With Whom do You Identify?

Matthew 24:31-45

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            Sometimes, when I exit off 83 and onto Mt. Rose I’ll see someone standing on the lane divider holding a cardboard sign.  He is often disheveled and unshaven, wearing a coat worn and dirty holding a cup and maybe a sign that identifies his need.  He wants money. 

            Maybe you’ve seen him too. Now, sometimes we roll down the window and drop a dollar and then drive on, but most times we pass by without speaking or even looking.  We’ve seen him before, a thousand times before, and we’re pretty sure that any money he gets goes straight into a bottle.  We wonder why he doesn’t get a job, and why he doesn’t clean himself up? 

            It’s not so much that we don’t care, but we know that a casual dollar dropped into a cup will not solve his problem and may even add to it.  Because we don’t know what we should really do, we flick a switch in our hearts so that we can walk by without feeling so bad. We can only absorb so much suffering. Our empathy dries up.  The temptation to flick that switch and turn off our compassion is powerful and easy to understand, but we will see that compassion fatigue may have lasting consequences. 

            In these powerful words of scripture Jesus describes the burden we bear for turning our heads and walking by.  Let us pray:

Lord, sometimes the suffering we see swallows us up.  We grow weary in well doing.[1]  Our hearts become hardened and our souls calloused.  Soften our hearts we pray and grant us wisdom so that acts of kindness shall not be wasted, but heal and make whole once more.  Amen.

            This passage looks a little bit like a parable, but it lacks the language Jesus often uses to begin these stories.  He does not say, “the kingdom of God is like, or may be compared to.”[2]  This is not an allegory.  His words are straightforward.  This is the way it will be.

“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate people one form another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.”[3]

I don’t know how often any of us really think about this “Day of the Lord”, when Gods judgment shall be revealed.  Some of us see that day on a far distant horizon, years and years away; and so we figure there will always be time to clean up our act and get right with God.  We don’t worry because we think there is no hurry. There will always be more time. 

Many do not consider at all this “Day of the Lord” because they don’t believe it will ever happen.  Since the Bible says, “God is love”,[4] and because the Bible says, “love will cover a multitude of sins”[5]; they believe God will open wide the gates of his kingdom to everyone, no matter what they have believed or how they have lived. 

In this view, those who have tried to live a righteous life or strived for personal holiness have done so in vain.  Those who have chosen to “eat, drink and be merry”[6] have chosen a wiser path because they get to enjoy the best of both worlds, the pleasures of sin and the promise of eternal life.

In this view, Jesus’ words of judgment don’t make any sense, because he says our actions and attitudes do have consequences.  But, they are his words, and I believe the only words we have for salvation. The Apostle Peter put it this way, “Lord where else can we go.  You have the words of eternal life.”[7]  In this passage Jesus says clearly there will come a day when the “goats shall be separated from the sheep.” 

What stands out in God’s judgment is how surprised everyone will be when this happens.  Both those who are identified as goats to be excluded from God’s kingdom and those recognized as sheep, to be welcomed into heaven, are equally astonished.  Those on the outside who find the door slammed in their faces do a double take and ask, “what happened?”  Those on the inside are equally incredulous and ask “how did I get here?”  No one expected to be where they were in relationship to God.  Heaven and hell it seems will be a surprise to everyone.  No one has really figured it out.  So, Jesus explains.

First, he turns to those on his right hand, to the sheep, the ones who are welcomed into God’s kingdom, and says, the reason you are here is because “you gave me food when I was hungry, and drink when I was thirsty, and when I was a stranger you welcomed me.”[8]

The sheep are puzzled.  “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and give you food, thirsty and give you something to drink, a stranger and welcome you?”[9]  They don’t think they’ve done anything special, and they are flat out positive that they never did anything out of the ordinary for Jesus.  All they did was to “treat others as they would want to be treated.”[10]  We call this the Golden Rule because we believe this is a valued way to live.  But, these sheep that Jesus described, just thought it was the way you are supposed to live.

When they see someone hungry, they make sure they are fed.  When they see someone thirsty, they get them something to drink.  When they see someone with any kind of physical or spiritual need they do their best to meet it.  They don’t do it for the glory, or so that people will speak well of them.  They don’t do it to make up for some past sin.  They don’t do it so that God will have to welcome them into heaven.  They just do it because it is the right thing to do.  That is why Jesus calls these people righteous.  They do the right thing because it is the right thing.

This is what those whom Jesus described as goats could not understand.  When Jesus told them, “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat and I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink and I was a stranger and you did not welcome me” and that’s why “you must go away into eternal punishment,” those on his left hand protested.  That’s not true, they shouted.  We never saw you hungry or thirst or a stranger.  If you had come to our church on Sunday morning we’d have brought you right up front and let you sit next to the pastor.  We’d have had a big congregational dinner and put you in a place of honor.  We’d have taken up a special offering.  But, Jesus you never showed up.  We never saw you.

But, Jesus said, “I was there.”  I was there in every beggar who asked for a handout. I was there with every woman who showed up pregnant and alone, frightened and confused, who only needed some help and comfort and understanding and guidance. I was there with her child growing within, a child whose future was held in her hands and yours. I was there with every widow grieving because her world was suddenly turned upside down at the loss of her husband of fifty years.  I was there with the man who just lost his job and the teenager who ran away from home.  I was there with the immigrant who was overwhelmed by a culture he did not understand.

I was there Jesus said.  You looked right at me, but did not see me, so you turned away.  And when you turned away, you ignored the beggar and the woman pregnant and alone. You ignored the child growing within.  You ignored the widow and the teenager and the immigrant.  God, who is filled with love and compassion for people just like that, will not ignore apathy. God cannot and will not betray their suffering.  God will not tell them their suffering made no difference.  God will not tell them that it made no difference whether those who called themselves by his name helped or not.

Every time I read this passage I am convicted.  Every time I look with irritation at someone who just walked in off the street, and interrupts my sermon preparation, with another sad story I feel bad. I feel bad not so much for their plight, but because my impatience reveals just how far short I have fallen from the glory of God.[11]  I feel bad because my first instinct is to just toss them a couple of bucks and get them out of the office so that I can continue in my study of God’s Word. 

But, when I return to my study, the Word reads differently. It doesn’t warm my heart.  I feel instead cold and guilty like I did when Mom caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. God’s Word “is quick and powerful, and sharper than a double-edged sword.  It discerns the soul and spirit and the thoughts and intents of the heart.”[12]  It shows me that the intention of my heart was not to minister, really minister to the real needs; but only to salve my conscience with a couple of bucks I’ll never miss.

That’s what God’s judgment reveals here.  God’s judgment is not based on some eternal balance sheet where the goal is to garner more credits than debits.  God will not ask to see the line item for charitable contributions on your income tax form.  God is not going to enter the good deeds you’ve done and the sins you’ve committed into some computer spreadsheet that will automatically spit out a bottom line, which will determine your eternal destiny.  God does not keep score like that.

God is going to look to the heart.  The heart will reveal whether you do the right thing because it is the right thing or whether you do the right thing for the wrong reasons. It is your motive that matters. Jesus did not describe this judgment so that we will feel guilty and reluctantly throw a couple of bucks into the bucket at Christmas time.  He did it so that we can see how we harden our hearts every time we turn our heads from those who suffer.  He offered this warning so that we might know how seriously God takes those who suffer and how God looks at those who ignore such suffering.  Our hearts are hardened or softened by the choices we make every day.  That’s why they matter so much.  If we ever hope to see the face of Jesus in heaven, we must first learn to see his face in those who suffer and are alone and frightened and poor.

Let me tell you how I think that happens.  A couple of years ago, you saw a lot of venders in the mall who sold a kind of poster that always appeared to me as a pattern of chaotic scribbles.  Beneath the scribbles buried somehow was a real picture.  I never saw the picture but only saw the pattern.  I was told that only people who have vision in both eyes could see it. 

Those people who could see the pictures told me that if you tried to seek it you couldn’t.  You could only see the picture if you were really looking at something else.  You had to somehow look through the clutter.  I think that’s how we see the face of Jesus.

Those who minister to the poor begin to see Jesus when they see the beggar as a real person and not just an annoyance.  Those who minister to women alone and pregnant begin to see Jesus when they see her and her child not just as a problem that needs a solution, but as people facing physical, material, and spiritual needs.  Those who minister to the grieving begin to see Jesus in the face of their loss because they recognize the loss God felt when he gave his only begotten son.[13]  Those who minister to immigrants begin to see Jesus when they recognize that they like Jesus, have no place to rest their heads.[14]

In other words, they do not see Jesus not in a sunset, or in a book of theology, which is where we expect to find him.  They don’t even see his face in a prayer closet or a worship service.  They see the face of Jesus in the least of these, in those who face real and desperate need.  It is in the acts of charity that we begin to see his face through the clutter of this world.

So, what does this mean when you drive by the guy disheveled and unshaven, wearing a coat worn and dirty standing on the side of the road holding a cardboard sign?  Does it mean you have to drop a buck in his cup?  Does it mean you’re supposed to stop and try to get to know each and every one you pass?

No, the suffering will swallow you up.  There were times when even Jesus could not meet every need.  The better way is to support those who have been called by God to minister to a specific need, who can take the time to figure out what the real problem is.  The better way is to encourage those willing to meet with the woman, pregnant and abandoned, who understand the complex facets of her dilemma.  The better way is to minister in areas with which you have some experience and knowledge.

We really can’t be all things to all people, but we can do something for someone who needs some help.  Living a righteous life is really a matter of doing the right things for the right reasons.  It is living by the Golden rule because that is the only rule that makes sense.

The decisions we make here will either harden or soften our hearts.    Sometimes a soul can become so calloused that even God’s Spirit can barely penetrate.  When that happens we may find ourselves far from God.  As you have done it to the least of these, Jesus said, you do it unto me.  If we ever hope to see the face of Jesus in heaven, we need to see his face in the least of these.

Let us pray:

            Lord, you have promised that whatsoever is done for the least of these is received as being done unto you:  Grant us grace to be ever willing and ready to minister to the needs of those far and near, through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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[1] 2 Thessalonians 3:13

[2] Matthew 25:1,14

[3] Matthew 25:32-33

[4] 1 John 4:7

[5] 1 Peter 4:8

[6] Ecclesiastes 8:15

[7] John 6:68

[8] Matthew 25:35

[9] Matthew 25:37

[10] Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31

[11] Romans 3:23

[12] Hebrews 4:12

[13] John 3:16

[14] Matthew 8:20

Risky Business

Matthew 25:14-30

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            You will hear this at almost every Little League game.  A batter will step up to the plate and a parent in the stands will shout out, “You can do it!  Swing hard!  Concentrate and remember everything I taught you, hands together and shoulder squared.  Keep your eye on the ball.  You can do it!”

            That same sermon will be repeated over the dinner table when report cards are reviewed.  “I know you can do better.  You just need to try harder.  Pay attention.  You can do it.  I know you can. I know you have it in you to do better.”

            It is the job of all parents to believe in their children, to encourage them, to build up their self-esteem and help them discover the gifts and abilities that lie within, and tell them, “You can do it.  I know you can.”

            That is Jesus’ message in his parable of the talents.  He’s behind you, encouraging you, telling you, “You can do it.  I know you can.” He knows you have it in you as surely as he knows the heavenly Father.  He knows God has given you gifts and abilities, talents, treasure and time that can be used to further the kingdom. Jesus knows you have it in you to be and do more than you ever thought you could.

            That’s the meaning of this parable. So, I could probably stop right here and send you out to do it, but you know that’s not going to happen.  There’s always a little more to uncover, a little more to understand.  Before we do that, let us pray.

            God, we are continually amazed at the care and concern you show for a world of flesh and blood.  We think of you so much in a spiritual realm, but you’ve taught us to pray, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

            Again and again in story after story you have lifted physical needs and placed them on par with those that are spiritual.  Again and again in story after story you have shown that the worth of an individual is measured not in what they have gathered for themselves but in how they have given of themselves.  Help us Lord to learn to give so that we might learn to live as you have called us.  Help us so that we might one day hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  Amen.

            In the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters of the gospel of Matthew there is a series of stories which describe God’s hopes and expectations for his people.  They contain both a promise and a warning. In the parable of the ten young women, Jesus calls us to be prepared and alert and to keep our eyes open for his coming and the completion of God’s kingdom.  He cites the reward for those who plan and prepare and warns those who do not.

            Then, he tells this story of three servants.  Their master is going on a journey and calls them together for the purpose of distributing the responsibilities of keeping the home fires burning.  He entrusts them with varying amounts of wealth so they would have the ability to do that.  The first receives five talents, the second – two, and the third – one.  Now, a talent was a measure of weight and not ability.  It was not something you could do like playing the guitar; it was something you could own, a talent of silver or gold. By the time of Jesus it signified great wealth.  Today you could read a “million dollars” for the word talent. 

            Now you’ll notice that each one was given a different amount “according”, Jesus said, “to their ability.”[1]  Before you say, “That’s not fair.  Why doesn’t everyone get the same?”  Remember, Jesus is describing the real world and not some idealized utopia. We are all born into different life situations. Clearly, some have more apparent ability than others for reasons only God understands.  What is important to note is that while one million dollars is not five million dollars - it is still a lot of money, which in this parable means everyone has been given something of value.  Sometimes we just don’t see what it is.

            For example, there is a psychologist at Harvard named Howard Garner who revolutionized the study of intelligence.  He says we have been studying I.Q. all wrong.  Our intelligence tests only measure one or two forms of intelligence.  Gardner says that there are actually seven.  Some people are gifted with linguistic intelligence and write particularly well and others are gifted with mathematical intelligence.  They make good accountants and scientists.  Some people are gifted spatially and these make good artists and architects.  Some are gifted kinesthetically. Their bodies are unusually graceful and coordinated.  Some are gifted interpersonally and become counselors or teachers or preachers.  Some are gifted musically.

            Here is the important point.  Gardner claims that everyone he has ever tested has scored high on at least one of these seven forms of intelligence.  All of us are gifted in our own way.  There’s more to us than we think.

            After doling out the talents, the master leaves; and don’t miss the meaning here. Matthew placed this parable right before the story of the Last Supper and his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus will soon be going away on a journey to the cross.  There is no question the master in the parable is Jesus.

            After the master leaves, these three servants begin their investment strategies.  They did it the same way we do it today.  Go to a financial adviser today and the first two questions you will be asked are: “What are your investment goals? What is your tolerance for risk?”

            Clearly, in this parable the first two servants answered these questions differently from the third.  Jesus said, “The one who had five talents went at once and traded with them and made five talents more.”[2]  The verb “traded” in its tense and context indicates an on-going activity.  He didn’t just get lucky with one financial investment.  He didn’t play the lotto and win.  Rather, investing became part of his life.  He thought about it every day and worked at it.  He was building a portfolio for the future, and so he was thinking long term. Remember, though, this first servant was not working for his future.  He was investing for his master.  His personal goals were not nearly as important as those of his Lord.  This investment strategy kept that it mind, so he was willing to take some risk.  Great vision requires that.

             The second servant did the same thing.  He invested his two talents and doubled them.  Of the three, I think it is this one with whom we most identify.  This middle servant represents the average person. If you glance only at the scriptures in passing you can’t help but notice it is usually the average person God most often uses – probably because there are so many of us.  Abraham is already an old man when God calls him and there was nothing about him that really made him stand out.  Jeremiah is just a lad.  Mary was a peasant girl.  Peter was a blue-collar fisherman, yet God uses these people and more to fulfill his purpose.  The Bible is filled with these two-talent people who use what they have to make a difference.

            Now we come to the third servant who took a far more conservative course.  His goal was different from the first two.  While they followed God’s first command to “be fruitful and multiply”, the third thought it more prudent to hold tightly to what he had.     .  While the first two lifted their eyes to the horizon, the third buried his head and his treasure in the sand.

            Where the first two saw possibilities, he saw pitfalls.  Where the first two saw opportunity, he saw intolerable risk.  He was afraid of failure, so his investment strategy was determined by fear, and misplaced fear at that, because he had a distorted view of his master.  He said, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you have not winnowed.”[3]

            Remember, the master here is Jesus.  This servant is saying these things about God’s Son.  So, this servant represents, I believe, the Christian who has a hard time singing, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, because he or she sees God more like the judge, jury, and executioner.

            So, rather than playing offense and trying to do something positive, this third retreated into a kind of “prevent” defense.  He believed God would be pleased if he didn’t make too many mistakes or commit too many sins.  Ask him about his spiritual life and he’d likely give you a self-satisfied list of sins he never committed.  “As least I never killed anyone or stole anything really big.”  But, there is no thought about doing anything for anybody.  This myopic view restricts any kind of growth, spiritual or otherwise; and people with this narrow vision will go through life with fists clenched rather than hands open.

            Jesus clearly offers his evaluation of these two investment strategies.  To the first two, the one who had used his time, talents, and treasure that God had given, he encouraged, “Well done!  Well done, good and faithful servant.”[4]   This is their R.O.I., the return on their investment. Those who invest their lives in something positive, who use their gifts for God’s kingdom, will reap something positive.  What joy that will be to hear Jesus say to you before the angels and all the saints, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.”

            To that last servant though, the warning is hard and even harsh.  “Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness, where men will weep and wail and gnash their teeth.”[5]     What we do or don’t do, it seems, has consequences immediate and eternal.

           

“Hell begins,” someone said, “on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do.  Hell is described in the words:  “too late.”

            The feeling of having worth or of being worthless is not measured by how much you have.  Some of you may think you’re worth a lot because of the balance in your bankbook; and some of you may feel worthless for the same reason.  Some of you may think you are a person of worth because of some special talent or ability, and some of you may believe you have no worth because you see no such talent in yourself.  Some of you may think you are a person of worth because you have a diploma while others feel worthless because they have no degree.  Some of you may think you are a person of worth because you are in the prime of your life; others may believe the passage of time has decreased your value.  These are the ways we measure ourselves.  This is not how the Lord does it.

          One preacher told the story of the day Mother Teresa spoke at a church in Minneapolis.  After she finished, a woman in a wheelchair raised her hand to ask a question.  The woman spoke with great difficulty because she suffered from cerebral palsy—but eventually it became clear that she was asking what she and those like her could do for others.  Mother Teresa hesitated not at all.  She said:

“You can do the most.

You can do more than any of us

because your suffering is united with the suffering of Christ on the cross

and it brings strength to all of us.”

As a result, the woman in a wheelchair joined a group called The Sick and Suffering Co-Workers of Mother Teresa.  She said, “We are fortunate to have a share in Christ’s cross.”  She also prayed:

“Lord, let us suffer without regret,

for in your will

and in our gracious acceptance of that same holy will

lives our eternal destiny.”

That woman lived for a year after she met Mother Teresa.  During that year she bore witness to her faith—a witness that few of us will ever match.  This one-talent woman, who some may have considered a no-talent woman—was able by the grace of God to give a five-talent witness during that year.  Her witness continues even today, years after her death, in the re-telling of her story.  “What can I do?” she asked.  “You can do the most!” was the answer—and that was true.[6]

            In the beginning of the story each of the three servants, the five, two, and one talent servant were all seen by the master as being equal in worth.  To be sure they had different abilities, and so were afforded different degrees of responsibility, but these differences did not diminish their worth in the sight of God.  They were all seen as being worthwhile and trustworthy.  God entrusted each one of them with something.

            It was not how much time, talent, or treasure God measures, but rather what we do with the time, talent, and treasure we’ve been given.  All that the Lord asks is that we not bury our heads or hands or hearts in the sand, but that we do what we can and use what we’ve been given.

The good news is that the results are not up to us.  Success or failure is not up to us. In Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth he observed, “Though I may plant the seeds of the gospel and another may water, it is God who gives the increase.”[7]  To the church in Philippi he said, “I am sure that God who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”[8]

Let God work in you as you work for him and so glorify him by serving others in his name.  Let us pray:

Lord, grant us the courage of our convictions and commitment to follow through. Help us to use all that you have given not for our own comfort but for the needs of a wounded world.  When we fear failure, instill, by your Holy Spirit, hope.  As you have begun a good work in us, bring it to completion we pray, so that each one might one day hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.”  For it is in his name we pray.  Amen.

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[1] Matthew 25:15

[2] Matthew 25:16

[3] Matthew 25:24

[4] Matthew 25:23

[5] Matthew 25;30

[6] Donovan, Richard:  SermonWriter, Matthew 25:14-30.

[7] 1 Corinthians 3:6

[8] Philippians 1:6

Oil Shortage

Matthew 25:1-13

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            Some people, it seems, “never put off until tomorrow what they can do today.”  Others take the opposite view and “never do today what they can put off until tomorrow.”   Most of us do both.  Sometimes we procrastinate and sometimes we don’t.  Men, for example, will often be faithful and meticulous in cleaning their golf club each and every time they play, but the garage they do it in may stay cluttered for a year. They tell their wives they’ll get to it tomorrow, but they don’t.  They may go golfing instead. In other words we do what we think is important at the time, and if it is not – we are tempted to put it off until another day.

            Our scripture today tells a story of preparation and procrastination and the consequences that may follow.  It asks the question, “In matters of the soul, what do you think is so important.  What can’t be put off until tomorrow?  What can?”  Before we look for answers, let us pray:

Lord, let your wisdom find us now and enter deep into our hearts, that our worship may be joyful, and our daily living be the life of your kingdom bringing hope to your world.  Amen.

            As Jesus drew closer to the cross his preaching seemed to take on a new urgency.  Like the weather forecasters before Hurricane Katrina struck, Jesus prophetically warned, “there’s a big storm coming so get ready, make your preparations and head for the high country, because if you wait too long - it will be too late.”  Some listened, but many did not.

            Why is that?  It’s not like hurricanes are some freak occurrence in that part of the world.  They come every year, so why don’t people get ready?  Well, in New Orleans some didn’t have much choice, they had no way out; but others did and decided they would ride it out.  They’d done it before; they figured they could do it again.  The same thing happened when Hurricane Wilma finally hit Florida.  After a weeks worth of warnings many were caught unprepared.  They ran out of water and food and gas in only a couple of days.  Why?

`           And why do people wait until they reach 60 before they even begin to think about making financial plans for retirement?  It’s not like they didn’t know it was coming, but still they put it off? For some it’s a matter of playing the odds.  Maybe the storm will turn before it reaches my house.  Maybe I won’t live to see retirement, or maybe I’ll win the lottery, or maybe Social Security will bail me out, or maybe I’ll just move in with my kids.  We justify our procrastination with a long list of maybes.  Since, life is so uncertain it is not only all right to put things off until tomorrow, it’s downright biblical.  Didn’t Jesus say, “be not anxious for the tomorrow, and let tomorrow worry about itself.”[1]  Don’t borrow troubles from tomorrow.  

But, some say there are two things certain in this world for which we better be prepared and that’s death and taxes. Since Jesus had given his answer to the question of taxes a few chapters earlier he will now speak to that other certainty.

            He frames his thoughts in a parable and a setting that would have been completely familiar to his audience. “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”[2]  Weddings are big in every culture and the customs that control them are deeply ingrained.  Believe me, I’ve done enough weddings to know that brides are very particular about who stands where and what they wear and where the groom is before the wedding starts.  When you are about to make the biggest commitment of your life there is found in these traditions some comfort and assurance.  The familiar music and bridal gown and rings confirm the covenant that is being made.

            So it was in Jesus’ day.  One of the customs was designed to create a grand entrance, not for the bride, but for the groom.  Ten young women, not really bridesmaids, but more like grooms-maids were to light the way for the groom to make his entrance.  Each held a lamp that was really more like a garden torch, so the effect was quite dramatic.  The problem these grooms-maids faced was timing.  They never knew exactly when the groom would show up.  Since this would probably be the only time in their lives that they would be the center of attention, some liked to milk the moment for all it was worth.  Procrastination stirred anticipation. 

            That is evidently what happened in this story because the groom waited so long five of the young women ran out of oil. Now you know and I know that Jesus’ parables have meaning that goes deeper than the story.  Jesus’ audience would have immediately understood the bridegroom to be God or perhaps Jesus himself.  In the Old Testament this metaphor was often used.  God is the groom and Israel is the bride.  The New Testament portrays Jesus as the groom and the church as the bride.  Whichever understanding you choose the problem remains the same – why does the groom take so long?

            Each of us asks that question when we do not immediately receive an answer to our prayers.  The other day I came across a book that must speak to that issue because it has the honest title, “You’re late again, Lord! The impatient Woman’s Guide to God’s Timing.”  Where were you God when I needed you?

            I wish I could tell you the answer. If you’re waiting for God to heal an illness that wracks you’re body, I wish I could give you an appointment like a surgeon and tell you next Tuesday and everything is going to be all right.  If you’re waiting for God to bring a child home who has been away too long, I wish I could tell this Thanksgiving all will be reconciled, but I can’t.  It would be easy to give a glib response and just quote the prophet Isaiah when he said, “God’s ways are not our ways.”[3]  So, “don’t worry – be happy.”

 In reality my question is the same one David asked in Psalm 13, “How long Lord?”  “How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart?  How long shall my enemy be exalted O Lord?  How long Lord?”[4]

            I don’t know the answer to that question and neither did those ten grooms-maids, but that’s the point.  Since they had no way of know when they ought to have been prepared for today, tomorrow, and the day after that, but they weren’t! When these whose lamps went out because of an oil shortage they turned to those who had prepared for such a contingency and with nary a please or thank you demanded, “Give us some of your oil.”[5] 

            Now, a Good Samaritan should have responded by saying “Yes” even to a demand so arrogantly made.  After all, the Bible does say, “Let the one who has two coats share with the one who has none.”[6]  But, that’s not what happened.  Those whom the Bible called “wise” said to those whom the Bible called “foolish”, “Go to a dealer and get some for you, because if we share we also may run out.”[7] 

            In this parable language what does this oil represent?  Why is not transferable?  Why do you have to get it on your own?  Some scholars believe that oil refers to faith and others believe it is works of righteousness.  In either case it’s not something you can really get from someone else.  The Apostle Paul said each of us must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.”[8] 

            In other words no one gets into the kingdom of heaven on the coattails of someone else.  God has no grandchildren so the faith of a godly parent or spouse will not be sufficient for you.  God has only children      who have heard his call and prepared for his coming.

            That’s the meaning of the hard judgment that concludes this parable. “And those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut.  Afterward, the other maidens came also saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us.”  But, he replied, “I do not know you.”[9]

            The finality of hearing the door close and the lock turned is one of the most fearful sounds in all of scripture for it declares there is no tomorrow. The tomorrows are all gone.  Anyone who has ever stood before a loved one lying in a casket or has heard a doctor say, “we’ve done everything we could” has felt the knot that forms in the pit of the stomach and the dark emptiness that engulfs the soul. What do you have left when the tomorrows are all gone?

            For those whom the Bible calls “wise” there is the marriage feast, the celebration and salvation that is found though Christ – the Bridegroom who comes surrounded by light.  Who are the wise?  They are the ones who are ready.  How do you know if you are ready?

            One preacher put it this way:

“We are ready when our relationships with God and others are what they should be.  We are ready when at any moment of our day, whether in the privacy of our home or in the apartment of a girlfriend or in the recesses of our mind, we are not ashamed to have the Lord meet us.  We are ready when we make sure that our children are cared for, when will not be ashamed at our credit card accounts being made public.  We are ready when past grievances have been forgiven.”[10]

            Are you?  Are you ready or have you been putting it off for another day?  Have you made a decision for Christ or is that also something you’ve been meaning to do after you’ve have your fun doing the things you know he’d disapprove?  If you’ve made that decision for Christ, does you walk reflect your talk?  Are their things you’re doing about which you’d be ashamed if he happened to walk through the door?  Would you be willing to let him look at your checkbook or you date-book? 

Procrastinate or pray, put off or prepare, the choice is up to you and will reveal what you think is important, what really matters. Since none of us knows the door the Lord will return to us and we return to the Lord, will it matter if I join the wedding feast or remain outside only looking in?

Jesus concluded his parable by saying, “Watch and pray.”  So, let us do that now:

Pastor:             O God, you call us to serve you in many, and sometime unexpected ways:

People:           Help us to be ready.

Pastor:             When someone needs us to lend a hand,

People:           Help us to be ready.

Pastor:             When someone needs comfort,

People:           Help us to be ready.

Pastor:             When someone needs us to share what is ours,

People:           Help us to be ready.

Pastor:             When someone needs us to act with courage,

People:           Help us to be ready.

Pastor:             When someone needs us to be patient,

People:           Help us to be ready.

Pastor:             When someone need to hear of your love,

People:           Help us to be ready.

Pastor:             Lord, you are always ready to hear and act.  May we learn from you and be ready to serve in your name.

People:           Amen.[11]

           

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[1] Matthew 6:34

[2] Matthew 25:1

[3] Isaiah 55:8

[4] Psalm 13:1-2

[5] Mathew 25:7

[6] Luke 3:11

[7] Matthew

[8] Philippians 2:12

[9] Matthew 25:11-12

[10] Wilkins, Michael: The NIV Application Commentary – Matthew. Zondervan, pg 818.

[11] Roots of Worship: November/December 2005, pg 3