Matthew 25:1-13
November 7, 1999
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco
A basic training course for parents is to teach their children to “be prepared.” Someone said that the definition of a sweater is something that you put on when your mother is cold. And I have certainly learned this is true when I leave sunny Marin County to come into foggy San Francisco. We carry a sweater with us to be prepared for that sudden temperature inversion and fog moves inland.
In addition to the fog that tourists buy in a can, living in the Bay Area means you have to be prepared for that inevitable event—the big one to hit sometime in the next thirty years! We are reminded to be prepared with at least a three-day supply of drinking water and food that does not require refrigeration. We need first-aid supplies, portable radio, flashlight, and fresh batteries.
Lest we forget, the reason why we are here at the Lau school instead of our church building is getting prepared for whatever may happen. As Carole King said it in the seventies, “I feel the earth moving under my feet,” we need to be prepared!
Ten Bridesmaids
Last Sunday, we talked about our willingness to wear the wedding robes to become guests at God’s wedding banquet. We learned that although the invitation is freely extended to everyone to attend, we have to choose to come.
Today, we hear another parable by Jesus recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. The parable of the ten bridesmaids is a story about the coming of the kingdom of heaven that is delayed. As a story, each major part represents something for Matthew’s readers to decode and understand.
Like last Sunday, the wedding banquet is a symbol of the kingdom of heaven and the long-awaited bridegroom is the expected Son of Man, Jesus Christ. The strange picture of the bridegroom’s midnight arrival reflects the idea that the messiah will come at an unexpected time, like a thief in the night.
For some unknown reasons, the bridegroom has been delayed in arriving to the banquet hall. Maybe it was taking more time with the photographer or maybe they were caught in heavy traffic. We don’t know. But what we do know is that the bridegroom is delayed and his appointed ten bridesmaids who have been assigned to light up the welcome reception were tired and fell asleep.
Many of us have read this parable to represent our need to do good works. We think that the extra flasks of oil that the wise bridesmaids brought along means that they worked
harder than the foolish bridesmaids. Thus, the foolish bridesmaids are those Christians who are fired up about Jesus but who lack the commitment to sustain the routine. Perhaps they became bored over the effort of doing good works through the long “night” waiting for the kingdom. The only complication to this interpretation is that none of the bridesmaids, not even the wise ones, actually worked through the night. They all fell asleep, wise and foolish.
Maybe the interpretation of this parable is that the wise bridesmaids are “those who are ready.” Ready for the bridegroom? No, the foolish bridesmaids were ready too. They had their flasks of oil and lights. Both the wise and foolish bridesmaids were ready for the bridegroom to come to the banquet so that they can light the way for him. They were all eager for his coming.
What made the wise bridesmaids distinctive from the others were that they were ready for the groom’s delay. To bring along an extra flask of oil is a signal that they were prepared for the bridegroom to come early or late. If the groom had arrived on time, if he had come when he was predicted to arrive, then all the bridesmaids—foolish as well as wise—would have cheerfully greeted him and they were have all waltzed into the banquet hall.
But, the bridegroom, like the kingdom of heaven, did not arrive promptly; he was delayed, and some two thousand years later, the kingdom is still delayed.
We are the bridesmaids waiting for the groom to come. Will we be the wise ones in the church who are prepared for the delay; who hold on to the faith deep into the night; who, even though we don’t see the bridegroom coming, still serve and hope and pray and wait for the promised victory of God?
Meantime
Although the bridegroom is delayed, he eventually comes. In a way, the church has never known a time when we did not live with the delay of our Master. We are still waiting. Most of life is spent in these gaps between one event and the next, between one advent of God into our world and another. What do we do in the meantime?
In the meantime, which is always our time, we can be prepared. We envision the predictable crises that await us and we can see the meantime as a time for preparation and readiness. That’s the reason why we always carry a sweater into the city. That’s the reason why we are retrofitting our church home. That’s the reason why I use a planning calendar to anticipate the predictable crises that await us. We are getting prepared for a momentous something to happen.
What do we do in the meantime?
I can imagine the bridesmaids getting all excited about putting on their beautiful dresses and standing in front of the full length mirror admiring how beautiful they look. But five of them remembered that at some of the weddings they have been to, the bridegroom was
late. While the five foolish bridesmaids were still looking at themselves in the mirror, the wise ones said, “Let’s go to the store now and buy some extra oil just in case this bridegroom is delayed.” They intentionally took action to anticipate what delays might happen.
How can we prepare during the meantime?
One of my spiritual mentors is the Rev. Charles Griffin. He was pastor of my home church during my high school and early college years. Pastoring this church in the late sixties was very tough. There were racial unrest and Vietnam. There were always doomsayers and troublemakers who questioned everything Rev. Griffin did. But at the end of many of his sermons, he would recite the prophet Isaiah,
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint. (40:31)
This verse has stood by me for many years now and I sense that it will continue to sustain me until I die. No matter what happens, whether it’s racial unrest or Vietnam or it’s cold in San Francisco or the big earthquake, Rev. Griffin has prepared me well in my faith that
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
And for me who has experienced a number of personal family tragedies that some would think should have rocked my faith; instead, my faith in God and the saving grace of Jesus Christ has become even stronger. By hearing week after week, Rev. Griffin’s faith that nothing will distract him from preaching the Good News of Christ in the sixties, I too have been prepared to withstand doomsayers, troublemakers, and even personal tragedies.
We know that when crises happen, we turn to God for help. We get down on our knees and pray. But when life is blue skies and sunny outside, we don’t particularly spend much time thinking about God. What we do is come to church week after week to prepare for the future. You listen to the sermon, hear the Scripture, sing the hymns. This is training and preparation for those times in life when it is less bright and the fog has moved back in.
Much of church is preparation for the future.
For whom is a wedding planned? For the couple getting married, of course, and their families. But it is also for all the rest of us because all of us, in one way or another, have a stake in weddings and marriage. Some of us are preparing for marriage. Others of us are still trying to figure out what we were doing when we got married!
William Willimon shared a story of one of his congregations. He said,
In my last congregation we did a wedding on a Sunday morning, as part of the
Sunday service. The couple had grown up in the church. They had no money
for an expensive wedding, so we decided that they should participate in the
service. Then, toward the end of the service, they would come forward and repeat
their vows and be married.
I went into the sanctuary about 30 minutes before the service was to begin and
who do you think was sitting in the first two rows of the church? All the
teenagers in the congregation. They knew. This marriage was, in a sense, their
marriage, important time of preparation for this big event yet to come in their
own lives.
For whom are funerals planned? Those who going through the acute crises of grief, yes. But funerals are also for the rest of us, those of us preparing for future crises of grief.
Christ’s Return
So many of Jesus’ parables talk about the problem of the absent master followed by the master’s sudden and unexpected return. But is the return of the master ever truly unexpected? Is that hour when we stand face to face with God truly unexpected?
The bridesmaids who were on their way to a party probably thought about getting enough oil for a potentially long wait. But there was one thing and then another, the groom was delayed and they ran out of oil.
In my ministry, I have worked with many people. There are people with personal tragedies, long-termed health crises, terrible accidents, and other heartaches. But I have noticed that there’s a difference on how some can handle life crises better than others. The big difference is what has happened in these people’s lives before the crisis hits. The difference is having a personal relationship with Christ. The difference is preparing oneself to live not only in the bright and clear skies, happy times of life but also in the foggy and cold sad times. The difference is whether they have prayed to God.
Why do you think we pray the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday at worship? It’s not that by reciting the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday that we intentionally make it into a boring and meaningless ritual. We teach you to say the Lord’s Prayer, by heart, Sunday after Sunday, because one of these days what you will need more than anything in the world is to pray. At that time, you will know what to say and how to begin to talk with God.
Much of what we do at church is preparation. Preparing for that inevitable day when Christ returns and we stand ready to account for our lives.
As Christ’s church, we believe that someday, Christ will return and reign over all creation. We must not forget that Jesus taught us to keep watch, stay awake, and be prepared.
The health and vitality of our church is depended on our focus to keep watch, stay awake, and be prepared.
When we as a church stop expecting God and begins only to expect “church,” this only breeds contentment, internal conflict, and a slackening of mission.
When we as the church no longer anticipates God at any minute, then we have given up our dreams of a peaceable kingdom where the lamb shall lie down with the wolf.
When the church no longer expects to have its work validated by the advent of the kingdom, then it is no better than any non-profit organization.
When the church stops preparing for the day of the Lord when
every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places plain,
then it becomes a self-contained institution living only for today and competing within itself for power and status.
When the church sees Christmas as more shopping, bigger traffic jams, and boring Christmas caroling, then it has forgotten that Jesus is the reason for the advent season. It is Jesus who is coming to town.
When the church no longer saves a place at the table for the coming messiah, then it ceases to feed others and simply begins to gorge itself.
Let’s not be that church that sees itself as the end result. Let us see ourselves prepared for the coming of the kingdom of heaven committed to prayer, learning, and mission in the world.
Let us pray.
O God, challenge us to anticipate the future when your mighty kingdom is among us and we are prepared to do the work of your kingdom. Thank you, Lord, for the promises of grace, mercy, and peace. Amen.