“You don’t know me? How could you not know me? You invited me to the wedding!” This parable is one of the stranger ones Jesus told. There are almost too many issues to wonder about and some of them are puzzling to say the least. We realize there’s a potential problem when we hear that…

What are we to do with Jesus’ parable of wise and foolish bridesmaids? It’s not easy to be sympathetic with any of the characters here. The bridegroom sends out invitations, but shows up hours late himself and then shuts the door on half of the bridesmaids. Those maidens who get shut out are off trying…

“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Written around 750 BC, these words from the book of Amos are still powerful today. They convey an ideal that is a constant hope for the good of all humankind, and also an elusiveness that is true of all those dreams that, in…

The story in today’s Gospel that Jesus told his earliest followers about wise and foolish virgins — is a story about vigilance and values, a story of surprise and response and the judgment of consequences. The story comes from another place, another culture, and another time. How could this story of wise virgins and foolish…

Can you imagine a scene in which there are ten contestants, pitted against each other at an international piano competition? Image further that five of them have constantly practiced their entries to perfection, and remained ever ready to be called to play. Meanwhile, imagine the other five contestants spending their time watching television and eating…

We are approaching the end of the Christian year. As always, the Gospel lessons focus on the end of things and the return of Jesus. This teaching, sometimes called apocalyptic, is always associated with this time of the church calendar. Many believers fervently await the coming of Christ in glory. Those of us in more…

Almost every two or three years we see stories in the news media about groups of people from different faith communities who have reached the conclusion that the time of the second coming of Christ is at hand. They will have reached this decision on the basis of their biblical research and study, and believe…