Sunday 8 November 2026

Psalm 70

Background
Matthew 25:1-13 takes us into the dark hours before a wedding feast. Ten bridesmaids hold lamps. All fall asleep but all wake at the midnight call. Yet only five enter. The parable does not give us permission to blame those left outside or to hoard oil while others struggle. Told as Jesus approaches Jerusalem and his death on the cross, it shows both the urgency of being ready and the fear of a closed door. Disciples must ask who is denied the resources, welcome or dignity they need to stand in the light.

Today is Remembrance Sunday. Darkness has names that are carved into stone and carried in bodies and memories long after the guns fall silent. Some names are missing from the monuments. We honour courage and sacrifice, but Christian remembrance cannot preserve a narrow roll of honour. It must ask whose suffering was hidden, whose service was overlooked, who profited, and who returned to prejudice or poverty. Memory’s lamp becomes a searchlight. It widens the story, restores overlooked voices and calls us to seek justice for people living today.

Psalm 70 sounds like fists beating on a locked door. “O God, make speed to save me; O Lord, make haste to help me.” This prayer is urgent and direct, voiced by someone who cannot afford to wait for rescue. Beside the parable, it creates a holy tension. We wait for Christ, but we refuse to let waiting excuse indifference. To live faithfully is to hear the cries that society ignores, challenge systems that limit safety and opportunity, and ensure that no one faces the night alone.

The hymn for today 'There’s a light upon the mountains' (Singing the Faith 188) gives our waiting a bright horizon. Christ’s reign is approaching; darkness does not own the future. Yet hope is neither a blindfold nor an anaesthetic. The one for whom we wait is the God of Abraham, who called a migrant away from settled ground and promised blessing for every family of the earth. Abraham’s journey warns the Church not to confuse what is familiar with what is faithful. God’s future may require us to leave inherited privilege, cross boundaries and widen belonging.

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI)'s Remembrance Sunday order places Micah’s demand at the doorway: do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. It calls churches to repentance so that all may live in freedom and justice. This challenge reaches beyond words. Are our lamps fuelled by truthful history, solidarity and shared power, or by yesterday’s faith and someone else’s sacrifice? Remembrance becomes discipleship when people who have been excluded help shape the story, resources reach those living with the wounds of war, and repentance changes institutions.

So the question is not only, 'Are we ready to die?' It is sharper still, asking are we ready to live? The God of Abraham still calls us away from safe ground. Psalm 70 teaches people who are wounded to cry out and people who are comfortable to listen. Keep watch. Carry oil and share what keeps life burning. Break silences that protect power. Honour those who died by defending those who live. Believe testimony that has been overlooked, remove barriers, repair injustice and make room for people who have been kept outside. When midnight breaks open, may Christ’s light reveal not a guarded doorway but God’s banquet, where every forgotten name is spoken, every person belongs and no human life is disposable.

To Ponder:

• What oil am I carrying for the long night? Which habits of mercy, truth and reconciliation are forming me to live faithfully when hope feels delayed?
• How might our Church ensure that remembrance becomes active peace-making rather than solemn nostalgia, and what comfortable pattern might God be calling us to leave behind so that Christ’s light can be seen more clearly?

Prayer
Faithful God of Abraham, keep our lamps burning through the long night, and wake us to the cries that others do not hear. As we remember the fallen, give us courage to uncover hidden suffering, confront falsehood, and seek justice for those whose names are forgotten. Make us ready to live in the fierce light of Christ, who comes to gather every wounded life into your kingdom. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Dr Adrian Burdon
The Revd Dr Adrian Burdon is Superintendent Minister of the Telford Circuit in the West Midlands District and Moderator of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Adrian has been a presbyter since 1988. In addition to serving in Shropshire, Adrian has worked in the Oldham Circuit, on the Fylde Coast, in Leeds city centre and north-east England, and as a mission partner in the South Pacific.