The 26th Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 28A), Nov. 13, 2005
BCP: Zeph. 1:7,12-18; Psalm 90 or 90:1-8,12; 1 Thess. 5:1-10; Matt. 25:14-15,19-29
RCL: Judges 4:1-7 or Zeph. 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 123 or 90:1-8, (9-11), 12; 1 Thess. 5:1-11; Matt. 25:14-30
We have a difficult time with God having anger. When it comes to the wrath of God, his promise of dark days, his anger, and sudden destruction, we try to make them disappear. If the references come in hymns, we give them asterisks so they can be bypassed. If they come up in lessons, we merely delete them from the reading.
The lessons for this week give a full dosage of these themes. They challenge us deeply.
Zephaniah concentrates on the day of the Lord. The day will be bitter, a day of wrath and anguish, of fiery passion. The end will be a terrible one for all the inhabitants of the earth. It seems so unfair to tarnish our lovely ideas of the end of time. We want to look forward to an eternity of happy reunions with family and friends. Don’t count on it, says the prophet.
The psalmist, reflecting on the years of his life, sees not just the shortness of his span of years. He sees his life in the presence of the holy God and faces the anger, the wrath, and the consuming displeasure of God.
Paul’s warns of the dark side of God in his exhortation to the Thessalonians. The day of the Lord will be like a thief in the night who will bring sudden destruction, not at all the peace and security we assume.
How can we react to these prevailing themes? Dismiss with an asterisk or merely delete? If so, on what authority? And if we do, are we not presuming the right to shape God the way we wish? Are we not making God in our own image?
Meeting up with the dark side of God is a wake-up call — we are not to trifle with God. After all, this is God’s self-revelation. Check out the collect. Our part is to let it find room in our understanding of God. If it doesn’t fit neatly, should that surprise us? Better an understanding of God that gives us fear and awe than one that is tidy – as if God were tidy!
Can we find hope beyond or beside the harshness of the Lord? Only if the promise of mercy and steadfast love prevail in the heart of God. The psalmist assures us that is so. He could hold together his fear of God and his hope, his distance from God and his comfort in God’s presence. He gives us all this in his closing prayer, “May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us.”
Look It Up
What makes for a day of the Lord that will be tolerable? Good indications are found in Isaiah 58 and the first two servants in today’s gospel.
Think About It
In the context of the references to God’s wrath, can we see contemporary parallels?
Next Sunday
The Last Sunday Before Advent: Christ the King (Proper 29A), Nov. 20, 2005
BCP: Ezek. 34:11-17; Psalm 95:1-7; 1 Cor. 15:20-28; Matt. 25:31-46
RCL: Ezek. 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100 or 95:1-7a Eph. 1:15-23; Matt. 25:31-46
