Today is the first Sunday in Advent.  Does anyone know what the word “advent” means?  It means coming or arrival.  What is coming?  What are we waiting for in Advent?  Yes, after 4 Sundays of Advent, 4 Sundays of waiting, we celebrate Christmas Eve on Dec 24 and Christmas Day on Dec 25 as the day Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

We are waiting for Jesus.  But Jesus was born over 2,000 years ago, he was crucified by Pontius Pilate, died and then rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples for a time.  So Jesus has been with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit for a very long time.  ​

​As many of you may know, there was a political election last Tuesday. If you didn’t know that, well, it’s too late to vote.

​I have been following the news regarding the election results, as well as the thoughts and opinions of many of my family and friends on social media, and I see a couple of overarching themes among them. 

​Most people are disappointed in the results, whether their chosen candidates or propositions won or lost. You would think that, if someone’s candidate or proposition won, they’d be happy...but lots of folks aren’t. They seem to be just as disappointed as the person whose candidate or prop lost the election.  

​It seems like they can’t be happy about the results because they did not get something else that they were hoping for, perhaps even more than winning.  And that is the satisfaction of repudiation.

For the last three Sundays we have been listening to parables from the 25th chapter of Matthew, dealing with the theme of judgment.  Three weeks ago, we had the Parable of the Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins, who responded differently when the bridegroom finally arrived. Last week it was the Parable of the Talents.  Three slaves of a very rich man are left with great sums of their master’s money.  They were judged on how they handled his money, which differed greatly.  In today’s gospel, which you just heard, is the famous Parable of the Great Judgment, better known as the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.  On Judgment Day the judge, who is Christ returned, will separate all the people of all the nations into two groups, just as a shepherd separates his flock into sheep and goats.  The criteria for the separation are a set of actions: feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty a drink, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison.  Those who did those things are rewarded with eternal life, and those who didn’t are condemned to the fires of Hell. 

During our Sunday meeting, the Vestry discussed (belatedly, but still) the lack of a means to post information for the congregation now that we're still not in our building. Our answer? A virtual "bulletin board" here on our blog. From here on out, once we approve minutes, we'll post them here, and announce that they're posted in the eblast.

On Sunday, November 22, we approved the minutes for our meetings in September and October. Click the links below for PDF documents containing those minutes. 

Questions? Email Jeff: [email protected]

​St. John’s continues to work with Winter Outreach, a volunteer organization that provides emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness. Through this ministry we strive to live out our baptismal covenant to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.

​The COVID pandemic has required Winter Outreach to adjust their procedures to provide shelters with larger spaces and more ability to keep guests socially distant. Winter Outreach has also worked with infectious disease specialists to develop procedures that protect the health of both volunteers and guests, including PPE requirements.

​This season St. John's is teaming up with Christ Church Cathedral to staff an emergency shelter at St. Paul’s UCC (3510 Giles) on Monday nights when the temperature drops below 20° or 25° with precipitation. The combined effort of our congregations will leverage the much needed resources to implement the shelter.

By the Reverend Dr. Warren Crews

​Editor's note: Father Warren gave this sermon on October 18; we're just now getting it published. We're grateful for your patience!

​Our gospel lesson contains a dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees about paying Roman taxes.  It includes Jesus’ often quoted saying: “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s”.  For two thousand years Christians have been debating what it means.  Where do we place the dividing line?  A rabbi once suggested to me an interesting new possibility that I want to share with you.