The End is Not the End - Rev. David Pileggi

When reading prophetic passages we often overlook that they have something to teach us today. Paul, when warning the Thessalonians not to be deceived about the Lord’s coming, highlights the need to love the truth and adhere to the tradition that he handed down to the church. This will also help us to stand firm in difficult times and enable us to resist the deception and lawlessness and in our midst.

The first chapter of Ephesians is one of the most beautiful passages in the New Testament and has inspired uncountable sermons and commentaries. But if we overlook its Jewish context, we miss the full riches of what Paul is teaching about our identity in the Messiah of Israel.

The parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee may not be as simple and straightforward as it appears. One Jewish theologian has suggested that Jesus set a trap for his listeners in order to expose the ever present self-righteousness and hypocrisy of the human heart. But we just don't hear how shocking this story is unless we understand its social and historical context

Luke 18:1-8 presents a parable, alternately named the parable of the Unjust Judge and the Persistent Widow. Jesus deliberately parodies the reality of God as a faithful judge. While we might doubt earthly authority, God has always been faithful and remains faithful. Nonetheless, we often lose hope. We look at the world and don’t see justice, righteousness, or faithfulness or we forget that God is faithful and so we do whatever is right in our own eyes. Until the day of the Lord comes, we must not lose hope and become faithless.

After Jesus healed the ten lepers only one came back to express his gratitude. This story in Luke’s gospel teaches us that our worship cannot be separated from gratitude for what God has done for us. His instructions for celebrating during Succot highlight the ways we should rejoice and also avoid the pitfalls that keep us from expressing heartfelt thankfulness.

When the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith, what are they requesting? A related passage in Habbakuk reads, “The just shall live by his faith (Heb.emunah). This word has a cluster of meanings: trust, belief, persistence, fidelity or faithfulness. By examining the times in which Habbakuk lived (not much different from ours) we can come to a better understanding of what it means for us to live by His faithfulness.

The Feast of Michael and All Angels draws our attention to the nature of spiritual warfare and the battle that intensified with satan’s rage at Jesus’ enthronement. This Feast Day highlights an aspect of the gospel which is more than receiving our great salvation by faith. It gives us our marching orders as agents of King Jesus, calling us to advance His influence and authority over the enemy. Although we’re caught up in the hostilities, the Book of Revelation assures us that despite any causalities along the way, our resilience and testimony will overcome.

The story of Abraham, especially the binding of Isaac, has become closely associated with the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah. Abraham was promised great blessing, yet his life was full of challenges and hardships from start to finish. At the beginning, God asked him to give up his past and go to a foreign land … somewhere. Even towards the end of his life the testing wasn’t over. Abraham was asked to give up his future–his beloved son, Isaac. After undergoing so much why did God continue to test him? Why does the Lord continue to test us? And what’s the connection with the blowing of the shofar?

As we approach the season of repentance and intercession in the biblical/Jewish calendar, we turn our focus to mercy and justice and to God who is both. In the discourse on Mt. Sinai, Moses did not relent from interceding before God for a sinful people revealing some essential truths about the cost and the power of intercession.

We often find ourselves in messy entanglements in our families, work, and more, that seem to be beyond our control. These situations often confuse and immobilize us from living the way that God desires. Today’s readings (highlighting Moses, Jesus, and Paul) shed light on how we can live faithfully in the midst of life’s complications.