THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A

[cappie]

We’re not always good at waiting.

The parable Jesus tells is about a wedding feast and waiting.

In Jesus’ day, a wedding ceremony would usually be held in the bride’s family home. The wedding feast afterward would be held in the groom’s family home and would start at night. It lasted about a week, not just one night, so a lot of preparation had to be done.

When the feast was set to begin, the groom would come get his bride, and together they would walk to the wedding banquet with the bridesmaids, who had one job: accompany the bride and groom to the banquet, holding lamps to light the way for them to walk to the feast. That’s it. Provide the light. At that time, there are no streetlights, no electricity, no headlights. These lamp-bearing bridesmaids have just one job, bring the light.  

Except, in the parable, only half of the bridesmaids were prepared to wait for the bridegroom. The other five weren’t.  Eventually, they do, but by the time they arrive, the door has been locked, and for those five bridesmaids, it’s a case of too little, too late.

In church tradition and biblical language, the bridegroom is a symbol of Christ, and the bridegroom’s arrival, a symbol of the Second Coming of Christ, when he will bring the faithful to the heavenly banquet, a great feast, a party that will last not just a week, but for eternity.

We’re still waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. Whether we’re waiting for the Second Coming of the Lord, waiting to meet our Lord when we die, waiting for the Lord to come to us with the help we need, the answer we’re praying for, the comfort we’re looking for, we are still waiting. How are you at waiting?         

 Be prepared to wait, says the Lord.

 Waiting is not doing nothing, and having to wait for the Lord doesn’t mean the Lord is doing nothing. We can wait, trusting that God is always doing something.  God is at always at work, doing “far more than we can ask or imagine,” according to Ephesians 3:20.  We can be ready, like wise bridesmaids with our one job of bringing the light, or we can be fools, unprepared to do our part.  We may need to wait in order to become aware of what God is doing. We may have to wait   while God is preparing the feast for us, preparing to greet us, to welcome us.

Waiting doesn’t mean inactivity. Having oil at the ready, being prepared, comes from doing what we’re told to do, being obedient to God, being formed by God’s power at work in us. So, how do we keep this oil on hand? By some practices and disciplines that are the same for all of us—prayer, reading the Scriptures, sharing worship with other Christians, caring for people and the planet, it’s spending time with family,  it’s using what God gives us to keep us going, to recharge, to stay connected with God and God’s love.

 Do you see why the wise bridesmaids can’t just share their oil? Yes, sharing is a Christian virtue, but some things just don’t work that way.  You can have a vibrant and sustaining prayer life, but you can’t take another’s place in a friendship with God. You can be influenced or inspired by someone else’s peace of mind and confident trust in the Lord, but they can’t just give you some of theirs. We have to get that oil for ourselves.

And yes, as much as we don’t like it, time does run out. You can’t say forever, “Someday I’ll spend time with my children, my spouse.” “Someday I’ll get back to church, back to reading the Bible, back to praying.” “Someday I’ll say a prayer of thanks to God.”  or make that phone call, write that letter”  Someday, there will be a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”

There is such a thing as too little, too late. We don’t like it, but there it is.

But here is the good news: we’re still here hearing this parable. It is not too late. And more good news: Jesus is not just the thrower of the party. He’s not just the bridegroom. He’s the oil dealer too, ready to fill your flask. Just ask. For yourself.

 

[BarbTherese]