Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 25)

Today’s gospel picks up where we left off after last week’s parable with the bridesmaids and the lamps. Today’s parable is a bit more complicated, and it’s difficult to interpret. But, Biblical scholars remind us that parables aren’t direct and oftentimes, they don’t prescribe. Parables are meant to describe some kind of reality, to invite us into the story, and to “do” something to us. So what does today’s parable describe, invite, and do? Well, it depends on how you look at it…

Perhaps today’s story hits a little too close to home. After all, I think we’ve all been a part of a group that had to wait and wait and wait. Waiting with anxiety. Waiting throughout the night. Waiting for a little sign. Waiting for the celebration. Waiting. Has anyone had that experience? No? Come on, a yes/no in the chat-anyone?…

“Hear Jesus’s words again: “The truth of the matter is, everyone who lives in sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). Perhaps it’s not the best way to welcome our guests and past members on Homecoming Sunday, but those aren’t my words, they’re Jesus’s words! And, I think this translation of Jesus’s words are most accurate. You see, in this sentence, every time Jesus says the word translated as “sin” there is a definite article directly before the word “sin.” The definite article translated here would be “the”–so, from the Greek, it literally says “the sin.” And this makes a world of difference in how we translate Jesus’s words…”