1 00:00:09,060 --> 00:00:11,020 So friends, our teaching scripture today comes from 2 00:00:11,020 --> 00:00:14,460 Matthew chapter 25 verses 1 to 13. 3 00:00:15,180 --> 00:00:19,900 It says then the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. 10 4 00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:23,980 young women took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 5 5 00:00:23,980 --> 00:00:26,340 of them were foolish and five were wise. 6 00:00:26,740 --> 00:00:29,300 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with 7 00:00:29,300 --> 00:00:33,060 them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,440 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:39,560 slept. But at midnight there was a 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,840 shout, Look, here is the bridegroom come out to meet him. 11 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,240 Then all those young women got up and trimmed their lamps. 12 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,440 The foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil, for 13 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,720 our lamps are going out. But the wise replied, No, there 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,080 will not be enough for you and for us. 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,600 You had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,960 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those 17 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,080 who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the 18 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,360 door was shut. Later the other young women came 19 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,800 also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 20 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,800 But he replied, Truly I tell you, I do not know you. 21 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:21,800 Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the 22 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,160 hour. This is the word of the Lord. 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,560 We gave my 5 year old daughter Edith a Bible for Easter this 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,320 year. A real Bible, not a storybook 25 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:43,040 Bible or some other collections of verses or themes. 26 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,360 The actual Bible. She keeps referring to it as a 27 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,000 grown up Bible, which we subtly try to correct because of the 28 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,960 mistaken assumption baked into that declaration that the Bible 29 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,640 is somehow more for adults than it is for kids. 30 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,440 Because that's totally and entirely false. 31 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:06,200 Now, this particular Bible, covered in blue faux leather and 32 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,520 yellow shooting stars, is the New Life version, not to be 33 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,600 confused with the much more popular New Living Translation, 34 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:15,880 both of which are biblical paraphrases. 35 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,280 That means instead of something like a literal word for word 36 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:24,600 translation of ancient Greek and Hebrew texts upon which the 66 37 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,160 books of the Bible were recorded, the translation is in 38 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:32,160 a paraphrase. Less word for word and more idea 39 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,360 for idea. It would be like if I said 40 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,480 dinner's ready to my family rather than I have prepared food 41 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:40,560 and it is available for your consumption. 42 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,160 I just said the same thing twice. 43 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,040 But the first way, the colloquial way, is actually much 44 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:52,280 clearer, although the second way is more concrete and conceivably 45 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,320 could be the word for word translation of some other 46 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,680 languages. Expression of gather to eat in a 47 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,840 common space with other people for the third time today. 48 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:08,840 The NLV paraphrase utilizes 850 unique words plus proper nouns. 49 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,400 Most words it uses only have one meaning and distances. 50 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,480 Measures and money are phrased in such a way that they can be 51 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,720 understood whether 1 is in the metric, imperial, or some other 52 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:24,120 kind of system. Thus, what if a woman had 10 53 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,400 pieces of money and loses one of them? 54 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,960 Not a woman has 10 silver coins and loses 1. 55 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,360 I had never heard of the NLV before, but we came across it in 56 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:40,400 an Indianapolis half Price book over spring break last month. 57 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:46,200 It's a translation originally prepared in 1969 for Indigenous 58 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,800 populations in Canada for whom English was a second language. 59 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,160 And you can see how the translations limited number of 60 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,720 unique words could be of particular benefit in that 61 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,200 context. I will also say just as a 62 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,880 bracket aside, the translation as far as I can tell had nothing 63 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:05,960 to do with like the Canadian like residential school system, 64 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,880 although of course, missions is always complex, going all the 65 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,320 way back to the book of Acts. But it's this great beautiful 66 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,680 translation. And here's the thing, similar to 67 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,560 how sidewalk curb cuts were originally designed for people 68 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,120 who utilize wheelchairs, but they really help everybody, 69 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,120 including other folks with mobility related disabilities, 70 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,600 stroller pushers, people carrying lots of stuff, people 71 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,920 moving stuff, kids. The NLV was designed for people 72 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:40,120 for whom English is a second language, and it is incredible 73 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,040 for use with young readers and other kids. 74 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,760 And so we've been reading the Bible together at night. 75 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:53,160 And unlike most parents who start in a normal spot, say one 76 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,960 of the Gospels or Genesis or maybe even the selection of 77 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,840 Psalms or Proverbs, we started in Daniel. 78 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,760 I believe we got there that first night because there was a 79 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,200 page with a picture on it in the book of Daniel. 80 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,600 So I read that page and then I read Daniel one. 81 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,680 And we kept going because Thomas pointed out that there's some 82 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:14,880 really cool narratives right there at the beginning of 83 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,600 Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego get thrown into the 84 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,200 fire by the king and they walk out alive. 85 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,360 Daniel gets thrown into a lion's den by the king and he walks out 86 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,760 alive. Great stories. 87 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:32,120 And after those stories, Daniel gets a little weird. 88 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,040 It gets very weird. If you have never read 89 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:41,640 apocalyptic literature with A5 year old, it's really something 90 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:44,680 indeed. On our seventh night reading 91 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,560 Daniel Daniel Chapter 7, Daniel has a dream of four large 92 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,560 animals coming up from the sea and none of them are like normal 93 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,680 animals. There's a lion with wings like 94 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,640 an eagle, a bear like creature with ribs between its teeth, and 95 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,760 a leopard with four heads and bird wings, and another fierce 96 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,120 animal with 10 and then 11 horns. 97 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,600 The ancient of day, God, God's self takes God's throne. 98 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,440 The 4th beast is destroyed, the others lose their power and one 99 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,120 like the Son of man approaches and there is a declaration of a 100 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,800 Kingdom that will never be destroyed. 101 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,440 This is apocalyptic literature that speaks of the Kingdom of 102 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:31,160 God proclaimed over and over in the New Testament, proclaimed by 103 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:36,200 Jesus himself who is referred to as the Son of Man, just like in 104 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:41,680 this epic bizarre scripture. It is a whale of a bedtime story 105 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,000 and I was thrown for a loop hearing it for the first time 106 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:47,320 through this new to me translation. 107 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,720 It prompted some good questions and discussions. 108 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,880 Edith was taken with the horns and I had to explain the concept 109 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:58,280 of metaphor which is a tall order for a young child. 110 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,000 I made a peace sign with my fingers and I said what does 111 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,080 this mean? And she said, be quiet, which is 112 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:06,680 what it means in an elementary school. 113 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,760 And I was like, yes, yes, the fingers represent something 114 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,280 else. And here in this passage, the 115 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,560 crazy animals, some of what's going on, it represents 116 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,560 something else. She thought for a while and then 117 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,000 we got into a discussion about the Father in Jesus in which I 118 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,000 did my very best to explain the Trinity without committing any 119 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:34,440 heresies, which is a little hard to do because that is the kind 120 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:36,280 of thing Thomas would be much better at. 121 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:44,640 But he had fallen asleep. It was great and it was really 122 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,480 hard. Today's parable is a little bit 123 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:53,880 like that. It is great and it's hard now. 124 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,080 Now, parables are always a little hard, unless we flatten 125 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,040 them into neat boxes with one-dimensional moral lessons. 126 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,320 They're often a little short. They are often meanings that can 127 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,920 be observed from different angles and different points of 128 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,160 view. They are commonly simple stories 129 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,600 in that what's going on could conceivably be illustrated with 130 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,200 stick figures, no reference sheet required to keep up with a 131 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,400 bunch of names or complicated plot lines. 132 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,520 And yet, inside of straightforwarded narratives are 133 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,720 profound truths that tell of the character of God and God's good 134 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,200 Kingdom with layer after layer of meaning. 135 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,799 Now we can turn parables into what we want, pull it out as 136 00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:41,520 some kind of truism or a basic fact around which we can design 137 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,560 our lives. But the stories themselves 138 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:48,800 resist compacting like an accordion. 139 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,600 They pull and fold. They can move in One Direction 140 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,200 for a moment, but that's never all that's going on. 141 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,400 Today's parable is one that never made any sense to me until 142 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,880 suddenly it did a little bit. And I'd like to invite you to 143 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:10,720 hold that tension with me present in this parable that 144 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:15,320 Jesus told. And as we do remember this, the 145 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,600 gospel story told over and over and over throughout Scripture 146 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,360 and demonstrated to this day through the Spirit of God who is 147 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,800 with us, is one of God, forever leaning toward humanity and 148 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,400 indeed all creation. It is a story of love and 149 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,760 redemption and flourishing over sin and separation. 150 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:39,160 It is told through the story of Israel, the person of Jesus, his 151 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:43,280 life in ministry, death and resurrection, and the crazy days 152 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,120 of the early church. The love of God is for everyone, 153 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:52,160 especially the suffering. God leaves the 99 sheep for the 154 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,360 1, shares a table with the tax collector, heals the sick, 155 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,480 spends time with the scandalous. These truths are told in 156 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,480 individual stories in the Bible, and they are baked into the 157 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,520 themes of the whole structure. So in light of that, what do we 158 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:13,040 do with the parable of the 10 bridesmaids, a story that begins 159 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,360 then the Kingdom of heaven will be like this and ends with five 160 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:21,160 bridesmaids shut out from a wedding banquet saying Lord, 161 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,280 Lord, open to us and the bridegroom responding, truly, I 162 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:29,560 tell you, I do not know you. This too is the word of the 163 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:33,080 Lord. This too tells of the Kingdom of 164 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,800 God. Spirit, help us understand. 165 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,640 Let's go back to the beginning of the parable. 166 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:47,240 Then the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. 10 young women 167 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,080 took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 5 of them 168 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,720 were foolish and five were wise. When the foolish took their 169 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,000 lamps and they took no oil with them but the flask, the wise 170 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,120 took flasks of oil with their lamps. 171 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:03,960 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and 172 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,000 slept. But at midnight there was a 173 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,440 shout. Look, here is the bridegroom 174 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:13,040 come out to meet him. Then all of those young women 175 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:17,200 got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, 176 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,160 give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. 177 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,400 But the wise replied, no, there will not be enough for you and 178 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,520 for us, who had better go to the dealers and buy some for 179 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,880 yourselves. And while they went to buy it, 180 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:34,360 the bridegroom cream and those who were ready went with him 181 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:36,560 into the wedding banquet and the door was shut. 182 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:41,320 Later the other young women came also saying, Lord, Lord open to 183 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,200 us. But he replied, truly I tell 184 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:47,680 you, I do not know you keep awake therefore, for you know 185 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:52,840 neither the day nor the hour. This parable is giving left 186 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,720 behind vibes. But if that's where your mind 187 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,760 goes to 1st, I'm going to invite you to pause and remember that 188 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:03,160 parables are not one-dimensional moral lessons that exist for the 189 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,680 point of scaring us. And for whatever truths, harder 190 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:10,240 truths or otherwise, that exist inside of these words of Jesus, 191 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:14,480 those truths exist inside of the gospel story and the love and 192 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,720 the hope therein. So let's chip away at it. 193 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,360 This is part of a wedding scene. The visible characters are 10 194 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,920 young women, 10 bridesmaids, sometimes called the 10 virgins, 195 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,440 5 are called foolish, 5 are called wise. 196 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,640 There are people who sell oil called dealers, and there's the 197 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,680 groom. The women are waiting. 198 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,560 Waiting in this kind of scene would not have been unusual 199 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:44,200 because weddings, before wedding ceremonies would begin, there 200 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,760 was extended negotiations related to the dowry, which was 201 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,720 a significant cultural and economic transaction known to 202 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,880 take a while. And so the bridegroom's delay 203 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,480 isn't because the groom has lost track of time. 204 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,760 It's not a statement on his perception of the importance of 205 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,600 the wedding or nerves or anything like that. 206 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,760 It's part of the process. At the conclusion of the 207 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,640 negotiations, the bridegroom would come to the bride's home 208 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,600 and join his bride in possession to procession to the groom's 209 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,880 home for the wedding. And now the the bridesmaids, 210 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,520 they had an important role in this procession. 211 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:27,320 They accompanied the bride, and being centuries before Thomas 212 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,080 Edison invented the light bulb, centuries before lamplighters 213 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,040 processed through city streets with long poles illuminating gas 214 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,320 lights in the evening and snuffing them out in the 215 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:42,760 morning, the bridesmaids role in carrying light was critical. 216 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,480 There was moon and there were stars and there was darkness. 217 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,720 The ancient lamps the bridesmaid carried were torches that 218 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,720 functionally illuminated the way to the wedding, supporting safe 219 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,680 passage on dark streets, signifying ceremony and 220 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:03,120 celebration. It's still common for 221 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,720 bridesmaids to process at weddings, but walking the 30 222 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,880 feet from the back of the sanctuary to the altar is not 223 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,520 the same thing. Though the idea that there are 224 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,560 particular roles for actors within weddings expected to be 225 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:20,400 carried out in specific ways, that's familiar to us. 226 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,840 If it isn't, Emily Post would have run out of things to write 227 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,720 in her column a long time ago. Did you hear the bridesmaids all 228 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,440 get to choose their own dresses Now it just has to be the same 229 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,160 color. It's rude to ask for money, but 230 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,360 if it's going to the honeymoon fund or a deposit on the House, 231 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,480 it's OK. The mother of the groom wore a 232 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,240 white skirt and thought it was OK because it wasn't a white 233 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,360 dress. Some of these traditions evolve 234 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,840 over time, some more quickly than others, like having a photo 235 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:54,000 booth at a wedding reception or the love millennials once shared 236 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,840 for decorative burlap and Mason jars, the bride sporting chucks 237 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,680 with her wedding dress. Other traditions also evolve, 238 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,200 but much more slowly and reverently. 239 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:09,360 For example, a wedding without wedding rings, even simple ones, 240 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:14,720 would be quite unusual for us. And so in this ancient parable, 241 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,240 Jesus speaks of five bridesmaids, that is, five young 242 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:23,320 teenagers who neglected to fetch sufficient oil for their lamps. 243 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:26,800 What scandal? What shame? 244 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:31,840 What would their mothers say? And the bride who is not named 245 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,400 in this story, She would have had to have been there. 246 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,480 I wonder if her not being named is because within the context of 247 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,480 a wedding, we're apartment to turn our attention toward the 248 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,080 bride, and she's not the point here. 249 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,680 In my middle school band, there was a page in our books that 250 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,960 offered the definition of harmony, explaining that it's 251 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,680 what happens when two or more notes are played simultaneously 252 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:02,880 and produce a pleasant sound together, like AC and AG. 253 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,840 And my band director always railed against the printed 254 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,160 definition and then would then play the two most dissonant 255 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,360 notes he possibly could play together. 256 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,320 And he would. And she would say that's harmony 257 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,440 too, It's just one that we don't like. 258 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,160 This parable has a few things going on inside of it at the 259 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,440 same time, and some kind of sound like dissonant notes 260 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,320 blaring on a piano like a toddler banging instead of a 261 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,560 artist composing. One note, particularly to an 262 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,400 ancient audience, is that of the five bridesmaids who are failing 263 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,880 at an essential duty. 5 bridesmaids without enough oil. 264 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,240 Another one perhaps super loud to us peace loving moderns 265 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,040 familiar with the kingdom's reach towards all people and the 266 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,560 Lord's compassion. Why can't the bridesmaids with 267 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:57,280 oil share their oil? The five foolish bridesmaids did 268 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,880 leave to fetch oil, and they came back looking to join the 269 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,640 party. They remedied their heir, and 270 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,359 there was a real consequence to that. 271 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,599 There's a problem, but they have come back and appear to be 272 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:09,640 seeking to make right what they can. 273 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,960 Why are they not extended grace? In another parable, that of the 274 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,359 prodigal son, a foolish young man runs away, spends all of his 275 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,960 father's wealth, then eating slop amongst the pigs. 276 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,400 He realizes he could eat better in his father's house, and he 277 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,800 goes home and his father runs to meet him and throws him a party. 278 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:37,080 If that story is true, why are these women shut out at the 279 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:41,800 door? Friends, both the parable of the 280 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,080 10 bridesmaids and that of the prodigal son tell of the Kingdom 281 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,280 of God, and both demonstrate God's character. 282 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,000 Both for us and the seeming contradictions is OK. 283 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,040 Both are for us and the seeming contradiction is OK. 284 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,320 These stories mean something. But like what I was saying 285 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:04,080 earlier about how the same thing can be said in so many different 286 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:09,200 ways, even a single sentence or phrase in a Bible translation, 287 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:14,680 the parables themselves stand together on their own and they 288 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,800 fit together. And how we understand. 289 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,800 Jesus tells the parable of the 10 bridesmaids just shortly 290 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:27,400 before his crucifixion. We are in Matthew today, but 291 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,480 piercing the stories together between the Gospels and drawing 292 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,440 on the book of John. It is just a few days after 293 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:38,080 Jesus mourned the death of his friend Lazarus, wept alongside 294 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,600 Mary and Martha, and raised Lazarus from the dead. 295 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,080 It is a few days after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem 296 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,600 on Palm Sunday. Here at the Mount of Olives, 297 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,360 Jesus teaches his disciples who have privately asked him about 298 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:56,960 the coming destruction of the temple and the sign of the 299 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:02,080 coming age. Jesus is teaching and it is a 300 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:08,160 kind of an escalated moment. Lazarus's resurrection is in the 301 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,440 immediate rear view, but so is Jesus flipping tables in the 302 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,760 temple. Direct public criticism of 303 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,480 self-serving religious leaders in the establishment. 304 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:24,880 And of course, other healings. Notably, and not at all out of 305 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:29,200 character for Jesus. Jesus doesn't directly answers 306 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,200 his disciples question about the temple's destruction or the sign 307 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,600 of the coming age. He answers their questions by 308 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,520 telling stories and quoting books that are now part of the 309 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:47,000 Old Testament, like Daniel 7. There was, wait here, a desire 310 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:51,200 for understanding urgency. Do you all know what it's like 311 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,960 to speak with wisdom to a room that is desperate? 312 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,120 A certain kind of populist speaker will use the desperation 313 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:03,120 to whip the crowd into a frenzy, get them hanging on every word 314 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,160 and, like a coach swinging in a circle, a baseball attached to a 315 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,240 rope for a child to hit as part of batting practice. 316 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:15,040 Whatever it is that the crowd is anxious about stays proximate. 317 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:21,400 Their hurt and fear stay right there with them, and so does the 318 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,400 speaker holding the rope with a ball that won't ever go anywhere 319 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,560 at all. That's not what Jesus does. 320 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,600 He recognizes the seriousness of what is being asked of Him. 321 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,720 He sees the disciples in front of him and he knows that they 322 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,360 are reaching to understand. He knows what's coming in a few 323 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:49,040 days and holding it all there, he uses the disciples question 324 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:54,000 to redirect their attention to where it needs to be. 325 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,120 The theologian Stanley Howerwass explains it this way. 326 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,320 According to Jesus, the disciples tasked is not to 327 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:08,520 anticipate the end of time, but rather their task is to learn to 328 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:13,640 endure even under persecution. All the disciples need to know 329 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,040 is the new age has begun in Christ. 330 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,520 This is what Jesus is teaching about in Matthew 24 and 25. 331 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,440 And so we have this string of stories about staying awake and 332 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,960 keeping watch. The faithful and unfaithful 333 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:34,280 servant, the 10 bridesmaids, the parable of the talents, the Son 334 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,360 of man, judging the nations and separating the sheep from the 335 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:41,360 goats. Where the King says come you are 336 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:44,880 that are blessed by my father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for 337 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,120 you from the foundation of the world. 338 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:49,560 For I was hungry and you gave me food. 339 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,480 I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. 340 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,800 I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 341 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:56,960 I was naked and you gave me clothing. 342 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:58,960 I was sick and you took care of me. 343 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,040 I was in prison and you visited me. 344 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,720 And the Lord has asked, when did we do this? 345 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:13,760 Truly, I tell you, just as you did to the least of these who 346 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:15,840 are members of my family, you did to me. 347 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,920 We are misreading the discourse if we think of it as primarily 348 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,840 focused on the when of future events. 349 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,520 Jesus is directing their attention to the here and now 350 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:34,360 and teaching them how to occupy this precarious moment. 351 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,480 The Kingdom is here. They have seen it. 352 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:44,600 It is never going away and it is not all the way here yet. 353 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,640 Indeed, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. 354 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,120 There is lost grief and ache that does not subside. 355 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,680 Jesus says this two days before Pilate washed his hands and 356 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,000 gives into the wayward demands of the crowd in a state 357 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:03,400 sponsored lynching. Jesus's death on the crossed. 358 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,560 The parable of the 10 bridesmaids is weird, but the 359 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,640 point is not live on thy tip toes and do not make a misstep. 360 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:15,800 For you do not know the day or the hour, and so sit with 361 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,640 trepidation and do your good works because you don't want to 362 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,920 be a foolish girl or worse yet, one of those goats. 363 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,960 In chapter 25. When we make this the lesson of 364 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,040 the parable, I think we're doing a version of exactly what Jesus 365 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,000 was trying to steer his followers away from. 366 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,880 It's a way of focusing on the when we might not be charting 367 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,480 stars and drawing a horoscope, but it's kind of like that, just 368 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,200 with a little bit of extra religious guilt and performative 369 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,960 good works. There are layers and layers and 370 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,440 layers of meaning packed within Matthew 24 and 25. 371 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:00,920 There are powerful, dissonant stories that make us a little 372 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:05,640 uncomfortable, and they are swept up within commentary in 373 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,600 which Jesus says he is the Son of Man. 374 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,280 He connects for his hearers. Ancient apocalyptic prophecy 375 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,960 connected it to himself in the Kingdom, in the space and time 376 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,600 that they're occupying together in that moment. 377 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,360 But here's the thing. We're still waiting. 378 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,560 Jesus died and Jesus rose and we're still waiting. 379 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,920 The Spirit of God descended at Pentecost and is with us and we 380 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:39,880 are still waiting. I think Jesus word about how to 381 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:45,400 wait and how to prepare still has bearing for us. 382 00:24:51,820 --> 00:24:58,780 Last year. Last year we lost a baby. 383 00:24:59,860 --> 00:25:05,920 A long anticipated, much desired child whom we had prayed for for 384 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,360 years. Now maybe this is an experience 385 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:12,760 you can relate to. Maybe you have a friend you've 386 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:14,520 seen go through something like this. 387 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,840 If not, maybe you can imagine. But the experience of 388 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,040 anticipating a child and looking for the signs in your own body 389 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:29,920 is the most urgent lived experience that I know of a when 390 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,840 question. It was like it lived half an 391 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,680 inch below the surface of my person and reached all the way 392 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:43,400 down to the depths of my soul. It's consuming and painful. 393 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,440 And there was a moment when I couldn't bear it any longer, 394 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,960 where I had expressed the true fullness of rage and hurt and 395 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,240 loss and longing. And then I stopped there, and I 396 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:57,600 let the silence sit on top of the moment. 397 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:04,600 And then I returned to that same spot over and over and over and 398 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:10,120 over, 99% of the time in total silence with God. 399 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,800 Now. The longing never went away. 400 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,680 The loss was never diminished with a proof text, Bible verse 401 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:21,920 bow. And though I now rock a six 402 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,280 month old baby girl to sleep at night, there was no promise. 403 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:31,440 And yet somehow I was changed in that spot. 404 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,120 It was the most aware that I have ever been of the pull 405 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:39,320 between the already and the not yet of God's Kingdom. 406 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:44,200 And my role was to sit there, eyes fixed on the literal 407 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,440 horizon ahead of me, which may as well have been the face of 408 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:53,200 God looking back at me. So when the floor fell out from 409 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:58,560 underneath me and the baby was gone, I experienced the fullness 410 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,920 of that loss, directly hedging, no cover and self protection. 411 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:09,280 And somehow it was everything that it truly was and it was not 412 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,760 everything. I don't know how to explain it 413 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,400 any other way. I knew carnivorous emotion and 414 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,280 it did not kill me. And the only prayer with words 415 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,200 that could get out, the only thing that brought me comfort, 416 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,440 was the final phrase of a litany that Thomas wrote that we prayed 417 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,920 100 times leading up to the pregnancy. 418 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,840 My soul was anchored in that prayer. 419 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:38,360 In all we do. May we be found watching and 420 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:43,480 waiting for your Kingdom. It's not even scripture, but 421 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:47,080 that image of being found. While watching and waiting, I 422 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:52,120 thought of the bridesmaids, the wise ones who were found by the 423 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:57,320 bridegroom and inside the doors at the wedding banquet, praying. 424 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,200 Those words were like a promise that I would be found. 425 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,840 And though I still watch and wait, the Kingdom is coming. 426 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,960 Eventually I remembered how I had gotten there, the days of 427 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,960 quiet that I held while sitting with every emotion associated 428 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,600 with longing for this child. And I realized that there is no 429 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,920 way I could have accessed this promise that God's Kingdom is 430 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,680 still coming, that I was sitting inside the door with the 431 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,320 bridegroom the way that I was. Without the formation that 432 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,440 happened and the way that I eventually learned how to wait, 433 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,040 I wouldn't have been able to get the oil later. 434 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:42,760 In the same way, when the bridegroom says keep awake, 435 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,640 therefore for, you know, neither the day nor the hour, I don't 436 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:52,160 think it's a threat. I think it's Jesus looking ahead 437 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:56,600 at the cross, imploring his disciples to wake up and take 438 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:01,000 seriously everything that he has taught them to join him in the 439 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,600 Kingdom work where, in the words of the theologian Kate Buller, 440 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:09,720 Jesus undoes every guarantee that in loving him we will not 441 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:17,360 lose friends. Time can pass without any real 442 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,280 waiting. We have an incredible ability to 443 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:26,280 distract ourselves. There are literally millions of 444 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:30,280 hours of content, more things to be addicted to than can be 445 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,000 enumerated. And if that doesn't work, gosh, 446 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,280 there's always like the dirt on your laptop or the household 447 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,160 project someplace to go. We have the amazing ability to 448 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:46,360 always find something. But here's the thing, Waiting 449 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:51,440 isn't passive. It is always formational. 450 00:29:54,280 --> 00:30:02,600 What is it forming in you? It can be painful and reflect a 451 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,320 reality that is far from the joy, life, and freedom of the 452 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,040 Kingdom of God. But it is what Jesus himself 453 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,560 experienced and what he urged his followers to in an 454 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:18,160 intentional embodiment, and one of the last conversations he had 455 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:22,680 before he died. We do wait. 456 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:29,440 We experience suffering and we observe it, but we never have to 457 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:29,960 wait alone.