"Be prepared!"…it's the Scout motto…and it seems to be very scriptural. Anyone
who wants to make a good beginning must always keep their desired end in view. Over the centuries, history has
proven that the greatest difference in people is in what they anticipate.
It was the writer of Proverbs 29:18 who reminded the fledgling nation of Israel that "Where there is no vision
the people perish," and leaders of every kind have been trying to sell their ideas of a "vision"
to a potential clientele ever since. We all make choices. Some we are more conscious of than others. For each person
there also comes a day of reckoning when the sum total of our preparedness in terms of the choices we have made
is called into question. Of today's Gospel lesson, Wesley said "Someday we will meet someone who cares nothing
about position, riches, or glory, and then we will know just how poor we really are...just how empty our lamps
have become."
What are some of the things we should be prepared for? I think scripture is clear on at least three. We should
be prepared:
To be joyfully surprised…we seem to know that instinctively, but we can easily lose that knowledge somewhere along
the way. Aside from meeting the dietary and nurture needs of an infant, one of the first things adults do with
a baby is play the age old game of "peek-a-boo." There is nothing more delightful than to see the smile
of an infant as one's face disappears and reappears behind one's own hands. What are we saying by such seemingly
moronic action? That it's fun to be surprised by happiness and something we should get used to. That kind of surprised
is at the heart of the psalm for this morning. It's meant to be taught from generation to generation as one of
God's abiding principles.
When we no longer expect to be surprised by joy life loses much of its meaning and we find ourselves on a very
different path than the one God intended for people of faith. Some would say the circumstances of a lifetime can
take that choice away…but circumstances are not choices. Other choices are made based on circumstance.
A second thing we should be prepared for is to lose parts of our heart to others. While we learn early that one
can never retrieve a portion of their heart once given away, we also need to know that a heart that is returned
to God intact on the day of one's death is a sure sign of a wasted life. Clearly not all the choices that we make
in terms of where we lose those portions of our hearts are good ones, and some would argue that we do not choose
at all who we will love…it just happens. Yet we see who we will not love, who we will withhold affection and approval
from...and those are the choices that bring us the most condemnation.
The reality of Christian teaching regarding the heart is that we gain the boundless heart of God, and should have
no fear of giving our hearts away, since God has more than enough love to spare. But it can be a frightening prospect,
and we sometimes choose to ignore that truth.
Finally we should be prepared to leave everything we have behind…which teaches us to value what is presently ours,
and never take anything for granted. Imagine how different our lives could be if we were prepared to never forgot
just these three choices of ideology?
This morning's Old Testament story opens at Shechem, a sacred place to the Jews. It was at Shechem that the patriarch
Jacob had ordered all the "foreign gods" harbored by his household to be "put away." But that
was generations ago, long before the Hebrews lost themselves into slavery or Moses led them out, and long before
Joshua led them back, across the River and home. Once again Joshua is speaking to a select group of elders, heads,
judges and officers of Israel. They represent the best minds and hearts of the people. And speak to them he does.
At Shechem, Joshua reminds them of what had happened before, what recently, and what will happen again if they
recommit themselves to the One God who saved them, the one purpose for which they live.
For God also makes choices, and those choices form the basis of Biblical reality and truth.
In the story of Joshua's challenge for example , he does not give the people a "choice" with regard to
serving the God of Abraham. He knows that God chose Abraham, God chose Abraham's offspring, just as God chose Moses,
and Joshua, and the slaves of the Egyptians. As such they could not say "yes" to this God; they couldn't
choose God, but they could easily say "no" to the choice or decision already made. In doing so they would
"choose" a reality of their own making, and a false truth that could only lead to their demise.
The decision, the option of true choice, is always God's. Our response does not make God our God; our response
simply acknowledges the "choice" was already made, and gratefully receives God's choice of us.
In all fairness, we need to remember that this same God made a promise to Abraham which took a long time coming
to fruition, and was actually not fulfilled until the conquest of Joshua. It's easy to understand why some people
would have begun to doubt those choices.
Do you ever feel that God is taking a long time to fulfill promises? Do you ever feel those promises were forgotten?
Timing is an important issue in both the gospel and the epistle for today. Matthew's community was getting frustrated
with the fact that the second coming of Christ had not occurred, and some people were dying off. Paul addresses
those deaths directly.
In the gospel parable, Jesus talks about a limited supply of "oil." Isn't it strange that this is still
a topic that makes headlines today? The "oil" in these lamps however would have been olive oil, whose
history was probably better known to the average person in Jesus' day than the history of Abraham.
The Olive was a native to Asia Minor and spread from Iran, Syria and Palestine to the rest of the Mediterranean
basin 5,000 years ago. It is among the oldest known cultivated trees in the world - being grown before the written
language was invented. It was being grown on Crete by 3,000 BC and may have been the source of the wealth of the
Minoan kingdom. The Phoenicians spread the olive to the Mediterranean shores of Africa and Southern Europe, and
the "olive culture" was spread to the early Greeks and Romans.
As the Romans extended their domain they brought the olive with them. In the past several hundred years the olive
has spread to North and South America, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. In mythology, the city of Athens is named
for the Goddess Athena who brought the olive to the Greeks as a gift. Zeus had promised to give Attica, the ancient
name of the city to the god or goddess who made the most useful invention. Athena's gift of the olive, useful for
light, heat, food, medicine and perfume was picked as a more peaceful invention than Poseidon's horse - touted
as a rapid and powerful instrument of war. It is said that Athena planted the original olive tree on a rocky hill
which we know today as the Acropolis, and the olive tree which grows there today is said to have come from the
roots of the original tree.
Scripture is filled with references to olive oil. The Hebrew people equated it with blessings and good deeds. Countless
stories are told about lamps, perfumes, and even gardens like Gethsemane or "Olive Press." It was fragile,
it was valuable, and it was meant to be consumed.
Today is our final presentation in this year's Stewardship Campaign. We have used candles as symbols of three great
Christian attributes, Duty, Devotion, and Distribution. Candles need wax, wick, flame, and air to do their job.
To be effective they must be lit, and the reality is that they are consumed as they give themselves away. So they
also need constant replacements. In all those attributes they are very much like this ancient gift of olive oil.
While the unwillingness to "share" in the parable may be troubling to some, it is also a reality that
there are some things that we cannot borrow from another at the last minute to make up the difference for our own
foolishness. For example: No one can train for a marathon FOR you, or get in shape FOR you physically. And no one
can get in shape FOR you spiritually either. No one can forgive your enemies FOR you, or love your neighbor FOR
you. If you don't do it yourself, you don't get the spiritual benefit of being prepared.
How do we prepare spiritually? Along with prayer and acts of charity, comes the distribution of our resources.
These constitute Stewardship. Someone else may pay for budget items or special projects for you. But giving some
of your own time, talent, and yes, even money as an act of worship, is something only YOU can do. Nobody can do
it for YOU. The amount that we give does not matter, but what does matter is that what we give means something
to us, and is given as an act of worship.
To be fully committed is "risky business." For to laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to
risk appearing sentimental. To reach out for another is to risk involvement. To expose feelings is to risk exposing
your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not
being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But risks
must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing,
has nothing, and is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or
live. Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave, and have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is
free.
Thomas Long said, "the wise ones in the church are those who are prepared for delay; who hold on to the faith
deep into the night; who, even though they see no bridegroom coming, still serve and hope and pray and wait for
the promised victory of God." Jesus said it best at the conclusion of Matthew 24 "But the one who endures
to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13).
A new book entitled "The Conscious Bride" talks about how couples can easily get crazy as they prepare
for "the big day." It then goes on to say that couples need to realize that what they are preparing for
is the MARRIAGE not the wedding. Like so many of us, it may be that the foolish maidens were simply focused on
the moment and not on what they were committing themselves to. Like our baptisms, and our confirmations, and our
pledges of loyalty…without the work of justice and mercy, love and compassion? Not the right time, too busy, don't
have enough money,…like a screen door on a submarine or a lamp without oil.
Think about it!
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