The Venerable Bede,
the famous historian of early British Christianity, records the story of a monk
named Paulinus who accompanies Ethelburga, the sister of the King of Kent in
Southeast England, on her journey north to marry Edwin, the king of Northumbria.
The year is 625 AD. King Edwin is not a
Christian, and Edwin is told this story in his meeting with Paulinus:
One evening, a sparrow
flies into the king’s great banquet hall through one of the open doors, coming in
from of the dark and cold, staying only briefly in the warmth and light of the
hall, and then flying out of another door on the far side. It is the same with humankind, Edwin is
told. We are on this earth for only a
brief while; what goes on before this life or what follows it, we seemingly know
little.
Like the sparrow, few
of us stop to consider the meaning of this curious journey we are on, this brief
span of consciousness we experience in this life, nor do we consider where we are headed
as we, like the sparrow, fly out through the door into whatever lies ahead.
We Christians,
however, are not totally in the dark about such things. God reveals to us the purpose
of this life and the realities of the next. We have a God who not only chooses to reveal these
things to us, but also invites us to seek after these things, because these things
are what endure and are eternal. “Seek
first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will be added
unto you,” Jesus tells us in Matthew 6. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:18 writes,
“Look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient,
but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
On these final Sundays
of the Church Year, our lectionary always takes us on an exploration of these “things
eternal.” The readings tend to be about the Last Things and the End Time when
you and I will fly from this life into the next. The ancient Hebrews called this
time the “Day of the Lord,” and we Christians know the central event of the Day
of the Lord is the second coming of Christ. Christ’s first coming, which we celebrate at
Christmas, is all about God coming among us to offer forgiveness, salvation, and
eternal life. Christ’s second coming is
to judge the living and the dead, as our Creeds say. At His second coming, Jesus will usher in God’s
kingdom which will have no end.
Let’s look again at today’s
readings and see what they tell us about the End Times and this great and often
dreaded “Day of the Lord:”
· The Prophet Zephaniah this morning (Zeph 1:7, 12-18) tells the
people of Jerusalem that the “Day of the Lord” is nearer than they think, and
that it is going to be a day of judgement and doom. Why Doom? Have the people
of Jerusalem not been faithful or obedient?
The answer is no, they have not. At
Daily Morning Prayer over the last several months here at Holy Trinity, our
lectionary has taken us through much of the history books of the Old Testament-
1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. If you have been tracking these morning readings
with us, then you know that the Israelites have not been faithful and they have
lived life on their terms, not God’s terms.
We have read about the great consequences of this.
· Moving on the Psalm 90, the psalmist writes in v.4, “For a
thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past …” v.8- “You have set our iniquities before
you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.” The psalmist sees God’s judgement as coming
surely and swiftly and appeals to the Lord in v.12 to “teach us to number
our days that we may have a heart of wisdom.”
The palm is about our need for Godly wisdom to live rightly and make
the most of this brief and fleeting life God has given us.
· Looking again at our Thessalonian reading today (1 Thessalonians
5:1-10), Paul says that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. We need to be alert and ready. We need to put on the breastplate of faith
and love, and the helmet of hope and salvation. In v.9, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that
God has not destined them for wrath, but for the redemption from their sins through
our Lord Jesus. In the broader context
of his letter, we see that Paul reveals that one of the weaknesses of the Thessalonian
church is that they tended to be too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good;
so, Paul reminds them that they have God’s work yet to do in this life.
·
And finally, in our Gospel reading (Matt 25:14-30), Jesus
gives us the Parable of the Talents.
This parable is grouped with other sayings and parables in Matthew chapters
24 and 25, all dealing with the End Times. Chapter 25 has 3 of Jesus’ very
powerful and poignant parables: They are The Parable of the Ten Virgins; this
parable today; and The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. If you want to know some of what Jesus has to
say about the age to come in relation to our present age, then take a few
minutes and read these two chapters in Matthew.
Looking at the Parable
of the Talents allegorically, we see that:
• The master, who is going on a journey, is Jesus himself.
• The five, two, and one talents
given to the three servants represent the blessings and talents given to all of
us in this life, whether big or small, whether financial, intellectual, physical,
or spiritual gifts, whatever.
• The master’s journey is Jesus’ ascension into heaven following his
First Coming. The master’s return from his journey is Jesus’ Second Coming.
• And finally, the
master’s judgement of his servants is Jesus judging you and me for what we have
done or left undone in this life. For two of His servants, the master says, “well
done, good and faithful servant, but the third He tells that he will be cast into
outer darkness where there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (This passage
always reminds me of the cartoon strip in which a young boy comes home from
Sunday school and informs his mother that Jesus said there will be time when
there will be wailing and snatching out of teeth.)
At this point, you
might be thinking “Hey, wait a minute preacher, I thought forgiveness and salvation
were free gifts of God’s grace. So, what’s
all this talk about being judged for what we do or don’t do in this life?” Are we earning our salvation?
Good
question, and the answer is no. We are
not earning our salvation but responding to our salvation. Let me share another allegory I heard that may
offer us a Godly perspective: Our salvation
and our relationship with Christ is like a powerful and magnificent ship built
by God’s own loving hands. The ship, however,
is not useful to God if it stays in the harbor.
Our Life in Christ is to be lived to the glory of God, to the furthering
of His Kingdom, and for the salvation of those who have not yet heard the Good
News. In the case of the third servant
who is cast out, I would conclude that his disobedience was a sign that he did
not have a faith relationship with the master to begin with.
So, in summing all
this up, let me say the following:
- · Like the sparrow’s brief flight through the banquet hall, our lives in this world
are transient and quickly passing away. Our focus needs to be on things that
will not pass away.
· Secondly, Jesus is clear that what we do or don’t do here in this life
has eternal consequences.
·
And finally, we, above all, are to be faithful and
productive followers of Christ. We have work
to do in this life. Our talents,
resources and circumstances are different for each of us, but one thing we have
in common is that we are all called to use them to God’s glory and to the spreading
of God’s reign here on Earth.
Therefore, beginning today, make your life count for the Kingdom;
after all, you only have one brief shot at it.
The Word of God for the people of God. Amen
