An Elder Pilgrim's Reflections

God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. (from Ephesians 1:15-23 ) Fellowship Time after worship is one of my Sunday pleasures as I talk with various people about where they are on their life journey. Sometimes it's about a new direction in life, or a developing medical condition, occasionally kids and school, or community news.  When a political discussion starts, I usually leave. My reasoning is straightforward. Kings, Queens, Dictators, Governments, have limited ability to solve whatever issue facing society is being discussed. The authority of the world's rulers simply can't control the powers of a coming pandemic, not to mention climate change, racism, even inflation. These situations may totally shatter peoples' lives no matter how hard or well-intended are the world's leaders efforts.    Even more depressing is the fac...

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober,  and put on the breastplate of faith and love,  and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (From 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 ) Krisopher Coffman, welcoming the birth of his first son, now realizes how fitting the imagery of labor is. Though he knew that his wife would eventually go into labor, the last days of her pregnancy were full of waiting and watching.  At any moment, they knew their lives would change forever, but could not predict it or escape it.  In Jesus' day, time had two properties: One it was eternal, like death; Two it was cyclical, like New Year's Eve. In 1 Thessalonians Paul is teaching the concept of time heading toward one destiny: The Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord has a catch however: it's hour is unknown coming with a "Great Tribulation". To make it through the "Great Tribulation" means to be, "sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvat...

"Later the other bridesmaids came also,  saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’  Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." (from Matthew 25:1-13 ) In my youth, I owned an MGB-GT sports car. I drove all sorts of places and had all types of adventures. An MGB-GT has a dual carburetor design which required me to carry a small can of motor oil.  If either carburetor ran out of oil, the car stopped, I would have to get out the oil can, open the hood, pump oil into the carburetor, and be on my way.  This is the sense of the parable of the bridesmaids: keep oil in you lamp as well as some stored away so you don't run out while waiting for the groom. This is what the wise bridesmaids did, prepared for the long, unknown wait since they neither knew the day or the hour. The foolish bridesmaids, who also didn't know the day or the hour, weren't prepared for the long haul and began running out of oil...

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them. (from Matthew 5:1-12  ) It was customary for some Elementary school teachers to post a list of classroom rules at the beginning of the school year. These rules set a code to live by so learning could take place and acceptable behavior defined. When Moses met God on Mt. Saini, God gave him a set of rules, the Ten Commandments, to take to the people as a code of conduct. The Commandments are a set of instructions on how to worship God and ethical behaviors basic to Judaism and Christianity. The first four concern relating to God and the remaining six are how God's people are to relate to each other. When Jesus taught the disciples what is now known as the beatitudes, they were, first of all declarations of God’s grace. When he sat down with the disciples, the beatitudes he spoke were not a list of "Thou Shall" nots, but a descriptio...