Dear Friends

The readings that we would have heard this Sunday during Mattins (Zephaniah 1:7, 12-end and Matthew 15:14-30) both focus upon the theme of imminent judgement.  Zephaniah, a contemporary of the young Jeremiah, denounced the ethical and cultic sins which had derived from the reign of Manasseh (687-642BCE), when, as a vassal of the Assyrians, the king had permitted pagan cults, divination and magic to flourish, even within the Temple itself, and human sacrifice to be practised.  Around 610BCE, however, Assyria’s dominance began to wane, and Judah became by default a free country, with a new young king, Josiah, who was keen to reinstate the Jewish Law and purify the Temple worship.  But then the Babylonians began to threaten Judah, and Zephaniah was among those prophets who called Judah to further, and deeper, repentance, so that, in the ‘day of the Lord’, God could save a faithful remnant from judgement.

In the parable of the talents, Jesus tells the story of a rich man whose ‘advent’, or surprise return, also calls to judgement those servants whom he had entrusted with sums of money.  The amounts involved were prodigious – one talent would sustain a person for fifteen years at subsistence level.  To preserve what was entrusted to him, each servant had to take risks since maintaining the status quo was not adequate.  Just as God has taken a risk with his creation, ultimately sending his Son to live in it as a human being, so courageous and faithful stewardship, and even an element of risk, are required of those to whom much has been entrusted.  

As Rosalind Brown notes in her commentary on today’s readings (in Fresh from the Word, published by Canterbury Press, 2016), there is an urgency about both, which helps to prepare us for the theme of judgement, and the call to holiness, which resonate throughout Advent.  Our God is coming with the joy of salvation, but also in judgement, especially for those who have been given much.  The Collect for this Sunday (provided below) provides material for prayerful reflection – and also, perhaps, action.

Fr Stephen

O God, whose blessed Son was manifested

   that he might destroy the works of the devil

and make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:

grant us, we beseech thee, that, having this hope,

we may purify ourselves, even as he is pure, 

that when he shall appear again with power and great glory

we may be made like unto him in his eternal and glorious kingdom:

where with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Spirit,

he liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, 

and I will punish the people who rest complacently on their dregs, 

those who say in their hearts,

 "The Lord will not do good, 

nor will he do harm." 

Their wealth shall be plundered, 

and their houses laid waste. 

Though they build houses, 

they shall not inhabit them; 

though they plant vineyards, 

they shall not drink wine from them. 

The great day of the Lord is near, 

near and hastening fast; 

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, 

the warrior cries aloud there. 

That day will be a day of wrath, 

a day of distress and anguish, 

a day of ruin and devastation, 

a day of darkness and gloom, 

a day of clouds and thick darkness, 

a day of trumpet blast 

and battle cry against the fortified cities 

and against the lofty battlements. 

I will bring such distress upon people 

that they shall walk like the blind; 

because they have sinned against the Lord, 

their blood shall be poured out like dust, 

and their flesh like dung. 

Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them 

on the day of the Lord's wrath; 

in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed; 

for a full, a terrible end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mathhew.

Jesus said to his disciples:

The kingdom of heaven is as if a man, going on a journey,

 summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 

to one he gave five talents, 

to another two, 

to another one, 

to each according to his ability. 

Then he went away. 

The one who had received the five talents 

went off at once and traded with them, 

and made five more talents. 

In the same way, 

the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 

But the one who had received the one talent 

went off and dug a hole in the ground 

and hid his master's money. 

After a long time the master of those slaves came 

and settled accounts with them. 

Then the one who had received the five talents came forward,

 bringing five more talents, saying, 

"Master, you handed over to me five talents; 

see, I have made five more talents.' 

His master said to him, 

"Well done, good and trustworthy slave; 

you have been trustworthy in a few things, 

I will put you in charge of many things; 

enter into the joy of your master.' 

And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, 

"Master, you handed over to me two talents; 

see, I have made two more talents.' 

His master said to him, 

"Well done, good and trustworthy slave; 

you have been trustworthy in a few things, 

I will put you in charge of many things; 

enter into the joy of your master.' 

Then the one who had received the one talent 

also came forward, saying, 

"Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, 

reaping where you did not sow, 

and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 

so I was afraid, 

and I went and hid your talent in the ground. 

Here you have what is yours.' 

But his master replied, 

"You wicked and lazy slave! 

You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, 

and gather where I did not scatter? 

Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, 

and on my return 

I would have received what was my own with interest. 

So take the talent from him, 

and give it to the one with the ten talents. 

For to all those who have, 

more will be given, and they will have an abundance; 

but from those who have nothing, 

even what they have will be taken away. 

As for this worthless slave, 

throw him into the outer darkness, 

where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'