Sunday November 7th - Pentecost 24 (Proper 27 - Ordinary 32)

[Kazimiera Fraley]

This week's passages:
Haggai 1:15b-2:9 or Job 19:23-27a
Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Luke 20:27-38

[Kazimiera Fraley]

I am looking at Haggai passage this week.

This passage was a passage of hope spoken to the people as they stood in the rubble of once was their temple.
They had rejoiced when they were returning from exile and were able to return to their homes, but when they returned they found their country in ruins. There was next to no infrastructure, Jerusalem was in ruin, the temple was in ruin, the land they had been dreaming of while in exile was no more. They had returned not to the glorious land flowing with milk and honey their parents had told them of but to a land which needed to be rebuilt and restored.

What does it mean to hope in the midst of the chaos and rubble? What does it mean to be called to rejoice when the world around you is torn apart?

Well those are my first thoughts. We'll see how things progress.

[Jon Twitchell]

I preached the Haggai text on Sunday, as part of my "Twelve Prophets" series.

I opened the message with a reading of "Harlem" by Langston Hughes (the poem from which the Lorraine Hansberry play "Raisin in the Sun" got its name).

My goal was to help us (as individuals and a community) remember the dreams that God had given us, and to take them back down off the shelf, dust them off, and get back to work. The text lends itself to a discussion on caring for our facilities... but more importantly on priorities and partnering with God. I didn't use the lectionary pairings, but instead combined it with Psalm 122, Rev. 21:1-7 & 22-27, and Matthew 7:24-29 (wise and foolish builder).