Present in the Garden: Vigil, Vulnerability, and Prayer -- A Message for September 6, 2026

  Friends, this is the last Sunday for us to hear a reflection on the favorite scriptures of the Trinity Church family. But, we will continue hearing about your favorite hymns if there are others who wish to share…the sign up sheet is downstairs on the table in the Narthex.

This morning, we are hearing the favorite scripture of our own Denni Carey. Denni shared that Luke chapter 22, verse 42 is her favorite…it comes from Jesus' prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane in the hours before his arrest. Jesus and his friends had had a very busy day, a very busy week, before Jesus’ time of prayer and contemplation in the Garden.

A few days earlier, Jesus and his disciples paraded into Jerusalem on the day Christians remember as Palm Sunday. Jesus was greeted by people who were excited to welcome him for the Passover festival. On the other side of town, Pilate also paraded into Jerusaleml….but Pilate represented the Roman Empire – a repressive, cruel, human endeavor. Jesus represented the Empire of God – a welcoming, loving, unifying endeavor. 

During Holy Week, Jesus visited the Temple and cleansed the Temple of money changers and merchants. He then returned the next day to teach and preach in the Temple. Earlier in the day before the events of our scripture reading, Jesus and his friends gathered in the Upper Room….there, Jesus washed their feet, ate a passover meal, Jesus gave the disciples the new commandment that they should “love one another,” Jesus told them that Judas would betray him, and he instituted Holy Communion…it was a lot.

We turn to the scripture just as the meal was ending…listen now to the word of God as we turn in our Bibles to Luke, chapter 22, verses thirty-nine through forty-six:

The Scripture Luke 22: 39-46

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 

40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 

41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 

42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 

43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 

46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Amen.

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…..

The Message Present in the Garden: Vigil, Vulnerability, and Prayer 

One of the hardest things we learn in life is how to be helpful to people who are having a hard time. This is a skill I am personally still learning….i will probably be learning to do it better for the rest of my life.

Part of the reason why this skill is so difficult to master is that God created us to be unique individuals – and what is helpful for one person may be entirely unhelpful for the next. 

But, in reflection upon our scripture this morning, we can take some tips from what Jesus asked his disciples to do for him – to stay awake – and apply that to how we minister to each other. 

….

Jesus and his friends had a difficult journey during the first Holy Week….in the days before Palm Sunday, they traveled from a distance to Bethany. There, they came to the home of Mary and Martha and found it full of mourners – Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. Jesus performed a miracle and raised him from the dead. Everyone was amazed, including the disciples.

But as time progressed for Jesus and his friends, there were many highs and lows….the crowds greeting Jesus on Palm Sunday were a high. The reaction of everyone in the Temple when Jesus cast out the merchants and the money changers was probably stressful…the disciples were probably a tad fearful that Jesus would be arrested immediately…the money changers and merchants were probably very upset…the temple’s priests and authorities were also dismayed, to say the least. The disciples and Jesus then experienced all of the heavy emotions of Maundy Thursday – the weirdness of Jesus, their rabbi, washing their feet – the joy of receiving the love commandment – the fear they felt when Jesus said he would be betrayed and killed. The disciples, and Jesus, were physically, emotionally, and psychologically exhausted when they went to the Garden of Gesetheme to pray with Jesus. 

Even Jesus asked God to take the burden of what was coming next away from him. Jesus knew what was about to unfold. No human being would sign up to be tortured. No human being would sign up to be arrested by the brutal Romans. No human being would sign up to be crucified. Jesus knew things would get ugly soon. 

But, Jesus wasn’t just a regular human. So, after he asked for the burden to be taken from him, he prayed: “yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus turned it over to God. Jesus accepted his fate. We repeat Jesus’ words when we say the Lord’s Prayer: we pray “Thy will be done.” We ask that God not only do God’s will, but we are also praying to remind ourselves to accept God’s will. Sometimes we don’t understand God’s plans for us. Sometimes we don’t like God’s plans for us. Sometimes we resist God’s plans for us and run in the other direction like Jonah. But, Jesus modeled for us acceptance of God’s will: “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus knew that ultimately God’s will, God’s plan, was the best – the death and resurrection of Jesus shows us that nothing we do is more powerful than God. Through God’s grace, we are loved, accepted, and forgiven.

Jesus asked his friends to be present with him. He was about to be arrested. He knew things were going to be ugly. So,  he asked that his friends stay awake as Jesus prayed and waited for his arrest.

Sometimes, when we want to help people who are suffering, they tell us directly what they need. Jesus needed his friends to stay awake…but they were also stressed and aggrieved and emotionally exhausted and their bodies were shutting down and making them sleep no matter how hard they tried to stay awake.

We get it. Sometimes we struggle to be helpful to people who are suffering because we are also suffering. 

If we are visiting someone who is in the hospital or who is grieving the loss of a loved one, it is more helpful if we don’t fall asleep….especially if they ask us to stay awake.

But, there are some ways we can be helpful…

Sometimes, we can help by being a supportive, quiet presence. The person who is in pain may be able to fall asleep themselves if they know we are sitting next to them. And, they also may need a quiet person to listen to them – to support them by allowing them to talk; to listen to them without interrupting; and to focus only on them, instead of our watches, or our phones, or the tv on the other side of the room.

One of the key thing to do, as we are present and listening to the person who is struggling, is to keep our mouths shut. We can listen and validate their emotions….we can hear how they feel about whatever is going on with them. We don’t need to fix them. We don’t need to solve their problem. They don’t need our advice all the time. We can be present with people who are stuggling by letting them talk, or not, without us interrupting them with our ideas of how to fix it. 

  People also need to know that we haven’t forgotten them. Sometimes when people we care about are struggling, we leave them alone because we think if we reach out it will interrupt their healing process or add to their burdens. But, we live in a day and age when most people have “Caller ID.” If we call them and they need to talk, they will answer the phone. We can text them a quick note of support. We can mail them a card – it is lovely to receive mail that is not an ad or a bill, but is actually something personal. We can reach out to people to remind them that they are not forgotten..

Even Jesus, our Lord and Savior, asked his friends to support him when he was facing a challenging situation. His friends dropped the ball a bit. Let us work to do better….let us work offer support and care when people we know face burdens of their own. As Christians, it is our calling to represent God and Jesus to the people of the earth. God cares deeply about us…God loves us no matter what. God has compassion for us despite the challenges we face. As representatives of God, we must work to care for other people in supportive, non-judgemental, and compassionate ways. So, let us work to offer support and care to each other no matter what burdens we carry.

May we do so today and all days. Amen.

The Rainbow and the Redeemer -- A Message for August 30, 2026

  This week, we are focusing on the favorite scripture of our own Elaine Becker. Elaine shared with me that her favorite Scripture is Genesis 9:11….this is at the end of the Noah story when God makes a covenant with Noah – apparently this covenant is called by scholars the “Noahide” covenant or the “Noahic” covenant. God established a covenant with the people and animals of the earth and promised to never destroy the earth again by a flood.

We are going to read the portion of Noah’s story that focuses on God’s covenant. Please turn to Genesis 9 and read along with me, starting at verse one and reading until verse 17:

The Scripture Genesis 9:1-17

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 

2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 

3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 

5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
    by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
    has God made mankind.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 

9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 

10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 

11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 

13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 

14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 

15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 

16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…

The Message The Rainbow and the Redeemer: An Everlasting Promise, An Unconditional Welcome

Throughout history, God has established covenants with the people of the earth – many covenants. In a biblical context, a covenant is a sacred, legally binding agreement or relationship between God and humanity that involves mutual commitments, obligations, and promises.

Unlike a modern contract, which is typically a business arrangement based on conditions and self-interest, a covenant establishes a deep, enduring personal bond—often sealed with an oath, a sacrifice, or a visible sign (such as a rainbow or circumcision).

When we hear the word “Covenant,” we usually think of the Covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah – that their descendants would populate the earth. Or, we may think of the Covenant God made with Moses – that the Jewish people would repopulate the Promised Land of Israel. But, God made a covenant with David, a covenant with Adam, a covenant with Noah, and most importantly the “New Covenant” made with the world after the death and resurrection of Jesus that God will totally forgive our sins, fill us with the Holy Spirit, and write God’s law upon our hearts.

Today, we focus on the Noahic covenant.

But first, let’s remember some of the details of the Noah story.  The Noah story is a creation story. After the creation of the earth, God watched the people of the earth from afar and observed that we didn’t do very well if we were left to our own devices. Wickedness prevailed across the earth. People were violent and corrupt. God regretted creating humanity. So, God decided to have a “do-over.”

Noah stood out to God as being morally upright and faithful to God. So, God decided to spare Noah and his family and get rid of everyone else. God approached Noah directly, told him to build an ark, and load it with the animals of the earth. In some verses of the Noah story, it says Noah loaded the animals on the boat with a male and female pair of each type of animal. In other verses, it says Noah loaded the boat with seven pairs of each type of animal – I guess to prevent inbreeding. But, the people who passed down this story orally over the centuries didn’t know about genetic inbreeding, so the important thing to remember is that the animals joined the people on-board the boat – the Ark.

God flooded the earth. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. The rain covered the earth for 150 days. Noah released a Raven and then a Dove to discover if the earth was dry enough to exit the ark. When the Dove returned to Noah with an olive leaf in its beak, Noah knew the coast was clear and he, his family, and the animals could leave the ark. They were on the ark for almost a year.

Once everyone and everything departed the ark, Noah made an altar and offered a sacrifice for God in thanksgiving for their survival. 

Our scripture for today comes after God received the sacrifice. God told Noah and his family to be faithful and fruitful – it would be their job to repopulate the earth – Noah’s wife and three daughters-in-law were going to be very pregnant for a long time. God established his “unconditional” covenant with the people, and animals, of the earth – God would never again destroy the earth with a flood. And, the rainbow was set in the sky as a sign of this promise.

The word for the rainbow in Hebrew is “Keshet.” This word has a double meaning. Keshet is also used for a “war bow” – the bow used by an archer when fighting in a war with bows and arrows. In the ancient world, after a war ended, the king would unstring his bow and hang it in a prominent, visible place – facing like an upside-down U. If the bow was strung, and it had an arrow on it, and the string was pulled back, the arrow would shoot into the heavens and not hurt anyone. This was a symbol to everyone the war was over and the people were at peace. The rainbow is like God’s war bow, unstrung and hung on the heavens for everyone to see that we are at peace – God promises not to allow the destruction of the earth again.

This was not a conditional promise, a conditional covenant. God didn’t promise not to destroy the earth if everyone behaved. God didn’t promise not to destroy the earth if we all perfectly followed God’s commandments. God didn’t promise not to destroy the earth if we were good. God promised not to destroy the earth…peroid….unconditionally.

The story of Noah’s covenant with God is a story of hope for everyone. God’s experiment of creating humanity will not end because God decides to destroy us. The rainbow is a symbol of a “divine disarming.”

Jesus is the embodiment of God’s “disarmed,” radical grace. The ways of the world are not forgiving or graceful – we want to punish our enemies….we are into “tit for tat.” People hold grudges, countries try to outdo each other with retaliatory tariffs, empires wage wars against their perceived opponents. People are not forgiving and we don’t do a good job of reacting to slights with graceful inaction. But, Jesus is the embodiment of “God’s disarmed radical grace.” 

Jesus is often depicted in our artwork hanging on the cross – with his arms outstretched with mercy.  Jesus is opening his arms to hug the people of the world. Jesus’ sacrificial love for humanity is the symbol of God’s love for humanity. God reaches into the world to hug us close and to love us with no exceptions, with no conditions. 

God’s love for us is unconditional. God doesn’t look at our performance, our goodness, or our ability to follow God’s rules and decide based on how we have behaved whether to love us or not. Instead, God loves us unconditionally. Jesus came to earth to tell us that God’s grace is for everyone. 

So, as a response to God’s love, we must do everyone we can to in-turn love God and love each other. We are the recipients of God’s forgiveness and love. We are the recipients of God’s unconditional covenants. Let us respond to God’s love by caring for each other, and caring for God’s creation…

Today and all days. Amen. 

Let the Nations Be Glad -- A Message for August 23, 2026

  Friends, this morning we have the pleasure of hearing 4 Psalms. These are the “favorite” scriptures of our own June Waters. 

These Psalms are all different from each other but contain similar themes. One of the themes common in all of the Psalms we will read is the  universality of our faith – it is for all people.  We are called to share our faith with all the people of the world.  Our faith is not something we keep to ourselves, as individuals, but is for all of the people of the earth – the Jewish people and the non-Jewish people…the Christians and everyone else. All people are welcome and encouraged to worship our God and understand that our God is the true God.

I will first read two psalms that are missional – they remind us that God’s grace isn’t just for us but is for all people. And, God loves all people…equally…. the good people and the bad people…the faithful people and the people who are working to be faithful. 

Listen to our first Psalm, Psalm 67: 

Psalm 67: For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

1  May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face shine on us—

2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
    your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.

4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you rule the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations of the earth.

5 May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest;
    God, our God, blesses us.

7 May God bless us still,
    so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Amen

Our second Psalm is the shortest of all the Psalms, Psalm 117. It is also missional in its focus…God extends God’s love to us, and therefore we must encourage others to know God and experience God’s love. Listen now to our next Psalm, Psalm 117:

1 Praise the Lord, all you nations;
    extol him, all you peoples.

2 For great is his love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.

Amen.

Psalms were written to be sung – not read. They are the poetry we find in hymns, not at Poetry Slams. The next Psalm we read is a soundtrack to go with our invitation to the nations – a song to celebrate that God isn’t just for believers now, but believers to-be. This psalm inspired Isaac Watts to write the words to “Joy to the World.” Verse 4 of this Psalm:  “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,burst into jubilant song with music” inspired Watts to write: “Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing, ” ….Listen now to our next Psalm, a singing Psalm, Psalm 98:

Psalm 98 A psalm.

1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.

2  The Lord has made his salvation known
    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

3 He has remembered his love
    and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;

5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,

6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;

9 let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

Amen. 

In the ancient world, a judge wasn’t someone who punished – a judge was someone who set things right. In Psalm 98, God’s coming judgment is a cause for joy because it means the end to brokenness and injustice – God was coming to the earth to extend righteousness and bring about equity for all people. In Jesus, God fulfilled this promise! 

For our final Psalm of the day, we are turning to Psalm 118. This Psalm will sound familiar to us; we hear parts of it quoted a lot in the New Testament Gospels and Letters. Psalm 118  is a triumphant song of thanksgiving – we hear it echoed in the New Testament in the words people proclaimed on the original Psalm Sunday – and in the words the disciples and Jesus said on the night of Jesus’ last supper.

This Psalm was read at the Last Supper because it is a Passover song – it recalls the flight from Egypt, when the Jewish people were besieged by enemies, but ultimately triumphed. 

Psalm 118 was written as a call and response – a song leader would have read one line and the gathered worshippers the next.  They were probably not actually reading it; in the ancient world, the Jewish people would have memorized the words of the Psalms just as we now memorize the words to our favorite hymns and the songs we listen to on the radio. 

We don’t have these Psalms memorized. And, we can only guess the melody they were written to be sung with…. But, please indulge me and pull out your pew Bibles. Let us all turn to Psalm 118 and read it out-loud together. We will alternate – I will read the odd numbered lines and you will read the even numbered lines.  We will praise God together as we proclaim the words of Psalm 118.

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

2 Let Israel say:
    “His love endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron say:
    “His love endures forever.”

4 Let those who fear the Lord say:
    “His love endures forever.”

5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
    he brought me into a spacious place.

6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?

7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
    I look in triumph on my enemies.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in humans.

9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

10 All the nations surrounded me,
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

11 They surrounded me on every side,
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

12 They swarmed around me like bees,
    but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
    but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
    he has become my salvation.

15 Shouts of joy and victory
    resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!

16  The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
    the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”

17 I will not die but live,
    and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord
    through which the righteous may enter.

21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
    you have become my salvation.

22 The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;

23 the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.

25 Lord, save us!
    Lord, grant us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
    From the house of the Lord we bless you.[b]

27 The Lord is God,
    and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
    up[c] to the horns of the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will praise you;
    you are my God, and I will exalt you.

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

Amen.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen

Let us pray….

The Message "Let the Nations Be Glad"

Americans are very individualistic…we are independent. We like to live on our own or with a partner who is our equal…. Many of us loved moving out of mom and dad’s house to be on our own. We like to be the drivers of our cars much more than we enjoy being passengers in other people’s cars. We like working at jobs that allow us to do our work without the hovering supervision of a manager. We aspire to be in control of our health care, what we eat, where we live, and how we spend our time.

We transfer our individualism to our faith. When it comes to God, we want to be like sponges, soaking up God’s blessings. We want God’s peace in our lives, God’s favor in our hearts, God’s Holy Spirit to fill us and surround us. We talk to others about our personal salvation – when we were saved….when we decided to be Christians for ourselves. When we turned our lives over to Jesus. We often look at our faith as something we believe to enrich our own lives.

But, the message of the Psalms we read this morning is different. Instead of keeping our faith to ourselves, and having our relationship with Jesus be a one-on-one experience, we are called to share our faith with others. It is not only about us – instead, we believe the lives of everyone in the world will improve if we all have faith in our God.

When sunlight hits a clear glass prism, it doesn’t hold the light inside of itself. It bends the light, and the light shines out across the room as a rainbow in every direction. God shines God’s face upon our lives, but not so we can absorb the light in secret, but so that we can shine it out to every one we meet. We receive blessings from God – we are called in turn to bring blessings into the lives of other people. 

God designed us to praise God….to praise God with song, to praise God with prayer, to praise God with worship. And, God means for our faith to extend beyond ourselves…..to extend beyond the walls of our church, so extend beyond the walls of our homes, to extend beyond the walls of our hearts.

In our society, it is natural for us to worry about ourselves first. We don’t have a lot of safety nets that will catch us when things fall apart. We don’t all live in government housing. We don’t have standardized medicine. We don’t have a guaranteed income that will help us eat and pay our mortgages or rent. We have to worry about providing our basic needs ourselves.

But, our faith is in a different category of our lives. It is not something we have to do for ourselves or keep for ourselves. God has infinite love to share with us. God has infinite blessings to share with the people of the earth. God has infinite patience for us to work on getting things right. And, God appreciates different types of worship and praise. We can wholeheartedly sing our traditional hymns and worship in our UCC way and God will appreciate our worship. Or we could sing contemporary praise music and beat a drum and worship in the park across the street and speak in tongues and God will appreciate our worship. We don’t have the market cornered on how to worship and how to be Christians. God wants us to share our faith with others, in a genuine and sincere way, and then God, and we, can welcome the new ways the people we evangelize to will express their love and praise for God.

God’s love is for everyone. So, we can’t hide God’s light under a bushel basket – we have to let it shine.  

Sometimes, we don’t appreciate our gifts….I am just one person, without power and influence, how can I make a difference? How can I reach others for God? 

But, our demeanor and attitude as we are out and about in the world will make a difference. If we greet other people with kind words and unjudgmental reactions, we are living out God’s love. If we are tolerant of meandering people in the aisles of the grocery store and wait patiently when we come across people who don’t know how to drive through 4-way-stops, we are living out God’s love. If we listen to a story we have heard already and make sure to call an old friend on their birthday, we are living out God’s love. And, if we tell other people that we went to church on Sunday and it felt good to be part of a group of people working together to praise God, and maybe they would like to join us next Sunday, we are living out God’s love.

God’s love extends to the ends of the earth! God’s love extends to all people. God’s praise can be said in any language. God’s songs can be sung to any melody and with any instruments. God’s love and faith in God is for everyone.

Let us praise God and remember to share the story of God’s love with everyone we meet. Amen.