St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – 24th Sunday after Pentecost
Amos 5:18-24; Psalm; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13
Matthew 25:1-13
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 1“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But 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.’ 10And 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. 11Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
NRSV
. . .
Bridezillas
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In preparation for this sermon, and after our text study this past Wednesday, I had planned to watch a few episodes of the TV Show “Bridezillas.” Unfortunately, I could not find the time.
What can I say? Weddings are stressful. Everything must be perfect for those few hours in our existence. The memories will last a lifetime, right? So, an exceeding amount of anxiety and preparation goes into it. That is the word for this Sunday: prepare.
The 10 ladies have a very important role in this wedding. Since the wedding was celebrated at night, they were given clay lamps and some oil to use as fuel so that when the bridegroom was ready, a light procession would illumine the way to his house where the festivities would occur. Earthly marriage ceremonies in Jesus’ time often involved some negotiations between the families involved before they could proceed. Arrangements and covenants needed to be ironed out before the marriage would be consummated. Therefore, various reasons would exist to delay the bridegroom. This would not be out of the ordinary. They should be prepared. They were provided everything they needed. Included a place to rest, just in case.
They were all caught off guard when the bridegroom finally came. Some were more prepared than others. And here is where I begin to have issues with the story. The better-prepared ones refused to share their oil supply with the others, and the bridegroom refused to give them any breaks. He disavows them. “I do not know you,” he says. And they are left out.
Now, you should know something about the attitude of these unprepared young ladies. This apparently reminded our text study group of the “Bradizilla” show. They use the Greek imperative form when addressing first the prepared bridesmaids and then the bridegroom. Give us some of your oil! Lord, open to us! They did not plea for assistance, nor did they ask for forgiveness.
Yes, we have a God who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. And he loves a genuine contrite heart.
Yes, we are set free to be disciples of Jesus Christ, for all our previous trespasses were nailed to the cross, and we are washed clean in the waters of baptism, but the old self dies a hard death, and we often fall asleep.
The greater image for these wedding parables is the final marriage between God and all God’s people, which was supposed to seal the promise of our redemption, and sufficiently reconcile us with God for all eternity.
Isaiah prophesied:
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.”
Isaiah 61:10–11 (NRSV)
Yes, God made all the preparations. It is not our doing. God graciously provided everything we needed to be ready. He came down, walked among us, and taught us in person. He was born, died, and rose for us. God gave us Jesus Christ to show us that through faith in him, we can overcome anything and live everlasting and abundant lives. God did this so that his disciples would be ready and accept the gift of becoming light so others could see the path, find, and meet our Messiah.
Beloved of God, you know we often struggle with what to do with the gift of faith in Jesus Christ and the invitation to participate in what God is doing in the World right now. We are often unprepared. Where can we find our Savior? There is usually too much anxiety to go around, and it tends to cloud our vision and dim our light. Practice this gift of faith and our light will grow. Hear and do, so our light may be on, and he will come and find us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 