Some of us experienced quite a wake-up call
last night, no? I’m not talking about
Oklahoma State’s defeat of K-State… I’m talking about the jolt and movement of
the 5.6 earthquake that originated in Oklahoma.
The shaking woke me up from a deep sleep – doors rattling, lamps moving,
and the bed and floor rumbling. Given
the intensity and duration of the disturbance, for a moment, I was imagined I
was a back in California asking myself, “is this the big one that we’ve been
anticipating?” Such anticipation in a time of great disturbance is fitting for
this morning’s Gospel lesson from Matthew.
As a reminder, Matthew, an account of the
teachings of Jesus written by a fellow Jew to convince other Jews that Jesus is
the greatest of prophets and, in fact, the messiah for which they had been
waiting. It consists of oral stories
that were compiled in writing at least 60 or 70 years after earthly ministry of
Jesus, which places it in a time of additional turmoil for the Jews – the
second temple had been destroyed by the Romans, early Jewish followers of Jesus
were scattered and living under hostile scrutiny, and many were anticipating
the imminent return of a the Christ who would redeem them and restore new order
(an apocalyptic anticipation). The
Gospel according to Matthew has Jesus interpreting traditional religious laws
anew (ref: chapters 5-7) and teaching about a new kingdom to come (ref: chapters
13 and 18), criticizing the hypocritical religious rulers of the time and
speaking in metaphorical parables about a soon-to-come time when God will
re-order things in provocative ways (chapters 23-25).
What we’re hearing from the Gospel this
morning follows one of his most vivid and lengthy condemnations of the Pharisees
(chapter 23 – the ‘woes’). Jesus has now
left the temple (and the shocks he has left there from his critical words and
actions), is sitting with his disciples on a nearby hill looking back at the
city walls of Jerusalem, and is speaking with them about the ‘end of the age’
when the old structures will be destroyed, the Son of Man will return, and
there will be seemingly harsh accounting of who is seen as righteous and
unrighteous by God. Of course, the
disciples want to know when all this will happen. Jesus is clear that these things will happen sometime
soon, but that the timing will be unexpected and that they should be always
prepared.
This morning’s ‘parable of the ten bridesmaids’
is situated between two other parables that also emphasize the need to be ever
ready for the dawning of the new age and warnings against being caught
unprepared at that time. It’s a
troubling parable in several ways:
1) the bridegroom was
so late that those who were waiting to greet him and begin the grand procession
from the bride’s home to the groom’s parent’s home for a great banquet (like
what Jesus and his mother had been attending in Cana on the occasion of his
famous ‘first’ public miracle of turning water into wine) fell asleep; (note:
honeymoon’s weren’t spent ‘away’ somewhere – they were grand celebrations in
family homes with cherished friends)
2) the ‘wise’
bridesmaids also seem selfish in their refusal to share oil with their
‘foolish’ colleagues; and
3) the bridegroom (a
metaphor for Jesus, ref: Matt 9:15, 22:1-10) seems unforgiving when the
‘foolish’ bridesmaids ask that the door to the banquet be opened to them – “I
don’t know you”, he replies to them.
Travel between towns at the time of this
story was not as safe, predictable, and easy as it is today. So, the idea that the bridegroom was running
late isn’t particularly surprising here.
What is worth noting, however, is that the metaphor alludes to a greater
observation about how even the faithful might become ‘drowsy’ and even ‘fall
asleep’ while awaiting the coming of the Lord, particularly as his return is
taking much longer than expected. Note
that there’s not distinguishing between the wise and the foolish is this regard
– they both grow tired and drift to sleep.
What is different is that the wise took fuel reserves with them into the
darkness as they waited, while the foolish didn’t have any reserves.
What about the matter of the ‘wise’ not
sharing their fuel with the ‘foolish’? One
way of hearing the story is that the wise were stingy and/or fearful of
scarcity (“there will not be enough for you and for us”) – this is troubling,
and yet also particularly candid and imaginable. Isn’t it how many of us initially react when
asked to share our resources? Yet, those
bridesmaids are called ‘wise’. Perhaps,
despite their lack of charity in this moment, they’re considered wise because
of their prior planning in carrying extra fuel. Faithful of the bridegroom’s
return, although uncertain of the timing, they had brought the resources
necessary for sufficient illumination during the wait. The foolish, however, had not. And, it has been suggested that what the wise
were asked to share can’t really be shared so quickly in a single moment like a
tangible commodity – that their oil/fuel is a metaphor for spiritual resources
they had cultivated over time (an internal, spiritual ‘reserve’ that can fuel our actions,
but is not tangibly transferable to others in an instant).
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| (image: The Wise Virgins by James Tissot) |
QUESTION
1: What does the reserve of lamp oil of the wise represent? What fuel do we
need to have in reserve… and how do we obtain and/or share it? (discussion
points: strength of hope and faith-filled convictions cultivated through
increased knowledge and wisdom through experience of acts of charitable love,
etc., etc.; ref: Matt 5:14-16 let your light shine)
QUESTION
2: What was foolish behavior of the other bridesmaids? (discussion points: presuming that
things would happen according to their own timeline; not prudently planning for
the future (not building up internal fuel); seeking light and more fuel in the
marketplace rather than heading to the banquet in faith even though they
perceived themselves as lacking, etc.)
And, what about the door being shut to the
foolish? Perhaps you are as troubled as
I am by what this is saying – some will be left out. It’s true, in the Gospel according to Matthew,
Jesus tells parables in which it’s pretty clear that not everyone will be
welcome in the coming kingdom and that some will be left behind, left behind
and even cast out. Reasonable readers of
the entirety of the Bible can debate whether those who are initially left out
are ever welcome back in… what’s important to note this morning is that in
Matthew’s telling, Jesus is pretty clear that favor is shown and priority given
to the truly faithful and righteously ready.
QUESTION
3: What does it mean to be ready for the kingdom banquet – how are we to be
properly prepared for the bridegroom’s return?
(discussion
points: not sufficient to simply know the Lord’s name; not be deluded into
believing that we have all the time in the world; vigilantly ‘fueled up’ for the long haul with
our tanks/reserves full; have tended to broken relationships and other matters
in need of repair/restoration in a timely manner; etc.)
One commentator I read quoted from Rilke’s
book Letters to a Young Poet on the
matter of expectancy about Christ and the coming of a new age, likening our
journey in this life, full of longsuffering and troubled anticipation, to
living each day as both painful and lovely as if we’re living “a great pregnancy.”
(*John M. Buchanan, Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago quoting from
Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young
Poet. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 1993, p. 61.)
And, indeed, in our liturgical year, we are
approaching the great season of Advent in which we will become even more
mindful of what it means to prepare for new birth – new life with Jesus Christ.
In the meanwhile, as we head toward that
season of our year, and as we await the coming of our Lord, what are some of
the things I hear the Spirit saying through today’s Gospel lesson?
- It’s foolish to
be distracted by predictions about the coming of our Lord – the timing
will be unexpected. It’s foolish to
assume that one lampful will last the entire night… certainly not if we’re
living brightly as we’re expected to.
- It’s wise to
live and love expectantly with faith and hope, alert and purposely
prepared to wait, never assuming we have enough ‘fuel’, but always
cultivating and bringing more for our journey. It takes time and
experience to cultivate the lamp oils of character, faith, and wisdom… and
these reserves can’t be borrowed or loaned. They are gained through consistent,
loving actions with our neighbors.
- It’s foolish to wait
until the last minute to prepare for a final exam. We don’t know how much time we’ve each
been given.
- It’s wise to
make the most of each day, striving to love each other as Jesus has loved
us and constantly repairing, cleaning, and preparing for the great banquet
and the new kingdom… keeping our lamps lit for the coming of Christ so
that we can more clear see and follow him.
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