The text of the sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore at Union Congregational United Church of Christ in Somonauk, IL on Sunday, November 6, 2011.
This morning’s Bible reading is from Matthew 25:1-13
Lamps
So some had extra oil for their lamps and others didn’t
And some had to go and get more fuel for their lamps
And then they missed the boat.
Because they didn’t plan ahead?
What about because the others wouldn’t share?
Why is this parable in the Bible?
Jesus taught the disciples. Jesus lived with and among the people. Jesus performed miracles. But now, Jesus was gone.
He died. Many saw him after the resurrection. Many didn’t. And then he was gone. Again. And the people expected him to come back – soon.
Very soon.
Time passed. More time . . . more time. And Jesus didn’t come back.
The people started writing down the stories of Jesus – they had been preserved through the oral tradition of the time. The written stories started to be collected into larger groups of stories. Some of the collections were lost. Others survived. Of the collections that survived and were deemed ultimately to be authentic, (The four gospels) only the book of Matthew contained this parable – the parable of the 10 bridesmaids.
Before I go any further – let me just make a note about the title of the parable. I called it “The Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids.” In other translations it is known as “The Parable of the 10 Virgins.”
Why the difference?
Context.
The Greek word translated as either ‘bridesmaid’ or ‘virgin’ is ‘parthenos.’ It appears another time in Matthew – at the beginning of the chapter – when it is used to refer to Mary – using a quote from Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
A little translation issue there, too. The word translated as ‘virgin’ in Isaiah is the Hebrew word “Almah” and it means “young woman.”
And “Parthenos” also means “young woman”
Depending on the context.
In Isaiah the passage is referring to the King’s wife. – Not a virgin
In today’s parable the passage is referring to bridesmaids – virgins
The quote about Mary – using Isaiah – in the context of Isaiah – means “young woman.”
Today “bridesmaid” is the best translation for the word.
And “bridesmaid” is where we’re headed back.
The writer of Matthew remembered this parable and thought it was important enough to include. Why? Likely because Matthew was written for a Jewish audience – and that audience must have been weary in waiting – because Jesus hadn’t yet returned.
So here’s a parable to encourage the readers to be alert because though Jesus was delayed – nobody knew when he was coming.
The setting of the parable was familiar. In Hebrew custom, weddings went like this:
The families of the bride and the groom agreed that there would be a wedding. The groom would fetch the bride for the ceremony and a celebration that lasted for days. During that celebration the bridesmaids would look good – and they would have a chance to be noticed by possible bridegrooms for themselves. The fewer bridesmaids at the wedding – the better the odds would be for them.
The part of the parable where the 5 bridesmaids with enough oil refusing to share with the ones without enough goes right to that ‘competition.’
In our context it brings up a different question, though, related to what I said right at the beginning of the sermon. “Why didn’t they pool their resources – have two bridesmaids on each lamp? There would have been more than enough light!”
We’ll get back to that. That question is there for us, but it isn’t one of the questions the early church would have asked.
What they would have asked is this: “When is Jesus coming back? How long do we have to wait?”
The answer is in the parable. Who knows? But don’t be caught unprepared.
Keep your lamp trimmed and burning. Let it shine!
Strip away what just doesn’t translate well – competition for the best husband – and who would miss out on getting that – and you have this huge encouragement to let that light shine now while the waiting continues.
How long does the waiting continue? How long? Who knows!? But let it shine!
And let the question that I’ve asked twice today – one that wasn’t part of the context for the early church, be very present.
What about sharing?
We could take the ‘wise bridesmaids’ example and keep everything we’ve got for ourselves – or we could instead decide to pool what we do have to make a difference. What would have happened if the bridesmaids had pooled their resources? Wouldn’t they all have gone on to the celebration?
Oh – let it shine!
How do we balance our abundance with the needs of others? How do we recognize abundance when all we’re feeling is scarcity? How do we count ourselves blessed? We do it by living to make a difference. We’re in the middle of the United Church of Christ’s Mission: 1 campaign – raising food, awareness, and money to help feed the hungry and to confront food-related injustice. We’ve been working with the Mission: 1 campaign for the last several months on our own localized expression of Mission: 1. We’re in the middle of our 2012 stewardship campaign. And two weeks from today (or earlier, if you would like) we’ll be submitting our pledges for financial giving to our church and to our church’s wider mission for the coming year.
And all of those things, Mission: 1 and our 2012 Pledge drive, are important. They make a difference. They help us express a vibrant witness of our love for God and for one another
So let it shine!
And we can count ourselves blessed that we continue to have opportunities grow in spirit, in relationships, and yes– in numbers. We have continuing opportunities to help meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities and in our world. We can count ourselves blessed that we can attend to one another – here, in our community, and in all the world.
Let it shine!
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning. And be ready to shine.
Amen.
Union Congregational, United Church of Christ - Somonauk, IL 