March 5, 2018 - Sunday was the Third Sunday of Lent. Unlike last Sunday, we all woke up to a pretty but cool day. It looks like the rain will return, though, later today. The gospel lesson for this Sunday in Lent comes from the John gospel. Even though this is the year of Mark in the Common Lectionary, several of the gospel lessons come from John. John was written in the last decade of the first century or the first decade of the second century. It is the most poetic and philosophical of the gospels. All four of the gospels were anonymous, not given the names we know them by until the end of the second century.
The lesson today is one found in all the gospels—Jesus cleanses the Temple. I enjoy this story for many reasons but am particularly impressed that injustice and misuse of the tenets of faith angered our brother into action. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels that have this story toward the end of Jesus’ life, in John’s telling it is at the start of his ministry. It follows after the first miracle that Jesus performs in the John gospel—turning water into wine at the Wedding of Cana. The two stories share a common trait, being about purification: This is more obvious in the temple story, but in the other one, he used for his transformation unclean water that was meant for guests’ freshening up.
Before reporting to Paxton, I went to Tenaha Methodist to listen to Matt preach. We both followed the lectionary this week, using John’s telling of Jesus at the Temple. It is always nice to see my many friends at Tenaha. I miss seeing Mr. Bowers and Christine as well as Maggie and Gene. When I got to Paxton, Fannie was busy teaching the Sunday school lesson: Genesis 22, about Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. I have to admit this is one of my least favorite stories. One section of the lesson was titled “Understanding God’s Providence.” My understanding of God’s providence, or divine intervention, has undergone many transformations—and is still evolving.
Today we celebrated Holy Communion. We will be collecting cans of chili for Community Christian Services this month. I took our February donations to First Baptist Haslam last week, finding them in the midst of a busy giveaway day. It’s great to see so much participation in this service. On Thursday, we will have our ministry at Focused Care starting at 10:15. We have missed the last two times due to illness, but hopefully everyone is feeling much better.
Our friends Keith Knight and Guy Barton are in the hospital but are looking forward to being back home soon. Our prayers should also be for their caregivers during their recovery. To Jo Warr we wish a speedy recovery; when my mom had that same surgery, the doctor assured her it would be pain-free and she’d be so glad she did it. He was right! Carolyn reported that her Pennsylvania relatives got rain, but nothing like the tsunami effect we’d seen on the news at other places. Joaquin’s Cathy Dickerson, also known at the Tenaha Pickin’ and Praisin’s, passed away this week—a lovely lady.
“Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. Godspeed.
Randy & Sue Smith
Paxton Methodist Church
