November 2023 – A Preacher’s Ponderings

Last days?

First Sunday of Advent; 3 December 2023; Advent 1B (RCL); Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37.

Always on the First Sunday of Advent, we have readings suggestive of ‘last days’ or the ‘Second Coming’ of Christ. In the Corinthians passage, Paul expresses his confidence that God will hold the Corinthians blameless until “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In the passage from Mark, Jesus begins with the phrase “in those days, and after that suffering,” and then refers to the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds with great power and glory. And the author if Isaiah prays passionately and eloquently that God would tear open the heavens and come down. What, exactly, are we expecting?

The door was shut

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost; 12 November 2023; Proper 27A (RCL); Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13.

Matthew likes closed doors. I’m surprised that he didn’t add weeping and gnashing of teeth to this story for the five foolish bridesmaids. A wedding of course recalls the story of the king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and when those he invited wouldn’t come, he burned their city, and then threw out to poor guy who didn’t dress according to code. In that story, there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.