Sermon110908

Sermon 110908 for First Congregational UCC, Great Bend, Kansas. Pentecost A 27
Amos 5:18-24, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Matthew 25: 1-13


I have good news for you. I have a scripture lesson that is absolutely positive. There is nothing threatening about it; in fact it is actually full of hope and promise and joy. Isn’t that good news for a change? And isn’t Good News what the Gospel experience is really supposed to be all about?
We are about to finish the lessons of the long church season of Pentecost, and the teachings of the Gospel of St. Matthew. There are only two weeks to go after today. Some of the lessons we have heard have been scary, some upsetting, and some have put before us a seemingly impossible barrier to any chance we sinners might have of salvation, or of a life with God, or a heavenly outcome to the end of our life here on Earth. But today you have it from the scriptures themselves that the goodness and mercy of God is waiting for all of us, and it is ours just for being ready, and responding to the call of God with eager and alert faith.
The Story today says so. But it uses a very peculiar metaphor to say it. It is the Story of the Virgins and their lamps, and having oil to keep them lited... I know, It may seem obscure, and there doesn’t seem to be much hope in all that; nor does there seem to be much joy; but when you understand what is going on I think you will see that those things are implicit, and come forward in this lesson.
The story is about a wedding, and the people waiting for the Groom to arrive at his home with his new bride. Weddings were absolutely special in the culture of the Hebrews. Of course, they are special in our cultures today, also. They were so important then, that even the religious laws were suspended; and this was a people who lived by those laws. Scribes were even freed from the obligation of daily study and prayer at the temple. The laws were transcended on the day of a wedding, the prohibitions were all lifted, and the order of the day was a long celebration of eating and drinking, and dancing, and partying, and celebrating; and gemủtlichheit was the order for everyone (gemủtlichheit is a German word that is really untranslatable. It kind of means a time of good feelings and joy.)
Have any of you ever been to a wedding like that or a party like that? I have. In fact I have been to a lot of weddings that embodies that same spirit. When I was a kid back in Buffalo, New York, I lived near a very large Polish section of town, and Polish weddings were really grand affairs. On most Saturdays I could go to St. Stanislaus Church at Broadway and Wohlers Avenues and be sure there was going to be a wedding dance, a party, a celebration. No one checked to see if you had an invitation, everyone was welcome; and I could go in and dance, and eat and really have a good time. And it was free. I went to a loft of Polish weddings.
But in small town Palestine the party, the reception, didn’t start until the Groom brought his new wife to what would be her new home, in his town, and his house. Then it was that the entire community, men, women, boys, girls, everyone came out of their houses and joined in the festivities. The custom was that ten young girls would be waiting with ten lamps to escort them into the courtyard of the groom’s house. It was a tradition. All ten had their lamps lighted and their wicks trimmed and they were ready to light up the party. That was a special thing, and all the girls wanted to carry their lighted lamps into the welcoming party.
Trouble was no one knew exactly when the arrival would be. It depended on the distance the Groom had to go to get his new bride, who would be at her father’s house. It depended on the time that would pass as she said her goodbyes to her family, and they were finally allowed to leave. Sometimes it happened quickly and sometimes it took a long time, and it might be the middle of the night when they finally arrived and the celebration could begin. All the maidens had to be ready with their lamps, because they were an important symbol, and they also wanted to parade into the party. But the waiting was long, and the oil in their lamps diminished.
But the arrival was worth waiting for. It was a joyous time because it meant a new family and the possibility of new life to the community. It meant that there was hope their culture would survive, and grow into another generation, and that was very important, for the Jews had many adversaries and were outnumbered in their land. Marriage and births were important because it would keep their family lines alive.
Everyone and all of the young women of the village wanted to be awake when the coming happened, so they would be let in to the party. Everyone wanted to see the new bride in all her finery and they wanted to see the groom dressed in his best wedding clothes. It seems to me that is still important to the girls of today, regardless of their age. They wanted to welcome this new sister into their community, because in those communities, just as in this, Women and girls took care of each other. They formed the network that helped one another to grow and survive; and it was important to welcome this new bride into that network. So, at the arrival, the people would gather at the grooms house, and they would eat and drink and dance and let joy rise up in their whole society, and no one wanted to miss what was going be that big party, that grand welcoming celebration.
Have you ever been to a party like that? Have you ever felt that happy at a wedding?
But, in this instance, in this story, some of the maidens did not plan ahead. They did not fore see that the wait would be long and the oil in their lamps might not be sufficient. Understand that when the Groom came and opened his house all brought in their lighted lamps; and then the gates were closed; and the party would begin inside the walls. If your lamp had no oil and you were forced to run to buy more, by the time you got back there was no way you could get in. you could knock until your knuckles were sore, but no one inside would hear you because of the loud and lively merriment. You were too late, and there was nothing you could do but go home. The celebration would go on without you, and that was all because of the lack of fore thought.
Of course all of this is pure allegory. What is being described here in story form, is the idea of heaven, and the good news of a life with God in that kingdom, where it is like the best party you have ever attended. Where everyone is there, and the food is excellent, the wine is sweet, the dancing is lively, and the joy is complete. Don’t you want to go to a party like that? I do.
We don’t even have to have an engraved invitation. That isn’t necessary because everyone is welcome, and the Groom, Jesus, wants everyone in the community who has faith in god to be there. This is one party where there are no exclusions; everyone is good enough, made so by their relationship to the Groom, for He is everyone’s brother. That’s good news.
It is the party celebrating the prodigal’s return. It is the wedding party at Canaan, where the wine is excellent and never runs out. It is the party of the supper with the Lord; it is that meal you dream of when you are more than hungry. It is what your soul thirsts for in the best of times, the Thanksgiving you remember with your parents. It is heaven…. And it is yours to have.
Of course there is the matter of the oil and the lamps. That is the allegory for the ready faith, the continuing faith that you have to maintain. There is no requirement for observance of the law. There is no demand for religious obligation. There is no prerequisite that you attend church without fail, there is only the constraint that you have a belief, and faith in that belief, that Jesus Christ sacrifice on the cross was done for you; you personally and you individually. For, we are not called to be righteous, but we are called to be faithful as ready witnesses to the love of God in Christ. With that ready faith, we will be welcomed at the party, heaven will be ours.
But it is not a gift to us without any response on our part. Each of us must receive the free gift and make it suitable in our own lives. As an example, we can not receive the forgiveness of Christ, that free gift, without our willingness to forgive our neighbors. We have to respond some how to what God is offering us freely, by freely offering ourselves to his way of living within the communities in which we are set. We have to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, in the knowledge and response to the love that is offered to us so abundantly, and so freely; and that is the oil which becomes the light of our life. The light we will take in with us to brighten the party we have been invited to attend. That faith in God and Christ that causes us to live out his love for all mankind is the oil of response we must keep always with us. That is the ready faith, the eager faith that we must have with us at all times. For we never know when the Groom will come.
Each of us individually has to make our response to the steady invitation to the party. Each of us must discover how we are to act out our faith in God and Christ. Each of us must trim the light of Christ in our lives everyday; we must fuel it with acts of love and acceptance of others. And while we are waiting we need to use that light to seek out, in the dark corners of our communities, those whom Christ would have us to serve; for we should not waist the faith, the light.
The party is ongoing, and the party will begin anew, and the party will be wonderful, joyous, and continuous for us when we who prepare and live in Faith, acceptance and response to the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord are at the gate with our lamps well lighted.
Accept the hope; accept the promise; and accept the joy. Respond in full Faith and ready faith in action, and make yourself ready for the party.
Amen.