15 November - Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost – Year A

The Faith Action Programme would like to thank Alex Clare-Young, JPIT Campaigns and Church Engagement Officer, for their thoughts on the 25^th Sunday after Pentecost.

The Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) is a partnership between the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church.

Introduction

As I began preparing these notes, I spent several days sitting with the readings before turning to other resources. As I returned to them, a common theme gradually emerged: time. These passages invite us to reflect on God's time, our time, and the in-between time in which we so often find ourselves living.

That theme resonated deeply with my own experience. Alongside my work with the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT), I write on disability theology and approach these texts as a disabled and neurodivergent Christian. Much of my life is spent navigating the tension between the world's understanding of time, God's understanding of time, and what disability scholars sometimes call "crip-time": the recognition that bodies and minds do not all move through the world at the same pace. Crip-time, coined by Alison Kafer, suggests that disabled and neurodivergent people experience time differently from able and neurotypical people (1). The term draws on the reclaiming of ableist language by disabled people. Fatigue, fluctuating energy, illness, care responsibilities, and neurodivergence can all challenge cultural assumptions about productivity, efficiency, and what constitutes a life well lived.

As I reflected on these readings, I found myself wondering what they might have to say to Christians living in a society that often measures human worth through achievement, economic contribution, or busyness. Passages such as Psalm 90 and 1 Thessalonians 5 invite us to view time from God's perspective rather than our own. They encourage us to consider whether faithfulness might sometimes look less like relentless activity and more like Jesus in the wilderness, or monastic retreat.

I was also conscious of the need to engage carefully with biblical language about light and darkness, power and servitude. Through both my academic work in intersectional theology and JPIT's commitment to justice, I am aware that biblical imagery has sometimes been interpreted in ways that unintentionally reinforce harmful assumptions about race, disability, or human value. These readings offer opportunities to handle such themes thoughtfully while affirming the dignity of all people.

Throughout these notes you will find perspectives shaped both by my own theological reflection and by concerns that are central to JPIT's work for justice, peace, and flourishing. My hope is not to provide definitive answers but to offer resources that help congregations enter into conversation with these texts in ways that are attentive to scripture, rooted in lived experience, and responsive to the realities of our world today.

As always, I encourage you to adapt these ideas to your own context. One of the gifts of Christian worship is that we discern God's voice together, bringing our different experiences into conversation with the Spirit, the biblical story and with one another as Church.

When approaching scripture, I tend to be rooted in liberationist and intersectional approaches which take power and justice seriously. This approach is apparent throughout these reflections.

[1] Kafer, A. (2013) Feminist, Queer, Crip. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, pp. 25-27.

Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18

This prophetic text points to the coming of God's way as a time where injustice and complacency are exposed. I draw on this text in my sermon ideas to point to the ways in which God notices systemic injustice and human indifference and to the ways in which we are called to be accountable to others and to God.

Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12

Psalm 90 compares God's eternal nature with human mortality. When thinking about God-time, I also like to think about crip-time. In the sermon ideas below, I draw on God's time in conversation with the voices of all those who are marginalised within hierarchies which are grounded in productivity.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul also addresses time – the time of Christ's return, urging wakefulness vs sleepiness. Paul also brings in imagery around darkness and lightness. I will draw on hymnody and the theology of Cole Arthur Riley (2) to explore and trouble those categories.

[2] Riley, C.A. (2022) This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us. New York: Convergent Books.

Matthew 25:14-30

This reading is known as the Parable of the Talents. This story, told by Jesus, focusses on how three workers handle money entrusted to them. Two invest and one hides the money away out of fear.

Whilst this is often framed as a lesson about personal ethics, I feel that the lessons of this narrative for us today are less about maximising profit and more about courage, fear, privilege and marginalisation.

Sermon ideas

These readings invite us to reflect on what it means to live in God's time rather than our own, to inhabit the in-between time between promise and fulfilment, and to recognise that human dignity comes from God rather than from productivity, wealth, or status.

God's time and our time are contrasted throughout. Zephaniah challenges those who grow comfortable with injustice and assume that change is impossible. Psalm 90 reminds us of God's eternal perspective and the fragility of flesh. Together, they invite us to consider what happens when God's values challenge our assumptions about success, urgency, and importance. Disability theology's concept of crip-time may be helpful here. Rather than measuring people by efficiency or output, crip-time imagines a world shaped around human flourishing and interdependence. At a time when welfare, work, and economic contribution are frequently debated, these readings affirm that human dignity is rooted in God's image, not our efforts.

The readings also speak to the reality of living in the in-between time. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul refuses to offer a timetable for Christ's return, instead encouraging believers to live faithfully in the present. Likewise, in Judges (an alternative OT reading for today), Deborah calls Barak to act before liberation is visible. Faith is not passive waiting but courageous participation in God's work, even when the outcome remains uncertain.

Paul's language of light and darkness point to alertness rather than complacency, hope rather than despair. Yet we should be attentive to ways such imagery has sometimes been misused. Writers such as Cole Arthur Riley encourage us to recognise darkness as a place of mystery, lament, waiting, and encounter with God. Such readings help us hold together vigilance, humility, and human dignity.

Finally, the Parable of the Talents raises questions about fear, faithfulness, and power. Rather than reading it as a lesson about achievement, we might ask why some characters are free to take risks while another acts out of fear. Jesus' parables are best understood as part of a larger tapestry. The warp is the wider story of scripture and the example of Jesus' life; the weft is the individual parables woven through it. Read this way, the parable invites reflection on trust, responsibility, and participation in God's reign, rather than becoming a weapon used to shame or moralise.

I have found that encouraging congregations to discuss who they might be in the parable can help you to explore, individually and together, ideas around what power and powerlessness each of us hold in the journey towards God's reign. You might also consider using a simple weaving exercise to enable congregation members to think about the parables that inform their theology. Provide a piece of cardboard with the warp and encourage members to weave wool or fabric through, each strand representing a different story that forms part of their understanding of God's kingdom.

Prayers

Gathering Prayer
God of expansive grace,
Your time is not our time,
You are not limited by our categories and binaries,
You hold an overview of our interconnectedness,
that we can barely imagine.

Draw us together to wonder, to dream,
and to worship You.
And as we worship,
open our hearts and minds to Your Word,
that we may be transformed and renewed,
in the pursuit of Your reign.

May it be so, Amen.

Confession
God, parent of all,
Sometimes we fail to understand Your grace,
limited by human conceptions of worth.
Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison

Christ, kin of all,
sometimes we fail to recognise Your image amongst us,
limited by our often hectic lives of rushing to and fro.

Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison

Spirit, inspirer of all,
sometimes we fail to take time to breathe in hope,
held captive by fear.

Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison

Thanksgiving – Rooted in Psalm 90
Lord, we dwell in You,
joining all created things in proclaiming that
From everlasting to everlasting, You are God

We give You thanks that a thousand years in Your sight
are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.
From everlasting to everlasting, You are God

We give You thanks that as we flourish and are renewed,
and as we fade and wither,
From everlasting to everlasting, You are God

God, You satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
From everlasting to everlasting, You are God

Grant us wisdom and peace.
And prosper for us the work of our hands, hearts and minds,
that we may be a part of Your kingdom journey towards justice,
knowing that all will be well, for
From everlasting to everlasting, You are God

Hear good news,
there is room for each of us in God's house.
Amen

Thanksgiving (Inspired by Psalm 90)
God, thank You for being
our dwelling place.
With the mountains and the plains,
the rivers and the seas,
From everlasting to everlasting You are God

You turn people back to dust,
saying, "Return to dust, you mortals."
A thousand years in Your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
Yet You sweep people away in the sleep of death –
they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
We are consumed by Your anger
and terrified by Your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before You,
our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

Prayer for others (Drawing on 1 Thess. 5.1-11)
Call and Response: Let us stay awake to injustice Let Your way be lived out on earth

God our Source, Guide and Goal,
we do not need anything written to us,
to witness how things are.
If we were to claim there is peace and security,
there would be no escape.

May we and all people stay awake to injustice on the earth,
paying attention to all creation groaning as if in labour,
responding to the climate crisis with urgency and care.
Let us stay awake to injustice
Let Your way be lived out on earth

May we and all in positions of responsibility stay awake to global conflict,
paying attention to the rubble crying out,
responding to power with Christ's example of peace.

Let us stay awake to injustice
Let Your way be lived out on earth

May we and all people stay awake to a nation feeling polarised,
paying attention to when we become stumbling blocks to our kindred in Christ,
responding to inequality with open hands, hearts and minds.

Let us stay awake to injustice
Let Your way be lived out on earth

May we and our communities stay awake to poverty and marginalisation,
paying attention to those who bear Christ's image to us,
responding to silence by lifting up unheard voices.

Let us stay awake to injustice
Let Your way be lived out on earth

And now, in a moment of silence,
let us be awake to the people and issues on our hearts and minds today,
paying attention to God in our midst.

[Hold a time of silence]

Let us stay awake to injustice
Let Your way be lived out on earth.
In Jesus' name, may it be so,
Amen

Closing prayer with blessing
As we go out,
may God help us to live as in-between people:
Journeying between this world and God's reign,
held between God's time and our time,
weaving justice between binaries that divide.

And we go out with the blessing of God;
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Weaver, Storyteller and Inspiration, Amen.

Musical suggestions

God Welcomes All (GWA) is the new supplement to Church Hymnary Fourth Edition. This exciting new collection features over 200 hymns and songs in a wide range of styles by writers from Scotland and around the world.

The full music and words-only versions are now available; and digital resources, including the expansion of the existing Church of Scotland music website, will be published in due course, with streaming functions and further information on each song; backing tracks; and lyric videos. God Welcomes All is available to order from https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786225573/god-welcomes-all

Our online music resource is on the Church of Scotland website; you can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship. You will also find playlists for this week and liturgical seasons and themes on the Weekly Worship and Inspire Me tabs.

You can find further musical suggestions for this week in a range of styles on the Songs for Sunday blog from Trinity College Glasgow.

• GWA 150 – "Darkness Is a Gift of God"– I would use this hymn as a counterpoint to 1 Thessalonian's imagery around light and darkness. [Bjorlin, D. (text) and Lim, S.H. (music) (2020). Chicago: GIA Publications]
• CH4 470 – "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun" – This hymn suggests God's reign unfolding across time and counters against the assumption that nothing changes.
• CH4 739 – "The Church's one foundation" – This hymn fits well with the weaving warp and weft metaphor, telling the story of God which holds diverse narratives within one tapestry.

I would also consider using a piece of reflective music to allow space to hold the complexity of thinking about time and justice well. The ‘right' piece of music will depend deeply on the congregation, but here are some places I might start:

• Zimmer, H. (2010) "Time" – Inception: Music from the Motion Picture. Reprise Records/WaterTower Music. This is a gradual, reflective composition that suggests the weight of the passage of time.
• Denny, S. (1966). "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" – First commercially recorded by Judy Collins (1968); later recorded by Fairport Convention on Unhalfbricking (1969). This is a brilliant song about accepting the passage of time fearlessly.
• Chapman, T. (1988). "Fast Car" – Tracy Chapman. Elektra Records. This apt meditation on hope, poverty, time and change connects well with Zephaniah's concern for justice and questions about systemic injustice.
• Eno, B. (1979). "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" – E.G. Records/Polydor Records. This piece was designed for space to reflect amidst spaces of rush/productivity.

Reflecting on our worship practice

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the way we worship has changed and we need to reflect on the changing or newly established patterns that emerged and continue to emerge as a result of the disruption.

We can facilitate worship for all by exploring imaginative approaches to inclusion, participation and our use of technologies in ways that suit our contexts. This is not an exhaustive list, but some things we could consider are:

• Framing various parts of the worship service in accessible language to help worshippers understand the character and purpose of each part. This is essential for creating worship for all (intergenerational worship) that reflects your community of faith.
• Holding spaces for reflection and encouraging prayer to be articulated in verbal and non-verbal ways, individually and in online breakout rooms.
• In online formats the effective use of the chat function and microphone settings encourages active participation in prayer, e.g. saying the Lord's Prayer together unmuted, in a moment of ‘holy chaos'.
• While singing in our congregations is still restricted, we can worship corporately by using antiphonal psalm readings, creeds and participative prayers.
• Using music and the arts as part of the worship encourages the use of imagination in place of sung or spoken words.
• Use of silence, sensory and kinaesthetic practices allow for experience and expression beyond regular audio and visual mediums.

The following questions might help you develop a habit of reflecting on how we create and deliver content and its effectiveness and impact, and then applying what we learn to develop our practice.

• How inclusive was the worship?
  Could the worship delivery and content be described as worship for all/ intergenerational?
  Was it sensitive to different "Spiritual Styles"?
• How was the balance between passive and active participation?
• How were people empowered to connect with or encounter God?
  What helped this?
  What hindered this?
• How cohesive was the worship?
  Did it function well as a whole?
  How effective was each of the individual elements in fulfilling its purpose?
• How balanced was the worship?
  What themes/topics/doctrines/areas of Christian life were included?
• How did the worship connect with your context/contemporary issues?
  Was it relevant in the everyday lives of those attending and in the wider parish/ community?
  How well did the worship connect with local and national issues?
  How well did the worship connect with world events/issues?
• What have I learned that can help me next time I plan and deliver worship?

Useful links

You can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship in our online hymnary.

You are free to download, project, print and circulate multiple copies of any of this material for use in worship services, bible studies, parish magazines, etc., but reproduction for commercial purposes is not permitted.

Please note that the views expressed in these materials are those of the individual writer and not necessarily the official view of the Church of Scotland, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly.