Posts from November 2020

The season of Advent is rich with tradition. However we mark the days of Advent, my hope is that the journey through those days awakens our hearts, minds and spirits to the ways in which God responds to our deepest longings and comes to us anew this season.  Our gospel reading from Mark encourages us to “keep awake,” to pay attention because God is about to do a remarkable thing.

This king is not about the crown.  This king is not about the power.  This king is not about dominion.  This king and this kingdom are marked by values that are altogether different.  

What is it we’ve been given and what is the end result if all we do is keep it safe? Our scripture reading for this week is the Parable of the Talents. It’s another parable that may leave us scratching our heads in wonder. The master leaves and entrusts his entire estate to his servants. Two of the servants invest what’s been entrusted to their care and one, afraid of the master, buries what he’s received in the ground until the master returns. While the first two servants are rewarded, the third servant is called worthless (ouch) and thrown into the outer darkness.

Our scripture reading for this coming Sunday is all about being prepared.  It’s a parable toward the end of Matthew’s gospel and one in a set of three parables that focuses on what’s called the Parousia or the “end times.” We’ve all experienced, and are likely still experiencing, the heaviness of these days that mirror back to us our deep divisions.  How might Jesus’ words from this quirky and unsettling parable give us guidance, inspiration…light?