November - Watchful, Humble, and Accountable

November's readings press disciples toward readiness: humility that refuses self-exaltation, lamps kept burning for an uncertain hour, talents risked rather than buried, judgment measured by care for the least, and a longing so urgent it begs God to tear the heavens open. 

Nov 1 – Pentecost 23 

Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12 

Humility seems out of fashion. We live in a society in which social media encourages us to curate an impressive image of ourselves for consumption by others. 

In Matthew 23:1–12, the theme of humility is brought into sharp focus. Here Jesus accuses the scribes and Pharisees of seeking recognition. Listen to their teaching, he says, but don’t copy their actions; they don’t practise what they preach, they only act to be seen by others. 

Jesus tells us his followers ought not seek after such things. We shouldn’t even accept certain titles because they belong to God and Christ. Instead, we need to see ourselves in our proper place, as servants of God and one another. Jesus gives this teaching eschatological significance: in the end, all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. 

Nov 8 – Pentecost 24 

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13 

One of the themes that arises in these readings is urgency. Matthew 25:1–13 has Jesus telling a parable about ten young women. Half are prepared for the arrival of the bridegroom, half are unprepared. The message seems clear: “Keep awake … for you know neither the day nor the hour” (25:13). 

The earliest Christians lived with a keen sense of Christ’s return, which they probably believed would occur soon. Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 reflect this. In contrast to the anxiety that talk of Christ’s return often induces in modern Christians, Paul is rather positive about it. He thinks Christ’s return is a cause for encouragement (4:18; 5:11) since we are destined for salvation (5:9). 

He’s clear, though, that this return makes demands on our lives here and now, requiring our ethics to conform to Christ. 

I wonder to what extent we share this urgency. Do we see Christ’s return as good news?

Nov 15 – Pentecost 25 

Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30 

The theme of urgency continues in Matthew’s Parable of the Talents, which speaks of the demands that arise from Christ’s eventual return. 

In recent decades some have read this parable as concerning injustice; the third slave is seen as protagonist and victim (Luke 19:11–27 is convincingly read this way). I’m sympathetic, but not convinced. Matthew 25:1 suggests this whole chapter teaches about the kingdom. And throughout Matthew 25 there’s a consistent theme of urgency owing to Christ’s return and judgement. 

In short, the parable portrays the responsibilities placed on God’s people, represented by the monetary unit “talents” (15–20 years of labourers’ wages). It asks how we’ll account for the blessings God has given us when Christ returns. 

What are these responsibilities? We’re not told in the parable itself, except to be “trustworthy with a few things.” Perhaps the next part of Matthew 25 provides some insights… 

Nov 22 – Pentecost 26 (Reign of Christ) 

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46 

Matthew 25:31–46 is the infamous passage about the sheep and the goats. It continues the thread of urgency running through the chapter. Here this urgency concerns the eschatological separation of people into the righteous and the unrighteous by the One on the throne. 

A doctrine of justification by faith is nowhere to be found here. Matthew insists that the designation of righteousness results from what’s done for “the least of these.” 

This passage is probably informed by Ezekiel 34’s vision of the Shepherd God who searches for the sheep who are lost, injured, and weak. The judgement described there is between “fat sheep and lean sheep,” that is, among the people of Israel. 

Jesus’ words, then, seem to be a judgement on first-century Israel, calling them to remember Ezekiel’s words. In a more general sense, they’re a reminder of God’s intense concern for the poor and oppressed. Indeed, the Church ought to be known for its righteousness, which Matthew depicts as being reflected by our treatment of the least of these. 

This, it seems, is what it means to be trustworthy with the “talents” we’ve been given (Matthew 25:14–30). 

Nov 29 – Advent 1 

Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 

The urgency of the last few weeks flows well into Advent, and the beginning of a new lectionary year. While Matthew 25 may have been highlighting the urgency we ought to feel regarding Christ’s return (so too this week’s Mark reading), this dovetails into the urgency of Advent, in which we await Christ’s birth. 

If you were to imagine the coming of God, what would come to mind? Isaiah 64 begins, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence.” It’s a powerful description, the kind of thing that naturally comes to mind if we imagine God’s arrival. The Jews who had recently returned from Babylonian Exile hoped for this very thing. Though they’d returned, things still weren’t as they should be. They were desperate for God to arrive and restore everything. 

Christ’s birth, the very arrival of God, fulfils these words, but in a way that no one likely imagined. It’s hardly “tearing open the sky” or causing “the mountains to quake.” 

Yet Christ will cause mountains—the human and spiritual powers of this world—to quake. At Advent, we wait again in hope for his unexpected revolution.