Preparing for the Banquet
a sermon by Rev. Rebecca Segers
Matthew 25:1-13
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at scripture that was from first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians. I gave you some history on Thessalonika. I told you that it was an important seaport city, even more important than Philippi. I told you that Paul and his buddies had gotten a good ministry going there but had had to leave after three weeks because the locals were uncomfortable with the good news. I told you that without Paul around, the folks in Thessalonika had gotten off the track. They had decided that Jesus was coming back right now and that what that meant for them was party time.
We’ve now gotten to a later part of this same letter from Paul to the Thessalonians and he’s addressing another concern the people have regarding Jesus’ return. It’s been a while since Jesus’ death and resurrection, you see. About twenty years to be exact. And the people are worried because they thought when Jesus came back they would all be taken to heaven with him. So what’s the problem? In the ensuing twenty years, some of their members have died. They won’t be there waiting with the rest of them when Jesus comes back. They are dead and buried. The Thessalonians want to know what’s going to happen to the people who die before Jesus comes back. Will they get to go to heaven, too? Or are they going to be skipped over because they’ve already gone on?
Paul tells them, essentially: “No, don’t worry. The dead in Christ will rise first and those of us who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds and meet the Lord together.” He then ends this little section telling them to “encourage each other with these words.”
They are encouraging words, especially considering that not only are the people of Paul’s time dead and gone, but it’s been almost 2000 years since Jesus was alive. That leaves an awful lot of people in the grave, doesn’t it? The question then becomes: “How do you know if you’re one of the dead “in Christ”? In other words, how do you know if you’re chosen?”
This is a really rough one for us. If you’re like me, you don’t want to believe that anyone is excluded. That God loves and wants everyone and that ultimately, everyone will be with God. How do we reconcile this desire with the stories Jesus tells about those who get in and those who are left out? Well, I leave it to the mystery of God. That there are some things I cannot know or understand, but I do believe that God is all-loving and all-encompassing and that God can work out things beyond my own puny human capabilities. Meanwhile, it is our responsibility to live up to God’s call to us as Christians and to do the work that we are set on earth to do.
That said, let’s look in more detail at the parable that Jesus set before the people of his time and that the lectionary set before us today. This is the story of the ten bridesmaids waiting for the groom – the word in Greek is actually parthenois, which means virgins – so these ten virgins are waiting for the groom to arrive. Half of them are ready with lamps trimmed with oil in case the bridegroom comes at night, the other half are only partially prepared with lamps, but no oil.
We don’t know enough about wedding customs in first century Israel to be sure, but this story seems “off” in several ways. First of all, in the story, we’ve got a bunch of bridesmaids, but where’s the bride? Then there’s the fact that the bridesmaids are waiting around for the groom, but why? Was it customary for virgin bridesmaids to usher a single male to the wedding? That seems a little odd given the times and the separation of men and women in community. I would have imagined that would have been the groomsmens’ job. Especially given the time structure. They arrive in the day, but all fall asleep while waiting and he ends up coming in the middle of the night. Would it have been appropriate for these virgins to be waiting around for an unmarried man after dark? Then there’s the issue of being sent off to buy the oil at midnight. Doesn’t it seem a little weird that the foolish bridesmaids go off without a peep? I mean, it’s hard to find a hardware store open in midtown Manhattan at midnight, but in ancient Israel?
One of the customary allegories for the Israeli people, however, was the image of God or Yahweh as bridegroom and Israel as bride, so it certainly wouldn’t have been a stretch of the imagination for that same imagery to move into the early Christian consciousness with Jesus as groom and the early church as bride – or in this case, bridesmaid. Maybe that is why Matthew made the characters bridesmaids instead of the bride – it was a way of showing characters that appear the same, but instead have this one difference that ultimately becomes important. In short, the whole situation not only seems to be but is rather contrived because it was probably written for Matthew’s more foundational purposes of illustrating the theme of being ready for the coming of the Lord – something Paul is also concerned about in his writing to the Thessalonians.
This focal point of being ready, of being prepared for the wedding banquet is one that is still meaningful to us today. When I look at all the events that are going on right now at Sweet Hollow, I am so aware of how preparedness plays into it all. The Stewardship Team has been hard at work with the help of many of you in order to make this Stewardship Drive one that is exciting and motivating and challenging. Bringing us all along on the individual journeys of faith that we are walking together so that we all might be willing to stretch ourselves spiritually, emotionally, physically and financially is the ultimate end result that we desire, of course. But in the meanwhile, we’ve had to plan the theme of the Steam Train rolling down the track, building momentum and traveling toward the goal. This has involved the making and displaying of the beautiful train and its cars that you see around the Sanctuary that acknowledges each and every one of us and our individual importance while also recognizing that we are connected and that what leads and guides us is not ourselves but something greater. It has also meant planning and organizing the “State of the Church” breakfast that I hope you will all attend next Sunday after worship in order to hear more about where we are as a community and where we hope to go in the future. On top of that, the Stewardship Team has put together a wonderful Chinese and Silent Auction that will be featured after worship during coffee hour today and then the end of bidding and the drawings will be tonight during the Harvest Dinner – which I hope you will also join us in enjoying. If you would like to come and haven’t let Bill Walter know, please inform him after the service today, so that we can be prepared. It promises to be a fantastic evening with food, fellowship and fun for all.
This has probably all sounded like one big commercial for what’s going on with the Stewardship Campaign and on the one hand, that is true. On the other, it is very pertinent in relationship to our scripture today. For imagine a Stewardship Drive or any other event held here or anywhere else for that matter, which has not been properly prepared for. Imagine that no one made the train and cars that decorate the Sanctuary or that we had the materials here, but they weren’t finished. Imagine a Harvest Dinner with no food or entertainment or a “State of the Church” breakfast with no information. I’m sure every one of us has gone to something sometime or other that has not been properly organized and prepared for – a PTA function, say, or a fundraising dinner. Were you impressed? Did you want to attend again? Did you complain vociferously? Or did you silently make up your mind to strike that one off your calendar the next time?
What about the things that we prepare for in our lives? The backyard garden we design? Or the vacation planning that we do? Or the kids’ schedules? Or preparations for retirement? What about estate planning? The fact of the matter is, we spend an awful lot of our lives in preparation and how well or how poorly we manage that preparation directly affects the end result.
The point of Jesus’ narrative in the Parable of the Ten Virgins is preparation of a totally different – and higher – order. Jesus opens by telling us that: “this is what the kingdom of heaven is like”. And then he proceeds to tell us of the five wise and the five foolish bridesmaids. The ultimate question answered by this parable is: “what does it mean to prepare for the coming of God’s kingdom”? In the story, it is about being ready in the moment. About being prepared no matter what time of day or night, no matter when the kingdom might come. The foolish virgins’ ridiculous attempt to buy oil after the bridegroom’s return, while historically inaccurate given the lack of shops open at midnight and so on, would have definitely shown the futility of trying to prepare when it is already too late.
So what does this mean for us today? Let’s delve a little deeper into the story and its characters, the ten bridesmaids. We would not be able to tell them apart at a glance. They are all present; they are all decked out in their bridal garb; they all have the requisite lamps ready for lighting. We would not guess from looking at them that some are wise and others are foolish – it is only because Jesus tells us that five are wise and five are foolish that we know. It is not until later in the story that we see why this judgment has been made.
In the same way, in the walk of faith, you can’t really tell the followers of Jesus apart. They all have lamps; they are all dressed up; they are all excited about the wedding; they all are coming to church and praying and singing. But it is in their capacity to continue to stretch and grow and learn in Christ that we see their willingness to truly be a part of God’s kingdom.
Readiness, according to Matthew, is about living the life of the kingdom, the quality of life to which Jesus would call us, all the time. Not just when we feel like it. Not just when it is expedient. Not just when we wake up on the right side of the bed and everything is going our way. All of us can handle the requirement of being ready some of the time – we all have good days – but it is the test of time that truly sets us apart.
It is as we travel through life and respond to a wide variety of calls during different times in our lives that we know where we are faithful and where we fall short. And sometimes preparation is simply a matter of choosing a course and following through. Of making a commitment and being accountable to it. For in the end, the Bible tells us, what you give comes back to you tenfold. Whether it is time or energy or talent or finances, when you step out in faith, the gifts that you give will only come back to you magnified.
Brock Kidd tells the story of his first real job. He was thirteen years old and a man named Brown McMillan, a local contractor and family friend, hired him to be gofer on site. He didn’t accept the job offer because he liked working, but because he liked the idea of being paid.
Before he knew it, he was up at dawn and catching a ride to the rural jobsite Mr. McMillan was working on. He hauled load after load of heavy mortar in wheelbarrows, carried big boxes of nails up ladders, ran back and forth retrieving and furnishing tools to other workers. According to Brock, by the end of the day, he was the “dirtiest, smelliest, most worn-down kid you ever saw”.
At the end of the day Friday, Mr. McMillan drove Brock up to the country store to meet his mom. When he got out of the truck, he was handed a crisp one hundred dollar bill. It was the most money he had ever owned himself and in that form, it seemed like a million! He showed it to his mom and she exclaimed, “Wow, Brock! Just think, on Sunday you can tithe big time!”
Now, folks, tithing is an old biblical term that is first mentioned in the Old Testament. It refers to the Mosaic law first recorded in Leviticus and repeated numerous times in that book and Deuteronomy. The dedication of a tenth of the produce of the earth or the sheep of the fields and so on was recognized as a duty even before Moses’ time. The idea was that all that we have is a gift from God and therefore, one-tenth of it should be returned to God in gratitude for God’s grace to us. As a matter of fact, the etymological roots of the word tithe are that it actually was the original word for “ten” in Old English. So reminders abound that what we are to give to God is one-tenth of what we own. In medieval times when people had multiple children, the tradition was even to give your tenth child to the church as a young teen to become a nun, priest or monk! Today, we shy away from the enormity of returning a tenth to the Lord. It’s not what we’re taught. It’s not what we do. On Long Island, the average giver in the church gives less than 2% of his or her net income to the church. But Brock McMillan’s mother was from the old school.
“Wow, Brock! Just think, on Sunday you can tithe big time!” she exclaimed and Brock gulped. In the few short moments he had held onto that one hundred dollar bill, he’d become awfully attached to it. He thought of all the things he could buy and then he thought about all the things God had given him: his parents, his friends, even people like Mr. McMillan. He remembered his grandmother Bebee telling him, “Brock, you can never outgive the Lord.”
The next morning, his mom drove him down to the bank to break his one hundred dollar bill and that Sunday morning he put ten dollars in the offering plate. And now, Brock says, he thinks his grandmother’s wisdom rings true whenever he considers tithing – not only money, but in whatever he dares to offer. For when he remembers how good God has been to him, he knows that he cannot even think of holding out on God.
As we think about our preparations for God’s banquet, for the kingdom of heaven, are we holding up our gifts or holding out on God? In what ways are we fulfilling the call that we’ve been given and in what ways are we not? As stewards of God’s gifts to us, are we stepping up to the plate financially? Are we spending our time in faithful service? Are we using our talents to God’s greater glory? Which do you find easier to give? Money? Time? Talent? In which area do you need to be stretched? Are you willing to step out in faith this Stewardship season and enlarge the boundaries within which you’ve previously worked?
On Pledge Sunday, two weeks from now, November 20th, we are going to place our commitments – of time, of talent, of money – in an envelope and we are going to put it in our freight car going around the track. We are going to commit to our filling our car with gifts as we are able, realizing that as we give to God, God will always give back to us in greater and more meaningful ways. As we travel this Stewardship season, I want you each to look inside your hearts, to have your talk with God and to consider what it is that God is asking you to do, to give, to be in this next step in your faith journey. Faithfully, prayerfully, with open hearts and open minds, I ask you to think about what you are to do, where you are to go, who you are to be on the road to becoming in God’s plan for you. Once you have had this conversation with God and have heard God’s call to you, I ask you to respond to it as your heart demands. I ask you to respond with generosity and gratitude for all that God has given you. I ask you to respond to it with the preparedness of the ten wise bridesmaids ready for the coming of the Lord. Mostly, I ask you to respond to it with happiness! With delight! With joy! For you have been invited to the banquet! How will you prepare to attend?