Year A – Advent 1 (A 7-week Advent)
\u00a0Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
\u00a0Psalm 78:1-7
\u00a01 Thessalonians 4:13-18
\u00a0Matthew 25:1-13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asherah\u2026 Baal\u2026 Marduk\u2026 Tiamat\u2026 Shamash\u2026 Ishtar\u2026 these were some of the more significant ancient Near Eastern and Babylonian gods and goddesses about which we know\u2026 the old gods\u2026 even as monotheism was emerging\u2026 in Judaism’s earliest years\u2026 there was the belief that each city had its own god\u2026 each one thought to be all-powerful\u2026 and in today’s reading from Joshua\u2026 we have a record of this transition\u2026 a record of an emerging human awareness that there was only one God over all creation\u2026 one God who was the author of all that was\u2026 and is\u2026 and is yet to be\u2026 and an acknowledgement that the humanity could act more in accordance with this singular divine impulse\u2026 or could act less in accordance with it\u2026 and this insight was inscribed in the second of ten commandments\u2026 Thou shalt have no other gods before me<\/em>\u2026 and in this passage from Joshua\u2026 there are fifteen times the people are asked about whether they had served\u2026 or would serve the old gods\u2026 or YHWH\u2026 and Joshua exhorted the people to put away any foreign gods that remained among them\u2026 and issued strict warnings about serving these foreign gods after having taken vows to serve YHWH…<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the old gods continued to hold sway\u2026 for example\u2026 in the History Channel’s series’ about Vikings\u2026 they talk about the old gods\u2026 Odin\u2026 Loki\u2026 Freyja\u2026 Thor\u2026 and they sometimes compared the old gods\u2026 to the Man \/ God Jesus\u2026 and there are conversations\u2026 sometimes lengthy conversations during which many of the characters ask each other\u2026 echoing Joshua’s question\u2026 Who do you serve<\/em>\u2026 and this question\u2026 and others like it\u2026 took on critical importance\u2026 because who you served\u2026 would determine whether or not you would enter Valhalla\u2026 or Heaven\u2026 and in our reading from today’s Gospel\u2026 in the parable that he offers up\u2026 Jesus tells us what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And from the beginning\u2026 the parable is symbolic and surrealistic\u2026 because usually\u2026 only one virgin comes out to meet the bridegroom\u2026 but here we have ten\u2026 the number of fulfillment\u2026 and we\u2019re told that five of the bridesmaids were wise\u2026 but the Greek word isn\u2019t sophia<\/em>\u2026 it\u2019s phronimos<\/em>\u2026 and it\u2019s a different kind of wisdom\u2026 less ethereal and more earthy\u2026 less conceptual and more street-smart\u2026 with more book-smarts and common sense\u2026 and we’re told that the other five bridesmaids were foolish\u2026 and the Greek word that’s used is mah-reh<\/em>\u2026 and from it\u2026 we get the word moron\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in the parable\u2026 the Bridegroom is delayed\u2026 and everyone gets tired of waiting\u2026 and falls asleep\u2026 and of course\u2026 the Bridegroom is Jesus\u2026 who comes at midnight\u2026 ] in the darkest time\u2026 Christ comes to us\u2026 and as they were aroused from their sleep\u2026 and came back to their senses\u2026 the foolish said to the wise\u2026 Give us some of your oil\u2026 for our lamps are going out<\/em>\u2026 and as John Shea wrote\u2026 the wise refuse for seemingly foolish reasons\u2026 they appear to be looking out only for themselves\u2026 rather than sharing what they have with those in need\u2026 but the truth of this kind of oil is\u2026 you have to have your own\u2026 each person must supply oil from the ways in which they live out the teachings of Christ\u2026 one cannot develop spiritually\u2026 by taking the consciousness\u2026 and action of another\u2026 as your own\u2026] a friend who has studied\u2026 cannot prepare you to take a test\u2026 or to update the metaphor\u2026 as the 6th century Bishop of Syria\u2026 Isaac of Nineveh did\u2026 There is a love like a small lamp\u2026 fed by oil\u2026 which goes out when the oil is ended\u2026 or like a rain-fed stream\u2026 which goes dry when rain no longer feeds it… but there is a love\u2026 like a spring gushing from the earth… never to be exhausted<\/em>\u2026 ] Shea adds\u2026 the wise virgins are in touch with this inexhaustible river\u2026 and so their oil is continuously replenished\u2026 rather than consumed\u2026 like Jesus said in John 4:14\u2026 The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life<\/em>\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n And when the five bridesmaids came back from the marketplace\u2026 and the door was closed to them\u2026 they didn’t understand that the Kingdom of Heaven had already been passed on to them\u2026 and the metaphorical door would open when they had the ability to open it for themselves\u2026 because it would be the lamp of their own consciousness\u2026 burning from the oil of their dedicated lives\u2026 that will open the door\u2026 like how Dorothy always had within her the ability to go home to Kansas\u2026 and the message of this parable\u2026 to Be Prepared\u2026 was soaked with a sense of urgency\u2026 because when it was written\u2026 everyone thought Jesus’ return in glory\u2026 as the bridegroom\u2026 would happen very soon\u2026 would happen in their lifetimes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brian Whitfield\u2026 who’s Professor [ and Chair of the Columbus Roberts Department ] of Religion at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia\u2026 wrote\u2026 We may choose to center our lives on the power of the past\u2026 on family tradition or ancestral piety\u2026 longing for what once was\u2026] we may choose to shape our lives around the values of the prevailing consumer culture\u2026 trimming our horizons to the demands of market forces\u2026 both choices ensnare us in the power of sin and death\u2026 ] or we may choose an identity not based on nostalgia or cultural accommodation\u2026 but on the grace of a God of liberating love\u2026 who leads us into a new era of freedom for life in community in a land of promise\u2026 the choice\u2026 as Joshua reminds us\u2026 is ours\u2026 yet we must make this choice\u2026 not once for all time\u2026 but again and again\u2026 ] like the ancient Israelites\u2026 we need times and places which remind us of the gracious acts of God\u2026 and call us back to our confession\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what old gods do we continue to serve\u2026 any\u2026 what old gods grab our attention\u2026 our admiration\u2026 of which old gods are we jealous\u2026 and how do we become\u2026 or remain aware of the power they hold over us\u2026 ] for what kind of tests do we think we can pull all-nighters\u2026 and to which ones do we devote a lifetime of preparation\u2026 and how do we remain prepared\u2026 remain aware\u2026 remain awake when we suffer from scheduling fatigue\u2026 and false starts\u2026 and deadlines that have come and gone\u2026 when waiting for Jesus feels like waiting for Godot\u2026 and how do we learn that being prepared for Jesus’ return just\u2026 simply… requires us to focus on every-day faithfulness\u2026 rather than the big picture\u2026 and how do we live out and own the truth\u2026 as Natalie Wigg-Stevenson wrote\u2026 that Jesus isn’t waiting until we’re ready\u2026 he’s waiting until he is<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’d like to end with a poem called Olive Oil \u2014 Extra Virgin\u2026 by Maren Tirabassi\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t make me feel any better It was my oil, my light, And my lamp burned out Of course, I don\u2019t blame the but I wish I\u2019d saved enough for dancing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year A – Advent 1 (A 7-week Advent)\u00a0Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25\u00a0Psalm 78:1-7\u00a01 Thessalonians 4:13-18\u00a0Matthew 25:1-13 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 Asherah\u2026 Baal\u2026 Marduk\u2026 Tiamat\u2026 Shamash\u2026 Ishtar\u2026 these were some of the more significant ancient Near Eastern and Babylonian gods and goddesses about which we know\u2026 the old gods\u2026 even as monotheism was emerging\u2026 in Judaism’s earliest years\u2026 there was the belief that each city had its own god\u2026 each one thought to be all-powerful\u2026 and in today’s reading from Joshua\u2026 we have a record of this transition\u2026 a record of an emerging human awareness that there was only one God over all creation\u2026 one God who was the author of all that was\u2026 and is\u2026 and is yet to be\u2026 and an acknowledgement that the humanity could act more in accordance with this singular divine impulse\u2026 or could act less in accordance with it\u2026 and this insight was inscribed in the second of ten commandments\u2026 Thou shalt have no other gods before me\u2026 and in this passage from Joshua\u2026 there are fifteen times the people are asked about whether they had served\u2026 or would serve the old gods\u2026 or YHWH\u2026 and Joshua exhorted the people to put away any foreign gods that remained among them\u2026 and issued strict warnings about serving these foreign gods after having taken vows to serve YHWH… But the old gods continued to hold sway\u2026 for example\u2026 in the History Channel’s series’ about Vikings\u2026 they talk about the old gods\u2026 Odin\u2026 Loki\u2026 Freyja\u2026 Thor\u2026 and they sometimes compared the old gods\u2026 to the Man \/ God Jesus\u2026 and there are conversations\u2026 sometimes lengthy conversations during which many of the characters ask each other\u2026 echoing Joshua’s question\u2026 Who do you serve\u2026 and this question\u2026 and others like it\u2026 took on critical importance\u2026 because who you served\u2026 would determine whether or not you would enter Valhalla\u2026 or Heaven\u2026 and in our reading from today’s Gospel\u2026 in the parable that he offers up\u2026 Jesus tells us what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like\u2026 And from the beginning\u2026 the parable is symbolic and surrealistic\u2026 because usually\u2026 only one virgin comes out to meet the bridegroom\u2026 but here we have ten\u2026 the number of fulfillment\u2026 and we\u2019re told that five of the bridesmaids were wise\u2026 but the Greek word isn\u2019t sophia\u2026 it\u2019s phronimos\u2026 and it\u2019s a different kind of wisdom\u2026 less ethereal and more earthy\u2026 less conceptual and more street-smart\u2026 with more book-smarts and common sense\u2026 and we’re told that the other five bridesmaids were foolish\u2026 and the Greek word that’s used is mah-reh\u2026 and from it\u2026 we get the word moron\u2026 And in the parable\u2026 the Bridegroom is delayed\u2026 and everyone gets tired of waiting\u2026 and falls asleep\u2026 and of course\u2026 the Bridegroom is Jesus\u2026 who comes at midnight\u2026 ] in the darkest time\u2026 Christ comes to us\u2026 and as they were aroused from their sleep\u2026 and came back to their senses\u2026 the foolish said to the wise\u2026 Give us some of your oil\u2026 for our lamps are going out\u2026 and as John Shea wrote\u2026 the wise refuse for seemingly foolish reasons\u2026 they appear to be looking out only for themselves\u2026 rather than sharing what they have with those in need\u2026 but the truth of this kind of oil is\u2026 you have to have your own\u2026 each person must supply oil from the ways in which they live out the teachings of Christ\u2026 one cannot develop spiritually\u2026 by taking the consciousness\u2026 and action of another\u2026 as your own\u2026] a friend who has studied\u2026 cannot prepare you to take a test\u2026 or to update the metaphor\u2026 as the 6th century Bishop of Syria\u2026 Isaac of Nineveh did\u2026 There is a love like a small lamp\u2026 fed by oil\u2026 which goes out when the oil is ended\u2026 or like a rain-fed stream\u2026 which goes dry when rain no longer feeds it… but there is a love\u2026 like a spring gushing from the earth… never to be exhausted\u2026 ] Shea adds\u2026 the wise virgins are in touch with this inexhaustible river\u2026 and so their oil is continuously replenished\u2026 rather than consumed\u2026 like Jesus said in John 4:14\u2026 The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life\u2026 And when the five bridesmaids came back from the marketplace\u2026 and the door was closed to them\u2026 they didn’t understand that the Kingdom of Heaven had already been passed on to them\u2026 and the metaphorical door would open when they had the ability to open it for themselves\u2026 because it would be the lamp of their own consciousness\u2026 burning from the oil of their dedicated lives\u2026 that will open the door\u2026 like how Dorothy always had within her the ability to go home to Kansas\u2026 and the message of this parable\u2026 to Be Prepared\u2026 was soaked with a sense of urgency\u2026 because when it was written\u2026 everyone thought Jesus’ return in glory\u2026 as the bridegroom\u2026 would happen very soon\u2026 would happen in their lifetimes\u2026 Brian Whitfield\u2026 who’s Professor [ and Chair of the Columbus Roberts Department ] of Religion at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia\u2026 wrote\u2026 We may choose to center our lives on the power of the past\u2026 on family tradition or ancestral piety\u2026 longing for what once was\u2026] we may choose to shape our lives around the values of the prevailing consumer culture\u2026 trimming our horizons to the demands of market forces\u2026 both choices ensnare us in the power of sin and death\u2026 ] or we may choose an identity not based on nostalgia or cultural accommodation\u2026 but on the grace of a God of liberating love\u2026 who leads us into a new era of freedom for life in community in a land of promise\u2026 the choice\u2026 as Joshua reminds us\u2026 is ours\u2026 yet we must make this choice\u2026 not once for all time\u2026 but again and again\u2026 ] like the ancient Israelites\u2026 we need times and places which remind us of the gracious acts of God\u2026 and call […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2243,"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":[289,290,98],"class_list":["post-2242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","tag-advent-1","tag-be-ready","tag-waiting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/faithfulwaitingsmaller.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242","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=2242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2249,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions\/2249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
that four of my friends
are out here with me
on the other side of the wall
from the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and I squandered it
on terribly important committees
(well, everyone said they were),
and those jobs that could not be done
by anyone but indispensable me,
on rising early for the telephone,
and staying up late
to answer the e-mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
before I figured out a few things
that really matter,
before I spent time,
lovely time, with the folks
who are worth my waiting,
long before the door opened
on the party in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
other guests \u2014
the ones doing the Macarena,
crunching candied almonds,
catching the bouquet.
No one can give another person
oil at midnight,
everyone\u2019s lamp burns out alone \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n