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holycrosshilo Worship Services

Worship for February 22, 2026

Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.

Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, February 15, 2026. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. 

Worship Bulletin for February 22 2026 (PDF)Download
Story: The Crunchiness of Life (PDF)Download
Sermon: Small Wisdoms (PDF)Download
Pastoral Prayer (PDF)Download

Service of Worship February 22, 2026
First Sunday in Lent

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.

Prelude: Allegro  Kayleen Yuda

Lighting of the Candles

Ringing of the Bell

Welcome:               Rev. Eric S. Anderson

* Call to Worship                         Anna Kennedy

Leader:   Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
People:  Happy are those whom the LORD has relieved of guilt.

Leader:   When we try to hide our sins from God, our souls groan with the effort.
People:  It dries up our spirit’s strength like the blaze of the summer sun.

Leader:   When we repent and confess, the LORD forgives.
People:  Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayers to God!

All:           Let us worship God!

* Hymn #209: O Love, How Vast, How Flowing Free (v. 1-3)

* Invocation (based on Psalm 32:7-11)      Anna Kennedy

You are a safe place for us, O God; you preserve us from trouble. You surround us with glad shouts of deliverance. Keep your eye upon us and counsel us to understanding. May your steadfast love surround us as we trust in you mercy. Hear our gladness in this time of worship, O God, and the joyous shouts of our uplifted hearts. Amen.

Please be seated

WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD

Anthem: Simple Song                Landon Scott

Time with the Children          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Scripture:               Anna Kennedy

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’  The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;  but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”’ 4 But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die;  for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.


Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written,

“One does not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

“He will command his angels concerning you”,
    and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’

Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

“Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.”’

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Sermon: Small Wisdoms          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED

Pastoral Prayer Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer         
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen

* Hymn #211: Lord Jesus, Who through Forty Days (v. 1-4)

Call to Offering    Anna Kennedy

Jesus confronted his temptations equipped with the wisdom of the ages to supplement his strength of heart. May we follow that wisdom as well, including the wisdom of generosity and sharing. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.

Offertory: Cantilena                   Kayleen Yuda

* Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen

*Offertory Prayer                      Anna Kennedy

Accept these gifts, O God, from your people today. We have not resisted temptation as successfully as Jesus, but we strive to follow him in faithfulness and sharing today and in the days to come. Amen.

* Hymn #202: O God, How We Have Wandered (v. 1 -3)

Please be seated

Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: A Joyous Acclamation                    Kayleen Yuda                                          

* Please stand if you are able.

PERMISSIONS

Allegro
Contributors: Johann Gottfried Walther, Kevin Norris
Tune: © 1983 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of the Lorenz Corporation (
Admin. by Music Services)

A Simple Song
By Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Schwartz.
All Rights Reserved.
The Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Co LLC
(Administered by Music Services)
All Rights Reserved. ASCAP

Streamed by permission CCS License #13303


O Love, How Vast, How Flowing Free
15th cent. Latin text, trans. New Century Hymnal, 1994
© 1994 The Pilgrim Press
Tune DEO GRACIAS trad. English, ca. 1415
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Lord Jesus, Who through Forty Days
Text by Claudia F. I. Hernaman, 1873
Tune ST. FLAVIAN first pub. 1562
Public Domain

Cantilena
Contributors: G B Sammartini, George Blake
Tune: © 1983 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)

O God, How We Have Wandered
Text by Kevin Nichols, 1980
From Resource Collection of Hymns and Service
Music for the Liturgy, © 1981 ICEL Corp. All rights reserved.
Tune PASSION CHORALE by Hans Leo Hassler, 1601
Harm. by J. S. Bach, 1729
Public Domain
Streamed by permission of ICEL

A Joyous Acclamation
Contributors: Lani Smith
Tune: © 2000 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)

IMPORTANT DATES

Sunday, March 1 – Annual meeting for members and associate members after Worship Service


Sundays, 8:30 AM – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge

Mondays, 11:30 AM — Pickleball lessons; contact Connie 808-936-7534 or
Ruth at rnduponte07@gmail.com to sign up.

Wednesdays, 11:00 AM– One Song from Church of the Holy Cross streamed live

Wednesdays, 5 PM – Bible Study in Pastor’s Study and via Zoom (The meeting link and Bible references will be in the Weekly Chime); Lenten “Wisdom in the Scriptures” Bible Study for five weeks beginning February 25 at 6:30 PM

Fridays, 10 AM – Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal in Building of Faith’s meeting room

Other Faith Groups that meet at Church of the Holy Cross
The United Church of Christ, Pohnpei – Sanctuary, 12 noon
            Rev. Bensis Henry
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa – Sanctuary, 2:00 p.m.
            Rev. Sitau Ofoia, Jr.
The Bedesta Church – Sanctuary, 4 p.m.   
Rev.  Edmes Edwin

Pastor          Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator             Stefan Tanouye
Vice Moderator Lorraine Davis
Lay Reader         Anna Kenney
Chapel Decorations   Theone Albano and Jill Suzuki
Organist / Pianist     Kayleen Yuda   
Guest Soloist Landon Scott
Choir Director Bob Grove
Hand Bell Director        Anna Kennedy 
IYAA Choir Director Stuart Mori  
Projected Imagery        Sue Smith
Live Stream Director         Ruth Niino-DuPonte. Bob Smith 
Videographers    Eric Tanouye, Bob Smith, Woody Kita,
            Mace Peng, Cindy Debus
Sound Engineer Ben Yamaki
Sunday School Teacher          Gloria Kobayashi
Sunday School Aide      Johanna Narruhn

We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.

Rev. Eric Anderson What I'm Thinking

What I’m Thinking: Temptation

Each Lent we tell the story of Jesus’ Temptation – because like Jesus, temptation is a part of our lives.

Here’s a transcript:

Lent begins this Wednesday, so I’m thinking about the fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 4:1-11). Each first Sunday in Lent, the Revised Common Lectionary tells the same gospel story (if from a different gospel each year). That story is the Temptation of Jesus.

As Matthew put it, after his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness “to be tempted by the devil.” There were three of them that Matthew named. First, that the devil advised Jesus to transform stones into bread because he was hungry. The devil then invited Jesus to leap from a high place to demonstrate the protection of the angels to everybody else. Finally, the devil took him to a mountain and showed him all the realms of the earth, and said that they could be his if Jesus would just worship him: him, the devil. Jesus refused them all, and the devil left, and the angels came and ministered to Jesus.

Why did the editors of the lectionary place this story in front of us at the beginning of each Lent? I think it’s because it is a characteristic that we share with Jesus — not necessarily a direct encounter with a personification of temptation or evil (I suspect that those experiences are rare).

We do, however share with Jesus the experience of temptation, now don’t we? We know that there are times when we are invited to do things, to say things, to act in ways that are contrary to what God expects of us, to what society expects of us, to what our faith community expects of us, to what we expect of ourselves. Temptation may be small or it may be great. It can range from certain kinds of hungers to the temptation to ultimate power.

We share the experience of temptation with our Messiah.

Hopefully we also experience the resistance of temptation. Jesus did not rely solely upon his own inner strength to do so. He went back to the Scriptures. He went back to the things that he had been taught as a youth and as a young man: things that would help him to decide between what was right and what was wrong, what was good and what was better, what was fit to the circumstance and what would not help in this moment.

Somebody who is hungry should eat. That’s simply true. But in that temptation, Jesus refused to use his power to make stones into bread. And I think it could only be because he was tempted by the one he was tempted by.

So one of the questions for us is always: where is the temptation coming from? Are we hungry simply because we’re hungry, or are we in being invited to satisfy our hungers in ways that transform us into something we should not be? We should not be someone who exercises our power erratically or selfishly. We should be people who exercise our power on behalf of others.

Jesus resisted his temptations because he had the support of the wisdom of the ages and, of course, because he was he was. May we resist our temptations with the support of the wisdom of the ages, and with the aid of Jesus, who was who he was and is who he is in our lives.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.

Rev. Eric Anderson Pastor's Corner, Sermons

Sermon: The Mountain

February 15, 2026

Exodus 24:12-18
Matthew 17:1-9

In his documentary on the Darkness of the Renaissance, British art critic Waldemar Januszczak said, “Mountains have a powerful effect on people. Mountains cloud your judgment. They heighten your emotions and intoxicate you.” He’s right. The vistas from mountains – and the views of mountains – go right to the feelings. You find your breath catching, and not just because of the altitude.

We live at the foot of two of the earth’s great summits. I grant you that I’ve lived here not quite ten years, and most of you have lived here much longer than that, but I put it to you: have you ever looked up at Mauna Kea on a clear day and not felt something? Can Mauna Kea ever make you feel… nothing?

They make me feel something. They catch me, heart and soul, every time.

But do they cloud our judgment? I’m less sure about that. I do know that a mountain makes me see things in a different way. That can be quite literal, when I’m at the mountain summit and seeing the world as I can’t see it from the mountain’s foot. It’s also emotional. There I am, feeling at the top of the world, and not just from lack of oxygen.

I can feel at one and the same time both the greatest of all living beings and one of the small creatures I can’t even see far down the slopes.

Mountaintops are powerful. That’s true. They bring us away from the day-to-day of human living. They show us grandeur that’s beyond us. At the same time they place this grandeur in the palms of our hands.

I suspect that Simon Peter, James, and John anticipated something like that when they climbed the mountain with Jesus. They looked to see the glory of Creation stretching out below them. They expected to gasp air in deep breaths after the exertion of the climb. They probably hoped to hear something new from Jesus, whom they’d just acclaimed as Messiah (and been scolded for misunderstanding what Jesus meant by Messiah) six days before. Top of the world.

They got more than they’d bargained for. Jesus glowed like the sun. The two greatest religious leaders of ancient Israel stood there with Jesus: Moses who’d freed the people from Egypt and delivered God’s Law, and Elijah who’d maintained the faith against hostile monarchs and been carried away to God without dying. The Messiah, people whispered, would be a prophet like Moses. The Messiah, people whispered, would be heralded by Elijah returned.

“It is interesting,” writes D. Mark Davis at LeftBehindAndLovingIt, “that neither the transformation of Jesus, the appearance of Moses and Elijah, nor the bright light evoked fear in the disciples. Hearing the voice out of the clouds is what did them in.”

We don’t usually collapse at the top of a mountain – well, except to catch our breath from the climb. In fact, I usually find that the sight energizes me, lifts me up. I move about from place to place to take in the view in all directions. Mountaintops inspire. They rarely overwhelm.

Booming voices from clouds overwhelm. I’d have been overwhelmed. Without doubt. But as Rev. Davis says, all the strange and overwhelming things before that didn’t overcome them. Unusual? Yes. Unexpected? I wouldn’t have expected it. Frightful? No. I think there’s even a hint that, like the simple view from a mountaintop, the disciples found the experience inspiring as well as awe-inspiring. If I understand Peter’s offer to make shelters correctly, they were prepared to extend the inspiring experience, to learn more, to plan more, to prepare themselves for the work they’d undertake when they returned to the mountain’s foot.

Unsurprisingly, significant religious experiences in people’s lives tend to be called “mountaintop experiences.” Those experiences don’t have to happen on mountains. Plenty of them don’t. But like experiences on mountains, including most of the Transfiguration, they tend to inspire, not overwhelm.

Listen to that again. Most of the time, when God reaches out to someone, God doesn’t overwhelm them. God inspires them.

Mountaintop experiences aren’t necessarily visions of glory accompanied by angelic music and words of thunder. Mountaintop experiences are the ones that make a difference to your soul.

Mountaintop experiences are the ones that make a difference to your soul.

Debie Thomas writes at JourneyWithJesus.net, “…as long as I can remember, I’ve measured the depth and ‘success’ of my faith by the number of mountaintop experiences I can truthfully claim.  Have I ‘felt the Spirit’ in Sunday morning worship?  Has Jesus ‘spoken’ to me?  Have I seen visions?  Spoken in tongues?  Encountered God’s living presence in my dreams?

“Most of the time, the answer is ‘no.’  Which means I’ve spent most of my life feeling like a spiritual failure.”

Without commenting on the rightness or wrongness of the feeling – feelings, as I’ve noted before, happen whether they reflect external reality or not – I’ve never found Ms. Thomas a spiritual failure. Given how often I quote her in sermons, I’ve found her to be a significant spiritual guide. She’s described here a fairly widespread notion that spiritual success equates to overwhelming spiritual experiences. And… it doesn’t.

Spiritual success, I think, takes place when we pay attention to our experiences of God, whether they’re grand or subtle, and let them change our path.

As Audrey West writes at Working Preacher, “Then and now, the full meaning of a mountaintop experience may not become clear until after the return to the valley, after the passage of time. After they come down from the mountain, the disciples listen, as the voice has instructed: they hear Jesus’ parables, they hear his response to friends and foes, they hear his repeated references to the Son of Humanity.”

“Listen to him,” thundered the voice from the cloud. That overwhelmed Peter, James, and John, but it’s also the central theme of Matthew’s Gospel. Listen to Jesus. Each occasion of listening to Jesus is, to some degree, a mountaintop experience. It has the ability to transform us. It has the ability to redirect us. It has the ability to inspire us.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Are you inspired?

“Blessed are the peacemakers.” Are you inspired?

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Are you inspired?

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Are you inspired?

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Are you inspired?

I know you’ve been inspired, somewhere, somehow, by something. Why? You’re here. I have plenty of illusions about myself, but I’m pretty sure you can find things to do on Sunday morning that you’d enjoy more than dreading one of my puns coming along. But you’re here. You made the time. You made the effort. Why?

You’ve been inspired. Maybe you’re hoping for some more inspiration, but you’ve already been inspired.

It doesn’t happen every day, as you know. As Amy Frykolm writes at JourneyWithJesus.net, “This makes me think that perhaps the experience wasn’t given to the disciples so that they could cling to it. Perhaps it was given to them so that they could practice letting go. On the difficult path ahead, they are going to have to let go of Jesus again and again. Here they are asked to let go of even a vision so profound that it was called ‘transfiguration.’

“Maybe living with the coming and going of clouds incapsulates this lesson daily. ‘And thus I saw him and I sought him,’ Julian of Norwich writes. ‘And I had him and I lacked him.’ This isn’t something to mourn, she counsels, but is instead ‘the common working of this life.’ We glimpse God, and then God goes behind a cloud. In this way, we learn to love rather than cling.”

I’d add that we learn to love rather than puppet. We learn to love of our own initiative rather than depending on ongoing inspiration. We’re inspired for a moment. We’re changed in a moment. We move forward from there… and continue to learn, grow, change, and love in each place we go, no matter how far from the mountain.

As Maren Tirabassi wrote this week in a comment on ordainedgeek.com, “And so life-changing experiences are not really life-changing, just moment-changing and that always must be enough.”

It must, and it is. Those moments for each of you brought you to this moment. This moment may not inspire you that much, and if it doesn’t I apologize, since that is sort of the point of this exercise, but these moments, these experiences, they lead to new moments, new experiences, and if not all of them have the power of mountaintop moments, they all have power, they all give direction, they all inspire.

In these continuing moments, we follow Jesus. In these continuing moments, we love.

Amen.

by Eric Anderson

Watch the Recorded Sermon

Pastor Eric writes his sermons ahead of time, but he makes changes while preaching, so the text prepared does not match the sermon as preached.

Photo of the summit of Mauna Kea by Eric Anderson.

holycrosshilo Worship Services

Worship for February 15, 2026

Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.

Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, February 15, 2026. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. 

Worship Bulletin for February 15 2026 (PDF)Download
Story: Finding Sweetness (PDF)Download
Sermon: The Mountain (PDF)Download
Pastoral Prayer (PDF)Download

Service of Worship February 15, 2026
Transfiguration Sunday

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.

Prelude: Prelude of Two American Hymns           Kayleen Yuda

Lighting of the Candles

Ringing of the Bell

Welcome                Rev. Eric S. Anderson

* I’d like to invite those who are able, to please stand and join me in the Call to Worship            Nalyn Ang

Leader:    Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
People:   The rulers of the earth take counsel against the LORD and the LORD’s anointed.

Leader:    They would loosen the bonds of righteousness and justice,
People:   But God is God, and will not abandon the people they rule.

Leader:    Be wise, O kings; be warned, rulers of the earth.
People:   Serve the LORD with reverence and faithfulness, for happy are those who take refuge in God.

All:            Let us worship God!

* Hymn #182: We Have Come at Christ’s Own Bidding (v. 1-3)

* Please join me in the Invocation (based on Psalm 99)                    Nalyn Ang

Mighty Ruler, lover of justice, you have executed righteousness and justice in the faith of Jacob. Over the centuries you have answered the cries of those who sought your will and your aid. You were a forgiving God. You also held them to account, even the great ones like Moses and Samuel. We worship you, our God, at the foot of one of your mountains. Praise to you now and always! Amen.

Please be seated

WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD

Anthem: Some Children See Him      Holy Cross Singers

Time with the Children            Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Scripture: Exodus 24:12-18     Nalyn Ang
 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’

 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’

Sermon: The Mountain Rev. Eric S. Anderson

WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED

Pastoral Prayer Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer         
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen

* Hymn #327: Jesus Loves Me (v. 1-3 Eng., v. 1 Hwn.)

Call to Offering    Nalyn Ang

“Listen to Jesus.” That was the word the frightened disciples heard upon the mountain. They heard him with their ears; we hear him in our Scriptures and in our hearts. One of the things he says over and over is: “Share.” Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.

Offertory: God’s Love Surrounds Us             Kayleen Yuda

* Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen

* Please join me in the Offertory Prayer            Nalyn Ang

We thank you, God, that you have placed your shining grace in our hearts to spark our faith. May these gifts together provide light and grace to others who need your loving presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

* Hymn #584: I Am the Light of the World (v. 1 -4)

Please be seated

Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude:                Kayleen Yuda                                                                                                                       

* Please stand if you are able.

PERMISSIONS

Prelude of Two American Hymns
Hugh S. Livingston, Jr.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

We Have Come at Christ’s Own Bidding
Text by Carl P. Daw, Jr., 1988
© 1988 Hope Publishing Company
Tune HYFRYDOL by Roland H. Prichard, 1844
Arr. by Ralph Vaughn Williams, 1906
© Oxford University Press
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Some Children See Him
from The Alfred Burt Carols Set II
Text by Wihla Hutson
Music by Alfred S. Burt
© 1957 Hollis Music, Inc.
Streamed by permission CCS License #13303

Jesus Loves Me
Text St. 1 by Anna B. Warner, 1860
St. 2-3 by David Rutherford McGuire, 1971
Hwn trans. by Laiana, 19th cent.
Tune JESUS LOVES ME by William B Bradbury, 1862
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

God’s Love Surrounds Us
Carl Simone
Tune: © 1985 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

I Am the Light of the World
Text by Jim Strathdee, 1969
© 1969 Desert Flower Music
Tune LIGHT OF THE WORLD by Jim Strathdee, 1969
© 1969 Desert Flower Music
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Trumpet Finale
Arr. S. Drummond Wolff
© Concordia Publishing Company
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

IMPORTANT DATES

Today, February 15 – Deacons Meeting after worship service


Sundays, 8:30 AM – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge

Mondays, 11:30 AM — Pickleball lessons; contact Connie 808-936-7534 or
Ruth at rnduponte07@gmail.com to sign up.

Tuesdays, 4:00 PM – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge

Wednesdays, 11:00 AM– One Song from Church of the Holy Cross streamed live

Wednesdays, 5 PM – Bible Study in Pastor’s Study and via Zoom (The meeting link and Bible references will be in the Weekly Chime).

Fridays, 10 AM – Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal in Building of Faith’s meeting room

Other Faith Groups that meet at Church of the Holy Cross
The United Church of Christ, Pohnpei – Sanctuary, 12 noon
            Rev. Bensis Henry
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa – Sanctuary, 2:00 p.m.
            Rev. Sitau Ofoia, Jr.
The Bedesta Church – Sanctuary, 4 p.m.   
Rev.  Edmes Edwin

Pastor          Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator             Stefan Tanouye
Vice Moderator Lorraine Davis
Lay Reader         Nalyn Ang
Chapel Decorations   Hats Kamimura
Organist / Pianist     Kayleen Yuda   
Choir Director Bob Grove
Hand Bell Director        Anna Kennedy 
IYAA Choir Director Stuart Mori  
Projected Imagery        Sue Smith
Live Stream Director         Ruth Niino-DuPonte. Bob Smith 
Videographers    Eric Tanouye, Bob Smith, Woody Kita,
            Mace Peng, Cindy Debus
Sound Engineer Ben Yamaki
Sunday School Teacher          Gloria Kobayashi
Sunday School Aide      Johanna Narruhn

We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.

Rev. Eric Anderson What I'm Thinking

What I’m Thinking: Mountaintop

Jesus and three of his disciples had a mountaintop experience of God’s presence and love. Can we bring our mountaintop experiences into our troubled times?

Here’s a transcript:

This Sunday is the last one before the beginning of Lent. That makes it Transfiguration Sunday, so I’m thinking about the seventeenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 17:1-9), Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Transfiguration.

Jesus went up a mountain with his three closest friends: Peter, James, and John. While they were there, Jesus began to glow with some kind of inner light. Two other figures joined them on the mountain that they recognized as Moses and Elijah. Simon Peter offered to build some shelter and prolong the moment. A voice from a cloud, however, said that “This is my beloved son: Listen to him.” A moment later, the cloud was gone, the light was gone, Moses and Elijah were gone, and Jesus was saying to Peter, James, and John, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”

The Transfiguration of Jesus is a mystery. It has been a mystery since those first three disciples experienced it (alongside Jesus, of course). It was a mystery to them as they continued to follow him through Galilee and on to Jerusalem. I’m sure it was a mystery to those that they first told about it after Jesus’ resurrection. It was a mystery to Matthew, Mark, and Luke as they recorded it in their Gospels. And it’s been a mystery to all the rest of us over the centuries who have read it and sought to understand it — especially to those of us who have to preach about it.

We usually call significant religious experiences “mountain top experiences” based, in part, on this example from the Scriptures (there are other examples in the Scriptures as well). Mountains tend to be places where people have significant religious experiences, but they can have them in other places.

The point is that great epiphanies, great revelations of the heart and mind of God, are rare. We, most of the time live with the guidance we receive from Scripture, or from what we’ve been taught, from the example of other people around us. It’s not that common for a voice to sound from a cloud and say, “This is my beloved son: Listen to him.”

But most of us have something like that in our lives, some moment faith touched us more deeply than it had before, some kind of mountaintop experience unique to each one of us.

Hold on to the mountain top experience. Remember to bring its assurance down into the valley, not because the mountaintop experience makes you right about everything else, but because the mountaintop experience reminds you of the ever-present grace and love of God.

The first thing that Jesus said to his friends after that overwhelming experience was, “Do not be afraid.” Friends, I think that is what mountaintop experiences are for. When we’re down in the valleys and things are not going well, we can recall what we experienced that went so deep.

And in that memory we do not need to be afraid.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.

Rev. Eric Anderson Sermons, Uncategorized

Sermon: Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets

February 8, 2026

Isaiah 58:1-12
Matthew 5:13-20

In her blog, preaching Professor Alyce M. McKenzie tells a story about a skit she and some students presented one year, which featured her giving feedback to Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount as if he were a member of her preaching class. In the skit, she said, “You remember we learned earlier in the semester that every sermon needs to have one single focus and you are all over the map with this one — salt, light, not coming to abolish the prophets, breaking and keeping commandments. It seems almost like you put a bunch of short sayings together in a row. And one more thing — your final sentence: ‘Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Where is the good news in this sermon ending? It sets out an impossible goal and then tells listeners they’ll be in trouble if they can’t do the impossible.”

The punchline, she wrote, is that while she was marking things on the blackboard with her back to the class, “Jesus” beckoned the other students to follow and they left her alone in the room.

There is some truth, however, to her critique. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wasn’t making things easy for anyone. To a people whose Scriptures told them about their ancestors repeated failures to live up to the standards of the Law and the Prophets, Jesus said, “Fulfill them.” That’s where the light came from. It’s the source of the salt. And, oh yes, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now, we’ve been taught for years that the Pharisees and the scribes were the villains of the New Testament, and certainly by the time the Gospels were written there was a lot of dissension between the emerging Christians and the senior theologians of Judaism. To Jesus’ hearers, though, the Pharisees and the scribes weren’t bad guys, they were the tip top examples of what goodness meant. These were the people who seriously contemplated God’s law, who worked through the implications of the things the prophets had said. To exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees set the bar incredibly high. Dr. McKenzie properly called it an “impossible goal.”

“’No!’ we might say, ‘Jesus didn’t really mean that,’” writes Karoline Lewis at Working Preacher. She continues, “But what if Jesus did? What if Jesus’ intention was for us as disciples to imagine and live into a righteousness that makes the kingdom of heaven possible? If this is true, no wonder Jesus tells this to his disciples from the beginning. They will need the rest of the Gospel to make sense of and embrace such a request.”

Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. Jesus first – his followers next. Jesus first – and then you and me.

The usual complaint is that the Law and the Prophets are hard to understand. Are they? Really? “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers,” wrote Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Is it hard to understand that self-interest is a problem? Is it hard to understand that exploiting people, whether they’re your employees or your family or your neighbor is a problem?

Quarreling and fighting. Clearly problems. And then there are the behaviors that aren’t problems, that are precisely what God was calling for in the Law and repeating through the prophets: Loose the bonds of injustice. Don’t burden people. Don’t enslave them. Share your bread. House the homeless. Clothe the naked. Care for your family. “Then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.”

Or as Jesus put it, “You are the light of the world.”

A light not to be hidden.

Eric Barreto writes at Working Preacher, “Jesus gives the central insight that lights don’t magically end up underneath bushels. The only way for our light to be covered is if we put a bushel over it. We can hear the incredulous tone in Jesus’ voice, ‘No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel’ (verse 15). Ridiculous! Jesus is clear: we are not victims inevitably doomed to being distracted and drained by the bushels of inferiority or self-absorption or fantasy. Bushels can only block out the light when we put them there.”

There’s a lot of truth to that. You and I are more than capable of hiding our light, not by being humble, but by seeing something to do and leaving it undone. Somebody else will do it, we might think. Or there just isn’t time (which might be true). Worst of all, I’m too important to do this simple thing.

I can also think of more than one way in which others drop baskets over our light. Plenty of people have suffered being discounted by others. It is, in fact, an all-too-common experience. You sometimes hear of it being done by family members, who’ll tell one of the ‘ohana that their work is bad, that their opinions are unwelcome, that they themselves are worthless. We’re also familiar with broader prejudices within societies, which usually qualify certain groups as worth less or even worthless: children, foreigners, people with a different hue of skin, women.

In the January 31st edition of “Letters from an American,” historian Heather Cox Richardson quoted 19th century US Senator from South Carolina James Henry Hammond, who in 1858 told his colleagues that all societies need a “mudsill” class to do the work and to benefit their betters. African Americans served that purpose in the pre-Civil War South, but the North, he said, had “the man who lives by daily labor…in short, your whole hireling class of manual laborers and ‘operatives,’ as you call them, are essentially slaves.”

Senator Hammond’s words were literally a bushel basket meant to extinguish the light of the world. They have their echoes today. Do not mistake them. They will do what’s chemically impossible: cause salt to lose its taste. They will do what breaks hearts, families, and societies: hide the light.

When Jesus told us to let our light shine, he didn’t just mean, “Do nice things.” He meant, “See that the hungry are fed and the homeless housed. See that the oppressed are freed and the burdened relieved. Do not let the powerful say, ‘Sorry,’ and do nothing as if that took care of it. Do what John the Baptist did. Tell the powerful to repent for their sins.”

Cheryl Lindsay writes at UCC.org:

If our fasting does not enable us to discern God’s will more clearly,
If our prayers do not stir us to address unmet needs around us,
If our blessings do not compel us to bless our neighbor,
If our sacramental rites do not move us to solidarity with the marginalized,
If our praise of the abiding of Creator does not lead to care and respect of all creation,
If our confession does not spur us beyond absolution to repair,
If our assurance of God’s grace does not lead us to extend mercy,
Then why would the Holy and Just God even participate in it?

Yet, if we remove the yoke among us…
If we seek justice, speak truth, and love abundantly,
If we embrace the immigrant among us,
If we make space and consideration for the ignored and isolated,
If we lend our voice for the persecuted, defamed, and disenfranchised,
If we stand up to corruption and bear witness to wrongdoing,
If we raise our voice and move beyond our discomfort,
Then we too may receive the promise of the covenant and the Holy One’s declaration of “Here I am.”

Remove the yoke.

Remove the yoke.

Amen.

by Eric Anderson

Watch the Recorded Sermon

Pastor Eric makes changes from his prepared text as he preaches, both accidentally and on purpose.

The image is Study for the Sermon on the Mount, a preliminary study for the cycle of paintings in Loccum Monastery by Eduard von Gebhardt (before 1925) – Van Ham Kunstauktionen (SØR Rusche Collection – Eduard von Gebhardt, Auktion 25.02.2021), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103398414.

holycrosshilo Worship Services

Worship for February 8, 2026

Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.

Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, February 8, 2026. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. 

Worship Service for February 8, 2026 (PDF)Download
Story: The Salty Koa’e Ula (PDF)Download
Sermon: Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets (PDF)Download
Pastoral Prayer (PDF)Download

Service of Worship February 8, 2026
FIfth Sunday after the Epiphany

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.

* Please stand if you are able.

Prelude: Trinity Blessed                                                                                                                           Kayleen Yuda

Lighting of the Candles

Ringing of the Bell

Welcome                                                                                                                                  Rev. Eric S. Anderson

* Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 112:1-10)                                                                                                                                 Faith Mishina

Leader:         Praise the LORD! Happy are those who delight in God’s commandments.
People:        They rise in the darkness as a light for those around them.

Leader:         It is well with those who deal graciously with their neighbors,
People:        Who conduct their business with justice. They will never be moved.

Leader:         Their hearts are steady. They will not be afraid.
People:        Their righteousness endures forever, for God holds their names in
                        honor.

All:                 Let us worship God!

* Hymn #181: You Are Salt for the Earth, O People (v. 1-4)

* Invocation: (based on 1 Corinthians 2:1-16)                                                                                                                                 Faith Mishina

We base our faith upon your power, O God, and upon your wisdom. Both your power and your wisdom are far above our ability to match or understand. We trust in your love and grace, revealed so surprisingly in Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection. Grant us the mind of Christ to more fully appreciate your gifts, O God, as we rejoice to worship you. Amen.

Please be seated

WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD

Anthem: Arabesques 1 in E Major, L.66 No. 1                                                                                                                                                                  Mace Peng

Time with the Children                                                                                                                                   Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-12                                                                                                                                 Faith Mishina
Shout out, do not hold back!
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
    and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
    they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
    Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
    and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
    will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
    and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loosen the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
    and satisfy your needs in parched places,
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to live in.

Matthew 5:13-20

‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.

 ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks[b] one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Sermon: Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets                                                                                                                                  Rev. Eric S. Anderson

WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED

Pastoral Prayer                                                                                                                                   Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer         
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen

* Hymn #573: Lead On Eternal Sovereign (v. 1-3)

Call to Offering                                                                                                                                 Faith Mishina

You are the light of the world. Jesus said so. Let your light shine with justice. Let your light shine with mercy. Let your light shine with giving. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.

Offertory: Chapel Bells                                                                                                                           Kayleen Yuda                                                                                                                         

* Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen

* Offertory Prayer                                                                                                                                   Faith Mishina

We cannot hide from the view of those around us, O God. We cannot hide the work of your Church in the world. May these gifts help us fulfill your call and your purposes, O God. May they help one and all to see your glory in us and in Creation. Amen.

* Hymn #524: This Little Light (v. 1 -3)

Please be seated

Announcements                                                                                                                                  Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction                                                                                                                                  Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: Festive Trumpets                                                                                                                           Kayleen Yuda

* Please stand if you are able.

PERMISSIONS

Trinity Blessed
Benton Price
Tune: © 1978 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

You Are Salt for the Earth, O People
Text by Marty Haugen, 1986
Tune BRING FORTH by Marty Haugen, 1986
© 1986 GIA Productions
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Arabesques 1 in E Major, L.66 No. 1
Claude Debussy
Public Domain

Lead On Eternal Sovereign
Text by Ernest W. Shurtleff, 1887
Tune LANCASHIRE by Henry T. Smart, 1836
Public Domain

Chapel Bells
Louise E. Stairs
Tune: © 1978 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

This Little Light/This Joy I Have
Text trad. African-American spiritual
Tune THIS JOY trad. African-American spiritual
Arr. Jeffrey Radford, 1993
© 1993 The Pilgrim Press
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Festive Trumpets
Edward H. Wetherill
Tune: © 1978 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

IMPORTANT DATES

Sundays, 8:30 AM – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge

Mondays, 11:30 AM — Pickleball lessons; contact Connie 808-936-7534 or
Ruth at rnduponte07@gmail.com to sign up.

Tuesdays, 4:00 PM – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge

Wednesdays, 11:00 AM– One Song from Church of the Holy Cross streamed live

Wednesdays, 5 PM – Bible Study in Pastor’s Study and via Zoom (The meeting link and Bible references will be in the Weekly Chime).

Fridays, 10 AM – Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal in Building of Faith’s meeting room

Other Faith Groups that meet at Church of the Holy Cross
The United Church of Christ, Pohnpei – Sanctuary, 12 noon
            Rev. Bensis Henry
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa – Sanctuary, 2:00 p.m.
            Rev. Sitau Ofoia, Jr.
The Bedesta Church – Sanctuary, 4 p.m.   
Rev.  Edmes Edwin

Pastor          Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator             Stefan Tanouye
Vice Moderator Lorraine Davis
Lay Reader         John Narruhn
Chapel Decorations   Nina Buchanan,
In Memory of her son, Walker
Organist / Pianist     Kayleen Yuda   
Choir Director Bob Grove
Hand Bell Director        Anna Kennedy 
IYAA Choir Director Stuart Mori  
Projected Imagery        Sue Smith
Live Stream Director         Ruth Niino-DuPonte. Bob Smith 
Videographers    Eric Tanouye, Bob Smith, Woody Kita,
            Mace Peng, Cindy Debus
Sound Engineer Ben Yamaki
Sunday School Teacher          Gloria Kobayashi
Sunday School Aide      Johanna Narruhn

We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.

Rev. Eric Anderson What I'm Thinking

What I’m Thinking: Fulfilled

Jesus declared that he had come to fulfill the law and the prophets – and it’s worth remembering what the law and the prophets had insisted upon.

Here’s a transcript:

I’m thinking about the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 5:13-20), the continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. That began, as we heard last week, with the Beatitudes, that series of blessings. It continued with Jesus first saying to his listeners, “You are the light of the world,” and “The city on a hill cannot be hid…” “so let your light shine.”

Jesus then said that he had not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. The ancient Law and the guidance of the prophets was still relevant hundreds of years after they had been driven or spoken to the people. And so it’s worth remembering some of the things that it says in Law and Prophets that I think do represent that true light that can be seen as it shines from a hill.

A lot of people will tend to tell you it’s all about idolatry, about worshipping foreign gods, and indeed, the Law and the Prophets were concerned with these. The Law and the Prophets, however, were also concerned with the way that we treat one another. Over and over again the Prophets raised the question: what is happening with the widows and the orphans? What is their condition?

It is the welfare of the most vulnerable in a society that measures how well it is following the directives of God. If the widows and the orphans are suffering, if the foreigner among you is oppressed, if people are cheating one another in the businesses and the marketplaces, if they are lying to one another: Well, that is a measure of a society that is failing to keep the word of God.

So many things we shortcut. I’m not talking about dietary regulations or things like that. I’m thinking about the ways that we kind of let things slide and not insist upon a real diligence in our own ethical behavior. Those are the kinds of things that Jesus was concerned about. Jesus always raised the bar. He increased the challenge.

So for us, I think, the question is not just how are the widows and the orphans doing, but how are those other people who fit into groups that are usually dismissed, disregarded, dishonored? How are they doing?

And if they’re not doing well, then we as a society are not doing well in fulfilling the will of God.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.