Matthew 25:1-13
Ordinary Time
Church
is a very rhythmic place with predictable seasons and scripture, celebrations
and remembrances. November 12 is one of the last Sundays in the church season called
ordinary time. Seasons are funny things – not just the unpredictable weather of
North Texas, but the leaning that we tend to do toward the exciting seasons.
All of our stores and malls have already moved on to the Christmas season. Most
of us already have well-planned Thanksgiving agendas. What do we do in these
big stretches of time between the feasts? How do we spend our ordinary time?
What
does that word ‘ordinary’ mean anyway? What defines ordinary for you? Is
ordinary the routine days between excitement? Is it the time when we are called
upon to be patient in waiting for the next thing that is exciting or meaningful?
Is it the dull stretches between holidays and vacations while we are waiting
for that next event or get together? Life may certainly feel that way, but in
church world, the Ordinary Time is to be one of preparation and readiness. And,
that is what today’s parable is all about. The church in Matthew’s time did not
expect to go back to their ordinary – they were anticipating Christ’s return
any day. They couldn’t help but be disappointed that it hadn’t already
occurred. Matthew writes several parables in a group in this part of the gospel
all about the Kingdom and our readiness to enter the Kingdom.
Today’s
parable is especially challenging for many of us. Ten virgins – bridesmaids who
would have been between the ages of 10 and 13 are waiting for the bridegroom to
return for the wedding feast. For this to occur at night was normal, but the delay
to midnight was unexpected. Five of the bridesmaids were not prepared for the
wait and get left out of the festivities. This is challenging to us because if
taken too literally or broken into pieces, it can sound like a God who is
represented by the bridegroom is harshly slamming the door in the face of foolish
teenagers. Expecting teenagers to be prepared ahead for an unexpected wait. Having my own teenager at home or even thinking of my own frantic routine, this seems like a lack of preparation that could
all too easily happen to a majority of us.
To
find meaning in this Matthew text, I feel that we need to move past trying to
match the parable literally and pick apart the roles. And instead look to what
should we be doing in the waiting. Waiting is our ordinary, but after more than
2000 years, we are not so good at being aware.
What
is our ordinary that we are aware of? For me as a guest pastor, one of the
things I get asked is if I can re-use sermons since it is a completely
different congregation from week to week. My response is no because so
much of a message relies on context – what is going on in the life of the community
or nation. Unfortunately, large parts of my last sermon could be re-used this
week because our context in the new ordinary is recurring with horrible
frequency. My last sermon was the week of the Vegas shooting, and this week
another tragic shooting, but closer to home. Looking at the news reports, our
normal seems too often dismal – not at all what I pray for ordinary to be.
I
woke up Saturday morning, and I was pondering normal when I heard an ominous
rumbling. My heartbeat quickened, and I was a bit afraid before I remembered
that it was Veterans Day. This was likely an airshow that brought planes over
my house at lower than normal levels – older planes or military versions that
made more noise. For those of you who are old enough to remember, before 9/11,
planes were very common. Our air traffic was congested and frequent. On the day
of 9/11, I remember an eerie feeling beyond the devastation of the day’s
events. The sky seemed too quiet. This wasn’t ordinary. We were used to planes,
helicopters – private and commercial. The skies were full. Those few weeks of total
lock-down were too quiet. Over time, I don’t think that we have gone back to
the same level of traffic in our skies, but we have a new norm. We adjust to
the ordinary and are only tuned in if something differs. We move back to our routine.
A
heavy part of my routine is social media. I am a social media junkie – spending
crazy amounts of time on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. One of the memes that
I have seen and even that was picked up on by the PC (USA) clerk was the idea
that ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ are not enough. While I get the concept, I find
this horribly troubling. I think that what is meant is that action is needed.
Indeed – Pope Francis says, “We pray for the hungry, then we feed them – that
is how it works.” Popular media has warped the idea of prayer – prayer has
become either an acceptable platitude where if you say you will keep someone in
your prayers, it is simply an excuse to do nothing else. Or, praying is seen as
all that can be done because if we pray properly – God will grant us our
dearest wish like some magic genie in the sky.
I
want to argue that prayer is enough, but prayer encompasses our actions and our
thoughts – not just words and platitudes. Prayer is how we are in relationship
with God. God truly desires relationship with us. A colleague at presbytery
describe it well – prayer is how we get all intertwined with God. Prayer is
inviting God into your life, into your very being to become a transformed
person.
As
such, it is simply impossible to separate what we feel called to do from our
prayers. We can’t keep our actions in one bucket and our prayers isolated from
our lives. Prayer should be what ordinary is all about. And, we should not let
ordinary prayer be defined by society. Christ is counter cultural often expecting
the opposite of what our society expects.
Ordinary
time is the time when we are charged to prepare the kingdom here on earth for
the coming of Christ. That coming at a time that is not known to us. The best
comparison that I read this week was that the oil in the lamps of the
bridesmaids in today’s parable is the Holy Spirit. If we are actively engaging
God in our ordinary, we will be welcomed in to the extraordinary. The Holy
Spirit fills our lamps and brings light to our darkness. The darkness that
otherwise might overwhelm us instead demands our thoughts and prayers in order
to overcome. Oversimplifying that these are not enough is selling them short.
Genuine
prayers will include a response. How are we waiting? How are we using our
talents as part of the body – each with a different and unique gift called to
be used toward God’s Kingdom. If you think of our Thanksgiving feast, very few
people are just called to come celebrate – most of us are called to prepare, to
contribute. Everybody has a unique time and role in which he or she is called
to serve.
For
some this may mean serving to protect others as those who we honor with
Veterans Day willing to lay down their lives to protect the weak and stand up
for others. For each it is something different – teaching, building, helping or
offering kind words, a shoulder in support or sitting together in times of
grief. The gifts that make up the body of Christ are boundless and all equally
needed. The Holy Spirit moves through each of us in different ways empowering
and expanding what we alone would be able to be and do.
What
are we to do in this ordinary time? How do we make sure that our lamps are full?
For me, the words of Micah are summarize well when asked what God requires of
us: He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the
Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God?
It is easy to get into the routine of our
daily lives and forget that there is something amazing that we are a part of
today. Even when the amazing seems hard to remember or we feel that we are in a
position of helplessness, I keep these words from Micah in mind.
It is easy to bail because we feel small
and like we can’t make a difference. It is easy to get into the ruts of
day-to-day drudgery of chores, work or school. But all we have to do is invite
the Holy Spirit in, and our lamps will be full. Patience has certainly never
been my strong suit, but I don’t imagine that these bridesmaids just sat around
with no preparation before that night for the wedding feast. And yet, even in
this parable, they all fell asleep. An unrealistic diligence with no rest is
not what is required either. As we begin to lean into the season of Advent and
Christmas, what will our prayers look like? As we are intertwined with the Holy
Spirit in a relationship that breathes new life into us, we are empowered in
ways that might surprise and amaze us. In a world where we feel helpless and
overwhelmed too often as the new norm, small actions, prayers and deeds add up
to a true display of the Kingdom in our Midst.
God desires a relationship with you – to
walk alongside us and share in our joys and sorrows. God desires us to pray
without ceasing – with words and deeds. One of the great ends of the church is
the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. Building the kingdom in the
here and now. We do this through loving justice, showing mercy and walking
humbly with our God. And, we pray constantly. That is how we are prepared –
that should be our ordinary.
'We pray for the hungry, and then we feed
them' – that IS how it works. Amen.
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