Friday December 3 Advent 1
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Psalm 16
I have been loyal to the God of justice, save me from the grave and I will have joy.
Psalm 17
I am innocent, but the evil people surround me—save me and I will be fulfilled.
Both these psalms are appropriate for Fridays, the weekly mini-anniversary of the crucifixion and both conclude with hope for new life.
Amos 5: 1-17 What’s Amos about?
The prophet uses intense imagery to convey his conviction that when the powerful oppress the poor, there will be dire consequences as surely as God has created the universe.
In Advent these challenging passages prepare us for the new just society which we see coming into the world, in the birth of Christ and in the life of the Christian community.
Matthew 22: 1-14 What’s Matthew about?
Jesus tells the story of how a royal wedding banquet, symbolizing the joyous life God wills for all humanity, is spurned by those for whom it was planned. However God’s plans will not be thwarted, and the refusal by those who were invited becomes the way in which absolutely everyone is included.
The person who arrives without a robe is someone who does not cloak themselves in joy that God includes everyone in the ultimate banquet. The casting of this person into outer darkness indicates that even God cannot reverse the consequences of refusing to be part of God’s inclusive love—that would be to drive oneself to destruction.
Writing in a time when some early Christians under pressure were abandoning the faith, Matthew wants his readers to be clear that following God’s generous inclusion is not a hobby to be pursued when convenient, but is the essence of full life. The birth of Jesus confronts us with that choice.
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.
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