Challenging Parables and Animal Blessing


Last week we heard the story of 10 virgins/bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom. Some were street-wise and had spare oil. They were ready to wait. Some were not ready and missed out on the party. There is more to waiting than sitting around.

Then Jesus tells the well-known parable of the talents. We all know that it is about being a good and faithful servant to God by using our natural abilities in the service of the Kingdom. We see the “Lord” as a kind of Jesus figure – not a very nice Jesus figure though. And to be honest most of us are not so keen on the ending with all that outer darkness and the wailing and gnashing of teeth. But we just get on with it.

Like most of the stories in the Bible it helps if you put the story back: back into its place in Matthew’s gospel, and back into the world it came out of. When we do that, we find some other ways of understanding what Jesus was talking about.

Some ask where this story fits with the beatitudes and the sermon on the mount. At the Ascension Jesus will promise to be with us until the end of the age, not in some far off place. How does all that alter how we might read this story? A talent is an absurd amount of money, about 20 years income, or about a lifetime’s pay for poor day labourers.  Maybe this is about allowing the life and absurd generosity of God to flow through us – that we might live the beatitudes, and join and advocate for the poor in spirit, the peacemakers, those persecuted for living God’s justice.

In a small way we live this out as we give thanks for the work of the SPCA. We join St Francis of Assisi in acknowledging God’s outrageous gift of this world and our significant place in the intricate and delicate web of life. We join all creation in giving thanks and praise to our creator. And we honour and bless those animals who share our lives asking for God’s life and goodness.

How does this parable help us be street wise bridesmaids actively waiting for the world of the beatitudes to come into being? What might this mean to how we live in the presence of God?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Get those PSA Blood Tests Done Boys!

I had a strange conversation a few months ago. I was lying back in a chair, naked from the waste down, holding a nappy over my bits while I waited for the skin under my bits to go numb enough from liquid nitrogen or some such thing, so that they could inject the local anesthetic and then punch a couple of holes through to the prostate. All in all a fun experience. And while I waited the nurse made small talk and asked what I did. "I'm retired", I replied. "Oh, what are you planning to do now you are retired? any travel?" "Turns out not" I said, "It seems I'm just keeping my dairy open for dealing with health things." And I am still keeping my dairy open and still dealing with them. This journey began last year. I was already dealing with two other things, including a lump in my parotid gland which has been slowly growing there for about 3 years. When I got back from being overseas on sabbatical my doctor called me in to talk about that an...
Read more

What a Ride! - Thankyou and Goodbye!

Image
You can listen to this sermon here   Gate Pa - Ascension Sunday and Easter 7 Year B, 2024 Readings: Palm                            Psalm 1 First Reading:             Acts 1:1-11, 15-17,21-26                     Bible Page 884 Second Reading:        1 John 5:9-13                                       Bible Page 991 Gospel:                         John 17:6-19      ...
Read more

"Just Enjoy The Coffee"

I was just sent this on Anglicans All. Being a coffee enjoyer and a Franciscan I enjoyed it. I hope you do to: Even if you are not a coffee drinker...Have a good day!!!! A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain ,plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the simple and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more ex...
Read more