Prepare Ye

This is my text for the All Saints Day service in the Garden. I focused mostly on the Isaiah (25.6-9 ) and Revelation (21.1-6 ) texts, and only briefly touched on the Gospel (John 11.32-44 - the story of Lazarus). Last Sunday, during our celebration of the Reformation of the Church, we heard the words God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. … I will be their God, and they shall be my people. … I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” [Jeremiah 31.31, 33, 34] Today, as we remember the great cloud of witnesses and saints who have gone before us, as we remember our loved ones who have died, we must also remember the promises God has given to us and to them. First among those promises is that death does not have the final word. God does. “It will be said on that day, ‘Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is

It's been a while since a real post. I am enjoying my vicar-ing here in the Garden. It is keeping me busy. I've avoided any real comments on the 800 lb. gorilla in the ELCA, because I would have to force myself to be pastoral. And when posting here, I don't feel like forcing myself to do that. I will avoid name calling and leave that to those who favor Law over Gospel, fear over love. But I'm not talking about that. :D Here's an old song about old friends. Harry Chapin - Taxi Edited to put in a version that did not autoplay.