Of Lamps, Oil, Candles and Elections
DATE: November 9, 2008
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 25:1‐13
Over the past few weeks my four‐year‐old granddaughter Haley has been captivated by the campaign and election process. She’s turning into a regular little political junkie! A few days before the election she was in the bathroom, sitting on the potty, when all of a sudden her mother overheard her chanting: “Barack Obama, Barack Obama!”
Haley lives in Florida, a state that allows early voting. So, a week ago Saturday, she went with her mother to the polls. She got a real charge out of going into the booth with my daughter‐in‐law and actually putting the ballot in the slot.
On Election Day itself she woke up very early—before her parents had even opened their eyes. She padded into their bedroom, and then tapped her mother’s arm. “Mommy, mommy!” “What Haley?” “Mommy, has Barack Obama voted yet?” Her mother grunted. “I guess so.” A minute passed. Another tap. “Mommy, has John McCain voted?”
My daughter‐in‐law may have been asleep, but Haley was eager for Election Day to begin. She was wide awake. She was up and going. She was ready!
Our scripture lesson from Matthew is all about being ready, ready for the coming Day of Judgment. It is part of a two chapter series of stories and sayings about the end of time.
Jesus tells a story about a wedding. Ten bridesmaids are waiting for the festivities to begin. Five wise and five foolish.
In my experience, it’s usually the bride who shows up late, but this time it was the groom. But just before he arrives, the bridesmaids realize they are running out of oil. The wise ones have come prepared, and have extra oil. But the foolish ones do not. They try to borrow some—but the wise ones only have enough for their own lamps. So they to run off to the market to get some and while they are gone, the groom arrives and invites the five wise bridesmaids into the banquet. But when the foolish ones return, it’s too late. The door is locked. And that means no banquet, no cake, and not even one round of the Chicken Dance. “Keep awake,’ says Jesus, “for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:13)
This story would have had great meaning for Matthew’s readers, for they believed that Jesus might return to Earth at any time and usher in the great Day of Judgment.
But what do we make of it. Two thousand years have come and gone, and Jesus has not come back. Judgment Day hasn’t happened. At least not literally. But think about it: if truth be told, Jesus comes back every day, every hour! He shows up in the people at work, at home, at school. He’s in the faces of those we see in the morning paper and on the evening news. He shows up in the cries of pain and pleas for help we hear every day.
You see you never know when your own Judgment Day will arrive. You never know when you will encounter the Holy One. You never know when you will be called on to serve others.
The big issue this election year was and is the economy, but the new president will also need to deal with the ongoing war in Iraq. He will have to figure out how to bring home our soldiers. During the first war in Iraq Robby Robins served as an Air Force pilot. As that war wound down he too must have wondered when he would leave the desert. He had flown three hundred missions by the time the war ended, and was surprised one day when he was unexpectedly told he and his crew could go home. Their work was done.
Robby flew across the Atlantic, and then after landing in Massachusetts, headed out for his home in western Pennsylvania. Finally, as the sun was coming up, he was dropped off at his own driveway. In front of his garage there hung a huge banner: “Welcome Home, Dad!”
Robby wondered how they had known he was coming. No one had phoned ahead.
As he walked into the house, the kids looked up from their cereal bowls, and jumped up. “Daddy! Daddy!” His wife came running down the hall, hair all fixed, make up on, dressed in a pretty yellow shift.
“How did you know I was coming, “ asked Robby.
“I didn’t,” replied his wife. “[But] once we knew the war was over, we knew you’d be home [soon]. [And] we knew you’d try to surprise us, so we were ready every day.’” (Source: Lee Eclov, preachingtoday.com)
We were ready every day.
The campaign season just ended has been all about being prepared. The question of readiness was posed about the candidates over and over again in a number of ways: Is Sarah Palin prepared to be Vice President? If something were to happen to John McCain, would be ready to assume the Presidency? Is Barack Obama experienced enough? Is he really ready?
And questions were also asked of us, of the electorate. Is America really ready for a woman in the second highest office in the land? Is America ready for a black President?
The nation has voted. And some of those questions will be answered in the months and years ahead. These are historic and important times for our country.
But for you and me as Christians there is an even more compelling question—one that is tied not to our political persuasions, but rather to our ethical, moral and spiritual convictions. Are we ready to meet Jesus? Are we ready to serve him in our neighbors?
There’s been a lot of talk about stump speeches the past few months. During the campaign season of 1960, John Kennedy often ended his stump speech with a story that rings true to this day.
It happened in 1789 in Hartford. “The skies at noon one day turned from blue to gray,” said Kennedy. “By midafternoon the city had darkened over so densely that, in that religious age, men fell on their knees and begged a final blessing before the end came. The Connecticut House of Representatives was in session and many of the members clamored for immediate adjournment. [But] the speaker of the house, one Colonel Davenport, came to his feet and silenced the din . . . . ‘The Day of Judgment is either approaching us or not,’ he said, ‘if it is not there is no cause for adjournment. But if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought.’” (“Remarks”, Lewiston, Maine, 11‐6‐1960)
Sisters and brothers, you and I never know when that Day will arrive. You and I never know when we might encounter Jesus, when we might be called upon to act for the good of our neighbors. And so we must be ready. We must be alert. It could happen any day, any hour. So examine the lamp of your soul to make certain it is filled with the oil of God’s spirit. Look closely at the wick of your life and trim away the burnt out bits of prejudice and hate.
For the day is coming, and indeed may already be here, when the flame of God’s truth will be set to your wick. And then, sisters and brothers, it will be your time to burn bright and clear. It will be your time to be a light to the world.
Amen
John H. Danner