26th Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 25:1-13
Zion L.C.
Nov. 9, 2008
LIVE TODAY AS IF CHRIST IS COMING TOMORROW
Now the purpose of this parable: First of all this Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids, also
known as the Parable of the Ten Virgins, is always interesting to me. Have ever been to a wedding where
there were ten bridesmaids? I guess we would call that a big wedding. Did you ever wonder by the looks on
their faces which ones were the wise bridesmaids and which ones were the foolish bridesmaids?
It is fun to play with this text, but immediately when I read the passage for today, I was reminded of
something one my seminary professors once said that has stuck with me ever since. He said, "Live today as if
Christ is coming tomorrow."
That's really what today's parable is about - Live today as if Christ is coming tomorrow! This story was
obviously very dear to the early church.
Think about it, it's been over 2,000 years since Christ walked this earth and then died and was resurrected,
proclaiming the entire time that he would come again. 2,000 plus years is a bit long to wait don't you think?
He hasn't returned yet. Do you ever wonder if Jesus is going to return as he promised? Sure, I have. Have you?
What you have to realize is that the people in the days shortly after Jesus left, certainly too did wonder when
and IF Jesus would return. Now, granted, they hadn't been waiting as long as we have, but they thought for sure
that Jesus was only going to be gone for just a short while and then would return within their very own lifetimes!
And when that wasn't happening, in their expectation of the second coming of Jesus in the flesh, the bridegroom
(as Jesus is several times depicted in the Bible), the bridegroom, so it seemed was delayed. And so this parable
was recorded to give them comfort, to give them purpose in the meantime while they waited.
Let’s look at our Purpose Revealed in This Parable. You see, none of us knows how long we're going to live on
this earth. Life is limited - whether it's the day of Christ's return or the day we return to Christ- life is
limited. So what is our purpose?
What are you going to do with your life? What are you going to do now that you have been saved? Our parable
today describes five wise and five foolish bridesmaids to teach us what it means to live in the meantime. Folks,
the bridegroom is coming.
And we get the sense from the parable today that Jesus says, "Ready or not, here I come!" And the bridesmaids
keep watch and they wait, and they wait, and they wait. As the bridegroom was delayed for reasons we are not told
why, all they could do was wait. And as they waited, they wondered, and grew tired, and fell asleep.
It's easy, like the bridesmaids, to grow complacent in our relationship with the bridegroom as we wait. After
all, we have heard of the bridegroom's coming for twenty centuries and still He has not come - still we are waiting
and wondering - wondering if Jesus really will come again as He promised or wondering if we are simply victims of a
misleading hope. Honestly, I wonder that too myself at times. But I know also that my hopeless wondering comes when
I am most weary, when I grow complacent in my relationship with Jesus - when I lose that sense of anticipation, that
sense of purpose, that sense of living today as if Christ is coming tomorrow!
What Happens While We Wait? What happens while we wait is a significant part of this story. There are two
different kinds of waiting that are made apparent in the story by the wise bridesmaids and the foolish ones. And we
can't knock any of them because they ALL slept and they were ALL there waiting when the shout came at midnight, "Look!
Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!" And they ALL trimmed their lamps. But to the dismay of the foolish
bridesmaids, they didn't have oil to replenish their lamps when they had gone out while they waited. And those who
had extra oil were less than willing to share.
While the foolish bridesmaids went away to find oil, the bridegroom arrived and was greeted by the eager bridesmaids
who had also waited but were found ready with lamps full of oil to light his way to the great wedding banquet hall.
What happens while we wait is a significant part of this story. And the oil gives us a clue. When this church was
constructed in 1896, I would imagine that they had oil lamps on the wall. Yes, they had to fill the lamps each week, in
order to see inside this building. As long as the lamps had a good supply of oil and wicks, you could provide a nice
bright light for all to see.
But what if on one of those nights when the electricity went out, we didn't have that oil lamp filled with oil, trimmed
and ready to burn? Well, then the lamp light would go out and it would have nothing to give leaving us completely in the dark.
Light in the Darkness - Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." At the baptism last week, Kasey Cornell was handed
a candle to remind her to "Let your light so shine that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
The calling of a Christian is to be a light for others - to be that light in this world for those who are living in
darkness. But what happens when the oil in your lamp runs out, the lamp light goes out and you have nothing left to give? A
pastor with no oil, a Christian with no oil can't be the light of the world for anybody, no matter how much they try. You
can't give away what you don't have.
So then I ask you, what is the "oil" that keeps your "lamp" lit? What fills you up spiritually when you run dry or shallow?
Where do you find God or experience God at work in your daily life so that you get enough of that oil for your lamp, and
God can fill you up again?
What Fills You Up? We all run dry and what we learn from our parable today is that spiritual preparedness cannot
instantly be shared. For example, can a person who has gathered insight from long years of prayer give that insight on
request to someone who has rarely, if ever, turned to God in prayer? There is just some "oil" in life that you just can't
borrow from anyone else. There are some kinds of preparations we just have to do for ourselves. There are some reserves
that no one else can build up for us.
We can't borrow someone else's peace of mind or passion for God or experiences in life. It doesn't work. You have to find
out for yourself what it is that fills you up spiritually and keeps you going - carries you - throughout the day.
I recognized my own need to be re-oiled spiritually if I was going to continue to be a light for others in this world, and
for now I have found three things, in addition to the ministry that I do here at Zion, that fill me up. The first thing I do
is a time of prayer and Bible study each day. I wake up and do the matins service in our green hymn book. Now it is hard some
days to sit down and do it. I wake up with a bad attitude, or I slept poorly, or my mind is completely focused on something
else. I can find many good excuses not pray each morning. But I do it! It fills the oil of my lamp each day.
A second thing I do is to take some sort of an academic course each year. I need to have a course which focuses me on some
subject; where there is a teacher; where there books to read; where there are papers to write. I need the discipline of an
academic course. It fills my lamp in some way with the good news of God.
A third way I fill my lamp is in physical exercise. Yes, it is tennis or basketball, or mowing the lawn or walking. My
body enjoys the exercise; I eat better; I sleep better; I am less stressed and tense; it is a good investment of time.
I share these things with you not to "flaunt my oil flask" so to speak - not at all, but I share them with you because they
are transforming my life and I want that so badly for those of you for whom the oil has run dry. But I also realize from today's
parable that there is just some "oil" in life that we just can't borrow from anyone else. There are some kinds of preparations
we just have to do for ourselves and I pray that you will find what it is that will fill you up if you have run dry or you're
bordering on shallow.
Live Today as if Christ is Coming Tomorrow! Time will run out. As I said earlier, none of us knows how long we're going
to live on this earth. Life is limited - whether it's the day of Christ's return or the day we return to Christ - life is
limited. And we all are good at complacency, putting things off until "one of these days!" We all put it off, and then the
cry comes when we least expect it "Ready or not, here I come!" It's time. And "one of these days" is today! Live today as
if Christ is coming tomorrow.
You know this parable was not told to scare us into the Kingdom of Heaven. We don't fill our lamps because we're afraid
we're going to get locked out of the Kingdom of Heaven. No, we fill our lamps because we can't wait to see the
Bridegroom – Jesus himself - in this life and in the life to come. The bridegroom is here to meet us wherever we are
spiritually. Jesus is here to meet with you. Can you see him?
Amen.