“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” Matthew 26:36-45

“Minding Your P’s & Q’s”

This is a phrase we hear a lot when adults are speaking to children, albeit a bit of an outdated phrase. It is a term that has come to signify that you are taking care, watching what you are doing, working hard to get it right. The origins on this idiom are actually rather simple. This one dates back to a time when local taverns, pubs and bars served drinks by the quart and by the pint. Bar maids had to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. They had to pay special attention to which patrons were drinking pints and which were drinking quarts — thus the term came to be known, “minding your p’s and q’s.”

Jesus often warned his disciples to “keep awake” – “be alert” – and to be watchful. Why? Well, even in the time of Jesus, it was easy for life to get in the way of maintaining a strong relationship with G-d. When we are facing daily struggles and trying to scratch out a living, we can lose our focus – especially lose our focus on what truly matters. Jesus was warning his disciples to keep awake for the coming of G-d’s kingdom in their midst – and for the coming of G-d. Both were incarnated through Jesus – he is G-d and his birth inaugurated the coming of the Kingdom of G-d.

My friends, keep awake – for we know neither the time nor the date of Christ’s return. Yet, we continue to live into the promise that he is coming – and actually comes every day.

Pastor Dave

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Matthew 19:23-30

“Pigeon holed”

Originally, a pigeonhole literally was a small recess or compartment for a domestic pigeon to roost or nest in, usually as part of a pigeon coop. That term has been around since at least 1577. A little over a century later, in 1688, the term was also applied to similar small compartments built into desks or bookshelves for storing or sorting mail, papers or writing supplies. But a third meaning came to be accepted, first recorded in 1864 — the one you most often hear today as a “narrow, sometimes oversimplified category.” Used as a verb, it’s the act of placing someone in such a category (among actors, it’s also called type casting). The consensus among etymologists is that this usage comes from the original meaning of pigeonhole — with the meaning that the category the person or thing is being assigned to is as narrow and confined as a literal pigeonhole.

It is really easy to pigeonhole people, giving them definitions that are narrow, and often discriminatory. People who want to be professional athletes will be pigeonholed as too short, too heavy, or too slow. And yet, we have seen individuals excel in sports by overcoming what others determine to be shortcomings. As such, is it really easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to enter G-d’s kingdom? I have two answers. First, the scriptures say that it is the “…love of money that is the root of all evil” – not money itself. Many rich people are generous and share out of their abundance. Second, when the disciples ask Jesus “Then who can be saved?” – Jesus answers, “For G-d, all things are possible.”

We need to learn not to pigeonhole people, and instead to trust that G-d wants all people to be saved.

Pastor Dave