Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost 2026 – November 15

On November 15, we celebrate the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost 2026, and we are glad to welcome our bishop for a visit to St. John the Divine.

This Sunday’s readings ask what we do with what we have been given while we wait for the day of the Lord.

Zephaniah delivers a sobering warning to those who grow complacent, assuming God will neither help nor harm.

The psalmist asks God to teach us to number our days so that we may gain a wise heart.

Paul assures the Thessalonians that they are children of light and of the day, called to stay awake, encourage one another, and build each other up.

And Jesus tells the parable of the talents, in which servants are entrusted with their master’s property and are judged by how faithfully—or fearfully—they use it.

Join us for worship in the way that suits you best! You can worship with us in person, via Live Stream, Video Replay, or Podcast.

If You Cannot Join Us In Person for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost 2026!

We understand that you may not always be able to attend in person; that’s why we offer several virtual options.

Livestream/Playback

Join us live at 8:50 AM for the organ prelude, followed by the service at 9:00 AM. After the livestream ends, you can watch the video replay at any time.

Podcast

Did you know that we are available on all major platforms? Our podcast covers everything from the opening hymn to the sharing of the peace.

Our podcast is released regularly on Sunday afternoons. Follow us on your favorite podcast player to know when new episodes drop.

The Collect for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Readings for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Old Testament: Zephaniah 1:7, 12–18

Be silent before the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand! The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated his guests.

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the people who settle like dregs in wine—those who say in their hearts, “The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.” Their wealth shall be plundered and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.

The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the warrior cries aloud there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.

I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind; because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath; in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed, for a full, a terrible end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Psalm 90:1–8, (9–11), 12

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So, then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober, for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Gospel: Matthew 25:14–30

“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. At once the one who had received the five talents went off, traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Reflection on the Readings for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost 2026

Be Silent Before the Lord – Zephaniah 1:7, 12–18

Zephaniah is one of the most severe voices in the prophetic tradition, and this reading does not soften his message. “Be silent before the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand!” The prophet calls for hushed attention because something serious is coming.

The warning targets not primarily the openly wicked but the comfortable. God will search Jerusalem “with lamps” to find “those who settle like dregs in wine, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.’” The image is of wine left to sit undisturbed until it grows thick and sluggish. These are people who have settled into a practical atheism, assuming that God is irrelevant, that nothing God does will touch their lives for good or ill.

The day of the Lord is then described in some of the most powerful and fearsome poetry in scripture: “a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom.” Neither silver nor gold will save anyone on that day. Wealth, the thing people trust most, proves useless.

These are hard words, and it is important to hear them for what they are. Zephaniah is not describing a cheerful future for the faithful to relish. He is warning a complacent people, in a particular historical crisis, that indifference to God and to justice carries real consequences. For us, they function as a wake-up call. The danger Zephaniah names is not only dramatic wickedness but spiritual drift—the slow settling into a life where God makes no difference. The call to be silent before the Lord invites us to stop, pay attention, and take seriously the One to whom we belong.

Teach Us to Number Our Days – Psalm 90:1–8, (9–11), 12

Psalm 90 begins with a confession of trust: “Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another.” Before the psalm describes human frailty, it anchors everything in God’s faithfulness. Generations rise and fall, and God has been the dwelling place throughout.

Then it contrasts God’s eternity with our brevity. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, from age to age you are God.” A thousand years in God’s sight is “like yesterday when it is past and like a watch in the night.” We are swept away “like a dream”; we “fade away suddenly like the grass.” This is a sobering image of human life as brief and fragile.

The psalm also holds our mortality alongside our moral accountability: “Our iniquities you have set before you, and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.” The optional verses deepen the lament, describing life as “labor and sorrow” that passes quickly. This is not a comfortable psalm, and it pairs honestly with Zephaniah.

But it arrives at a wise and hopeful prayer: “So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” The recognition that our time is limited is not meant to paralyze us. It is meant to focus us. To number our days is to take them seriously and to use them well. On a Sunday when Jesus tells the parable of the talents, this prayer is a fitting companion: we have been given a finite amount of time, and the question is how we will spend it.

Children of Light and of the Day – 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

Paul takes up the same theme of the day of the Lord, but in a very different tone. He reminds the Thessalonians that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” The timing is not something they can calculate. For those who are complacent and say, “There is peace and security,” it will bring sudden destruction.

Then comes the turn, one of the most reassuring in the New Testament: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day.” Paul does not threaten the Thessalonians with Zephaniah’s terrors. He reminds them of who they are. They belong to the day.

Their identity shapes their conduct: “Let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” They are to put on “the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” Faith, love, and hope—the great Christian virtues—are described as protective armor for people living in uncertain times.

The center of the passage is a statement of God’s intention: “God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.” Whatever the day of the Lord may bring, those who are in Christ are held securely.

And then comes the practical conclusion: “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.” For Paul, watchfulness is not a solitary anxiety. It is lived out in community, in the daily work of encouraging one another and building up the body.

Faithful or Fearful? – Matthew 25:14–30

Jesus tells a parable about a man who, going on a journey, entrusts his property to his servants: five talents to one, two to another, and one to a third, “each according to his ability.” A talent was a very large sum of money, equal to many years of a laborer’s wages. These are not small gifts.

The first two servants put their resources to work and double them. When the master returns after a long time, he greets each with the same words: “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Notice that the praise is identical, even though one earned five talents and the other two. The measure is not the size of the return but faithfulness.

The third servant buries his talent in the ground. His explanation reveals his heart: “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.” Fear has paralyzed him. He has a distorted picture of the master, and that picture keeps him from acting at all. He returns exactly what he was given, safe and unused.

The master’s response is severe, and the parable ends with the hard words about “outer darkness.” It is worth asking what kind of failure the parable names. The third servant did not squander the talent or steal it. His sin is not risking anything—letting fear and a mistaken view of God keep him from using what he was given.

For a congregation, this parable calls for stewardship in its fullest sense. We have been entrusted with gifts of every kind: time, skills, resources, relationships, and the gospel itself. Hiding them out of fear, or holding them back out of caution, is not neutral. Wise stewards trust the One who entrusted them and put what they have to work for the good of others and the glory of God. They are the ones invited to “enter into the joy of your master.”

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Wrap-Up

These readings return to the question of how we live while we wait. Zephaniah warns against the complacency of those who assume God doesn’t make a difference. The psalmist prays for a wise heart by learning to number our days. Paul reminds us that we are children of light and of the day, called to stay awake, wear the armor of faith, love, and hope, and encourage one another. And Jesus shows us, in the parable of the talents, that what we have been given is meant to be used, not buried.

As the church year draws to a close, these readings invite honest reflection. What gifts have we been given? Where has fear kept us from using them? Trusting in the God who has destined us for salvation, we are free to take up what we have been entrusted with, to encourage one another, and to serve with confidence in the joy of our Master.

The Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospels readings are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Collects, Psalms, and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.