Message: The Oil of Readiness / Mt 25:1-13
According to the church calendar, the first Sunday of Advent marks the start of the Christian year. So, this year, we are down to just three Sundays, including today.
In their last sections, most Christian creeds and faith statements deal with eschatology, which means “the study of last things." Similarly, as the year winds down, the Scripture readings from the lectionary usually focus on the end of the world. A Song of Faith, one of the faith statements of the United Church of Canada, also talks about eschatology in its last section. Here is what it says:
We sing of a life beyond life
and a future good beyond imagining:
a new heaven and a new earth,
the end of sorrow, pain, and tears,
Christ's return and life with God,
the making new of all things.
We yearn for the coming of that future,
even while participating in eternal life now.
Divine creation does not cease
until all things have found wholeness, union, and integration
with the common ground of all being.
As children of the Timeless One,
our time-bound lives will find completion
in the all-embracing Creator.
In the meantime, we embrace the present,
embodying hope, loving our enemies,
caring for the earth,
choosing life.
Grateful for God's loving action,
we cannot keep from singing.
Creating and seeking relationship,
in awe and trust,
we witness to Holy Mystery who is Wholly Love. Amen.”
The doctrine of eschatology can be understood as Christian hope because, for Christians, the end times are not a time of despair or judgment; instead, they are all about the ultimate hope of a new heaven and a new earth. Christian hope is at the heart of Christian living. This is because, as Jesus taught his disciples in his prayer, we are called to live out God's love each day, bringing God's will to earth as it is in heaven. We believe that the ultimate hope of God will be embraced on earth.
However, the troubling news recently often makes us question that ultimate hope. Stories of escalating wars, politicians misusing climate change for politics, and sports figures abusing power, especially the recent shooting in Edmonton, where an 11-year-old child was intentionally shot dead with his father, leave us questioning our humanity.
The early church community, to which the author of today's Gospel belonged, also faced a situation more desperate than hopeful. The city of Jerusalem, anticipated by many as the place for the second coming of Jesus, had been destroyed by the Roman army in 70 CE. As the expected day of Jesus' return was delayed, some believers became ethically corrupt, and false teachings divided the congregation. In particular, some congregations were hurt by those who claimed to have complete knowledge of God's mysteries, including the end times. In addition, Roman soldiers and Jewish leaders persecuted them for political and religious reasons.
In this challenging situation, Jesus' parable of the ten bridesmaids would have served as a kind of compass to show them the way forward. In Jesus' time, a wedding began with a festive procession, the bridegroom and his companions marched to the bride’s house, and from there they took the bride to the groom’s house, where a banquet was prepared. And there, the party continued for about a week. The bridesmaids' role was to greet the groom when he arrived at the bride’s house, escort the bride safely to the groom’s house, and entertain the wedding party with dancing and singing.
In today's parable, Jesus refers to the five bridesmaids who took only their lamps as foolish and the five who took extra oil with their lamps as wise. However, based on the wedding culture of the time, those without extra oil might be considered wiser because they seemed to have more knowledge and experience with the wedding. Because the groom typically came to the bride's house in the evening, they probably thought the oil in the lamp would last for the wedding procession. Also, the bridesmaids were supposed to sing and dance during the wedding party, so carrying an extra jar of oil would have been cumbersome. Moreover, they likely believed that if they ran out of oil, they could buy more later since the oil vendors in the area usually stayed open late during big celebrations like weddings.
But then, something unexpected happened. The bridesmaids, who acted like they knew how the wedding would go, were caught off guard by the groom's arrival at midnight. Their oil ran out, and their lamps became useless. They rushed to buy more oil, but it was too late.
If all the bridesmaids had acted the same, the wedding would have been ruined. Fortunately, the wise ones brought extra oil, allowing the bride and groom to proceed in the dark. In this regard, those who thought they had everything figured out were the foolish ones, and those who prepared without assumptions were the wise ones.
In verse 10, the wise bridesmaids are called "those who were ready (αἱ ἕτοιμοι)." The term "being ready" in the Bible has an important meaning. The Hebrew word, כון (kavan), linked to the Greek term in today's text means not only to prepare but also to set up or establish. This word is especially used for God's creation and preservation. God is the one who prepared or established this world. The prophet Jeremiah says "It is he (God) who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom" (Jeremiah 51:15).
Simply put, "God prepares" means that God created and protects the heaven and the earth for us. The Bible does not say this world was created by chance; God is a preparer, creating and preserving a beautiful world for all of creation to live in love and peace.
In this context, human preparation aligns with God's creation and providence. In the Bible, humans are called to bring God's creation to completion as a world of love and peace. Matthew quotes Isaiah, saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Matthew 3:3)
Some philosophers call humans "thrown beings." The idea is that we are lonely, isolated beings who have been thrown into this world without purpose. For those who suffer from loneliness, that makes a lot of sense. For those who have never felt loved by their parents or family, who have been emotionally abused from a young age with words like, "You were never meant to be in this world," or "It was not in my plan to have you," the world can be an empty, dark, chaotic place.
However, we believe that all life is a gift from God. God prepared for our birth. God created this world for us. God has preserved this world for us. God has invited us to prepare together to fulfill God's ultimate hope.
In Korean, the word “Sang-Myung” for life means "command to live" or "life by command.” Our lives were never thrown into the world by chance. All living beings are born into this world by God's command. Therefore, we have a clear purpose for living — to prepare, build, and establish the Kingdom of God, where peace and unity are realized.
The bridesmaids in today's parable all had lamps, which means that everyone in this world has their own lamp to light up a dark place. As humans created in the image of God, we have the potential to cooperate in God's new creation.
But, it is up to each of us to prepare the oil. This oil is not something we can receive from someone else. We have to prepare for the end times. Without oil, the lamp is useless.
So, what is the oil we need to prepare? Today's text does not specify, but Jesus talks about it in the two parables that follow today’s passage. According to the lectionary, we will reflect on those parables in the next two Sundays, so stay tuned.
As long as we have oil, there is no reason to fear the end times. Some people may try to unsettle us with the doctrine of eschatology but do not be fooled. We were given a promised future, and the kingdom of God is already open among us. So, let's live faithfully in the present — be more loving, kinder, and more joyful and share the Gospel of hope with those in despair. Then, we will find ourselves living in the kingdom of God like a wedding feast.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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