2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Stand Fast
A college friend from long ago,
Not seen in nearly fifty years,
Reflecting on the climate’s change,
And plastic spreading o’er the sphere,
Proclaimed today that, “We are screwed;
Humanity is finished.
Done."
And I was left to wonder if
Despair once felt by everyone
To whom Paul wrote, became dark hope
It all would end, and Christ would come.
There seemed no more that they could do;
They had been rendered hopeless.
Numb.
But Paul said, no; do not forget
That you are those whom God just chose!
You can’t throw in the towel now;
My job, and yours, is to oppose
The evil in our midst! Stand firm,
Hold fast, do not give up—
Or in.
The glory of the Lord himself
Is where, in Christ, we must begin.
He loved the world to death, and rose!
If we believe this news we’ve heard,
Then follow, strengthened by our God,
And love the world with hearts all
Stirred.
Scott L. Barton
As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being
gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly
shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though
from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.
Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not
come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one
destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called
god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things
when I was still with you?
But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and
sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for
salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so
that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and
sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us,
either by word of mouth or by our letter.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort
your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
+ + +
If This Be Love
A person dies, someone you love.
Mother, father, sister, brother.
Then this headline, which today blared,
"Girl, 9, dies in bus accident."
Oh, dear God, who can bear such news?
How could any of us survive?
That any do, is miracle.
I weep to think of deaths I've known.
And yet. And yet. Perhaps it's true
That for our God, all are alive.
I know not what that means, except
Even when I'm long forgotten,
Just a tombstone name, in some book -
I'm alive, you're alive, and all
Who've ever lived, in him, somehow
Live, and move, and have our being.
Scott L. Barton
(2016)
The Heart of It
This really is the heart of it, isn't it?
They "neither marry nor are given in marriage."
Or try this:
"The latter splendor of this house shall be greater
than the former."
"We will all be changed."
"They thought it was a ghost."
"Because I live, you also...."
Like a Sadducee,
I just can't wrap my head around any of this.
And maybe that's the point.
This God
...this word
...this news
...this love
Changes everything.
Most of all, my heart.
This really is the heart of it, isn't it?
Scott L. Barton
(2013)
(See also Haggai 1:15b-2:9; plus Paul, Synoptics, John - you
name it!)
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came
to him 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. Now there were seven brothers; the first
married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so
in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the
resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had
married her.” Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are
given in marriage; 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.
Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children
of God, being children of the resurrection. 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. Now he
is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
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