Year A

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The woman in this poem from Proverbs may be understood literally, as the “ideal wife,” or symbolically, as Wisdom. The Bible regularly extols wisdom as a great prize, worth more than gold or precious jewels, more than long life or power. As a personification of God’s will and reason, Wisdom imparts to those who befriend her all they need to be successful in the world and in their relationship with God. A human wife would have learned from Wisdom and thus manifested her teachings, which extend across the whole human experience, from practical household management to concern for the poor (what Wisdom would call “righteousness”) to fear of the Lord (the prerequisite for learning wisdom [Proverbs 9:10]).

The phrase “peace and security” was part of the propaganda of the Roman Empire, so Paul’s use of it here points toward those who are content with and profiting from the present age of human rule. These are unprepared, living as it were “at night” and in darkness, for the coming of the Lord. But for those who live in the light, who are hopefully waiting for the Lord and living accordingly, his advent will not come as an unpleasant surprise. Living in the day, they will not be asleep, but awake and ready. In other words, no one knows the “times or seasons,” but those who are living the Christian life will be prepared to meet the Lord whenever he comes.

The focus of the parable of the talents is on the unfortunate servant who failed to gain any profit for his master because he was afraid. The Lectionary translation has the servant characterizing his master as “demanding,” but the Greek word (skleiros) really means hard, harsh, or severe. The servant, afraid to trade because he might lose the money and incur the master’s wrath, failed to realize that the master showed confidence in him by giving him the talent and was willing to take a chance on him. The fault lay not in failing to gain any money, but in not even trying out of lack of trust in the master and his wisdom in giving the talent in the first place.

Jan 12 2025

Trembling, But Confident

A friend told me that this parable frightened her when she was little. What if she was foolish and forgot her oil and Jesus abandoned her and she was cast out into the darkness?

A teenager told me about a time when she was five years old. She had come in from playing, and found the curtains drawn and her darkened house empty. Her parents and siblings were nowhere. She sat down and sobbed, thinking that the end-times had come. Jesus had taken them and she had been left behind.

As the sun grows dimmer and the church calendar draws toward its close, we hear much about the final judgment. The Jews of Jesus’ day expected Almighty God to declare war on evil at any moment and hold all people accountable for their deeds. Some of Jesus’ apocalyptic words feel foreboding. Be ready. The end is coming. If there is “a test,” will I pass it? Am I Christian enough? Might I be among the foolish, one who has messed up just too many times?

On the other hand, we might identify with the smart virgins: I am pious. I say my prayers. I am Christian enough. Perhaps everyone will “pass” at the end of time, for God is merciful. Might God choose to hand everyone an “A”?

Which is it? Well—both—and neither.

Yes, the end is coming, whether at our own death or at the conclusion of time. But panic only paralyzes, and presumption makes us imprudent. In wisdom, how are we to approach the Blessed One at judgment? Holy fear and a bit of awestruck trembling are needed. So is the graced conviction that we are profoundly loved and radically forgiven. Awe and confidence walk together hand in hand.

Consider/Discuss

Christian faith is full of paradox. As we prepare for “the end,” how do we keep a healthy balance between holy fear and graced confidence? Toward which side do you tend to lean?
Should the “wise” virgins give some of their oil to the “foolish” ones? Should God give everyone an “A” on the final exam? Why or why not?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus our Bridegroom, you don’t only come in a rush at the end of time. Sometimes you tiptoe in quietly and beckon to us in the depths of our conscience. We know that our end is coming. Give us a touch of holy fear to help us heed you now so we are ready then. Do not let our love grow cold as we wait for you. Come to us, Spirit of warmth, and keep our lamps burning brightly.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The figure of Woman (or Lady) Wisdom constantly seeks to instruct anyone who will listen. As “the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of his goodness” (7:26), she is the perfect teacher. She is not aloof or inaccessible, but is available to anyone who seeks her out, watching for her, keeping vigil, as she moves through life making her presence known. But only those who work to master her teachings and conform their lives to them are “worthy of her.” Those who do so will gain prudence and wisdom and thus become “righteous.” Those who forsake her teaching, on the other hand, will be remain “foolish” and therefore “unrighteous.”

The Thessalonians were apparently concerned that those who had died before the return of Christ had perished. Paul reminds them that the resurrection of Christ was only the beginning, that all the baptized would be raised as Christ was. This is why Paul can refer to the dead as having merely “fallen asleep.” In fact, at the glorious coming of Christ, the dead, having been raised, will be the first to join Christ in his glory. Drawing on standard apocalyptic images (angels, trumpets, Christ coming on clouds), Paul paints an image of the parousia, the hinge-point between the present age and the coming age. Paul’s audience is assured that, dead or alive, those who are in Christ will be with him forever.

The parable of the ten virgins draws on the biblical wisdom motif of the distinction between the wise and the foolish. The wise are those who seek to understand the will of God and to live accordingly; they are the righteous. The foolish are not necessarily intellectually stupid, but they are “spiritually” stupid, often wicked, and certainly on the wrong path. In the parable, the foolish virgins represent those who are unprepared because they have failed to heed Jesus’ teaching. Readers sometimes fault the wise virgins for being stingy, but the point is that the wise are able to do nothing for the foolish when they wait until it is too late to order their lives properly.

Jan 12 2025

The Aroma of the Heavenly Feast

The last time I made popcorn the smell reminded me of my mom. The kernels exploded out of the hot-air popper into her green and white mixing bowl. I melted butter as she had. I sprinkled the buttered kernels with salt and stirred it all up. I popped three kernels into my mouth. Delicious! (She ate her popcorn one kernel at a time, so she was a bit more proper than I was.) It may make me old fashioned, but I don’t microwave popcorn in a bag. Why? It does not evoke memories. It does not smell right. It does not bring my mom back to life.

On this feast of All Saints, we celebrate the dead and bring their memory back to life. Yet, when we think about those who have departed, those who have gone to heaven before us . . . well, I think that we have it backwards. But, really, truly, they are the living. We are the dying. From the flash when we were conceived, through our first whiff of lilacs, until that moment when our breathing stops, we are dying for the aroma of eternity. Something heavenly awaits us.

Can you sense that? My mom is alive! My grandma is alive! Your mom or brother or child or sister or aunt or dad is alive! Within the limits of our earthly snuffling, we only sense barrenness where we used to inhale their fragrance. We cannot perceive them. That hollowness can hurt. But they are partaking of the feast of heaven—the most sweet-smelling chocolate cake on earth cannot compare. They have gone before us into the banquet of life. The God of glory is the Fragrance of fragrances, the Delight of delights. Today, with all the church, militant and glorified, may we get a whiff of that glory!

Consider/Discuss

What is your initial reaction when you read that we are the dying and those who have gone before us are the living? Does that feel morbid or glorious? How does it change your worldview when you shift that perspective?
Who do you most want to celebrate today on All Saints Day? Which of the Beatitudes does he or she best exemplify?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of glory, you give us so many heroes and heroines of the faith! They toiled for what was right. They fought for justice. Thank you for giving us so many examples of people of holy virtue. They lived and died for you. They knew you and loved you. We want to be saints, too. Lift us higher! Empower our faith! Take us with you to the banquet! Ah, the joy of All Saints!

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The scene in Revelation, which occurs as an interlude in the depiction of apocalyptic judgment, focuses on those who will be protected because of their fidelity to God. The “seal of the living God” is like a signet ring used to claim ownership; those who have been marked with the seal belong to God and are therefore safe. They are among the “great multitude” that includes Christians from beyond ethnic Israel who have “won the victory” and remained faithful during the time of persecution. The robes washed white in the blood of Christ signify renewal, joy, and resurrection; the palms signify victory. Now safe, the faithful worship God with the Lamb, a fitting response to the salvation won from them both.

The First Letter of John has, up to the point of our reading, been developing the theme of “fellowship with God,” which means a sharing in God’s eternal life through Christ. This fellowship is manifested in loving others, repentance, and avoiding sin. To be in fellowship with God means to be a child of God. This places us in the light, in truth and goodness, not in the darkness of moral depravity. The relationship is in place and is safe as long as we remain in fellowship with Christ. Those who have hope in the future glory that they will share with Christ ensure that they are pure, avoiding turning away from Christ and his commandment, which in the Johannine literature is summed up in the phrase “love one another.”

The Beatitudes are, on the one hand, good news of “blessedness.” On the other hand, they make clear that following Jesus is difficult. Poverty of spirit means renunciation of both material and other “possessions.” Meekness, mercy, and peacemaking often go against our desire to strike back or get even. We must work diligently to develop the kind of single-minded devotion to God implied in purity of heart and hunger and thirst for righteousness. And of course, no one seeks persecution and insult. Those who are able, throughout their lives, to finally meet the challenge of the Beatitudes are perhaps few, as Jesus will later warn, but they will indeed be blessed.