Did We Forget?
A sermon by Brent J. Eelman
November 6, 2005
Abington Presbyterian Church
Matthew 215: 1-13
“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.*
One of the first weddings that I
did here with Sally Bowie as the organist, was planned to the last
detail. There were guests coming in from out of town, and so
arrangements were made to put them up at a hotel downtown, and two
buses were hired to bring the guests to the church. I marveled at
the attention to detail.... but the bus driver got lost.... for an
hour. Poor Sally played all her music twice... and then again....
The bride was a wreck, believing that her special day was ruined, and
the guests who got here were wondering what was going on.... The bus
arrived and the wedding went forward, and Sally and I always have a
giggle about that day.
The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids also has both comic and tragic dimensions. I also believe that the parable speaks with authority to our modern age and society. And so let me relate both the comic and the tragic dimensions of this parable and let us listen as they speak to us.
I
Weddings
in the Middle East during the time of Jesus were much different than
our current celebrations, and yet there are some things that are the
same with both. They are important and joyous occasions where we
usually go out of our way, (and budget) to make sure that all the
guests have a good time. And they also require a great deal of
planning and preparation. I remember overhearing two friends
speaking and one said: “I have all my plans complete for my
wedding... all I have to do is find a spouse.” It is not
uncommon for couples and families to begin their preparations a year
or more in advance.
In Jesus'
parable there were 10 bridesmaids. The wedding feast would not begin
until the groom arrived. Usually there was a large procession
through the town that brought the bridegroom to the wedding feast.
For some reason, the groom was delayed, and that is when the drama
begins. Everyone was asleep and tired of waiting. Finally a voice
cried that the groom was coming. They rushed to wake up and get
ready. Then they lit their lamps and realized. Half of them forgot
to bring oil. They asked the others to borrow some of their oil and
were met with a most unchristian response: “We won't share.”
So they went to the nearest all night Wawa to pick up some more
oil... by the time they got back.. the party had started, and they
were not admitted.
There is a comic atmosphere that pervades the story, but the judgment at the end seems a bit harsh for merely forgetting something, and that is the tragedy. We can call it carelessness, misplaced values, poor priorities, bad planning, but it is sad nonetheless. They missed the big event. They missed out on the most important thing. They forgot.
II
Matthew
included this parable in his gospel because he was writing for a
community of Christians who were waiting. They believed that the
return of Christ would happen soon but it didn't. They were living
absolutely in a future that they did not control, and so they paid
little attention to the present. They forgot the most important
thing: to fully live in the present as a disciple of Christ.
It speaks
to us today, and the question that it asks: “Have we forgotten
something?” What is the oil for our lamps? Are we so
distracted by minimal, unimportant things that we have forgotten
life’s essentials? What is important? What is vital? What are
the consequences? I believe we have forgotten things that are
important and I fear the cost of our carelessness. What have we
forgotten?
1. We have
forgotten respect. Call it civility, courtesy, or simple
human decency...but it is becoming rarer and rarer in human
interaction. I fear that we have politicized most of life, including
our relationships and interactions, and consequently simple respect
is gone. At the heart of Christian faith is the belief that every
person we meet is someone God loves and wishes to save, and we should
treat them as such. We don’t. We have forgotten respect.
2. We have forgotten how to laugh, I mean really
laugh. We seldom experience the laughter that springs from the inner being with
joy. We have forgotten laughter and the grace that comes from not taking
ourselves so seriously.
3. Most importantly we have
forgotten what is really important in life. We are so distracted by
things that are ultimately unimportant that we have missed what is
most important in life. I remember the silly hamburger commercial
that was around in the 80's. A woman looked at a burger and asked:
“Where's the beef?” We might ask the same thing from
our lives: “Where's the beef?” “Where are the
values of discipleship?
When I was in my mid forties I
became sick and was bedridden for 6 weeks. I couldn't do much, but I
did have a chance to think about life, and my life in particular. One
of the things that I realized was that I was spending about 80% of my
life on things that were not ultimately important. My guess is that
you do also. I was also spending that same amount of my resources on
things that were meaningless, and once again, I was not alone. I
vowed to change, and I am still trying, and I wish I could say that
it is easy. But it isn't.
What are the things that we need
to spend more of our time and resources on? How about helping
others, being civil with each other.. (start with driving!!) Take a
look at your personal finances... what do they reflect as being
important in your life? Take a look at how you are spending your
time... what are the patterns there?
In the television Drama, “The
Sopranos” there is a scene that takes place at a funeral. The
guests receive prayer cards with a picture of Jesus on them along
with a prayer. One of the guests remarks that as a kid he always
wondered about the value of these cards. He collected baseball cards
and they increased in value. Why not the prayer cards? “I
don’t get it. Ten thousand dollars for Mickey Mantle and zip
for Jesus” What is the value of Christ in your life?
Did we forget? Half of the bridesmaids forgot the oil... and they missed the great celebration. What is the oil in our lives that we have forgotten? Let me close with a comment. This is the Sunday before Pledge commitment Sunday. Perhaps you have been expecting yet another stewardship sermon, about dollars and cents, budgets and needs. I have not mentioned those things, and yet every word of this is a stewardship message. As you ponder your commitment to Christ and to the church, ask this question: What have I forgotten in my life? think about it.
*The
New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers)
1989.
Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania, www.apcusa.org