Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Third Sunday before Advent, which is also Remembrance Sunday.
Today we have only one Service in the parish, at 9.15 am at St Thomas' Church, before assembling at Lees Library at 10.10 am to process to the War Memorial at Lees Cemetery for the Act of Remembrance at 10.30 am.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "The Lord's My Shepherd"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 25:1-13 The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids
‘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.
Reflection
There is a familiar idiom I’m sure many of you know, “Time Flies”. Some people associate it with having a good time, hence the phrase - time flies when you’re having fun.
The term originates from the Latin expression ‘tempus fugit’, meaning “time escapes” or “time runs away.” This perhaps sums up how others may perceive time - where we associate it with the endless state of busyness we seem to have in our lives. The vast amount of things on our daily ‘to do list’ that leaves little time for personal matters or relaxation, let alone considering our spiritual well-being. There are times when we may get to a point when we just wish there were another twelve hours in the day.
This is not necessarily because we are bad at organising things, even people who like to plan things out meticulously find themselves in the position where time just seems to run out. Have you ever been in a position where despite having set aside what you thought was plenty of time, suddenly everything is the last minute? Often because, despite our best intentions, we get distracted.
I remember once when I was much younger, getting ready to go on holiday. Everything was planned out - I was packed 2 days before the holiday, taxi booked for the airport a day in advance, I had checklists for everything I needed to take with me, (tickets, passport, money etc.). Additional lists for the things I needed to do at the last minute, (ensure all door and windows secure, appliances turned off, boiler set etc.). Nothing could go wrong. But during the day I couldn’t resist the urge to check my work email; (even though I was on holiday). Before I realised it, I had got involved in all sorts of issues at work. Eventually a couple of hours before I was due to leave, I sat down for five minutes to have a brew and relax. An hour later I heard the doorbell. I must have fallen asleep and the taxi driver was waiting outside.
All the planning and good intentions were for nothing. I was plunged into a state of anxiety and rushing around. The first part of my holiday was just overtaken by stress and utter panic. Fortunately my preparation did just about leave me enough time to get to the airport.
In the parable of the ten bridesmaids, Jesus warns us that we must all be ready for his return. It is set in the context of a Jewish wedding feast. It was common at that time for such feasts to last several days, even a week. There was point in the festivities where the bridegroom would come and collect the bride and the bridesmaids and they would process to the main feast and ceremony although the exact time would not be known. However, whenever it happened, at this time, everyone was expected to be ready. The underlying message of this parable is not a criticism on the foolish bridesmaids for falling asleep, but a judgement that they failed to prepare for something really special that they knew was going to happen.
The wise ones have equipped themselves with enough oil to keep their torches burning no matter how long they had to wait. The foolish ones had not thought that far ahead and had only brought a small supply of oil. The judgment of the parable is this: The five foolish bridesmaids have left it too late to prepare for something they knew was going to happen, even if they didn’t know exactly when.
Jesus has made it clear that he is coming again to meet us and we must be ready and prepared for his coming again, even though we don’t know when that will be.
But what does being prepared mean? It is more than having a case packed as though we are going on a trip. Maybe with a bible, a few prayer books and some religious symbols such as a cross.
Being prepared in the way Jesus means is a bit more complicated. I suspect none of us can truly feel that we will be fully prepared for when he arrives, nor do we understand what to expect. I also suspect that we may feel unready because of our failings and weaknesses.
So what then might we do to be as prepared as we can? Be prepared in this case is not a single event, or task we need to do like buying a ticket or packing sun lotions. It’s a journey – a journey of preparation that helps us grow in faith as we wait. It’s about the things we can do to grow spiritually and looking for ways to become the people God wants us to be. It's about making time in our lives to learn about the message of the Gospel and living the values that Jesus showed us.
What we can do, is to remember we are always on the journey throughout our lives. We can always be looking for ways to grow spiritually and towards becoming the people God means us to be. We can always be learning more about God, about the message of Jesus and about living out that message in our daily lives.
No matter how busy we may be, we need to make time to prepare for when Jesus returns. In our busy lives it is often the case that the things we put off or set aside are the things that are most important to our well-being.
One of the things we cannot afford to put aside is our spiritual well-being. As Jesus says, “be ready because you don’t know when you’re going to be called upon to meet me”. After more than two thousand years it perhaps seems difficult to grasp that Jesus Christ could return at any moment. But we simply do not know – as Matthew says in the previous chapter; “no one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” [Matt. 24:36].
Jesus encourages us to watch and wait, and to continue to prepare ourselves and our souls spiritually by continually building our faith in God - because when the time comes we cannot borrow someone else’s faith. We will either be prepared or we won’t. Let us therefore watch and wait and prepare every day for the time when we know we will all encounter God in Jesus. Let us be wise and not foolish. Rev Paul
Our Prayers
Heavenly Father,
Help us to grow in faith day by day.
Fill our lamps with the oil of faith, love, and perseverance.
Guard our hearts from the distractions of life;
Help us to prepare for our Lord’s return.
Give us wisdom to set aside time for prayer,
obedience and reflection on your word.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "Lead us, Heavenly Father, Lead us"
Notices
Next week is our 'Everyone Together' Service at St Thomas' Church at 11.15 am, and there will be no service at St Agnes'.
