Matthew 25:1-13

 

The Challenge of Waiting and the Need for resilience

     ** We wait for the results of the USA election – one which has aroused extraordinary attention around the world, and at this mid-point of the week is impossible to predict the outcome – let alone what will happen if the outcome is not clear…  we keep watch because we do not know the day nor the hour

>>> As a society, and particularly as Melburnians, we are well acquainted with the challenge of waiting – waiting for case numbers to be revealed, waiting for the next change in restrictions, waiting to be able to see loved ones again, waiting to re-gather as a faith community…

 

In many ways today’s parable resonates strongly with our current context…

 

THE TEXT

And while all these parables present their own distinct challenges, I have to confess that I find this one the most challenging.:

Matthew 25 “When the end comes, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids. They took their oil lamps and went to meet the groom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The foolish bridesmaids took their lamps, but they didn’t take any extra oil. 4 The wise bridesmaids, however, took along extra oil for their lamps. 5 Since the groom was late, all the bridesmaids became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight someone shouted, ‘The groom is here! Come to meet him!’ 7 Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready.
8 “The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘We can’t do that. There won’t be enough for both of us. Go! Find someone to sell you some oil.’
10 “While they were buying oil, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went with him into the wedding hall, and the door was shut.
11 “Later the other bridesmaids arrived and said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door for us!’
12 “But he answered them, ‘I don’t even know who you are!’
13 “So stay awake, because you don’t know the day or the hour.

 

Firstly, We’re not accustomed to the role virgins/bridesmaids played in ushering in the groom to the wedding and so the whole parable feels a little archaic and somewhat confusing.

 

Secondly, Matthew’s parable are, by and large, exhortations to a community that has come through some significant duress to keep the faith, to confess Christ, and to wait expectantly for his return, even though it has already been delayed beyond what first generation believers anticipated. Considering that the Thessalonians to whom Paul was writing around 51 AD or so are already anxious that they have missed out on Jesus’ return, we can imagine that it’s quite a bit harder to inspire Matthew’s community to vigilance thirty years later.

 

Now, project that out another nearly 2000 years and you begin to appreciate the challenge of preaching this text today. I mean, who is still waiting eagerly, anxiously for Jesus’ imminent return? Well, pretty much only those folks who predict it on billboards across the southern USA and at whom we typically poke fun.

 

The parable seems, quite frankly, a little unfair. All the bridesmaids brought oil, all waited, all fell asleep. And the decision about who gets in comes down to who anticipated the bridegroom would be this incredibly late and so brought more oil. Okay, so maybe it’s not unfair. Maybe it’s just that I’m pretty darn certain that I would have been among the foolish bridesmaids. Yes, there are some folks who are incredibly prepared, always plan way in advance, always bring more supplies or food or whatever than necessary, and are always there early. Yes, there are such people, and I’m not usually one of them.

 

So… what do we do with this stubborn, somewhat archaic, and rather threatening parable

 

We are well acquainted with waiting. Whether what we are waiting for is good or bad hardly matters, the anxiety and stress of the living in the “in-between time” of waiting can be difficult. And this parable reminds us that we are not alone in our waiting.

 

From the earliest Christians on, we have confessed that waiting can be most difficult. Moreover, Jesus tells this parable in his own “in-between time,” his own time of waiting. This parable is set between Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his trial and crucifixion. And one thing Matthew and all the Evangelists agree on is that Jesus knew what was coming. And so here he is, teaching the crowds, facing off with his opponents, and instructing his disciples…even as he waits for the coming cross. Jesus, too, knows how difficult waiting can be and is with us and for us in our waiting.

 

But let’s also recognize that opportunities for waiting on Jesus’ presence are all around us. Each time we work for justice (as Amos invites in another one of the readings for this Sunday), we testify to the presence of Jesus. Each time we bear each other’s burdens, we testify to Jesus’ presence. Each time we advocate for the poor, or reach out to the friendless, or work to make this world God loves a better place, we testify to the presence of the Risen Christ.

 

Waiting, is something we’re all accustomed to. Whether it’s waiting for Christmas that most of us remember vividly from our childhood or waiting for a phone call from a certain special someone or waiting for news of a loved one’s safe arrival while traveling, we all know what it is to wait. In particular, we know how hard waiting can be. And here, I think, is really the centre of this passage: waiting is often hard, really hard, and often is tinged by anxiety.

 

“Make haste to help me, Lord! Hasten to me, O God! Lord, do not delay!” The words of the Psalmist, in conversation with the Gospel and epistle texts for this week, seem like just the right words of response.

They seem like the kind of words that the disciples would have uttered after hearing Jesus’ parable of the ten bridesmaids -- “How long will we have to wait, Jesus?” They seem like the words that would come to the lips of the Thessalonians as they witnessed their loved ones dying before their eyes and before Jesus’ return. “When are you coming back, Jesus?”

“Lord, do not delay” are words of waiting.

They express what is almost unutterable -- the lack of control, the fear of the unknown, the worry of whether or not we are ready, the anxiety about being prepared for what is to come.

Waiting carries many emotions -- anticipation, wonder, eagerness, dread, agitation, fear, longing, loss. Of course, much of our emotional response is determined by that for which we wait. Our time of waiting will be experienced differently depending on that which we expect. Waiting is hard. Yet, sometimes difficulty with waiting is not so much the spectrum of feelings experienced, but the fact that we can’t seem to be content with the present.

Perhaps what we are waiting for is waiting for the Lord to show up in our waiting!

Or perhaps how we choose to cope with the wait. And yes, we want the wait to be over. But, at the same time, we trust that God will show up… and in faith we believe that God will show up to be just what we need God to be depending on how we experience the waiting. i.e.

·         If our waiting is experienced in fear? God comes with peace.

·         If our waiting is experienced in longing? God arrives with deep and abiding satisfaction.

·         If our waiting is experienced in anticipation? God accompanies us in the joy that should be our present.

In the words of Matthew, yes, keep alert. But rather than keep alert for what is to come, keep alert for the ways in which God enters into our present attempts at alertness -- and seems to bring exactly what we need.

To keep awake does not mean the absence of God. It means to recognize our absolute dependence on the presence of God. It means, in effect…

 Developing Spiritual Resilience

Sadly, Qantas A380 pilot Captain Richard de Crespigny has had his career ended by Covid-19.

De Crespigny, now 63, was celebrated around the world for quick thinking after an engine explosion on board the Qantas Airbus A380 he was commanding forced an emergency landing at Changi Airport. All 469 passengers and crew were uninjured. That momentous day changed his life, catapulting him to instant fame. His book about the ordeal, QF32, was a best-seller internationally in 2012 and his second book, FLY! Life Lessons from the cockpit of QF32, in 2018 was all about resilience.

 FOUR CORNERS  this week… interviewed a number of diverse Year 12 students…

On a goat station in north-western New South Wales, Barney Mort is glad to be home for the school holidays after spending four weeks in lockdown in Victoria. In early July, the Victoria-New South Wales border closed and Barney and his brother Charlie became effectively stranded at school. His family’s home is more than 1,000 kilometres from Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, the school he attends as a boarder throughout the year.  Barney says a few dozen other students remained in the one boarding house they nicknamed ‘the Orphanage’, but he desperately wanted to come home. “When I look back at 2020, I’ll just see it as, the only thing that I can really take away from this is I’ve toughened up. “It’s been hard, but it’s been very tiring. And at times it, it does pull you down. It does also kind of leave a lasting effect.”

Across the city at one of Melbourne’s public housing estates, Nada Osman is finally enjoying
a little freedom and sunshine after enduring the harshest restrictions in the country. She says:

2020 for me has been a rollercoaster to say the least. It started off a great year … then COVID hit and the year just took an ugly turn.” In early July, the Flemington housing tower she lives in was put into hard lockdown and nobody was allowed to leave the building after an outbreak of COVID-19.

“We had police surrounding every exit and every entrance,” she says. “There was a lot of tension, because nobody knew what was going on, and no-one was explaining anything.

. “It put a lot of pressure and stress on me because it made me behind in my work. I missed out on a lot of things, and that stressed me out for school. “Being confined for so long, it mentally plays with you. But Nada is conscious of what she gained, not just what she lost, in 2020. “I think this year has changed me a lot. I’ve matured a lot, I’ve gone through a lot. “It’s shown me the true colours of the world and it’s shown me society’s priorities. “I feel like at my age, a lot of people don’t experience that. But I think I’m very lucky to have gone through this at this time, because it’s changed me to be a better person.”

Over in Western Sydney, school captain of Bankstown Senior College Ali Aqa Ashraf has just graduated — for the second time.

The 24-year-old Afghan was born in Iran, where he finished high school. He came to Australia three years ago as a refugee and had to do it all over again. Like many young people, the challenges he’s faced have taught him resilience.

“I think this year has really changed me and made me stronger. I feel like I’m a grown-up man this year because lots of difficult things happened.

“And I think growing through this stuff, these things made me stronger.”

How can we gain Spiritual resilience in these challenging times of waiting?

Dr. Lynn Moresi, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology at Whitley College wrote recently about the
importance of Spiritual Rhythms – of Silence and Solitude 

Lyn writes:  There is a line in a song by Pink that says “I don’t wanna be the girl who has to fill the silence.  The quiet scares me cause it screams the truth.”]  Silence can do that.  Silence has the ability to open us up to places of truth and honesty that provoke and confront us in ways that sometimes feel uncomfortable and raw.  However, silence can also be the womb of promise that incubates new seeds of hope, sparks fresh perspectives of joy, and opens optimistic future horizons.  That’s because silence is the language of the Spirit, or as Thomas Merton suggests, silence is the place where God’s very presence dwells.[2] 

 Jesus knew the value of silence and solitude.  He withdrew from the crowds in order to be quiet and still before God.  Solitude and silence connected Jesus with the Father and enabled Spirit to touch his heart beneath the expectations, demands, and celebrity of his daily life.  In silence, God infused truth, peace, groundedness and unconditional acceptance into the depth of Jesus being. In silence, Jesus’ heart was stilled and he knew God in deep and intimate communion.[8]

 I wonder, however, how often we intentionally set aside time for silence?  Do we, as Christ-followers, actually follow our namesake in this practice? 

The intentional practice of silence and solitude is a much-needed antidote to the materialistic, noise-filled world in which we live.  Carving out time to quiet the constant din around us and to simply sit in the stillness of silent meditation can be a balm to our harried souls.  We breathe in.  We breathe out.  “[Our] soul waits in silence for God only.”[11]

 “God cannot be rushed.  A sense of hurry or panic undermines our ability to recognize God’s voice.  Our deadlines and timetables are often artificial and often need to be set aside so that we can attend to God, allowing God to speak to us in his time and according to his timetable.”

 Can we echo the Psalmist’s words:

 “Make haste to help me, Lord! Hasten to me, O God! Lord, do not delay!”

Finally, let’s also admit that even this kind of waiting and preparation can be hard to sustain. That we can grow weary in our work, frustrated by the lack of outcomes we see, or distracted by the thousand and one other obligations that fill each of our lives. In short, let’s admit that on any given day, each of us may discover we are a foolish bridesmaid. Given this reality, let’s reclaim church as a place where we can find help and support in our waiting – all kinds of waiting! – and support as we try to live our Christian life. I find it striking that Paul closes this part of his letter to those first-century Thessalonians that found their own waiting nearly intolerable with these words, “Therefore, encourage one another….”

 

Yes, that is our role as the church. We are those who wait for each other – wise and foolish alike. We are those who sit vigil for each other at times of pain, loss or bereavement. We are those who celebrate achievements and console after disappointment. We are those who give hope when hope is scarce, comfort when it is needed, and courage when we are afraid. We are, in short, those who help each other to wait, prepare, and keep the faith. In all these ways, we encourage each other with the promises of Christ. That’s what it means to be Christ’s followers, then and now. And that’s why we long to come together each Sunday, to hear and share the hope-creating promises of our Lord… For now, we do this virtually – and one day, Lord willing face to face!  In the meantime… we wait!