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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight,

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O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

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Amen.

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Truly, I tell you, I do not know you.

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On reading these words this week, I could almost feel a dagger pierce my soul.

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What do you mean, God?

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What do you mean when you say, I don't know you?

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I thought you were a God who says, I have called you by name.

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You are mine.

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Truly, I tell you, I do not know you.

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Today we see Jesus start to paint a pretty clear and scary picture on what to expect

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when judgment day comes.

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That's what Matthew 25 is really all about.

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You know, once you get to Matthew 25 things start getting serious.

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In a few weeks you will hear Jesus tell the ultimate parable on judgment, the one where

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the sheep are separated from the goats.

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Today's parable shows Jesus separate the wise from the foolish.

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The wise will gain entrance into the kingdom or into this banquet hall because they have

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enough oil.

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The foolish, however, are left scrambling because they have no oil for their lamps and they

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end up getting shut out.

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Like any parable, we can't take it too literally or we'll get lost in the weeds.

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We must ask ourselves, what is the ultimate truth that Jesus is trying to convey here?

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In other words, we don't need to chase any rabbits down holes that the parable does not

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intend to lead us down, but there are consequences for any story.

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For example, you can't say that, well, there are five wise and five foolish, therefore 50%

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of us are getting into the kingdom.

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That's just a consequence of how the story is told.

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So we don't need to take that too literally.

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But you know, chase Jesus down as many rabbit holes as you need to before you find him.

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In my reading of the scriptures this week, the ultimate truth invites us to consider

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the nature of our faith.

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What is faith?

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What does faith do?

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Where do we get it?

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How do we sustain our faith?

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Is faith gained because we believe a certain doctrine?

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Is faith about enduring difficult times?

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Is faith about identifying with a community who gathers around the word of God, the sacrament

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of Christ?

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That's faith consists of all of the above.

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Faith is about what some have come to call the three B's, B's and boy.

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Believe, behave, belong.

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Faith is about believing, behaving, and belonging.

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Now traditionally the church has taught the three B's in this order, believe, behave,

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belong.

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And if we apply the three B's to today's parable, we might say that the lamp represents our

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belief system, our religion.

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The oil in the lamp represents our behavior or our faith, putting our faith into action,

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our religion into action, you like the lamp.

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Finally, the wedding banquet represents the belonging part, the faith in community.

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Now as I alluded to earlier, I'm not sure the believe, behave, belong paradigm works

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in our 21st century setting.

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I'm ready to argue that it's actually flipped.

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Today I think it's more about belonging first, which leads to a type of behavior, which leads

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to what we believe.

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And I actually think that's what Jesus is doing today.

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He's doing belong, believe, behave.

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In fact, his whole ministry is really like that, belong, believe, behave.

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Jesus meets us where we are, right?

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Before the bridesmaids even go to their dress fitting, before they even kindly reply with

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their RSVP card, their name is on the invitation list.

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Before they do anything, they belong.

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You're mine, says the Lord.

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At the wedding rehearsal, the wedding planner gives the bridesmaids a detailed itinerary

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that is planned to the very last minute.

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They know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

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They have their catechism, their rubrics, so to say, in front of them.

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They have their religion, their belief system.

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In Houston, we have a problem, the groom, aka Jesus, doesn't follow the wedding planner's

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itinerary.

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The groom is delayed for hours.

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We're not told why, hopefully for good reasons.

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But finally, shortly after midnight, when all have fallen asleep, the groom arrives.

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And this is where the foolish are separated from the wise.

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Those who brought extra oil for their lamps find their way to the party.

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The foolish, however, are shut out.

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Finally, the bridesmaids are given reason to use their religion in the real world.

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They have oil for their lamps.

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They put their faith into action.

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The foolish are shut out because they are not prepared.

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Initially, they belong.

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They have been given the religion, but they don't put it to use, which leaves them ultimately

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shut out.

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Now, before we move on, I want to visit a part of this terrible that's always bothered

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me, the part where the wise refuse to share their oil with the foolish.

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That's not very Christian, right?

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But as one commentator notes, it's not that they don't want to share, but they can't.

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They can't share because you can't borrow someone else's life of faith, which is what

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the oil represents.

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Yes, our faith is something that we do together as a Christian community.

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We come together and we are nurtured by this community here, but you can't take up someone

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else's cross for them.

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They have to take up their own cross.

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Now, I'd say my own experience with the church more or less matches up with this paradigm,

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belong, believe, behave.

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I want to have best friends invited me to be a part of the youth group growing up.

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At first, it wasn't really about what I believed or how I behaved.

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It was really just about being a part of that group.

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Eventually I started paying attention to what the youth minister was talking about.

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Eventually I started hearing about this Jesus person and I said, okay, Jesus might be worth

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following.

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After a while, I started to put my faith into action.

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I started to act out what I believed, but they're all started with belonging and it

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went from there.

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Now, obviously the process of embracing the faith isn't as neat and tidy as that paradigm

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suggests.

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Our faith is messy and it's rarely linear, but I find it edifying to see the pattern

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of how God works in our lives, how God even works in the scriptures.

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We see this with Jesus.

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He meets us where we are.

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He doesn't demand that we come here.

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Jesus meets us wherever we find ourselves in our faith journey.

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Jesus engages a conversation with us, asks us questions, learns about our default religions,

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and then he tells us about his way, the way of the cross, the way of life and peace.

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At some point we make a decision to follow.

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Some of us will say no.

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Some of us will say yes.

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Some are wise and some are foolish, but it starts with belonging.

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At Ascension, this is more or less how we function as a parish community.

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Our newcomer and our parish life ministries offer a way to belong.

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Newcomer coffees, new member dinners, peer groups, four year groups, parish retreats,

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parish picnics, pastoral visits, and the list goes on.

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Holy hikes, we had one yesterday even though we canceled it, which was great.

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These are just a few ways that we make space to belong.

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Ultimately, we find our belonging here around this altar where you are all invited.

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As for belief, we often Christian education classes for all ages.

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Our youth and children are not just told about the basics of our faith, but they're given

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freedom to wonder and ask questions about life with God.

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We have small groups for adults during the week and on Sunday mornings.

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We encourage households to study and pray in their own way.

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And finally, because we are fundamentally changed by this community that's gathered

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around Christ, we act differently.

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We become less concerned about what people think about us and grow more concerned with

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the people no one thinks about, the least and the last and the lost.

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We serve food to the hungry in Abendale at First Light, or in the children in the local

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school system.

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In a few verses here in Matthew 25, we are going to hear that ultimate parable on judgment,

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where Jesus will tell his followers, if you've served the least of these, you've served

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me.

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If you've served the homeless, the hungry, the imprisoned, the sick, the stranger, then

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you have found me.

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So if you hear Jesus say, truly I do not know you, as I heard this week, we must not be,

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then we must not be considered the least, the last or the lost, or we must not be found

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in their company.

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That's how I'm reading it this week.

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But the good news is that Jesus wants to be known and Jesus wants to know you, because

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you belong.

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You matter.

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You have a seat with your name on it at Christ's banquet table.

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That table might be at the bedside of a neighbor who is sick, or at the doorstep of a neighbor

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who is lonely.

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You might show up to the banquet table at a laundry mat with $10 of quarters in your

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pocket.

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That table might be at a local prison ministry through something like Cairo's.

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That table might be at First Light Shelter on a Friday night, or at the Abbey in Abendale

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on Thursday morning.

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The list goes on and on and on.

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How are we visiting Christ and the sick, the stranger, the imprisoned, the homeless, the

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hungry, those who are lonely, those who are needing to know that there is hope in this

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dim and often dark world?

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So now trust me, there is room for you around the tables that Jesus is preparing in this

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world, tables that are gathering around the least and the last and the lost.

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The invitation to the banquet table has been issued.

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You belong.

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Now are you ready to go and find a seat with your name on it?

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Jesus Christ is waiting.

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Amen.