What’s next for us?

Date: November 13, 2011

Liturgical Sunday: Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost

RCL Scripture: Psalm 123; Judges 4:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon Title: What’s next for us?

Knox Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/111113_-_Knox.mp3|titles=What’s next for us?]

St. Mark’s Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/111113_-_St_Marks.mp3|titles=What’s next for us?]

It has been a couple of weeks since I was last preaching to two of the finest congregations in the world. Last week our new interim moderator, Rev. John Ferrier, was at both Knox and St. Mark’s to celebrate communion as well as moderate a brief congregational meeting at St. Mark’s. I enjoyed the opportunity to attend church with my immediate and extended families and celebrate communion at First Baptist Regina.

I was very glad to be back today to preach the penultimate Sunday in this liturgical year. As mentioned in the introductions to both sermons, there were several possibilities to address this Sunday but in a bit of a departure for me I ended up preaching on Christ’s return, at least to some extent.

My hesitation to cover eschatology, see below for a not too bad definition, is not that it isn’t important because it is; rather, I hesitate because it has far too frequently become a divisive issue among fellow believers. There are a wide variety of folks on all sides of the issue who have come to thoughtful, scriptural and completely opposing conclusions. When there are that many options, I am not sure I am in a position to be dogmatic about any of them. So, I chose to look at what our response needs to be no matter which view turns out to be the one in the end. I would never put myself into the same league but what I was hoping for was a kind of Lewisian “Mere Eschatology” approach, looking for what we can all agree about.

Eschatology is the study of the end of things and comes from the two Greek words for last and study (ἔσχατος, last; λογία, lit. discourse). This study includes the end of an indivuduals life, the end of the age, the end of everything and the return of Christ.

As always, I am very curious about what you think about what I think Holy Scripture has to say to Knox and St. Mark’s.

Blessings,

Barry

PS I can’t recall if there are any homiletical references to the fact that I have shaved for Movember but I will see about putting up a post in the next day or two explaining why I shaved my upper lip for the second time since 1977.