The Message, November 12, 2023: "Tending God's Light," Matthew 25:1-13

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
November 14, 2023

 

“Tending God’s Light”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Matthew 25:1-13

            I have lost count. Over the course of my ministry, I have performed somewhere around three hundred weddings. I love weddings. It is always such a joy and an honor to be part of a couple’s big day.

            Those of you who have been a part of this church family for a while, and even those who are here for the first time today, have seen some of the antics that occur during my children’s messages. It probably would not surprise you that some of the weddings that I perform involved props and costumes. One never knows what might come out of the God Box.

            I mentioned to the Bible study group on Thursday evening, that despite performing over three hundred weddings, I have never had a bridegroom arrive late. A couple of brides … but never a bridegroom. I also have never officiated at a wedding that began at or after midnight. I have never officiated a wedding for which the couple arrived in a procession of all of their friends and family accompanied by torches, lanterns and drums. And I am very disappointed about that!

            What a wonderful way to begin their marriage journey! The wedding couple, their families, their friends, and then the entire village processing through the streets to the wedding venue marching and dancing to the sound of the wedding drums! I hope that some of you here this morning have had that experience, or will have the experience. Sadly, my guess is that most of us will not.

            The wedding procession that we heard about this morning was a very common practice in first century Palestine and is still practiced today in some of the towns and villages. While it may not fit out twentieth century ears, the drama that unfolded in Jesus’ parable would have been understood by all who were gathered there that day.

            The bridesmaids would wait with the bride until the bridegroom appeared.
            The bridegroom was often delayed as he made his way through the streets of the village. It was very common to stop and greet people and be greeted along the way.
            A runner would run ahead of the groom to announce his arrival.
            Torches and lanterns were necessary because it was not permitted to walk the streets after dark without a torch or lantern.
            When the bridegroom arrived, the entire procession would make their way to the wedding venue.
            Once the gates or doors of the venue were closed, no one was permitted to enter.
            The festivities would last for a week.
            The bride and groom did not leave for an exotic locale for their honeymoon. Instead, they stayed in the village and were treated like royalty by the villagers.

            As I mentioned, those who were gathered that day to hear Jesus teach and preach would have been very familiar with the wedding celebrations of the day. And my guess is that they would have shaken their heads and said, “tsk, tsk, tsk,” about those five foolish bridesmaids that did not bring enough oil.

            And as I said, as familiar as the celebration was to the first century audience, it is foreign to our ears and our understanding. I will share with you that I really struggled with this passage this week for a number of reasons.

            First of all, I am a preparer. In fact, I typically over prepare. When I prepare a meal, I would rather have too much food than run out of food. When it comes to making copies of the worship bulletin, I always tell Sue the same thing … I would rather have too many than too few. When it comes to wedding ceremonies, I am always early. I want to make certain that everything is ready for the celebration.

            I am also a sharer, as are all of you. I struggled with the wise bridesmaids in the parable. I know that they are fictional characters in Jesus’ story, but it still bothered me that they did not share their fictional oil with the fictional foolish bridesmaids. Does Jesus not tell us to share? Does he not tell us to be compassionate and generous? Did he not just tell us to love our neighbors as ourselves?!

            When we read scripture, and we place ourselves into the telling of the story, we typically imagine that we are the “good” character. We are the Good Samaritan. We are the sheep rather than the goats. We are the wise bridesmaids rather than the foolish. And therefore, you might be struggling in the same way that I am. You might be thinking that you would have shared your oil.

            The second source of my struggle this week was what happened when the foolish bridesmaids did arrive at the party and were turned away at the door. They called out, “Lord, Lord! Open the door for us!” And Jesus’ response was, “I tell you the truth. I do not know you.”

            What?! Jesus are you not the one who said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

            They were seeking and they were knocking. Why would you not let them in?

            I had to walk around with my questions for a while. I had to wrestle with them. Much like Jacob wrestling with God in the wilderness (Genesis 32:22-31), I had to wrestle with Jesus for a moment. In the same way, I guess I thought that if I held onto Jesus long enough, he would bless me.

            And he did.

            I wrestled with a number of articles and commentaries, and then I found one that reminded me of something that I have said numerous times, “Do not over-complicate things.” All these centuries later, we try to dig into the parables so that we can figure everything out. We try to parse out the details so that we can explain everything. We try to fill up the verses of the story with layers and layers of meaning. And in doing so, we obscure the whole point of the story.

            Please remember that Jesus was not speaking to a gathering of clergy. He was not speaking to a class full of seminarians trying to understand first century theology. Jesus was speaking to a gathering of regular, everyday folks, and he kept his messages for them simple. Be prepared. Be vigilant.

            We must not try to take each story that Jesus told and try to use it to answer every theological question that is rattling around in our hearts and minds. Certainly, in their totality, we can find all of our answers. In this story, the lesson is clear, and it is simple. Be ready.

            Be ready … not for the eventual arrival of the “bridegroom,” but rather for his delay. Be ready with whatever it is that we will need to hang in there for the duration.

            German theologian Rudolph Bultmann said that most Christians make the mistake of interpreting this parable to mean that they should be looking forward to their future reward. But in reality, Jesus was saying, “Be focused upon now. Be focused upon today. Think about today because you do not know when the bridegroom will arrive.”

            Be ready in the now. Every day is a “Kingdom of God” day. Every day we can “prepare” by loving and serving God. Every day we can prepare by loving and serving our neighbors. Every day we can listen for God’s Voice, and every day we can respond when God calls.

            Be ready. Every day we can do the best that we can to be the best that we can. And if we fall short … or I should say WHEN we fall short … that is the beauty of grace.

            We have already received the precious gift of God’s grace. We have already received the amazing love of God in Jesus Christ. They are always available to us. They never run out; they never expire. The Kingdom of God is the place of perfect peace that we experience down deep in our souls knowing that we are God’s beloved.

            Be ready. Share those gifts that we have already received. Love God with all of our heart, and all of soul, and all of our mind. Love our neighbors as ourselves. In that way we keep out lamp trimmed and lit so that we may carry God’s love light into the world. The world needs it now. Amen.

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