does our light still shine?
a sermon preached at
san leandro community church
on november 6, 2011
by tammy nelson
based on matthew 25:1-13
I hate waiting! And I’m sure I’m not the only one here who can say that. It’s hard! In this day and age of instant gratification where your favorite TV shows are only an On Demand button away, Tweets about the revolutions in the middle east let us know instantly the status of situations half a world away (sometimes with pictures!), fast food, instant coffee (yes I know some of you don’t believe that’s real), drive thru pharmacies, and the ability to deposit a check to your bank account via your smart phone, why should we have to wait!
But have you ever noticed that it is in those moments of waiting that we find a deeper connection to God, ourselves and those around us? Mothers have 9 months to plan and dream and bond with that new life that is about to come into the world. When someone you love is gone for a time, the wait is hard, but the reunion is that much sweeter, your connection feels deeper and you just feel that much better in their presence.
But what do we do when the wait is open ended? We don’t know if what we are waiting for will happen in two hours, two weeks, two years or maybe even in our lifetime??? Our ancestors knew a thing or two about waiting. Slaves yearned for freedom, for the ability to build and keep their families, for the work of their hands to benefit themselves, their children and their grandchildren.
But even after slaves become free men and women, their wait was not yet over. They were treated as second (or third or fourth) class citizens and relegated to separate but equal establishments. (And you know that separate was not ever really equal) There were different drinking fountains, different bathrooms (even in homes the maid would often not be allowed to use the white people’s bathrooms for fear of diseases they might carry), different schools, different churches and the back of busses.
And still today in our age of political correctness, equality and freedom, racism is still a problem. But the Harriet Tubmans, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.s of the world continue to wait with hope, expectation, and the ability to act when the time is right.
Then of course we have women and our whole quest to be treated as human beings every bit as competent and skilled as the men in our midst, and the quest for equality for the LGBT community, and awareness and equality for those who are differently abled among us. As you may have noticed, there are people in this world who know a thing or two about waiting.
So what, you may ask, does all that have to do with our scripture for today? I’m so glad you asked! You see, early adopters, I mean the early followers of Jesus fully expected his triumphant return as their Messiah, what many of us know as the Second Coming, very soon in their lifetime. So as time went on and no return, they became disheartened. They were persecuted and expelled from their lands as disrupters of the peace. And it was during this time that the book of Matthew was written.
Our parable for today is actually part of a much larger teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples in answer to their question about the coming of the kingdom of heaven. All of the teachings in this section concern the uncertain timing regarding the arrival of the kingdom. They all impress on the hearer the need for readiness at all times, and the importance of doing as instructed before their master/king/bridegroom left. For instance, in today’s parable the ten young women were given the important task of lighting the way for the bridegroom’s party when he finally arrived.
There is no reason given for the groom’s delay, but it was not uncommon for the ceremonies of the day to run very late into the night. The bridesmaids were there to light the way for the party as they headed back to the grooms home once he collected his bride. They had a task, to light the way. Five of them were prepared for the wait and had fuel for their fires to sustain them when the time to act arrived. Five of the women didn’t expect the wait to be so long and did not bring fuel enough to get them through their period of waiting, so when the time to act came, their flame went out and they missed out on the celebration.
They were called to light the way. So are we. Now, we don’t use oil and the darkness isn’t physical (well not always), but that doesn’t make it any less real. We live in a world of suffering, war, disasters, greed, and disregard for those who are “not like us.” That sounds pretty dark to me. But the darkness doesn’t need to overwhelm us. That is the good news of the Gospel. If we follow the instructions left to us by Jesus, then our lights will not go out due to lack of fuel. What is our fuel, you ask? It is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself. When we are solely focused on love, we can light up the darkness.
Ghandi, King, Parks, Anthony, Robinson: all these people were fueled and ready when the time came to step up and act. Love was their fuel. Love is our fuel. The wait may be long, but with love as our theme, we will continue to light up the dark, ignite the hearts of others, and have all the fuel we need.
So, is your light still shining? Do you have the fuel you need? If not, now is a good time to refuel. Will you pray with me?
But have you ever noticed that it is in those moments of waiting that we find a deeper connection to God, ourselves and those around us? Mothers have 9 months to plan and dream and bond with that new life that is about to come into the world. When someone you love is gone for a time, the wait is hard, but the reunion is that much sweeter, your connection feels deeper and you just feel that much better in their presence.
But what do we do when the wait is open ended? We don’t know if what we are waiting for will happen in two hours, two weeks, two years or maybe even in our lifetime??? Our ancestors knew a thing or two about waiting. Slaves yearned for freedom, for the ability to build and keep their families, for the work of their hands to benefit themselves, their children and their grandchildren.
But even after slaves become free men and women, their wait was not yet over. They were treated as second (or third or fourth) class citizens and relegated to separate but equal establishments. (And you know that separate was not ever really equal) There were different drinking fountains, different bathrooms (even in homes the maid would often not be allowed to use the white people’s bathrooms for fear of diseases they might carry), different schools, different churches and the back of busses.
And still today in our age of political correctness, equality and freedom, racism is still a problem. But the Harriet Tubmans, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.s of the world continue to wait with hope, expectation, and the ability to act when the time is right.
Then of course we have women and our whole quest to be treated as human beings every bit as competent and skilled as the men in our midst, and the quest for equality for the LGBT community, and awareness and equality for those who are differently abled among us. As you may have noticed, there are people in this world who know a thing or two about waiting.
So what, you may ask, does all that have to do with our scripture for today? I’m so glad you asked! You see, early adopters, I mean the early followers of Jesus fully expected his triumphant return as their Messiah, what many of us know as the Second Coming, very soon in their lifetime. So as time went on and no return, they became disheartened. They were persecuted and expelled from their lands as disrupters of the peace. And it was during this time that the book of Matthew was written.
Our parable for today is actually part of a much larger teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples in answer to their question about the coming of the kingdom of heaven. All of the teachings in this section concern the uncertain timing regarding the arrival of the kingdom. They all impress on the hearer the need for readiness at all times, and the importance of doing as instructed before their master/king/bridegroom left. For instance, in today’s parable the ten young women were given the important task of lighting the way for the bridegroom’s party when he finally arrived.
There is no reason given for the groom’s delay, but it was not uncommon for the ceremonies of the day to run very late into the night. The bridesmaids were there to light the way for the party as they headed back to the grooms home once he collected his bride. They had a task, to light the way. Five of them were prepared for the wait and had fuel for their fires to sustain them when the time to act arrived. Five of the women didn’t expect the wait to be so long and did not bring fuel enough to get them through their period of waiting, so when the time to act came, their flame went out and they missed out on the celebration.
They were called to light the way. So are we. Now, we don’t use oil and the darkness isn’t physical (well not always), but that doesn’t make it any less real. We live in a world of suffering, war, disasters, greed, and disregard for those who are “not like us.” That sounds pretty dark to me. But the darkness doesn’t need to overwhelm us. That is the good news of the Gospel. If we follow the instructions left to us by Jesus, then our lights will not go out due to lack of fuel. What is our fuel, you ask? It is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself. When we are solely focused on love, we can light up the darkness.
Ghandi, King, Parks, Anthony, Robinson: all these people were fueled and ready when the time came to step up and act. Love was their fuel. Love is our fuel. The wait may be long, but with love as our theme, we will continue to light up the dark, ignite the hearts of others, and have all the fuel we need.
So, is your light still shining? Do you have the fuel you need? If not, now is a good time to refuel. Will you pray with me?