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Sermon November 12, 2023
The Rev. Canon Robert Schiesler
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Track 1, Proper 27
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp27_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__November_12__2023
Video: https://youtu.be/E-OMz9X4Y3g
As we approach the end of this liturgical year and prepare for the season of Advent, we encounter several parables which all point us to signs of a final time and coming of the Lord Christ. Today we hear the parable of the bridesmaids, wise and foolish. These details reflect the wedding customs of the time where the groom would come to the bride's house to take her, accompanied by many friends, to her new home, usually in the twilight of the day.
This uniting of groom and bride - the ultimate symbol of marriage - would then begin the festive celebration lasting several days.
In this elaborate scenario, all were to be prepared for the occasion that would occur at the groom's discretion. All were to light the way for the entourage. The wise ones were prepared for the unexpected; the foolish ones were drowsy and unprepared. These were the ones who eventually found themselves excluded from the feast for they had disregarded and disrespected the wedding party and guests; thus, Jesus' admonition: "Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." Mathew gives us this parable to recognize that, like generations past, we too are to prepare for the Lord Christ whose return in glory is expected at any time. Jesus' call to "stay awake" is a reminder to take seriously the reality of of the arrival of the Holy One who comes not only in glory but also in judgement, holding humanity accountable for and with one another.
Mother Theresa once said: "Do not look for Jesus away from yourself. He is not out there; He is in you. Keep your lamp burning and you will recognize Him." This quote is illustrated in her retelling a certain encounter. A man approached Mother Theresa one day and asked, " Mother, I want to do something great for God but what should I do? Start a school, become a missionary, build up a non-profit organization?" She looked at him closely, with kindness in her eyes and responded: "What you need to do is make sure that no one in your family goes unloved." The "your" referred to the entire human family in that she knew that everyone is connected to someone and how deeply we all yearn to be loved and to love, despite our propensity to hold back and hold in, such feelings.
We never know when we will encounter need in others, a need for loving recognition or a physical or emotional need and being prepared as the wise way to live accordingly will certainly produce stress as we live into a future unknown and unsure. Our temptation is to always jump ahead, ready for the future but escaping from the present. Someone else will decry the proliferation of mass shootings in our nation; someone else can hold the memories of children slain in their minds and hearts. Someone else can agitate for adequate health care for all.
Someone else can go beyond a prayer for the sake of our indigenous sisters and brothers who live on impoverished reservations. Another generation can grapple with climate destruction and entrenched racism and other "isms" of our own time.
The truth is that God is not waiting for the end to come into our lives. God comes to us in the present, in moments of opportunity, encounter and challenge. Being awake, aware, preparing and producing means that we are practicing what we hold as true. Being prepared is not a once and done deal; being prepared means we are hearing God's Word, partaking in God's meal, being open to the presence of God in the high and low of humanity, in the tears shed and in the joy sung out as we follow Jesus daily, staying awake, alert, attentive and ready.
There is an old story of the farmer who has had a difficult day indeed, with a poor day of selling at the market and then a broken wheel on his cart and then a rainy mist descending on him as he trudges home. He is so distraught that he cannot adequately pray so he says, "Lord, my memory is stuck and I cannot recite a single prayer, so I will do this; I will recite the alphabet five times very slowly and deliberately and you, to whom all prayers are known, can put the letters together to form the prayers that I cannot remember." And so he did and reached home where he hugged his daughter and then lovingly tended to his sick wife, despite his bad day and his fatigue. And the Lord remarked to the angels: "This is simply the best prayer I have received this day because it came from a heart that is simple, sincere, hopeful, kind and always loving."
"Keep awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
Who can say that the day and the hour might not be tomorrow and if it is not, we shall be better people if we live as though it could be!
