Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
November 9, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
“A Foolish, Self-Imposed Oil Shortage” (Matthew 25:1-13)
Some people might say it’s rather stupid to be in need of oil when there is
plenty available and you’re just not taking advantage of it. Such a situation
could be called, “A Foolish, Self-Imposed Oil Shortage.” And no, I’m not
talking about those who refuse to “drill, baby, drill.” But the same sort of
idea does apply to today’s Gospel reading, the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
Five of them were wise and five were foolish, and when the time came that they
all needed oil, five of them were caught short by their own foolish,
self-imposed oil shortage. Today, though, we’ll find out how to be among the
wise ones who have the oil they need.
But first let’s get our bearings in the church year. Today we’re entering the
last three Sundays of the church year, and, appropriately enough, the readings
all have to do with the end times and the Second Coming of Christ. You see,
the church year mirrors the course of history, and so the last things of this
age are placed in the last days of the church’s calendar. But whereas we know
exactly when the church year will end, we do not know when our Lord Jesus
Christ will return. “You know neither the day nor the hour,” Jesus says. So
the need for the church, for us, is to be ready for his coming, whenever he may
return--whether tonight or tomorrow or next year or a hundred years from now.
We don’t know when. We do know that--that he is coming back, coming back to
take his bride, the church, home. So we want to be ready whenever he comes.
That would be the sensible thing to do. That’s what our reading today is
about--being ready,
whenever. Jesus urges this upon us, this need for readiness, in the parable
that he tells.
The story involves a wedding procession that would accompany a first-century
Jewish wedding. The customs were a little different back then, so I guess I
need to explain. A man and a woman would first become betrothed, which was
more than our being engaged, but not quite our being married. The man and the
woman would not yet be living under the same roof. But having become
betrothed, the wedding would follow after some amount of time. It could vary.
What would happen is, the bridegroom would leave his house, head over to the
woman’s parents’ house, where she was living, and bring her back to his place.
There would be an evening wedding procession, kind of like a torchlight parade,
with the friends of the couple accompanying them back to the man’s house for
the big marriage feast.
So, for instance, the girl’s friends would be stationed somewhere near her
house, torches at the ready, waiting for the bridegroom to appear, the exact
time of which could be something of a surprise. The “lamp” or torch probably
was a big stick with a rag wrapped around the top, which would be doused with
oil--olive oil, most likely--and then lit. So it was important that you would
have not only a lamp or torch, but also oil for the lamp, or else it would not
stay lit. Well, that’s the setting for the story that Jesus tells.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and
went to meet the bridegroom.” Like most of Jesus’ parables, he is telling a
story to let us know something about the kingdom of heaven. This one will be
about how people are ready, or not ready, to meet Christ, the bridegroom, at
his return. The people in the story are the ten virgins, “ten,” because that’s
a standard number of completeness, and “virgins,” not calling attention to
their virginity, but simply to mean, “young women of marriageable age,”
presumably virgins, because that used to be considered normal for unmarried
young women. We might also translate, “ten maidens.”
“Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.” The term for “wise” could
also be translated, “sensible.” How they act will be the only sensible thing
to do. They are wise, so they will be ready and prepared for the bridegroom’s
coming. The other girls are described as “foolish.” The Greek word used is
“morai,” related to our word, “morons.” They were morons, because they were
not ready, they were not prepared, for what was coming. They were “stuck on
stupid,” we might say. “Foolish” girls, these five.
“For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the
wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” The foolish girls had lamps or
torches alright, but they didn’t bring anything to keep the torches lit! No
oil! That was dumb! The smart girls know you need oil, not just torches, if
you’re going to have a torchlight parade.
So these gals, all ten of them, know the bridegroom is coming--they’ve been
told. They look like they’re all waiting to meet him, but some are prepared
and some are not. This is a picture of the outward, visible church, all of
whom should be in a position to greet their returning Lord. But mixed together
in the visible church, there are some who are ready and some who aren’t. There
are some who are true believers, and some who are only hypocrites--outwardly
associated with a visible church, perhaps, but that’s all. They may be church
members, but they really are not believing in, trusting in, looking forward to
and ready for the Lord Jesus Christ when he returns.
“As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at
midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’”
Well, the bridegroom takes longer than any of them expect, not early evening,
but late evening, even as late as midnight. They all fall asleep, all ten of
them, wise and foolish. But in this story, the sleeping is there only to
indicate the long delay, not to show any negligence or unpreparedness on the
part of the wise virgins. They were wise, after all, and they did come
prepared with oil for their lamps. The foolish girls, on the other hand--they
would have been foolish even if the groom had come earlier, because they had
brought no oil in the first place.
The delay of the bridegroom corresponds to the relative “delay” of the return
of Christ. He would not come again within the lifetime of the apostles or of
the early church. In fact, we are still waiting for him today. It seems like
a delay. But God is working all things out in his own good time. When Christ
will return, we do not know. It could be a while yet, but whenever he comes,
we want to be ready. Do you have oil for your lamp?
“Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to
the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’” The moment
they had been waiting for has arrived. Time for the wedding procession! Get
your torch lit! Trim off the charred edge, get some oil on there, and light it
up! “Oops!” say the foolish girls, “we forgot to bring any oil!” It doesn’t
say that these girls were blonde, but they may have been.
“But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for
you. . . .” Apparently, they did not have any extra . . . virgin . . . olive
oil. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) “‘Since there will not be enough for us and
for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’” The foolish girls
are faced with an existential crisis. The other girls have no oil to spare,
it’s midnight, and now they have to scramble to find what they need for the
wedding--which they could have had, and should have had, earlier on, if only
they had not been so foolish.
“And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were
ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.” Too
late. There will come a time when it is too late. “The door was shut.”
Ominous words.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But
he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’” This is the danger of
being foolish, being stupid, being unprepared. It will be too late, and you
will be shut out. And you do not want to be shut out of this wedding feast.
No, for this will be the great and eternal feast.
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” There’s the
bottom line. Be ready. Be prepared. Don’t think that just because there’s
been a delay, the bridegroom is not coming. No, he could come at any moment,
so don’t put off being prepared.
So the question obviously comes: How do we get prepared? You need to have oil
for your lamps. Just having a lamp is not enough. Merely having some outward
association with the church--even sitting in a pew occasionally--is not the
same as actually believing in and looking forward to the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
The good news today is this: 1) It’s not too late, and 2) the oil is free and
plentifully available. First, it’s not too late. It ain’t midnight yet.
Jesus has not yet returned. This is the time to check and see if you have the
oil that you need. Listen: “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is
the day of salvation.” “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your
hearts.” In other words, repent and believe the gospel. Realize that you are
a sinner who cannot stand in the day of judgment on your own. You need what
only Jesus can give you: forgiveness for all of your sins; righteousness, his
perfect righteousness, to stand before God. Trust in Christ your Savior.
That’s the only sensible thing to do. Don’t stay stuck on stupid. Now is the
time to receive and rely on the free gifts Christ has to give you, received by
faith, so that your lamp will be burning brightly at his return.
And so, second, the oil is free and plentifully available. It’s like the
invitation in Isaiah 55: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and
he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk”--or, in this
case, oil--“without money and without price.” Christ has bought the oil you
need for you, and he gives it to you as a free gift. It’s the righteousness
you need, as well as the faith to believe it. That righteousness Christ won
for you at great cost, the cost of his holy precious blood shed for you on the
cross. That faith the Holy Spirit works in you through the Word, through the
means of grace. This Word-engendered and Word-nourished faith is yours in
plentiful supply, as plentiful as the Word and Sacrament you receive here week
by week. There is no oil shortage. And the price could not be any lower.
Oil for your lamps? You betcha! No foolish, self-imposed oil shortage here!
Instead, there is a free and plentiful supply, purchased by Christ your Savior,
supplied by the Spirit, through the means of grace distributed here at this
filling station called the church. Fill, baby, fill! And you will be ready,
wise ones, whenever our Lord returns.
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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