2nd Sunday before Advent as we prepare for the Birth of the Son! Prepare!
Preparation
Time. 2nd Sunday before
Advent- Gospel Matthew 25
The First
Lesson (First Set of Propers)
Isaiah
2:6-19
Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob,
because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the
Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their
land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their
treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their
chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own
hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man boweth down,
and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. Enter into the
rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his
majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men
shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the
day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and
upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the
cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of
Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted
up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the
ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man
shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And
they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for
fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake
terribly the earth.
St.
Matthew 25:14-29
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far
country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And
unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man
according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he
that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them
other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other
two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his
lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and
reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought
other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents:
behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him,
Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy
lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou
deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside
them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter
thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came
and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast
not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went
and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord
answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that
I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest
therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I
should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him,
and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall
be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be
taken away even that which he hath.
The
Gospel for today not too easy to interpret, but necessary for us to hear as we come to Advent
( the 4 Sundays that focus on the 1st and 2nd Coming of
our Lord) in two weeks—Nov 29 Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent. I think it should be seen in its context, of
Matthew 24 as well the other Parables in Matthew 25. One of the key verses in ch. 24 is vs 42 “ Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
We used to have an expression in the military, “ Hey YOU” that was
not something you wanted to hear. Instead
of preparing people for the job, the 1st SGT usually would say “ hey
you “to Soldiers and they had to respond.
Would it not have been easier to prepare them by calling them earlier
and saying what they wanted? For some of
us life can be a “ Hey You” instead of a gentle call to duty.
Who of us to use another
example prepares for a meal by just waiting till the last minute before the
guests arrive? Oh, I forgot the
Turkey! Oh, I forgot the gravy! You get my drift. One of the ways to prepare
for Advent is to hear what the
Scriptures are saying to us about the Coming of Christ. Today I focus on the parable of the Talents
as the Gospel for this Sunday. We will
see a parable about amounts and how they were used, and this has application to
us today. They were not talents in the English sense of the word but they were
a weight. A Talent was about 75 pounds.
1. Now to
the parable. The Man calls his servants and gives them different amounts. Note vs 15 He gave “ to every man according
to his several ability.”
He goes on a journey. This
is a picture of Christ before He returns to judge. We all have different
weights. Some of us are better at some things than others.
One got 5 talents, one two and one only one. Each had an amount to share and reproduce . Apparently
two of them were good stewards of what had been given.
I wonder how many of us have abilities we have never exercised? One commentator stresses that whatever the
talents are, they are like money a living thing. One of my teachers at seminary used to say we
all have 24 hours in the day to do what God is calling us to do.
I Corinthians the Apostle talks about different gifts that Christians
have….one body, many members. Ch . 12
Remember the illustration of the farmer and the cows that were
growing. Why is one fatter? The one grows the most that I feeds the most
is the answer. What part of our lives
are we feeding? If we are feeding anger
and hostility that will grow. “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and
received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with
you. “ Philippians 4:8
Can we say that it is not so much what we do as
how do it? One Church I was in many
years ago was an example of what not to do in treating others. One person seemed to know it all about the
Christmas decorations and they had exact ideas as to what had to go where. No one else was invited to the Greening of
the Church and that one person and a helper did it all. Was that the spirit of
Christmas preparation? Oh sure, they all
got up but no one had a say but one person.
That was not fun , and it was a situation of who is in charge and we all know who that
is! It was not what you call practicing
the Golden Rule at all. I was only
invited to watch and barely help in the fun.
It was no fun. How can someone
make Christmas no fun? But that person
did in my opinion. I was gone a year or
so after what I saw could not be changed in sadness because so many people
could have been blessed if they did not care who got the credit.
I have been in other places to give a positive
example where we all knew who was in charge but this person, who happened to be a Pastor made us all feel as
though we were part of a team. He knew who was good at what , and he was good
at enabling others to do things for the Glory of God! When he left for a job in
Church Administration , we all were sad at his going because no one seemed as
dear to us as he was. TEAM= Together Everyone Accomplished More.
Lastly we must say something about the person
given the one talent. Instead of multiplying it even though it was small he hoarded
it. He had several excuses. He blamed
the management and then he used the excuse of fear. So he buried the one talent he had! Was he afraid of losing control? He was
determined to run his own life. He
ventured nothing and got nothing!
What happened v. 28? The Manager takes it away. Lloyd Ogilvie
says, “ An untested, uninvested faith is no faith at all. Many of those who join the Church say yes to
carefully worded questions about their belief in Christ, but then go on living
self-dominated lives. When problems and challenges hit, they endure them as
before, under their own control. Should that
faith be taken from them? That’s really
not necessary because it was never genuine faith at all.”
As get ready to prepare for Christmastide
during the Advent Season ( this is pre-Advent), may we be cognizant of our own
shortcomings, our lack of love and trust in God alone who can bring about the changes
we want to see in our own lives and in the lives of others!
To God Be the Glory!
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