Matthew
25:1-13
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like
this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five
of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps,
they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at
midnight there was a shout, "Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to
meet him.' 7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The
foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
going out.' 9 But the wise replied, "No! there will not be enough for you
and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' 10
And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready
went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11 Later the
other bridesmaids came also, saying, "Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he
replied, "Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' 13 Keep awake therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.
· We’ve reached the point in the Church year where we hear a lot
about the end of things and the coming of the Kingdom.
· We may even consider heaven in that mix. We are talking about the Kingdom of Heaven after all. We might even
wonder what it might be like.
· When I was a young boy, thunder was something frightening to me.
My grandmother said it was just the angels rolling the beer barrels in heaven.
I didn’t question whether or not the angels drank beer; the answer was
sufficient for me. Why would I question my grandmother?
· Later on, in seminary, one of my professors said he had a good
idea about heaven. He said the best expression of what heaven was like was
found in a TV commercial of the time. In that spot, a little boy walks toward a
house as an older woman opens the door. Immediately the little boy is swamped
by a tremendous wave of puppies who do what puppies do to little boys – namely,
knock him down and jump all over him while he laughs uncontrollably.
· This is all very cute and fun to think about. Still, we are faced
with the Scriptural words about being prepared for the Kingdom. Matthew relates
the parable of the so-called foolish and wise bridesmaids who are waiting for
the arrival of the bridegroom. I’m sure you know that this reflects the
marriage customs of the Jewish people of Jesus’ time. We have to look at the
story from that point of view. The bridegroom is on the way and the bridesmaids
wait with lamps lit. As the delay becomes longer, they all doze off. Note well:
they ALL doze off. When the bridegroom is announced, some are ready and some
are not. Before we get all in a knot about why the prepared five didn’t share
with the others, remember – it is a parable and sharing is not the focus; the
focus is preparation.
· Do we prepare by staying awake and scanning the horizon of our
times for signs of the coming of the Bridegroom, whom we know to be Jesus?
Should we prepare by staying in a bunker we’ve built “just in case”? Should we
scour the Bible for hints, clues, and suggestions about when all this will come
to pass? Ultimately, should we live in fear of the Kingdom of Heaven?
· Living in fear is not the way to go. It robs us of any possibility
of progress or action or direction. Shutting ourselves up in a cave or a bunker
hasn’t worked for other groups that have tried that over the years.
· Even studying the Scriptures for the day and the hour of Jesus’
return will not help, since Jesus himself said he did not know, that only the
Father knows.
· So what are we to do? We all know the answer: we’re to be about the
business of the Kingdom, the Kingdom that is already here, although not quite
yet; the Kingdom that is already among us, yet is still to come.
· It sounds contradictory and it can be confusing. Probably the best
way to say it is to acknowledge that Jesus brought the Kingdom to us in his
life among us and now we await the fullness of that Kingdom.
· In short, the prophet Amos tells us what the business of the
Kingdom is. Amos tells the people of Israel that God is not pleased with their
rituals and observances, but God would be pleased if the people would let
justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
·
Paul writes to the Thessalonians
about this as well, calming their fears about the coming of the Kingdom. He
tells them to share his teaching on this and encourage one another with these words.
· When all this will happen or what it will look like is completely
unknown. We know however that the reality we live now is nothing less than the
grace and mercy of the Kingdom of God. The reason is –to use Matthew’s example-
the bridegroom is always close at hand. This is our hope for the present
and for the future. Even if the course of the future is unclear, it is still
our hope. As Paul would say Therefore encourage one another with
these words.
· Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. …let justice roll
down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. This is the Kingdom of heaven present now and our work, today and
tomorrow and the next day, for (we) know neither the day nor the
hour. … with or without the beer barrels and the puppies
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