“Will
You Be a Prince’s Bridesmaid/Groomsman?”
Matthew 25:1-13
First Presbyterian Church
Reverend Donald Ray
November 9 , 2006
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We
have a photograph of my late father and mother-in-law, taken the night of our
wedding after Karen and I had left on our honeymoon. They were in their dining
room, surrounded by our wedding gifts and decorations left for them and others
in our wedding party to clear from the church. The photo shows Carl and Carol
leaning on waist tall brass candlesticks, exaggerating, but only a little, the
look of sheer exhaustion.
Weddings
are hard work for those intimately involved in the planning and preparation of
the celebration. Family members and those honored by a place in the wedding
party take responsibility for a multitude of decisions and tasks. Waiting while
the photographer spirits the couple away to some ideal setting or when the
couple is working the room greeting their guests, it is not uncommon to find
bridesmaids lolling, shoes off,
dresses askew; ushers out for a breath of air, coats off, bow ties and cumber
bunds discarded. But tired or not, there is always still more expected and they
have to step up and carry though.
A
wedding is hard work, but a wedding is also a joyous time. A wedding celebrates
love. A wedding is built on hope. Alexander Shaia here last weekend identified
the origin of the Gospel of Matthew in the
As we
come to the close of this church year texts in Matthew, we read of Jesus
speaking and telling parables—stories of transition from the old established
ways. A month ago our parable was
about a Prince’s wedding which the invited guests declined to attend. A second
guest list had to be prepared and circulated.
This
morning, we are back at the wedding again. The intervening material contains
Matthew’s apocalyptic signs
interpreted and reinterpreted by many yet today as portents of cataclysmic
destruction. But instead of fire and earthquakes, Matthew takes us to a wedding.
Matthew takes us to a Prince’s wedding—because while realistic about the
stress and struggles of change, Matthew is a Gospel of the hope in faith.
In
October, after our reading of the first wedding parable, several of you spoke to
me of your puzzling about the eviction of the guest lacking proper attire. In
this second parable we have the apparent selfish, ungracious refusal of the five
bridesmaids to share their lamp oil with those without. What happened to the
Christian spirit of giving to those in need.
It’s
still there, just not the point of these parables.
The ten bridesmaids had equal opportunity. In times of change and
disruption, taking benefit in the resources of faith is vital for all serving in
the party of the kingdom. If weddings are hard work for those intimately
involved, marriage is even harder. On that long road of growing together, it
takes all we have to love and share and give and trust.
President-elect
Obama, thanking his supporters thronging Grant Park in
“I
know you didn’t do this just to win an election. You did it because you
understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. Even as we celebrate
tonight, we know that the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest
of our life time—two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a
century.
This
victory alone is not the change we seek—it is only the chance for us to make
that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It
cannot happen without you.
The
true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of
our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty,
opportunity, and unyielding hope” (1)
For
too long too much of the Church’s energy has been expended in seeking to align
events of the present with the earthquakes and famines, sacrilege, war, and
false prophets cautioned against in Scripture. Far too much of the Church’s
energy has been wasted in such pursuits because the chance of the planet and
most of us still being here tomorrow is far more likely than not. What then do
we do with tomorrow? That is the
question we must be prepared to address with our lamps fueled to light the way.
Two
wars have gone on and on and on and on and still go on. Financial structures in
which our culture is intertwined and dependent
have collapsed. We live in a time of change. But today’s change is
nothing compared to the drama of relentless and total destruction and genocide
Matthew’s readers endured. And Matthew writes, there’s a wedding and the
most unlikely have been invited and the hall is filled so the wedding party need
be prepared to celebrate with the prince.
The
wedding goes on because the love of God is still united with all of creation.
Having our lamps fueled with love in faith and hope and joy and peace;
as we
need to realign the use of strained resources, the light of generosity toward
those in need will not go out.
Having
our lamps fueled with love in faith and hope and joy and peace;
as we
live with the pain and suffering inflicted by a violent, warring culture, the
light of forgiving and peace will not go out.
as we
are pressed from all sides and time would drive us to despair, the light of hope
that keeps us faithful to our course will not go out.
Having
our lamps fueled with love in faith and hope and joy and peace;
as we
are entangled in questions and doubts fired by attempts at certainty where there
is no certainty, the light of faith and trust will not go out.
The
Church has a vital call in these and all times of change. That call is not to be
leaders of an evacuation from a doomed planet to some galactic new Jerusalem.
There is a wedding—There is the union between God’s love and all creation.
We are the wedding party carrying the lamp of hope that lights the way to bring
renewed life.
I had
the fleeting thought that we could stage a wedding processional to dramatize the
parable this morning. But I realized we made our way to the front of the
Sanctuary to vote for First Presbyterian Church two weeks ago making our
stewardship commitment. Then last Sunday there was that that moving procession
to light candles in memory of our loved ones.
A
staged procession to illustrate a parable just wouldn’t make it. In this
congregation, we are too accustomed to genuine participation in the experience
of worship to be satisfied with dramatization for the sake of dramatization. So,
no wedding procession this morning, but then worship is not yet concluded so, be
prepared.
In
every time of change—in every crisis that threatens all we hold as steady and
sure, the word echoes: “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this.”
(Matthew 25:1a) We live in the wedding that is the kingdom—the reign of
God’s love in life. Will we be the Prince’s bridesmaids/Groomsmen with our
lamps trimmed and burning?
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2008 First Presbyterian Church