"Running on Empty?"
Matthew 25:1-13
November 9, 2008
St. Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John A. Fleming
I have married dozens of times. Let me qualify that. I have married once, but I have officiated at dozens of wedding ceremonies. All except one and almost two, have all started on time, at the scheduled hour, so I don't really understand the song that Eliza's father sings to his friends in the Broadway musical My Fair Lady, Get Me to the Church on Time. For the most part, getting to the church on time is not a problem for wedding parties. Usually they are here hours if not days before their wedding day. The bride and her maids come in wearing jeans and t-shirts. They head to the church's parlor. Now I don't know what happens in there. I am not allowed in there. There is a lot of secretive stuff that happens in there, but I do know that the room often looks like a storm has blown through it. I also know this, when the bride and her maids emerge from the room, they are stunning! Wow!
The only exception to the bridal party not being there early was the time that the bride and groom showed up, literally, minutes before the ceremony was to begin. I was beginning to think they weren't coming. When they did show up, they came in jeans. She came in curlers. There was no way the two would be ready when the wedding bells rang. What's worse, it didn't seem to bother them. It bothered me. It stressed me out. I wanted to walk into the Sanctuary, liven up my microphone, and say, "The bride and groom just got here. She wasn't wearing her wedding dress. It's not my fault, but you might have to sit here for a while!" I'm not sure about this, but they may have broken out in singing, Get Me to the Church on Time.
Our scripture lesson for this morning is a parable that Jesus tells about a wedding party that was running a little late. The story comes near the end of Matthew's gospel. Jesus' death and resurrection are right around the corner. You can see the cross from this passage. Matthew's gospel was the third one written, probably around 50 ad. Matthew told his story of the life and ministry of Jesus, but he also had to answer the question those in his day were asking. It was this question, "Where is He? Jesus said he would be right back, so where is He?" All of Paul's letters are written with the idea that Jesus would be right back, but he hadn't come right back. Matthew penned his gospel with the where is He question ever before him. He wrote it to people who were frightened and to ones who were tired of waiting. And he wrote it to people who were wondering if the delay were part of some great plan. Flip back a chapter and you will see that Jesus says the kingdom will come like a thief in the night. And then to those who were anxiously waiting, he tells the story of a wedding party that was delayed. Let's look at the story.
In the days of Jesus, weddings were not a two day deal with a rehearsal included. They were week long parties that often began at night and the actual time of the wedding was kept a secret. It was a game of sorts intended to build anticipation and excitement and everyone was ready because it could happen at any time. The runner for the groom could rush in at any minute and cry out at the top of his lungs, "The bridegroom cometh! The bridegroom cometh!" The bridesmaids were to wait with the bride and when the call came, they were to get moving. When the call came, the maids would make sure their lamps were burning and then they would escort the bride into the celebration.
In this wedding there was a problem. There is almost always a problem at weddings. When Susie and I married, her maids were carrying long stemmed lilies. If I showed you our wedding video, you would see a frantic look on Susie's maid of honor's face. She dropped my wedding band and could not find it. Luckily my best man saw the ring on the wedding dress train and saved the day. Almost always a little something goes wrong with weddings.
In the case of the wedding from our lesson, most likely what went wrong were the final negotiations between the families concerning the wedding. My guess is that the father of the bride and the father of the groom were holding out for something. When a consensus was reached, the runner ran and let everyone know that the wedding was about to happen.
The problem here is that the delay was so long that the maids had fallen asleep. The clock had struck midnight. The oil in their lamps was nearly gone.
I want you to see this. Jesus says there were ten maids, five were wise and five were foolish. Jesus did not say that five were good and five were bad. The truth is that all ten were the same. They all were looking for the bridegroom. They all carried the same lamps. They all wore the same dresses. They all fell asleep. The only difference between the five wise ones and the five foolish ones comes when the bride groom is delayed. Ten were ready for the groom, but five were ready for his delay. Five had an extra flask of oil with them, enough for them but not enough for someone else. They were the wise ones.
So when the call came that the bridegroom would soon be there, five had to head out to wherever it is that you bought oil that time of night, Wal-Mart, I guess. Unfortunately the story turns tragic and sad. While the five are shopping, the bridegroom comes and is escorted into the celebration. When the other five return, they knock heartily on the door. They cry out, "Lord, lord, open to us." The groom looks out and says, "Truly I tell you, I do not know you." That line is supposed to send you back to the one in Matthew's chapter that says, "Not everyone who says "Lord, lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father." To put an exclamation point on this story, Matthew writes, "Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." Matthew shouldn't have said keep awake. He should have said, "Be prepared."
Now what are we supposed to do with these words this morning? I know preachers who will hone in on the five foolish maids who weren't ready when the groom came. I think they're missing the mark. Commentators tell us that this story should be interpreted allegorically, that is, one thing stands for another. The bridegroom is supposed to be Jesus. The wedding banquet is the end of time, the one we talk about on Communion Sundays. But what about the oil, what is the oil supposed to be? That's where I would like to land in the time we have left in our sermon.
To tell you the truth, I don't know what the oil is, but I do have to wonder what you do when there is not enough. I understand that at Columbia Seminary, they give a lecture about the spiritual life of the preacher and Christians. I understand that during one of those lectures a professor brought an oil lamp, the old timey kind with a real wick and real oil, the kind my grandfather had, and used it as a visual aid. The teacher lit the wick and talked about Christians. He said that Christians are to be the light of the world. The class watched as the small amount of oil in the lamp burned out. Then the professor asked, "What happens when the oil runs out?" The obvious answer is that there is no light to give. The professor asked, "What fills you up when you're spiritually dry? Why replenishes your soul? Where do you find God so that God can light your way?"
Beloved, do you know what it is like to run out of oil or run out of steam or run out of energy? You probably do. Maybe it happens like this. It is 5:30 p.m. and your child walks into the kitchen and asks, "What's for dinner." You answer, "Meatloaf" and she says, "Again?" And you suddenly become Godzilla. You rant and rave and throw the pans in the sin and when you are finished with that, your daughter calmly asks, "Did you run out of oil?"
It is fairly simple. When the arrow on the gas gauge points to empty, you are about to run out of gas; wouldn't it be nice to have a spiritual gauge? If the two year old doesn't get a nap, she's going to crash. When you haven't had a conversation with your spouse in weeks, your marriage is going to be dry. If you have worked eighty hour weeks for as long as you can remember, you're going to be empty.
Now let me tell you this. There are some oils you can borrow from others and there is oil that you cannot. Borrowing someone's peace of mind is not a possibility and neither is borrowing someone's passion for God. You cannot go up to your friend and say, "Your marriage is great, can you give me a little of that?" It doesn't work that way. You have to figure out what fills you up spiritually and then make sure that you carry that around with you.
Here is the thing. You will run out of oil. Time will run out. The hour will get late. Everyone gets sleepy. We all say, "One of these days I'm going to quit working so hard. One of these days I'm going to spend more time with my kids. One of these days I'm going to take up piano lessons." We all say, "One of these days…" We all doze off. We all put something off. Then the shout goes out, "He's coming." It's time and one of those days suddenly is today and we don't have any oil. Where's the oil?
I think that's one of the hardest things about this parable is that the time will come when you will have to draw on the oil you have and it won't come from your intentions or your long rang plans. It will come from what fuels you spiritually. Can I ask you, church, what fills you up? Perhaps it is things like joy and peace and patience and kindness and generosity and gentleness. Gather those things up and put them inside of you.
Well, it is getting late. Let me say this to you. I think the preachers who use this story to scare us straight are missing the point. You don't fill your lamp because you're afraid you're going to be locked out. No, you fill your lamp and take extra oil with you because you can't wait to meet the bridegroom. And one day he will come and I want to be ready and I want to be full and I want these things for you. Let us pray.
(Special thanks to Karen Branton who helps coordinate the weddings I refer to in the opening parts of the sermon. Special thanks to Rev. Mark Trotter and Rev. Thomas Long for ideas in this sermon. And special thanks to the preacher who helped me understand the importance of oil).