Stay Woke

I found this as a Draft, which I never posted.

One Sunday I preached on Matthew 25:1-13 at Huffman UMC. 'In my brain' reading of the scripture was inspired by David Henson. Andy interrupted my reading with other verses.


Webster defines a parable as a short simple story illustrating a moral or spiritual truth.

 
We sometimes say that Jesus spoke in parables using everyday examples so that his listeners could understand complex spiritual truths.  But sometimes they are just confusing.

 
Lutheran preacher Nadia Bolz-Weber once tweeted ‘Reading parables as instruction on how to behave is like using riddles to get directions to the airport’.
 

That might be true here.  I will admit that I struggled with this parable as I prepared for this sermon.  I am pretty sure that every sermon I have ever heard on this scripture reminded us to all be good scouts – Be Prepared.  When I first looked at this a few weeks ago, I kept hearing “Don’t Share!” which seemed totally un-Jesus-like.
 
 
I looked at the other scripture options to see if they were more appealing.  But the reason I like to preach the lectionary is that it challenges me to really interpret the word of God, instead of preaching my thoughts and finding scripture to support my ideas.  So I studied and prayed through this scripture.

 
In my brain, it sounded something like this:
 
 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Now five of them were wise, and the other five were foolish...

1 Corinthians 3 18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say,
“He traps the wise
    in the snare of their own cleverness.”
20 And again,
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise;
    he knows they are worthless.”
 
 ...3 The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t bring oil for them. 4 But the wise ones took their lamps and also brought containers of oil.

5 “When the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy and went to sleep. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Look, the groom! Come out to meet him.’
7 “Then all those bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 But the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out.’
9 “But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘No, because if we share with you, there won’t be enough for our lamps and yours...


Matthew 5:42 Give to those who ask, and don’t refuse those who wish to borrow from you.
Luke 6 – 29b If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either.30 Give to everyone who asks and don’t demand your things back from those who take them.
We have a better idea. You go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 

1 John 3:17   If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

...10 But while they were gone to buy oil, the groom came. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding.
Matthew 19: 30 But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first.
Then the door was shut...

Matthew 23: 13 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You shut people out of the kingdom of heaven. 

...11 “Later the other bridesmaids came and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us.’
12 “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’...

Proverbs 21:13  Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.

...13 “Therefore, keep alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour.

Stay woke!
 
 
The heart of the message of Jesus is that we have a generous God who invites us to be generous.  I was having a hard time reconciling the inconsistencies of this scripture about some pretty selfish ‘wise’ bridesmaids with other verses about giving to anyone who asks and coming up with anything that developed into a sermon. How do we hear this parable as a story that is filled with God’s grace?

My mother faithfully attended church of a different denomination as a child and teenager. In high school she visited West Woodlawn Methodist with friends. I always assumed that she became Methodist because that's where she met my daddy. Shortly before she died, she very seriously told my sister and me that growing up, she'd leave church feeling scared, worried and guilty. It was in the Methodist church that she first heard about grace in church. And she knew she would raise her children in a church that taught about God's grace. So with that heritage, you see why I am looking for the grace in this parable.
 
But inside the wedding feast is a group who did not do what Jesus taught – share generously, even if it means your own suffering.  Outside is a group who are experiencing rejection despite their efforts of going out in the dark and somehow finding someone to sell them oil.  And there they are, knocking on the door.  Jesus said the door would be opened if we knock.  How do we make sense of this situation?
 
How can we celebrate the wise maids who are responsible for the rejection the foolish faced? They sent them out in the middle of the night with no light. I realize the foolish bridesmaids played a part in the situation by not bringing enough oil. But the other bridesmaids seem to just be kicking them while they are down.

I have struggled with this for a while. Until one morning this week during my devotion, the right question came to me.  And I realized we might need to look at this from a different perspective.  
 
 
We teach our children to trace their hand to draw a turkey.  Turkeys might teach their children to trace their feathers to draw a person.  
 
We have been teaching that the bridesmaids who brought enough oil to replenish their lamps were the wise ones.  But it is not always easy to tell the difference between the wise and the foolish.  As Andy’s scriptural interruptions reminded us   '19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.'
 
Let’s look this story again in context.  
 
In the chapter before this story, the disciples ask Jesus to help them understand the signs of the end of the age.  Jesus tells them struggles that will occur in the last times. He tells them that no one knows exactly when that day will come.  Matthew 25 has today’s parable of the bridesmaids, followed by the parable of the talents and then the parable of the sheep and goats.  Which leads us right up to:
I was hungry and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothes to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
"when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’
 
Now looking through the lens of the chapter before and the completion of Chapter 25, let us look at these bridesmaids again.
 
Jesus’ disciples are eager to understand the end times.  He tells them there will be signs, but there will also be incorrect rumors.  Trust what Jesus has taught us.  
 
The wisdom of God tells us to look at Jesus’ overall message.  Love God.  Love others.  Show that love by giving food, drink, clothing.  Welcome the stranger.  Visit the sick and imprisoned.  Take care of the least, the lost, the last.  

The wisdom of God tells us that his way turns conventional wisdom upside down. In Corinthians Paul reminds us that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.

The wisdom of God asks how can God's love be in the person who shows no compassion? We are hypocrites if we shut others out of the kingdom of heaven.

Professor and author Marcus Borg wrote: Christianity is not about avoiding punishment or gaining reward. It is about loving God and loving what God loves. And what God loves is the whole of creation.

As I was praying though this scripture this week, the question that came to mind was. “Who are the bridesmaids we are sending out in the dark?”
 
Who is being shut out of the kingdom of heaven?  
 
Membership in Mainline Protestant denominations continues to decline year after year.  We keep hearing about the ‘nones’ and ‘dones’ – those who have never been affiliated with and those who have left the church. I’m sure almost everyone here today knows someone – a friend or family member – who has left the church for some reason.  Because they asked too many questions, so they were told they didn't have enough faith. Because they did not dress the way some 'wise' church person thought was right. Because they were different in some way.  Because someone deemed them foolish.  Because they didn’t have enough oil.  Or enough faith.  Or were somehow lacking in the eyes of the wise church members. In one of Father Richard Rohr's meditations this week, he noted humans are afraid and mistrustful of all otherness. We have a long way to go to embrace those who are different than us.

Their lack of sameness is their modern day lack of oil.

As christians we should do better.

On Veterans Day weekend we could note that our military is diverse. People serve alongside people who are different than themselves. They serve/deploy/fight in countries whose citizens are very different. But often when there is a common cause, we overlook those differences. At least temporarily.

Not all Veterans have been welcomed back home and treated well. Some have felt like they were sent out to the darkness and left out in the cold.

As a country, we can do better for our veterans.

As a church, we must do better for all God's children.

Who have we sent out in the dark?  To whom have we closed our doors?  
 
Today’s scriptures closes with the verse that tells us to stay awake or be alert.  

Some of you may have wondered about the sermon title.
 
The phrase ‘Stay Woke' is increasingly used as a byword for social awareness.    

It was popularized as a call to action that went hand in hand with the #BlackLivesMatter movement, but the idea of getting (and staying) "woke" has broadened and taken on a different, more complex meaning in the years since it first began to spread across the internet.

"woke," means understanding systemic injustices, and being determined to do something about them.

Being Woke means Knowing what's going on in the community.

Staying "woke" for us means being aware that no matter how welcoming we think we are, we can always be better. We must be aware that we are still sometimes the smug wise bridesmaids. We still hoard all the oil that we were wise enough to obtain. We still send people out in the dark.


Stay Woke. That oil is the grace of God.

Stay Woke. Confess that we have tried to hoard that grace for ourselves.

Stay Woke. We are all made in the image of God.

Stay Woke. Don't accept a system that excludes others.

Stay Woke. Be aware. Stay alert. Who are the ones we've sent out in the dark? To whom have we shut the door?

Now what are we going to do about it?