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Showing posts with label The Parables in the Gospel of Matthew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Parables in the Gospel of Matthew. Show all posts
On Sunday, we focused on the parable of the king separating the sheep from the goats found in Matthew 25:31-46. A video of the service, a recording of the sermon and a copy of the bulletin are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)
On Sunday, we focused on the parable of the king separating the sheep from the goats found in Matthew 25:31-46. A recording and a copy of the sermon are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)
Now, as we get started, I have a special little, inspirational video to sort of put us in the right mood.
Now, I know that Black Friday was a couple of days ago and that Kirk Douglas passed away in February, 2020. but do you realize that, since today is November 26, next month this time, Christmas 2023 will be over, which means that we have less than thirty days to put out all the decorations and to buy and wrap all the presents and to bake all the cookies and cakes and, maybe most important of all, to watch over 300 Hallmark Christmas movies. Of course, I understand that if you’ve seen one, you pretty much know what’s going to happen in the other 299. Still, we all know that, when December 25 comes, we have to get everything Christmas-related done or else we’re going to disappoint a lot of people including ourselves. And let’s not forget about Jesus, because it is his birthday for crying out loud. And right now, we have only 28 days, 13 hours and about 30 minutes. Now if that doesn’t put the fear of God in you, I don’t know what will.
And I’ll tell you, that’s really what we’re going to talk about this morning, but not about the coming of Christmas. We’ll start with that next week. Rather, we’re going to finish up this series dealing with the parables found only in the Gospel of Matthew by looking at the final lesson Jesus said to his disciples before they started to get ready for the Last Supper. You see, building on the parable we talked about last week, you know, the one about the five wise young women who were prepared for the bride groom even though he was later than they expected and the five foolish ones who weren’t, in his very last parable, Jesus focused on what the disciples could expect when the Son of Man returns to judge the world. And so, this morning we’re going to talk about judgment, but not the kind that we generally associate with the second coming of Christ. You see, in this particular story, Jesus wasn’t addressing the judgement of individuals, you know, like you and me, instead he described the judgment of the nations; therefore, it has an application a whole lot broader than what’s going to happen to me or to us or to the folks who live across the street. Now that’s what we’re going to look at this morning.
And to do it, we’ll talk about some of the questions I think Jesus answered in the parable, in other words, some of the stuff we already know about the judgment of the nations. And then, we’ll consider one more question that really only we can answer. And hopefully, when we’re done, we’ll have a better idea about how we, as citizens of a nation, can better prepare for the Son of Man’s return. And this morning, as we look at this parable, we’ll be using my own translation of the text rather than the Contemporary English Version, because I think it’s a more accurate translation of the Greek. Now that’s what we’ll be doing.
And we’re going to start by looking at three questions that I believed Jesus answered as he told his disciples about the separation of the sheep from the goats. For example, thanks to what he said, we know when, you know, when the judgment is going to happen. Now this was what the Evangelist Matthew wrote:
And when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he’ll sit upon his glorious throne. And he'll gather together before him all the nations, and he’ll separate them from one another just like the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And the sheep will stand on his right and the goats on his left. [Matthew 25:31-33]
Now that was what Jesus said. And so we know exactly when this judgment is going to take place. Of course, he sort of alluded to it in the parable we looked at last week, you know, the one about the groom who was late to his own wedding reception. But it was also something Jesus actually described in chapter 24 when he said this:
Right after those days of suffering,
“The sun will become dark,
and the moon
will no longer shine.
The stars will fall,
and the powers in the sky
will be shaken.”
Then a sign will appear in the sky. And there will be the Son of Man. All nations on earth will weep when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. At the sound of a loud trumpet, he will send his angels to bring his chosen ones together from all over the earth. [Matthew 24:29-31, CEV]
You see, even though, again according to Jesus, “No one knows the day or hour. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn't know. Only the Father knows.” [Matthew 24:36, CEV] we can be confident that it’s going to happen. This we know.
And when it does, the Son of Man is going to do some separating, you know, after he gathers before him “all the nations.” Now according to Matthew, that was what Jesus said. And even though we’d be more comfortable if he’d used the word “people” or even “the people of the nations,” which, by the way, we see in a lot of modern translations, that’s not what it says in the Greek. The word used isn’t λαός, “people,” but rather ἔθνοι, “nations.” And so, according to Jesus, when the Son of Man returns, the nations will be separated, with some standing on his right and some on his left. This time is coming. And I’ll tell you, this is something else we know, because Jesus told us when all this is going to happen.
But of course, that’s not all we know, because he also told us why, why the separation will be made. In other words, we know exactly why some nations will be regarded as sheep while others as goats. I mean, after establishing the when, just listen to what Jesus said:
The king will say to those on his right, “Come, those who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a foreigner, and you brought me together with yourselves. I was naked, and you put clothes on me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was a prisoner, and you came to me.” Then those on the right will answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a foreigner and bring you together with ourselves or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?” And the king will answer and say to them, “Amen, I say to you, in as much as you did it for one of those who are the least of my brothers, you did it for me.”
Then he will also say to those on the left, “Go from me, those who have been cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you didn’t give me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me something to drink. I was a foreigner, and you didn’t bring me together with yourselves. I was naked and you didn’t clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.” Then they will also answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a foreigner or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t serve you?” Then he will answer them, saying, “Amen, I say to you, in as much as you didn’t do it for one of these who are the least of these, neither did you do it for me.” [Matthew 25:34-45]
Now, again, that’s what Jesus said about the why, you know, about the basis for the separation. And I think it’s important to pause for just a minute and think about what he was suggesting. You see, for Jesus, there would seem to be two kinds of nations. On one hand, there are nations that intentionally help those who are helpless and powerless and needy, and I’m talking about the hungry and the thirsty, the foreigner and naked, the sick and the prisoner. Now those are the ones who’ll inherit the kingdom. On other hand, for the nations who don’t feed and don’t provide drink, those who don’t embrace and don’t clothe, those who don’t offer care and don’t offer comfort, well, according to Jesus, their future isn’t quite so rosy. Now that’s what he says. But I’ll tell you, for anyone who knows the Old Testament, man, this really isn’t a surprise. I mean, the Law is full of commands given by God to his people about providing for the poor and about protecting the widows and the orphans and about caring for the aliens in the land. In fact, according to Isaiah, this kind of stuff was exactly what God expected from his people. The prophet said,
I’ll tell you
what it really means
to worship the Lord.
Remove the chains of prisoners
who are bound unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
Share your food with everyone
who is hungry;
share your home
with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don’t turn away your relatives. [Isaiah 58:6-7, CEV]
Now that seems pretty clear to me. And even though those nations on both the right and the left are actually surprised by the judgment, the reason for the separation seems crystal clear, at least according to Jesus. And so, along with knowing the when, I believe we also know the why.
And as to the how, how will the judgement be executed, well, I’ll tell you, we know that too. Just listen to how Jesus wrapped up the last parable he offered his disciples accord to the Evangelist Matthew:
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but those on the right into eternal life. [Matthew 25:46, CEV]
Now that’s what Jesus said, that the nations on his left will be punished while God will bless those on his right. But before we assume that our ultimate destinies depend on what our nation and its leaders choose to do, I really don’t think that was what Jesus was getting at here. You see, when telling a story or teaching a lesson, Jesus often used what’s called hyperbole, in other words, he’d use extreme language and images to make his point, you know, sort of like when we say “I could kill you” or “I could kiss you” to let another person know they’ve done something that made us angry or happy. Now, that’s hyperbole, and I think that’s what Jesus is using here. But having said that, I also believe he used it to make sure his disciples understood, in no uncertain terms, just how important it was and is for nations to find themselves on the right rather than on the left. As matter fact, for them and for us, both the when and the why becomes even more important, since we know the how.
And with that, the parable ends. But you know, when you think about it, that really leaves one pretty important question unanswered, doesn’t it? I mean, as it relates to national judgement, we know when it’s going to happen. And we know why it’s going to happen. And we know how it’s going to happen. Therefore, we’re left with only this: What are we going to do about it? In other words, what are we going to do since we know that, when the Son of Man comes, he’s going to separate the nations like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he’s going to do regardless of what we believe he should do? And what are we going to do since we know that the basis for the separation won’t be our words or our promises or our intentions much less our wealth and our power and our prestige, but rather it’s going to be grounded in our actual treatment of those who are least able to help themselves, because, as the king will say, “Amen, I say to you, in as much as you did it for one of these who are the least of my brothers, you did it for me”? [Matthew 25:45b] And what are we going to do since we know how God regards the nations that are on this left and on his right? Man, what are we going to do about these words from Jesus Christ, words that we won’t be able to erase no matter how much White Out we use or how creative we are in mistranslating the Greek? You see, whether we like it or not, that’s the question we have as citizens of a nation that we all love and that some of us here this morning also defended. And I’ll tell you, we really need to be answering it right now, because let’s face it, knowing what we know, I don’t think any of us want to hear Jesus say,
“Go from me, those who have been cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you didn’t give me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me something to drink. I was a foreigner, and you didn’t bring me together with yourselves. I was naked, and you didn’t clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me. ...Amen, I say to you, in as much as you didn’t do it for one of these who are the least of these, neither did you do it for me.” [Matthew 25:41b-43, 45b]
You see, in light of everything we know, we need to decide what we’re going to do about it.
And in that way, it’s sort of like us getting ready for Christmas, isn’t it? I mean, for both, we know the when and the why and the how, but at some point, we’re going to have to make a decision about the what, what are we actually going to do about all that we know. And even though this is a decision we need to make together, personally, I really hope we make the right one, because, I don’t know about y’all, but speaking for myself, I sure want to hear the king say to us:
Come, those who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a foreigner, and you brought me together with yourselves. I was naked, and you put clothes on me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was a prisoner, and you came to me. ...Amen, I say to you, in as much as you did it for one of those who are the least of my brothers, you did it for me. [Matthew 25:34b-36, 40b]
On Sunday, we'll focus on the parable of the sheep being separated from the goats, Matthew 25:31-46. The bulletin for the service is below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)
On Sunday, we'll focus on a parable dealing with Jesus separating the sheep from the goats, Matthew 25:31-46. Below are three translations of the passage on which we'll focus.
Matthew 25:31-46 [Contemporary English Version]
31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. 32 The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats.
33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the king will say to those on his right, “My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. 35 When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, 36 and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.”
37 Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, “When did we give you something to eat or drink? 38 When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear 39 or visit you while you were sick or in jail?”
40 The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”
41 Then the king will say to those on his left, “Get away from me! You are under God's curse. Go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 I was hungry, but you did not give me anything to eat, and I was thirsty, but you did not give me anything to drink. 43 I was a stranger, but you did not welcome me, and I was naked, but you did not give me any clothes to wear. I was sick and in jail, but you did not take care of me.”
44 Then the people will ask, “Lord, when did we fail to help you when you were hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in jail?”
45 The king will say to them, “Whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for me.”
46 Then Jesus said, “Those people will be punished forever. But the ones who pleased God will have eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46 [New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition]
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, 35 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, 36 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.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46 [Amplified Bible]
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory and majesty and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him [for judgment]; and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right [the place of honor], and the goats on His left [the place of rejection].
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God, appointed to eternal salvation], inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came to Me [ignoring personal danger].’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.’
41 “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Leave Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (demons); 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me [with help and ministering care].’ 44 Then they also [in their turn] will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will reply to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these [my followers], you did not do it for Me.’ 46 Then these [unbelieving people] will go away into eternal (unending) punishment, but those who are righteous and in right standing with God [will go, by His remarkable grace] into eternal (unending) life.”
November 19 - The Wise and the Foolish (Matthew 25:1-13)
November 26 - Sheep from Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)
On Sunday, we focused on the parable of wise and foolish young women found in Matthew 25:1-13. Two videos of the service, a recording of the sermon and a copy of the bulletin are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)
November 19 - The Wise and the Foolish (Matthew 25:1-13)
November 26 - Sheep from Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)
On Sunday, we focused on the parable of wise and foolish young women found in Matthew 25:1-13. A recording and a copy of the sermon are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)
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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