Bible Text: Matthew 25:1-13 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
I enjoy listening to Old Time Radio shows, or OTR for short. This love started early in life when my brother began collecting these shows to share with the more senior members of our church family. At Christmas time he would deliver episodes of Burns and Allen, Abbot and Costello, Amos and Andy, depending on ones tastes, to our church family. This hobby developed particularly as we watched my grandparents age. With the loss of his eyesight and the difficulty of communicating with my Grandma due to her Alzheimer’s my Grandpa would bring tapes of these shows whenever he visited her and they would sit together for an afternoon with smiles on their faces listening to yet another silly shenanigan in Our Miss Brooks or the Bickersons or the Aldridge Family. If you’re looking at me thinking who are these people and what on earth is she talking about, trust me, tune your radio to Parksville’s The Lounge any night of the week at 8pm and you will hear these shows. Its what Mike and I do for fun on our free evenings. My particular favourite is Fibber McGee and Molly. Fibber is always getting into some kind of trouble while level headed Molly says, “heavenly day” and usually fixes the problem.
The Golden age of radio is often thought to be between 1925 and 1950. What often strikes me is that during the second world war, these shows continued to broadcast often followed by service announcements by the characters reminding people to buy war bonds, or return their tin cans or do their part by following the rationing guidelines. In amongst their laughter and adventures there are reminders of the realities of the effects of war even on the home front. It is hard for me to imagine what all that must have been like or what it would have been like growing up in Europe where there was not only rationing but the threat of attacks. I know many of you know these experiences first hand, lived them on either side of the conflict. There must have been a real sense of emergency and always preparing. Preparing to go to the basements and cellars in the event of an air raid, preparing to leave in the event of an attack, preparing to hide, preparing to fight, preparing to run, preparing for whatever the situation demanded. One’s survival depended on it.
In many ways that is the metaphor for the parable of the bridesmaids. It reminds me of my Girl Guides’ motto, “be prepared”. Matthew’s Gospel is rather unique. Compared to the other synoptic gospels Matthew has a greater interest in the final judgement. Luke references to it once and Mark never mentions it at all. But Matthew refers to it and includes parables for it, six times throughout his Gospel, three parables in this one chapter. What we hear today is just one of a series of our distinctly Matthew parables bearing upon the relationship between the return of Jesus and who will be in and who will be out. We will hear the other two in the weeks ahead.
In this parable there is only one thing that separates the wise and the foolish bridesmaids. Five bring extra oil. Otherwise they act the same. They all arrive on time. They all wait. They are all tired and they all fall asleep. When they all wake up they all trim their lamps. When the bridegroom arrives only the five wise ones have enough oil to light their lamps. What makes them wise is that they thought ahead. They planned for what might happen. The Bridegroom might be late and therefore its a good idea to bring a little extra. Being prepared is the only distinction.
Honestly, this parable makes me uncomfortable for numerous reasons. It likely makes all of us uncomfortable one way or another. I don’t like that the five foolish bridesmaids are rejected. I don’t like that the bridegroom claims to not even know these innocent foolish women when they return with oil. But the reason this parable makes me most uncomfortable is I don’t think I’m very wise in fact most of the time I am very foolish. I am more like Fibber getting into trouble than Molly who seems to always have the right answer. Sure I plan ahead for a lot of things and I even think about what might happen. But upon reflection I don’t feel I’m all that prepared. I will admit I don’t even have my earthquake kit ready let alone my second coming kit and I know what’s supposed to be in my earthquake kit. What would be in our second coming kit?
I once heard that a church leader was asked, what would he do today if he knew that Christ would return tomorrow. His response, “I’d work in my garden.” This was not because he was so prepared with his kit that he wasn’t worried but rather that in all that we do we are living in Christ. Whether we are working together, working in our community or working in the garden. Discipleship is not a passive waiting but a lot of doing. That is what our kit entails.
The point of this parable is not only that we should be prepared but it points to how we should prepare. Christians are called to active discipleship during this time. The time before the arrival of Christ. One commentator writes, “Like the maidens, we may know what is needed, oil, but we may lose the opportunity for proper action.” Meaning, we have oil, we bring it with us on Sunday morning, but sometimes our oil runs out during the week. What happens then? We are distracted with our duties, distracted by our wants and distracted by other’s demands. We are no longer prepared.
This parable is challenging because it calls Jesus’ disciples to a state of constant alertness. Not just one day of the week or one hour of our day, but at all times. As Greg Carey, a New Testament Scholar puts it, “It calls Jesus’ disciples to a state of perpetual openness to God’s dramatic future. We’re talking about living with a keen awareness of Jesus’ return, an alertness tempered by preparation for a long haul.” It is not an easy task. Being ready, being prepared is about getting our actions in line with God’s in all we do. Every day of the week. To think that we have all we need, to think that we have enough oil within ourselves, to think that we can live this life without God. That is foolish. I am often very foolish. Wisdom comes from God, and God alone. Daily prayer, practice, and faith that’s what’s going into my kit. What’s going in yours?
Amen