Lectionary for Sunday 33
Let us put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the hope of salvation for a helmet. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9
Collect. Lord God, so rule and govern our hearts and minds by your Holy Spirit, that, always keeping in mind the end of all things and the day of judgment, we may be stirred up to holiness of life here, and may live with you for ever in the world to come; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Reading. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. The Letter to the Thessalonians is largely a letter of encouragement to holy living. Through the letter are hints that teaching concerning the end time and the return of Jesus as Lord of the coming kingdom are a cause for concern. (3:13 & 4:13) Paul is reminding the believers of their security in the faith, making the end time a source of comfort rather than a time of anxiety. The Thessalonians are waiting for the return of Christ and Paul is reminding them that he does not need to write anything about this future coming for Jesus himself had said that his return was solely in the Father’s hands. No one knows, and no one is going to know, therefore just be at peace about the return for this will happen only by the Father’s authority. (Acts 1:7) However Christ’s coming will not catch them off guard for though the coming is unknown they have all the information that is needed for them to be fully prepared. All that is needed is for each believer to “keep the faith”. The key phrase is, “let us keep awake and be sober’! Paul’s admonishment is to hold fast to the faith, to love God and love each other, and to live in the comforting hope that the salvation that Jesus won on the cross is securely in place. That salvation is effective for each believer while they live and is also effective after they have passed from this life into the next.
From Paul’s perspective in Jesus Christ God has done everything that was needed to give the believers the full benefits of a life with him, both now and on into the future. At the same time he is emphasising that each believer and the whole company together must also live in the good that God has put in place. The Thessalonians were called by the grace of God from Paganism and the worldly worship of idols, and as they were still living in a society where these things were still in place, the temptation to be drawn back into that kind of life was still very pervasive. That is why Paul reminds them to keep on encouraging each other and so build each other up in the faith.
This was a loving and also an important message of encouragement for the congregation at Thessalonica and it is equally an important message to us today. We too need to celebrate all that God has won for us through Jesus Christ. At the same time we must not become complacent but keep our faith as fresh and vibrant as can be. One day the Lord will return and when that time arrives we will need to be expectant and ready to receive Him.
Prayer. Lord it would hardly be a surprise for us to learn that you had long ago given us up as hopeless. Certainly we ourselves often despair at our lack of wisdom when we remember our reckless and wilful ways of living life. And yet you do not reject us nor would you ever give us up as lost. Rather you have sent Jesus to be our Saviour, a saviour who has changed our future for all time. It is his love which has brought us home to you as children, children who are loved and accepted, and so in you we find perfect hope and security. Gracious God, be with us through the journey of this day; give to us those gifts and skills that we will need to face with confidence all that lies before us. Teach and equip us to do your will not only in our words but in our deeds. May our one desire be to please and honour you as we work and play in obedience to you. For all that you are and all that you have done, we give you all our thanks and praise: Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Reading. Matthew 25:14-30
In our passage for today Matthew is continuing to use parables to describe the reality of the Kingdom. If we look up the definition of the word ‘talent’, we find that to think of it as a natural aptitude or skill is quite a common meaning. In the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans however a talent was a weight of value, usually a weight or gold or silver or even bronze. At the time of Jesus a talent of gold was worth something over 3000 shekels. A shekel was equivalent to a day’s pay for an ordinary workman. Thus a talent would represent the equivalent of a man’s wages for about ten years. To think that anyone would take a gift of such value and find a hiding place for it would be very strange indeed! Even one talent was a treasure trove that by its magnitude opened up a raft of new possibilities. Two talents or five talents put into the hands of those slaves represented unthinkable wealth. Thus the first thing that Jesus hearers would have noted was the amazing generosity of the master. The inference in the text is that the master didn’t just give a portion of his property to the three slaves but entrusted his whole property to them and then shared it out. Having entrusted his property to the slaves the master left them to use the property. They were free to do with the property as they saw fit. At the same time there is a clear understanding in the parable that though the master is absent there will come a time in the future when the master will return.
Each one was given responsibility according to their ability for we understand that each was able to make good use of the opportunity that the master had presented. When the master returned each slave was called on to give an account of the use he had made with the master’s property. Two slaves used their opportunities to good result and increased the master’s property, but one did nothing more than kept the talent safe. The slaves were judged according to their stewardship, two received a blessing while the third received a stern rebuke, indeed this unproductive slave was ejected from the kingdom. .
The parable was a description of preparing for the coming kingdom and as usual Jesus used an idiom that was familiar to the disciples. (John 3:12)
The parable reminds disciples that the Master will one day return and when that happens each disciple will be called on to render an account of how God’s resources have been used. In the telling of this parable Jesus has described the wonderful bounty of God, each slave received a great abundance and with that abundance came great responsibility. It is how we see God that determines how we serve God. Jesus is describing God as both generous and bountiful. When we see God as harsh and unfair then like the third slave we may not serve God at all.
Some had more than others but all had sufficient resources to serve God well. For those who remained in the kingdom their abundance grew on to an even greater abundance; while the one who did not serve the master was bereft, even what they had dwindled away. The parable, like the coming Kingdom is set in the future and as such gives a present day guide to both the nature of God and how we might respond.
Prayer. Holy Lord Jesus, you are the same yesterday today and forever. You live and reign with the Father and your creative power is everlasting. By your sacrifice you have won for all humanity the abundant life that knows no end and so we lift our hands and our hearts in thanksgiving and praise. We live in hope of your triumphant return to a world renewed by your grace. Teach us Good Lord, not only to number our days but to live expectantly, obediently following in your way. To you be all honour and glory, now and forever. Amen
Collect. You are the giver of all good gifts, O God, and you call us to give account; give us responsive hearts and willing hands, that we may know you, the source of our life in Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen.
ericjkirkham.com 