Matthew 25:1-13
Pentecost + 26 – November 9, 2008
Last year my little sister, Jess, gave me & Andy each one of these little lamps that she brought home for us from Israel.
When she gave them to us, she told us that the lamps were designed to burn brightly, to be a pool of light in the darkness. They don't require any special kind of fuel, just regular ol' olive oil will do. But, she said, these are not “set it & forget it” kind of lamps. You can't just fill 'em once & light it & expect it to burn forever. No, Jess said, you have to keep an eye on the oil level, and make sure you refill it when it starts to get low. Otherwise, they'll just burn out & they won't be able to do what they were created to do.Jesus tells us a story about lamps today – 10 lamps to be precise, and the 10 bridesmaids who carried them. Now weddings back then were different than they are now, & so the customs & expectations for bridesmaids were different. People didn't go to the church to get married; the groom & his family would leave their home and go to the family of the bride. The ceremony would start there & then they'd all come back to the groom's home where the rest of the guest would be waiting. The ceremony would be finished & then the party would begin! So the job of the bridesmaids was to wait for the bridal party to come to the groom's house. And while they waited, they were to tend their lamps, so they would be shining brightly, lighting up the night so that everyone could see that the groom was coming! That was their one job – to make sure everyone could see the groom through them.
Jesus tells us that not all of the bridesmaids were able to do that. For whatever reason, 5 of them didn't bring along any extra oil. Who knows why – it's probably not that there was an oil crisis – the other 5 seemed to have plenty. My guess is that the ones Jesus describes as foolish didn't even think of it. Maybe they were too busy running around getting for the wedding, rushing out the door, & didn't have time to grab the extra flask of oil. But for whatever reason, they find themselves awoken in the middle of the night to the announcement that the groom is near & panic when they realize that they're almost out of oil – their lamps are gonna go out!
So they ask the other bridesmaids – it kind of reminds me of a song I learned in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School years ago - “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burnin', give me oil in my lamp I pray. Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burnin', keep me burnin' til the break of day...” And those wise bridesmaids say, “No, we can't – there won't be enough for all of us. Go get your own.”
Now I have to tell you that that piece right there kind of bothers me. Why won't the 5 wise bridesmaids share? What kind of lesson is Jesus trying to teach here? He always taught his followers to love their neighbors as themselves, and that doesn't seem like a very loving thing to do.
But what I realized is that Jesus is telling us that each of us needs to be ready. He's talking about the day we look forward to – the day when he will return & the never-ending party can begin! And he's saying that each of us needs to be prepared. It's like what my sister said about the lamps she gave us. Our lives are like those lamps – created with a purpose, designed to shine brightly, even in the darkness of the world. In the Sermon on the Mount, way back in Matthew 5, Jesus told his listeners that they were the light of the world. So let that light shine, he says – let it shine through your good works so that others will see & will give glory to God in heaven. Hold up the lamp of your life, in other words, and show others that Jesus, the groom, is coming! Help them to be ready, help them to see that Jesus is on his way, he'll be here any minute, & the party is about to begin! That's our job Christians, to keep our lamps ready, so that they can shine brightly until Jesus comes again.
But in order to do that, we need to make sure we have enough oil. We need a source of fuel if the lamp is gonna keep shining. We need to have a reserve of oil if we are gonna be able to do what God has called us to do. And it's not something we can borrow from anyone else. I think that's why those other bridesmaids didn't share. Because Jesus wants us to know that oil doesn't come from other people. Because the oil that keeps us going can only come from God. It comes through cultivating a relationship with God, spending time with God, growing with God – and no one else can do that for us. It's like asking to borrow your friend's homework – you can get the answers, but you can't get the learning & understanding that comes from doing the work yourself. Likewise, you can't look at your friend who has a happy, solid marriage and ask them to give you some of what they have. They just can't do it. Some things can't be borrowed.
Many of us though, myself included, are more like the 5 foolish bridesmaids than we'd like to admit. We mean well, we have good intentions, we want to serve God in the world & let our light shine, but most of the time, we are so busy running out the door from one obligation to another that we forget to check the oil in our lamps. Even when are lives are not hectic & frantic & busy, we take our light for granted. We're easily distracted, sucked in to the whirlwind of options that are fun & entertaining - but they don't refill our lamps! It's only when we're sputtering & spitting, trying to keep the flame alive that we realize we've let the oil run out.
The good news is that God has an unending supply of oil for us. Only God can supply it, but God is always ready & waiting to fill us back up. And even better, it doesn't cost us anything but some time! Time spent with God each and every day – time spent in intentional prayer and in reading the Bible and in worship. Many of us are really good at the quick prayer – in the car or in the grocery store. That's kind of like the text message of communication with God. Text messages are good for quick questions or answers, but they don't really deepen the relationship. Coming to worship every week is helpful too. That's kind of like a phone call – a wonderful way of keeping in touch. But nothing beats one-on-one time, being together in person! In order for the relationship to grow and mature, to sustained for the long haul, you really need that time together. When was the last time you did that - set aside time just to spend with God, with nothing else going on? When was the last time you let God fill you up to overflowing, instead of settling for a drip here and a drop there?
God longs to spend that kind of time with each of us. And I'm not talking about hours everyday, but I am talking about taking some time every day; focused time, time that is just for you and God. Time for God to take your lamp & fill it up – because just like this little lamp my sister gave me – we can't hold too much oil at one time. We need to come to the Giver everyday if we're gonna keep shining! And God has buckets of the stuff, more than we will ever need to keep our lamps lit while we wait for Jesus to come. All we have to do is come to God & ask. I even have a song you can sing... “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burnin'. Keep me burnin' til the break of day!” Make that your prayer today, and let God fill you up.
Amen.
And if you don't know the song, here is a clip of a little boy singing verse 1 + the chorus, which I left out...
Gotta love YouTube!
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