Are You Ready?
Sermon for 11-9-2008
Scripture: Amos 5:18-24, Mt. 25:1-13
Today’s Gospel reading is about bridesmaids, weddings, and oil for the lamps. To someone who doesn’t know about the customs in the time and location of this scripture, it may seem confusing; for example, instead of generosity, selfishness seems to be praised. Yet this parable is not about generosity at all. It’s important to remember first of all the Christian community in Matthew’s time was still waiting for Jesus’ return, although there had already been a delay, a delay that may have caused questioning and some falling away from the faith.
In that day marriage customs were very different from our customs today. The time for the wedding ceremony was not specified. Some sources suggest that it was actually considered smart to trick the guests by arriving at an unexpected hour. Instead of the bridesmaids escorting the bride, in Jesus’ time they were to wait for the bridegroom and then, with their lamps brightly shining, escort him into the wedding ceremony.
Before getting to my main point about being ready, let me share with you the common allegorical understandings of things in this story: the bridesmaids are the church—waiting for the Second Coming of Christ; the bridegroom of course is Christ; the wedding feast is the great and joyous occasion when Christ comes for his Church; the delay of the bridegroom is the delay of the Second Coming whereas the bridegroom’s arrival in the dark of the night is the Second Coming itself; the closing of the door is the final judgment.1
So I ask you, Are you ready? If you are like me, you have been asked this question many times. Are you ready to go? Are you ready for the dinner guests? Are you ready for Christmas? Are you ready? You may be thinking, ready for what? Are you ready for the Lord?
I remember one of my mother’s friends, a deeply committed evangelical Christian, being so amazed that my mother and I did not believe in the Second Coming. She was a true believer that Jesus would actually return in the flesh and be in our midst as the man Jesus. Yet I say to you today that I do believe that Jesus Christ may come to you and to me at any moment. In fact I believe that the Christ, the incarnation of God, comes to us many times in our lifetime. Today’s Gospel reading ends with Jesus warning us, “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” If we are like the bridesmaids without enough oil for their lamps, we will not see him; we will not be able to receive him. I don’t know about you, but I know for myself, I want to be sure to be ready!
It’s so easy to get this parable wrong if we are not careful. We might see this story as a tribute to two core American values: individualism and meritocracy—getting what we get because we earned it. Here’s an example of the first value: individualism. The 5 wise bridesmaids say to the other five, “I’ve got my oil, so it’s up to you to get yours.” It’s that part of our culture that says we should look out for number one, pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. In a broader sense it’s saying our nation is the only country that counts; do whatever makes us richer and forget about the other countries. The other value, meritocracy, says, “Everybody gets what they deserve. Because the wise bridesmaids worked hard to prepare, they are rewarded. The foolish bridesmaids, playing when they should have been working, got what they deserved.” This is a lot like saying those on welfare should not have a decent place to live or adequate medical coverage because they don’t work and therefore are lazy; if not they would have a job and could get what they need. Or we can extend this example to poor countries, saying they deserve their suffering because they didn’t make good decisions. Now all of this may sound familiar in our world; however, no way does it have anything to do with the Kingdom of God. This heavenly kingdom is a place of abundance; grace of God is about being blessed without deserving that blessing. As one article said, “the password for entrance into the kingdom has never been ‘try harder’.
So what can we do to be ready and how will we recognize the coming of Christ?
In our Old Testament reading today Amos tells us what not to do as we wait. He brings a complaint from God against the people’s worship. God complains that the people are just going through the motions and not thinking about what their worship means. God is unhappy with these indifferent people. Amos brings God’s words to the people, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies .... Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps" (Amos 5:21, 23). In fact most of the book of Amos tells us what God hates about the people’s hypocrisy and religious practices. So what should the people do? Amos quotes one of my very favorite scriptures to remind them and us of what is important, "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (5:24) In my mind this goes so well with Micah, a prophet that came a little after Amos. A few weeks ago we studied his words from God, that wonderful passage that goes, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Jesus says keep awake meaning for us to keep focus, not to be distracted from what Jesus has taught us. In the very last part of this chapter of Matthew, Jesus continues with words that help us know what we should be doing as we wait. Being prepared is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and those in prison. I’ll be preaching on this, probably my favorite scripture, next week. In this passage we will be judged as to whether or not we used our resources to fill the food banks, or cleaned out our clothes closets to provide others with something to wear, or worked for affordable health care for all, or made sure every prisoner had someone show up on visitor's day, and to bring it right here, did we greet the first time guest at church and say, 'here, this is a good place to sit, right next to me.' 2
So I’ve shared some scripture which I believe helps us to know what to do as we are waiting for the Christ and/or the Kingdom of God. Now I ask one last question: How will you recognize Jesus, the Christ? I believe that human beings are God’s language. God speaks to all of us through all of us.3 It may be a child without parents; someone who is hungry; someone with mental illness, someone who is your neighbor; an elderly woman in Hillsboro House, a visitor to our church; a group of people who are being persecuted; someone in need of justice. God moments come in different forms, but they do have something in common. They require our attentiveness to notice them.
Personally, instead of waiting for a Second Coming I prefer to think about how Christ has already come and is just waiting for us to recognize him again and again, in the most unlikely places and in the most unlikely people. And maybe the Kingdom of Heaven will be for us a great banquet. The big difference is that I do not believe that God ever closes the door on us no matter how late we are in recognizing God. Of course those many years when we are not aware, not ready, life may be pretty difficult for us. And then suddenly or after a long, slow journey, we realize that we do see the Messiah; we are filled with God’s presence. And we can’t stop singing! Alleluia and Amen.
1 Bruce Epperly, online sermon.
2 Thom Shumann, shared in a Midrash email.
3 Lindy’s Nuggets on Textweek.com.
Scripture: Amos 5:18-24, Mt. 25:1-13
Today’s Gospel reading is about bridesmaids, weddings, and oil for the lamps. To someone who doesn’t know about the customs in the time and location of this scripture, it may seem confusing; for example, instead of generosity, selfishness seems to be praised. Yet this parable is not about generosity at all. It’s important to remember first of all the Christian community in Matthew’s time was still waiting for Jesus’ return, although there had already been a delay, a delay that may have caused questioning and some falling away from the faith.
In that day marriage customs were very different from our customs today. The time for the wedding ceremony was not specified. Some sources suggest that it was actually considered smart to trick the guests by arriving at an unexpected hour. Instead of the bridesmaids escorting the bride, in Jesus’ time they were to wait for the bridegroom and then, with their lamps brightly shining, escort him into the wedding ceremony.
Before getting to my main point about being ready, let me share with you the common allegorical understandings of things in this story: the bridesmaids are the church—waiting for the Second Coming of Christ; the bridegroom of course is Christ; the wedding feast is the great and joyous occasion when Christ comes for his Church; the delay of the bridegroom is the delay of the Second Coming whereas the bridegroom’s arrival in the dark of the night is the Second Coming itself; the closing of the door is the final judgment.1
So I ask you, Are you ready? If you are like me, you have been asked this question many times. Are you ready to go? Are you ready for the dinner guests? Are you ready for Christmas? Are you ready? You may be thinking, ready for what? Are you ready for the Lord?
I remember one of my mother’s friends, a deeply committed evangelical Christian, being so amazed that my mother and I did not believe in the Second Coming. She was a true believer that Jesus would actually return in the flesh and be in our midst as the man Jesus. Yet I say to you today that I do believe that Jesus Christ may come to you and to me at any moment. In fact I believe that the Christ, the incarnation of God, comes to us many times in our lifetime. Today’s Gospel reading ends with Jesus warning us, “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” If we are like the bridesmaids without enough oil for their lamps, we will not see him; we will not be able to receive him. I don’t know about you, but I know for myself, I want to be sure to be ready!
It’s so easy to get this parable wrong if we are not careful. We might see this story as a tribute to two core American values: individualism and meritocracy—getting what we get because we earned it. Here’s an example of the first value: individualism. The 5 wise bridesmaids say to the other five, “I’ve got my oil, so it’s up to you to get yours.” It’s that part of our culture that says we should look out for number one, pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. In a broader sense it’s saying our nation is the only country that counts; do whatever makes us richer and forget about the other countries. The other value, meritocracy, says, “Everybody gets what they deserve. Because the wise bridesmaids worked hard to prepare, they are rewarded. The foolish bridesmaids, playing when they should have been working, got what they deserved.” This is a lot like saying those on welfare should not have a decent place to live or adequate medical coverage because they don’t work and therefore are lazy; if not they would have a job and could get what they need. Or we can extend this example to poor countries, saying they deserve their suffering because they didn’t make good decisions. Now all of this may sound familiar in our world; however, no way does it have anything to do with the Kingdom of God. This heavenly kingdom is a place of abundance; grace of God is about being blessed without deserving that blessing. As one article said, “the password for entrance into the kingdom has never been ‘try harder’.
So what can we do to be ready and how will we recognize the coming of Christ?
In our Old Testament reading today Amos tells us what not to do as we wait. He brings a complaint from God against the people’s worship. God complains that the people are just going through the motions and not thinking about what their worship means. God is unhappy with these indifferent people. Amos brings God’s words to the people, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies .... Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps" (Amos 5:21, 23). In fact most of the book of Amos tells us what God hates about the people’s hypocrisy and religious practices. So what should the people do? Amos quotes one of my very favorite scriptures to remind them and us of what is important, "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (5:24) In my mind this goes so well with Micah, a prophet that came a little after Amos. A few weeks ago we studied his words from God, that wonderful passage that goes, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Jesus says keep awake meaning for us to keep focus, not to be distracted from what Jesus has taught us. In the very last part of this chapter of Matthew, Jesus continues with words that help us know what we should be doing as we wait. Being prepared is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and those in prison. I’ll be preaching on this, probably my favorite scripture, next week. In this passage we will be judged as to whether or not we used our resources to fill the food banks, or cleaned out our clothes closets to provide others with something to wear, or worked for affordable health care for all, or made sure every prisoner had someone show up on visitor's day, and to bring it right here, did we greet the first time guest at church and say, 'here, this is a good place to sit, right next to me.' 2
So I’ve shared some scripture which I believe helps us to know what to do as we are waiting for the Christ and/or the Kingdom of God. Now I ask one last question: How will you recognize Jesus, the Christ? I believe that human beings are God’s language. God speaks to all of us through all of us.3 It may be a child without parents; someone who is hungry; someone with mental illness, someone who is your neighbor; an elderly woman in Hillsboro House, a visitor to our church; a group of people who are being persecuted; someone in need of justice. God moments come in different forms, but they do have something in common. They require our attentiveness to notice them.
Personally, instead of waiting for a Second Coming I prefer to think about how Christ has already come and is just waiting for us to recognize him again and again, in the most unlikely places and in the most unlikely people. And maybe the Kingdom of Heaven will be for us a great banquet. The big difference is that I do not believe that God ever closes the door on us no matter how late we are in recognizing God. Of course those many years when we are not aware, not ready, life may be pretty difficult for us. And then suddenly or after a long, slow journey, we realize that we do see the Messiah; we are filled with God’s presence. And we can’t stop singing! Alleluia and Amen.
2 Thom Shumann, shared in a Midrash email.
3 Lindy’s Nuggets on Textweek.com.
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 10:00 AM
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