“Are You Ready?”     (Return to Sermon Page)

Nov. 13, 2005

Mt. 25: 1-13                                                                 

          So what’s the point of the stories we’ve heard today? 

They certainly are stories about responsibility, about preparation, using your time, your days wisely.  They are also about keeping your focus on the results you want.

These stories are about making the main thing the main thing. 

You might regret the one set of maidens wouldn’t share their oil with the others.  

After all Jesus said, share everything you have.  But you’d be missing the point. 

The point is God’s time is coming, we never know when, but it’s coming. 

Will you be ready?  Not will you help someone else be ready, but will you be ready?

Let me tell you my story.  It’s not as serious as the other two, but I think it helps us understand the parable.  One of my very best friends at the time set her wedding day for the same day as Big Game day at Cal Berkeley. 

Big Game day is more important to Gregg than almost any other day of the year. 

How could I do both?   I decided to split the day.  In a way, I shared my oil.

I’d go to the wedding—I really couldn’t not go, and leave after the wedding

in order to be with Gregg and his friends for the after the game party. 

In other words I’d skip the reception. 

After the ceremony, I went to congratulate my friend and tell her I was going.

Trust me, your best friend doesn’t care why you weren’t at her wedding reception. 

She’s just hurt that you weren’t.  My friend never forgave me.

The game that day became the most famous game in Cal football history

with the moment called “The Play”.  And I missed it.  Gregg still talks about it.

          And I wasn’t there.

I can’t really participate in remembering the joy of that moment.

          Much as I wanted to I could not be in 2 places at once.

Trying to please everybody, I pleased nobody.  There wasn’t enough oil.

Palestinian wedding practices as outlined in the parable are somewhat different than ours.  The groom would go from his house to the house of the bride’s father and together they would finalize the wedding contract. 

          Then the groom and his entourage would go to the bride’s home. 

There the groom greeted the family, exchanged gifts and had refreshments. 

All of this could take awhile.  You can see why there might be some delay!  Only after all this do the bride and groom return to now his/their home and

the wedding festivities continue.

          The bridesmaids are to welcome the wedding party to the groom’s home.  Everything should be prepared: the feast, the decorations, the tables spread,

the whole house lit up. 

Imagine if it wasn’t.  Imagine if the lamps ran out of oil and the house was dark when the bride and groom and the whole company arrived. 

It would be a disaster!  It would dishonor them both and spoil the party. 

I know some of you feel like the ones with oil were selfish not to share.

It’s a good thing that the 5 wise bridesmaids did not share their oil—

if they had, then nobody would have had enough.

Besides those foolish maids had had time to go get more oil.  They just didn’t do it.

There was time enough for everybody to take a nap as they waited.

The foolish bridesmaids could have used that time to get ready but they didn’t.

Apparently they didn’t think it was important enough to be prepared. 

This is seen as insulting.  Where are they?  So, no one would let them in.

In the monologue Joyce did for us today, we hear another sort of parable. 

A story of secrets, an attempt to cover up, hide away led to a life of self-abuse, failure and wound covered over with alcohol.

The result:  a life-time of unfinished projects;

a life-time of good intentions never completed. 

A lot of love never delivered; instead a lot of hurt brought home.

Can her daughter break the cycle?  It’s a tough thing to do.

If she can’t do it for herself, maybe she can do it for her daughters.

Is there enough oil in your lamp?  Are you keeping the main thing the main thing?

Are you dealing with your unfinished business so that when the time comes you will be ready?

If the bridegroom,

if Christ were to return today, would we be ready to greet him properly with joy? 

Or would there be unfinished business---reconciliation not sought? 

Habits not overcome?  Growth not achieved?  Acts of mercy not performed?  People God has placed on our hearts still un-reached?

The thing is, Christ comes at any time.  You don’t know when it will happen.

Sometimes there are delays.  We live an ‘in the meantime’ life.

Are we ready as a church? 

We’re going to have some very tough decisions to make in the coming months. 

Are we keeping our focus on the main thing? 

Or are we distracted, trying to please everybody and not pleasing anybody?

Or have we lost our focus, and confused what God wants with what we want?

The truth is, Christ comes to us everyday. 

Everyday we have opportunities to give thanks;

everyday we are sent people who need us;

every day there is a window when new life is set before us.

When we aren’t prepared, when we’re worried about everything else except Christ, when we burn ourselves out or don’t attend to our wounds, then we can’t see Christ coming.  We miss those opportunities.  We are not ready.

The truth is God is in charge of this church, it’s past, it’s present and it’s future. 

God wants to work through us, but if we aren’t open to that working

then God will find someone who is.

The question it seems to me is this: what have we been given this time for? 

How are we to use this time to be even better prepared for what God sees coming?

Are we going to use it to refill our lamps, that is, renew our discipleship?

Are we going to use this time to regain our focus, to seek God’s guidance?

Are we going to use this time to seek healing and thus new life?

Christ is coming; let’s be ready!