Br. John Forbis OHC
Proper 27 - Sunday, November 12, 2017
To hear the sermon in its fullness click here.
 |
| Br. John Forbis, OHC |
We are in a stage
of the Liturgical Year where we begin to look at the end before we begin again.
If there is anything this morning’s scripture teaches us is that it is not a
time to be smug. As Amos tells us, “Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light.” As W.B. Yeats comments in his poem The Second
Coming:
The darkness drops again, but now I know. That
twenty centuries of stony sleep. Were
vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, and
what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches
towards Bethlehem to be born?
Why would we want the day of the Lord,
indeed?!?!
Certainly, the
threat of Amos, Paul’s strange language and five virgins being barred from
entering the wedding banquet are obvious reasons for uneasiness. However, these
passages raise other questions for me.
Who is Amos really
speaking to and why? And what is Paul
really speaking about? What about the 10
virgins? Who are they? Who are the wise virgins and who are the
foolish ones? They are all bridesmaids,
friends of the bride after all.
Perhaps the
questions I am asking are beside the point. But something tells me that
dismissing them too easily might mean missing an opportunity to meet the
bridegroom when he comes.
Amos speaks to a
people who are in great expectation for the Lord. And yet, he refutes any and
every claim that the coming will be pretty. Those who escape a lion are only
then to be surprised by a bear. God takes no interest or even pleasure in their
“solemn assemblies”. The Lord will not accept anything they have to offer. What
the Israelites think is going to get them right with God ends up being exactly
what God despises. Who are God’s people now?
Paul writes to the
Thessalonians “ … we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord
will be caught up in the clouds together with those who have died to meet the
Lord in the air …” What?
The foolish
virgins (or in another translation, the silly virgins) compound mistake after
mistake. In their desperation, they say, “Give us some oil.” It was a demand, not a request and they were
demanding the wrong thing. They could have figured out that the light of the
wise virgins or even more so the bridegroom was enough to bring them to the
banquet. Instead, they went
on some wild goose chase in the dark and were left outside the door. Even more so
the wise ones could have shared their light if not their oil. It seems strange
that no one thought of this.
Sure the foolish
made their decisions and showed bad judgment, but perhaps the actions of the
wise virgins or refusal to act begs the judgment that Amos brings down upon the
Israelites. The bridegroom is
delayed. Paul thought he would come during his lifetime, during the lifetime of
the Thessalonian church. He was wrong. 10 virgins expected him earlier and only
5 were prepared when he finally does come. And Amos … well, Amos describes his
coming as not something to celebrate too readily.
Maybe the key
resides in the coming being unexpected, surprising, leaving unanswered
questions, even throwing us off balance. And so we are kept on our toes,
unsettled, uncomfortable, but awake. We are brought through Christ’s death and
resurrection in Baptism itself to be people of God, and as people of God, we
can no longer be people who are complacent or asleep. We are to be unsettled
people, restless people, people who keep watch with love, people who long for
justice and righteousness, people who are truly alive. And thus maybe even be
people who unsettle as well.
In his book, The Sacred Voice is Calling, John
Neafsey, a clinical psychologist and theology lecturer, who has focused much of
his work on vocation and social conscience surmises, "… An uneasy
conscience may be one of the best places to listen to the whisper of the Spirit
that calls us to a better way."
Just when we think
we know when the bridegroom is coming or even what he will look like, he shows
us something entirely other. This gives us the capacity to show mercy and
compassion. Righteousness is not about piety, but it is about empathy and
solidarity with those who may feel they have no access to the bridegroom. When
we are living in the truth of love, then, our worship truly expresses the
mystery and disruption of God’s loving grace. This is not something that the
world around us always wants to see. So many in the world would rather snuff
that light out.
Let’s face it. We
have been in the dark and have barred our own selves from the banquet. We are
in need of guidance. But the call in the middle of the night may not be just to
meet the bridegroom but to guide others to meet him as well. Then, the
community is whole. Then, 10 virgins get into the banquet. Perhaps for this, we
are to be prepared.
The true hope of all
this apocalyptic literature is that no matter where we are or think we are, in
our inadequacy, in our bad decisions and the consequences that come of those, even
if we think we are in the dark and are not recognised, the bridegroom comes at
any time, even at midnight, to meet us. Justice rolls and righteousness flow
like mighty waters. And we are transformed, transformed as though we were
caught up in a strong current right up into the air as Paul tells us. Christ
draws us into this conversion. The banquet is still open to us and the guiding
lamp in the middle of the night, as well as our own, can bring all of us there.
No comments:
Post a Comment