Loading...Sermon November 12, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Pentecost 23, Year A, Proper 27
//lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp27_RCL.html
Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:13
Please be seated.
A couple of years ago when I was in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, we visited the Carnegie Museum. Mostly my family wanted to see the new exhibit of dinosaurs. While there, we toured much of the rest of the museum. The American Indian exhibit caught my eye. I wandered a bit and then was surprised and happy to see a video about the experiences of people who are Mohawk and were iron workers, building many tall buildings in the city of Pittsburgh. What delighted me so, was the worker interviewed for the video was Jake Swamp. I never knew that Chief Jake Swamp was an iron worker and I enjoyed hearing him tell his story.
Chief Jake Swamp of the wolf clan of the Mohawk at Akwesasne died in 2014. I first met him in the 1990s through a friend. Chief Swamp had founded the “Tree of Peace” Society outside of the Akwasasne lands of the Haudenosaunee nation. We know them as the Iroquois Nation. Chief Swamp traveled the world planting trees and telling the story of how the Haudenosaunee people came together in peace. He came to Harrisburg one year and planted a tree at the then Harrisburg Middle School.
A brief synopsis of the story of the Haudenosaunee nation tells how leaders came together to encourage the five peoples living in what is now New York State, Canada and northern Pennsylvania to stop fighting. They were encouraged to come together and be “united in one heart,” as Chief Swamp said when he told the story. The tribes formed a Confederacy with a document that influenced our own Constitution. As part of this ceremony of formation, they were urged to bury their weapons of war beneath a white pine, which has 5 needles bound together tightly.
Chief Swamp traveled the world, usually planting these White pines if they were appropriate for the environment. He was spreading the message of peace. He was spreading the message of unity. He was spreading the message of being bound together in one heart. He was spreading the message of caring for all of creation.
Annual meetings would be held at the Tree of Peace Society in the Adirondack mountains of New York state. The focus was on building peace and relationships to foster peace. Chief Swamp was also part of a delegation to the United Nations in 1993. He was instrumental in making sure the Thanksgiving Address we read this morning was translated and made available to the public. He and his wife worked with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. He dedicated his life to peace and peace radiated from his being.
This morning we hear the parable of the wise and foolish maidens. In the times of the Palestine of Jesus, weddings were an important ceremony for the community. Various religious duties were suspended during a wedding celebration. Most were expected to participate in the festivities.
A procession was an important part of the ceremony. The bride and her family and friends would come from her home and meet the bridegroom and his family and friends at an agreed-upon location. The whole party would then parade to the bridegroom’s home, where the wedding feast was held.
As we see in today’s parable, the wedding party was delayed in reaching the wedding feast. The maids have gathered outside of the wedding hall with their lamps to usher in the wedding party. When it appears the wedding party is finally coming, five of the young women realize they do not have enough oil to keep their lamps lit. The other five believe they have only enough oil for their own lamps to remain lit.
The five without oil, rush to see if at this late hour they can get additional oil for their lamps. In the process, they are unable to obtain any oil and they miss the entrance of the wedding party. They are locked out of the important festivities.
Jesus explains that we must always be prepared. Many scholars say the oil in the lamps is our spiritual reserves that allows us to see and to receive Jesus…that allows us to do God’s Will…that allows us to see and to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. That’s how we remain prepared. That’s how we are united to God in one heart.
One of Chief Jake Swamp’s spiritual reserves was planting trees of peace and telling the story of how peace came to warring nations. There are many ways to build our spiritual reserves. Some of us give gifts to help others; some of us participate in the Join Hands activities throughout the year; some of us serve on boards of community organizations; some of us volunteer our time and talents to community organizations; some of us pray and meditate; some of us work for justice; some of us read the Bible each day. We come to church and worship with each other. We care for each other and share the Eucharistic meal.
All of these and many more I haven’t named fill our lamps with oil…ensure we are lights to the world. Are you ready for the wedding party or do you need some more oil for your lamp?
Amen
