Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16; Psalm 78:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

November 9, 2008

I’m headed to my son’s wedding this coming weekend,

and so, read the gospel with some amusement and some dread.

In the midst of the joyous celebrating, what will the glitches be?

Who will forget something or show up late?

What will we run out of?

In the outdoor setting at the beach in November,

 will it be rain or wind that will leave us all in the lurch?

Well, I’ve been reminded by a friend or two that since I am the mother of the groom,

all I have to do is show up, smile, and keep my opinions and complaints to myself.

Gladly!

Now, onto the wedding parable from Matthew’s gospel.

Let’s take a brief look at the shape of ancient weddings.

The wedding itself was preceded by a period of joyous processions,

leading up to the festivities taking place at the home of the groom’s parents.

The final procession would be for the groom and his bride to arrive at his parents’ house.

The bridesmaids and others, who have spent all day getting the bride ready

and preparing for the festivities would be there waiting to join the couple.

They would all bring their lamps to contribute to the light needed as the party went on into the night.

But, in Matthew’s parable, the procession gets delayed for some reason.

After a full day of preparations and processions,

As the minutes turn into hours,

some realize that the oil in their lamps will run out

before they will be able to enter the house.

Others have come prepared and have enough extra oil

to be able to keep their lamps lit.

This parable or allegory has traditionally been thought to be about the end times.

Our opening hymn and reading from Thessalonians reflect this theme.

In Jewish terms, the Messiah will come to claim his bride Israel.

And, in Christian terms, Christ will come to claim his bride, the Church.

But for both Israel and the early Christians, the end of the age was taking longer than they expected.

Who will be able and willing to wait long enough?

When the Messiah or Christ comes, who will be found living the life of faith

that will get them into the banquet (or heaven)?

The message seems to be that some will be ready and some will not.

This is the traditional reading.

But there are an infinite number of ways for parables to speak to us

Let’s look at the three basic components:

There is something important, worth being present for and waiting for.

Life happens. Things don’t go as planned.

Some folks are prepared. Some are not.

A war goes on longer than we thought it would.

A political party stays in power too long, or not long enough.

The economy, the job market, our savings - 

How long will it take to come back around?

Will we have enough to last the duration?

Who will be prepared? Who will not?

What kinds of things have not gone as planned for us in America?

What do we picture as the wedding feast of American culture and economics?

What is it about – to finally be let in the door of the party?

Maybe having the door open to us means we have succeeded

in our personal quest to acquire, to consume, to indulge our appetites.

That door opening and letting us in will happen if we succeed

in allowing nothing to interfere with our endeavors.

We think that these qualities in life are the oil we need to keep our lamps lit

so that we can get in when the door is opened.

In this wedding feast of American culture and economy,

what has caused the foolish bridesmaids to be caught short?

Well, you might say currently it could be

dependence on, or even addiction to cheap oil, easy personal credit,

massive trade imbalances between what we export and import…

personal and federal debt soaring beyond control.

And the foolish bridesmaids go off to do what foolish bridesmaids do:

They max out their credit cards.

They go off to the store to spend more money on more of the same fuel.

What advice might the wise ones give today?

1.     Become bipartisan.

John McCain said on Tuesday night, “Barack Obama is my president.”

Barack Obama said, “For those who did not vote for me,

I may not have your confidence yet, but I hear your voice.”

With them, we can all concentrate on the strength of what we can accomplish together.

This is a theme that is running through more than the American political scene.

After decades of partisanship within our own church,

the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion,

the message that is coming through the strife of our differences

is that there is a common table to which we are all invited

and a common commission we are all given.

We are finally seeing that it is essential

to the great commission of Christ

-       that we go into all the world – together -

to those in the world who are dying to hear the good news of God’s love

and to those who are dying without the good news of God’s love.

And to do that, we each must join with those we don’t understand or agree with

to receive Christ in communion.

And we must join with those we don’t understand or agree with

to go side by side to do the work we’ve been given to do.

As a country and a church, we must reassess our priorities,

solidify our common goals, and concentrate on what we can accomplish together.

2.     We each must take responsibility for our own lamps.

‘I don’t have enough oil because nobody told me to get extra.’

‘I would have enough if they didn’t use so much.’

‘I didn’t bring extra because I can’t afford to be giving my oil away.’

Part of the responsibility is to realize the flaw

in living as though your lamp has nothing to do with anyone else.

We must learn more and more to walk out of the house assuming

that our proverbial lamp and how we use it will affect others.

What is my highest purpose?  My lamp’s highest purpose?

My money’s highest purpose?

My church’s highest purpose? My country’s highest purpose?

To facilitate service and extend love.

St. Paul says that against these there is no law.

How are we functioning so as to respond with the ability to serve and to love?

Bishop Frank Allen was here last weekend as our guest at the Heritage Festival

and as celebrant at our services on Sunday.

In chatting about the economy, he mentioned an article

that he felt offered a good plan for managing our money responsibly

 -a way that allows us to function with the ability to love and serve.

It’s an article by Mary Hunt, who has written several books on the topic.

Bishop Allen wrote to me in an email:

I am sending a copy of the article from Womans Day by Mary Hunt.

She talks about a 10-10-80 formula.

10% for savings, 10% for charity, and 80% to live on.

I have never heard a financial advisor give such advice.

The 10% give away is a statement that you are in charge of your money

rather than your money being in charge of you.

Mary Hunt writes in her article: Giving to others who are less fortunate than you releases gratitude for what you have. Knowing you have money in the bank quells the fear of being broke. Together, giving and saving promote contentment, which makes us willing to do whatever we must to live below our means.

Bishop Allen goes on to say,

Elizabeth and I started tithing 50 years ago

when we were making $3900 a year with four children,

and I can personally attest that it is a freeing experience.

I find this advice challenging and helpful.

It is one way to approach taking responsibility for your own lamp.

So, beloved, setting aside our differences

in the interest of what is essential to survival

and being awake, prepared, like those wise bridesmaids,

in taking responsibility for our part…

The times we are in are much like the bride and groom arriving late for their wedding.

It’s a terrible inconvenience to us. It leaves us feeling like we are in the dark with no oil for our lamps.

But it can be a blessing if it causes us to wake up and wise up

to each do our own part and to join together…

to serve and to love.