Proper 27 :: Amos 5: 18–24 / Psalm 70 / I Thessalonians 4: 13–18 / Matthew 25: 1–13
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, November 8, 2020.
“HEEDING THE CALL”
(Homily texts: Amos 5: 18-24 & Matthew 25: 1-13)
The story is told that – many years ago - when the
horses that were used to pull fire apparatus were retired from the fire
departments, they would spend their retirement on farms. But when the dinner
bell rang on the farm calling the farm hands in to eat, they would get excited,
stomping their feet, neighing and showing signs that they knew that sound meant
that there an alarm had sounded.
The point of this story is that, although the
horses had little to get excited about in their retirements (except perhaps
when they found some new grazing area on the farm), they knew that when they
heard the alarm, they knew what they used to do. So although their outward life
was quiet, their ears were attuned to the sound of the bell.
Our Gospel text, appointed this morning, portrays
much the same sort of an idea. It is known by the title “The Parable of the Ten
Virgins”, and our Lord depicts ten young women who were waiting for the bridegroom
to arrive so that the wedding may proceed. The waiting is quiet, and the
waiting goes on well into darkness, but suddenly, the call goes out that the
bridegroom has arrived. Though it is night when the arrival takes place, five
of the women are prepared to meet the bridegroom. The other five are not.
Our Gospel might prompt us to think that the season
of Advent is near. Indeed, it is, just three weeks away. For the Advent season
calls us to “wake up”, to be ready when the Lord’s call comes, just as in the
parable.
Oftentimes in the season after Pentecost, the Old
Testament reading which is listed as Track Two shares a theme in common with
the appointed Gospel for the day. Today’s choice follows in this pattern. The
prophet Amos warns God’s people not to be complacent in their worship of God.
For, he says, “Why do you desire the day of the Lord?” That day won’t be a
welcome day, it will be a day of judgment, one in which God will call His
people to account for their sinful and wayward ways. Put in the terms of the
image we began with with the old fire horses, Amos’ call is to wake up, to
stir, to begin to amend their ways as the alarm sounds.
In both the Parable of the Ten Virgins and in Amos’
call to repentance and amendment of life we see the everyday, quiet and ongoing
nature of life, set against a call to action.
In our own lives, it could be easy to get wrapped
up in the everyday tasks and responsibilities of life. But we are called to be
ready to answer God’s call, whenever and however it comes.
A collect in our Prayer Book addresses this truth
quite well:
“O heavenly Father, in whom we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray thee so to guide and govern us by thy Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget thee, but may remember that we are ever walking in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”[1]
[1] A Collect for Guidance, from the Daily Office (Morning Prayer), Rite I. Book of Common Prayer, 1979, page 57.
