Be Prepared

“Be Prepared”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

November 9, 2014

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

A Reading from the Wisdom of Ernest Holmes:
We believe in God, the living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute, and self-existent Cause. This One manifests Itself in and through all creation, but is not absorbed by Its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.

We believe in the incarnation of the Spirit in us, and that all people are incarnations of the One Spirit. We believe in the eternality, the immortality, and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever expanding. We believe that Heaven is within us, and that we experience It to the degree that we become conscious of It.

Matthew 25:1-13

         If you’ve seen the movie Bridesmaids, you know how ridiculous wedding planning can be. The movie plays up the rivalry of bridesmaids. They try to outdo each other in impressing their friend- the bride to be. They plan a fancy vacation in Paris for the bachelorette party, following the direction of the richest and most arrogant bridesmaid. Also under her direction, they try on the most expensive dresses, though the other girls can’t nearly pay for one. I won’t ruin the movie for you if you haven’t seen it (which you will immediately go and do this afternoon), but the point is that events like weddings can cause rivalry.

         I’m glad that I am not seeing that kind of culture with same sex weddings. This past week, my clergy colleagues in St. Louis, Missouri were finally able to marry same-sex couples when it became legal. They went to the courthouse and married anyone who came to them. No multi-thousand dollar productions; just two people standing together promising to love and take care of each other (and of course bind together financially in the eyes of the law… Don’t take marriage lightly!). These simple ceremonies are to me in some ways more beautiful than a big production. I have been blessed with the opportunity to perform many myself.

         In Jesus’ parable that we heard today from the Gospel of Matthew, there is a little bit of rivalry going on among the bridesmaids. There are ten of them- five of which brought enough oil to put in their lamps to keep vigil for the groom’s arrival, and five that did not bring enough oil. Imagine, they are at the place where the groom is supposed to arrive. They’re all dolled up in their wedding attire. They’re doing their job, which in that time was to show the beauty of virginity.

         They all wait for the groom to arrive. Who knows where the bride is; she isn’t even mentioned in the story! They wait until late at night and all fall asleep. Of course, the groom finally shows up at midnight (rude). Now here comes the conflict. The five maids without enough oil beg the other five maids to give them some. You might think Jesus would say that they were kind and shared their oil, but NO, they said, “Go buy your own!” So they ran to go buy more oil. When they get back, the door is closed. They holler at the door, “Open up!” But… here it comes… the groom says, “I don’t know you!” The end… I don’t know about you, but I feel bad for those poor girls. I don’t know why they didn’t have enough oil, but maybe they couldn’t afford it. Maybe like in the movie Bridesmaids, the rich push the poor away from the bride. We’ll never know, but I can at least indulge my imagination.

         After the story is finished, Jesus gives the moral of the story: Keep alert because you don’t know the day or the hour. Our modern translations say, “Keep alert” or “Watch out,” but the best translation of this Greek word gregoreo is “Be prepared.” I was a Boy Scout, and our motto was “Be Prepared.” For us, it meant to bring the right stuff when we went camping. For some fundamentalist Christians, it means “Watch out for Jesus at all times because he could be coming in the sky at any moment, so don’t get caught doing something naughty.” Or in the words of the popular bumper sticker, “Jesus is coming. Look busy.” For so-called Doomsday Preppers, “Be Prepared” means spending lots of money making underground bomb shelters loaded with food, guns, ammo, and who knows what else. They want to make sure they are ready to defend themselves when the end of the world comes because… you know it’s coming!

         People have been talking about the end of the world for millennia. As soon as a natural disaster, a plague, or a war happens, it may seem like the end of the world. But in reality, it’s just another challenge to humanity. All of these end-times theories are just fear-based means of controlling people. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being unnecessarily afraid and I don’t like being controlled by oppressors.

         There are other ways for us to interpret the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. The message does not need to be: “Prepare for the end of the world or Jesus will shut the door in your face.” Rather, I think the message for us today is “Be prepared for those holy moments when God is ready to work good in your life. Don’t miss out!”

         The way I read this parable, there were only five bridesmaids. The maids who had plenty of oil ready represent our best, highest selves. This self lives out Jesus’ commandment to love God and others with our whole being day in and day out. This self uses mistakes to become wiser. This self associates with the outcasts of society- the queerest of the queer. This self takes gratitude for each moment of living. This self forgives self and others. This self gives generously. All of these things are the oil carried for the journey. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 says, “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” See, we have this precious oil stored within us as if in clay jars. We did not make it or earn it. Rather, it is a free gift of God’s grace. And as the scripture tells us, it will get us through a living hell. This precious oil is given for the anointing of our weary souls. Isn’t that amazing?

         For me, the other five bridesmaids represent the ego. The ego is the self that we make up from childhood in order to defend ourselves from a harsh world. The ego is selfish. It likes to have pity parties. It tells us that the world is against us. It likes drama and competition. It likes to complicate everything. It confuses our priorities. It likes to judge everyone, including ourselves. It believes that punishment is justice. This is the self that Jesus shuts the door on. This is the self that cannot enter the Kin-dom of God, in this life or in the next. Its oil has run out.

         Being prepared means filling up with that precious oil so that we don’t miss out on the goodness of life. In the parable, the foolish maids ask the wise maids for some of their oil. It seems cruel, but they say, “No!” It now makes sense that we should say “No!” too. Don’t let the ego have any of your time or energy. God did not create the ego, so it does not deserve God’s precious gifts. We know what happens when the ego is given control of a person’s life; just look at last week’s election…

         You may feel powerless at times, like just one little person in this big world. But like a pebble thrown into a pond, you can create ripples of goodness in the world. It is not an easy decision, but it is the most important decision in life. Will you be prepared for the God-moments in life or will you miss out?

         Spiritual leader Iyanla Vanzant’s daughter Gemmia wrote a poem that describes what happens when you’re “prepared.”

“One day my soul just opened up and things started happenin'
things I can't quite explain
I mean
I cried and cried like never before
I cried tears of ten thousand mothers
I couldn't even feel anything because
I cried 'til I was numb.

One day my soul just opened up
I felt this overwhelming pride
what I was proud of
only God knows!
Like the pride of a hundred thousand fathers
basking in the glory of their newborn sons
I was grinnin' from ear to ear!

One day my soul just opened up
I started laughing and I laughed for what seemed like forever
wasn't nothin' particularly funny goin' on but I laughed anyhow
I laughed the joy of a million children playin' in the mud
I laughed 'til my sides ached
Oh God! It felt so good!

One day, my soul just opened up
There were revelations, annihilations, and resolutions
feelings of doubt and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness
memories of things I'd seen and done before
of places I'd been, although I didn't know when
there were lives I'd lived
people I'd loved
battles I'd fought
victories I'd won
and wars I'd lost.

One day, my soul just opened up
and out poured all things
I'd been hiding and denying and living through
that had just happened moments before.

One day, my soul just opened up
and I decided I was good and ready!
I was good and ready to surrender my life to God.

So, with my soul wide open,
I sat down
wrote Her a note
and told her so.”

May we do so today as well. And so it is! Amen.