Sermons for the Month
The Light Within Us Will Shine Forth
DATE: November 10th, 2002
SERVICE: 25th Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Matthew 25:1-13“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN There's a song that I sang somewhere along the way - perhaps at a camp or retreat - that comes to mind as today's Gospel lesson is read. The lyrics are: "Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, burning, burning, give me oil in my lamp, I pray. Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, burning, burning, keep me burning to the light of day." And then the chorus was: "Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the King of Kings, sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the king!" If I'm not mistaken we also sang, "Give me gas in my tank, keep me going, going, going…." Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a perpetual supply of gas in the car? I've noticed that, when it comes to couples, one person or the other usually complains because his or her counterpart never puts gas in the car. If I was in that situation, you can bet that someone would be complaining about me. I HATE to put gas in my car, which is why, more often than not; the gaslight comes on before I get around to doing so. I once drove 30 miles with the gaslight on. So, now, when it begins to flash I note the mileage and give myself those 30 gasless miles. By some miracle I've never been stranded. But, if I was, it would be absolutely my fault. I have to fill my car with gas; there is no one to do it for me. If I'm stuck somewhere with an empty tank, and I miss a great opportunity. It is no one's fault but my own. And that is just the point of today's Gospel lesson, only oil and a lamp is used as an illustration in the parable that Jesus tells. Let's take a closer look at today's parable in which Jesus describes a familiar scene to his first listeners. The wedding custom of that day dictated that the bride, and her bridesmaids, waited for the groom to come and escort them to the place where the festivities would occur. Part of the ritual was that the groom tried to come unexpectantly, and surprise the women. So it was that the bridal party had to be prepared to meet the groom whenever he came. And, if it was after dark they were required, by law, to carry lighted lamps as they ventured into the streets. It's also interesting to note that once everyone had gathered and the festivities had begun, no one else was admitted. When Jesus describes the scene, he tells of five bridesmaids who did not come prepared. When the groom came, they did not have enough oil for their lamps, and wanted to borrow some from others. But, that was impossible. Their request was refused, and they missed the festivities. Now, the question is, what does all this mean? Jesus is telling about a future day - one for which we are still waiting - when he will come back to earth. The parallels in this story are fairly clear. He is the bridegroom who will one day return and gather those who believe together for a celebration, like a wedding feast. We are the bridesmaids, who must be prepared for his coming, and keep watching for it, because there is no way to know when that day will arrive. The wait has been long, much longer than anyone expected - 2000 years long. Those first Christians thought Jesus would be right back; in fact they did not begin to record the story and words of Jesus until more than 20 years after his ascension because they thought he was coming any minute and there was no reason to write it all down. But, he didn't come any minute, and throughout the ages Christians have asked, "What shall we do while we wait?" One answer that today's lesson provides us is, "Make sure you have enough oil for your lamps." I believe there is a two-fold message here. All we need to be prepared for Jesus' coming again, and to join in the celebration, is to have faith in Him. Since faith is a gift of God, it's perpetually available to us; it never runs out. Still, I must draw from my own supply; no one can have faith for me. People can pray for me and nurture my faith. But, in the end, my faith must be my own and that's strictly between God and I. So it is that the faithful are prepared, but are waiting, and while we wait we are called to be the light of the world. Remember that passage from Matthew 5 that is used in the baptismal service? "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. So one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, so that it gives light to all in the house. In the same way let your light so shine before others that they see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." For us the "oil" that can run out is not our faith, but our desire and drive to be the light, to live out our faith. And, while there may be plenty of cheerleaders encouraging us, no one can keep that light shinning but God and us. Oh, we can come up with every excuse in the world not to be the light we are called to be - everything from being too busy to facing too many challenges to blaming the church and "those people" in it - but the fact is that it is up to each person to keep that oil level high. The church is responsible to do the best it can to provide opportunities for growth, encouragement and support - which is why activities like small groups are so important. But it's still up to me to keep my lamp full and my light burning. So, how do I do that? I can't tell you, exactly, except to say that your individual relationship with God is vital. Everyone develops that relationship in different ways, so I can't say that the key is reading the Bible daily, or praying every night, although those certainly are good things. Somehow, you ________ must come to know the Lord, and the Lord must come to know you. Just as we develop relationships with other people by sharing our joys and sorrows, our fears and successes, or deepest secrets and perhaps even our darkest sins, we do the same with God. When it comes to those to whom we are close, we take time to be together, we grow in trust, we listen and we are empowered by their love; the same is true in our relationship with God. If the oil is our drive and desire to be the light of Christ, then the only thing that will keep that oil from running out is having a close relationship with the power behind our lives. It is that power that give us a glow, that makes it possible for us to be shinning witnesses in the world. And, no one can have that relationship for us. When Jesus returns we will join the celebration because of our faith in him, no one can have that faith for us. And, in the meantime, we will light up the world with his love. Now that's a reason to celebrate too and no one can do that for us either. I hate to put gas in my car, and sometimes I push the limit. Still, I eventually find myself at the gas station because I want to keep going, thinking that my doing so is important. The same is true of our relationship with God. Maybe it's hard to take the time and put forth the effort to know, and be known by God. But that's the key if we want to keep going, to keep being a light in the darkness of the world. Our doing so is important, even vital, as we wait for that day when our Lord descends from heaven and we all join the great celebration of a world made new. Then, the light within us will shine forth forever and the oil will never run out. AMEN