Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost (proper 27): November 6, 2005.Amos 5:18-24 Psalm 70 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Matthew 25:1-13 Restlessness, Rapture, Revelation, and Rossing First Reading Today's readings contain awesome apocalyptic calls. Amos reveals the hypocrisy of those who offer, as they perceive it, perfect worship of God, but do not work for justice. "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps" (Amos 5:21-23). Amos provides an alternative vision for the Israelites. "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (v. 24). The image of an ever-flowing stream pointed to something rare for those who first read or heard this text. Dry riverbeds were commonplace in Palestine. Runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. from a large storm meant life and liberation from the toil of searching out other water sources, or life without water. 1 Thessalonians is just as dramatic in its revelation of the parousia and is probably the most hopeful and comforting of all of the texts for this day. Paul's central message in this section of 1 Thessalonians is that the deceased faithful in Thessalonica will share in the Lord's parousia, when God will raise all from the dead and bring the deceased forth. This passage is also interesting inasmuch as in·as·much as conj. 1. Because of the fact that; since. 2. To the extent that; insofar as. inasmuch as conj 1. since; because 2. some frequently use it to talk about "the rapture." In The Rapture Exposed (Boulder: Westview, 2004) Barbara Rossing addresses the origins, flaws, and negative consequences in rapture theology. In another venue she explains 1 Thess 4:17 like this: "The people in Thessalonica were worried because some of their relatives had died before Jesus' second coming. They wanted to make sure that they would not be separated from their relatives. So Paul wrote that when Jesus returned to earth, the dead in Christ will rise. This is the passage: 'We who are alive who are left will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air.' That is why Christ is returning to earth. This is Jesus' second coming. The emphasis is that all of us participate in going to greet Jesus. But it's not a rapture  This article or section is written like a personal reflection or and may require .Please [ improve this article] by rewriting this article or section in an . or a snatching of people up to heaven for seven years" (John Whitehead John Whitehead may refer to:
From Matthew we have the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids. The theme is obvious: prepare for the second coming of Christ, which could happen at any time. A key quality of apocalyptic literature is allegory. Scholars disagree on whether or not this parable came from Jesus. They generally do agree that, in this particular parable, the virgins represent the church that is waiting for the second coming, the bridegroom is Christ, and the wedding feast is the moment in which Christ comes for the church. The delay of the bridegroom means that there will be a delay of the second coming, the bridegroom's arrival in the dark of night is the second coming, and the closing of the door is the final judgment. Scholars do not all agree about the meaning of the oil. In other parables within or near the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, the texts define oil (being prepared) as working faithfully for the Lord (24:46). In the Parable of the Talents For the novel by Octavia Butler, see . The Parable of the Talents (sometimes just the Parable of Talents) is a parable of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 25:14-30). It was told to illustrate an aspect of the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. , being prepared means using well what God gives us (25:23). In the Judgment of the Nations, the Son of Man defines preparation for the second coming as feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick, and visiting the prisoner. To summarize, having oil means being prepared. Being prepared means obeying Jesus' teachings in the greatest commandment com·mand·ment n. 1. A command; an edict. 2. Bible One of the Ten Commandments. commandment Noun a divine command, esp. , "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (22:37). Pastoral Reflection These texts challenge us to find grace. The place where God reveals our brokenness seems obvious--we go through the motions of a religious life in a culture that many experience as unjust, we are not faithful, and we are not prepared (despite, I suspect, some of you having been Boy Scouts). Even if suffering from unfaithfulness and unpreparedness, most members of our congregations will be familiar with the famous words paraphrased by Martin Luther King Jr., "until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." King loved this passage and used it often. For example, King used the same paraphrase of Amos 5:24 in December 1955 at the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a mass protest by African American citizens in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, against Segregation policies on the city's public buses. It was nine years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would change the nation forever. ; in a 1961 commencement address at Lincoln University Lincoln University. 1 At Jefferson City, Mo.; coeducational; land-grant and state supported; founded 1866 as Lincoln Institute. The school was established for the education of freed slaves by members of the 62d and 65th U.S. Colored Regiments. ; in his last presidential address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), civil-rights organization founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King, Jr., and headed by him until his assassination in 1968. in 1967; and in the sermon that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. . Today, one can still find King's paraphrase in Montgomery, inscribed in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. on the Civil Rights Memorial. Did you know that you cannot find "mighty stream" in any contemporary translations of the Bible? Like the New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, released in 1989, is a thorough revision of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). There are three editions of the NRSV:
Scholarly interpretation of religious texts, using linguistic, historical, and other methods. In Judaism and Christianity, it has been used extensively in the study of the Bible. Textual criticism tries to establish the accuracy of biblical texts. of "ever-flowing" and "ever-lasting." The human feeling at the root of most sin is the feeling of fear. How does it change your perspective, feelings, or behavior to think of an eternal supply of something? I relax. I am more generous. I am less worried about hoarding my own privilege, money, or time. Even more significant is the source of all we have--God. God makes unlimited room at the table (or drugstore counter, in historical parlance Parlance - A concurrent language. ["Parallel Processing Structures: Languages, Schedules, and Performance Results", P.F. Reynolds, PhD Thesis, UT Austin 1979]. ). God makes unlimited space for all to participate in going to greet Jesus. In my childhood, my family lived all over the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and, at different times, all over the world. So, when a relative would come to visit my parents, or when we would travel to visit our relatives, my brother and I would compete in trying to greet Grandpa first. Remembering that feeling offers me a glimpse of participating in greeting Jesus. Where is the grace in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids? First, being one of the bridesmaids in this scenario does not entail wearing a floppy hat, or a dress that will work well as a couch cushion cover when you are through or that works only on women who are a size 2. Second, there is grace in our unlimited supply of love. In addition, we prepare for Jesus' coming by giving love away. There is already enough to go around, to light the world, to bring the warmth of Christ to all creation, until Jesus comes again. CGM (1) (Computer Graphics Metafile) An ISO/IEC standard format for 2D graphics images introduced in 1987. Primarily a vector graphics format for technical illustrations and geophysical visualizations, CGM also supports raster graphics and text. |
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