JESUS MAFA: The Ten Young Women
On-Time God
"Don’t you hate it when that happens?"
Jesus says about that wedding
Where some bridesmaids missed the party
That they thought they'd be attending.
No one here is being callous,
It was simply customary;
Bridesmaids who could join inside were
Those who'd planned, and had not tarried.
Grace does not appear on schedule,
Like an entry on your smart phone;
Opportunities to love are
Tests of faith, and even backbone.
"He's an on time God," the song goes,
"Might not come just when you want him,
"He'll be there right on time," which means,
Not being ready, will not stop him.
Don't miss the love that's put before you,
For it will come, and not ignore you.
Scott L. Barton
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten
bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were
foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no
oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the
bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight
there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then
all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the
wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise
replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to
the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the
bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding
banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying,
‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know
you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
+ + +
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Raphael: Joshua Addressing the Israeites at Shechem (ca.
1516-18)
sketch for fresco in Loggia of Raphael in the Vatican,
Teylers Museum, Haarlem
Not the Good Old Days
Once to every one and nation
Comes the moment to decide;
Sometimes hymns, though out of favor,
Tell a truth from which we hide.
Glibly, we imagine back in
"Bible times," "their" faith was strong;
Surely God spoke clearly, therefore
Many for the past now long.
Joshua didn't see it that way:
"Our ancestors got it wrong!
Gods were served beyond the river,
Now's the time for a new song!"
New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient good uncouth,
Faith means always new decisions,
Grace demands we find the truth.
Scott L. Barton
(The first two lines of the first and last stanzas come from
the 1845 poem by James R. Lowell that he wrote as a protest against the U. S.'s
war with Mexico, and which was put to Thomas J. Williams' tune EBENEZER.)
Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,
and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and
they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus
says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons
Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. Then I took
your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of
Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac; “Now therefore revere the
Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that
your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region
beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but
as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered,
“Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it
is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He
protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through
whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites
who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our
God.” But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a
holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your
sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do
you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.” And the people said to
Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” Then Joshua said to the people, “You are
witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And
they said, “We are witnesses.” He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that
are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” The
people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances
for them at Shechem.
No comments:
Post a Comment