Continually be present to God. November 8, 2020 The Rev. Kathleen M. Sturges

 

Matthew 25:1-13

I like fairy tale endings but that’s often not what we get - in life or in the stories that Jesus tells. Like today, ten bridesmaids take their lamps and go out to meet the bridegroom. But he’s delayed. And as the wait drags on the lamps burn down to the point that half of the waiting bridesmaids don’t have enough oil to last. So they run to the store to get more. But in the meantime, the bridegroom arrives and the party begins. And when the other maids return they are shut out of the celebration.

 Over the years I can’t count the number of times people have told me that they feel sorry for those bridesmaids. That they don’t like the way this parable ends. And well they shouldn’t because this “One Strike and You're Out” policy is completely antithetical to the core message of our faith. The good news as witnessed to in the totality of Scripture, tradition, and experience that God is always, always giving us second chances. For God’s way is a way of mercy and love and grace. And what God longs for, and even dies for, is forgiveness and reconciliation and communion. So of course anyone who is paying attention should push back on the idea that it’s ok that some bridesmaids were shut out from the celebration

But maybe all that’s a distraction for the real point that Jesus is trying to make. Because remember he introduces the story by saying, The kingdom of heaven will be like this. Meaning that the kingdom of heaven as revealed in this story will not come on cue. That there is waiting involved. And that we would be wise, like the bridesmaids, to have some extra oil on hand to see us through. Because waits can be unpredictable.

And don’t we know it. Whether we are waiting for final election results. Or waiting for justice [to] roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream, to quote from our reading from the prophet Amos (5:24). Or waiting for a coronavirus vaccine and our world to get back to some semblance of normal. Waiting is hard, full of uncertainty, and oftentimes, anxiety producing. We are those bridesmaids waiting for the groom who has yet arrive

So how do we do it? How do we wait wisely with extra oil for our lamps, for our lives? Well Jesus says that we are to keep awake. Now obviously he doesn’t mean that literally. Even in the story all of the bridesmaids fall asleep. Nor does Jesus mean that we are to live in a constant state of extreme alertness - that is unsustainable and unhealthy. Rather when Jesus says keep awake he’s telling us to continually be present to God. To be open and keenly aware of  the truth that God has been and is always with us. Keeping awake is to recognize that Christ is continually present through all of our waiting - even our anxious waiting. And by grounding ourselves in that truth through our thoughts, our words, and our deeds we become more and more awake to the oil that is already there for us. The sustaining oil that is always flowing in our hearts through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It’s a holy oil that not only sustains us as we wait but empowers us - empowers us, as in the words of the prophet Micah, to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God (6:8).  For when we do that our actions reveal what all of us are truly waiting for.

Because ultimately it’s more than a particular political party to win or for certain laws to be enacted or for an effective vaccine to be created. Those all may be well and good, but if that is the only thing we are waiting for, the only thing in which we put our hope and trust, we will be disappointed.

As Christians what we wait for is something much greater, much surer than anything this world can offer. Our wait is ultimately for the coming of the kingdom of heaven when God’s reign of love and justice are fully realized in our world. We may not know the day or the hour, but Jesus assures us that the day will come. And when it comes the story of the bridesmaids and all of our stories will be fulfilled. None will be shut out. And all of us, all of God’s people, all of God’s creation, will experience the fullness of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and communion. Together we will join in the greatest celebration of all - greater than any fairy tale ending. So keep awake. The wait is worth it.