Ephesians 1:15-23 & 3:14-21

Susan asked us what kind of assumptions we have about God. Our picture of God shapes how we pray just like our assumptions about other people shape those conversations. We're all afflicted with unconscious bias, which we know, but often don't recognize.

The lectionary readings in Ephesians brings us to a great prayer. The prayer, which begins in chapter 1, is interrupted by the author's enthusiastic theological reflections and picked up again in chapter 3. This is a prayer that is useful for any of us. And it's useful for us as a congregation at a time of transition as we're looking to see who God is going to bring us.

Even when you may not feel it, or feel like your prayers are being answered, know that God is utterly caught up in the details of our situation and cares for us more than we care for ourselves. You are precious to God, you are loved, and God is glad to hear from you.

A great help in surviving trying times is the knowledge, or even just the hope, that God is present to us and loves us. Knowing you are loved goes a long way in our ability to persevere.

Matthew 4: 8-10

Mauricio Chenlo preached on Satan’s temptation of Christ, offering him all of the kingdoms of the world. Similarly, often we depend on the kingdoms of the world to deliver the kingdom of God. Mauricio related his experiences growing up in Argentina where he experienced Christian faith expressed in the nation’s politics swing wildly from right to left as the government went from a dictatorship to a Marxist government. He even heard the preaching on liberation theology about the kingdom of God from the dictator Ortega of Nicaragua in the 90s. Politics is the process by which people make collective decisions about how to live together by distributing power, responsibilities and resources. So, who gets to define these priorities? In this country it seems that we are told to change our politics every four years. Likewise, the Church historically has been tempted to align with political ideologies. Jesus, however, brings a different kind of politics. Jesus rejected alignment with any of the political ideologies of his time. The role of the Church is to be a witness and an extension of the kingdom of God in this world, because we still must be in the world even if we are not of the world. We cannot just focus on feeding people’s bodies (not on bread alone); we must also nourish people spiritually. We must not manipulate God’s word, love, or message to gain power or popularity.

Luke 18: 1-8

Susan Scott preached on the unusual prayer practices of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus was steeped in the prayers of the Jewish people, but Luke recounts that he Jesus instructed his followers to pray in a different way, including for those that persecute you. The prayers of Jesus in Luke can be divided into two types. We pray for the glory of God's name, work, and kingdom, and we pray for our business, including our daily bread, the forgiveness of sins, and protection from temptation. Susan reminds us that Jesus also told the Parable of the Unjust Judge to remind us to always pray and not give up, just like the woman pursuing justice, and that God is always a just judge. Of course, wouldn't it be easier to have faith if God instantly answered our prayers instead of us having to wait? It would be nice but that places God in the role of being our servant instead of our lord. Oddly, when the disciples asked for more faith, Jesus told them it already takes very little faith to speak miracles into existence. Jesus wants us to not focus on amounts but rather on the love and greatness of God that can enable us to do the impossible. With this in mind, we must relentlessly pray with a steadfast faith and hope in God's goodness, justice, and mercy.

Habakkuk 1: 1-4

Susan Scott preached on World Communion Sunday and reminded us that regardless of our various religious journeys, national origins, denominations, and worship practices (including the incarcerated who cannot choose their mode of worship), that we are all a part of larger Christian Church family that is striving to follow the teachings of Christ. Susan also reflected on the lamentations of Habakkuk from the lectionary scripture. During these very tense, frustrating and worrisome times we are experiencing, it is easy to reflect negativity and despair back into the world. Lamentations, a form of brutally honest prayer, is one way that we can offload these feelings and transition our frustrations into a posture of waiting to hear from God and also a trust in God's love, goodness, and mercy for us.

Mark 14:16-26, Isaiah 25:6-8

Susan spoke this Sunday about something Christians universally practice and everyone maintains is important in some way: the Lord's Supper. Also called Communion, the Eucharist or the Mass.

She painted three word pictures for us that could provide a greater appreciation for what we're doing at the table: a Passover meal, a covenant ratification meal, and a wedding celebration. The thing these three meals and communion all have in common is that they are celebratory. They knit people together and they all have a host. In communion, the Lord's table, Jesus serves as the host.

Lamentations 3:17-26

This Sunday Melissa Rogati shared from her personal story of lament and dealing with a dark period in her life. It's very uncomfortable to be in that place. As humans, we don't like being there. But as she came to eventually realize, God is in the dark too! It's us who feel discomfort when we're in the dark. But if we can't sit in the dark and know that we are safe, where is our faith?

We can force ourselves to be upbeat, even when we don't see the good coming, but that is not authentic. We don't need to force an upbeat spirit to prove anything to anyone, including ourselves. Even when we can't engage with that upbeat, we don't have to force it when we don't want to. But we continue to seek the goodness of those around us while we wait in the dark. Because we still believe, even in the dark, that there's goodness to be had. Because the Lord is good to those who wait for Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the Lord.

I Corinthians 12:4-13

Following the summer time of gifts discernment, each September Raleigh Mennonite recognizes the many volunteers who help make the church function. This Sunday Susan provided a brief overview of church history and how Mennonites incorporated the concept of the "priesthood of all believers" as a fundamental tenet of our faith and community life together. The idea is that not only can we communicate with and have direct access to God, but that there are indeed no roles that are the exclusive domain of the clergy.

And as we read in I Corinthians 12, all roles are important, and we all have to use our God-given gifts together for the church to thrive. When we use our gifts, or graces, it energizes us. At the same time, we need to check our perceptions of our gifts with others and listen for the affirmation of others in helping us see the gifts that we might have and be called to use. That's where discernment comes in.

Luke 10: 25-28

This week volunteers from the RMC congregation shared dramatic readings, acting out some of the experiences of the founding figures in Anabaptist/Mennonite history that suffered persecution and even martyrdom. This continues our series celebrating 500 years of Anabaptism. The sincere faith and devotion of these individuals to Anabaptist principles are a source of inspiration and encouragement, despite woes and troubles, to follow the path of love set before us by the example of Christ.