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The Rev. Kelly Kirby
Rector
The Rev. Suzanne Barrow
Dir. Congregational Life
The Rev. Jan Scholtz
Deacon
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Christ among the Pharisees (c.1660-1670), oil painting on canvas by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678). North Carolina Museum of Art.
Read the Illuminations
Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Sunday, November 9, 2025, Pentecost 22C
First Reading: Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Sunday’s readings remind us to place our hope and trust in God, even during hard times. In this first reading, we hear the minor prophet Haggai date his prophecy specifically in the second year of the reign of King Darius the Great of Persia, some 500 years before Christ. Darius was a successor to King Cyrus, who had released the people from Babylonian exile and sent them back to Jerusalem about 20 years before. The restoration of the city and the Temple proved to be a big job that couldn’t be done quickly. But Haggai calls the people to hang on to their courage and faith in God: Zion’s wealth and grandeur will be rebuilt in splendor even greater than the first Temple.
Psalm: Psalm 145:1-5, 18-22
The 150 Psalms offer a broad range of hope, lament, petition, and praise, a diverse anthology that spreads across many of the ways that God’s people approach the divine in worship and song. The six Psalms that conclude the book utter resounding and unalloyed praise. In this portion of Psalm 145, we can almost hear the chords and choruses as the people raise their voices in awe at God’s wonder: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!”
Psalm: Psalm 98
Psalm 98 is a song of praise too, focused on our joy over God’s faithfulness to the people and the marvelous things that God has done. Singing to the Lord a new song – a phrase that we also heard chanted in Psalm 149 in the All Saints readings last week – the Psalmist calls on all creation to join the chorus: The sea and all that is in it roars, the waters clap their hands, and the hills sing together with joy. God will judge the world with righteousness and its people with equity.
Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
This second letter to the Greek community in Thessalonica probably came a generation after the first, perhaps around 100 CE, and was surely written in Paul’s name by a later follower. Early Christians had expected that Christ would return very soon. But by this late date, many of them had died. Now the later generations were clearly hoping for some kind of reassurance, particularly since Christians still faced Roman persecution. The author urges them not to be deceived by false teachings of a “lawless one” but to stand firm, remember the Good News, and hold fast to good works and words.
Gospel: Luke 20:27-38
Luke frequently portrays contentious encounters between Jesus and the Temple leaders, Pharisees and Sadducees. In this passage, he is again debating Torah with a group of Sadducees who try to trip him up with a trick question: When a man who had seven wives dies and goes to heaven, they ask, which of the seven women will be his wife? At first impression, it seems that Jesus simply declares there is no marriage in heaven. But just as he does repeatedly in Luke’s Chapter 20, Jesus is simply pushing back against trick questions. God is not God of the dead but of the living, Jesus said; for to God, they are all alive.
First Reading: Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Sunday’s readings remind us to place our hope and trust in God, even during hard times. In this first reading, we hear the minor prophet Haggai date his prophecy specifically in the second year of the reign of King Darius the Great of Persia, some 500 years before Christ. Darius was a successor to King Cyrus, who had released the people from Babylonian exile and sent them back to Jerusalem about 20 years before. The restoration of the city and the Temple proved to be a big job that couldn’t be done quickly. But Haggai calls the people to hang on to their courage and faith in God: Zion’s wealth and grandeur will be rebuilt in splendor even greater than the first Temple.
Psalm: Psalm 145:1-5, 18-22
The 150 Psalms offer a broad range of hope, lament, petition, and praise, a diverse anthology that spreads across many of the ways that God’s people approach the divine in worship and song. The six Psalms that conclude the book utter resounding and unalloyed praise. In this portion of Psalm 145, we can almost hear the chords and choruses as the people raise their voices in awe at God’s wonder: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!”
Psalm: Psalm 98
Psalm 98 is a song of praise too, focused on our joy over God’s faithfulness to the people and the marvelous things that God has done. Singing to the Lord a new song – a phrase that we also heard chanted in Psalm 149 in the All Saints readings last week – the Psalmist calls on all creation to join the chorus: The sea and all that is in it roars, the waters clap their hands, and the hills sing together with joy. God will judge the world with righteousness and its people with equity.
Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
This second letter to the Greek community in Thessalonica probably came a generation after the first, perhaps around 100 CE, and was surely written in Paul’s name by a later follower. Early Christians had expected that Christ would return very soon. But by this late date, many of them had died. Now the later generations were clearly hoping for some kind of reassurance, particularly since Christians still faced Roman persecution. The author urges them not to be deceived by false teachings of a “lawless one” but to stand firm, remember the Good News, and hold fast to good works and words.
Gospel: Luke 20:27-38
Luke frequently portrays contentious encounters between Jesus and the Temple leaders, Pharisees and Sadducees. In this passage, he is again debating Torah with a group of Sadducees who try to trip him up with a trick question: When a man who had seven wives dies and goes to heaven, they ask, which of the seven women will be his wife? At first impression, it seems that Jesus simply declares there is no marriage in heaven. But just as he does repeatedly in Luke’s Chapter 20, Jesus is simply pushing back against trick questions. God is not God of the dead but of the living, Jesus said; for to God, they are all alive.
Dimensions of Faith Lectures
Dimensions of Faith invites thinkers and writers to explore the interface of religion and culture, as we continue as a parish to challenge our minds and renew our spirits.
Upcoming Speaker: Diana Butler Bass, November 16, 2025
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer, John Dear
Upcoming Speaker: Diana Butler Bass, November 16, 2025
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer, John Dear
