Are You Ready?
Commentary
When people say there is peace and security, look out. Be ready! Something is coming! Deborah is ready, beneath the tree, to be a leader. Paul says to be ready, armed, and waiting. Jesus says don’t put off getting ready for tomorrow what you might regret not doing eternally. Don’t play it safe. Make your play.
Judges 4:1-7
Evidently Deborah had quite a track record as a prophet and judge, because according to the historian Josephus who wrote in the first Christian century, there was a tree named after her, where supposedly she held court. Centuries after her passing that tree still stood as a remembrance of her wisdom, decisiveness, and faithfulness.
The story opens with a repetition of the toxic cycle represented in Judges. The people forgot about God. God delivered them into the hands of their enemies. The people cried aloud to God, who delivered them from their enemies through the leadership of the judges. The people forgot about God. God delivered them into….
The author of the letter to the Hebrews seems fixated on what a hero Barak is, but Barak, when called to be a leader by Deborah, insists he won’t respond unless Deborah goes with him. The moment when he’s needed, he’s not ready. He has conditions. But Deborah makes it clear that God’s will shall be done, however there’ll be no glory in it for him. The author of Hebrews obviously didn’t get the memo. But as we are learning in rediscovering history, too often its women like Vera Rubin who discovered dark matter but never won a Nobel, or Elizabeth Williams, who could write with one hand and solve equations with the other simultaneously and did all the calculations for Percival Lowell’s search for Pluto, who published them but didn’t name her when he published her math in his book, who do the work and get none of the credit.
In Judges it’s clear that the credit for the victory goes to Deborah, and a woman named Jael. They were ready to respond. Barak wasn’t.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
People, get ready, there’s a train a coming. Paul’s intent in this passage is to remind the Thessalonians that there will be no warning when Jesus returns, and so it’s time to get ready and then remain ready by living like its daylight, instead of the darkness that many people seem to prefer. This should not be a frightening prospect, but one that leads us to encourage one another during times of tribulation. “…keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:6) Live like a believer at all times, because even if today is not the day Jesus returns every day is judgement day for someone.
What does readiness mean in your area? Beyond readiness to be called home by Jesus, that is. Are there batteries for your flashlights (or at the very least do you keep your phone charged?) If the power goes out and food in the fridge and freezer is in danger of spoiling, is there enough food in your pantry to get you through a couple of days? Is yours an area where you need to be ready for an earthquake, or are tornadoes, hurricanes, tropical storms, floods, or fires a possible danger?
How about at the church? If someone came who was hungry, is there food on hand to send home with them? Do you have clothing in storage, and do you work with a local agency that can provide clothing to those recovering from a disaster?
I am profoundly alarmed by Paul’s warning against complacency: “When they say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them…” (5:3). Are we complacent as a church, so secure in our own salvation that it never occurs to us that God may call us to the frontlines?
A side comment — in the second part of this verse talks about the dangers of labor pains. In this era women commonly died in childbirth. Paul uses the image of labor pains as a metaphor for danger here and elsewhere, which makes me wonder if perhaps his wife died in childbirth, and if he lost children in childbirth as well.
This, by the way, one of the earliest, if not the earliest letters of Paul, and therefore of the entire New Testament.
Matthew 25:14-30
Who’s ready for the return of the Master? And what constitutes readiness? This parable of the talents is the middle chapter of a trilogy of stories told by Jesus to encourage us to be ready. Unlike the middle book of some trilogies, which inherits the events of the first work, but can’t bring anything to a conclusion, this middle story sandwiched between the parable about bridesmaids either kept their lamps trimmed and burning, or don’t, and the return of the King (Jesus) who separates the lambs from the goats based not on what they profess, but on what they have done, works well as a standalone.
I have to ask, with regards to this parable — is the Master crazy, trusting slaves with one, five, or ten talents? That is more money than most of us will see over the course of a lifetime! Or maybe God is crazy for trusting us with the keys to the kingdom.
Actually, though the first listeners understood the staggering value of a talent as compared to the chump change that daily workers tried to subsist on, they were also used to the idea and rich people didn’t want to bother with taking care of their money. That’s what they had slaves for. And they expected dramatic results from these slaves while they went about the business of being people of leisure. So, this was more of a horror story to those listening, because the odds were good that disaster might strike.
Yet the master expects the slaves to take risks in order to make money, and those who do so are rewarded. The one slave who played it safe and was honest about why is the one who turned out not to be ready for the return of his master. This parable is a reminder that being ready for the return of Jesus is not a matter of being able to say the right words, but to have dared, even if failed, great things for the kingdom.
Judges 4:1-7
Evidently Deborah had quite a track record as a prophet and judge, because according to the historian Josephus who wrote in the first Christian century, there was a tree named after her, where supposedly she held court. Centuries after her passing that tree still stood as a remembrance of her wisdom, decisiveness, and faithfulness.
The story opens with a repetition of the toxic cycle represented in Judges. The people forgot about God. God delivered them into the hands of their enemies. The people cried aloud to God, who delivered them from their enemies through the leadership of the judges. The people forgot about God. God delivered them into….
The author of the letter to the Hebrews seems fixated on what a hero Barak is, but Barak, when called to be a leader by Deborah, insists he won’t respond unless Deborah goes with him. The moment when he’s needed, he’s not ready. He has conditions. But Deborah makes it clear that God’s will shall be done, however there’ll be no glory in it for him. The author of Hebrews obviously didn’t get the memo. But as we are learning in rediscovering history, too often its women like Vera Rubin who discovered dark matter but never won a Nobel, or Elizabeth Williams, who could write with one hand and solve equations with the other simultaneously and did all the calculations for Percival Lowell’s search for Pluto, who published them but didn’t name her when he published her math in his book, who do the work and get none of the credit.
In Judges it’s clear that the credit for the victory goes to Deborah, and a woman named Jael. They were ready to respond. Barak wasn’t.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
People, get ready, there’s a train a coming. Paul’s intent in this passage is to remind the Thessalonians that there will be no warning when Jesus returns, and so it’s time to get ready and then remain ready by living like its daylight, instead of the darkness that many people seem to prefer. This should not be a frightening prospect, but one that leads us to encourage one another during times of tribulation. “…keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:6) Live like a believer at all times, because even if today is not the day Jesus returns every day is judgement day for someone.
What does readiness mean in your area? Beyond readiness to be called home by Jesus, that is. Are there batteries for your flashlights (or at the very least do you keep your phone charged?) If the power goes out and food in the fridge and freezer is in danger of spoiling, is there enough food in your pantry to get you through a couple of days? Is yours an area where you need to be ready for an earthquake, or are tornadoes, hurricanes, tropical storms, floods, or fires a possible danger?
How about at the church? If someone came who was hungry, is there food on hand to send home with them? Do you have clothing in storage, and do you work with a local agency that can provide clothing to those recovering from a disaster?
I am profoundly alarmed by Paul’s warning against complacency: “When they say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them…” (5:3). Are we complacent as a church, so secure in our own salvation that it never occurs to us that God may call us to the frontlines?
A side comment — in the second part of this verse talks about the dangers of labor pains. In this era women commonly died in childbirth. Paul uses the image of labor pains as a metaphor for danger here and elsewhere, which makes me wonder if perhaps his wife died in childbirth, and if he lost children in childbirth as well.
This, by the way, one of the earliest, if not the earliest letters of Paul, and therefore of the entire New Testament.
Matthew 25:14-30
Who’s ready for the return of the Master? And what constitutes readiness? This parable of the talents is the middle chapter of a trilogy of stories told by Jesus to encourage us to be ready. Unlike the middle book of some trilogies, which inherits the events of the first work, but can’t bring anything to a conclusion, this middle story sandwiched between the parable about bridesmaids either kept their lamps trimmed and burning, or don’t, and the return of the King (Jesus) who separates the lambs from the goats based not on what they profess, but on what they have done, works well as a standalone.
I have to ask, with regards to this parable — is the Master crazy, trusting slaves with one, five, or ten talents? That is more money than most of us will see over the course of a lifetime! Or maybe God is crazy for trusting us with the keys to the kingdom.
Actually, though the first listeners understood the staggering value of a talent as compared to the chump change that daily workers tried to subsist on, they were also used to the idea and rich people didn’t want to bother with taking care of their money. That’s what they had slaves for. And they expected dramatic results from these slaves while they went about the business of being people of leisure. So, this was more of a horror story to those listening, because the odds were good that disaster might strike.
Yet the master expects the slaves to take risks in order to make money, and those who do so are rewarded. The one slave who played it safe and was honest about why is the one who turned out not to be ready for the return of his master. This parable is a reminder that being ready for the return of Jesus is not a matter of being able to say the right words, but to have dared, even if failed, great things for the kingdom.
