Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen.
Jesus said, "The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8,9
We confess our sins against God and others.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
A Hymn of Praise
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The Collect
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Old Testament Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
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.
“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.
Psalm 78:1-7 Attendite, popule
1 Hear my teaching, O my people; *
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; *
I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.
3 That which we have heard and known,
and what our forefathers have told us, *
we will not hide from their children.
4 We will recount to generations to come
the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the Lord, *
and the wonderful works he has done.
5 He gave his decrees to Jacob
and established a law for Israel, *
which he commanded them to teach their children;
6 That the generations to come might know,
and the children yet unborn; *
that they in their turn might tell it to their children;
7 So that they might put their trust in God, *
and not forget the deeds of God,
but keep his commandments;
The Epistle 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
The Gospel Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus said, “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.”
The Sermon Fr. Nelson Gaetz
These end-of-the-church year texts are not getting any easier. Today, we find what is traditionally called the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. The emphasis usually falls on the foolish virgins with a stern sermon on the dangers of living an “unprepared” life. Usually gets around to urging that we all need to live moral lives like the wise virgins. After all, who would not want to be considered WISE. But, as usual, I think this misses the finer points of the parable. In fact, Jesus tells us nothing about the disposition of the virgins with all the oil other than they would not share. We can make up lots of reason why they should not have shared but that might be precisely the point. We are really good at not being generous. We have what we have and sharing might be dangerous. We might not have enough for ourselves. Yes – these virgins are wise. Wise in the ways of the world. But Jesus wants more from us. He wants us to be wise in the ways of the kingdom and that may require wild generosity. His parables have been focused on this all along. And here with this little parable, we are on the verge of Jesus giving his life for the sake of the world. All of us. Even us foolish virgins. He has been asking the disciples to live lives of generosity because he is generous. Those so-called WISE virgins are NOT wise in this way of the kingdom.
So, the parable points at us. Asks us – are you living generously? Do you put your neighbor’s needs before your own? There are a massive amount of ways for us to live this Kingdom virtue. One really simple example. I hate those masks we all are wearing these days. They are uncomfortable, they fog up my glasses and the complaints go on. I have even heard people say – I’m willing to take the chance of getting that virus if I can skip the mask. But that’s not the point is it? Wearing that mask is mostly for the good of others. To keep from spraying the virus on them or perhaps only to show solidarity that might set the scene to encourage someone to use their mask in situations that really matter.
So… no shortage of possibilities. Be a wise VIRGIN. Love the value of the Kingdom. Live like Jesus putting others first.
AMEN.
THE NICENE CREED
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Lord, You are our help and deliverer and to You we bring the prayers and petitions of Your people, that You may grant to us all things good and needful and guard us against all things evil and harmful.
Brief silence
That the Lord would rule over the darkness and shine His light over all the earth, that those from many nations may be united as one people through Baptism and live together in faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That the Lord would grant us wisdom and courage, that we may be prepared at all times to receive Him when He comes in His glory and that we may not be distracted by earthly glories that fade away or disillusioned by earthly disappointments, which will come to an end, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That the Lord would give courage to all who lead your church, especially Michael and DeDe, our Bishops, Nelson, our Rector and the Wardens and Vestry that they may live in righteousness and godliness before the world and be kept to the day when Christ returns as Lord and Judge of all, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That the governments of the world and our leaders would act justly and with mercy, that we may be spared war and violence, and that we may use wisely and for the Lord’s glory His gift of liberty and the abundant blessings He has poured out on our land, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That the Lord would give aid and comfort to the sick, the suffering and those in their last days, that He may grant healing according to His will and strength to bear up under the weight of loneliness or affliction, especially those dear to us let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That we may not grieve as those who have no hope, that we may rejoice in the promise of the resurrection to life everlasting, and that we may encourage one another with these words, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That we may be ready to receive the Lord when He comes again in glory, that the Lord may open the hearts of those who have wandered away from the faith, and that the Lord may restore those caught up in error’s maze, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
That the Lord may hear and answer the prayers of His people and that we may be content with His answer, trusting in His Fatherly will and wisdom to grant us all that we need and all that will profit our salvation, let us pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
So now we pray with confidence to the Father the words our Lord Jesus taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by the Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Closing Blessing
May God almighty bless and keep us, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Amen.