal God, you have set Christ to rule over all the earth. He reigns with mercy and grace. Under his glorious and gentle rule, help us as we hear your scriptures read and good news proclaimed, to listen with humble hearts and to devote our lives to your service. We pray in the name of Christ, our sovereign. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Love,
you who create,
who rule the world,
rule in my heart.
Shepherd the flock of my soul.
Reign in my life.

Prayer of Confession

Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
All: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
God of love, you are our Sovereign.
Forgiveness is your law, and mercy is your demand.
But we confess that we have not obeyed your law,
nor allowed ourselves to fully receive your blessing.
We bow to you.
Forgive us, transform us,
and write your law of grace in our hearts.
We pray in the name of Christ, the King of Mercy.
[Silent prayer … The Word of Grace]

Readings

(Colossians 2.11-20)
Leader: I pray that you will lead lives worthy of the Beloved,
fully pleasing to God,
that you will bear fruit in every good work
and grow in knowing God.
All: May we be made strong with all the strength
           that comes from God’s glorious power,
           which prepares us to endure everything with patience.
Joyfully give thanks to the Holy One,
who has enabled you to shine with the light
all God’s beloved ones inherit.
God has rescued us from the power of darkness
           and transferred us into the realm of the Beloved,
           in whom our sins are forgiven
           and our lives are made complete.
Christ is the visible appearance of the invisible God,
the beloved older brother of all creation.
All things in heaven and on earth were created in Christ,
          everything visible and invisible,
rulers and powers and systems and empires—
          everything was created through Christ and for Christ.
Christ came before anything,
and in Christ everything holds together.
Christ is the head and the church is the body.
Christ is the Source of life, and has turned even death into a birth:
          so Christ is first in every way.
In Christ God is completely present.
Through Christ God reconciles us to God—
          all of us, and everything on earth and in heaven:
            making peace in dying on the cross.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1. 1. Luke 1.68-79 may be read as an affirmation

2.
                   (Colossians 1. 11-20)
Leader: Let us give thanks to God,
the Life-Giver, our Mother, our Father,
who gives us, with all the saints, the gift of God’s light.
All: God has rescued us from the power of darkness
and transferred us into the Realm of God’s beloved Son.
Christ has set us free, pronouncing the forgiveness of our sin.
       Christ is the visible image of the invisible God,
the oldest sibling of all creation.
All things in heaven and on earth were created in Christ:
everything visible and invisible,
including nations and dominions and rulers and powers—
all things have been created through him and for him.
Christ before all things, and in Christ everything holds together.
       Christ is the head of the body, the church;
Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
and is at the heart of everything.
God was pleased to live completely in Christ.
Christ brings everything into harmony with God—
everything on earth and in heaven,
by making peace through the blood of the cross.
Leader: May God’s glorious power make you strong.
May you be prepared to endure everything with patience,
the whole time joyfully giving thanks to God.
All: Amen.

3. (from Colossians 1.13-20)
       We give thanks to God, who has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the dominion of God’s beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.
       We believe in Christ, who shows us God, since God lives fully in Christ. Christ is the elder sibling of all Creation. Everything in the universe was created through and for Christ, who has dominion over all power structures, all authorities, all visible and invisible forces. Christ provides the way we make sense of the world, for everything holds together in Love. Through Christ God has brought everyone and everything back into relationship, creating peace where there was bloodshed.
       We belong to the Church, which is Christ’s body; and Christ is our head. Love leads us in everything in life, and even in death and resurrection. Thanks be to God!

Eucharistic Prayer

[The body of the prayer may be read responsively or by the presiding leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your heart.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.


Blessed are you, Holy One God of Israel,
for you have looked favorably on your people and redeemed us.
You have raised up a mighty savior for us
in the house of your servant David,
as you spoke through the mouth of your holy prophets from of old.
You granted that we would be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all that diminishes life.
You have set us free to serve you without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before you all our days.
You have rescued us from the power of darkness
and delivered us into the Realm of your beloved son.
Therefore with all Creation we sing your praise.
     (Sanctus)

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
in whom you were pleased to dwell fully.
Jesus embodied your visible image, before all things,
creating all things, ruling over all things,
in whom all Creation holds together.
In Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
Through them you have reconciled everything to yourself,
making peace by their blood on the cross.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
     (Memorial Acclamation)

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
And you, children, will be called the prophets of the Most High;
for you will go before God to prepare the way,
to give knowledge of salvation to God’s people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us.
O God, give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and guide our feet into the way of peace.
     (Amen.)

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer after Communion

God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You have fed us with the the power that raised Christ from the dead. Send us to love, with trust and gratitude, to proclaim forgiveness, to serve as loyal subjects in the Realm of Love, in the name and the Spirit and the company of Jesus. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending

1.
Gracious God, we give you these gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. You reign in love over all the world. Reign over our own hearts; fill us with your light; and send us out to work, to risk and to witness for the realm of justice and mercy you desire for all the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we give you our gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace, and use them according to your will. Send us into the world with Christ reigning in our hearts. May your love rule over us, your generosity lead us forward, and your Spirit strengthen us to serve you in all that we do, to your glory, in the name of Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Benediction

Luke 1.76-79
Leader: You, children, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare a way for God,
to give knowledge of salvation to all people by enacting the forgiveness of their sins.
All: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Christ, Ruler of All Things (Tune: ST. ELIZABETH – Fairest Lord Jesus)

Christ, Ruler of all things, what is seen and unseen,
your love reigns; your grace is sure.
Beneath our fear and strife, death fails to conquer life:
your tender mercy still endures.

Christ, Ruler of our hearts, come and reign within us.
Make us comrades, siblings, friends.
Your love be our life, our only power,
that gives us life that never ends.

Christ, Ruler of the earth, bring your gentle justice:
your Realm come, your will be done.
Heal all oppression; fill us with mercy,
as faithful as the rising sun.

Christ, Ruler of all things, of what is and is to come,
Risen One, our song we raise.
Rule in our living; guide us with tender love.
Your grace in us will be your praise.


Love Is Enthroned (Tune: Finlandia)

O, risen Christ, who once appeared among us,
you have ascended! Loud we sing your praise.
Though we may see no shadow of your nearness,
you have not gone; your loving presence stays.
You are no longer in one time or place,
but in all things, to radiate your grace.

Christ has ascended, reigning now above.
Love is enthroned at the Creator’s side.
All powers on earth are subject to Christ’s love,
who is our history’s unseen, gentle guide.
Though evil try to make this world its home,
Love is its Lord, and love shall overcome.

Go in the peace of Christ who is our Lord,
and gently heal, amid the fear and strife.
For we who eat and drink the living Word
are now Christ’s Body, and Christ’s earthly life.
We may not see the journey or the end,
but Christ still reigns, our ruler and our friend.


O Jesus, Wounded Sovereign (Tune: O Sacred Head Now Wounded)

Dear Jesus, you who suffer and walk among the poor
whose hearts and lives are broken, whose faith is still unsure:
despised, accused and battered, you do not say a word.
So powerless, yet loving!— you are my Sovereign Lord.

You bear no arms but loving, no threats nor flags unfurled.
You wear no kingly robes, but the sorrows of the world.
Yet your forgiveness conquers each worldly rule and reign,
and rises, whole, undaunted, from evil, death and pain.

While emperors abuse you, and people shrug or stare,
and dark injustice troubles the ones for whom you care,
your mighty grace arises, and hidden from our sight,
enfolds all living beings in your triumphant light.

O Jesus, wounded Sovereign, I pray, give me the nerve
without this world’s armor to love and bless and serve.
My master and companion, rule all eternity
with grace and deep compassion, and, Love, begin with me.


O Sovereign Love     (Tune: Amazing Grace)

Beloved, you who guard and guide and give for every need,
reign in my heart, O Sovereign Christ; direct each thought and deed.

O Sovereign Love, my root, my sun, my purpose and my peace,
I spurn the world’s vain, anxious rule, and trust your Law of Grace.

The Empire of your justice, God, with mercy’s clear command
shall be my home; my loyalty is to no lesser land.

In humble and obedient thanks I pledge my life to you,
to join your work of justice, God, to make the world anew.

Reign in my heart, O Christ, my Rule. In faith I am compelled
to serve you, who by love alone have conquered all the world.

November 16, 2025

Lectionary Texts

Isaiah 65. 17-25 — An new heavens and a new earth. People shall live in peace, the wolf and the lamb together. They hall not hurt or destroy.

Isaiah 12 — God is my salvation. God has done gloriously.
        or
Psalm 118 God’s steadfast love endures forever. Take refuge in God, not humans. I shall not die, but I shall live. Open the gates of righteousness. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone! This is the day God has made; let us rejoice in it.

2 Thessalonians 3. 6-13 — Labor for your bread.

Luke 21. 5-19 —The temple will be destroyed. There will be chaos. You will be betrayed, arrested. Testify. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Preaching Thoughts

The New Creation
       Jesus had an apocalyptic outlook: that God would radically transform the human story by intervening in our history, taking apart the world we have built and creating a new one, a new Creation. It’s tempting to want to know when and how this would happen. When Jesus was asked he said “It’s not for you to know the times or the seasons.” This may be not just because we don’t know the day, but because there isn’t a “day.” It’s all the time. God is always transforming the world.

First comes the end
       People who take apocalyptic images literally always seem to end up with pretty violent theologies and narratives with beasts and firestorms and raptures that leave most people abandoned by God and a lot of them dead. Nonsense. Some misguided folks in both fiction and real life think they can “bring about the apocalypse,” or at least bring about the conditions that trigger it, as if they can speed up the timetable. Again: nonsense. The transformation of the world is God’s work, not ours, and it is pure hubris, folly and downright evil to pretend we have that power. In fact the methods of such folks always seem to include the very violence, domination, fear and demagoguery that God condemns. Jesus’ advice is not to go on some rapture-happy rampage, or to nudge global warming to trigger the end times. It’s to love. Jesus does not want us to abandon what he’s been teaching us all along about forgiveness, nonviolence, loving enemies, offering healing and living in gentle trust and joy. It will be harder to stay faithful to lives of mercy when the world is getting rougher, but that’s exactly what Jesus is training us for.

The beginning of the end
       Until recently I avoided literal talk about the “end of the world,” focusing on God’s continual re-creation. But these days, as we face climate change, war, the loss of species, the violent persistence of white supremacy, and other dangers—well, these are unprecedented, and I can imagine the collapse of civilization as we know it. We may or may not escape any of those threats. (The “signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves” in v. 25, just beyond today’s reading, is a pretty straightforward description of climate change.)

Getting honest
       I know, it’s scary to talk about the actual end times. But let’s get realistic. As pastors and prophets we can talk about the possibility of the collapse of human culture, for the same reason Jesus and Paul did: we need to face reality and make faithful choices. This means:      
—Accept the possibility of great loss. God will not swoop in and rescue us any more than they did for Jesus. God accompanies us, blesses us and redeems us, but does not manipulate human history. We may not be able to escape our own destructiveness, and pretending won’t help, so we’d best get honest about that..
—Embrace our grief and fear, and honestly lament. In Lament we give voice to our sadness, remember our trust in God’s grace, place our grief and despair in God’s hands, and braid our sorrow with hope. (see my comments on lament on OT
—Acknowledge our choices and make our commitments. We don’t have to fall in line behind the false saviors (v.8). We can “bear witness” (v. 13) and “make up our minds” how to (v. 14). Maybe major collapse is coming. If so, we need the spirituality of the Beatitudes more than ever. In times of loss and chaos, love is the only hope.

By your endurance
       Now is the time for preachers to start talking about the end times. We need to be realistic about the future. We need to be motivated to work for justice and healing while there’s time—so maybe it won’t be the end! We need to be prepared. And we need to be faithful. If indeed we are facing the possibility of chaos and collapse, what better way to address it does God have but to send out people full of love, courage, hope and gentleness? Whether we have 5000 years to go or 50, we can be loving to the last sad day. If it is indeed the last day we and those around us will need love, lots of courageous love. “By your endurance you will gain your lives.”

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Holy One, we come into your house with joy.
All: Beloved, we live in your presence with awe.
In the shelter of your temple we find rest.
In the beauty of your presence we find grace.
We seek your blessing, your Word, your fire.
We bless you. We love you. We worship you.

2. (From Isaiah 12)
Leader: O God, we thank you:
for though you were angry with us,
your anger turned away, and you comforted us.
All: Surely God is our salvation;
we will trust, and will not be afraid,
for God is our strength and our might;
God has become our salvation.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Holy One.
Call on God’s name; make known God’s deeds among the nations;
proclaim the exalted name of the Righteous One.
Sing praises to God, who has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of peace and beauty, in the midst of the world’s chaos we turn to you. With anxiety all around us we open our hearts to your grace. Beneath the noise of this world, speak your quiet, steady Word to us. Even in the tumult, we are listening.

2.
Eternal God, in the chaos of this world we seek your steadfastness and listen for your unchanging grace. Speak to us, and call us forth into your new creation, in the name of Christ. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

God of Peace,
when all about us is chaos
we root ourselves in your peace.
We fill ourselves with your love.

Prayer of Confession

Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
All: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
Beloved, we come into the temple of your grace
and offer you our lives as a sacrifice.
In the name of Christ, our Savior,
forgive us our sins, remove from us
everything that diminishes life and love,
and perfect us in love,
that we may be a perfect offering for you.
[Silent prayer … The Word of Grace]

Response / Creed / Affirmation

       Gracious God, we are your creation, made in your image. We belong to you. We give you our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will.
       Loving Christ, you healed and taught; you fed and forgave. You gathered a community of justice and radical hospitality. For your justice you were crucified, but by the grace of God you were raised from the dead. We offer ourselves to die and rise with you, to live and work for healing and justice in your name. We commit our lives and our gifts to your service.
      Holy Spirit, you give us life. In gratitude we give our lives to you. Fill us with your courage and compassion. Grant to each of us the gifts we need, each in our own way to bear witness to your love in this troubled world, for the sake of the wholeness of all Creation, in the name and the spirit of Christ.
       Bless your church, that by your loving presence in us we may faithfully proclaim your gospel in all we do. We consecrate our gifts to your purposes, and commit ourselves to you and to one another for the sake of your ministry in and through us. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)


All Through Your Life      (Tune: AR HYD Y NOS – All Through the Night )

Dear Beloved, God will bless you all through your life,
Love’s own gentle hand caress you, all through you life.
You are made by God’s designing, with the holy Presence shining.
Grace will be your silver lining all through your life.

Journey hand in hand with Jesus all through your life.
Walk with him who heals and frees us all through your life.
Like him may you be forgiving, generous and freely giving.
Risen, new, receive your living, all through your life.

May the Holy Spirit lead you all through your life,
guide, protect, renew and feed you all through your life.
In the light of our redeeming, with divine compassion gleaming,
be a light for others, beaming all through your life.


Savior, in this Holy Darkness (Tune: PICARDY, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence)

Savior, in our longing darkness,
waiting in our deepest night,
come and grace our hunger and yearnings;
for we live by hope, not sight.
Christ, we long for you. Come bless us.
Help us all to walk in the light.

Savior, in our lonely darkness
come to us who inwardly mourn.
Raise the love that lies a captive;
mend the cloth that has been torn.
Come to us, O God, with holy love:
wake us with the light of morn.

Savior, in our wounded darkness,
shadowed by our evil ways,
fear and anger and injustice,
violence that shutters our praise,
come, O Christ, and heal our broken lives
with love’s gentle, dawning rays.

Savior, in this deepening darkness,
how we long to see your face!
Yet you move, unseen among us
with your mercy and your grace.
Give us eyes of faith to see you,
hidden in each time and place.

Savior, in this holy darkness,
no one sees the flight of the dove.
No one hears the song of the angels.
Yet there shines a lone star above.
Grant this joy, to know your presence here.
Come and fill our hearts with your love.


When darkness and unknowing      (Tune: O Sacred Head)

When darkness and unknowing weigh down our hearts with fear,
oh, loving gentle Jesus, you draw your dear ones near.
You feed us with yourself, Love, and dwelling in our soul
you lead us by your light, though we cannot see the goal.

When evil and oppression make threat to bend your will,
you gather your beloved in peace and gentle still.
You feed us with compassion: your very life you give,
so gentleness will also become the way we live.

Despite our fear and violence the gentleness you’ve shown,
your mercy in the darkness, becomes our hope alone.
You feed us with your loving, and ban the evil powers,
and give us your compassion, so your peace may be ours.

November 9, 2025

Lectionary Texts

Haggai 2.1-9 — God will help rebuild the temple: “The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former.”

Psalm 145 — God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, with compassion for all Creation. God upholds those who are falling, provides for life, and hears those who cry out.

2 Thessalonians 2.1-5, 13-17 — The lawless one will be revealed before the coming of Christ. Stand firm.

Luke 20. 27-38 — In the resurrection there is no marriage. God is the God of the living, not the dead.

Preaching Thoughts

End times
       New Beginnings As we approach the end of the church year the scriptures begin to focus more on the End Times. Some of it is generically “teleological,” that is, focused on where we’re going. Some of it is specifically apocalyptic, that is, focused on a particular narrative about the end times: that at some point in time there is some great conflict in human culture, the culmination of human history, and God intervenes and reveals (the meaning of the word “apocalypse”) God’s true intent for human life. God takes apart all the legos of the universe and rebuilds a new earth and a new heaven. Most apocalyptic literature, both ancient and modern, seems to focus more on the taking apart of the legos (“the end of the world!”) rather than the New Creation. In the Book of Revelation the demolition takes up 15 chapters, the New Jerusalem 2. Maybe that’s just because when you feel like you’re in the early stages of the Apocalypse that stuff feels cathartic. But despite all the impressive monsters, explosions and special effects, the emphasis is on the New Creation. But it’s hard to get past the distractions to focus on the New Creation, the Realm of God.
       Resurrection One hurdle to overcome, made worse, not better, by the lectionary, as in today’s Gospel reading, is our conflation of the Reign of God with the afterlife. When Jesus talks about the Reign of God he’s not talking about being dead. He’s talking about abundant life. He’s talking about living in harmony with God’s loving sovereignty. To make matter more confusing there’s the mystery of resurrection. When either Jesus or Paul talk about dying and rising they mean surrendering our lives to God in this life, who gives us new ones in this life. Jesus, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12.2).: Paul: “We have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6.4). But today’s reading takes us off track, and on a day emphasizing the New Creation, points resurrection not toward new living but toward being dead, toward the afterlife. … sigh… OK, we’ll go there. But Jesus will jerk us right back into this life.
       The afterlife… and before Some doctrinal snipers try to trap Jesus with a trick question, and of course he dismantles the trap. In the afterlife, which man is the husband of a woman married more than once? None of the above. They don’t marry. The premise of the question is flawed, because they’re not really dead. “They cannot die any more” (v. 36) because they’re been resurrected, because God is the God of the living, not the dead—speaking of which, how are you living? Wow. Slick. See? Jesus takes their question (and the lectionary’s misdirection) about the afterlife and slips out of the afterlife right back into the beforelife, into right now and how we are living newly created lives lives today.
       The Coming of Christ    Paul tries to do the same. He wants to dissuade the folks in Thessalonika from speculating too much about the future (oh, boy, here comes Hollywood and their special effects again). This is partly borne by disappointment that Jesus hasn’t come already… and it will only get worse. Paul’s image of the lawless One doesn’t seem too farfetched in our political world, does it?) His argument is: don’t worry, the day of Christ’s coming will be obvious. You’ll know it when you see it. Meanwhile, how are you living? He goes on to talk about living the life of faith—this life—not the future. We have hope in a future blessing that we can’t imagine. Rather than obsess with trying to get a sneak preview, Paul says, just live faithfully. That is you sneak preview. The promise is enough for us to go on, to live faithfully right now, even facing challenges.
       The end…now    “Today” is the key word. Paul and Jesus both direct our hope in future blessing as energy to motivate us to live the New Life right now. The New Creation is unfolding among us this moment. It’s not something we have to die to see. When we give our lives to God (and sometimes when they’re jerked out of our hands) God gives us new lives.The “end of the world as we know it” is simply the turn of the page from one chapter to the next. God is already creating the world new. Christ comes all the time. Christ enters our life and changes it, brings about the end of that life, at least that aspect of it, as we knew it, and we start a new way of living. Over and over. This dying-and-rising is the gospel’s constant promise and invitation for each of us. And for our churches. And for The Church.
       Now…the end. Of course there’s also the other dimension: the actual end of human civilization as we know it. It’s strange to even name it, but this becomes a more real possibility the more we fail to address violence, poverty, climate change, war, the loss of species, the violent persistence of white supremacy, and other dangers. For more on that see my comments next week’s texts (OT 33, Nov.16, 2025).

Call to Worship

1. [from Psalm 145]
Leader: Great is the Holy One, and greatly to be praised; God’s greatness is unsearchable.
All: The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
O God, you are good to all, and compassionate toward all your creatures.
All your creatures will praise you, Beloved, and all your faithful shall bless you.
God, you are faithful in words, and gracious in deeds.
You lift up those who are falling, and raise up those who are oppressed.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
We thank you! We praise you! We worship you!

2.
Leader: Loving God, you create us in love
and you re-create us moment by moment.
All: You love us in this world and in the next.
Holy One, transform us by your grace.
Resurrect us to new life,
now and always life, by your grace.

3.
Leader: Loving Creator, you fashion us in beauty.
All: We are in awe of you.
Beautiful Healer, you transform us with light.
We praise you.
Abiding Mystery, you raise us daily to new life.
We give you our thanks, and we worship you.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

God of grace,we do not know what awaits us in the future. But we know it is in your hands, and we trust you. We open our hearts to your presence as we worship, that you may receive us with grace, transform us by your Spirit, and raise us to new life, this and every day, in the name of Christ. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Beloved,
you are married to us in this life,
and married to us in the next.
We give you our hearts,
as they are now and as they shall become,
that you may raise us up
to new life in Christ.

Prayer of Confession

Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
All: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
Loving God, we confess our need for your saving, life-giving grace.
What is broken, heal.
What is sinful, forgive.
What is distorted, redeem.
Renew us and accompany us,
and make us once again your own. Amen.
…Silent prayer… the word of grace

Prayer of Dedication / Sending

Loving One, all of our loyalties and all of our loves are gathered into you. You are our Love, our Spouse, our hope. Be with us now and always, that we may be faithful to you, and live in love, by the grace of your Spirit in us. Amen.