November 12, 2023 Twenty-fourth Sunday After Pentecost The  text is Matthew 25:1-13.

-o0o-

[Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. ¹¹Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ ¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

-o0o-

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus told many parables to his disciples and the crowds, describing the coming kingdom of heaven.  This morning in Matthew Jesus tells another of these parables, this time advising the manner in which God’s people should be preparing for what are known as, “the end times”.  This is the biblical theme of “eschatology”; that part of theology that’s concerned with the final events of history, the ultimate destiny of humanity.  The establishment of the kingdom of God, when the ultimate judgement of humankind will take place.

This is one of several parables in a row that Jesus preaches regarding watchfulness, readiness, and preparedness for the coming kingdom of God.  Earlier in Matthew Jesus teaches about the homeowner not knowing at what hour a thief might break into his house, followed by another describing servants not carrying out their tasks when the master is away.  And right after this morning’s story about these wise or foolish bridesmaids, Jesus teaches about servants who wisely invested their master’s money while he was gone; and those who did not.  These all follow a common theme, and impart the same truth; no one knows when Christ will return; but it would be in everyone’s best interest to act as though it might occur at any moment.

So, the significant lesson we should take away from this parable of the foolish bridesmaids is that it’s less about potentially being excluded from entrance into God’s kingdom, and more about living in a state of watchfulness while preparing for acceptance into it.  A quick caveat here; If we consider that the “oil” in the bridesmaids’ lamps in the parable is a reference to anything we must do to receive salvation, we then must recognize that this is contrary to Lutheran theology.  Remember, Luther was firmly convinced through his reading of the Book of Romans, that we are saved by our faith in Christ, through God’s grace, apart from “works”.  Not having ensured that we maintain an ample supply of oil shouldn’t be misinterpreted as insufficient merit for salvation.  The only way that this reference to lamp oil makes Lutheran sense is if we equate it to having sufficient faith.  For we acknowledge that our faith in Christ is all that is needed for our entry into God’s coming kingdom.  “Solus Christos”, “Sola Fide”, “Sola Gratia”; “Christ Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone!   

Thus, if we have sufficient “oil” in our lamps, if we practice a living faith, all we need do is wait.  And that is what the bridesmaids were doing; waiting, waiting for the groom to arrive, to accompany him to the wedding ceremony.  Note that Jesus tells us in the parable that all ten of them fell asleep.  Now, this is understandable, since weddings in first-century Israel didn’t necessarily happen at a set time.  There was great pomp and ceremony involved; the groom might come forth to collect his bride at any hour of the day or night.  In this morning’s parable, the bridesmaids would have been expected to wait for the groom to emerge and accompany him, lighting the way in the darkness with their glowing oil lamps. 

We find the bridesmaids waiting with their lamps lit in expectation of the groom's arrival, but he is delayed. In truth, there way several reasons a bridegroom might be held up on his way to the wedding in Jesus’ time; a protracted delay was not an uncommon occurrence.  Potentially, there could be last minute negotiations between the groom and the bride's family over her dowry.  The bride might be taking extra-long to don her wedding finery.  Jesus doesn’t explain why the ceremony was behind schedule.  Whatever the reason, the delay shouldn’t have caught the bridesmaids by surprise; they should have anticipated that a hold up could occur, for many unexpected reasons.  In the parable, the groom finally arrived at midnight and it was then that the so-called “foolish” bridesmaids hurried forth to purchase the oil they needed for their lamps.  The middle of the night was probably not the best time to head out to make a purchase, considering that the whole town was likely to be involved in the wedding ceremony.  The local lamp oil store was probably shuttered tight with the merchant already at the ceremony, along with everyone else, waiting for the groom to arrive.

So, we find that half the bridal party engaged in poor planning and all of them grew weary and fell asleep while waiting; which we may assume as a sign of weak faith, from which all the bridesmaids apparently suffered.  But to be fair, it can be difficult to wait, especially for something we are looking forward to.  Who hasn’t been travelling in the car and not heard, “are we there yet?  Are we there yet?  Are we there yet?”  Waiting can be difficult and we can find ourselves becoming weary.  If we live lives expectant of the coming kingdom, we will find ourselves looking forward with joy to its arrival.  Yet our faith, our “lamp oil” must be sufficient to enable us to bear the waiting.  Like the servants being idle when their master was away, and the homeowner not paying attention to the security of his house, and yes, like the drowsy bridesmaids, we can’t allow ourselves to become complacent while we wait.  Jesus completed his earthly ministry over 2,000 years ago, and he himself proclaimed that even he does not know when he will return.  This knowledge is known only to God.

So, we are to be expectant, always maintaining a sense of readiness.  I recall a bumper sticker from some years ago that read, “Jesus is coming, look busy”.

But just “looking” busy isn’t what we followers of Jesus are expected to do; we are called to act as the hands, feet, and heart of Christ as we await his return.  If we swap out one word from this bumper sticker, it would read, “Jesus is coming, BE busy!”  Along with this call to servanthood, we ought to consider watchfulness,  preparedness, and expectation.  And maybe too, we should toss in a bit of much-needed, and often-lacking, patience.  We have previously examined the very Lutheran concept of the kingdom of God viewed in two distinct ways; the kingdom of the “already here” and the one of “not yet”.  The kingdom has not yet reached its fulfillment, God’s ultimate will for the world is not yet realized.  This will happen after the “Parousia”, Christ’s Second Coming.  This is the “not yet” aspect of the kingdom.

Simultaneously, we must live in the “already here” aspect of the kingdom; we are to live and act as people who have faith in the redemption that Christ has secured, and behave in ways that reflect our thankfulness for this gift of God’s grace.  Like the bridesmaids, we ought to live in a way that is expectant of Christ’s imminent return, while being aware that a delay will most likely occur.  We do not know when God’s kingdom will be established.  And, along with this preparedness, our actions must reflect a sense of purpose, of our calling, of an awareness of the kingdom that “already” surrounds us.  We ought to strive to exhibit all the things that the kingdom promises; love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and justice.  These are all blessings promised by God in Christ, which will be bestowed upon all God’s children in the “not yet” of the kingdom to come; but, in the “already here” of this world, we can’t afford to become drowsy and fall asleep.  We are called to love God and one another, to show mercy and forgiveness, to strive to secure a just existence for all God’s people, trusting in God’s grace.  We mustn’t allow our lamps to be extinguished; we can’t run out of the oil of faith, of expectancy, of readiness, preparedness, and hope.   

The greatest desire of the “already here” of the kingdom is God’s will for all people to share in life abundant.  Sadly though, for many, this abundance can be found to be rather lacking.

Many of God’s people feel the effects of isolation, loss of fellowship, financial hardship; and some may have given up on community, or church, or the need to associate with others of a like mind.  Some have felt the oil of their faith become depleted.  Their light may be growing dim and they are feeling drowsy and tired.  And it’s at times such as these that Christ’s followers are called to share the “already here” of the kingdom with those who have felt the promised abundant life retreating from them, withheld from them.

It’s up to us as followers of Jesus to let our lamps shine brightly, to illuminate the path for others to follow, others who may be in darkness.  To show love, mercy, and forgiveness to all whose patience, readiness, or preparedness may have waned.  Unlike the bridesmaids who refused to share their lamp oil for fear that all of them would go without, we know that the blessings we receive from God are boundless, are without limit.  The faith we cling to and the expectation we feel as we await the coming of the bridegroom who is the Christ, these may be shared abundantly with others, without worrying that our portion will be diminished.  The lamp oil that is the faith that the Holy Spirit blesses us with will never run out, for it is infinite; we can be assured that we will always be refilled.

And if we acknowledge that our reserves of faith cannot be depleted, we will be more than ready, be more than prepared to share our supply of blessings with those who do not have a share in the abundance of the “not yet” of the kingdom of God.                                         

Will you pray with me?  Good, and gracious, and Holy God, help us to remain expectant, prepared, and patient as we await the coming of the One who will usher in your kingdom.  Send your Holy Spirit to supply us with the oil of faith so that we might be a light to others as we keep watch for the return of your Son.  And we pray these things the name of Jesus Christ, the One who is the bridegroom for whom we expectantly wait, with our lamps brightly lit and held high before us, to welcome him.  Amen.

God is Good, all the time.  All the time, God is Good.  Amen.