"Be Ready"
a condensed version of the sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, November 9, 2008 at Union Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Somonauk, Illinois.

PODCAST of "Be Ready"

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one of those "punny" buttons or t-shirts

"Be Alert!"
(The world needs more lerts.)

This week’s Bible reading form Matthew 25:1-13 is about being alert . . . being prepared . . . keeping awake.

For what?

• For a celebration?
• For Jesus’ second coming?
• For an opportunity to spend time with Jesus?
• For something else?

• Does it teach that folks who haven’t been prudent are going to be locked out of God’s eternal banquet?
• Does it teach that those who have been prudent should not share with those who have been?
• Does it teach that those who have enough shouldn’t share with those who don’t have enough?
• Does it teach about wearing "punny" t-shirts or buttons to warn everyone to be prudent?
• Does it teach about keeping our eyes open - expecting God to 'show up' -- whenever and wherever that may be?

Jesus taught the disciples. Jesus lived with and among the people. Jesus performed miracles.

Man – this guy is everywhere in the New Testament.

But now, Jesus was gone.

He died

Many saw him after the resurrection.

Many didn’t

And then he was gone.

And the people expected him to come back – soon. Very soon.

Time passed. More time . . . more time.

Jesus didn’t come back.

The people started writing down the stories of Jesus – they had been preserved through the oral tradition of the time. The written stories started to be collected into larger groups of stories. Some of the collections were lost. Others survived. Of the collections that survived and were deemed ultimately to be authentic (The four gospels) Only the book of Matthew contained this parable – the parable of the 10 bridesmaids.

Before I go any further – let me just make a note about the title. I called it "The Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids." In other translations it is known as "The Parable of the 10 Virgins."

Why the difference?

Context.

The Greek word translated as either ‘bridesmaid’ or ‘virgin’ is ‘parthenos.’ It appears another time in Matthew – at the beginning of the chapter – when it is used to refer to Mary – using a quote from Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

A little translation issue there, too. The word translated as ‘virgin’ in Isaiah is the Hebrew word "Almah" and it means "young woman."

And "Parthenos" also means "young woman"

Depending on the context.

In Isaiah the passage is referring to the King’s wife. – not a virgin

In today’s parable the passage is referring to bridesmaids – virgins

The quote about Mary – using Isaiah – in the context of Isaiah – means "young woman."

Today "bridesmaid" is the best translation for the word.

And "bridesmaid" is where we’re headed back to.

The Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids.

The writer of Matthew remembered this parable and thought is was important enough to include. Why? Likely because Matthew was written for a Jewish audience – and that audience must have been weary in waiting – because Jesus hadn’t yet returned.

So here’s a parable to encourage the readers to be alert because though Jesus was delayed – nobody knows when he was coming.

The setting of the parable was familiar. In Hebrew custom, weddings went like this:

The families of the bride and the groom agree that there will be a wedding

The groom fetches the bride for the ceremony and a celebration that lasts for days.

During that celebration the bridesmaids look good – and they have a chance to be noticed by possible bridegrooms for themselves. The fewer bridesmaids at the wedding – the better the odds for them.

The part of the parable where the 5 bridesmaids with enough oil refusing to share with the ones without enough goes right to that ‘competition.’

In our context it brings up a different question, though – "Why didn’t they pool their resources – have two bridesmaids on each lamp? There would have been enough light!"

We’ll get back to that. Though it is there for us – it isn’t one of the questions the early church would have asked.

What they would have been asking was "When is Jesus coming back? How long do we have to wait?"

The answer – I don’t know. But don’t be caught unprepared.

Of course – there’s much more to that. The arrival of Jesus -- is it an epic event with Jesus standing in the middle of the clouds with folks flying through the sky? Is it a mighty warrior coming down to fix things once and for all? Is it something we ultimately don’t understand?

It’s possible that we might busy ourselves so much reading books and creating timelines and looking for all the signs that we might just miss the many ways that God is here – now – still speaking to us today.

And I think there’s a part of this parable, not applicable to the early church, that is for us today.

It does raise the question of sharing. We could take the ‘wise bridesmaids’ example and keep everything we’ve got for ourselves – or we could instead decide to pool what we do have to make a difference. What would have happened if the bridesmaids had pooled their resources? Wouldn’t they all have gone on to the celebration?

How do we balance our abundance with the needs of others? Is it only what we do today – in pledging our financial giving to our church and to our church’s wider mission for the coming year? Or is it more than that? As we decide to pledge more to support our congregation this year, what more do we also pledge to helping to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities and in our world?

We don’t know when Christ will return – but he is here.

We don’t always understand what God means – but God is still speaking

The time is now to hear – to act – to be ready.

Close with prayer.

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