SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT December 7, 2025

Prayer of the Day

Stir up our hearts, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his coming

nurture our growth as people of repentance and peace; through Jesus Christ, our

Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,

now and forever. Amen.

Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow

out of his roots. 2The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of

wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of

knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3His delight shall be in the fear of the

Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears

hear; 4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with

equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his

mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt

around his loins. 6The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie

down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a

little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall graze, their young

shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8The

nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child

shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9They will not hurt or destroy on all

my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Matthew 3:1-12

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,

2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom

the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

make his paths straight.’ ”

4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and

his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the

region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him

in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his

baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the

coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume

to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able

from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at

the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut

down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me

is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize

you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will

clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he

will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Reign of Christ Sunday November 23, 2025

Prayer of the Day

O God, our true life, to serve you is freedom, and to know you is unending joy. We

worship you, we glorify you, we give thanks to you for your great glory. Abide with us,

reign in us, and make this world into a fit habitation for your divine majesty, through

Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever. Amen.

Gospel: Luke 23:33-43

33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with

the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 [[Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive

them, for they do not know what they are doing.”]] And they cast lots to divide his

clothing. 35 And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying,

“He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” 36

The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If

you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,

“This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are

you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do

you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we

indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds,

but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you

come in your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in

paradise.”

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost November 16, 2025

Prayer of the Day

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without you nothing is strong, nothing is

holy. Embrace us with your mercy, that with you as our ruler and guide, we may live

through what is temporary without losing what is eternal, through Jesus Christ, our

Saviour and Lord. Amen

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19

7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is

about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will

come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.

9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must

take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them,

“Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great

earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful

portents and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand

you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors

because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your

minds not to prepare your defense in advance, 15 for I will give you words and a wisdom

that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be

betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of

you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your

head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost November 9 2025

Prayer of the Day

O God, our eternal redeemer, by the presence of your Spirit you renew and direct our

hearts. Keep always in our mind the end of all things and the day of judgment. Inspire us

for a holy life here, and bring us to the joy of the resurrection, through Jesus Christ, our

Saviour and Lord. Amen.

Gospel Reading

Luke 20:27-38

27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to [Jesus] 28 and asked

him a question: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife

but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29

Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman and died childless; 30 then the

second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32

Finally the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman

be? For the seven had married her.”

34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in

marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the

resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 Indeed, they

cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children

of the resurrection. 37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the

story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of

Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to

him all of them are alive.”

Reflections and Commentary

It would be understandable to dismiss the Sadducees’ debate about the resurrection as

esoteric and possibly not all that relevant. After all, the Sadducees represent one branch

of Judaism that has its own take on things and they had plenty of disagreements with the

likes of the Pharisees.

If you’re reading this, you’re getting a bit of bonus material that might make for too long

a sermon. So onward….

Who are the Sadducees in relation to the Pharisees?

The Sadducees were the wealthy priestly class. They held that the first five books of the

Hebrew scripture called the Pentateuch were the only authoritative teaching. And, as

Luke reports, the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection. The largest public debates

were between the Sadducees (who got on find with Rome and liked the existing social

order) and the Pharisees.

Pharisees were devout and were primarily ‘lay people’ with credentialed rabbis. They

accepted the prophets and wisdom writings as authoritative scripture. The Pharisees did

believe in the resurrection. This branch of the faith believed that a righteous life lived in

contrast to the occupying rulers (and what a parade of occupiers troops through Israel’s

history!) and the dominant culture was the way to honour God and the faith.

And so ???

The Sadducees aren’t asking Jesus about the resurrection because they seek comfort.

They want to discredit Jesus. Here’s where setting the scene matters: Jesus and his rag tag

band have marched into Jerusalem and he has taken a leaf from the prophets’ (and the

reformer Ezra’s) playbook by chasing off the money changers and would be profiteers

from the temple. So all the controversies about Jesus’ authority and what he’s about come

to a fever pitch and he “gets it from all sides” as varied factions seek to discredit and

ultimately kill him.

The “case study”:

The scenario in which the brother of a childless widow marries her is called “levirate

marriage” (from a latin term for brother-in-law). Such marriages were common and

usually produced children, so if the woman had the misfortune of being widowed a

second time, her children and late husband’s family would care for her. The question the

Sadducees pose seems absurd…how often would one encounter a woman widowed seven

times? So in this resurrection that they don’t believe in, the Sadducees want to know who

whom the woman would be married in the after life.

Jesus’ response:

Jesus takes the question at face value despite the many reasons not to. His teaching can

be divided into two parts. First, the resurrected life isn’t like this one. It seems germane

that the purpose of marriage in the ancient near east was to unite families as a way of

building security and wealth (a social safety net, if you will). In the resurrected life, no

need for such safety nets or even any other allegiances that matter in this life.

Second, Jesus draws examples from the “Pentateuch” when he speaks about Moses’

encounter with God’s presence in the form of a burning bush. From the brush fire, the

Lord self declares as God of Abraham, Sarah and the line of ancestors. Jesus emphasizes

that the Holy voice speaks in the present tense.Resurrection versus immortality:

So what happens to us when we die? today’s Gospel, Jesus doesn’t give much detail

about how all of this works and maybe we aren’t really sure what we believe about what

happens to us after we die. So what are the possibilities?

Nothing and that’s it

The body dies and our consciousness lives on (immortality)

You die…the whole kit and kaboodle and then you’re resurrected. The ancient Hebrews

believed that body and soul were indivisible. So back to the ages old debate—if the self is

body and ‘soul’ then what happens to that whole self after death?

Resurrection?

You have to die to be resurrected. Maybe we are like we were before we were born. To

quote from a decades old conversation a teacher had with his young son, “You mean

(before I was born) I was no place?” Perhaps resurrection takes us from ‘no place’ to new

life.

And so….

What do we mean when we say we believe in the resurrection of the body? What

difference does it make anyway? Is enough that Jesus reminds us of God’s claim on us as

God of the living? How does that affect how we live? How does all of this speculation

inform the ways in which we love God and neighbour (and Jesus, the prophets and Moses

talk a lot about that)?

Where do you find comfort and hope? Do we just ‘gut it out’ until the Sweet by and by

(whatever that looks like) becomes our post earth reality? Where is God NOW? What

implications does God of the living have for the life you are living right now?

These questions are the ones we fuss with and live with and frankly are probably much

more fraught than the silly scenario the Sadducees toss Jesus’ way.

As now, so then

There are headstones in cemeteries with a verse that reads:

As you are now I once was

As I am now, you will eventually be

The generations pass. We come and we go. As people of faith, we cling to scriptures and

Jesus’ words that where he is we will be (John 14)—So the God of the living in whom we

trust in this life is the same God that abides—-how ever it happens—in whatever happens

after this life.