Well, the news lately has not been so good. Local, national or international events….not so good. O, there are still many good days and moments with joy and laughter, work and leisure, but they seem dulled by violence, tragedy, and death. Innocence seems to come to a close a lot earlier in life than in The Good Old Days (which is what we all, of a certain age, look back to and then realize….really didn’t exist!). Since we live in a Super Information Age, we find out quickly about all the misery and suffering from the East to the West.

With this in mind, we get scripture this Sunday which points to both the bad and the good in the Day of the Lord (Amos), the “Rapture” (First Thessalonians), and The Wise and Foolish at The Final Wedding Feast (Matthew). The bible is both realistic in how it sees the suffering and evil in the world, and the wonderful hope that God will end that suffering and evil. The bible is about us staying alert, waiting, and participating in what God is doing and God will do. We can sleep…or stay alert. We can be Wise….or we can be Foolish. We can grow in faith….or we can be “content” to stay the same, but miss out on God’s call to be an ongoing New Creation in Christ!

I admit that having lived long enough to have gone through probably over ten predictions of the End of the World; I am weary of End Time “prophets.” I am NOT weary of seeing God continue to bring forth faithful people in spite of gloom and doom. People who “persevere to the end,” people who “are not just hearers of the Word, but are doers of the Word” as well!

This is the greatness of faith: we believe and experience God Now, to the End, and Beyond.

Praise be to God on Sunday and beyond! See you Sunday and beyond!

Pastor Barry