Sermon for November 12, 2017 23 After Pentecost “Old Story-New Story”
Weddings, ah weddings! They can be the best of times or the worst of times. I have conducted many that went off without a hitch and a few that well, were one occurrence after another. But in all cases the festivities after the wedding were of joy and hope. I know the anxiety for parents as they see their children wed. And the hope of couples as they take wedding vows. It is a time charged with emotion, not just the emotion when your team wins, but the emotion of a lifetime.
In Jesus’ day, weddings were grand and community events. Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding of Cana. Wedding started at the bride’s house with celebrating and feasting without the groom. At some point in the evening, the groom would arrive and there would be a grand procession to his house for the ceremony and days of celebrating. The bridesmaids and groomsmen would light the way with lanterns and torches.
Our mission and hope is to live with expectation. At the heart of our faith is the certainty that human history has a purpose and a goal and that it is moving toward eventual fulfillment and completion. We do not articulate it very well and in fact sometimes we avoid this topic because of its abuse by evangelical eschatologist’s, who sell lots of books describing the end of history in graphic and violent terms and who focus on the end times to the neglect of this time, this world. The scholars offer a caution as we read this parable and it has to do with leaping ahead and our desire to determine who is in and who is out of the kingdom of God.
To give away the punch line, the parable is about today and paying attention.
We often hear that running out of oil and some of the bridesmaids being foolish is the only message in the story. Since the groomsmen were with the groom they did not worry about when the groom was arriving, they were there so late or early did not matter. The wisdom of the parable for today is about paying attention and being present. The bridesmaids who were not at the banquet feast did not focus on the task. One or two or even five less lamps would not have made a difference. Showing up makes the difference.
The early disciples and Christians had to get used to the idea that Jesus’ return may not be in their day. They had to figure out how to live out the mission of Jesus without him and in the new truth that he was retuning sometime, and well only Jesus knows that. It is our task as well. John Buchanan writes, “the end of time is not the point here. The point is living expectantly and hopefully. Christian hope rest on trust that the God who created the world will continue the process of creation until the project is complete, and will continue to redeem and save the world by coming into it with love and grace, in Jesus Christ”.
In our day we get tired of waiting easily. And there are days when it seems that all we do is wait. I heard the comment the other day that went something like this ‘I wish Christmas would hurry up and get over’. Really? It has not even started and some are wishing it were over, like wishing away two months of their life. Waiting for Jesus is not the idle, impatient waiting that befalls us when we survey the lines at the supermarket, pick the one we think is the fastest, only learn that it is the slowest. No it is expectant waiting, it is alive waiting, it is waiting in action.
As potent as the parable is, I have some issues. Are we alone responsible for our faith life? Will Jesus find me in the dark? Can I Share? What would happen if we share? I have a knowing that Jesus will find the faithful in daylight and in the dark. I am responsible for the living out of my faith and I have an obligation to share the teachings of Jesus in a way that is inviting for others. So they can live their lives in faith.
Or, is the oil a symbol or image of our faith life? That our faith life takes constant tending to lest it flicker and go out. The richness of parable is the scope of possibility for understanding Jesus teachings. Again Jesus reminds us that faith takes practice, it takes prayer and meditation, it takes action and it takes being open to the movement toward the completion of God’s realm on earth.