Now, I assume that everybody has seen the title of this morning’s message: The Wise and the Foolish. Of course, it’s based on the story we’ll be looking at this morning. And this really shouldn’t be a surprise. I mean, for the last month and a half, we’ve been looking at a lot of stories offered by Jesus that are found only in the Gospel of Matthew. For example, we’ve already talked about the parables of the wolves and the fig trees and the parable of the weeds with the wheat. And we’ve already looked at those parables that compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a treasure that’s been hidden and a merchant who’s searching and a fishing net that’s gathering as well as a couple that said the Kingdom was like two debtors and like laborers in a vineyard. And then last week, we focused on a parable about two sons that showed how, when push comes to shove, what we say is a heck of a lot less important than what we actually do. Now that’s what we’ve covered thus far. And as you might remember, the title of each of these six messages was based on the story Jesus taught. And that’s also the case this morning.
But I’ll tell you, I think the title “The Wise and Foolish” is also really appropriate considering what we’ll be celebrating in the next four days, and of course, I’m talking about Thanksgiving. You see, based on my own personal experience, I believe as we get ourselves ready for this one, single day, we can be really wise or incredibly foolish. And this I know, because, to be completely honest, over the last twenty years, I’ve been foolish at least twenty times. Let me explain.
Now, y’all may not know this, but since Maggie was little, I’ve been the one to prepare our Thanksgiving dinner. And although that may sound like a big deal, it really isn’t, at least not in terms of what I actually cook. You see, the only stuff I really do is pretty basic. I mean, I make a sage stuffing like my mom used to make, and I shove it into the turkey. Then I put the turkey into either an oven or a roaster and let it go until that little plastic thing pops out. And while it’s roasting, I peel, boil and mash a bunch of potatoes. Now, that’s what I do on Thanksgiving, and none of it’s exactly brain surgery.
As a matter of fact, the only thing that’s really challenging is getting everything ready to be cooked before the Lions kick-off on Thursday afternoon. But it’s right there where I’ve been foolish for about twenty times. You see, each year, I assumed that I had plenty of time to get what I needed and so waited until the last minute to actually buy the very limited stuff I needed to prepare. For example, I’ve spent about twenty Wednesdays before Thanksgiving at either Food Lion or Krogers or Walmart buying onions and celery and often sage for the stuffing. And I’ve got to tell you, I’ve roasted more than my share of twenty-five pound turkeys for the three of us because those are the only ones left. And usually I’m grabbing one of the last bags of russets in the bin, and I’m talking about the one that has some of the potatoes already sprouting. Now, that’s been the standard Thanksgiving around the Rudiger house, right along with some very sincere promises made to both God and Debbie (not necessarily in the order), that I’m going to be smarter next year, because I never want to go through this nonsense again. You see, I’ve discovered a very simple truth; it’s a whole lot better to be wise than foolish.
And you know, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning as we consider a parable about some young women who were foolish and some other young women who were wise. And to do that, we’re going to read the whole parable that Jesus shared with his disciples. And then we’re going to look at why some of the women were foolish while others were wise. And then hopefully by the end, we’ll have something we can apply in our own lives for more than just for one day a year.
And like I said, we’ll start by focusing on the parable itself. Now this was what Jesus said to his disciples:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happened one night when ten young women took their oil lamps and went to a wedding to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps, but no extra oil. The ones who were wise took along extra oil for their lamps.
The groom was late arriving, and the young women became drowsy and fell asleep. Then in the middle of the night someone shouted, “Here's the groom! Come to meet him!”
When the women got up and started getting their lamps ready, the foolish ones said to the others, “Let us have some of your oil! Our lamps are going out.”
Those who were wise answered, “There's not enough oil for all of us! Go and buy some for yourselves.”
While the foolish ones were on their way to get some oil, the groom arrived. The five who were ready went into the wedding, and the doors were closed. Later the others returned and shouted, “Sir, sir! Open the door for us!”
But the groom replied, “I don't even know you!”
So, my disciples, always be ready! You don't know the day or the time when all this will happen. [Matthew 25:1-13, CEV]
Now that’s what Jesus said. And I’ll tell you, based on these words, I think, at least for him, it’s pretty clear what’s foolish and what’s wise.
I mean, according to the parable, it’s foolish to assume, because often that leads to procrastination and failure. In other words, it’s foolish to do what I’ve done every Thanksgiving for the last twenty years, to put off doing some of the stuff I need to get done before the day comes, because I’ve convinced myself I had plenty of time. And you know, that’s also true when you’re talking about doing what we know we’re called to do as Christians. For Jesus, making a whole bunch of assumptions is just, plain foolish, because it can lead to procrastination and failure.
And that’s certainly something we see in the example offered by Jesus in this parable. I mean, remember, he said,
...ten young women took their oil lamps and went to a wedding to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps, but no extra oil. The ones who were wise took along extra oil for their lamps. [Matthew 25:1b-4, CEV]
Now that’s what they did, and it turned out badly for half of them. But I’ve got to admit, to be completely honest, I can sort of understand why the ones he called foolish did what they did, because I do that kind of thing all the time. I mean, just think about it. They must have assumed that the groom would come on time, right? And for that reason, they must have assumed that they had plenty of oil, right? And because they already had as much as they needed, they must have assumed that they'd have a much better time at the party without worrying about all that extra oil they'd brought but didn’t use, right? Now that's what I think they probably assumed. And everything would have been frozen peaches and cream, if those assumptions had been accurate. There was just one problem; they weren't. The groom was late. And those five girls ran out of oil for their lamps. And as they were scrambling around trying to get some more, they were locked out of the party. Sorry about your luck. Talk about your epic failure. You see, they were foolish, because they assumed.
And you know something, so are we when we make the same kind of assumptions about our time and our abilities and our means. Doing that kind of thing is foolish, because often it leads to nothing but procrastination and failure. I mean, just think about it. We all know what we’re supposed to be doing, right? Man, we talk about it all the time. Christ told us to love God and to love our neighbors: period, close the book, Elvis has left the building. This we know. And how can we show love to our neighbors? Well, that’s not rocket science either, because Jesus tells us what that is in the parable we’ll talk about next week, and I’m talking about the passage that follows the one we’re looking at today. You see, Jesus said that we can show love to our neighbors by feeding the hungry and by providing drink for the thirsty. And we can show love by welcoming the stranger and by clothing the naked. And we can show love by caring for folks who are sick and by visiting people in prison. That’s what Jesus said; therefore, we already know exactly what to do, right? And so here’s the $64 question: why are we, why am I not doing those things today? Good question. And the answer, well, I think for a lot of us it’s all about some of the assumptions we make. You see, I believe we assume that we’ll have plenty of the time to show some of this love tomorrow, right? In fact, we’ll actually be better able to do the stuff we know Jesus wants us to do when we’re not fighting our way through the holidays, right? And let’s get real, we’ll certainly have the means, you know, the money, as soon as the Christmas bills have been paid, right? Now, I believe that’s often what a lot of honest and sincere Christians assume, and I’ll tell you, all those assumptions are fine, that is until they’re not. And something happens we didn’t expect. And our situations change for the worse. And our options disappear. And then, regardless of the sincerity of the promises that we’ve made or the honest intentions that we have (and I believe for the most part, they are sincere and they are honest), when it comes to doing the kind of things that Christ has called us to do, well, we’re no longer able to do them. And that’s a real shame. You see, just like those five young women discovered after they’d run out of oil, in life, taking a Mulligan just isn’t an option. And for that reason, it’s just plain foolish to assume, because it can lead to procrastination and failure.
But of course, that’s not the only thing we can take from this story, because, for as foolish as assuming is, Jesus also reminds us that it’s wise to prepare, And I’ll tell you, that just makes sense, because the better prepared we are, the better able we’ll be to face the problems that might come up in the future. And I’ll tell you, I think that was shown by the other five girls whom Jesus mentioned in the story. You see, instead of assuming that everything would just work out the way they expected, these young ladies made a pretty important decision and took some pretty definitive action. I mean, they decided that they weren’t going to assume that the groom couldn’t be late; therefore, they already had all the oil they needed. Instead, they prepared themselves for the possibility that he might be late by purchasing more oil than they needed. And so, when the groom was delayed, they were ready. And when he finally came, they were able to wake up, grab their lamps and start to party down. Their preparation led to success.
And I’ll tell you, I think even Jesus knew that the story applies to us, because at the very end, he said, “
So, my disciples, always be ready! You don’t know the day or the time when all this will happen.” [Matthew 25:13, CEV] You see, there’s really no reason why we should be like any one of those five foolish girls. Instead, as it relates to what God has called us to do, we can reject some of those assumptions we just love to make, you know, the ones that lead to procrastination and failure. For example, we can reject the assumption that we’ll always have time, because let’s face it, we won’t. Good night nurse, whether it involves Jesus returning to this world or us departing from this mortal toil, the time we have to do what we’ve been called and empowered to do is going to come to an end. Our time is limited. And as to our abilities, we’re a pretty mature bunch here this morning. Let me ask you, how many of y’all are in the same physical shape you were in, let’s say, thirty years ago? I’m not. Is your memory as good as it was when you were twenty-five? Mine isn’t. And even though we’ve acquired a whole pile of wisdom along the way, right now, have we done all those things we wanted to accomplish when we were young, looking into the future? I haven’t. Let’s just say what we’re able to do changes as time passes. Our abilities are limited. And when you’re talking about means or maybe better, money, personally, now I’ve got a daughter in college. My means are limited, and I believe so are yours. And I haven’t even mentioned the rising price of everything, including healthcare. I’m telling you, to assume that our time and our abilities and our means will always be adequate to do what we need to get done, man, that would be foolish, wouldn’t it? You see, we need to reject the assumptions.
But that’s not all we can do. Once we’ve removed the rose colored glasses, we can start taking action right now, you know, just like those wise girls did in the story. Because, I’ll tell you, that’s the best way to be prepared for the future. For example, at this moment, we’re all above ground, right? Then let’s make use of the time we’ve been given to do something that brings glory to God and shows love to our neighbors. And even though we may not be as strong or as sharp as we once were, we can still call someone who might be a little lonely. And we can still offer help to a family that’s dealing with a loss. Man, we can still do something as simple as to smile when we pass someone on the street. And I’ll tell you, those are some of the things we can do that won’t cost us a single dollar. Man, we can use what we have right now. You see, we can take the time and the talents and the money we have at this moment and use them as best we can to make the world around us a better place. In other words, when you get right down to it, it’s just plain wise to prepare, because that’s the best way for us to succeed regardless of what happens in the future.
And I’ll tell you, that’s what I decided to do this Thanksgiving. I mean, for the first time in twenty years, I bought my turkey three weeks ago, a nice fourteen pounder. And the onions and the celery and the sage are ready to be stuffed. And the potatoes, well, let me tell you, there’s not a single sprout in the bag. Hallelujah, it’s all been done. Of course, Maggie threw me a little curve last weekend. You see, since her boyfriend will be joining us, she asked if I would make one of his favorites, cheesy potatoes. But thanks to the SPC Family Cookbook and Mary Fagley’s Potato Casserole, man, doing that won’t even be a speed bump. I honestly think, with this particular Thanksgiving, I’m actually showing more wisdom than foolishness.
And you know, that can also be true for all of us as we go about living our Christian lives. I mean, it’s foolish to assume, because that often leads to procrastination and failure, while it’s wise to be prepared, because that’s the best way to succeed regardless of what might happen in the future. You see, this we know, because Jesus told a parable about the wise and the foolish. And next week, we’ll tie this series up with the last parable Jesus told in the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the sheep from the goats.
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