I’m sad today, having read the news of a young woman killed while bicycling in Salem. It’s just a no that comes out of my mouth as I think of that senseless loss, that life cut short, that empty space in the hearts of so many. And I hear today of the death of the spouse of a pastor I know, newly retired. Its not fair. They worked hard, and planned for days when they might simply be together, and now it is not to be. And I grieve today as I do so often for the enmity I see between people – between opinions. It sucks the life out of me.
And yet, I’m home today, communing with 60+ pastors of my denomination as we meet in convocation online. I am grateful for them. I am fed by them, as we put one foot in front of the other, imagining how to worship in the seasons upcoming. Advent is at the doorstep. And I yearn to be busy with scheduling times to share special hymns and special decorations. And yet. There is no release in sight from the spectre of the pandemic.
And yet, this weekend, I watched congregation members give and pray, and speak passionately about helping wildfire refugees who have come our way. They impress me so much.
I often find myself like the disciples, “How can we sing, sing the Lord’s song, in a foreign land?” (Okay, I’m a Godspell groupie, you’re not suprised, right?).
And so I grieve. In light. In love. and God will find a way to lift us all up. With joy. And Advent will come whether we can sing together or not.
Just breathe, my friends. God is big enough for your grief and mine. God is comforting enough for a pandemic. Comforting enough for loss that ought never have been. God is enough.
Amen.
This picture is from Jared Lyman from the Mt Hood Territory website.
Please enjoy these readings for Sunday, October 11, 2020
Sunday, October 11, 2020
Lectionary 28, Year A
First Reading: Exodus 32:1-14
1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. 7The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” 11But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14
1Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Holy Cross Choir – Lonnie Jensen, Doug Odell, Mat Nyquist, Pat Bryant, Carolyn Ford, Karen Halvorson, Gail Struve, under the direction of Sheila Clausen sing this lovely hymn. “What Does the Lord Require of You?” Words nad music by Jim Strathdee based on Michah 6:8 What does the Lord require of you? What does the Lord require of you? Justice, Kindness, walk humbly with your God. To seek Jusice and love kingness and wlak humbly with your God. What does the Lord Require of You? Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1998 Lansing Ave Ne, Salem, OR 97301 www.holycrosslutheran-salem.org
