Post Communion Sentence

God of peace, whose Son Jesus Christ proclaimed the kingdom and restored the broken to wholeness of life: look with compassion on the anguish of the world, and by your healing power make whole both people and nations; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
 

Commentary

There are two weeks left until the Christian music event ‘BED:ROCK’. A year of faithful preparation and the waiting is almost over. Will people come? Will they get excited by the Good News? Will lives be changed? For those of us involved in BED:ROCK it’s zero hour … judgement time.

We’ve all had big events in our lives like weddings, baptisms, presentations, projects, etc, that have been planned and waited for and so we can relate to the themes of faithfulness, preparation, watchfulness, and judgement that run through this week’s readings.

The Old Testament sees Joshua bringing the tribes of Israel together to celebrate the covenant, a promise that requires fidelity and commitment to God from the Israelites in return for God’s love and faithfulness to his people. Needless to say, the rest of the Old Testament neatly chronicles how God’s chosen people go and make a hash of it, continually failing him.

In Thessalonians, Paul deals with the difficult early church problem that Jesus should have returned to his believers by now, but he hadn’t, and church members were now dying … had they got it wrong? Were the faithful departed going to miss out on the eternal party (if and when) Jesus finally came back? Despite their faithfulness, was all this waiting in vain?

Finally, in a parable peculiar to Matthew, we see the themes of faithfulness and waiting emerge again. In Jewish wedding custom, the bridesmaids journey via the longest route possible to the home of the newly-weds, to await the bridegroom who could arrive at anytime … or not. When the groom eventually arrived the doors would be locked, starting a week-long knees-up. If you hadn’t made it to the house by the time the groom arrived (due to an unfortunate oil-related mishap or such like) it was a case of ‘your names not down your not coming in’.

The striking theme is that of final judgement. You’re a bridesmaid at a Jewish wedding, you should’ve known the drill! Not enough oil? How could you be so foolish? No borrowing some from a wise bridesmaid or popping to the corner-shop for a refill. After all, the Jewish concept of ‘Wisdom’ was something readily available to all in order to help with the practical pressures of life, as well as a source of support in times of trouble. All that waiting, just to miss out on the party because you left your oil preparations a bit too late - sounds like hell to me…

If we take the bridegroom to represent Jesus, the bridesmaids the church, and the oil our good works, then the parable, with the Old Testament and Epistle readings, give us a stark warning. We are still waiting for Jesus, we are still called to be faithful to him and show his love to the world by the way we live. We don’t know when he will return and we don’t know how long we have been given to do his work. We have the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide us, and we can’t rely on others or our good intentions, to get us into the party while we pop to the shop or have a well-deserved power-nap.

The wait may be long and the night may be dark, but the bridegroom will come and there will be a party. In the meantime, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “it may be that the day of judgement will dawn tomorrow; in that case, we shall gladly stop working for a better future. But not before.” Isn’t it time you checked your oil?   James Robinson-Morley

“Lord awaken us to your glory.
Open our eyes to your presence,
Open our ears to your call,
Open our hearts to your love,
That we may give ourselves to you,
And work to your praise and glory. Amen”
 

Meditation

On the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the throne passed to the son of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. Uniting the two thrones would eventually lead to the joining of Scotland, England and Wales to form “Great Britain”. King James enforced some harsh anti-Catholic laws. A small group of Catholics conspired together in what is now known as the “Gunpowder Plot”. They placed 36 barrels of gunpowder in cellars underneath the House of Lords in the British Parliament. Guy Fawkes was to be the one who would light the fuse. It was intended that the explosion would kill the king and members of the Lords and Commons as they gathered for the State Opening of Parliament. One of the conspirators leaked details of the Plot, and Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellars. He was arrested, tortured and executed, along with the other conspirators. Parliament decreed that, from then on, bonfires should be lit each year on the 5th of November to celebrate the deliverance from the “Gunpowder Plot”. Nowadays a “guy” is often still burnt as a reminder of Guy Fawkes. In our own times, on the night before the State Opening of Parliament, there is a symbolic searching of the cellars of Parliament by the ceremonial ‘Yeomen of the Guard’, bearing lanterns.

Let us pray: God our Father, open our eyes to whatever may not be just and right in our own surroundings and in our society. Enable us to be of good influence and work in a non-violent way to promote understanding and better relationships that will lead to justice and peace. Amen.

Hymns

1. Blessed assurance

2. Give me oil in my lamp

3. Be thou my vision

4. Love divine all loves excelling

5. O happy Day

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Trimming our Lamps 
In our reading from Matthew today Jesus uses the setting of a wedding to contrast wisdom and foolishness. In chapter 7:24-27 Jesus had already spoken about the wise man building on the rock and the foolish man building on sand. Now Jesus uses another illustration and speaks about wise bridesmaids and foolish ones. 
What makes the bridesmaids wise? It is because, unlike the foolish virgins, they have the foresight to take flasks of oil to replenish their lamps. 
The wise bridesmaids sleep, but first they prepare fully for the bridegroom's arrival. They have lamps and oil, so they are set to greet the bridegroom no matter when he might arrive. They make themselves ready for the coming of the groom and that is a sensible thing to do, that is the point of this parable.  
It is in the self-interest of the bridesmaids to be ready, because the bridegroom's coming will signal the beginning of a great and joyous festival and they would not want to miss it. The theme is to be prepared for a great and wonderful thing, not for the worst but for the best. 
Matthew wrote his Gospel a half-century after the resurrection, and there would have been those who thought that the words of Jesus were a hoax and they might as well give up. You can hear the pessimists ‘he’s not coming, we might as well give up.’ So Matthew recalls these words of Jesus to encourage the church to maintain its vigil, even though they are tiring of maintaining an "alert status."  
So we are the bridesmaids, the Groom is Jesus, the wedding feast is the great and joyous occasion in which Christ comes for his church -- the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). The delay of the bridegroom corresponds to the delay of the Second Coming, the bridegroom's arrival in the dark of night is the Second Coming itself. The closing of the door is the final judgment.
But what is the oil ? If the thrust of this story is that we must be prepared with oil for Christ's coming, what is the oil? 
Luther said that it was faith. John Wesley said that the lamp was faith and the oil in it was love. Others have identified it as piety, good works, a personal relationship with the Lord, or a host of other possibilities. 
In the Parable of the Faithful and Unfaithful Slave (24:45-51), the faithful slave is the one found at work when the master returns. Being prepared -- having oil -- means working faithfully for the Lord. 
In the Parable of the Talents (25:14-30), the faithful slaves use wisely the resources entrusted to their care. Being prepared -- having oil -- means practicing good stewardship, good ecological practices, careful management of our time and money, generosity to those in need, proclamation of the Word, The possibilities go on and on. 
In the Judgment of the Nations (25:31-46), the Son of Man rewards those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, take care of the sick, and visit the prisoner, which corresponds nicely with what Jesus identified in this Gospel as the greatest commandment, to love God and neighbour (22:37-40). Being prepared -- having oil -- means generosity to those in need.
In the wider context of this Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7) gives us great insight into Christ's expectations. Being prepared - having oil - means obeying Jesus' teachings. 
The point is made that it is not good enough to become a Christian. Just because we become a Christian does not mean that we will be ready to greet Christ when he comes. No more than becoming a bridesmaid meant that those bridesmaids were ready. Becoming a Christian and recognising the importance of making a decision to follow Christ is important, but it requires a corresponding growth in discipleship. We all need to trim our lamps. Charles Royden

Meditation  This time of year is Remembrance Sunday when we acknowledge the cost of war to those who have fought on our behalf. 
As we honour those who suffered and died in the two World Wars and conflicts since, we pray also for those of us on whom today's conflict makes most demands: our political decision makers, members of our armed forces involved in the military action, and their families. 
Just now our peace is more threatened than we perhaps imagine. Peace-making in such a situation will require great wisdom, energy courage and patience. Yet Christians are not to give up hope. In Christ there is unlimited peace-making and we can pray for peace on earth and ask that it starts in our own lives and relationships.

O God our help 358
Give thanks with a grateful heart (On service sheet) 
God of grace 712 
Thy hand O God 784
Our eyes have seen 242

O almighty God and most merciful Father, as we remember your servants, remembering with gratitude their courage and strength, we hold before you those who mourn them. Look upon your bereaved servants with your mercy. As this day brings them memories of those they have lost awhile, may it also bring your consolation and the assurance that their loved ones are alive now and forever in your living presence. Amen

Lord God, fear comes in many guises into our lives. It is legion: the fear of the unknown which blights our vision, the fear of pain which narrows our world, the fear of failure which challenges our confidence. In this time of tragedy, In this time of anger, In this time of grief, In this time of doubt, come to us as the Father who stands alongside, as the Son who brings hope, as the Spirit who brings healing.
We pray for those who think evil actions are justifiable and those whose hearts and minds are hard against humanity. Stop them when we cannot, forgive them when we cannot. Transform them when we cannot. Prepare us for the world ahead, to work for peace, to strive for justice, to change our ways and to receive the gifts of grace and courage and faith. For Christ's sake. Amen.
 

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