The Drones of Advent, Dignity in Dying, Praying for Conversions, Parsonage Open House New Year's Day
Pastor Jake's Notes for December 18, 2024
The Drones of Advent
What to say of these drones spotted over the skies of Connecticut and all over the northeast?
Our Roman correspondent, Tacitus, confirms that drones (he called them “hosts” or “armies”) were once spotted over old Jerusalem.
He writes:
Contending hosts were seen meeting in the skies, arms flashed, and suddenly the temple was illumined with fire from the clouds. Of a sudden the doors of the shrine opened and a superhuman voice cried: “The gods are departing” : at the same moment the mighty stir of their going was heard.1
Then there is this from our Jerusalem correspondent, Josephus, writing in his first-hand account, The Jewish War:
Before sunset there could be seen in the sky across the whole country chariots and armed battalions speeding through the clouds and circling over the cities.2
Uncanny, isn’t it, the similarity between then and now?
Nearly 2,000 years separate these accounts from Governor Ned Lamont’s plea to federal officials to share what they know about what’s happening overhead.
In times of political uncertainty, the night skies seem to light up.
Then, as now, people were skeptical. Josephus writes:
I imagine that what I am about to relate would have been thought a mere fairy tale if it had not been confirmed by eyewitness accounts.3
Just a little over two weeks ago, we read Jesus’ words on the First Sunday of Advent, “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars” (Luke 21:25).
Jesus’s point was: do not be deceived. Don’t get taken in. He tells us:
Take heed that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray (Matthew 24:4-5).
I think that’s the thing to remember. Have a healthy skepticism about all this, a skepticism grounded in the faith you know to be true.
Josephus tells us that many more people died during the Roman siege of Jerusalem than needed to because they believed false prophets — prophets who were in the pay of warlords who wanted to keep morale up and desertions down.
He writes:
Men are easily persuaded in adversity: and when the charlatan goes on to present a picture of release from the prevailing horrors, the sufferer becomes a complete slave to hope.4
Josephus was not a believer, so I would hasten to add that the Christian need not fear being a slave to hope if he is also a slave to Jesus. St. Peter tells us:
But in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15).
The best way to make a defense for the hope that is in you is to live at peace with God and your neighbor.
Dignity in Dying?
Speaking of hope, there is a glimmer of it in the U.K. A bill legalizing euthanasia there heads to a third reading before it becomes law, and pressure is mounting on 30 MPs to change their vote.
Even the Church of England has stepped up, I am happy to say.
Christians know that death and dignity do not go together. The notion of a dignified death is leftover from pagan honor culture.
Rather, Christians pray for a blessed death. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:13). The last part of the verse is “for their deeds follow them.” One’s last deed, it would seem, is therefore quite important.
Pray for these 30 MPs. Also, give thanks that the push for assisted suicide seems to be losing momentum in Connecticut.
If you or a loved one are facing end-of-life decisions, don’t make them alone. I encourage you to make a pastoral appointment with me.
Praying for conversions
I have a long list of the unconverted I pray over twice a day. Some of them have been on that list for decades. That feels discouraging sometimes.
That’s why, when I re-read the story of Lydia’s conversion in Acts 16, I had renewed hoped. Specifically, I hit on a new way of praying for conversions.
I read these words in Acts 16:14b, “The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul” and I decided to pray this verse for the names on my list. “The Lord opened [NAME’s] heart to give heed to what was said by [Pastor Jake].”
I think you could also apply this to other passages of scripture as well. As you come across descriptions that match something going on in your own life or in someone else’s, try praying these words of scripture and applying them by name to the people on your prayer list.
Of course, this assumes you are reading your bible regularly. If not, how about making that a New Year’s resolution?
Christmas Eve at First Church
Join us Christmas Eve at 5 PM for a service of Lessons and Carols. The organ has been serviced and we’ve hired a guest organist. No service Christmas Day.
Parsonage Open House
Sasha and I will be hosting an open house at the parsonage on New Year’s Day from 12 to 3 PM. Please stop by! No need to RSVP.
The Installation of Pastor Jake Dell
Mark your calendars for Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 1 PM for the installation service. Pastor Scott Harris of Grace Bible Church in Wappingers Falls, New York will preach. Pastor Harris and his wife, Diane, have been good friends to Pastor Jake and Sasha, and we are honored to have him preach at the installation.
Cornelius Tacitus, Clifford Herschel Moore, and John Jackson, Tacitus Histories Books IV-V Annals Books I-III, vol. 249, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925), 197.
Flavius Josephus, Martin Hammond, and Martin Goodman, The Jewish War (Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2017), 329 (JW, Book 6.298).
Josephus, 329 (JW, Book 6.297).
Josephus, 328 (JW, Book 6.286-287).