November 8, 2020 - Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost - Waiting Bridesmaids

Bishop Laurie

This week the nation waited from Election Day until Saturday for the results of the Presidential Election. Within that waiting we have been waiting patiently for months to end of COVID 19 or, at least, for a time when life is not so restricted.

This double waiting for times that could not be accurately anticipated gave new meaning to this parable. The wise or prudent disciple was the one who prepared not only for the groom’s return, but also for his delay. If the groom had come quickly there would be nothing wrong with taking one’s lamp full of oil to meet him. But the wise disciple packs a supply of oil, knowing that the wait may be unpredictable. 

For this parable to engage me, I asked myself some questions. What am I waiting for? Do I have the oil required? All the bridesmaids fell asleep, yet the admonition was to stay awake. Was staying awake the same as being prepared? What would have happened if the bridesmaids without the oil had stayed with unlit lamps?

Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar preached her sermon on Wednesday, knowing that we would be listening to her on Sunday. She talked about preaching into the void and wanted to preach about what does not change. She addressed some of the questions in her sermon. She quoted from Michael Curry's book. where he talked about an old Jewish saying "Before every person, they are marked as an angel proclaiming 'Behold the image of God'".

Yes that is what I wait for. Being able to hear that proclamation while living everyday life is not something I want to be able to do. When it happens the body of Christ feels alive within me. The oil required is the willingness to stay awake to that potential vision. And the opportunities are always present. Yes, staying awake is like being prepared. The wedding feast is here and if we don't recognize it the door stays closed, and, in the end, there is no longer the possibility of it opening. 

Synod Assembly took place this Friday and Saturday. The Reparations Resolution passed 224 to 9. There was an amendment about to make sure the work was not dominated by people of European descent.

Here is a like to the resolution:

https://mcusercontent.com/ae3a96d1d43bb3c973f63ae2d/files/808439f0-7a60-43c2-a312-32737f87548c/2020_Assembly_Reparations_Resolution.pdf

Bishop Laurie presented the Oregon Synod's Horizon Statement as well: 

Moved by the Mystery of Love, we are, and are becoming, a wild web of relationship, a communion of communities and cultures walking into life as we seek the life of the world together, trusting in the liberating Spirit Jesus brings.

I feel like we are getting some flesh on what for a long time have been the dry white bones we've inadvertently inherited from some dead traditions.