Living in the End Times: Bridesmaids
Get your oil for the long haul
Matthew 25:1-13
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. November 8th, 2020
We are living in the end times. Now maybe when I say that you imagine me as some crazed preacher on the street corner like in the movies. Or maybe you imagine me as one of those bible prophecy preachers on the TV. Or maybe your mind goes to the various potential apocalypses we hear about on the news: climate change, environmental disaster, plague, social collapse. But we Christians have always thought we were living in the end times. We’ve been living in the end times since Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of the end, and we will all join him in his life on that final day that has no end. In the mean time, in these end times, we are called to live admit the wars and rumors of wars, the earthquakes, famines, and droughts, faithfully.
In Matthew 25 Jesus tells three parables. He tells the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, the parable of the Talents, and the Parable of the sheep and the goats. All three parables concern what it means to live faithfully in the end times. What does discipleship look like in this interim between Jesus’ resurrection and the resurrection of the dead? Today we heard the first of three parables, the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. Here Jesus counsels us to stay alert, and be ready for the long haul, because we do not know the day or the hour of his return.
Jesus tells us there are ten bridesmaids. Five of them are wise, five of them are foolish. There’s not much to distinguish both groups of bridesmaids. They are all dressed waiting for the festivities to begin. They all bear lamps. Their lamps were likely sticks covered in oily rags. They all wait for the groom to arrive and escort his bride to be to his home. They all grow drowsy as the groom is late in arriving. Very late in arriving it seems. And they all fall asleep. But the wise are prepared for the night to be long, and are prepared for the groom’s delay. They got extra oil for their lamps. The foolish virgins did not prepare for the long haul, and they did not pack extra oil.
So when the cry comes “Look! The groom! Come out to meet him!” The bridesmaids all stand at attention. They prepare their lamps for the coming of the groom so they might light his way as he escorts his bride to be to the celebration. But the five foolish bridesmaids do not have any oil left for their lamps. “Give us some of your oil,” they say to the wise ones, “because our lamps have gone out.”
But the wise bridesmaids did not pack enough oil for themselves and the foolish ones. If they give the foolish bridesmaids some of their oil, there will not be enough for themselves to make the trip. So they tell the foolish bridesmaids to go and buy some more oil for themselves. But while the foolish ones leave to buy oil late at night, probably waking up some groggy oil seller, the groom arrives and leaves with his bride to be.
The foolish bridesmaids rush to the wedding, surely embarrassed by their lack of preparation. I’m sure we’ve all been to a wedding where something didn’t go right. In this case, failing to be there when the groom arrived was unforgivable. They come to the door and yell, “Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!” But the groom replies, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.”
The Groom is Christ, the Bride is his Church. We are the bridesmaids, and we live in the night. We all await the coming of the Groom, who pledged himself to his Church. But he does not come immediately. He is patient, and gives many time to repent. So seeing as he is patient, seeing as we do not know the day or the hour, we need to be prepared for the long haul. We need to have oil for our lamps.
All the bridesmaids had the lamp of faith. All of them called the groom Lord. But only the wise ones kept oil for the long haul. And that is Jesus’ message for us today. The wise disciple keeps oil for the long haul.
What is that oil for the long haul? If the lamp is our faithfulness, the oil is what keeps that lamp burning bright. It’s not enough to have that one mountain top experience, that one great conversion experience, if you do not make use of the oil God provides to keep that lamp burning. When I’d go to Bible camp Friday was always the day that things were brought to a spiritual fervor. That is when we were given an opportunity to renew our faith, or to commit our lives to Christ for the first time. I’m sure many of here have had that experience, or a similar experience. And people would say, “I wish I could carry this through the rest of my life.” And we were told the importance of remembering this moment, the importance of carrying it along when we leave. And I’m sure when God plants seeds he expects to see a harvest. But generally speaking, we ended up back where we were before we went to camp after a few weeks.
When John Wesley was preaching his friend George Whitfield was also preaching. And Whitfield was a far better preacher than Wesley. He was far more well known than Wesley. When George Whitfield came to America thousands swarmed to see him. Benjamin Franklin himself, though a deist, felt he had to go see what all the fuss was about. And walked away impressed. Whitfield has been called the first true celebrity. But John Wesley’s ministry left a far stronger mark on Britain and on America than Whitfield’s. Why? But at the end of his life Whitfield said that his ministry was like a rope of sand, because while he might be able to convict people of their sins and preach Christ, he gave them no follow up. Whereas his friend John established the Methodist Society and the class meeting. So all who listened to his preaching had an opportunity to join a small group of prayer and accountability. Wesley’s movement grew, Whitfield’s died with Whitfield.
Whitfield gave people lamps. And he was really good at it. But Wesley also gave people oil. He preached Christ, and he preached the means of grace. He gave people opportunity to grow in prayer, in bible reading, in service to others. He called on Methodists to come to the communion table often. And emphasized the importance of Christian fellowship in our walk with the Lord. The means of grace are those ordinary and dependable ways God imparts to us his blessings and presence. God works through the means of grace to strengthen our faith, and make us more like Christ.
John Wesley gave people oil for their lamps. And we all need oil for our lamps if we want to be ready for the long haul. The means of grace are oil for our lamps, strengthening us in faithfulness, drawing us closer to the love of God in Christ. Let us attend to the means of God’s grace in this time of God’s patience.