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Pentecost 23A
November 8, 2020
Matthew 25:1-13
INTRODUCTION
Did you know, that many centuries ago, the Advent season was not four weeks, but a full seven? At some point in the 12th or 13th century, a four-week Advent became the fashion in the western Church, though the Orthodox Church still observes the full seven weeks. Why am I talking about Advent? Because if we did still observe the seven-week Advent season, it would start today! So, happy Advent! It’s time to start preparing our hearts for the coming savior!
And actually, even though we don’t really observe this practice, there is sort of a shift in the lectionary readings after All Saints Day that starts this heart-preparing process. Always in November, leading up to Advent, we hear a lot of end-of-the-world texts, texts about the second coming of Christ, or the Parousia, even as we prepare to remember the first coming (aka Christmas).
So you’ll see that in our texts today. In the Gospel, it is in a parable about bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom to come (the bridegroom is pretty much always Jesus, with the Church as his bride). And in 1 Thessalonians, we hear this wonderful telling of what it will be like when Christ comes down from heaven, a trumpet blows, and we will all be caught up together with him in the clouds. (Our opening hymn this morning is based in part on this text.)
People for whom these texts were written believed that the Parousia would happen any day… and yet here we are still waiting, 2000 years later! We’re no strangers to waiting for big news, especially this week! As you listen, hear these texts as someone who is, indeed, waiting for something life-changing. Let’s listen.
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well we’ve made it through the longest week of the longest year ever. Yesterday the world heard the news that Joe Biden has been elected president. As you can imagine in such a tight and highly emotional election as this, just over half of the country rejoiced, with the other half grieving. Emotions have been terribly high this week no matter who you voted for, and they remain so. I suspect we are all, for some reason or another, extremely exhausted – whether from the past four days, or the past four years, or the past 7 months, or the past whatever-challenges-you-face.
With this as the backdrop, enter the parable of the 10 bridesmaids. I’ve gotta say, this parable has always rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t much like it, because so much of it goes against what scripture teaches elsewhere. The “wise” bridesmaids hoard their oil, instead of “giving to one who begs from you,” as Jesus had specifically instructed in the Sermon on the Mount. They are worried about not having lamps lit, where in Revelation it says, “In the city of God, they will not need the light of a lamp, for the Lord God will give them light.” The prepared (but selfish) bridesmaids get to go in, and the unprepared ones get left outside, even though Jesus has said that the last will be first and the first will be last, and then the door is closed in their face, even though Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees for doing exactly that. So: what are we supposed to do with this??
Like so many of Jesus’ parables, sometimes we need to turn them and look from a different angle to get a better understanding. So, let’s think about this angle: what is the real mistake made by the bridesmaids? Jesus’ command at the end is “keep awake!” and if that’s the point, then none of them succeeded! They all fell asleep, wise and foolish alike. So then what is the real issue here?
I’d lift up one issue with the wise, and one issue with the foolish. First, the wise. I always assumed the wisdom here refers to their thinking to bring extra oil. Like a good scout, they are prepared. And I guess that is wise. Yet when they have the opportunity to help someone, to give out of their plenty, their wisdom is left wanting. Or rather, their wisdom is less like that of the kingdom of God, and more like the wisdom of the world. Right? “We don’t have enough,” they say. “We only have enough for ourselves, not for you.” That is the scarcity mindset of the world: to take care of ourselves first, and view what we have through a lens of scarcity, not abundance. Maybe they were right, that they would have run out if they shared. And so what if they did? Was the light of the bridegroom (Jesus) not enough to make up the difference? So their issue is that they did not trust that the bridegroom would provide, and so they hoarded what they had, and did not share with those in need. Wise bridesmaids? Maybe. But wise with the world’s wisdom, not God’s.
And how about the other five, the so-called “foolish bridesmaids”? What was their issue? Well, they were not overly prepared for the unanticipated long wait for the bridegroom, which is how they got their moniker. But their far greater mistake is… that they left. They believed the “wise” bridesmaids, that there was not enough and they needed more. They doubted the providence of the bridegroom, and they left.
Maybe the bridegroom would have turned them away at the door for not having lit lamps, but I doubt it. And honestly, I’m not sure the bridesmaids thought that, either. More likely is that they didn’t want to be caught with their lamps empty – and all the embarrassment and vulnerability that goes with that.
And this, this I totally resonate with, because my lamp has been feeling awfully empty these days, too. It was already running pretty low from pandemic fatigue and all that goes with that, plus election season fatigue. Then add the nerves and heightened anxiety this week of the election itself, and then the waiting, and the disappointment, and the waiting, and the obsessively checking the news, and the waiting… my oil was running very low. At one point on Wednesday, I sat in my car, near tears, having just yelled at my children in Wegmans over something that otherwise wouldn’t have bothered me, and I texted Michael, “I have run dry.” I was empty.
It doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t look good. I was mortified, as I spoke more sternly than I ever do with my children, as strangers walked by and looked at me. Surely, I thought, they are judging me, at one of my worst moments. Who wants to be caught empty? Who wants to be found in such a vulnerable, fragile position? Not the bridesmaids, and not me. And it isn’t foolish, necessarily. But it is human.
And so the bridesmaids leave. They leave for shame of being seen in that tender place, seen by the bridegroom or anyone. They leave in search of something of this world to fill their emptiness. They scramble to leave that place of darkness, as their lamps desperately flicker away, unable anymore to scatter the darkness of night.
What if they had instead trusted in the bridegroom’s deep and unconditional compassion? What if they had believed that the bridegroom had plenty of light and oil to spare? What if they had trusted and understood that what was more valuable to the bridegroom than their full lamps, was their presence – however messy and imperfect it may be? What if they had stayed in that dark, empty place, trusting that Christ, the bridegroom, would meet them there, filling them up and scattering the darkness of night with his own love and light?
My friends, if you are weary from waiting – for a vaccine, for a result, for justice and peace, for rest – if you feel fearful as you watch your lamp sputtering to a finish, if you feel fragile, vulnerable, and empty in that dark place… be assured that our bridegroom will come. Indeed, he is already here. Do not be afraid of the darkness, and do not be afraid of emptiness. Remember that it was out of the dark, empty chaos that God first created the universe. Remember that it was from a dark tomb that God made new life and resurrection to come about. Such darkness and emptiness may not be comfortable, but it is a holy place, a place of both surrender and potential, and God will meet us there, light our path, and create us anew.
Let us pray… Creating God, just as you created the universe out of nothing, enter into our own feelings of emptiness and fatigue, and create us anew for the work ahead. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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