How do you prepare for things? Are you an over-packer? Do you make plans and sometimes even a plan B or C, just in case? Or maybe you are always ready to be spontaneous and jump right into adventure, action, or help with whatever is needed.
Sometimes we prepare quickly – just taking enough according to our calculation of what we will need. At other times we may prepare more completely for whatever, whenever and those “just in case” moments.
The Scripture
Today we consider Matthew’s telling of an allegory, a story. He hoped to motivate his community of believers to get ready in Matthew 25:1-13. This story of the bridesmaids is unique to Matthew. For Matthew there are only two groups of people when it comes to the community of believers:
- The wise ones were the bridesmaids who brought not only the lamp but plenty of extra oil as well.
- And the foolish ones who were the bridesmaids that looked prepared but were a bit shortsighted. They brought the lamps, but if things did not go on their time schedule, they are unprepared. They didn’t bring any extra oil.
Unlike a parable – Jesus tells many parables where the details of the story are realistic – An allegory has illogical pieces. This story is about a wedding and yet there is no bride, only bridesmaids. The foolish bridesmaids who needed oil ran to a store at midnight. In Biblical times there were no 24-hour open super stores!
The pieces present in this allegory are:
- The bridegroom is representative of Jesus.
- The bridesmaids are symbolic of the church and discipleship.
For Matthew and for us, the point of the story is that we do not know what time we will meet Jesus face-to-face. Matthew is focused on the end times. Matthew’s heart was compelled to motivate his community of believers to get ready.
Are we ready? Are you ready? Am I ready?
Are we intentionally preparing daily, hourly moment by moment to be wise bridesmaids? Matthew equates the wise bridesmaids to the disciples who intentionally seek to be spiritually formed by God. That is, they gain confidence and trust of God through the practice of spiritual disciplines so that faith is more than head knowledge or surface level living. Matthew wants disciples to have skin in the game!
Disciples for Matthew must walk the talk. That means every action, attitude, and interaction with others is to be lived as Jesus’ loves. Our deep love of God must be lived out loud through our words so that the tone of our words matches our heart of love for God. Living faith out loud is to be expressed through our actions and attitudes. Disciples are to lean into trust of Jesus in all circumstance of life.
- When illness strike – trust Jesus.
- When dreams are broken or hopes dashed – trust Jesus.
- When fears threaten to paralyze us into inaction – trust Jesus.
- When injustice, prejudgments, slander, pride, envy, jealousy, evil, waring madness happens – trust Jesus.
Whew that is difficult! Trusting Jesus through difficult circumstance is not something that we can do on our own initiative or power. It takes intentional God’s forming – God shaping of our heart and souls into Christlikeness.
In Matthew’s allegory the oil represents our openness and willing to receive the God shaping love of Christ which smooths our rough edges of fear, anger, jealousy, prejudgment of others, and increases what Paul calls the Fruits of the Spirit flowing from our lives: peace, patience, love, kindness, generosity, self-control.
This way of preparing our hearts in love of God truly is an investment of our time, energy, love, and faithfulness. Like good football players who are heavily invested in the game they are playing, we are to put our whole selves into the formative journey of our faith so that we are truly prepared.
Matthew meddled a bit with his community of faith. He named the foolish bridesmaid – those unprepared disciples – that wanted to invest just enough of self to look good without the hard work of pressing more olives for oil. That is without intentional faith formation through prayer, fasting, almsgiving. Matthew is pressing them to make a deepened choice for discipleship. Matthew was hopeful they would put even greater skin in the game so that their faith was not just skin deep but penetrated to the heart of their being.
Today’s Prayer Practice
The truth is many people can live attributes of faith for a short time. (Think of the Fruits of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23.) But if there is anger, a delay, or things do not go the way we want, problems may arise. This is when these Christlike attitudes of living love may wain. Our tempers may flare, our patience may run out, fears may rise and cause us to be less than our best self.
Being a peacemaker for a day is not as demanding as being a peacemaker daily, year after year through our lives – especially when hostility breaks out or our heart’s break.
Being merciful for an evening can be pleasant. Being merciful for a lifetime requires preparedness.
How do we intentionally seek to be prepared?
The quote in The Weekly Drink from Living Streams Flowing Water this week was from Dr. Terry Wardle’s book Every Breath We Take by Leaf Wood Publishers, 2015. Wardle invites us to live in the present moment. We are not to linger in the past over what might have been. We are to release rehearsing the past – past hurt, past failing, past broken dreams.
Practicing the presence of now is also not becoming anxious about the future. We are to cease imagining how things might be. Hold the future lightly not clinging to expectations of how things should be.
Today you are invited to notice the beauty of now. Here are a few suggestions for prayer.
- Take a walk – slow down – notice what is around – pause to see God in the details.
- Notice your breath. Intentionally slow your breath down. Breathing deeply. On inhalation notice how God’s breath fills you with life. On your exhalation notice and release with your breath all that keeps you from noticing God.
The time is now! Are you ready to notice God in the present of now?
Enjoy Praying.
