Rev Chris Roth

Zephaniah 3: 14-20; Isaiah 12: 2-6; Philippians 4: 4-7; Luke 3: 7-18 Today, on the third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is Latin for “Rejoice”. … Advent is a pretty penitential season. It can feel a bit like Lent. We are encouraged to renew our life of repentance- to look into our life and see if there is anything that needs to be corrected as we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. … So, Gaudete Sunday stands out because it includes fairly positive readings in a season that is quite penitential. For example, our reading from Zephaniah is full of joy. We are told to sing, to rejoice, to shout because, we read,  “The Lord has taken away the judgements against you, he has turned away your enemies; The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.” (Zeph 3:15).   “He will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival” (vv17-18).   Zephaniah records God as sayi...

Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1: 3-11; Luke 3: 1-6 John the Baptist is the primary spokesperson for Advent. And it seems very appropriate that we would have a baptism on the same Sunday that we are reading about John the Baptist. We read that John was  “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight’” (3:3-4).  So, in our reading, baptism is connected to repentance, which means something like a change of mind, … and it is connected to making a straight path for God. A straight path is an easier path to travel. And this implies that the path is not always straight. We can do something to straighten out that path. We usually hear the word ‘repentance’ in a pretty negative way. I think that’s because we tend to see repentance as merely a turning away from something bad. And sometimes ...

Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Psalm 25: 1-9; 1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13; Luke 21: 25-36 Today we are starting a new year in the church’s calendar. The Church year always begins with Advent. Advent is a season that brings a certain level of tension. In large part this is because our society seems to have largely given up on seasons of fasting (unless it’s for health reasons). Advent has traditionally been like Lent. It is a time of spiritual preparation. The traditional themes for reflection in Advent are the four last things: death, judgment, hell, and heaven. Which are pretty intense themes. I don’t see a lot of those images around this time of year. … So, our society is ready for Christmas, but the church is in Advent, and instead of hearing heart-warming stories about the baby Jesus or pregnant Mary on her way to Bethlehem, we hear readings calling us to repentance, and warning us to prepare for a coming judgement. Our Gospel reading comes immediately after a section talking about the destructi...

Revelation 1: 4b-8; John 18: 33-37 Today is “Christ the King” Sunday, or “Reign of Christ” Sunday. It marks the very end of the church calendar. It brings us to the ultimate pinnacle of history, which is the recognition of all of creation that Christ is the ruler of all. This Sunday points to the day when all things will be put under his kingship. God’s kingdom, which is here in part, but not yet fully here, will one that day grow to engulf all of creation. On that day all things will be as they should be. Our reading from Revelation says that Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” and that when he comes “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”. Even his enemies, those who rejected him, will recognize him for who he is. In our Gospel reading Jesus stands before one of those enemies. As a prisoner, standing before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, Jesus is asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?” It is a small question. “Are you claiming some kind of leadership among...

  Hebrews 10: 11-25; Mark 13: 1-18 The letter to the Hebrews is written by someone who knows the Apostles, and is written to people who have a very in-depth knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. So, we can pretty safely assume that this is written to Jewish followers of Jesus. Most of the letter compares Jesus to four aspects in Israel’s history, and makes the comparison that Jesus is superior to all these previous ways that God has revealed Himself, and paths that have been given to Israel. The author also gives warnings as a part of the comparisons. [1] Our reading completes these comparisons. In chapters 1-2 Jesus is compared with angels and the Torah. (The Torah is the Law given to Moses on Mt. Sinai). It was believed that angels delivered the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and the author is saying that Jesus and his Gospel are superior to this previous message. What Jesus teaches is more important than what the angels communicated to Moses on Mt. Sinai. … Israel was direc...

Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1-6; John 11:32-44 Today we are celebrating the feast of All Saints. It is a celebration that started in the 300’s when churches in the east began to celebrate the feast of the “martyrs of the whole world”. This feast was celebrated on a few different days around the calendar, but within a few hundred years it was assigned to November 1st in the Western Church, and it was broadened to include all the saints, whether they were martyrs or not. The word “saint” is related to the word “sanctus”, and it basically means “holy one”. Something that is “holy” has been set apart for God’s purposes. All Soul’s Day is the following day, November 2nd. This is a day to remember all the faithful departed. This celebration began in the 11th century. Originally it came from the idea that those who died without being considered saints had to go through a kind of purification before entering fully into the glory prepared for them. The Anglican Church has rejected ...

Job 42: 1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34: 1-8, (19-22); Hebrew 7: 23-28; Mark 10: 46-52 Some of the books in the Bible are designated as “Wisdom literature”. The most obvious book with that designation is the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is a book that gives general guidance about living life. The advice that’s given draws from observation of cause and effect. For example, Proverbs 10:4 says,  “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”  Generally, that is true. If you work hard, you are more likely to be financially prosperous. The prophets will often talk about God’s protection for those who are obedient to the commands of God, and disaster for those who are disobedient to God’s Law. For example, in Deuteronomy 28 we read,  “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (28:1).   “However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do ...

  J ob 38: 1-7, (34-41);  Psalm 104: 1-9, 25, 37b;  Hebrew 5: 1-10;  Mark 10: 35-45 There are two psalms quoted in our Hebrews reading. The first is a quote from Psalm 2-  “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (2:7).  This is a psalm about the king, and scholars believed it was used for the installation of a new king in the line of King David. This Psalm became attached to the expected Messiah. The other Psalm that is quoted is from Psalm 110. Psalm 110 is the most quoted part of the Old Testament in the New Testament. It too was considered a Psalm about the coming Messiah. In Psalm 110, it talks about the Messiah as a king and also as a priest. The letter to the Hebrews says that a high priest is “chosen from among mortals”. So, he is human. He is from the community. He is one of the people. … Priests in the Old Testament worked to create, maintain, and reestablish the divine order. Often this has to do with distinguishing between the holy and the ...

  Joel 2: 21-27; Psalm 126; 1 Timothy 2: 1-7; Matthew 6:25-33 Anxiety has to do with the persistent underlying presence of fear or panic. It’s the presence of worry, unrest, or a sense of danger. Statistics Canada reported that  “the proportion of Canadians aged 15 years and older with a generalized anxiety disorder doubled from 2012 to 2022 … . The largest 10-year increases were seen among young people, particularly young women aged 15 to 24 years, for whom the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder tripled. … [Regarding] social phobia … comparisons with 2002 suggest a fourfold increase in the prevalence of social phobia among young women. ” [1] Statistics Canada is talking about disorders, which generally means a kind of anxiety that significantly interferes with living your life. It is overwhelming and it is chronic. So, we can probably assume that the numbers of people dealing with anxiety without it getting to the point of being a disorder is probably quite a bit hig...