24th Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 25:1-13
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But, at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then, all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But, the wise replied, ‘No! There will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And, while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later, the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But, he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Life Will Bloom when It Is ready – Vic Lejon
I keep pulling
on my roots
urging them to grow
impatient for the bloom
and the sunshine
and the growth
but it doesn’t work like that
tears flow, soil drenches and dries
there have to be some slower days
some rainfall, even snow
—life will bloom when it is ready
10 Bridesmaids
This parable about the bridesmaids is a tricky one. It’s often used as a metaphor about who will get into heaven and who will not. The bridesmaids who were wise and prepared are welcomed to the wedding banquet. The bridesmaids who were foolish and were not prepared are not allowed inside.
As with any scripture that we look at, it’s important that we examine the context of that reading. The reason Jesus is telling the disciples this parable is because they had asked him about what signs they needed to look for that would signal the end of the age. He tells them a few parables, answering their questions in the way that he often does in the gospels, the parable of the bridesmaids being one of them. It’s equally important to look at what comes directly after the text. These parables come right before the Passion narrative, when Jesus will be arrested and crucified. So, these parables are stories about preparation and readiness. Jesus is equipping his followers for life after him. They are about to experience a catastrophic change, the ending of their world. Jesus is preparing them for the turmoil that’s going to follow his death.
What struck me about this parable was the foolishness of the bridesmaids. It made me think about some of the parts of our culture where we can sometimes see foolish behavior. Lately, I’ve been thinking about lawns. As you all know, I am from California, and grass lawns are a little more controversial there than they are out here, and I came across a video recently about the history of lawns that really changed the way I think about them.
I think it’s fair to say that most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about lawns, or why we have them. It turns out, the idea for having a lawn came from Europe. The nobility would surround their homes with grass for protection; enemy soldiers couldn’t sneak up to a castle surrounded by fields, because you would see them coming. But, over time, lawns became a status symbol. For most people, land was needed to grow food, so the act of growing a lawn was a statement to the rest of the community that a family was so rich that they could waste valuable resources on an ornamental crop that they needed to actually pay people to scythe by hand.
People like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were incredibly wealthy, brought the practice to the newly formed United States, turning portions of their estates into lawns. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s, when the push lawnmower was invented, that suddenly, the masses could afford the upkeep of a lawn. It was no longer necessary to pay people to scythe a lawn by hand, and a pristine green lawn became a part of the American Dream, symbolizing success and membership in the affluent middle class.
Lawns are ubiquitous now, and certainly don’t enjoy the same status that they once did, but they are more common than ever before. Lawn grass is the most resource intensive plant and the largest irrigated crop grown in our country today. If all of the turf grass on all the lawns, parks, golf courses, and office landscaping was gathered into one patch, that patch would be 40 million acres, enough to cover the entire state of Georgia. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 1/3 of all public water is used to water grass. For drier regions of the country, this figure can be as high as 70%. And, these lawns are hungry. They require 80 million pounds of fertilizer every single year. As a country, we spend 3 billion work hours, every year, taking care of our lawns. Just to put that into perspective, it took roughly 6 billion work hours to put the first man on the moon.
Now, I want to make it clear that having a lawn is not some kind of great evil. They only become a problem when we collectively decide that they are necessary, that they need to be regulated by home owners’ associations and public opinion. We have been convinced by our culture to think that a yard planted with grass is proper and morally good. There is no freedom of choice in that. For most people, the concept of choice when it comes to a lawn doesn’t even cross their mind.
In many parts of the United States, people use more water to irrigate their lawn than cooking, drinking, and bathing combined. Often, when there are discussions about water use in our country, we talk about agriculture, how much water it takes to produce a pound of meat, or a bushel of almonds, or a gallon of milk. But, that’s food! We need food. We can’t eat the grass that we grow on our lawns, and we use more water on that grass than any other crop in the United States.
I wonder if our culture’s attitude towards lawns is like the bridesmaids and their lamps. Wise or foolish, the bridesmaids were in a privileged position. They had been invited to take part in a wedding ceremony, and we can assume that meant they had some kind of responsibility. If they miss the party, what else is going to go wrong? What is going to be left undone?
We are a people of extreme privilege, living in this time, in this place. That privilege brings with it responsibility. How are we using the gifts that God has given to us? How are we managing the land where we live? How are we using our water?
As always, we can see the Holy Spirit moving among us. The past few decades have seen us become more careful with our use of water. And many people, even here in Helena, have been free to make other choices with their yards. Our lamps are lit, and there is hope.
As Jesus was talking to his disciples near the end of his ministry when he told them this parable about lamps. It brings us back to the beginning of his ministry, to some of the first words that Jesus said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” We need to be that light. We need to make sure that our lamps stay lit. What are the consequences of those lamps going out? If the disciples neglected the gift, the obligation, the ministry that Jesus gave to them, who was going to suffer? Who suffers when the church behaves foolishly? Who suffers when we behave foolishly?
This parable is about the end times, but it is not a prediction. The last line is “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” This parable is about the end times, but it’s not about the end. It’s about how we live now. Unlike the other parables which start with “The kingdom of heaven is like…” this parable about the bridesmaids starts with, “The kingdom of heaven WILL BE like…” WILL BE like…
Jesus is preparing the disciples for a life without him, because he knows what’s coming. He is pointing towards a future that he believes WILL come. There WILL BE a future kingdom of heaven. Jesus is calling the kingdom of God into their midst, into their future, even as it’s all threatening to come crashing down around them. Hearing the promise of this future reality is a call to continue being the light. Are we going to be wise, or are we going to be foolish? Let us live our lives in such a way that when others see us, they will say, “I wish I had followed their way. I wish I had prepared my lamp.”
Amen.
~ Rev. Charles Wei
