15th November 2026
Reflection with readings below.
In the gospels there seem to be different types of teachings or parables about the Kingdom of God.
In the opening words of Mark’s gospel, we hear Jesus telling us that the Kingdom of God is at hand – or is near. In John’s gospel we hear Jesus telling us – and Nicodemus – that ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above…Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.’ This being born again is not a far off future or next life experience, but one that happens in the here and now.
In the first part of Matthew’s gospel (before the death of John the Baptist and the feeding of the 5000) the parables are mainly describing the Kingdom focus on its growth, God’s role in enabling it to grow, in weeding out what is evil and nurturing what is good – eg the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the fishing net.
The next few parables focus on what is characteristic of those entering the kingdom, the behaviour and demeanour expected – forgiving, merciful, child-like, and generous in the unworldly way demonstrated in the parable of the vineyard labourers.
Then in the gospel we hear of Jesus’s dramatic entry into Jerusalem.
The parable of the two sons is a pointed reminder that actions speak louder than words. But then the parables become more judgmental: the wicked vineyard tenants and the undeserving guests at the weddings, the unprepared bridesmaids and today’s parable of the talent holders and coming up, the parable of the sheep and goats. Here there is also the threat of a deadline. It is not so much that the kingdom is at hand – on its way in – but will erupt suddenly onto the scene as a point in time when only those judged worthy will enter the kingdom. This I find hard to reconcile with the idea of a caring, merciful God – a God who loves all that has been created. Yet it is a genre that is also found in passages of the Old Testament as in today’s extract from Zephaniah.
Yet when I read in Zephaniah wealth and houses (and I always imagine palatial mansions) and of vineyards, I wonder if what Zephaniah is describing is generation or a hierarchy of rich traders and merchants, money-makers and dealers, who have made their fortunes at the expense of the poor, who have thought only for themselves and have ignored God’s values. And I sense that the language of God’s righteous anger and judgment, may be attempting to describe theologically what inevitably happens when people misuse their power, overstep the mark, squandering the Earth’s resources. Looking around the world today we can see the consequences of greed and corruption, of the over exploitation of the Earth’s resources – I still find it mind boggling that we humans over a few decades have developed lifestyles that exceed the capacity of 7 of the 9 planetary systems that allow life to flourish. Likewise looking round the world we see our abject failure to care for other, our failure to work together for the common good – our failure to even work together to simply ensure our survival.
If I were a prophet, I would be earnestly hoping that God had an apocalyptic message for those who support and enable and relish such deeply harmful ways of living. For its seems as if the rich and powerful are immune to the impact of droughts and heatwaves, storms and Arctic blasts; they seem immune to the rising cost of food, of fuel, of housing – indeed they somehow seem to be the ones profiting from these price rises.
In some ways you could say that with increasing disastrous consequences of climate change, that we are getting what we deserve. But that wouldn’t be fair. The adverse impacts hit hardest the poorest, the least culpable. And they will continue to adversely impact those who are still now just children, for decades to come – a clear example of intergenerational injustice. And because this seems so unfair, I do t think the effects of climate change if God punishing us, but rather that we – or some of us – have pushed nature so hard that climate change is just the inevitable natural response. So what then does God desire of us? And how will God judge us?
We need to work together in listening to God’s wisdom – which is found throughout scripture, and through the scientific and indigenous knowledge of the natural world – and to act accordingly. For God does desire the wellbeing and flourishing of all in a world of justice and peace, and God has given us the means of achieving that.
“…let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other…”
Zephaniah 1:7,12-18
Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guests.
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people
who rest complacently on their dregs,
those who say in their hearts,
“The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do harm.”
Their wealth shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.
The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,
the warrior cries aloud there.
That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath;
in the fire of his passion
the whole earth shall be consumed;
for a full, a terrible end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Psalm 90:1-12
1 Lord, you have been our refuge *
from one generation to another.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born, *
from age to age you are God.
3 You turn us back to the dust and say, *
“Go back, O child of earth.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *
and like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep us away like a dream; *
we fade away suddenly like the grass.
6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; *
in the evening it is dried up and withered.
7 For we consume away in your displeasure; *
we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.
8 Our iniquities you have set before you, *
and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
9 When you are angry, all our days are gone; *
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The span of our life is seventy years,
perhaps in strength even eighty; *
yet the sum of them is but labour and sorrow,
for they pass away quickly and we are gone.
11 Who regards the power of your wrath? *
who rightly fears your indignation?
12 So teach us to number our days *
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
Matthew 25:14-30
Jesus said, “It is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
