Preparing in anticipation of ‘Christmas’, or Christ?

Some notes this week to guide preaching and discussions  about the first of Advent.

Advent videos to consider (for comparison -n- contrast):

1. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church re: 2012 Advent

2. "Advent in 2 minutes" from bustedhalo.com (a ministry of Paulist Fathers)

OPENING PRAYER:  “God of unveiled truth, faithful flame in times of darkened sun and waning moon: lift up our unknowing hearts, and waken our sleeping love to announce the coming dawn of unexpected peace; through Jesus Christ, the one who is to come. Amen.”
(from Prayers for an Inclusive Churchby Steven Shakespeare)

CONTEXT:

• Rush/hurry, pointed toward Christmas; but are we oriented toward Christ
• We’re reminded in the media of the countdown… we don’t want to miss out?
• Countdown to what?  What do we not want to miss… really?

• “Advent” (Latin “adventus” = coming; Greek “parousia” = 2^nd coming)
• Coming of Christ our King to reign in glory
• 1000 years ago / Middle Ages – still literal 2^nd coming expectation
• More traditionally a time of restraint, preparation, and penitence
• Coming of Christ to dwell in our hearts
• Contemporary focus on anticipation of the birth of Jesus (Dec 25)
• 9mos after March 25 (date of crucifixion… and conception?; ref: 14^th day of Nisan equivalent in Roman calendar)
• 4^th C. references (perhaps Roman and Germanic/Norse winter solstice fesitvals) (Roman) Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) – celebrated on Dec 25; Yule – darkest day of the year (ref: Odin / Thor’s father)


• Similar kairos time as Lent – reflection and preparation
• We’re look back at a beginning, but we’re looking forward to [imminent] future
• “already/not yet… Already Jesus has established the means through which we are drawn into relationship with God, but not yet do we live in complete communication with God.  Already the realm of God is evident, but not yet is that realm fully established” (Martin B. Copenhaver, Sr. Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, Wellesley, MA)
• Color is hue of blue, representing hopefulness (and sometimes associated with Mary)


• Arch of the messages of these four Sundays leading us to Christmas
• [Mark] there will be a 2^nd coming; don’t know when; remain awake & prepared
• [Mark] Repentance and preparation (John the Baptist)
• [year B / John] John the Baptist explains that he’s preparing for the Messiah
• [year B / Luke] the Annunciation – the call-n-response of Mary re: conceiving


• God has been faithful, loving and generous towards his people, but his people have continually turned-away and neglected the relationship
• In God’s apparent absence, we struggle and suffer and seek God to return to help (like a child crying on a playground, having lost perspective of parent, now in need)
• Creator God lovingly humbles himself and is born among us in a feeding trough (manger) on a cold dark night to rural folk
• Comes to meet us in a blessed mess (‘holy’ but probably not very ‘silent’ night)
• Expectant, but not passive waiting (ref: pregnancy and plants during winter)
• Nothing will ever be the same after this in-breaking / birth / bridge is established

LESSONS for Advent 1 - Year B:

Isaiah 64:1-9

• God has been faithful, his people have not.
• In the midst of unfaithfulness and problems, a longing for God to return
• Has God forgotten them (us)?  If he would just show his face to them again, they might believe anew.
• The prophet prays for God to come again to/among the people, but also fears what this might bring (harsh judgment vs. merciful justice)
• “tear open the heavens and come down“ (break through the distance between God and creation)
• a preamble, if you will, to our understanding of God’s coming again as Jesus

Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

• another prayer of longing/yearning that God, the shepherd of Israel, will not send divine anger, but help for restoration
• 16 Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, * the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.
• 17 And so will we never turn away from you; * give us life, that we may call upon your Name.
• 18 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; * show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

• this is an excerpt from a letter in which Paul is pretty critical of the church in Corinth – divisions and controversies, perhaps rooted in their misuse of spiritual gifts (their gifts of “speech and knowledge” that he acknowledges in our reading this morning)
• he is reassuring them that God is faithfully with them in their waiting for Christ’s return
• he’s telling them that in the meantime, they need to return to the wellspring of their gifts for direction and reconciliation

Mark 13:24-37

• we’ve switched from Matthew to Mark
• earlier writing; Gentile audience; ‘messianic secret’ veiled/unrecognized
• like our recent readings in Matthew, near the end of the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry (between his teachings in chapters 12 and his passion in chapters 14-16)
• Jesus speaks to them about signs, lessons, and warnings (cosmic disruptions, false prophets, emergence of hope, impending persecution)
• He will come to them again an unknown time (perhaps very soon) and will gather his elect
• Apocalyptic images drawn from Isaiah (13:10, 34:4), Joel (2:10, 3:4, 4:15), Ezekiel (32:7-8), and Daniel (7:13) in which the Son of Man comes back through the clouds after trials and persecution
• remain awake, alert, and vigilant in your watch
• apostolic mission
• even nature itself will be transformed at the end of this age (ref: fig tree, an example of which elsewhere is condemned by Jesus for not bearing it’s fruit appropriate)

SOME CLOSING REFLECTIONS:

• amid the commercial crush, the bright noisy stories, the rush and stress...
• where is God?  What are we really preparing for?
• When you see the lights and the crèches, take a moment to really stop and go deeper with God this season.  There’s a tiny little light penetrating the dark.  Something profound has found us in our mess – amid a smelly, cramped feeding trough and a couple of country folk whose lives are about to be turned upside down
• Expectant, but not passive waiting (ref: pregnancy and plants during winter)

• Season of new beginnings
• Take the time to consider the bigger picture
• Reflect on who we really are and what we really yearn for 

• Repentence
• Hebrew = to return, to feel regret/sorrow
• Greek = metanoia = after/larger mind; after thought, bigger perspective
• Change course /  set new direction
• Prepare for new life in / with / through Christ 

• While we’re taking these actions, let us not forget…
• God seeks us even more (and more often) that we seek God
• God comes to us as both as a dependent child and a prince of peace
• God remains with us through the Spirit of a prophetic messiah
• God comes to us / is with us / now and forever

BLESSING:  “May the God who brings heaven close to earth give truth to our judgment and flame [light] to our longing that our hearts might be read to be born again in love; and the blessing of God…” (from Prayersfor an Inclusive Church by Steven Shakespeare)

Parable of the crude little life-saving station

Just wanted to be sure I didn't lose this one -- sooo, apropos to conversations I've been a part of lately.  Thanks, again, Tom Brackett, for bringing it back to my attention in your recent blog of your address to the Diocese of Washington.  Looking forward to joining you and others for our retreat dialogues in February.

"Parable of the crude little life-saving station (by Dr. Theodore O. Wedel)

On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building.

Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical life-boat in the room where the club’s initiations were held. About this time a large ship wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split among the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station. So they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.

Dr. Theodore O. Wedel was a former canon of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1931, he served for a time as president of the Episcopal Church. He penned this parable in 1953."  (correction - needs to be verified: Tom Chu writes, "Canon Wedel was President of the House of Deputies from 1952-61")

Thanksgiving for Christ our King

Christo Rey (Guanajuato, Mexico: 2007)

Today is the last Sunday after Pentecost; the final feast of ordinary/proper time; a Sunday when we proclaim with joy that the resurrected Christ is King as we look ahead toward the beginning of Advent (next Sunday), a season of divine expectation aswe start over again in our church year together, anticipating a new age and the arrival of our newborn king.  This week, many of us will also be sharing Thanksgiving feasts with our friends and family…I’ll come back to this toward the end.

In the1920’s, this special feast day for Christ the King was established by a Pope (Pious the XI) as antidote to the rising primacy of secularism.  It is to remind faithful Christians, amid prevailing commercial and secular culture, that Christ is to reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies. 

The King we’re remembering today was born in a blessed mess (right where we are), identifies more closely with the poor, the hungry,the imprisoned than with regal pomp and circumstance… and ends his earthly life wearing a thorny crown and executed with criminals.  He tells us that he didn’t come to be served, but to serve (Matt 20:28). He tells us that the poor will always be with us (Matt 26:11).  He tells us that He will always be with us and that he’ll never leave us, even to the end of the world (Matt 28:20).

Through the readings we’ve heard in Matthew this season,our Lord has been foreshadowing the end of this age and saying rather plainly,in keeping with his tradition of the tribe into which he was born, that will be a time of reckoning and accounting – a time when our Master holds all of us accountable for how we’ve tending to the flock – our family/neighbors/nation.

Additionally, through the reading from Ezekiel this morning we hear that God will be a good shepherd to the faithful – rescue, protect, nourish, heal, and bring them home to lie in lush green pastures, no matter how/where they’ve been scattered. And, we hear that God will judge harshly both false shepherds and foul followers alike… pride-filled, self-serving, over-indulged ones who have butted and scattered those weaker than themselves.  Note one of the verses that our lection skipped over in today’s excerpt (Ezekiel 34:17) which reinforces what Jesus indicates in today’s Gospel lesson: “As for you, my flock, thussays the Lord God: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.”

Whether using the images of judging among rams, goats,and sheep, or among different types of fish has he does in an earlier saying in Matthew, Jesus says that there will be a separating of the evil from therighteous / the bullies from the peacekeepers (Matt 13:47-50).

And, as you’ve hopefully picked up on by now, we’re not to preoccupy ourselves with worries about how and or when this will happen.  It will be at an unexpected time, and the Master’s ways of sorting things out in the end are likely to surprise all of us.

Instead, our King expects us to occupy ourselves with good labor in his vineyard, cultivating bountifully the fruits of the Spirit to share with all.  Although he is mercifuland gracious towards us in ways beyond our imagination and comprehension, our good shepherd and king does not do this particular work for us – he gives it back to us to do this caring for each other, reassuring us that he is with us in this communal labor of love… and that to share in this work is to share in God’s love for us / to love Christ himself.  Our job here is not about professing a precise doctrine or creed aloud (though offering witness and testimony of faith in the good news is commanded); it’s about getting our hands dirty with others in the real work of relief, redemption, and restoration.

The parable we’ve heard today (Matthew25:31-46) makes it very clear what this looks and sounds like.  When our King comes againin his glory, all the nations* will be gathered before him.  He will sort them into groups according to actions that flowed benevolently from pure hearts without pretense, not what they’ve proclaimed aloud or the things they’ve done to appear pious.  Who has cared for others, particularly others who are considered less than or least? Who has ignored and/or neglected the needs their neighbors?

*(Note: In this instance, the Greek word translated as “nations” is often used specifically to describe non-Jewish tribes.  Some commentators indicate that having talked about criteria for judging the behaviors of Jews earlier, Matthew is now focusing on criteria for judging behavior of everyone else – the essential spirit of which is very similar to how we’re all to be held accountable before God). 

logo from Good Shepherd Lutheran
(Collinsville, IL)

DISCUSSION:  What does our King draw our attention to with regard to our charitable and benevolent actions towards others?  What needs are highlighted?  What are we to do?  Why?

[if necessary/ helpful to complement the discussion]: A colleague of mine, interestingly enough my ‘shepherd’ as part of the process toward my ordination, says this (from her sermon for today):

"There is, further, a subversive quality to the reality of the kingdom, a sense that those who see and understand it are from the margins of society rather than from the powerful and content center. In Matthew, the list of those who see and acceptwhat Jesus has to offer includes a Roman centurion, a Canaanite woman, and Matthew, a despised tax collector. The disciples themselves are hardly the elite of Jerusalem; they are country bumpkins from the provinces, hardly the sort to set the world on fire. Yet all these people listen to Jesus and follow him, perhaps because the status quo has not given them very much.

While the world has changed over and over in the years since the Gospel of Matthew was written, the list of the vulnerable in today’s gospel has only grown. “The hungry” now means a billion people who go to bed every night with little or no food. “The thirsty,” means millions of people worldwide dealing with severe drought. “The sick,” includes millions of people infected with the most difficult and pernicious illnesses, including AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. And the United States leads the world in its share of “those in prison.” It is harder than ever to see the reality of God’s kingdom and the Lordship of Christ behindthese devastating everyday realities. But it is easier than ever to see those on the margins whose needs are overwhelming. …

The notion of the kingship of Christ, over against the reality in which we live, begs the question: are we behaving like citizens of the kingdom? Are the hungry and thirsty, the poor and neglected better off because of us? Is the reality of the expansive, all-encompassing love of God visible in what we do? In the end, this gospel says, that’s what matters in human existence. When we make choices about where to spend our time, our money, our energy, and our best gifts, we are making choices that build the kingdom – or don’t."

-- The Rev.Kay Sylvester is the assistant rector at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Tustin,California. 

THANKSGIVING

This week we will also be observing a national holiday, Thanksgiving, that although now is considered by most to be mostly secular, is actually rooted in faithful religious tradition.  It emerges from the faith and perseverance of our pilgrim predecessors who originally gave thanks to God and their native American neighbors for bringing them through early hardships (note relevance of being fed when they were hungry), but also the faith of one of our great presidents, Abraham Lincoln, as he turned to God amid a time of great civil unrest.   Hear these words delivered by President Lincoln nearly 150 years ago (October 1863), the same year as his Gettysburg Address (Nov. 19, 1863), as part of his “Thanksgiving Proclamation” that served as another precedent for the national holiday of thanks we’re preparing to observe this week. 

Keeping close to your heart the themes of today – what our King is watching for in our actions  - and listen for what the Spirit invites us to hear in Lincoln’s words:

"… No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace,harmony, tranquility, and union." (http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/source/sb2/sb2w.htm)

President Lincoln was clearly thankful for a “beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens”.  And, his yearning for “…tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged” as well as his prayer for the “interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds” resonates well with today’s Gospel reading, no?

CONCLUSION

As we enter this holiday season, what are we all really yearning for?  The beauty of the twinkling lights at night; the smell of crackling wood burning warm inside; the table prepared for us with loving care… can we not see these as signs and symbols that invite us to the feast that we’re really hungry for – more perfect communion with God and each other?

How can we make our gatherings this week more of a foretaste of the heavenly banquet that has been prepared for us by Christ our King? 

As we leave church this morning, we’ll again be among the busy secular world preparing for the stressful holidays and the cunning commercial demands for our time and attention.  When you feel yourself getting caught up following other lords, worshipping idols, and eating of the bread of anxiety, step back, close your eyes, breath deeply, and remember our Lord’s supper and the paradise kingdom he calls us to.  

If we hear people saying harmful/hurtful things to each other in the coming weeks, recall that we’ve been called by our Lord into a place of peace, a reign of reconciliation, a kingdom of kindness. 

Christ our King is not really removed from us, upon a throne somewhere distant.  He is present by, with, and in us and those around us in greatest need – the least among us, those who we might prefer to avoid (those who might prefer to avoid us). We experience Christ in/through our interactions with each other.  Loving God through loving each other is the work of the Christ’s kingdom.  Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.  Notice when any of us is hungry, thirsty, sick and dis-eased, imprisoned… and let’s act from what is written on our hearts without overthinking it.  

Our King’s reign is already over hearts and minds… a reign of compassion, justice,mercy, charity, peace and love.  This is worth being thankful for this week as we gather in his name around our tables.

Let’s end inprayer…

Christ, you are our King of redeeming justice, leading us in a principality of peace and charitable love.  Christ, our king, we are thankful for the mercy and peace you have freely given us – compel us to share these with our family, friends, and neighbors.  Strengthen us as we boldly seek to help build your kingdom by being unexpectedly generous in our compassion, forgiveness, charity, and love toward others… particularly toward the “least of these” who are in most need.  And, to graciously accept kinds acts from others when they’ve seen, through your Spirit, our deeper needs. 

AMEN.

God gave me you for the days of doubt...

‎"God, thank you for those profound moments that jar/pry me off 'dead center' stalls or backslides in my faith. Help every doubt become a tool for cleaning my spiritual home, your hand over mine as I dust and sweep away unhealthy concerns and unproductive distractions. Help me see, hear, smell, taste, and feel more of your amazingly generous and gracious love and beauty in your beloved creations, including in me and in those around me. Thank you for [sometimes not so gently] reminding me that you are God... and I am not."

(written during a recent campus ministry programs about the role of 'doubt' in our faith: St. Francis Canterbury House at K-State)

Invest more in our 'meantimes' than worrying about the end times

Here we are on the second Sunday before we begin a new church year (Advent) when we’ll begin preparing for the birth of our Jesus.  Our lectionary readings today have to do with expectations as well… expectations about a coming age / the day of the Lord in a different sense – “the end times” (see also: the Parousia).  

Speaking about this, our imaginations can easily conjure images of Revelation, apocalypse, Armageddon, “Left Behind”, judgment day, etc..  Indeed, we’re hearing about a time of upheaval and godly accounting and judgment when some might be welcomed in and others might be left out or cast out.  This is part of our sacred stories and we shouldn’t just avoid these challenging passages because they make us uncomfortable.

Having said this... What if the end-of-times and judgment day isn’t what we should be focusing on here?  Remember, it has been reported that Jesus said we won’t know when these things will happen (Matt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21) and that the new ordering of things will surprise us and might not meet with conventional expectations. So, what if the Spirit is calling us to a deeper wisdom through these sometimes uncomfortable words about how we’re to live our lives in the meantime – how we’re to use what we’ve been given by God?  What if we are to hear more about ethics than eschatology?

In Zephaniah 1:7,12-18, we hear that our ultimate wealth isn’t based on possession of silver or gold (verse 18), but rather the choices we make – how and who we serve – en route to our final destination with God.  Only those people who ignore their accountability along this journey – who are complacent, presumptuous, arrogant, idolatrous, and selfish – need to fear the end of these times.

The Psalmist (90:1-12) reminds us that we’re only on this earthly journey for a limited time, that our bodies will be turned back to dust faster than we’d like to realize, and that we should seek God’s wisdom in our hearts each numbered day.

Paul reinforces these themes in his letter to believers in Thessalonia (1 Thess 5:1-11). Those who “live in Christ” need not fear the coming age (the timing of which we’ll never know – it’ll come like a “thief in the night”). We’re not to worry about the darkness or dwell there.  Instead, we’re to remain awake to the role we have as “children of light” in Christ and with faith, hope, and charitable love to “encourage one another and build up each other” (verse 11) along the journey.

And this brings us to the parable of the talents as rendered in the Gospel according to Matthew (Matt 25:14-30).  

As reminder, the stories in this book attributed to Matthew were written down after the second temple had been destroyed by the Romans, the early Jewish followers of Jesus were scattered and living under hostile scrutiny, and much of the generation of the contemporaries of Jesus has died.  Many were hoping for and anticipating the imminent return of the Christ who would redeem them and restore new order (an apocalyptic anticipation).  The author is Jewish writing to fellow Jews to convince them that Jesus is the greatest of prophets and, in fact, the messiah for which they had been waiting. It’s not surprising, therefore, that in this Gospel we hear Jesus proclaiming that there soon will be a time (after the “end of this age”) when God will re-order things in provocative, unexpected ways (ref: chapters 13, 18, and 23-25).  Jesus describes this new reign of God through a number of memorable parables that we’ve heard in the last two months, using familiar settings such as vineyards, wedding banquets, and feasts to emphasize that an things as they are will come, but more importantly for us, to illustrate how we are to relate to each other now in preparation for the new kingdom.

What we’re hearing this morning is part of what Jesus is sharing with his closest disciples right after he’s made quite a scene in the temple with his scathing critique hypocritical religious leaders (ref: chapter 23) and is now sitting on a nearby hill, looking back at the walled city of Jerusalem.  Jesus is telling his followers that soon will be the ‘end of the age’ when the old structures will be destroyed, the Son of Man will return, and there will be seemingly harsh accountings of who is seen as righteous and unrighteous by God.  Of course, the disciples want to know when all this will happen.  Jesus is clear that these things will happen sometime soon, but that the timing will be unexpected and that they should be ever ready. He tells several stories to illustrate what it means to be prepared.

This morning’s ‘parable of the talents’ the last of three parables he tells them that emphasize the need to be ever ready for the dawning of the coming new age.  This particular parable about the use of ‘talents’ particularly emphasizes stewardship, living courageously and generously beyond our fears, and cultivating ‘more’ from the seeds that we’ve been given so that we can share the abundance with our master upon his return (and with others here-n-now). 

A “talent” is a unit of measure referring to the equivalent of fifteen years of wages.  But let’s not get distracted by the particulars of how much money we’re talking about; let’s hear that the master is being incredibly generous with his slaves – essentially advancing them more than they’ll need for the time of his journey. Again, God (the master) is freely giving sustenance and means even before they’ve deserved or earned it.  So this story isn’t really about the talents, per se, is it?  It’s about the extraordinary generosity and trust of the master and the corresponding faith, hope, and action - or lack thereof - of the master’s subjects.  Let’s not be tempted too quickly into just assessing our use of financial investments as a reflection of our standing before God… although our use of material wealth is of concern, especially according to Jesus (and I’ll come back in a few minutes to some nice ways you might want to invest some of your material wealth).  We’re entrusted with “talents” (Greek: talanta) -  read: gifts, skills, abilities, aptitudes, resources - that we’re expected to use toward the building up of God’s estate / God’s kingdom.

And, let’s look at the slave who gets the most attention, albeit negative attention, from the master in this story – the one who received one talent (although less what the other slaves received, it’s still a staggering sum).  At first glance, particularly given all that has happened in our economy the last few years, we might consider this last slave as a prudent, careful, and cautious investor – opting to keep his cash in a safe-deposit box or under a mattress rather than risk it in the market.  Or, we might metaphorical extend this as maybe stay in the church building and immersed in familiar/stable traditions rather than risking evangelism and mission in a hostile and uncertain spiritual marketplace these days.  If we read closer, however, it’s clear that prudence wasn’t driving his actions (or ours sometimes), it was presumption and fear… he rationalizes his lack of action as a safe move for him and the master, but his choice really only served his self-interest, not the master’s kingdom.   

Given the master’s condemnations of this slave and the slave’s final disposition (thrown into the outer darkness where’s there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth), we can also hear that, from the master’s point of view, not to use what’s been given - to remain passive out of self-concern, to hide/store it out of fear of risk, or to justify lack of its use out of presumptive judgment/rationalization – is as offensive/sinful as being dishonest (like the unjust stewards in the vineyard) or wasteful (like the Prodigal son). Bottom-line: do not give into self-concern and fear.  Leverage what you’ve been given so that more is yielded for God and your godly family here-n-now.  “Use it or lose it”

This tale is not so much about doubling your financial investments, it’s about living and loving fully and generously and helping others do the same… making courageous and sometimes risky investments together with faith and hope.

When we play it too safe, when we comfort only ourselves with caution, we fall short of our responsibility and we risk “losing interest” in the wealth of our collective humanity.  Note that it’s only a few verses later (Matt 25: 34-46) that Jesus is explicit about the proper use of our time, talent, and treasure to feed the hungry, quench the thirsty, welcome the stranger, cloth the naked/vulnerable, and visit the sick/dis-eased and imprisoned/trapped.

CHARITABLE FINANCIAL INVESMENTS: If you want to leave here this morning with ideas about how to make godly use of some of your material wealth, you might want to consider offeringfinancial support to FiveTalents.org, a micro-finance, business and community development effort that is restoring dignity, hope, and sustenance in some of the poorest areas of our world.  

Or, if you’re moved to do something this month in honor of Thanksgiving or in prep for Advent, consider making a gift to Episcopal Relief & Development. Until Nov30, your donation to ERD will be matched dollar-for-dollar, essentially doubling your investment, just like in today’s Gospel story.  

And, of course, additional gifts to thediocesan Crossroads Campaign for the benefit of the Kansas Schoolfor Ministry are always welcomed.

Looking beyond what we do with our money, consider these two examples of how faithful servants have invested their talents and what the return on those investments has been.

ENDING SEGREGATION: On this day in 1956 (55 years ago), the Supreme Court found Alabama’s racially segregated buses to be unconstitutional, ending the “Montgomery Bus Boycott” that had lasted for nearly two years. Began on Dec 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks was arrested after she refused to give up her seat to a white person.  A year later, a federal court ruled to end segregation on Montgomery public buses.  However due to a series of appeals that kept the practice of segregation intact for nearly a year more, the boycott continued until on November 13, 1956 the Supreme Court upheld the district court's ruling.  http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/timeline_flash.htm

HONORING VETERANS:  Many of you probably recently remembers the labors of a fellow Emporian who, in 1953, initiated the movement to evolve the observances of Armistice Day toward recognizing and honoring all veterans from all wars and conflicts, which lead to the first nationwide observance of  Veteran’s Day in 1954.  In this same spirit of honoring and recognition of veterans, and still on the theme of benevolently investing our talents, Did you know that on this day in 1982 (29 years ago), the Vietnam Veterans Memorial das dedicated in Washington, D.C. to honor the nearly 60,000 who died while serving in our military forces there.  The design, chosen from over 2,500 applications, was by Maya Lin, an architecture student at Yale and daughter of Chinese refugees.  For this memorial project, “The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) raised nearly $9,000,000 entirely through private contributions from corporations, foundations, unions, veterans and civic organizations and more than 275,000 individual Americans. No Federal funds were needed.” http://thewall-usa.com/information.asp 

CLOSING QUESTIONS (to prayerfully consider as we close our eyes and answer before our Master):

• What are the greatest talents you’ve been given to steward through your life (focus on just one or two)?

• Have you invested them with as much passion and courage as the Master expects?  What holds you back sometimes? (name the obstacles to God in prayer and ask for assistance overcoming them)? 

• What’s possible if we all more-faithfully invested the talents we’ve been given? (see it, say it, and ask God to help you live into it)

SUMMARY:

·         Although a thief might come in the night, we are all “children of light and children of the day” – we are to ‘keep awake’ and leverage our “breastplate of faith and love” with the “hope of salvation” (1 Thes 5:4, 6-8)

·         Entering the joy of the heavenly kingdom and banquet that is prepare for us is not about God’s judgment about the quantity of the returns on our investments, but about God’s discernment of the quality of our intentions toward God and toward our neighbors.

·         God is very generous toward us and grants us freedom to choose and act. We can squander our time and talents fearing our master, or outright ignoring our master… but much more is gained when we embrace our master’s trust and generosity and live courageously into the risks of our faith and hope with charitable love in our hearts, seeking to multiply and share the abundance that we’ve been given.

So, rather than worrying about the end times, let’s invest more of ourselves in our 'meantimes.'  Continue to ask the Holy Spirit to help you see how you ought to make the most of your God-given talents.

AMEN.

Prudent preparation and wisdom for the waiting

Some of us experienced quite a wake-up call last night, no?  I’m not talking about Oklahoma State’s defeat of K-State… I’m talking about the jolt and movement of the 5.6 earthquake that originated in Oklahoma.  The shaking woke me up from a deep sleep – doors rattling, lamps moving, and the bed and floor rumbling.  Given the intensity and duration of the disturbance, for a moment, I was imagined I was a back in California asking myself, “is this the big one that we’ve been anticipating?” Such anticipation in a time of great disturbance is fitting for this morning’s Gospel lesson from Matthew.

As a reminder, Matthew, an account of the teachings of Jesus written by a fellow Jew to convince other Jews that Jesus is the greatest of prophets and, in fact, the messiah for which they had been waiting.  It consists of oral stories that were compiled in writing at least 60 or 70 years after earthly ministry of Jesus, which places it in a time of additional turmoil for the Jews – the second temple had been destroyed by the Romans, early Jewish followers of Jesus were scattered and living under hostile scrutiny, and many were anticipating the imminent return of a the Christ who would redeem them and restore new order (an apocalyptic anticipation).  The Gospel according to Matthew has Jesus interpreting traditional religious laws anew (ref: chapters 5-7) and teaching about a new kingdom to come (ref: chapters 13 and 18), criticizing the hypocritical religious rulers of the time and speaking in metaphorical parables about a soon-to-come time when God will re-order things in provocative ways (chapters 23-25).

What we’re hearing from the Gospel this morning follows one of his most vivid and lengthy condemnations of the Pharisees (chapter 23 – the ‘woes’).  Jesus has now left the temple (and the shocks he has left there from his critical words and actions), is sitting with his disciples on a nearby hill looking back at the city walls of Jerusalem, and is speaking with them about the ‘end of the age’ when the old structures will be destroyed, the Son of Man will return, and there will be seemingly harsh accounting of who is seen as righteous and unrighteous by God.  Of course, the disciples want to know when all this will happen.  Jesus is clear that these things will happen sometime soon, but that the timing will be unexpected and that they should be always prepared.

This morning’s ‘parable of the ten bridesmaids’ is situated between two other parables that also emphasize the need to be ever ready for the dawning of the new age and warnings against being caught unprepared at that time.  It’s a troubling parable in several ways:

1) the bridegroom was so late that those who were waiting to greet him and begin the grand procession from the bride’s home to the groom’s parent’s home for a great banquet (like what Jesus and his mother had been attending in Cana on the occasion of his famous ‘first’ public miracle of turning water into wine) fell asleep; (note: honeymoon’s weren’t spent ‘away’ somewhere – they were grand celebrations in family homes with cherished friends)

2) the ‘wise’ bridesmaids also seem selfish in their refusal to share oil with their ‘foolish’ colleagues; and

3) the bridegroom (a metaphor for Jesus, ref: Matt 9:15, 22:1-10) seems unforgiving when the ‘foolish’ bridesmaids ask that the door to the banquet be opened to them – “I don’t know you”, he replies to them.

Travel between towns at the time of this story was not as safe, predictable, and easy as it is today.  So, the idea that the bridegroom was running late isn’t particularly surprising here.  What is worth noting, however, is that the metaphor alludes to a greater observation about how even the faithful might become ‘drowsy’ and even ‘fall asleep’ while awaiting the coming of the Lord, particularly as his return is taking much longer than expected.  Note that there’s not distinguishing between the wise and the foolish is this regard – they both grow tired and drift to sleep.  What is different is that the wise took fuel reserves with them into the darkness as they waited, while the foolish didn’t have any reserves.

 

What about the matter of the ‘wise’ not sharing their fuel with the ‘foolish’?  One way of hearing the story is that the wise were stingy and/or fearful of scarcity (“there will not be enough for you and for us”) – this is troubling, and yet also particularly candid and imaginable.  Isn’t it how many of us initially react when asked to share our resources?  Yet, those bridesmaids are called ‘wise’.  Perhaps, despite their lack of charity in this moment, they’re considered wise because of their prior planning in carrying extra fuel. Faithful of the bridegroom’s return, although uncertain of the timing, they had brought the resources necessary for sufficient illumination during the wait.  The foolish, however, had not.  And, it has been suggested that what the wise were asked to share can’t really be shared so quickly in a single moment like a tangible commodity – that their oil/fuel is a metaphor for spiritual resources they had cultivated over time (an internal, spiritual ‘reserve’ that can fuel our actions, but is not tangibly transferable to others in an instant).

(image: The Wise Virgins by James Tissot)

QUESTION 1: What does the reserve of lamp oil of the wise represent? What fuel do we need to have in reserve… and how do we obtain and/or share it? (discussion points: strength of hope and faith-filled convictions cultivated through increased knowledge and wisdom through experience of acts of charitable love, etc., etc.; ref: Matt 5:14-16 let your light shine)

QUESTION 2: What was foolish behavior of the other bridesmaids?  (discussion points: presuming that things would happen according to their own timeline; not prudently planning for the future (not building up internal fuel); seeking light and more fuel in the marketplace rather than heading to the banquet in faith even though they perceived themselves as lacking, etc.)

And, what about the door being shut to the foolish?  Perhaps you are as troubled as I am by what this is saying – some will be left out.  It’s true, in the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells parables in which it’s pretty clear that not everyone will be welcome in the coming kingdom and that some will be left behind, left behind and even cast out.  Reasonable readers of the entirety of the Bible can debate whether those who are initially left out are ever welcome back in… what’s important to note this morning is that in Matthew’s telling, Jesus is pretty clear that favor is shown and priority given to the truly faithful and righteously ready.

QUESTION 3: What does it mean to be ready for the kingdom banquet – how are we to be properly prepared for the bridegroom’s return?  (discussion points: not sufficient to simply know the Lord’s name; not be deluded into believing that we have all the time in the world;  vigilantly ‘fueled up’ for the long haul with our tanks/reserves full; have tended to broken relationships and other matters in need of repair/restoration in a timely manner; etc.)

One commentator I read quoted from Rilke’s book Letters to a Young Poet on the matter of expectancy about Christ and the coming of a new age, likening our journey in this life, full of longsuffering and troubled anticipation, to living each day as both painful and lovely as if we’re living “a great pregnancy.” (*John M. Buchanan, Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago quoting from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 1993, p. 61.)

And, indeed, in our liturgical year, we are approaching the great season of Advent in which we will become even more mindful of what it means to prepare for new birth – new life with Jesus Christ.

In the meanwhile, as we head toward that season of our year, and as we await the coming of our Lord, what are some of the things I hear the Spirit saying through today’s Gospel lesson?

• It’s foolish to be distracted by predictions about the coming of our Lord – the timing will be unexpected.  It’s foolish to assume that one lampful will last the entire night… certainly not if we’re living brightly as we’re expected to.
  
• It’s wise to live and love expectantly with faith and hope, alert and purposely prepared to wait, never assuming we have enough ‘fuel’, but always cultivating and bringing more for our journey. It takes time and experience to cultivate the lamp oils of character, faith, and wisdom… and these reserves can’t be borrowed or loaned.  They are gained through consistent, loving actions with our neighbors.
  
• It’s foolish to wait until the last minute to prepare for a final exam.  We don’t know how much time we’ve each been given.
  
• It’s wise to make the most of each day, striving to love each other as Jesus has loved us and constantly repairing, cleaning, and preparing for the great banquet and the new kingdom… keeping our lamps lit for the coming of Christ so that we can more clear see and follow him.

AMEN.