Bridesmaids

 Matthew 25:1-13

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

This is one of Jesus’ parables of judgement.  It, and others like it, were told by Jesus as he was approaching Jerusalem for the last time.  They’re difficult, and we’d all rather have a passage from Jesus that easily echo’s Bishop Curry’s saying, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.”  But here’s the thing… the parables of judgement and Bishop Curry’s saying are NOT incompatible.  They actually complement one another.  Let me show you.  

Think about a wedding… yours or someone else’s… doesn’t matter.  More specifically think about the people in that wedding party.  Who were they?  Were they professional, exquisitely chiseled wedding actors with years of well honed experience… experience built week after week doing 52 weddings every year?  Were they wedding mercenaries hired to create a flawless wedding experience?  NO!  Of course not!  The wedding party has your brother and your sister in it.  It has your best friend and a college frat brother in it!  And why is that?  Why does it have THOSE people in it… a gathering of people you KNOW who are the MOST likely to do something to make the day less than flawless?  You pick them because you KNOW them!  You LOVE them and you want them to be WITH YOU through the whole day!  

So knowing that, what makes those “wise” bridesmaids “wise” in this parable?  Biblically, being greedy, fearful oil hoarders and uncaring of others is not “wise” behavior so it likely wasn't that.  That means there must be something ELSE that makes them “wise.”  And what about the “foolish” Bridesmaids?  Was it just because they didn’t pack enough oil?  That sounds good except that Jesus is FOREVER forgiving people who fall short of the glory of having enough lamp oil, and every other sort of sin as well so I don’t think that’s what makes them foolish.  That means there must be something ELSE that makes them “foolish.”

Well, it turns out the reason the “foolish” are locked out is right there in the text itself!  The Bridegroom never says they are locked out because they ran out of oil, or didn’t plan well or failed to find a 24 hour Standard lamp oil station. The text says they are locked out because, the Bridegroom didn’t know them.  “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”   

Here’s what I think is going on.  The groom in the story is Jesus and the wedding party is THE wedding party, the Kingdom of God, the Feast of food rich and well aged wines, Heaven, the Sweet By and By, or whatever else you want to call it.  ALSO keep in mind that in first-century Jewish weddings… EVERYONE in town was ALWAYS included in a wedding party… So when Jesus sets this parable at a wedding, Jesus is reminding us that at his eternal wedding party, EVERYONE is invited… all of creation... EVERYONE gets in the door through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection.  The Groom (Jesus) has asked you and me to help light the way for the guests who haven’t arrived yet, which makes us the bridesmaids!  BUT, here’s the KEY to this whole story... Jesus asks you and me to be his bridesmaids and to shine a light into the darkness of this world, NOT because we’ll do it perfectly or flawlessly but for the same reason you asked the people you asked to be in YOUR wedding!  Jesus asks US, simply and ONLY because he LOVES US!  

Jesus, of ALL people, knows exactly who he’s getting in his wedding party!  He knows us!  He knows that he’s getting people who sometimes plan well and sometimes don’t.  Sometimes fear makes us selfish, and other times we’re the most generous people in the world.  The Groom loves us anyway!  With or without enough oil, with or without the shoes that go with your tux (I’m talking about you Andy Ericson!).  But that’s the ONLY reason Jesus wants us in the party.  Would he like us to be helpful and light the path?  Sure!  But that’s completely bonus!  The MOST important thing is that WE ARE WITH HIM at the wedding! 

And THAT’s what made the other bridesmaids truly “foolish.”  They DID NOT BELIEVE the Groom’s love was unconditional.  They somehow, got the FOOLISH notion in their heads that the Groom would ONLY love them if their lamps were full of oil and burning brightly.  So, they FOOLISHLY abandoned the groom to run off and find some oil, which they FOOLISHLY thought was what the Groom cared about and because they did that, it was clear that they really DID NOT KNOW HIM.  They were “foolish” and we are “foolish” when we stop believing that God’s love for us is absolutely unconditional.  We are foolish when we run around in the dark, worrying about the world as if God does not have it all in God's divine hands!  We are foolish when we try to be God or try to MAKE God love us.  No matter what it is, when we think we need to MAKE God love us we are FOOLS, because God has loved us from before we were dust and always will.   

So, my fellow beautiful, blushing, Bridesmaids… Be Wise!  Stick close to the Groom!  Don't leave the party!  Stay confident in God’s love unconditional, unlimited love for you!  Shine your light while you have oil BUT in those times when your oil runs out and life gets really dark out there, remember, it’s not the oil Jesus cares about… it’s YOU.  So stay put, don’t run around like a chicken with it's head cut off.  Just stick with Jesus in those dark times and remember THIS:  The light the groom is carrying… the Light of Christ is more than bright enough to light the path to the wedding banquet for you and for ALL of creation… it is bright enough to see us through any dark and worrisome time of national transition or anything else the world might throw at us.  It is a light that shines in the darkness and there simply is no darkness out there that can overcome it.   Amen.