Scriptures for Sunday, November 15, 2020
Judges 4
Psalm 123
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11
Matthew 25: 14-30
In the week of our Annual Meeting, I was reading this week’s lesson from 1 Thessalonians and then I read on a little further.  This word from Paul is far better than anything I could hope to write, so I decided to lay it out here, in hopes that you will enjoy it and celebrate the way that we fulfill it:
[E]ncourage one another and
     build up each other,
         as indeed you are doing. 
But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters,
     to respect those who labor among you,
          and have charge of you in the Lord
               and admonish you;
                     esteem them very highly in love
                           because of their work. 
Be at peace among yourselves.
And we urge you, beloved,
     to admonish the idlers,
     encourage the fainthearted, help the weak,
     be patient with all of them.
See that none of you repays evil for evil,
     but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
     give thanks in all circumstances;
           for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 
Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise the words of prophets,
     but test everything;
            hold fast to what is good;
                  abstain from every form of evil.
                                 - 1 Thessalonians 5: 11 – 22
 
Thank You to all of you who showed up, and to all of you who get involved in the work of the church.  It can make us nervous and it can take up quite a chunk of our time, but the benefits are out of this world !  (ha!)
I’m writing to you on Veterans’ Day, which brings me many different kinds of thoughts.
You have probably noticed that the majority of the men who regularly attend Bethel are military veterans.  It doesn’t take much of a leap of imagination to connect those two facts.  People who have served a cause greater than themselves are more likely to go on to serve other causes greater than themselves.  It’s also a generational thing:  the younger folks are much less likely to be veterans, and also somewhat less likely to be “joiners”— to find fulfillment in group activities.  Observing this connection between being veterans and faithfulness to the church begs the question: How can our congregation be built of faithful people in the future ?
I am proud of the veterans I know, and those I have known in the past.  I love to listen to their stories and the extraordinary, hard-won life-lessons they’ve learned.  I have no doubt that sometimes our nation needs fighters to achieve good goals for us and for humankind.
At the same time, I continue to be troubled by the differences between the Old Testament message about violence and the message of Jesus and the Apostles.  In the Old Testament, it seems that God often commands His chosen people to fight—literally, physically fight— against human enemies.  But in the New Testament, Jesus goes meekly to his death and tells Peter, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”  (Matthew 26:52)  And, much more fundamentally, he tells his followers, “I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer....  Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you....”  (Matthew 5:39, 44)  These and numerous other instructions in the New Testament are the reason why, in the early centuries of Christianity, Christians urged one another not to become soldiers.  But as their governments “converted” to Christianity, the church’s teaching about military service shifted.
For my part, I am thankful that many of you answered the call to serve this nation in the military.  I believe that your service has made the world a better place and accomplished some righteous purposes.
This week’s Old Testament lesson is quite a war story, though a weird one.  Deborah, a Judge and Prophetess in Israel, called a veteran named Barak, to get him to lead an army of liberation against Canaanites who were oppressing their people.  When Barak replied that he would do it only if she went with him, Deborah prophesied that “there will be no glory for you in the course you are taking....”  But Barak was OK with that.  He did his duty.    (Judges 4:6 – 24)

Scriptures for Sunday, November 8, 2020
Joshua 24: 1-3, 14-25
Psalm 78: 1-7
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18
Matthew 25: 1-13

The foolish said to the wise,
“Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” 
 
But the wise replied,
“No! there will not be enough for you and for us;
you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.”                                                     -Matthew 25: 8 – 9
Last week in ZOOM Sunday School, we were reading in John chapter 13 about Jesus tenderly washing the feet of his disciples.  The question came up, Why is that story only found in John’s gospel ?  It seems to be so important, when Jesus commands the disciples to do the same for one another, and to love one another.  Why are the four gospels so different from each other ?  They all share some things in common with each other, but each one also includes a number of stories and sayings that are unique to itself.
Since Advent, last Fall, we have read a lot of Matthew’s gospel.  This gospel has a peculiar kind of Jewish focus, with emphasis on ways that Jesus’ life, ministry, and sacrificial death fulfill the ancient Jewish prophecies.  And, as I pointed out in a sermon, recently, sometimes in Matthew (for example, Matthew 22:1-13), we hear stories or parables from Jesus that have a more bitter, un-godly tinge to them.  
This week’s gospel lesson is that story of the wise and the foolish virgins, Matthew 25:1-13.   This story has some themes in common with stories Jesus told in Luke’s gospel (21:6-36), and with warnings that Jesus gives in various parts of John’s gospel, but its tone is much more stark than the others.  Jesus is talking to the crowds in Jerusalem about destruction which would take place in the future, and how faithful people should prepare themselves to be on God’s side when all things get sorted-out.  Over the centuries, preachers have interpreted the “oil” for the lamps as the grace which God imparts to His people. 
So, on the surface of the story Jesus told, it appears that the ‘wise virgins’ are being harsh toward the ‘foolish virgins.’  Does Jesus mean that God’s prepared people should be cold and rude to the unprepared people around us ?  Is it right for us to tell them, “Go, get your own oil !”
The real-world truth is, there is no substitute for each person getting grace directly from God.  A Christian may graciously reach out to some desperate soul in an attempt to help them be ‘saved,’ but the One who ‘saves’ is not the Christian: rather, it is the Christ.  He is the “Oil Dealer,” the only One Who can supply what you need.  The best that a Christian can do is to effectively connect the other person to the heavenly “Oil Dealer,” the God of Grace.
The old song put it this way:
Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning !
Give me oil in my lamp, I pray !
Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning,
Keep me burning ‘til the break of day !
 
So here we are, in the wake of a national election, wondering how things will be sorted-out.  What does the future hold for our nation, for our Commonwealth, for our community ?  We Christians are supposed to be the ‘wise virgins,’ un-stained by the world, spiritually prepared to go into the Bridegroom’s house whenever the moment may come.  How are we doing ?  Are we as nervous and up-shook as the worldly people around us ?  Or are we well-oiled and serene, confident that the Oil Dealer has supplied our need ?
In our local congregation, we are also at a moment of decisions, with our Annual Meeting coming, this Sunday.  With the onset of the Corona Virus Disease- 2019, we ‘punted’ our Annual Meeting from the third Sunday in May to the second Sunday in November.  Our meeting this week will lack some of the trappings we have come to expect: everyone gathered, close together, in one room; the remnants of a pleasant little meal in our bellies; the satisfaction of being face-to-face with our church’s elected leaders, to get answers to questions and to make fresh suggestions; and more.  We will be missing some saints who cannot be among us in the flesh at this time.  And it’s November, for heaven’s sake, not May!  Talk about a time change !  This is ridiculous !
All the while, the Bridegroom is still on His way, to open the door and lead us into the wedding banquet.  How can we ever be ready ? 
Let us pray for God to give more grace.
... [w]e will be with the Lord forever. 
Therefore encourage one another with these words. 
                                 - 1 Thessalonians 4: 17 – 18