Year B
Amos 5:18-24
Psalm 70
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s Advent\u2026 and we wait\u2026 the word advent means that we wait for the arrival of a notable person or thing\u2026 but what do we wait for\u2026 do we wait for things to go our way\u2026 or for things to go God\u2019s way\u2026 in our case\u2026 as Christians\u2026 we not only wait for the birth of Jesus\u2026 but we wait for the full manifestation of God\u2019s reign on earth\u2026 but we can also wait for the return to as much normalcy as possible during the remainder of this pandemic\u2026 and when it\u2019s over\u2026 for the return to in-person worship\u2026 and singing\u2026 and receiving communion in both kinds\u2026 in Advent we wait\u2026 but we also wait on a cusp\u2026 and what is a cusp\u2026 it is a point of transition between two different states\u2026 it\u2019s like being in that thin space\u2026 between the two sides of a coin\u2026 like being between childhood and adulthood\u2026 like being between sleep and wakefulness\u2026 and over and over again\u2026 Jesus calls us to be fully awake\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re also on the cusp of waiting for all of the ballots in this week\u2019s election to be counted and certified\u2026 we are on the cusp of waiting to see whether the transfer of power will be contentious\u2026 as has been indicated\u2026 or whether it will be a peaceful transfer\u2026 perhaps even with a traditional concession speech\u2026 and we pray for these latter things\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 it is only through the presence of Wisdom and the peace of the Holy Spirit that these things are possible\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles P\u00e9guy\u2026 a French poet and writer\u2026 who died in the early twentieth-century\u2026 wrote\u2026 Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics<\/em>\u2026 everything\u2026 begins in mysticism\u2026 and ends in politics\u2026 there is a seamless continuum which begins in the mystery from which we come\u2026 and we are called to discern the guideposts along that continuum\u2026 aware of the points of departure from that path\u2026 so we can remain on it\u2026 but this continuum ends in the concretized specificity of what we think we know\u2026 and it often becomes polarized\u2026 partisan-ized\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in the world of politics\u2026 there are litmus tests which we hold onto\u2026 litmus tests imposed by various people onto various candidates\u2026 what\u2019s their record on this issue\u2026 what\u2019s their position on that\u2026 how did they vote then\u2026 how will they vote now\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I wonder\u2026 if our privilege has enabled us\u2026 to be in denial about the injustices around us\u2026 has even made it next to impossible for some of us to see them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the mistake too many of us make\u2026 I think\u2026 is that we tend to begin with politics\u2026 and then\u2026 we try to see whether we can make any room for the law and the prophets\u2026 we see how many values from the three Abrahamic faiths\u2026 we can squeeze into our civic life\u2026 whether we can figure out how to incorporate anything from Matthew 25\u2026 into our state and national\u2026 laws and policies\u2026 but usually\u2026 we end up inventing more reasons for not being able to\u2026 than for being able to\u2026 and if we do incorporate them\u2026 there\u2019s often one caveat heaped upon another\u2026 that excuse us from following through on them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November 1947\u2026 Winston Churchill said\u2026 Many forms of Government have been tried\u2026 and will be tried in this world of sin and woe\u2026 no one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise\u2026 indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government\u2026 except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time<\/em>\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes\u2026 our country is divided\u2026 but the divisions between us are lies\u2026 and God\u2019s diversity was never intended to be divisive\u2026 it is our God-given choice\u2026 whether we choose to see division\u2026 or unity\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the prophet Amos was quite clear when God said\u2026 I hate and despise your solemn assemblies\u2026 take the noise of your songs away from me\u2026 but instead\u2026 let justice roll down like waters\u2026 and righteousness\u2026 like an everflowing stream<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let justice roll down like waters\u2026 on December 16, 2010\u2026 talk show host Stephen Colbert said\u2026 If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor\u2026 either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are\u2026 or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition\u2026 and then admit\u2026 that we just don’t want to do it<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ten bridesmaids\u2026 five with enough oil\u2026 and five without\u2026 The Rev. Dirk Lange\u2026 Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations at The Lutheran World Federation in Geneva\u2026 writes\u2026 the young women were all waiting for the bridegroom\u2026 they all belonged to the same community\u2026 to the same group of friends\u2026 they all fall asleep waiting for the bridegroom to come\u2026 and within the community\u2026 it is impossible to tell who has enough oil in their lamps\u2026 who has been more faithful\u2026 and it\u2019s not for us to judge\u2026 the church remains a mixed community\u2026 making the issue of who\u2019s foolish or who\u2019s wise\u2026 the center of interpretation\u2026 would miss the point of the parable\u2026 the so-called foolish young women also knew the bridegroom\u2026 calling out to him\u2026 Lord\u2026 Lord\u2026 open to us<\/em>\u2026 that they remain unrecognized by the bridegroom\u2026 raises the question of knowledge in the parable\u2026 what is it to know the bridegroom\u2026 what is it to recognize the one called Lord\u2026 what is it to avoid litmus tests\u2026 and have Wisdom\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in Matthew 7:21\u2026 Jesus says\u2026 Not everyone who says to me\u2026 Lord\u2026 Lord\u2026 will enter the kingdom of heaven\u2026 but only those who do the will of my Father in Heaven<\/em>\u2026 and in order to do\u2026 you need knowledge\u2026 and knowledge is based in Sophia<\/em>\u2026 in the Ground of Being\u2026 in the Wisdom which existed before creation\u2026 knowledge grows on the cusp of Wisdom\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rev. Valerie Bridgeman\u2026 professor of Homiletics and the Hebrew Bible at the Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio\u2026 writes\u2026 I grew up in a home with a plaque that quoted Joshua 24:15\u2026 As for me and my house\u2026 we will serve the Lord<\/em>\u2026 in its context\u2026 this chapter of Joshua recounts the people\u2019s history\u2026 and their willful rebellion\u2026 and this portion of scripture was edited by the Deutero-nomistic school\u2026 which was against any hybrid faith\u2026 what we would call syncretism or idolatry\u2026 and while she still embraces these words\u2026 she also writes\u2026 but we must examine the gods we do serve\u2026 more often than not\u2026 the gods of our choosing live in our skin\u2026 in our wallets\u2026 in our aspirations\u2026 we bow too often at the altars of greed and of power\u2026 honoring them with our time\u2026 our attention\u2026 and our energy\u2026 so before we look at the ancestral “gods” of others\u2026 we might reflect on whether we keep covenant with our own baptismal commitments\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is Advent\u2026 and we are waiting\u2026 like the bridesmaids who had oil in their lamps\u2026 and whose light shone before others\u2026 our faith enables us to do God\u2019s work\u2026 even before the bridegroom appears\u2026 even if he seems to be late\u2026 even before the parousia<\/em>\u2026 and as Pastor Lange wrote\u2026 the parousia<\/em> then becomes\u2026 not a one-time event at some “end point”\u2026 but rather a continuous event that involves us \u2013\u2013 the community of Christ \u2013\u2013 in our baptismal vocation\u2026 living in the light of the cross in mercy\u2026 and not judgment\u2026 and the feast to which we are invited is the Lord’s Supper\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And just as the new life of resurrection is available to us in each and every moment\u2026 the parousia<\/em> is Christ’s continual presence with us throughout all of our waiting\u2026 enabling us to move backwards from a political certainty which may reflect our agendas\u2026 to mystery\u2026 helping us realize that we already own\u2026 what we just think we\u2019re waiting for\u2026 it is an acknowledgment that we exist on the cusp between looking away from\u2026 or looking towards grace\u2026 forgiveness\u2026 patience\u2026 and love\u2026 and then maybe\u2026 perhaps\u2026 Wisdom can help us realize\u2026 that Gospel Truth\u2026 is the only litmus test we need\u2026 and the only one that truly matters\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Amos 5:18-24 Psalm 70 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Matthew 25:1-13 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 It’s Advent\u2026 and we wait\u2026 the word advent means that we wait for the arrival of a notable person or thing\u2026 but what do we wait for\u2026 do we wait for things to go our way\u2026 or for things to go God\u2019s way\u2026 in our case\u2026 as Christians\u2026 we not only wait for the birth of Jesus\u2026 but we wait for the full manifestation of God\u2019s reign on earth\u2026 but we can also wait for the return to as much normalcy as possible during the remainder of this pandemic\u2026 and when it\u2019s over\u2026 for the return to in-person worship\u2026 and singing\u2026 and receiving communion in both kinds\u2026 in Advent we wait\u2026 but we also wait on a cusp\u2026 and what is a cusp\u2026 it is a point of transition between two different states\u2026 it\u2019s like being in that thin space\u2026 between the two sides of a coin\u2026 like being between childhood and adulthood\u2026 like being between sleep and wakefulness\u2026 and over and over again\u2026 Jesus calls us to be fully awake\u2026 We\u2019re also on the cusp of waiting for all of the ballots in this week\u2019s election to be counted and certified\u2026 we are on the cusp of waiting to see whether the transfer of power will be contentious\u2026 as has been indicated\u2026 or whether it will be a peaceful transfer\u2026 perhaps even with a traditional concession speech\u2026 and we pray for these latter things\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 it is only through the presence of Wisdom and the peace of the Holy Spirit that these things are possible\u2026 Charles P\u00e9guy\u2026 a French poet and writer\u2026 who died in the early twentieth-century\u2026 wrote\u2026 Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics\u2026 everything\u2026 begins in mysticism\u2026 and ends in politics\u2026 there is a seamless continuum which begins in the mystery from which we come\u2026 and we are called to discern the guideposts along that continuum\u2026 aware of the points of departure from that path\u2026 so we can remain on it\u2026 but this continuum ends in the concretized specificity of what we think we know\u2026 and it often becomes polarized\u2026 partisan-ized\u2026 And in the world of politics\u2026 there are litmus tests which we hold onto\u2026 litmus tests imposed by various people onto various candidates\u2026 what\u2019s their record on this issue\u2026 what\u2019s their position on that\u2026 how did they vote then\u2026 how will they vote now\u2026 And I wonder\u2026 if our privilege has enabled us\u2026 to be in denial about the injustices around us\u2026 has even made it next to impossible for some of us to see them\u2026 And the mistake too many of us make\u2026 I think\u2026 is that we tend to begin with politics\u2026 and then\u2026 we try to see whether we can make any room for the law and the prophets\u2026 we see how many values from the three Abrahamic faiths\u2026 we can squeeze into our civic life\u2026 whether we can figure out how to incorporate anything from Matthew 25\u2026 into our state and national\u2026 laws and policies\u2026 but usually\u2026 we end up inventing more reasons for not being able to\u2026 than for being able to\u2026 and if we do incorporate them\u2026 there\u2019s often one caveat heaped upon another\u2026 that excuse us from following through on them\u2026 In November 1947\u2026 Winston Churchill said\u2026 Many forms of Government have been tried\u2026 and will be tried in this world of sin and woe\u2026 no one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise\u2026 indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government\u2026 except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time\u2026 Yes\u2026 our country is divided\u2026 but the divisions between us are lies\u2026 and God\u2019s diversity was never intended to be divisive\u2026 it is our God-given choice\u2026 whether we choose to see division\u2026 or unity\u2026 But the prophet Amos was quite clear when God said\u2026 I hate and despise your solemn assemblies\u2026 take the noise of your songs away from me\u2026 but instead\u2026 let justice roll down like waters\u2026 and righteousness\u2026 like an everflowing stream\u2026 Let justice roll down like waters\u2026 on December 16, 2010\u2026 talk show host Stephen Colbert said\u2026 If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor\u2026 either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are\u2026 or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition\u2026 and then admit\u2026 that we just don’t want to do it\u2026 Ten bridesmaids\u2026 five with enough oil\u2026 and five without\u2026 The Rev. Dirk Lange\u2026 Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations at The Lutheran World Federation in Geneva\u2026 writes\u2026 the young women were all waiting for the bridegroom\u2026 they all belonged to the same community\u2026 to the same group of friends\u2026 they all fall asleep waiting for the bridegroom to come\u2026 and within the community\u2026 it is impossible to tell who has enough oil in their lamps\u2026 who has been more faithful\u2026 and it\u2019s not for us to judge\u2026 the church remains a mixed community\u2026 making the issue of who\u2019s foolish or who\u2019s wise\u2026 the center of interpretation\u2026 would miss the point of the parable\u2026 the so-called foolish young women also knew the bridegroom\u2026 calling out to him\u2026 Lord\u2026 Lord\u2026 open to us\u2026 that they remain unrecognized by the bridegroom\u2026 raises the question of knowledge in the parable\u2026 what is it to know the bridegroom\u2026 what is it to recognize the one called Lord\u2026 what is it to avoid litmus tests\u2026 and have Wisdom\u2026 Earlier in Matthew 7:21\u2026 Jesus says\u2026 Not everyone who says to me\u2026 Lord\u2026 Lord\u2026 will enter the kingdom of heaven\u2026 but only those who do the will of my Father in Heaven\u2026 and in order to do\u2026 you need knowledge\u2026 and knowledge is based in Sophia\u2026 in the Ground of Being\u2026 in the Wisdom which existed before creation\u2026 knowledge grows on the cusp […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1026"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1030,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1026\/revisions\/1030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}