PENTECOST 25

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: PENTECOST 25
PROPER: 27 A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 10, 2002


TEXT: Matthew 25:1-13 – The Wise and Foolish Virgins

ISSUE: How many times has Christ’s Holy Spirit come to us, asking us to be ready to serve and lighten the way for him? The story of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is a call to readiness, preparedness, and eager anticipation for lighting the way of the Lord in the darkness of the world. We lead the way to joy and hope as symbolized by the Wedding Feast.
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Matthew’s gospel account tells us a parable of what is popularly referred to as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. We might also tag it as the Parable of Here Comes the Bride or better still, Here Comes the Bridegroom. In short, the parable is saying simply< “Be ready for the coming of the Lord.” It has that advent theme, and at one time, I believe, it was one of the gospels appointed to be read in Advent, a church season of getting prepared for the coming of the Lord at Christmas.
Modern biblical scholars believe that the Parable was probably not a parable that really belonged to Jesus, but was rather a story of the time that Matthew inserted in his gospel account to make certain points. The reason that modern scholars fail to attribute it to Jesus is because it seems about himself, and there is reason to believe that Jesus was not really fully aware of himself as The Messiah of God, the bridegroom of God, who was to come at this point in his ministry. They also seem to think that the parable is a bit too pat and moralistic. The wise virgins are fully prepared for the coming of the Lord, but the foolish virgins are lacking in their taking their part seriously enough, and are unready for what they were supposed to be doing. And for their foolishness they get locked out: “Truly I tell you I don’t know you.” So the moralistic conclusion is that you had better be good, and be ready to receive the Lord at all times, or you are going to get locked out of the Kingdom of God! IT is as if Matthew is trying writing his gospel account long after Jesus’ life is expressing and urgency and trying to drum up the enthusiasm and energy need in the early formation of the Christian community. Shape up, be ready, alert, awake, and ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and if you’re not, then you’d better watch out! Many scholars say that for these reasons the parable doesn’t sound exactly like Jesus, and more like a pep talk for the early church.
Personally, I can see that argument, but there is another point that the Parable makes that is somewhat in keeping, I think with Jesus’ message. And the startling conclusion of the possibility of being locked out is very alarming and thought provoking. Actually I think the uncertainties and the arguments about the scriptures and what they mean are really rather interesting, fun, and challenging. How boring Christianity can be, and how small God becomes, when we think we’ve got it all figured out.
Any way here’s the story: A couple is going to be married in a first century Middle Eastern community. This was a big deal. The groom goes to the home of his bride to bring her to his father’s home, because that was the custom and the new bride would live with her husband’s family, mother and sisters. His family had made the arrangements with dad making all the arrangements for the dowry, and mother checked out and dotted the “I’s,” and crossed the “T’s” of the contract. People in the community were all invited, which included the young unmarried girls, teen-agers, in the community, of which there are ten in this town. They wait along the road to greet the new couple and light the way with their lanterns if it gets late. For some reason the couple are held up, keeping in mind that punctuality was not exactly a virtue of the time, and there may have been some last minute things to discuss between the families regarding the marriage contract, and lots of farewells, hugs and kisses for the departing bride. Back home the guests are waiting, and the teen-age girls are out on the road waiting to announce their coming and light the way in the dark.
It is late, and the virgin teen-age virgin maidens see that the wedding party is coming so they get ready to light their lamps. Now the wise maidens brought extra oil and are ready for the procession. The foolish teen-agers have not brought enough so they want the wise maidens to share, but the wise maidens are teen-agers too, and they refuse, which really doesn’t say a lot for the wise maidens. (Spoken child like:)
“Go get your own oil.”
“But the stores are closed now.”
“Tough luck. We got ours; now you go get yours.”
Meantime, the bridegroom comes, and there is a procession to the wedding feast, to the grand party.” Those with the oil lamps lead the way. They enlighten the way. What’s more they are filled with the oil, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Are these they who have been sealed by the Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever?” Where is all this leading? It is leading to the Feast, one of the most joyful occasions of the time! I think so! And the silly foolish girls are left out, and we may be inclined to feel sorry for them. But don’t! They were invited. They knew the way but they didn’t take it seriously. Like the guy who as invited to the Wedding Feast in another parable, but who didn’t wear his wedding garment. He got thrown out with the girls. This parable of Matthew, and Jesus, I think, is told at a difficult time in their history. Jesus foresaw the potential doom of the destruction of Israel, and Matthew lived through it. The parable stern call to come to the Wedding Feast, to the banquet in the Kingdom, and take it seriously and keep focused as the children of light, and as those anointed with the oil of the Spirit. Don’t miss the boat; don’t miss the party. Look for the coming of Christ of Christ in the darkness as faithful servants. That is what we are called to, faithfulness, loyalty, commitment to Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom and Lord that we serve.
Let’s shift for a minute to the Hebrew Scripture Lesson from Amos. A great lesson. No, a powerful lesson. Amos is saying to his people the coming day of the Lord is not light. It is a day of gloom and darkness. “It is as if you were running away from a lion and ran into a grizzly bear.” The day of the Lord is not always sweetness and light. There are very difficult and painful times. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies, you half-attended church services, and your fattened lamb dinners. I take no delight in your songs, your harps, your bell choirs, Christmas Bazaars and flea markets. “I want justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos speaking on behalf of God calls his people to a genuine spiritedness that addresses the doom and the gloom of the world, and leads the way to the party, to the feast, to a new world kingdom where everybody has enough, and nobody has too much; where we become deeply spiritually involved in the pain and suffering of the world, both its people and the environment.
This time is not a particularly jolly time for us. We stand on the edge of a war. War is not fun. People suffer and die on both sides, and even if you win for many of the afflicted there is no fun. There is the constant threat of terrorist attack against a world that some people see as arrogant. One of the most insidious problems in our society, which has persisted for a long time now, is the drug problem in our culture. But as long as the general population thinks “pot” is fun, then we’ll have to live with the drug intrusion, and its consequences. We are living in a world where the AIDS-HIV problem is becoming an ever more serious problem, creating unrest and serious problems around the world, creating terrible havoc in some poorer nations. Poverty continues expand, and often what the greater church does is apply band-aid handouts. Older people have difficulty paying for their medications. The teenyboppers in the parable have all been invited to walk with the bridegroom, to walk with the Lord, but they failed to take the invitation seriously and commit themselves and to stay ready in their mature relationship with the Lord, like people who miss the point of the Spirit of God given at their baptism. So they get left out, but don’t forget that those who do take their relationship with the Lord and the community seriously get to go into the party. The parable is a call to maturity in faith, and the joy of seeing the Kingdom Banquet of God become realized.
When I was in college I met a young man, Dennis Livingston, whom I enjoyed to very much. We used to have many late night discussions. I was a philosophy major, and Dennis was an art major, and was quite good. We had many good times together. But time passed, and each of us went our separate ways. Years passed. One day at a city festival, I saw a man, I was sure was Dennis.
“Are you Dennis Livingston?” I asked.
“Why, Yes I am,” he replied with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.
“Remember me? I’m David Remington.”
“Who? Dennis questioned.
“David Remington. You remember, from Washington College.”
“Sorry, Mr. Remington, I don’t know who you are.”
To be the church of God, to be friends with God, we have to do our faithful part in keeping the relationship going from day to day.