forest hill Musings -- weekly reflections on Scripture
Musings -- weekly reflections on Scripture
I began writing these short essays for our weekly e-newsletter. They served two purposes: First, they gave me an initial run at the Scripture that I would be preaching on -- an opportunity to start thinking about the spiritual and life questions that the sermon might address. Second, they serve as advertising; an invitation to folks to join us on Sunday morning and see how my thinking has developed between the first take on my questions and the final sermon that gets delivered.
We've started collecting these at this website so that people who aren't already subscribed to our newsletter can get a sense of what's coming up in worship. Feel free to check back weekly to see the reflection for the week, or click here to subscribe to our email newsletter and have these delivered into your inbox every Friday
Rev. Stephen Fetter
November 2, 2025
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Commemoration of the Departed
"A Time to Party"
Yet another story about a tax collector this week! The parallels between this story and the one we read last week are striking. Once again, a hated government official is the recipient of Jesus’ grace. What’s Jesus doing, fraternizing with the folks that everybody hates?
Once again, the crowd grumbles. Tax collectors in Roman-occupied Israel are not the sorts of people we expect Jesus to hang out with. These are the sorts of people who made life unpleasant for Jesus’ friends. They had a reputation of enforcing the rule of the unjust occupiers, and feathering their own nests by overcharging the peasants in the process. And unlike last week’s story, which was clearly a parable (a fictional story about fictional characters, told as a teaching device), this one appears to be a real-life story about a real-life encounter. Apparently Jesus not only talked a good line; he actually followed his own advice!
October 26, 2025
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
"A Time to Pray"
What if God loves sinners as much as saints? What if our heroes – the ones who do everything right and go the second (or even third!) mile aren’t the only ones to win the prize? What if, in Jesus’ kingdom, even the people we hate are welcome, and beloved?
Would you want to live in a Kingdom like that?
October 19, 2025
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
"A Time to Act"
“Rosie the Rivetter” is a popular image from World War 2 era United States, representing the working-class women who rolled up their sleeves to toil in factories and shipyards while the men were off fighting in Europe and the Pacific. She’s typically portrayed in this pose with a curled fist, and the slogan “We can do it.” I found this image of the Virgin Mary in the same pose, when I was looking for graphics for this week’s Biblical story, and it really tickled my fancy.
The real-life “Rosies” were working-class; poorly paid; essential to the economy and the war-effort, but never really given the respect they were due. Millions of them filled heavy-labour jobs that the soldiers had done prior to the war; and millions of them were displaced from the workforce again once the soldiers came home. Somehow the fierceness and determination of those female workers never translated into respect, or decent pay! It feels like the graphic artist here wants us to imagine the strength and the struggles of peasant women like Mary in the same light.
October 12, 2025
Thanksgiving Sunday
"A Time to Eat"
It’s hard to imagine a festival without food! Every culture does it. We know a day is special because we mark it with a feast – with friends, with family, and with food reserved for the occasion.
October 5, 2025
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
"A Time to Weep"
Lamentations 1:1-6 and 3:19-26
“How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become subject to forced labor.” (Lamentations 1:1)
Thus begins one of the saddest poems in the Bible. For two and a half chapters, the poet does nothing but weep all over the page. It’s heartbreaking, and human … but what’s it doing in the Bible?