November 2012 Liturgy

November 4^th -Scriptures: Ruth 1:1-18; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12: 28-34

All Saints Day Sunday

Love. Love God, love self, love neighbor.  The gospel in a word is love!  Jesus and the scribe agree in today’s Gospel lesson; the central tenet of faith is love.  The foreigner Ruth, recently widowed, knows this instinctively when she follows her loving heart and travels with her mother-in-law to a land she has never known.  This love connection may be taken lightly on reality television, but not so in our scriptures.  The call to love demands courage and strength, sacrifice and servanthood.  The call to love is God’s call to all who would follow Christ.

November 11^th Scriptures Ruth 3: 1-5; 4:13-17; Psalm 127 (or Psalm 42); Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44.

Stewardship Day

Psalm 127 says it all: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (v.1). Naomi thinks she is building a house for herself and for Ruth; but God is building a house for the whole people of Israel.  The psalmist reminds us that children are a heritage from God- but a heritage, as Naomi finds out, that can disappear at any moment.  Hebrews reminds us that our hopes are founded upon Christ, and not upon any sanctuary built with human hands.  Finally, while the Temple system relies upon human generosity to keep things running, God views the humble offering of a poor widow to be of infinitely greater value.  As the Pharisees show, human scheming and posturing go only so far.  If God doesn’t build the house, it is doomed to come crashing down around us.

November 18^th-Scriptures-I Samuel 1:4-20; I Samuel 2:1-10 (or Psalm 113); Hebrews 10:11—25; Mark 13:1-8.

Thanksgiving Sunday and Bible Sunday.

As she copes with the tragedy of childlessness, Hannah, the mother of sorrows, praises God continually.  After the birth of Samuel, Hannah, the mother of joy, still exults in her Lord.  Her faith is a source of comfort, strength, and guidance throughout her life.  The imagery of the lowly lifted up and the proud brought down by God’s knowledge and authority brings truth as well as warning.  Psalm 113 echoes Hannah’s exaltation, blessing and glorifying the Lord who is to be praised.  The New Testament readings add the dimension that Christ has shown us the “new and living way” of faith, hope, and love.  As we travel together as disciples in Christ, striving to love God and one another, we must encourage and support our individual and corporate journeys.  While there will be many challenges, both known and unknown, our strength and comfort are always in the Lord.

November 25^th Scriptures- 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132: 1-12; Revelation 1:4-8; John 18: 33-37.

Christ the King Sunday and United Methodist Student Day

Truth is spoken to power in today’s Gospel, offering stark, this-worldly contrast to the cosmic, royal imagery of the other readings – a commentary in itself on what is valued in Christ’s reign.  We are told that Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5), an enthroned descendant of King David (Psalm 132:11-12), the anointed of God (2 Samuel 23:1).  But in John’s passion story, he is far from lifted up and glorified.  A prisoner, he nonetheless goes toe-to-toe with Pilate, a colonial bureaucrat of the Roman Empire and refuses to be trapped into calling himself king: “You say that I am a king…I came into the world to testify to the truth” (John 18:37). May truth reign.