Waiting

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
November 12, 2023

27 Proper A 

          My mother taught me that the best way to wait is to spend the time preparing.  Sometimes the wait was for something good, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, in which case she started baking a good 6 months ahead of the holiday. Sometimes the plan was for something sad, and we all knew what the plan would be when the time came and how to execute the plan.  Sometimes the wait was for something like a storm….a nor’easter when we lived in New Jersey.  When a south Alabama woman meets 3 feet of snow, there’s going to be a party.    Provisions were stocked, phone calls were made, firewood was acquired, and all were welcome.  We were ready.  Mom did not leave a lot to chance, whatever the occasion.  She was prepared. 

          Jesus’ parable this morning appears to be about being prepared.  Known as the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, I think this is probably my least favorite of all of Jesus’ parables.  Here’s the problem.  The 10 bridesmaids are waiting for the bridegroom.  Five have oil for their lamps and five do not.  Why would anyone have a lamp with no oil? That would be like having a flashlight but no batteries.  So, they are not called the five foolish bridesmaids for nothing.  But when the 5 foolish bridesmaids realize they need oil, the 5 wise bridesmaids refuse to share.  So much for any theology of abundance much less simple sharing.  So at midnight, in the first century, the 5 bridesmaids go off to buy oil from the dealers.  I am not sure you could do that at midnight in Hudson, Ohio in 2023.  Of course, the bridegroom comes while they are away and the 5 wise bridesmaids go into the wedding banquet and the door is shut.  When the other 5 get back from their shopping trip, the bridegroom refuses to let them in.  So much for gospel hospitality.  At the end of the parable, Jesus tells his followers “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the hour nor the day.”  But all 10 bridesmaids got drowsy waiting for the bridegroom and fell asleep.  So, sleep must not be the real problem.  What is the point in this parable of the foolish, the selfish, and the inhospitable? 

          Finding the point is tricky since this parable of the Kingdom of Heaven does not match up with the Jesus we know from the rest of the gospel.  In just a few more verses, Jesus will tell his followers that when they give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, care for the sick, and clothe the naked, they do those things for him.  Likewise, when Jesus’ followers refuse to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison, they refuse to do those things for him.  So, when the so-called wise bridesmaids refused to  share with the so-called foolish bridesmaids doesn’t that mean they refused to share with Jesus?  And in another parable earlier in the gospel, the workers in the vineyard who show up at the end of the day get the same pay as those who worked a whole day in the scorching sun.  So, coming in late does not seem to be an issue in gospel hospitality.  And Jesus, who the bridegroom represents in the parable, spent his life including those from all the margins of society and serving others to the point of laying down his life.  This bridegroom does not seem the least bit concerned about others.  And in the parable, the foolish bridesmaids get what they deserve, while the gospel is about the unearned, lavish love of God.  So what are we to make of this parable?

          Let’s start with some perspective.  The reading from first Thessalonians reminds us of the hope and expectation with which the earliest Christians awaited Jesus’ return.  They anticipated that Jesus would return at any moment, and they were worried about what would happen to those who died before Jesus returned.  About 20 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Paul writes to assure the Thessalonians that when Jesus returns, he will gather up the faithful, first those who had already died and then those who were alive.  By the time Matthew’s gospel was written in the late first century, the faithful still believed in Jesus’ immediate return but they were growing weary of waiting, wondering where Jesus was and whether they had gotten the wrong message or missed Jesus’ return altogether.  And certainly now, two millennia later, the idea of Jesus’ return can grow thin so we can resonate with the late first century faithful.  Our parable this morning clearly has something to do with waiting.  But what?

          What if the bridesmaids with oil had shared their oil with the other five?  How might the simple act of sharing have changed the story?  Had the wise ones believed in abundance and valued inclusion, the foolish bridesmaids would not have gone off to purchase oil.  They would have been present when the bridegroom finally arrived, and all 10 bridesmaids would have gone into the wedding banquet together.  No one would have had a full lamp of oil, but my hunch is that there would have been more than enough oil to get everyone into the wedding banquet and a great abundance of wedding joy to share. 

I wonder if the message of Jesus’ parable, with its admonition at the end to keep awake because we know neither the hour nor the day, is simply an admonition to make sure we are actually watching for Jesus while we wait, however long we wait.  We watch for Jesus by seeking and serving Christ in all people, as we promise in baptism, so that when the time finally arrives, we all go into the wedding banquet together.  Waiting is hard.  But waiting does not need to divide.  There is room for all and plenty of joy to go around.  Had the 5 bridesmaids with oil simply shared, rather than being the parable of the foolish, the selfish, and the inhospitable, the parable would be a parable of abundance and inclusion, which sounds a lot more like Jesus.

                                                                   Amen.