The Rev. Kristin Krantz
Pentecost 23A/Proper 27
November 8, 2020
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Psalm 78:1-7
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them;
take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.
Before I begin reflecting on today’s Gospel reading, I want to take a moment to acknowledge where we are as a nation.
Yesterday, after several days of waiting for votes to be counted, the election was called for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Most of us would describe this election as the most divisive of our lifetimes, and the reality is no matter who won, those divisions would still exist.
And yet, in a pastoral letter sent out from the Standing Committee and our Bishops yesterday, they invited us to model for the world how a community of diverse viewpoints can also be a community of love.
With this in mind, and knowing that in our midst there are people rejoicing and there are people grieving, my hope is that we will continue to witness to God’s love and compassion to each other, and to the wider world. Let us truly be known as those “blessed peacemakers, who shall be called the children of God.”
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And now on to our reading from Matthew.
The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids is unique to this gospel. It comes at the end of Jesus’ formal teaching ministry – and it is the first of his final three parables before his suffering, death, and resurrection.
It begins with ten bridesmaids, five of whom we’re told were foolish, and five of whom were wise. As the story continues, we see that what separated them as such was that the wise ones took the necessary preparations to be ready for the unexpected hour.
The “unexpected hour” was a real issue in the community for which Matthew was writing. Those early followers of Jesus had begun to question when Jesus would return as promised.
Most expected it to be a quick return, and contrary to popular novels and eschatological conceptions from the last 150 years which paint the Second Coming as an epic battle between good and evil, they expected his return to be a harbinger of joy where the earth would be transformed into the kingdom of heaven, not rejected and abandoned.
But it hadn’t happened for years. What were they to do while waiting with no way of knowing the hour? How do you prepare for what may be a decade, or a century, or a millennium or two?
That is what this parable is pointing to, and why it is that the five wise bridesmaids weren’t being stingy in not sharing their oil – as perhaps it was not something they could share in a literal sense. As one theologian puts it, the wise prepared for the delay by how they lived their lives.
“Thus when their faith in the bridegroom’s return is tested, they have the resources available to sustain them. In the midst of life’s joy and pain, ease and adversity, intrigue and boredom, the faith of the wise remains enough. They keep their light shining before others, continuing in community, study and prayer, doing deeds of mercy, offering forgiveness, and spreading justice and peace. They have not relinquished their hope that the world and each one of us will one day be transformed and fully reconciled to God.”[1] (end quote)
If this is how we understand the wise bridesmaids, we come to see that what they had to share was not their oil, but their light.
This is what we celebrated last Sunday on the Feast of All Saints with the remembrance of the faithful departed. It is a reflection of all those who have walked before us in faith, lighting the path, and teaching by example. And it is a charge for us to continue that work, shining the light of Christ like a beacon of hope.
Because while the hour is unknown, we are still called to keep awake. This parable asks us to do so by living in hope for what has been promised, and it teaches us that the best way to be prepared is to gather with others who also have their hearts, and minds, and hands ready for the wait – and then to stick with them. [2]
This, I believe, is where today’s gospel speaks most powerfully to us. At a time when divisions threaten to pull us apart Jesus is telling us the way forward is together. To be prepared is to do the faithful work of shining our light.
As author Madeleine L’Engle wrote, “We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”
I’m biased, but I believe this is a great community to stick together with as we shine our light – and I give thanks for the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in our midst. Amen.
[1] Lindsay P. Armstrong, Homiletical Perspective, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4.
[2] Mark Douglas, Theological Perspective, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4.