Reflection on Mark 13:24-37

 

In the year 2017, I wrote the song “Awake, Oh My Soul.”  The lyrics of the first verse are pretty easy to catch on to.  They go, “Awake, awake, oh my soul,” four times in a row.  I know, I know, the song is amazingly elaborate.

But, I wrote this song during a particularly tired time of my life.  Isaac, my son, was newly born and was certainly not sleeping through the night.  Neither were my wife and me.  I do not remember very much from this period of time…at all.  But, one thing that I do remember is writing this song. 

We would sing it as a lullaby to Isaac, but also as a reminder to ourselves, to be awake to God and awake to the other people in our lives.  I did not want to miss chances to love the other children and create special moments with them.  I did not want their only experience of me to be one of a tired, cranky adult. 

I am not certain that I pulled it off very well, but, that was the purpose of the song of the song in the first place; to remind myself to keep awake.  I was so tired, but the bottom line is that I just did not want to miss what Jesus was up to in all the chaos. 

It is unbelievably easy to miss what Jesus is up to after-all.  Even the disciples missed what Jesus was up to and fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane while Jesus prepared for the most important event in his life, and in the life of the world: the cross. 

“Could you not keep awake one hour?” Jesus retorted to the heavy eyed disciples (NRSV, Mark 14:37). 

“Keep awake!” Jesus repeated to his followers again and again.  But, the disciples just could not stay awake. 

Evidently they were not awake when Jesus warned them to look for darkened skies and shaken heavens.  Whenever that happens, you know that God is about to move. So, when the skies did darken and the heavens did shake as Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross, in the gospel of Mark, the disciples were nowhere to be found.  The disciples missed seeing the moment of salvation itself. 

They may not have been literally sleeping.  Who knows?  But, they certainly were not awake to what God was doing. 

I still sing the song every once and a while.  It is a simple tune with simple words that remind me to keep awake.  I sing it, not because I am certain that I can keep awake to all that Jesus is up to in the world, but precisely because I am certain I cannot stay awake, without help that is. 

For example, there are times that I do not understand why a tragedy occurred, and I question what God is up to, if anything.  I wonder if the disciples felt this way as Jesus was lead away to die on the cross? 

Instead, of looking for what God is up to in such confusing times, I am lulled into sleep. 

There are times that the concerns and deadlines of the world overtake everything else, including my time and my attention.  I get so focused that those around me could definitely mistake me for being asleep.  And, in reality, I am very close.  Instead of caring about all that Jesus cares about, I am lulled into sleep.

And, this pandemic is really, really tiring.  Am I right?  How many of you have thought or stated outright, “I am so over this thing!”?  Well, I am too!  And, our exhaustion is lulling us all into sleep in a variety of ways. 

Some of us are lulled into actions that could compromise the health of others. 

Some of us are lulled into inaction, forgetting those who are lonely and need our attention the most…in some way, shape, or form. 

Some of us are lulled into a form of depression that just makes us want to visit the couch eternally. 

Churches are lulled away from proclaiming the gospel when the means of doing so have become difficult. 

We are lulled gently into a sleep that forgets that Jesus is coming and forgets that Jesus stills cares about the world that he promised to save.

Evil would love to lull us into a sleep that forgets about others; that forgets about love, and grace, and forgiveness.  Evil would love to lull us into a sleep that would make us forget completely about Jesus Christ.

But, here is the thing for you to realize as you deal with your own sleepiness.  The disciples did fall asleep.  The disciples were not present at the cross.  They were not present while Jesus accomplished the greatest thing that ever happened to creation: dying so that everyone and everything might have new life; dying that the world might be saved. 

More than that, the twelve missed it as Jesus rose from the dead and showed clearly the good news that death cannot win.  Jesus rose and proved that evil cannot win.   Some women disciples were there to see it, thank God for the women of faith!  But, the twelve were nowhere to be seen the morning of that third day.  Yet, they still were able to, afterward, preach that word of good news that we still hear preached today.  Christ has died.  Christ has risen.  Christ will come again. 

Here is the point.  Jesus does not need us to be awake so that he can do good things for the world.  The disciples were not awake. 

Jesus is who he is.  1 John 4:16 tells us that “God is love.”  Therefore, Jesus is love.  And, Jesus will always be that love, and Jesus will always act out of that love.  That is Jesus’ gift to us, and it is not dependent on whether or not we show up to be with him while he hangs on the cross.  Jesus does not need us to be awake in order to love the world, or love us. 

However, if we want to see the day that Jesus acts, if we want to see Jesus’ love in action, if we want to see just what Jesus is up to in the world…  And, who here would not want to see and understand what Jesus is up to in this world?  Who would not want to see what Jesus is planning on doing about this mess that the world is in?  …If we want to see Jesus in action, and we desire to jump into action with him, then we will keep awake. 

“Keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come,” Jesus reminds us.  

So we will do our best to keep our eyes open.  We will do everything in our power to not be lulled into sleep by the world.  We do this, not to save ourselves, but so that we will be right there when Jesus shows up; ready to walk wherever he leads.

My son Isaac right now does not want to take naps, because he is afraid he will miss something great.  Usually, the great thing that he would be missing during a nap would be doing chores around the house.  Go ahead, nap while you can little buddy!  But, just in case something great actually happens, he does not want to miss it.

And, we are the same way.  We do not want to miss what Jesus is up to.  After-all, it is probably something really, really great.  It is probably very life giving, and we do not want to miss that!  Besides, being awake for one another is what the family of God does. 

We strive to stay awake until Jesus comes, so that we might walk with him as he gives new life to people.  We strive to stay awake so that we might be a part of what Jesus is doing.  Being awake for each other is what the family of God does.

So, I still sing the song.  I sing it while I wait for the Lord.  I sing it so that I remember, even on my worst days, to keep awake.  Jesus is up to something, and like my little Isaac, I want to be there to see it.

Awake, awake oh my soul.

Awake, awake oh my soul.

Awake, awake oh my soul.

Awake, awake oh my soul.

Reflection on Luke 17:1-9 (Thanksgiving Eve)

I will tell you an amazing truth.  God cares about you a lot, and because of that amazing love, you have been gifted beyond measure.  There is so much for which we can be thankful.  But, I do not need to tell you what to be thankful about.  You have certainly shared these things around the dinner table. 

Because this question of thankfulness is on people’s minds, I have been polling people over the past few weeks.  Some of the answers that I have gotten are the ones that we all can appreciate a great deal like family, friends, home, and Christ’s forgiveness. 

However, some answers I heard were not so common answers, but they were still absolutely true; like nice leather shoes, bright paint, Band-Aids, kisses, the couch, tickles, music, and the ever popular AAA battery! 

I confess to you, God forgive me, that I have never in my life considered the AAA battery a gift from God.  I send my apologies to AAA battery makers from around the world.  I in no way have intended to denigrate or forget the gift that God has given us through you and the AAA battery.

As a matter of fact, most things throughout my day completely pass through my hands and past my eyes without me even giving any of them a second thought.  There are so many gifts from God, and I miss almost all of them.

So, I guess that I am saying that I identify well with the nine lepers who do not return to Jesus.  Just to remind you of the story: there were ten lepers who cried out to Jesus, and asked for healing.  In response, Jesus told them all to go show themselves to the priest. 

Why?  Well, presumably because Jesus was on a mission to heal all ten, and the priests are the people tasked with the duty of clearing lepers from their edge of town and edge of society quarantine. 

The ten lepers all listened to Jesus and did what was expected of them. 

And that is all well and good.  I am like that.  I just try to go do what is right.  That does not mean that I actually do it, but in general, I try to do what is good and expected.  If Jesus were to tell me to go show myself to the priests, then I to would get up and do what I am told. 

But, in the process of doing what I am told, I have a tendency to set my eyes exclusively on the task given to me.  Because I do that, I am certain that I probably miss a great deal of things.  I probably miss people along the side of the road who need help.  I probably miss the beauty of the violets in the grass along the way…or this time of year…the beauty of the sun shining through the bare tree branches.  I probably miss a great deal because I become very focused on doing what is right and expected.

However, there is this one leper who has his eyes wide open.  He takes the time to look down at his hands.  When he does, he notices that the leprosy is gone.  He looks down and notices that someone…probably Jesus…has provided him with healing.  He looks down and is immediately thankful.  He runs back to Jesus in absolute gratitude, and Jesus commends the foreigner.

Why is this man so filled with the gift of gratitude from God?  Well, it is probably because he is the one who actually took the time to look and see.  He was not distracted by his task of going to the priest.  He was not distracted by his desire to do right and be right.  Instead, he was awake to what Jesus was up to right here and right now.  And, because he was awake, he was filled with the gift of thanks.

“Get up and go on your way;” Jesus says to the tenth leper, “your faith has made you well.” 

Now wait a second here.  I thought that all the lepers were healed.  You thought so too?  So, I went back and looked, and sure enough, all the lepers are healed.  So, what is Jesus talking about here by saying, “your faith has made you well.”? 

Unless…unless the illness was not the only problem.  Unless, just maybe, part of the problem with the nine is that they were so worried about doing what was right and running off to do it that they missed the true gift, being with Jesus.  The tenth leper’s faith has made him well.  His faith has brought him closer to Jesus…literally closer…he ran back to Jesus.  The man’s thankfulness has brought him closer to his Lord and savior.

And, that is why thankfulness is such a gift.  Being thankful draws us closer to God…or let me rephrase that…being thankful allows us to see just how close our Lord is to us. 

How wonderful that the Lord cares so much about your feet to provide the gift of quality shoes.  How wonderful that the Lord cares so much about your ability to see in the dark with your mini-flashlight, that he provides the gift of AAA batteries.  How wonderful that the Lord cares so much about you every single moment you are allowed the gift of breath. 

Thankfulness is the gift that allows us to see it all.  Thank you Lord Jesus.  Thank you.

Reflection on Matthew 25:31-46

Rebecca was constantly late for class.  And each time she was late she would run into the classroom, yelling to the professor, “Sorry…sorry.  I had to help my grandma get to the doctor.”  And, another time: “Sorry…sorry!  There was a guy who was broke down on the road and I had to stop and help.”  “Sorry…sorry.  I was picking up food for my sick roommate.”

It was constant, but the professor was always forgiving.  How do you get mad at such a virtuous person? 

She was the Good Samaritan on steroids; stopping to help someone along her path every single day.  I have to say that the merciful Good Samaritan left the beaten man and some money with an in-keeper so that he could continue on his trip.  I am not certain that Rebecca would even get to her flight on time to even take a trip.  

Most of us would prioritize getting to class on time because it translates to getting to work on time, and getting projects done on time.  This all leads to a successful career, and a successful bank account.  But, Rebecca had completely different priorities in life. 

For Rebecca, “mercy” was apparently the most important thing in life.  Not that she ever thought about it that way.  Chatting after class one day, embarrassed for being late once again, she chastised herself saying that she needed to get her act together. 

From the world’s point of view, Rebecca was failing; but looking out from the kingdom of God, Jesus would have seen someone who looked very familiar, someone who greeted him on a daily basis, someone who Jesus blessed because she was a person of mercy. 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy,” Matthew 5:7 says.  Maybe that is why the professor was so merciful, because mercy deserves mercy in return.

Just think about that for a second.  Just think about how central mercy is to everything that a follower of Jesus does.  Mercy seeks the lost sheep.  Mercy sees the crowd who hungers.  Mercy recognizes the bleeding woman who needs healing in the crowd even when no one else does.  Mercy can hear the confession of a man dying on a cross nearby, and then declare through the pain and suffering, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  Mercy has eyes that can see those who most need it. 

Mercy begets mercy.  We who have received mercy from Jesus upon the cross now live lives of mercy.  Mercy begets mercy.  Micah 6:8 puts it well, “O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”  For us, who humbly attempt to walk with God, mercy is the central focus of our lives. 

In fact, Jesus makes mercy so much a part of our lives that, much like in Rebecca’s case, we do not necessarily even realize we are doing it.  Just like blindly eating food at the kitchen counter becomes a habit of a stressed and exhausted individual, not that I would know anything about that, showing mercy becomes a habit of everyday life.  It is as if we live in a completely different kingdom than the rest of the world.  Maybe that is why Rebecca seemed to be living on another planet with other priorities.  On Rebecca’s planet, mercy took priority over everything.

And, I swear that Jesus is talking about her when telling the parable of the sheep and goats.  Remember, in that story the king commends his sheep saying, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

And, much like Rebecca, the king’s sheep respond, “‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 

And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Did you happen to notice all that mercy can include?  The good news of mercy is more than just forgiveness, though it certainly includes it, but mercy has a certain sort of concern for the over-all well-being of others.  It cares for the basic needs of water, and food, and clothing, and health, and being in relationship.  Did you notice that being connected with each other is considered by Jesus as being a necessity?  In other words, showing mercy is showing concern for the whole person. 

God cares for you as a whole person.  No matter what our situation, whether it be hunger, or disease, or loneliness, or telling the kids to sit at their computer and get back into their class for the 500^th time, or slowly losing our health little by little every day, we shout out with the Psalmist, “Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.”  After-all, as Psalm 103:8 reminds us, “the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

And, God does show us mercy.  Every day, we are graced with life and new opportunities.  Shall we start our Thanksgiving sharing a little early because I am certain our lives are filled with plenty of merciful gifts from God?  Jesus’ entire life was a life of showing mercy, and providing things for which people could be thankful.

So, what about those who do not show mercy?  It is hard to be a part of the kingdom of mercy if mercy is not allowed to be a part of your life.  It is hard to be a part of the kingdom of mercy if you do not see where Jesus is choosing to show up.

Now, this is the thing that a lot of us miss in our lives of faith, but the New Testament is quite clear about.  Jesus says to his followers in Matthew 26:32: “I am going ahead of you into Galilee.”  He is ahead of them.  He is at their destination.  Jesus is already present, wherever you go.  He is at your destination throughout your day.  Heck, he is even along the path to your destination.  You are never in foreign territory. 

In other words, Jesus is present already wherever we show up.  Jesus is present wherever mercy is possible.

You understand what that means then, right?  When you fail to show mercy, or when you choose to just walk by, you are walking right past Jesus.

“But, I would do anything for Jesus!” people shout.  “If he were right here, I would give him something to drink!”  “If he were right here, I certainly would not be one of the ones who would crucify him!”

Maybe, maybe not.

How many times have people ignored you when you were in need?  Jesus is with you in times of trouble, right?  You truly believe that, right?  So, if it is true that Jesus is with you, then Jesus must be present with others too.  But, that is a hard truth to remember and, unfortunately, it is easy to refuse to show someone mercy.

If they are not the right type of person, we refuse mercy.  If they do not act like we act, we refuse mercy.  If they do not believe the way we believe, we refuse mercy.  If they have burned too many bridges, we refuse mercy.  The world simply does not believe that mercy has the power to do anything.  The world worries about…well…the goods of the world.  But, 1 John 3:17 asks, “whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

But, God’s love does abide in you.  You are a people who have been shown mercy in the shape of a cross.  You have been welcomed into the kingdom, with mercy.  You were welcomed into the kingdom without having to prove yourself in any way.  You were loved into the kingdom. 

Who in this great world would not benefit being loved into God’s kingdom?  Can’t think of a single person?  Neither can I.  There are an infinite amount of people for whom we can welcome into the kingdom by showing mercy.

So, how do people become like Rebecca, so wrapped up in the kingdom of mercy that she does not even realize it?  Well, I guess it probably starts with Jesus showing up wherever you are.  When you see someone struggling in the store with tears in their eyes, you see Jesus with tears in his eyes.  When you see a child who just is not having a good day, you see Jesus, struggling through the day.  When you see fear in the eyes of an acquaintance, you see Jesus facing that fear. 

None of these people have to face this world alone.  Maybe, a sheep of the kingdom… you…will join them, following where your shepherd leads.  And, if you eventually end up where they had planned on being at the beginning of the day, you will tell your professor, “Sorry, sorry.  I was following the King of mercy.”

Reflection on Matthew 25:14-30

 

Could it possibly be that you have been given a worth well beyond anything you could possibly imagine? 

Could it be that all of the voices, including your own, that have said; “You are not good enough;” “You are not smart enough;”  “You do not have enough education;”  “You are too fat;”  “You are too small;”  “You are worthless;” are all evil attempts to keep the gift that you are, buried from the world? 

Could it be that you are loved beyond all measure, and the one who loves you can’t help but give you gifts beyond measure?

Here is the thing; Jesus Christ is like a master who gives his servants some money (called talents in the ancient world) that they get to manage over a good amount of time.  Now, I should not have said that the master gives “some” talents, because that sounds like an insignificant amount.  In reality, just one talent is worth thirty pounds of gold.  So, the guy who got 5 talents has a pile of gold coins that any dragon would want to sleep on.  The amounts given the other two servants were also nothing that you would have turned down. 

The master has been very, very generous.  The master has given the servants great amounts of worth.  The servants are loved beyond measure.

Though the bank has no vault with my name on it with vast amounts of gold coins given from God (and I am willing to bet the bank does not have one for you either) it would still be dishonest to think that we have been somehow shorted by God. 

We have this word from God, these promises from God that Psalm 19:10 says are “more precious than gold, than much pure gold.”  The eternal promises of God are worth so much more than anything in this world.  After-all, all the things we value today and store away in our attics, is just going to be thrown away by our children tomorrow.  Am I right? 

Besides, we do not have quality goods today anyway.  God’s promises are not like our cheap, imported pieces of merchandise that we buy at our bargain stores.  They are not handheld bullet blenders that seemed essential to every kitchen, including yours, just 10 years ago, but now have a fine home in dark reaches of cupboards across America. 

God’s promises are not used up after only a couple of years.  God’s word…God’s promises are a gift that never come to an end.  

Jesus, as Matthew 24:35 recounts, puts everything I said in this way, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” 

And, 1 Peter 1:25 reminds us that “‘the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”

So, what is this word…this good news…that has been preached to us in so much abundance?  What is this promise that is so eternally valuable?  

I will give you a hint; it looks a lot like creating us and shaping us like clay and giving us breathe.  It looks a lot like sending bread from heaven down upon us when we were stranded in the wilderness.  It looks a lot like giving a second chance to a nation that did the unthinkable and forgot to care for the widow, orphan, and poor.  It looks a lot like being nailed to a cross so that we might have forgiveness, and life, and a second chance, and a rebirth.  This word is nothing short of “love;” true love that never ends.

Not only does it not end, in 1 Corinthians 13:7, the apostle Paul continues to say that it is a love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,” and “endures all things.”

It cares desperately for the unlovable.  It cares for the fragile and vulnerable.  It loves the enemy and prays for the persecutor.  It endures even when everyone else has given up.

It truly believes that 2020 can be redeemed, no matter the amount of virus, murder hornets, stay at home measures, toilet paper shortages, election disputes, or tragic deaths.

Not only that, it is a love that believes that you can be redeemed, no matter the sin, or apathy, or tiredness, or discontent, or utter loss, or uncertainly in life.  You have been given an abundance of love, and it is an investment that makes you a very valuable asset to God, indeed.

Not only does this love make you valuable to God, but it also makes you valuable to all of us. Here is what I mean by that: Jesus Christ is convinced that if you are loved, you will love others.  If you are deeply loved, then you will inherently love us.  Jesus staked his life on this idea.  

If you are made of love, you cannot help but be love.  And, if your love is stuffed into a tomb, you will simply roll the stone away.  This love that Christ has given cannot help but shine from the depths of the tomb.  This love cannot help but shine on those in the world around you, shaping their lives.  The love that you show will multiply like loaves of bread and fish and feed a crowd.  This love will baptize a eunuch and let him enter into a loving community even when no one else has let him in.  It is a love that would cause us to give own life for a friend, or for a fellow soldier, or even, imagine this, to save the enemy.  This kind of love multiplies.

You see, the servant who was given the 5 talents comes up to his master, and his master sees that the servant, over time, has produced 5 more talents.  "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master,” the master says.  The same happens to the one who was given two talents.  He produced two more.  It multiplied!  

So, what Isaiah 55:11 had to day is absolutely true: “my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” 

This word of love that has been entrusted to you will be used by God, to achieve God’s purposes.  This is a certainty, as long as it is not buried.

I know that there are lots of reasons that people bury their love.  Sometimes love is buried under a pile of hate.  Sometimes love is withheld because of the complications of the past. Loving your enemy is challenging and evil rejoices in stuffing love into a tomb to rot.  But, Christ rejoices when love is shared anyway.

Sometimes love is buried because we have been hurt by it and we cannot stand to look at it.  Some of us have poured out our hearts on other people, holding our hearts out in the open, only for them to be stabbed.  To love again is to open yourself up to more pain.  So we bury it.  

I get that.  I really, really, get that, but it does not change the fact that we are allowing our love to be buried.  Do not forget that death on a cross and burial in a tomb did not mean the end of love for Jesus Christ.  So, your love has not come to an end either.  Evil rejoices in stuffing love into a tomb to rot.  But, Christ rejoices when love is shared anyway.

Sometimes love is buried because we have been convinced by evil that some people are not deserving of God’s eternal, forgiving love.  They may have the wrong color of skin, or wrong political affiliation, or wrong religion, or wrong morality, or wrong way of living their lives.  Evil rejoices in stuffing love into a tomb to rot.  But, Christ broke open that tomb after three days and was raised to a new life.  In love’s eyes there are no lost causes.  Love wins in the end.  And, love is the gift that you have been given in abundance.

There is a certain joy that comes when you take part in Christ’s abundant love.  It is as if everything is right.  You can feel it.  It is a joy that just surrounds you. 

It is similar to the joy that I had when my grandpa took me fishing.  It is not that he would have refused to loved me if I had chosen stay home and not to go in the boat with him, but when I did, I got to be a part of his deep joy as we tossed in our fishing lines together and shared memories with one another.  It is good to enter into the joy of your master.

And, God’s love is the same way.  If you want to live in the torment of hate and despair, if you desire to live in the grave and ignore love, go ahead, I guess.  You can live in that gnashing of teeth if you want, but it is of your own creation.  As for me, I think that I will bask in the joy that comes when we live lives of love.  And, I invite you to do the same.  You have been filled with love by Christ.  Be that love.  Enter into the joy of your master.

Reflection on Matthew 25:1-13

 

This story is my story in many ways, and it is not because of the number of times I have been a bridesmaid, which is zero, to your relief I am sure.

And, it certainly is not because I have never owned oil lamps.  If fact, I did have an “against the rules” oil lamp in my college dorm room that I would light so that I could study late at night and not wake my roommate.  I do have a rebellious side to me after-all, me and my illegal oil lamp explicitly used for literary purposes.  

I do connect with falling asleep and running out of oil though.  I do not know about you, but I have burned plenty of oil this year.  I have literally burned oil through the night, putting together online worship content and planning worship for the day. 

I have worried about my children, struggled with a full schedule that never seems to stop, and burned plenty of oil in the process. 

And plenty of oil has been burned up in grief over my father when I should have been resting or doing something productive. 

And, I have to admit that there have been plenty of times that I have fallen asleep, my oil burning itself out; not certain of what I have missed in the process or even who I have missed.

There certainly have been phone calls that I should have been making over the past few months that I have not dialed.  Most certainly there have been opportunities to bring a word of good news to someone yearning to hear it that I completely just ignored because my eyes were set straight and I was too wrapped up in my own life and my own concerns to see.  If you were one of those opportunities, I truly ask for your forgiveness.

Like all the bridesmaids in the story, I confess to falling asleep, and sometimes not even realizing that I have done so.  I confess to missing chances to be the hands and feet of Jesus because my eyes were too droopy.   I confess to being one of those bridesmaids who were completely unprepared when Jesus walked by and the chance to join in with Jesus slipped away.

How about you?  How many relationships have you missed out on throughout these last few months?  What chances to be the presence of Jesus to someone have slipped past you? 

One friend admitted that she was unable to get anything done the past few days while waiting for the election results.  Another admitted that they stopped talking to certain people because of who they backed politically.  I do not have either of those specific problems, but I completely understand where they are coming from.  I have definitely been there.  Something has gotten in the way of being there for others, and I suspect that has happened to you from time to time.

When I think on these things, this story from Jesus becomes pretty depressing.  I know, that is precisely why you came to listen today, to hear something completely depressing.  Do not worry, it gets better soon.  But, I cannot ignore the Bible, and neither should you. 

So, here we go: Ten bridesmaids all fall asleep waiting for the bridegroom to arrive.  He was running late and their lamps burn out from the wait.  Five of them failed to think ahead and bring extra oil.  The bridegroom did arrive and when these five women awoke, they realized that they would not be able to light the party along with the others whose lamps had been refilled with oil.  They ran off to buy oil, and when they were finished and sought to enter the festivities, the bridegroom met them at the door and told each of them that he did not know them.  They have missed out.  

That feels a lot like running on the boardwalk to return to the cruise ship, but seeing that it has already pulled away from port and there is nothing that you can do to get to the ship.  It feels hopeless.

Sometimes it just is hopeless.  Sometimes you had an opportunity to help someone, but you were either out of oil or off buying some more, and it is just too late.  You missed the boat.  You missed the feast. 

You missed the chance to walk beside Jesus and bless the poor in spirit, or bless the grieving, or provide someone some much needed peace, or join with those who seek justice and help those who need justice.  Sometimes the chance is gone and that is that.  

So, if it is all hopelessness and depression, if we have missed the boat or missed the chance to walk with Jesus, why does Jesus tell this story?  You just do not tell a story about keeping awake to the possibilities of God, to those very people you believe to be beyond hope.  

No!  You tell these stories to people who are the light of the world.  You tell these stories to people who you trust can become the people of God; the followers of Jesus Christ.  You tell these stories to people who have been forgiven through the power of the cross. You tell these stories to people who have simply forgotten that they have been pulled up from the grave by Jesus into new life.  You only tell these stories to people in whom you have hope.  

Do not forget, all the bridesmaids fell asleep waiting for the bridegroom.  All of us fail to be a kingdom people at some point.  It happens to us all.  But, this story is also told to those of us who feel like we have waited too long to fill our lamps again.  We are not too late!  

You are the forgiven people of God.  You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit with water and a cross of oil on your forehead, forever.  You have a reserve of holy, abundant oil in that little cross that simply cannot run out.  The Holy Spirit has been poured out on you, present with you even now, and wakes you from your slumber so that when the bridegroom, Jesus, walks past you are ready to join him, full of holy oil.  

You do not need to go find some other oil to fill up on.  You do not need to fuel your life with substances, or Reese Peanut Butter Cups, or pleasure, or baths surrounded by candles, or designer cloth masks, or any other thing.  Jesus has already given you the oil.  His Holy Spirit is right there, allowing you to burn bright; allowing your life to burn with Christ's serving love.

Jesus fully desires you to walk with him while he does his kingdom work.  You are his light in a dark time.  You do not have to take part in the darkness. You do not have to be a part of the negativity.  

You are his presence in a time when close, personal presence is discouraged.  You can figure out a way to make it work safely.  You can figure out how to be a source of love to someone who needs it.  

You are his joy when the world grieves its problems and losses.  You do not need to join in the unending chorus of “The world is sunk and won’t get any better!”

As Jesus declared, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (NRSV, Matthew 5:14-16).

Let your light shine!  And, if it feels like you do not have any oil, come my way.  I have been there.  I can help you find where Jesus has put your reserve.