Sunday November 27 Advent 1
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Psalm 146
Joy in God’s victorious justice for the oppressed, the blind, the strangers and the orphans—that justice for all is built into God’s magnificent creation. Appropriate for a Sunday, which is the anniversary of the resurrection—God’s victory over all evil.
Psalm 147
God’s wondrous creation and God’s commitment to justice are intertwined. Other cultures are not aware of this. What a helpful insight in our day!
Isaiah 1: 1-9 What’s Isaiah about?
The readings for the next couple of weeks now focus on the anticipation of the birth of Christ and prepare us for Christmas as well as for the final completion of God’s world. One of the themes of Advent is that for God’s will to be done on the earth, much will have to change. These readings for the next few weeks challenge us to be ready to change.
The first part of the book of Isaiah was written around the time when Jerusalem was first conquered. That disaster is attributed to the nation being unfaithful to God by the rich exploiting the poor in order to get even richer. At a superficial level God’s response, of bringing disaster, could seem like a divine tit-for-tat—abandon God and God will abandon you. However, the imagery used in these extensive analyses makes clear that the offence against God is exploitation and oppression by the powerful of those with little power.
As far as we know the ancient Israelites was the only culture which identified their God primarily with inclusion of those with little power. ‘Justice’ and ‘righteousness’ are the English translations of words referring to that priority of inclusion, justice and valuing of all persons by God and by the nation. This understanding of God may have arisen from Israel’s experience of being rescued as a powerless people from slavery by Egypt. Isaiah’s interpretation is that their God will rescue them again, this time from their own exploitation of one another. Isaiah uses extensive imagery to make that hope real for the people of his time. The early Christians saw his expectation as anticipating God’s final conclusion of the new world accomplished through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Matthew 25: 1-13 What’s Matthew about?
The older tradition of Christmas was that its focus was about how Christ comes among us now and in the future, not just about the details of his ancient birth which were understood to symbolize his present and future arrival.
This story of bridesmaids who had planned ahead for the arrival of the groom and those who didn’t is chosen for the beginning of Advent as we prepare for the coming of the cosmic groom, Jesus, in whom God pledges eternal care for the world. Matthew makes it clear that it really matters whether we are anticipating the great banquet with God—if we aren’t, we could miss it.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ
came to us in great humility,
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge both the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.