This Is Me: Wisdom of Readiness

The Twenty-third Sunday of Pentecost

**Please note this service is based on the format of the Anglican Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and the hymns from the Book of Common Praise (BCP). Other hymns and prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.

**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.

**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray.

You let us choose, O God, between you and the false gods of this world. In the midst of the night of sin and death, wake us from our slumber and call us forth to greet Christ, so that with eyes and hearts fixed on him, we may follow to eternal light. Amen. (Revised Common Lectionary Prayers)

Opening Hymn – At the Name of Jesus (BCP #375)

Listen Here

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

Collect for Purity

Listen Here

The Gloria

Listen Here

Collect of the Day

Let us pray.

Eternal God, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Readings

A reading from the Book of Joshua 24:1-3, 14-25

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac;

“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be the God.

Psalm 78:1-7

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

things that we have heard and known,

that our ancestors have told us.

We will not hide them from their children;

we will tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

He established a decree in Jacob,

and appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach to their children;

that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and rise up and tell them to their children,

so that they should set their hope in God,

and not forget the works of God,

but keep his commandments.

A reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians 4:13-18

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gradual Hymn – Rejoice Today with One Accord (BCP #318)

Listen Here

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. 25:1-13

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 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.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

The Gospel of Christ.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Sermon

Guest speaker - Joan Merton

May the words that are written here and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

As a young child the Bible was a fascinating story book in my mind and I especially loved the parables. I remember thinking this one was like a fairytale, ten beautiful bridesmaids all carry burning lamps and awaiting the excitement of the arrival of the groom and an impending wedding and celebration. However just as is the case in many of the parables there is no fairytale ending to the story of the bridesmaids. Like many of the other parables it contradicts our hopes, our expectations, even our values.

This parable teaches us the importance of vigilance in an uncertain time and illustrates how one is able to “endure to the end” (Matthew24: 13). This is a very important reminder in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic we all find ourselves in. We all need to be vigilant in so many ways right now. Early Christians would have been reminded that the return of Jesus might happen suddenly so it was important to be alert and this reminder is just as important today.

We all know the story about the ten bridesmaids. Five were wise and made sure they had enough oil for their lamps if there was a delay and five were foolish and did not prepare for any delays in the arrival of the groom. However this is the only difference between the bridesmaids. Otherwise all the bridesmaids act the same. They all arrive on time, wait for the groom’s arrival, get tired and fall asleep. When they awaken they all trim their lamps but when the bridegroom arrives the foolish ones do not have enough oil and their lamps are going out. The wise ones will not share so they are forced to go to the supplier to get more oil. So preparation is the only real distinction between the two groups. Unfortunately for the five foolish bridesmaids when they arrive the bridegroom says he does not know them and will not let them enter.

So some may ask, if the grace of Christ is free why then was the door shut against the unwise? Truly His grace is free, offered, “without money and without price: but it is not a gift to man without any response on man’s part. Each man must receive and appropriate it. Christ cannot forgive, for instance, without our acceptance and trust, or without willingness on our part to forgive our neighbours. This response cannot be shared or borrowed, at least not in full. We do not need money, we only need to bring ourselves. Nobody can go for us.

“Truly I tell you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25:12). It appears unusual that the bridegroom says he does not know the five foolish bridesmaids. They all must have been friends of the bride. It begs the question of what is it to know and be known by the bridegroom and what is it to know and to be recognized by the one called Lord? This question requires a lot of ardent prayer and a deeper understanding of God, one that we need to work on throughout our life.

The most important lesson this parable teaches us is that it is not up to us to decide who is wise and who is foolish. Even the five wise bridesmaids did not judge the five foolish ones. They just refused to share their oil with them. The church remains always a mixed community so making the center of interpretation the issue of the foolish or wise would miss the point of the parable because all the bridesmaids were familiar with the bridegroom.

This quote from Greg Carey is very relevant, “The parable of the bridesmaids isn’t necessarily arbitrary, but it is challenging. It calls Jesus’s disciples to a state of constant alertness, of perpetual openness to God’s dramatic future. We’re talking about living with a keen awareness of Jesus’ return, an alertness tempered by preparation for a long haul.”

Lord, make us aware of our weaknesses and vulnerability and help us to overcome our temptations as your only Son, our Saviour did. May we carry the Spirit within our hearts, spreading the Good News to everyone we encounter by our words and deeds. Amen.

Affirmation of Faith

The Prayers of the People

(From Intercessions for the Christian People)

The day of the Lord is soon upon us, a day not of wrath but of salvation. As children of the light and of the day, let us await the coming of the Lord in prayer on behalf of the human family around the world, saying: O God, for the sake of Christ, have mercy on us.

Let us pray for those who are not ready for the coming of the Lord, for the unbelieving, the skeptical, the scorners, that they may be brought to faith and rejoice to confess the name of the Lord.