Signs of Christ’s coming…
Matthew 25:1-13
Rev. Dr. Christy Newton
12 November 2017
Matthew 25:1-13
‘Then the
kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps
and went to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish,
and five were wise. When the
foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks
of oil with their lamps.
As the
bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout,
“Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed
their lamps. The foolish said
to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” 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.”
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. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying,
“Lord, lord, open to us.” But
he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Keep awake therefore, for you know
neither the day nor the hour.
Signs
of Christ’s coming… next 3 Sundays leading up to Advent…
Anticipating Advent…
In this
story, Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives teaching his disciples,
critiquing the practices of the Pharisees, and talking about the signs of
Christ’s coming. “Tell us,” the disciples say, “when will this be? And what will be the sign of your coming and
the end of the age?” Context—so much injustice, storms…
Jesus
answers—like he so often does—with metaphor and stories. We hear, “Be ready.” “Be watchful.” “Stay awake.”
“Be faithful.” “Be
fruitful.” Then, beginning in Matthew
25, we hear 3 stories that further elaborate and explain what Jesus is talking about. The first is this story of the Ten
Bridesmaids.
It is
important to remember that the gospels are not histories; they are not
historical accounts. They are theologies—presenting a particular
point of view about how God works in the world.
And in Matthew’s gospel, he puts this story in Jesus’ mouth and starts it
with, the kingdom of heaven will be like this. . . .
Then as now, this story is reflective of
the gross disparities present in society.
The 10 bridesmaids are broken into 2 diametrically opposed groups: in modern-day parlance and understanding, we
might describe the 2 groups as the clever,
pretty children of privilege and the stupid,
plain children of working-class, single parents. And this is where our problems really begin.
. . .
Although
this is supposedly a parable about a wedding, there is no bride! And the bridegroom shows up late. Very
odd. This is a big clue that this is not
really about what we might think it is about at first. . . . Part of the Jewish tradition of that time was
for the bridegroom to come to the home of the bride’s family, where the party
would continue. The task of the
bridesmaids was to welcome the bridegroom when he arrived by lighting his way
with their lamps. The 10 bridesmaids all
show up with their lamps, lit and ready to welcome the bridegroom. And they wait . . . and they wait . . . and
they ALL fall asleep. All 10 of them fall asleep.
And
then, at midnight—who starts their
wedding party at midnight?!—the groom finally arrives. But after all this time, 5 of the
bridesmaids—let’s say the stupid, plain
children of working-class, single parents—realize they are running low on
oil and need more. So, sacrificing their
pride, they turn to the clever, pretty
children of privilege—or maybe to their sisters, friends, and family—and
they say, “please share with us . . . give us oil for our lamps, keep them
burning. . . .”
But the
pretty children of privilege say no. If
we give you some, there might not be enough for us. You will just have to go
out and buy some for yourselves. This zero-sum mindset is unfortunately and
unhelpfully pervasive in our culture: If
I’m going to have more, you’re going to have to get less. Remind
you of current conversations about taxes?
Sharing isn’t going to cut it. Abundance
is not a reality. I’m going to get mine,
no matter what it costs you.
And
then, we also run into a literary problem that really doesn’t make sense: Just
how far away is the bridegroom? He must
be already in sight. So, really, how
much extra oil are they going to need?
Clearly, the clever girls could have given them some oil; they were just
being stingy and petty.
And
where are the others going to find oil to buy at midnight? Come on
now! And even if there is a place
for them to buy oil, do these girls have pocket money for extra oil? Are you kidding? They’re just kids, and their moms hold down
two jobs and still can’t make ends meet. The rich girls have all the oil they
need. Their parents set up their lamps,
made sure they had extra oil, got them new outfits for the occasion, and showed
them the proper way for a young lady to greet a bridegroom.
So, of course, the bridegroom comes and the smart,
pretty, rich girls meet him and escort him into the banquet. And the door is
shut. When the others return, knock on
the door, and ask for the door to be opened, they are turned away, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”
Is this troubling to anyone else?
I think I have told you the story before about a
talk I heard Fred Craddock give to a group of child advocates. But it is good enough to tell again:
“God, don’t you have too many children? God as single parent. . .
Molly Shepherd adopted 57 children. . . .
Those who are able
help those who are unable. . . . That should catch on. . .
.
That is the purpose of government. And church.”
“Those
who are able help those who are unable” helps me make sense of this
troubling parable. Most often I hear
teaching on this parable that amounts to “be
like the wise ones, bring extra oil”—extra faith maybe or extra
preparedness, I don’t know. . . . But I
don’t want to be associated with these so-called wise ones. I believe their example and behavior is
absolutely unacceptable. They don’t seem to have any concern for the
plight or exclusion of the others. They
certainly don’t help, even though they are able. They simply go off to the party—as if they
somehow earned it. See, we got in because we are wise and prepared…. But do only the wise make it into the
kingdom of God?
What do we learn from the gospels about sharing, serving one another, and
God’s incredible, abundant, overflowing grace? Earlier in Matthew, Jesus gives the Sermon on
the Mount: “Give to everyone who begs
from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” At the heart of Jesus’ message lies a
generous God who invites us into greater and deeper and wider generosity even
at great cost to ourselves. And by contrast, the so-called wise
bridesmaids in this parable seem to be more like the Pharisees that Jesus so
often criticizes. Last are first. First
are last. So, the kingdom of God is like
what?
Exclusion may be consistent with Matthew’s idea that there are some in
the community of Christ who really don’t belong there, and when judgment is
rendered, they will be exposed and shut out from the blessings of
salvation. But I’m not so sure he got
this idea from Jesus. In fact, it seems
absolutely contrary to the heart of the gospels. Although
the church has frequently shut doors over the centuries, God doesn’t shut
doors. And Jesus unquestionably
occupied himself with breaking down barriers that kept people separated,
excluded, and apart. Even Biblical ideas
of judgment are consistently about restoring and reclaiming those who have gone
astray rather than punishing them.
Biblical judgment is more about mercy than retribution. In God’s judgment, the final word is not
death; it is that God’s steadfast love endures forever.
And yet, the interaction at the end of this
parable sounds so final and condemning:
“Lord, lord, open to us.” “Truly
I tell you, I do not know you.”
How
does this relate to Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7? “Ask,
and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door
will be opened for you. For everyone who
asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks,
the door will be opened.” Curious.
And then, Jesus sums up the parable with these
perplexing words: Keep awake
therefore, for you know neither the
day nor the hour. Jesus does not
mention oil or the wisdom or folly of those who do or don’t bring extra. Jesus’ critique is for those who fall asleep.
. . . But ALL of the bridesmaids fall asleep. Does this imply that none of
them were prepared and attentive enough to get into the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus seems to be
telling his disciples to be ready for what comes, to be engaged with the world
and the presence of God, to work to make the kingdom of heaven a reality here
and now, to stay awake and be attentive.
But do you remember what happens in the very next
chapter in Matthew—in Matthew 26?
Jesus shares the Last Supper with his disciples and then heads out to
the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He takes Peter and James and John with
him and asks them to stay awake with
him as he prays. And the disciples, who have just heard this story of the
bridesmaids and the important charge to stay awake, instead, go to sleep. They go to sleep as Jesus struggles with what
lies ahead….
What a perplexing scene we are left with: Inside is a group of selfish bridesmaids who
refuse to do what Jesus taught—to share generously. Outside is a group of
excluded bridesmaids who experience rejection despite their last-ditch efforts
to knock on the door, which Jesus said would be opened. And then we have sleeping disciples who don’t
seem to understand what Jesus has been teaching them.
And we, too, are left to wrestle with this
story. The kingdom of heaven will be
like what? Where is the hope? Where is the grace? How can we call forth the very best in ourselves
that is always willing—radically and
even foolishly—to share oil with whoever asks?
I think the answer lies in Molly Shepherd’s
rule: “Those who are able help those
who are unable.” It’s not about
having extra oil or running out in the night to get extra oil. It is not about knocking on the door or
staying awake at the right time in the right way. We all have been wise, and we all have been
foolish. We all have been asked to stay
awake, and we have slept. Yet the
promise of God’s love remains. Through
all our attempts and failings and successes and do-overs, our God is with us,
desiring the best for us, bursting forth new life, and opening doors that have
been corroded shut. Now, it is up to us
to be awake and alert for ways to share this new life. It is up to us to be prepared to share the
light that we’ve been given. It is up to
us—in whatever ways we are able, to help those who are unable.
Let it be so.
Amen.