May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O God, my Rock, and my Redeemer. Amen. Psalm 19:14
“…as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord,” saith Joshua (Joshua 24:15).
These words stayed with me as I encountered the Gospel pericope for today, and for a moment that seemed to last for many days and for many nights, I wondered what God was trying to reveal. Being a trained priest, I consulted commentaries to no avail. I read sermons to no avail. I read historical documents, poems, and meditations to no avail.
And lastly, as I walked the corridors of St. Paul’s, the word, waiting, came to me.
The message is in the waiting.
It is in the in-between.
It is in the unknown.
This morning, Jesus tells the parable about ten bridesmaids. And according to the customs of first century Palestine, the scene of this parable is the groom’s house.The groom had gone to determine and sign the marriage contract with the bride’s father. He would then return with the bride and the wedding festivities would begin.
So, the bridesmaids brought their lamps. Five brought oil with their lamps. Five did not.
And so, they waited and they waited, and they waited. The wait was longer than anticipated and they fell asleep. Around midnight, the shout went out. “Look! Here is the bridegroom (Matt 25: 6). Those that had oil began to prepare, and those that did not have oil began to panic.
At this point, we can easily distinguish between the foolish and the wise. There are many avenues to explore, and yet the Spirit speaks, “The message is in the waiting.” It is in Joshua’s words, “…as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” ((Joshua 24:15).
At present, we are indeed waiting. We are living in between the first and second coming of Christ Jesus. The world is a mess. We see and experience what humans can do to each other. It may appear that darkness is winning the day--so much so that the beauty of life is hidden.
Some of us may have a damaged spirit, a soul hurt. We may be dealing with illness, hunger, or the burden of appearing okay. Many things come upon us in this life.
Sometimes the oil in our bodies runs so dry that we do not have the strength to fill it. Therefore, we, the lamp that is to add light to the world may dim or go dark. The foolishness would be to give oneself over to the darkness instead of crawling to the light. The five bridesmaids without oil had nothing to fill their lamps and went running to purveyors of oil at midnight. They did not prepare. And we do not know why they did not bring oil for their lamps. Did they not believe the bridegroom would return. Were they too busy with the cars of life to gather some oil? We will never know, and we do not need to know. Yet we must ask ourselves, “Do we search for oil only when it is needed, or do we keep ourselves filled?
For this waiting—in a society that is so unforgiving---can rob the soul and cause us to run out to those who promise to make us feel better with cars, clothes, jewelry, houses and the like…and in that day when we realize that we are still empty inside, we come to that point of crying out to Jesus. “How long O Lord?” Are you even there.” And, lo and behold the bridegroom responds, “Yes, I am.
In me, is your perseverance.
In me, is your light.
In me, is your oil.
In me, is your joy.
In me, is your kindness.
In me, is your comfort and rest.
In me, is your life.
In me, is your love, a love the world cannot give. Purveyors of worldly goods cannot fill your soul.
The love that I provide is so great that in this waiting…my children cannot help but cry out, “…as for me and my house, we will love and serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).”
“The love that I provide,” saith Jesus, “is love that brings glory to God, expressed in
“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me (Matt 25: 35-37).”
In this waiting, in this in-between worship the goodness of the Lord. Love and serve the Lord in all that we do and the oil within will endure and never run dry.
“For I am your sustenance,” saith the Lord. “The oil of me is endurance. The oil is prayer. Worship. Scripture. Study. Community and Love. I am the Christ. My chamber is ready. Come to the feast and Partake of my body and Drink of my blood.” Amen.