mid-week meet-up: Paul’s First Letter to Timothy

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! I’m happy to be back home after finishing my first residency for my Doctor of Ministry degree, which was an incredibly enriching learning experience. I’m particularly happy to be back because we’ve just started our annual summer tradition of a sermon series structured around answering your questions. This year, since we’re spending this entire year reading through the whole Bible, the questions you’ve asked have to do with things you’ve been reading. Pastor Erin gave a great sermon this past Sunday on the nature of Christian community. This Sunday, my sermon will seek to answer the question, “What are we to make about speaking in tongues?” Many of you know that I have a background in the Pentecostal tradition, which emphasizes the practice of speaking in tongues. I’m very much looking forward to addressing this question on Sunday! 

Today is Day 297 of our one-year Bible-reading journey. It’s not too late to begin reading along with us! We’re just finishing up the Book of Jeremiah as well as starting Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. Let me know if you want a copy of the reading plan! 

After finishing reading Paul’s First Letter to Timothy yesterday, I was reminded about how much practical advice is packed into that letter. One thing that Paul said to Timothy that really caught my attention was in 1 Timothy 4:12-16: “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 

I love that Paul tells the young Timothy not to view his youth as a disqualification for leadership. Instead, he tells Timothy to set an example for everyone. Specifically, he instructs Timothy to read, study, and apply the teachings of scripture to his life. He tells Timothy to “pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching” (v. 16). This demonstrates the close connection that ought to exist between what we read and study in scripture and the way we live our lives. We ought to not only read to understand the Bible, but also read to apply the teachings of the Bible to our lives. This is what our summer sermon series is meant to help us do. In fact, it’s what the whole experience of reading through the Bible in a year has been meant to do. As you finish up reading through the whole Bible, I encourage you to ask yourself not only “What does this text mean?” But, more importantly, ask yourself, “What does this text mean for me?” Ask for the Holy Spirit to open up the scriptures so that you can hear God trying to reshape your identity in Christ. Such a practice has the power to, as Paul said, “save yourself.” That’s my prayer for you today! 

Peace,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: Servant Song by Richard Gillard

Good Afternoon First Presbyterian Church of Pittsford,  

We are very sorry for the livestream interruptions and challenges we had on Sunday, June 22.  

We know that the livestream is an important link to your church family for so many of you who cannot always worship with us in person. While I cannot recreate the whole worship service for you, I did record a version of my sermon and uploaded it to our YouTube page (link below). Before watching the sermon, I suggest you read the scripture passage from Jeremiah 37:11-38:13 (a PDF of the bulletin from Sunday is attached to this email). 

https://youtu.be/Cjvjb5Qee58 - sermon from Sunday, June 22

This coming Sunday I will be addressing the question: What does Christian community look like, and how can this fit in our time/place/culture? 

During our worship service on June 29, we will be singing Servant Song by Richard Gillard as one of our hymn selections, and I will also be referring to it in my sermon. In just these few verses, the lyrics reference fifteen Gospel passages, and another eighteen passages from the Epistles.  

Will you let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I might have the grace to
Let you be my servant too 

We are pilgrims on a journey
We are travelers on the road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load 

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear
I will hold my hand out to you
Speak the peace you long to hear 

I will weep when you are weeping
When you laugh I’ll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we’ve seen this journey through 

When we sing to God in heaven
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony 

Will you let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too 

I hope you take some time to reflect on these words as we prepare to consider together what Christian community looks like here, and now. 

In Christ’s Abounding Love,

Pastor Erin 

mid-week meet-up: announcements

Good Afternoon First Presbyterian,  

I have a few announcements for you this afternoon:  

1. On Sunday, June 22, we will begin our summer worship schedule with one service at 9:30 am. We will resume our two-service schedule (8:30 am and 10:00 am on Sunday, September 7). 

2. Also this Sunday, I will be preaching on the book of Jeremiah, chapters 37-38. This is the last Sunday until August 24 that we will focus on the One Year Bible Reading passages, because...  

3. Beginning Sunday, June 29, we will be addressing your questions during our sermons and host question and answer sessions in the sanctuary following the worship service. 

As we begin our season of summer worship, I hope you all have some time to pause, reflect, and rest. Consider joining us on Sundays as we explore your questions: 

June 29 - What does Christian community look like, and how can this fit in our time/place/culture?

July 6 - What about speaking in tongues?

July 13 - How do we apply the teachings of Jesus to our life today?

July 20 - What’s with all the animal sacrificing in the Old Testament?

July 27 - What’s with all the violence in the conquest of Canaan, and why were Jesus’ disciples carrying swords? Plus, how do we reconcile the call to “love your enemies” with commands like, “Do not associate with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14)?

August 3 - How do I cultivate gratitude, if I inherited my sinfulness from my predecessors (original sin)?

August 10 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 1)

August 17 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 2)

I hope to see you on Sunday!
Pastor Erin 

mid-week meet-up: Upcoming Events

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! In case you missed the announcement, there is an End-of-Life Seminar tomorrow, June 12, at 5:00 pm in the church’s Fellowship Hall. Planning for the end of our earthly lives can be an incredibly loving thing we do for our families, friends, and all those we will leave behind. At this seminar, you will have the opportunity to hear from your Pastors, the Memorial Garden Committee, and the Legacy Committee to learn about end-of-life decision making, planning your funeral, updates to our Memorial Garden (including our new columbarium), and considering leaving a legacy gift to the church. The seminar will last approximately 2 hours, and light refreshments will be served.  

This Sunday is Dads and Grads Sunday! We will be giving thanks for fathers and recognizing our graduating students. It will also be the last Sunday of our two worship service schedule, which means June 22 will be our first Sunday for the summer of a single worship service at 9:30 am.  

Today, we began reading the Book of Jeremiah in our one-year Bible-reading journey. Over the next two Sundays (June 15 and 22), our worship will focus on the message of this prophetic book. The Book of Jeremiah helps us to clearly see the challenges that Jeremiah endured to faithfully live out his calling as a prophet. His life and experience have much to teach us about obediently following the leading of God. Come to worship and explore this with us! 

On June 29, our summer sermon series begins, where Pastor Erin and I will attempt to answer your questions about the Bible: 

June 29 - What does Christian community look like, and how can this fit in our time/place/culture?

July 6 - What about speaking in tongues?

July 13 - How do we apply the teachings of Jesus to our life today?

July 20 - What’s with all the animal sacrificing in the Old Testament?

July 27 - What’s with all the violence in the conquest of Canaan, and why were Jesus’ disciples carrying swords? Plus, how do we reconcile the call to “love your enemies” with commands like, “Do not associate with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14)?

August 3 - How do I cultivate gratitude, if I inherited my sinfulness from my predecessors (original sin)?

August 10 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 1)

August 17 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 2) 

I hope to see you this Sunday! 

Peace,
Aaron

mid-week meet-up: How can I love and give myself up for someone else today?

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! We have an exciting weekend ahead of us! First, our spring picnic is this Saturday at 3pm at Hopkins Point Lodge in Mendon Ponds Park. Dinner will be served at 5pm. Hotdogs, burgers, and drinks will be provided. Please let us know if you will be bringing a side dish, appetizer, or dessert by clicking this link! There will also be games, live music, and a marshmallow roast - you won’t want to miss it! 

Second, this Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, and, during worship at 10:00 am, two young men will be completing their year-long Confirmation journey by professing their faith in Christ and becoming members of the congregation. It will also be your last opportunity to hear the choir sing before they take a deserved rest for the summer. What a blessed Sunday it will be! 

We’re currently finishing reading Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians in our Bible-in-one-year journey, and Paul begins chapter 5 with these words: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (5:1-2). Each of us has been made in God’s image and called to reflect God’s own nature. However, sin distorts and masks God’s image in us. How are we to “imitate God,” as Paul exhorts us? By looking to Christ who “loved us and gave himself up for us.” I encourage you to reflect on this question today: How can I love and give myself up for someone else today? If you can answer that question and ask for God’s help to follow through with it, then you will be imitating God, as a beloved child. How simple, and yet profound! 

Peace,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: Summer sermon series and Galatians

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Thanks to everyone who submitted some very great and thought-provoking questions for our summer sermon series: “Why does the Bible say that?” Our series is all set, and here is what it looks like: 

June 29 - What does Christian community look like, and how can this fit in our time/place/culture?

July 6 - What about speaking in tongues?

July 13 - How do we apply the teachings of Jesus to our life today?

July 20 - What’s with all the animal sacrificing in the Old Testament?

July 27 - What’s with all the violence in the conquest of Canaan, and why were Jesus’ disciples carrying swords?

August 3 - How do I cultivate gratitude, if I inherited my sinfulness from my predecessors (original sin)?

August 10 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 1)

August 17 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 2) 

Erin and I are looking forward to answer these questions this summer! 

We just started reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians in our one-year Bible reading journey. This is one of my absolute favorite books of the New Testament. Here’s the gist of Paul’s message in this letter. 

Paul probably wrote his letter to the Galatians in 51 AD, while he was in Corinth. The church in Galatia was majority Gentile, and the reason he wrote this letter was to address some confusion within the Galatian church. Paul had founded the church in Galatia around 49 AD, when he had visited the area and the first people converted to Christianity. During the time after Paul left, another group of people with strong ties to Judaism (sometimes referred to as the “Judaizers”) had come to Galatia and were refuting Paul’s message. The Judaizers were trying to convince the Galatians that in order to follow Jesus (who himself was Jewish), they also had to follow the Jewish laws and customs. This is why Paul talks so much about circumcision in this letter, because part of what the Judaizers were teaching the Galatians was that their men must become circumcised to follow Jesus (since that was a requirement of Judaism). Paul says that the Judaizers were presenting a “different Gospel” and were “perverting the Gospel of Christ” (1:6-7). The Gospel of Christ is founded on the principle of justification by faith; in other words, we are declared innocent of sin before God by trusting in Jesus for salvation (who died for our sin), not by earning our salvation through good works. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus made it so that we can now freely pursue a life of loving submission to God without fear of punishment or condemnation because of sin (5:1). The evidence or proof that we have truly been set free and are living in loving submission to God is the Holy Spirit working through us. When we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives to lead and guide us every moment of every day, the proof of the Holy Spirit working in us is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (5:22-23). We are not saved by these good works; on the contrary, these good works are the proof that we are already saved.  

As you read through Galatians, I encourage you to pay attention to Paul’s exhortations to “live by the Spirit” and “be led by the Spirit.” God doesn’t want to simply change our behavior. God wants to change our hearts and give us a new identity. God wants us to become like Jesus not in a legalistic adherence to certain rules, but in a loving relationship of seeking to know and follow Jesus. My prayer for you today is that you will allow Christ to capture your hearts and fill you with a greater love for God. That is the essence of the Gospel. 

Peace,
Aaron

mid-week meet-up: 2 Corinthians

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! I know many of you are still reflecting on the amazing Safari to Kenya event from Saturday. All the leaders and volunteers organized an incredible fundraiser for the In Step Children’s Home in Kenya. Many of you may have already seen the update that that single event raised $56,219 for the children’s home! Incredible! What a blessing!  

Allow me to remind you one more time that if you want to submit a question about the Bible reading we’ve been doing this year, you have until this Friday to send your question to connect@pittsfordpres.org, which will then be used in our summer sermon series. 

Today is Day 255 in our Bible-reading journey, and we are currently reading through Isaiah and 2 Corinthians (plus Psalms and Proverbs). Since we’re focusing on Isaiah during Sunday worship for the next three weeks, I want to spend a moment with you reflecting on our reading from 2 Corinthians. 

One of the most interesting passages in the New Testament appeared in our reading yesterday - 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. In this section of this letter from Paul to the Corinthian church, Paul is addressing some criticisms that have circulated among the Corinthians about Paul’s credibility. Outsiders were telling the Corinthians that Paul is not worth listening to, because he wasn’t Jewish enough, wasn’t clever enough, and wasn’t qualified to teach them about Jesus.  

He spends some time trying to tell them why his preaching doesn’t follow the standards of the world. While these outsiders thought that a person who was truly persuasive must appeal to their qualifications to preach by boasting about themselves, Paul believed that the Gospel must be taught with humility, albeit with the seriousness and sincerity it requires. Nevertheless, Paul says to the Corinthians, “You want to know about my qualifications? Fine, let me tell you.” Then in a sort of tongue-in-cheek manner, he tells them about all the suffering he endured in the name of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:22-29) and about the source of all his knowledge of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). You can tell Paul thinks it’s silly that he has to do this for the Corinthians because he frequently says things like, “I am speaking as a fool” (11:21) and “I am talking like a madman” (11:23). He’s trying to remain humble, while also addressing the criticisms about himself.  

This is when we read the interesting thing he writes in 2 Corinthians 2:1-10. He says, “I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat” (12:2-4).  

Who is this person Paul knew fourteen years ago and what does it mean to be “caught up to the third heaven?” Paul is talking about himself in an indirect way (trying to remain humble), and what he’s saying is that he had a profound spiritual experience (perhaps even an “out of body” experience.) Jews and Christians in the first century thought that everything above the earth was divided into three sections - the “first heaven” is where the birds and clouds are, the “second heaven” is where the sun, moon, and planets are, and the “third heaven” is where God must be. While this isn’t how we would describe the universe today, Paul’s point is that he had a vision of God in heaven. Paul is saying that fourteen years before writing to the Corinthians (which would have been at the time when he had his “road to Damascus” experience, when the risen and ascended Jesus appeared to him), he had a spiritual experience that took him from this world into the realm of God. Though Paul never met Jesus while Jesus lived on this earth, he did meet Jesus in a true, spiritual, and even supernatural experience.  

This demonstrates an important point to us about the Gospel. What the apostles teach us in the New Testament about Jesus came straight from the source - Christ himself. This is why we can trust what the New Testament tells us about Jesus - it came from him by entrusting it to those early leaders of the church. This is why Paul admonishes the Corinthians for believing anything about Jesus that didn’t come from Jesus: “If someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough” (2 Corinthians 11:4). Paul says something similar to the Galatian church: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6-8).  

We can and should trust what the New Testament tells us about who Jesus is and what he wants to do in and through his church. This is one of the most important reasons for our one-year Bible-reading journey. Do you want to know Christ and his will for your life? Then read the New Testament. That is where you will find your answers.  

Peace,
Pastor Aaron

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Reconciliation with God

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Some of you have already submitted some really good questions to be included into our summer sermon series. I’m looking forward to trying to answer them! If you would still like to ask a question related to the Bible reading we’ve been doing this year, you have until May 23 to send your questions to connect@pittsfordpres.org.  

We have over 150 people registered for the Safari to Kenya fundraising dinner and auction this Saturday. The proceeds from the fundraiser will go to support In Step Children’s Home in Kitale, Kenya. I look forward to seeing many of you there! For anyone who isn’t coming to the fundraiser, you will have the opportunity during worship on Sunday to hear from Estha Madeira, the Executive Director of Rehema for Kids, the organization that supports the In Step Children’s Home.  

Today is Day 248 of our one-year Bible reading journey. This past Saturday, we read 2 Corinthians 5:11-12, which includes these well-known verses: “[God] has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (v. 18). What is reconciliation? It is the restoration of a broken relationship. Sometimes when people read this verse, they assume Paul means the “ministry of reconciliation” God has given us is about reconciling people to each other - bridging the gap between people of different ethnicities, socio-economic classes, genders, and ages. However, that isn’t what Paul actually means. Let’s read more of the context:  

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19, emphasis added). 

You see, the broken relationship that Christ has restored is the one between people and God, and the message that has been entrusted to us is the proclamation that people can have a relationship with God now because of Jesus. Paul is essentially summarizing what Jesus says in the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20). Paul is reiterating Christ’s call to evangelism!  

Does all this mean that God doesn’t care about reconciling people to each other? Of course not! It simply means that people will not experience lasting reconciliation with each other, until they experience reconciliation with God. When we see what Christ has done for us to bring us into relationship with God, we should seek to be like him in every way with our relationships with others. Christ was humble, selfless, and sacrificial in order to bring us back to God. So… we ought to follow his example in all our relationships with people.  

Let’s not “accept the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). Accept the grace of God by directing your whole lives in pursuit of knowing and loving God. Proclaim this grace given to us in Jesus Christ to everyone with your words and deeds so that they, too, might direct their whole lives in pursuit of God. The natural result of all this will lead to people to be reconciled not only to God but to each other, because seeing the Lord Jesus transforms us into his very likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).  

Peace to you,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: Turn to Christ

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! I want to remind you that this summer, we will be organizing a sermon series around answering your questions about what we’ve been reading this year in the Bible. We have less than 100 days left in the journey, and we’ve already read most of the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, we’re finishing the Book of Job this week, and then we only have Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and the Prophets to read. In the New Testament, we’re finishing Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, then we only have Hebrews, Revelation, and a number of short letters from the apostles to read.

Do you have questions about confusing passages you’ve read? Do you wonder what exactly Christians are to believe and do related to teachings and admonitions in the New Testament? Do you have a theological problem you’re still trying to work out in your mind? Do you want to hear about how to apply the teachings of Jesus to your own everyday life? Then, submit your questions to connect@pittsfordpres.org by May 23 so we can incorporate your question into our summer sermon series! 

Yesterday, we read Psalm 42, in which the psalmist describes experiencing suffering. The psalmist is feeling depressed (v. 5), is experiencing physical pain (v. 10), and is being oppressed by others (v. 9). Maybe you’ve experienced a similar time in your life or are experiencing one such time right now. I encourage you to respond to your situation the way the psalmist does. He or she doesn’t necessarily ask God to fix the problem, but simply says, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Regardless of what we are facing in life, the right response is to reorient our lives to this universal truth: our purpose in life is to glorify God.  

I know a modern hymn called “Hold Me Savior” that includes these powerful lines in it: “May my burden bring me closer to Your side. Every lack that leads to worship is a precious prize.” I encourage you today, regardless of what you may be experiencing, to turn to Christ and offer praise to him for God’s grace, mercy, and love. As we will read soon in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.” 

Blessed Eastertide,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: The Book of Job

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Many of you will remember our recent tradition of organizing a summer sermon series around answering your questions. In the past, we’ve solicited your questions about any theological questions you may have. This year, we’re going to do it a little differently. Because we’ve been reading our way through the whole Bible, you likely have questions specifically about things you’ve read this year. That’s why this year our summer sermon series is going to seek to answer your questions about the Bible.  

Based on our reading through the whole Bible, what questions do you have that you’d like to hear addressed in a sermon this summer?  

Please submit your questions to connect@pittsfordpres.org by May 23 to be included in our plans for this summer series! Like previous years, a Q&A will follow each worship service so we can turn each sermon into a conversation. 

It’s Day 234 in our one-year Bible reading journey, and we just started reading the Book of Job this week. This is a difficult book to read. I want to give you two thoughts that I hope will be helpful in your reading. First, what is the point of the Book of Job? Most people would say that the book of Job is trying to answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” That may be partially true, but it’s actually more complex than that. This book actually helps us to see that, in some ways, the Bible is in a conversation with itself. Here’s what I mean. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we read that if people obey God, they will be blessed - in their families, in their businesses, and in all their affairs with other people (Deut. 28:1-14); and if people disobey God, they will be punished correspondingly (Deut. 28:15-68). Is that really true? This is the question that the Book of Job is seeking to answer. Is suffering really evidence of punishment from God? From the outset of the book, we can already see that the way it answers that question is not going to be a straightforward “yes” or “no.” Much suffering comes into the life of Job, and we’re told very plainly that, “In all these things, Job did not sin” (Job 1:22; 2:10). The answer we receive by the end of the book is this: We often do not know why suffering enters our lives, but suffering should never lead us to question God’s goodness.  

But what about the introduction to the Book and God’s “deal with the devil”? What’s that all about? This is also a complex situation, much of which is lost on us in the modern world. The Book of Job is actually the oldest of the texts from the Old Testament, and it represents some very ancient thinking. The character in the story that is simply called “Satan” in our English translation is not the devil. Is the devil ever called “Satan” in the Old Testament? Yes. But that’s not what’s happening in the Book of Job. The name “Satan” actually comes from a common Hebrew word satan, which simply means “to accuse.” This Hebrew word is sometimes used as the personal name for the devil, but, again, that’s not what’s happening in the Book of Job. If you read the original Hebrew text of Job, you would see that this character is actually called ha-satan, which in English means “the satan” or “the accuser.” What’s going on here? 

In the ancient world, the people around the Israelites believed in many gods who operated within a hierarchy. There were supreme gods who made up something called the Divine Council - the high court of the heavens. Israelites did not believe in many gods. They were monotheists who believed in only one God. However, they did still believe in a Divine Council, made up of God and a host of heavenly attendants, which included heavenly warriors, messengers, and other “advisors” (for lack of a better term). This “accuser” (the satan) was part of “God’s team” and was responsible for “testing” the perfection of God’s mercy and justice. The accuser’s role was to demonstrate that God was indeed perfectly good and wise. In the Book of Job, God isn’t making a “deal with the devil.” We’re simply seeing an ancient rhetorical device to show us that in the Book of Job, God never ceases to be merciful and just. We don’t really see this “Divine Council” in later books of the Old Testament, because it seems the Israelites began to understand better ways of describing what exactly happens in the mind of God and how exactly God executes wisdom and justice.  

As I said, this is probably a difficult concept for modern Christians to wrap their minds around. So, let me just restate again the simplest way of understanding what is happening in the Book of Job. Despite whatever suffering we may endure in life, we should never allow it to cause us to doubt God’s goodness. As Christians, we know this is true, because we see God’s response to our suffering most clearly in Jesus. God came down to us, suffered as we do, and ultimately rescued us from our suffering through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Thanks be to God! 

Peace, 
Pastor Aaron

Mid-week meet-up: Eastertide

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! I am still relishing the joy of Easter Sunday. I hope you are, too! Did you know that Easter is not just a single Sunday? Easter is a season often called Eastertide, which lasts from Easter Sunday until Pentecost Sunday (which is June 8 this year). I encourage you to continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday in worship and all throughout Eastertide! 

Today is Day 227 of our one-year Bible reading journey! In addition to it being Eastertide, it’s also a great time to be a sports fan. The NBA playoffs are underway. (I’m personally rooting for the Bucks!) We’re a month in to the MLB season. (My Orioles are off to a bad start!) And the Buffalo Bills have reported for voluntary offseason training! 

Have you noticed that the apostle Paul likes to occasionally use sports metaphors to describe the Christian life? In our reading today from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, he uses running and boxing to illustrate the importance of spiritual disciplines. He writes: “[Every runner] who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (v. 25). And again: “I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (vv. 26-27). Runners may spend hundreds of hours training for weeks leading up to a marathon, with the goal of finishing first or, at least, beating their previous record. Boxers may spend over twenty hours per week training before a big fight, with the goal of actually landing their punches and not, as Paul said, “beating the air.”  

Think about the countless hours you’ve invested in growing your professional skills to become an expert at your job or honing your craft to become proficient at a hobby. We shouldn’t expect to grow in maturity at anything, without putting in time to train. It is no different with the spiritual life. There is a reason that for thousands of years Christians have dedicated themselves to spending time engaging with spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, Bible reading, Sabbath-keeping, generosity, service to those in need, or gratitude.  

Lent is often a time to focus our attention on engaging in spiritual disciplines. But the Christian life is not seasonal; it is perpetual and ongoing and all-encompassing. I encourage you during Eastertide to continue to focus on spiritual disciplines. Try one the following:

• Set an alarm for yourself at specific times of the day to remind yourself to pray. 

• Set aside time when you wake up or before you go to bed to read the Bible.

• Come to worship on Sundays and reflect on what it means to keep Sabbath. 

• Commit to putting a few dollars in your pocket every day to give to someone in need. 

• Set aside 15 minutes during lunch to do nothing but reflect on all the ways God has blessed you and express your gratitude to God. 

• Commit to skipping one meal a day and, when you feel hungry, tell God, “I need you more than I need my next meal.” 

Spiritual disciplines are not easy to follow. That’s the point. We grow through the struggle. Let me or Pastor Erin know if you want help or guidance on practicing a spiritual discipline, and encourage one another in your pursuit of growing into the “full stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). 

Blessed Eastertide,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: Holy Week

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Today is Holy Wednesday, the day during Holy Week when a woman anointed Jesus with expensive perfumed oil (Matthew 26:6-13) and Judas agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16). On Thursday and Friday of Holy Week, Jesus would share the Passover meal with his disciples and wash their feet and then be tortured, tried, and crucified. Just a reminder, our worship schedule this week is as follows: 

Maundy Thursday - services in the chapel at 1:30 pm (with communion) and in the sanctuary at 7:00 pm (with foot washing)

Good Friday - services in the chapel at 1:30 pm and in the sanctuary at 7:00 pm

Easter Sunday - services at the canal (behind the library) at 7:00 am and in the sanctuary at 8:30 am and 10:30 am 

In our one-year Bible readings from Sunday, we read in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, in which the apostle Paul said, “The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” 

What Paul meant by these words is that the message of the Gospel does not make sense to the rational mind. Jews expected the Messiah to be a conquering war hero. Gentiles would have perceived suffering and death as a display of weakness. How could the death of the Son of God bring about the salvation of the world? But, in fact, it did.  

The crucifixion of Jesus is tragic. It is something to grieve. Yet, the story of Jesus’ death is not the end of the story. It ends in resurrection. Through his death and resurrection, not only did Jesus pay our ransom to our former master named Sin, but he also showed us that the way to salvation is through taking up our own cross.  

This Holy Week, as you worship on Thursday and Friday, I encourage you to think not only of Jesus’ sacrifice but also the sacrifice that we are each called to offer. Jesus calls us to lay down our own lives - our own ambitions, our own life goals, our own hopes and dreams. In doing so, we find the only thing we have ever needed - the love, wisdom, security, and resurrecting life of God. 

Blessed Holy Week,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: 1 Chronicles 15

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! This Sunday is Palm Sunday, and that means our worship schedule is different than usual. Worship this Sunday will be at 8:30 am and 10:30 am! Our choir, alongside many soloists and instrumentalists, have been hard at work rehearsing Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living, which they will be performing at the 10:30 am service. The reason for the time change is to give the choir enough time to prepare for the later service. The majority of the later service will be the choir’s performance of the requiem, which means if you want to hear my Palm Sunday sermon, you will have to come to the 8:30 service, since that will be the only time the sermon is given. As an additional reminder, here is our schedule for worship during Holy Week:

Thursday, April 17 - 1:30 pm (with Communion in the chapel) and 7:00 pm (with foot-washing in the sanctuary)
Friday, April 18 - 1:30 pm (in the chapel) and 7:00 pm (in the sanctuary)
Sunday, April 20 - 7:00 am (at the canal behind the Pittsford library), 8:30 am (in the sanctuary), and 10:30 am (in the sanctuary) 

Thinking about our worship on Palm Sunday and the music we will hear has me reflecting on a passage of scripture we read from 1 Chronicles 15 on Day 194 (March 21) in our one-year Bible reading (which is a retelling of the same story we read about from 2 Samuel 6 on January 30.)  

In 1 Chronicles 15, we see very specific instructions given to the Israelites about how they should worship. They were to carry the ark of the covenant in a very specific way (1 Chronicles 15:15) and were to station musicians in specific places to play specific instruments like harps, lyres, cymbals, and trumpets under a musical leader's direction (1 Chronicles 15:16-24). This leaves us with the impression that the worship of Israel was very organized and done in a prescribed order.  

Yet, at the same time, we also see King David and others leaping, shouting, and dancing as the worship music was being played (1 Chronicles 15:29 and 2 Samuel 6:14-15). This was apparently a spontaneous thing for him to do, because it caught some people by surprise (1 Chronicles 15:29).  

I think we learn something important in this story. Just like the Israelites followed specific instructions for worship, our worship should be thoughtful, purposeful, and employ the very best talent that we have to offer God. However, just as David danced and leaped, we also ought to leave room in our worship for spontaneity and heartfelt responses to the movement of the Holy Spirit.  

As we worship this Sunday (and, indeed, every day), let us be both purposeful and spontaneous in our expressions of love and praise to God. Let us remember what Jesus taught us when he said that our worship of God should be “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). 

I hope to see you in worship this Sunday! 

Peace,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: Radical Grace and radical obedience

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Please keep the Vision Team in your prayers, since their next retreat is this weekend. It has been over a year since the Team last met with our consultant Kevin Ford, and, this weekend, we will be meeting with him to reflect on our progress with our Faith Forward initiative - the visioning process we began two years ago. You’ll be hearing from the Vision Team about the outcomes of this retreat after its conclusion. 

One of our Faith Forward objectives has been Everyday Faith: Reimagining discipleship to become highly personal, relational, and biblical.  Our one-year Bible-reading journey has been the primary way we’ve been working toward achieving this goal. Today is Day 206 in our Bible reading, and we’re currently reading through Paul’s Letter to the Romans. This particular letter is unique among all of Paul’s letters, because, unlike most of his letters which were written to churches he had personally founded to address particular concerns, Paul had never met the Roman church and was writing to them to explain a general outline of the Gospel. This is one reason why so many Christians throughout history have been drawn to the Letter to the Romans. Its explanation of the Gospel is much more straight-forward and clear than other New Testament texts. 

Recently, I have been reflecting on the relationship between God’s radical grace and our intended response to this grace - radical obedience. This relationship is explained very clearly in Romans. Let me illustrate what I mean. 

Imagine you own a piece of residential property that you rent. It’s time for rent to be paid, and your tenant tells you, “I’m sorry, but I can’t pay rent this month.” As the landlord, you tell your tenant, “I understand. I won’t require your rent payment this month.” Your forgiveness of the rent payment is an act of grace. Next month, your tenant says the same thing, “I’m sorry, but I also can’t pay rent this month.” It would be particularly gracious of you to forgive the rent payment for a second month in a row. Now, let’s just say that this happens again for an additional two more months, and each time you forgive the rent payment. This would be an example of radical grace. As the landlord, should you expect to ever receive a rental payment from your tenant now that they know you are going to forgive their payment each time they tell you they can’t pay it? Definitely not! People have a tendency to take advantage of grace.  

However, now reimagine that in this landlord-tenant metaphor, you (the landlord) are a beloved relative to your tenant. Your tenant (let’s imagine it’s your nephew or niece or a grandchild) loves you dearly. It is far less likely that they will want to take advantage of your gracious act of forgiving their rent payment. Why? Because they love you!  

The only way for the Gospel to make sense (i.e., that God’s radical grace demands our radical obedience) is if we love God. Paul understands this. This is why he writes, “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means!” (Romans 6:1-2). He continues later and says, “Thanks be to God that you, having once been servants of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18).  

If we truly understand the extent of God’s love for us and become so captivated by it that we nurture our own deep love for God, we will not want to take advantage of God’s grace. My prayer for you and for all Christians is that our hearts will grow more and more in love for God, because this is the only way that we will ever learn to become obedient to our loving God. With Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, this is possible.  

May your hearts become ever enraptured by the love of God shown to us in Jesus Christ! 

Peace to you,
Pastor Aaron 

mid-week meet-up: Paul's Roman Citizenship

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-up! I hope you’re being encouraged by our daily reading of the Bible. And, just a reminder, families with kids also have the opportunity to read the Jesus Listens daily devotional provided by the Christian Education Committee.  

Today is Day 192 of our one-year Bible-reading journey, and we finish reading the book of Acts this week. Some of you have had questions about the book of Acts, and, in particular, there was a question about Paul’s Roman citizenship. Why does his Roman citizenship come up in this book, and what significance does it play in his ministry? 

All the way back in Acts chapter 6, we learn that Paul belonged to a group of Jews known as “the Synagogue of the Freedpersons” (6:9). This synagogue was named as such, because its members were all Jews who had been granted Roman citizenship. Paul grew up in this synagogue, which meant that his parents would have been Roman citizens. This is why Paul can say in Acts 22:28, “I was born a Roman citizen.” Roman citizenship came with great legal benefits and protections. For example, it violated a Roman citizen’s rights to be punished without receiving a legal trial. Thus, Paul reveals his Roman citizenship after he was taken into custody by a Roman tribune (a military commander in charge of a cohort of soldiers) and bound and about to be flogged (Acts 22:25). The tribune became afraid after learning that he had bound a Roman citizen, because he could face serious consequences for committing an illegal act. 

It may seem that Paul revealed his Roman citizenship to avoid being flogged, but this event described in Acts chapter 22 is not the only time Paul faced punishment in Roman custody. In Acts chapter 16, Paul was arrested by a Roman magistrate in Philippi (Acts 16:20). At that time, it was only after Paul was arrested, stripped naked, beaten with rods, and spent a night in jail that he reveals his citizenship (Acts 16:37). Why didn’t Paul reveal his Roman citizenship sooner while he was in Philippi? Because the only citizenship that mattered to Paul was his citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20). He cared less about the rights his Roman status afforded him, and, instead, viewed his legal citizenship as a strategic tool for his mission work. That’s the main point - Paul understood that his Roman citizenship gave him a unique advantage to continue to proclaim and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  

Later, in Acts chapter 25, Paul again uses his Roman citizenship to the advantage of his mission. After Paul has been arrested by the Roman tribune in Acts chapter 22, the tribune sends him away from Jerusalem and to Caesarea. The Roman governor Felix in charge of Paul there simply leaves him in prison for over two years (Acts 24:27)! Up to this point in his life, Paul had spent approximately 15 years on three separate missionary tours. After spending two years in prison, I assume Paul was very anxiously trying to figure out how he could continue his work as a missionary. So what does he do? He gets an opportunity when he finally stands trial before the governor. He’s not happy with how his trial is going, so he says, “I appeal to Caesar!” (Acts 25:11). The Roman judicial system had an appeal process in which any Roman citizen could appeal to the Emperor himself if they felt they were being judged unfairly by a local court. Why does Paul appeal to the Emperor - to claim his legal rights? No! He’s, again, using his Roman citizenship to further his ministry to Jesus!  

Paul desperately wanted to get to the city of Rome to preach to the people there about the good news of Jesus (Romans 15:22-25). He saw an appeal to the Emperor as his opportunity to get to Rome, and that is exactly what happened! He is taken in Roman custody to the city of Rome, and the book of Acts end with these words, “Paul lived in Rome two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” He used his legal status as a means to move the mission ahead! 

I love this aspect of Paul’s missionary strategy, because it’s an important lesson for all of us. Nothing else in life matters more than knowing Christ and making him known! We should use whatever advantages or privileges we possess to strategically help us to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ with greater impact and effectiveness. How can you use your position, your relationships, and your influence to make Jesus known in your life?

Peace,
Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: Josiah, King of Judah

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! As I mentioned during worship last Sunday, if you’re following along with our one-year Bible-reading journey, you will notice that we finished the book of Psalms on Monday. The Bible-reading plan is designed so that, after one year, we will have read through the book of Psalms twice. If you’re goal is to read through the whole Bible once, you may decide that you want to skip the Psalms readings from here on out. However, you may also decide that reading a Psalm every day includes some variety to your daily readings and that you want to keep reading the Psalms a second time. Either way, it’s up to you to decide what will add the most meaning to your Bible-reading experience.   

My hope for this Bible-reading journey is that you will discover the life-giving value that meditating on the Bible every day adds to your spiritual life. In fact, one of our readings from the Old Testament this past week helps to emphasize this point. In 2 Kings 22:1 - 23:30, we read about the reign of Josiah, King of Judah.  His 31-year reign occurred in the years 641-610 BC. We’re told that he was a faithful King who loved God and wanted to lead his people to obey the Lord. It said of Josiah, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him” (2 Kings 23:25).  

Prior to Josiah, the people of Judah had not been faithful in worshiping God. They regularly worshiped other gods besides the Lord. As a result of their worship of other gods, the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem had fallen into disrepair. King Josiah began a campaign to repair the Temple and, during the repairing of the Temple, something amazing happened. We’re told that the they found “a book” while they were cleaning out the Temple (2 Kings 22:8). What book did they find? It was the book of the Law of Moses! It had simply been sitting in the Temple, neglected for generations! For years and years, the people of Judah had not been reading the scriptures because they didn’t even know they existed! One of the king’s officer read the words of the Law to him, and “when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes” (2 Kings 22:11). Josiah tore his clothes because he was overcome with grief, because he suddenly realized that the people of Judah had been rebelling against God’s will for so long!  

What did Josiah do in response? He had the scriptures read to all the people, who also realized that they had been unfaithful to God. Josiah then went throughout all of Judah and got rid of all the altars where the people had worshiped other gods and deposed all the priests who lead the people to worship these other gods. And for the first time in generations, the people remembered God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt and observed the Passover.  

This is a remarkable story! It shows us, on the one hand, that neglecting to read the scriptures leads us into ignorance and sin, because the scriptures reveal God’s nature and will to us. On the other hand, reading the scriptures and following their teachings leads us to obedience and greater faithfulness to God.  

This is my prayer for all of you. I hope your experience of reading through the Bible leads you into obedience and greater faithfulness to God. Our official one-year journey will end in 6 months, but don’t stop reading then! You don’t have to necessarily read through the whole Bible every year, but maintaining a daily discipline of spending time with God in the scriptures is vital to your spiritual health. Like Josiah, may your reading of the Bible lead you to turn to the Lord with all your heart, soul, and might! 

Peace,

Pastor Aaron

mid-week meet-up: The Beginning of Lent

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Today is Ash Wednesday! I hope you will join us today to usher in the season of Lent at either 1:30pm or 7:00pm for our services of imposing ashes.  

Throughout the season of Lent, you will also notice some differences in our service music. You will recall that before last summer, we had sung the same Doxology (“Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”) and Gloria Patri (“Glory be to the Father…”) for many years. Then, last summer, we changed what we sing during those parts of our worship. You will recall that there were two reasons we made these changes: 1) to encourage diversity in our language for God, and 2) to introduce variety into our musical selections. Throughout Lent, instead of singing the Doxology, we will be singing Kyrie Eleison (Hymn 579), which is an ancient Greek phrase that simply means “Lord, have mercy.” The season of Lent is meant to be a serious and somber time to reflect on our need for God’s mercy and grace, and singing the Kyrie Eleison will reinforce that message to us during worship. Likewise, we will be singing a new Gloria called, “Praise to God the Father” (Hymn 605) which is based on a traditional West African song called Da n’ase (meaning, “Thank you, God.”) These songs will help us to faithfully observe Lent, and then we will choose other ones once we reach the season of Easter.  

I also want to mention that, throughout Lent, our theme of worship will be “Wisdom for Lent,” as each Sunday’s sermon will focus on the readings from Proverbs from our one-year Bible reading journey. The book of Proverbs is full of godly wisdom, such as yesterday’s reading: “A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered” (Proverbs 17:27). Perhaps this Lent, as we consider what we might abstain from, we can give up being quick to speak and replace it with being eager to listen. The Prayer of St. Francis encourages us: “O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek… to be understood as to understand.” I recently read a similar idea from the organizational psychologist Adam Grant, who said that to be a better critical thinker you should “be 10% more skeptical of people you agree with, and 10% more charitable to people you disagree with.” That’s good wisdom!  

Lastly, as you heard during the Faith Forward Update on Sunday, if you have any questions or feedback about changes being introduced by church leadership, tomorrow, March 6, from 11am - 4pm, feel free to drop in to the pastors’ offices and talk with them. Or, Session members will be available to talk with and listen to you following each worship service this Sunday, March 9.  

Blessed Lent, 

Pastor Aaron

mid-week- meet-up: 1 Kings

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! I wanted to highlight two important upcoming events for your edification. Lent is coming and begins, as always, on Ash Wednesday, which is on March 5 this year. We will have our traditional service of imposing ashes that Wednesday at 7pm in our sanctuary. This year, you will also have the alternate option to receive the imposition of ashes that same day at 1:30pm in our chapel. Whichever service works best for you, I hope you will join us to mark the beginning of the Lenten season!  

During Lent, you will also have the opportunity to get to know our new parish associate Rev. Dr. Ernest Krug during a special Bible study. Every Sunday at 5pm from March 2 through April 6, join Ernest as you journey through N.T. Wright’s book From Wilderness to Glory. Books will be available for you to use for this study. N.T. Wright has been the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and is a world-renown scholar of the New Testament. Come journey with Jesus during Lent and get to know Ernest along the way! Contact the church office (connect@pittsfordpres.org) if you’d like to sign up! It starts this Sunday, so sign up ASAP! 

I’m going to sign off now… but for those of you who want to read some of my reflections on our 1 Kings readings from our one-year Bible-reading plan, read past my signature! 

Peace to you, 
Pastor Aaron

---- 

In our readings today from 1 Kings 22, we are in the concluding part of the saga involving the prophet Elijah and Ahab, the King of Israel. Ahab is the eighth king of the northern Kingdom of Israel.

Do you remember back in 1 Kings 11 when Solomon, who was the successor to his father King David, died and the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two separate kingdoms? Solomon’s son Rehoboam succeeded his father, but Jeroboam (a rival to Solomon) won many of the people of Israel through clever politicking. As a result, Jeroboam was able to gain control of all the twelve tribes of Israel except the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. From this time, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin would become the southern Kingdom of Judah, and the other tribes would become the northern Kingdom of Israel. This is a significant moment on so many levels.  

I want you to notice one thing about how this divide occurred. Jeroboam was actually given an opportunity by God to establish the Kingdom of Israel with God’s blessing. Look at what God says to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 11:38, “If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.” God had offered to bless Jeroboam and all the northern tribes, if Jeroboam would simply worship and follow God. However, what we see is that Jeroboam did not worship or follow God. We read God saying to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 14:9, “You have done evil above all those who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods, and cast images, provoking me to anger, and have thrust me behind your back.” In fact, we will eventually discover that there would be twenty kings of the Kingdom of Israel and not a single one of them worshiped or followed God. As a result, the Kingdom of Israel would eventually be conquered by the Assyrians and taken into captivity, vanishing from the Promised Land. “The people of Israel continued in all the sins that Jeroboam committed; they did not depart from them until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had foretold through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day” (2 Kings 17:22-23).  

It gets even more interesting. Do you recall the deep divide between Jews and Samaritans that we read about in the New Testament? They hated each other. In John 4:9, it says, “Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.”

Well, in our readings from this past Saturday, we see the exact point at which this divide began. King Omri, who is described as one of the most evil and faithless kings of Israel, firmly establishes a separate capital city for the northern Kingdom of Israel and calls it Samaria. "Omri bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; he fortified the hill, and called the city that he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill” (1 Kings 16:24). Henceforth, these northern Israelites would identify as Samaritans. The southern tribes would eventually identify as Jews (which comes from the word “Judahite” or “Judean,” referring to the tribe of Judah). The Samaritans would eventually rewrite the Mosaic Law so that it read more favorably of them. This rewritten Law would be called the Samaritan Pentateuch, and we actually have historical records of this text that you can read today.  

The waywardness and faithlessness of the Kingdom of Israel alienated them from their cousins in the Kingdom of Judah and separated them from being part of God’s saving covenant.  

AND YET…. 

We see countless examples in the ministry of Jesus where he wanted his Jewish followers to understand that the salvation he came to bring was not just for Jews but also for Samaritans (the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus’ ministry to the Samaritan woman at the well, his healing of the Samaritan man with leprosy, etc.). And, in fact, the salvation offered through Jesus was not even just for Jews and Samaritans but for all people: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  

Through this thread that is woven throughout the whole Bible, we see that God expects us to trust and obey God (this is, in fact, what God said to King Jeroboam) and, yet, even when we are wayward and faithless, if we are willing to receive God’s mercy and grace, God is ready and willing and eager to extend it to us and receive us into the saving covenant through Jesus. God’s grace is indeed greater than all of our sin. Hallelujah!

mid-week meet-up: Tabitha

Good Evening First Presbyterian,

As we make our way through the book of Acts in our one-year Bible reading journey, on Sunday I will be preaching from Acts 11, but tomorrow we are reading the story of Tabitha. In case it has been a while since you heard Tabitha’s story, here is a refresher from Acts, chapter 9:

“Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time, she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay."

So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.

He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.” - Acts 9:36-42

While I was in seminary one of my professors told us a story, when we were learning how to write funeral sermons, about death of a beloved church member. When this church member died the entire staff of her church had spontaneously gathered at the office upon hearing about it because they were so grief-stricken. When the funeral began their pastor began with the question; how can we go on without them?  

When I reflect on this account from Acts, I believe that is how her community – her church – felt about Tabitha. Tabitha took care of all those around her. Her hospitality and care for others was a hallmark of the early Christian church; earlier in Acts we were specifically told about the community sharing their wealth with those in the church who struggled to care for themselves, and in particular widows.

On the surface it seems like the main action of this story is Peter healing Tabitha (as the heading in many of our Bible translations says before this collection of verses). In truth, Peter does not heal Tabitha. Peter raises Tabitha from the dead. She is dead. She has been dead. All hope has been lost, or so it would seem. They call Peter with haste. The argument can be made though, that the emphasis is not actually on Peter, but on the community mourning for this pillar of their church. A community that surrounded her in death with garments she made for them as reminders of her compassion and Christ-like love for them. They mourned but with hope, as they waited for Peter.

In his resurrection moment with Tabitha, Peter commands - “Tabitha, get up.” this verb, translated “get up” is the same verb in Greek that Peter uses in his Pentecost proclamation in Acts 2:24: “God raised up Jesus, having freed him from death.” Peter’s “get up” command to Tabitha is empowered by the God who “raised up” Jesus, and in the humility of prayer before performing the miracle through the power of the Holy Spirit moving through him.  

Tabitha was an apostle, one who is sent to spread the Good News of the Gospel. She was feeding and clothing the people of God. She was doing the hard, unglamorous work of Christ’s church. She was in the lives of the most marginalized of society day in and day out making them clothes. Clothes were markers of status and respectability for widows in the Ancient Near East who had no agency because they had no men to speak for them or on their behalf. The conclusion of the story tells us, "He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.”

As we continue to read through the book of Acts, and consider the actions and ministry of the early church, let’s not forget that apostles like Tabitha and other women were part of the story of Christ’s church from the very beginning.

In Christ’s Abounding Love,

Pastor Erin

mid-week meet-up: Always side with Jesus

Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Last Sunday, we had some technical difficulties playing the pre-recorded videos that were contributed by the BSA Scout troops our church supports that were meant to be part of our worship service. You can see those videos here. Last Sunday, we also had the amazing and exciting opportunity of baptizing Griffin in a hot tub outside! If you missed it, you can see a recording of it here. Miraculously, there was a robin who alighted on a tree behind Griffin as he got into the hot tub to watch his baptism and then flew away when he got out! This Sunday, we will be commissioning our team of young people who are headed on a mission trip to New Bern, North Carolina, during their winter break to help rebuild homes after the disastrous hurricanes in recent years. There are lots of exciting things happening at FPCP, and you won’t want to miss a Sunday! 

Today is Day 157 of our one-year Bible-reading plan, and I wanted to point out something interesting that we read yesterday. We’ve been reading through 1-2 Samuel recently, which tells the interesting stories of Israel’s first kings - Saul and David. In 2 Samuel 24, we read an interesting story that starts off like this.  

"Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go, count the people of Israel and Judah'" (2 Samuel 24:1).  

The story continues and says that God sent a plague on Israel, because David had taken the census, which counted the number of eligible soldiers in Israel’s army. While the story doesn’t say why counting the soldiers was wrong, it is likely because the census was perceived as trying to quantify the strength of Israel’s power rather than simply trusting in God’s strength to protect them.  

But here’s the interesting thing. Later in our Bible-reading journey, we will read 1-2 Chronicles, which is a retelling of the exact same stories we read in 1-2 Samuel except written 100 years later. In 1 Chronicles 21, we will read the same story about David taking a census of all of Israel’s eligible soldiers, except one very important and very theologically significant detail is different.  

"Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to count the people of Israel" (1 Chronicles 21:1).  

Did you notice it? In 2 Samuel 24:1, it had said that God incited David to take the census. But in 1 Chronicles 21:1, it said that Satan incited David to take the census. That’s an important difference! 

This goes back to what I said in my sermons during January when we were looking at explanations for the violence of God in the Old Testament. While the Old Testament tells us about moments in history when God was truly active in the life of Israel and was being revealed to Israel through those moments, it is obvious that Israel was also dependent upon interpreting the experiences they had. Sometimes, like in 1 Chronicles 21:1, they looked back and reinterpreted those moments. "Maybe that wasn’t God and something else was happening." 

This is why Jesus eventually came to us - to correct all the ways people had misinterpreted their experiences of God, leading them to wrong conclusions. This is why it is always my advice when reading the whole Bible that when Jesus seems to be saying something different than the Old Testament, always side with Jesus. As the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, “Jesus is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is our clearest display of God, and we can always trust him. 

When reading the Bible, whether it’s the Old or New Testament, always look for Jesus. If you can’t find him, just keep reading until you do. 

Peace,

Pastor Aaron