Ten Bridesmaids

As most of you know, I have three children. Have you ever noticed that your children's greatest weaknesses were likely... inherited from you? Here's another observation: your children's greatest weaknesses are often the flip-side of their greatest strengths.

My oldest, Grace, was a wonderful child. She was always most contented. But the flip-side of that meant that she seemed to resent any influence toward change at all. (I know where she got that from!) The first breakthrough we had in that respect took place after Grace started school. In Kindergarten, there were four words that could light a fire under Grace. Perhaps if you are a parent of young children you know what is coming. Those four miracle words were: “don’t miss the bus!” Grace would invariably accomplish more in the thirty seconds after hearing those words than she had in the thirty minutes before hearing them. And after a few months of Kindergarten, she even seemed willing to forgive me, even though I was disrupting her life regularly, because she realizes that when Daddy said “don’t miss the bus!” -- I never said it unless it was coming soon -- it was always entirely out of love for her.

You see, contrary to much of what the world will tell you, it really is loving to disrupt someone in the present to protect them from a much worse fate in the future. Having experienced the consequences of missing the bus (receiving grief from her teacher and her classmates), she recognized that a little bit of loving disruption was a small price to pay to be protected from those consequences.

This morning, we’re going to consider some of Jesus words -- words spoken out of love for us -- words coming from two different places in the gospels -- and words that should have for us the same impact that “don’t miss the bus!” had for Grace. The first passage we need to look at is in Luke chapter 13, starting in verse 22:

[Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone asked him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”

“Someone asked Jesus, ‘Lord, will only a few be saved?’” Now whoever that someone was, they were clever enough to ask the right person the right question. Did you know that the name “Jesus” means “God saves?” And do you remember that the angel Gabriel, announcing the birth of Jesus, said to his mother, Mary, “...and he will save his people...” So right on! Jesus is particularly committed to saving people. And there are those in this room who have had more than a glimpse of this salvation: they know what it is to be saved, and they know Who it is that saves them.

If you haven’t experienced that salvation this morning, you might one day come to realize that you (also) desperately need it -- just like the rest of us. And I have some good news for you when that time comes: the Bible says that, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And to help us out, God even sent Jesus, who came dying to save us.

What does it mean to be saved? Well, in the Biblical language, the poor will receive good news; the blind will receive their sight; and the oppressed will be freed. Sure: there have been many who have come claiming to be able to deliver such things, but their ideas inevitably turn out to be like “shuffling deck-chairs on the Titanic”. (You understand that expression, I'm sure: the Titanic is going down, and shuffling its deck-chairs isn't going to help). There is only one person in history who is actually able to address our deepest needs and our deepest problems. As the Bible puts it:

Jesus is the only One who can save people. No one else in the world is able to save us.

But “will only a few be saved?” Let’s read on (Luke 13:23):

...someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

“Many will try to enter and will not be able to!” Well! Clearly, it is only a few that will be saved. But that’s not all: Jesus is also saying that if we want to experience salvation it will take some effort on our part! For many people, that doesn’t sound much like good news. But since Jesus is the source of this salvation we’re talking about, we would do well to pay close attention to what he’s saying. Please listen carefully to what Jesus continues to say in Luke chapter 13:

For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

[verse 29] 29But people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30And behold, some who are now last will be first, and some who are now first will be last.”

Not only is it the case that only a few will be saved, but it also sounds like there will be folks who expect to be saved … and they won’t be. And what an uncomfortable rejection they receive: “I don’t know you or where you come from.” You know, it really can be stressed enough: our salvation depends on knowing Jesus and being known by him! And here, Jesus is clearly saying that there will be some who think they should be known, but aren’t. Of course, this means that we need to be careful and we need to be humble.

At the same time, it also sounds like there are folks who we might not expect to be saved … but they will be! That’s the point Jesus is making in verse 29 (...people will come from east and west, and from north and south): there will be plenty of surprises among the rolls of the kingdom of God. How do we know that’s what Jesus was saying? -- well, it isn’t the first time he said it: in Matthew 8:11 he says the same thing (“many will come from east and west and recline at table ... in the kingdom of heaven”) while commending a Roman centurion -- someone who, in the minds of the Jewish folk listening, was a representative of everything corrupt and evil. So no matter where you are from, no matter what you have done, no matter how much of a mess you have made of your life, you aren’t beyond the reach of his mercy. We have good grounds for being both careful and for being optimistic. 

But another thing to notice here is that there doesn’t appear to be any warning at all that the owner of the house is about to close and lock the door. We need to be aware that that kind of surprise is in our destiny, too. There is going to come a time in every one of our lives when it will be too late.  At that point, it is going to be “game over: no more lives; no more chances.” For many of us, it could be the day we die. For others, they might get into such a habit of turning away from God, and turning God away. But it could also be when Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. The Bible makes it clear that:

... it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)

We aren’t going to be given any warning, folks. And we all want to be on the inside when that time comes and that door is closed. So “Don’t miss the bus!”

Oh: did you notice that the original question was about being saved, but Jesus’ answer is all about making it into the kingdom of God. (right? that’s verse 29: “But people will come from [all over the place], and [feast] in the kingdom of God.”) So we’re going to look at some of the things that Jesus says about the kingdom of God this morning, understanding that, as far as Jesus is concerned, our entrance into the kingdom of God represents salvation for every one of us.

Now I’m sure that you are aware that Jesus taught in parables. And Jesus introduces twelve of his parables with words to the effect “the kingdom of God is like” or “the kingdom of heaven will be like”. So this morning, we are going to take a closer look at one of those parables. It is found in Matthew chapter 25, starting at verse 1.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was a long time coming, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all those bridesmaids rose and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

I’m sure that you noticed the similarity between this parable and the passage that we read earlier. In both places, a door is shut. In both places, no warning is given. In both places, there are people who are kept outside. In both places, those outside desperately want to be granted entrance. And in both places, we hear those scariest of all the words in the Bible: “I do not know you.” Please understand: Jesus is using these foolish bridesmaids and their failure as a warning to us! He doesn’t want us to be caught out. In his great love for us, he wants us to be ready; he wants to tell us “Don’t miss the bus!”

That wedding banquet? It represents no less than our eternal salvation. It is an image that shows up elsewhere in scripture, too. In the book of Revelation (19:9), we read:

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And the angel added, “These are the true words of God.”

Participating in this wedding reception represents the ultimate blessing. Revelation goes on to describe what it will be like in that day:

Now God’s presence is with people, and he will live with them... He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain, because all the old ways are gone.

If you receive that invitation to Lamb’s wedding supper, you wouldn’t think twice about letting everything else go in order to attend. Seriously.

Yesterday, a royal wedding occurred [May 19, 2018: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle]. For many people throughout the commonwealth, it was a really big deal. Estimates suggest that the wedding itself cost in the vicinity of $5 million. And that’s not even including the security, which might have been as much as fifteen times the rest of the event. Nice budget for a private party. You can well imagine that some of the 600 people who received invitations  changed their plans when they it arrived. There were very few, if any, who were invited and didn’t attend.

But the wedding supper of the Lamb will blow yesterday’s wedding out of the water -- nobody is going to be bored there, that’s for sure. For starters, our host will be the source of all things good. But the number and quality of the people will also be unprecedented. Not convinced? You mean you aren’t impressed with some church people? Well, you are not alone. But two things about that. First, scripture makes it clear that none of our failings or uglinesses will be present: in that day, we read that (Eph 5:27)

the church [will be presented to him] in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

We’re going to tidy up real nice, people! But, second, it certainly seems from our parable this morning that there are some within the church who won’t make it at all. That is, our ideas of who belongs in the church and God’s ideas of who belongs in the church are not necessarily in sync. Sure, when we go to church, we expect the people to be citizens of the kingdom, but God doesn’t take any steps to fulfill that expectation!

In fact, Jesus makes that clear in other parables, doesn’t he? The kingdom of heaven, he says (in Matthew 13), is like a field full of both wheat and weeds. There, the landowner gives instructions that no action will be taken to separate the two until harvest time. And the kingdom of heaven, he says (toward the end of that same chapter), is like a net catching both good and bad fish, and -- once again -- their separation only happens at the “end of the age”. Even in our parable, the difference between those who make it in and those who are kept out is really subtle, doesn’t it? Right up until the very last second, even the foolish bridesmaids had every expectation to be granted access to the marriage feast, didn’t they?

In Jesus’ day, wedding feasts were great occasions. They involved many guests, lots of food and drink, and they lasting a long time. The feast would begin “when all was ready.” Of course the food had to be prepared, but there were also last-minute negotiations taking place between the groom, his family and his in-laws about the terms of the marriage contract. The contract needed to be signed and the dowry needed to be paid before the feast began.

And while these negotiations took place, the bride, surrounded by bridesmaids, would be waiting at her house. In the custom of the day, the arrival of the bridegroom meant that everything was ready: the wedding feast was about to begin with a procession: musicians and dancing would accompany the groom as he brought the bride to his parental home.

Now isn’t it interesting that all the action -- all the good stuff that folks would naturally anticipate -- occurs after the bridegroom arrives, but in Jesus’ parable, all the real drama takes place during the wait for his arrival. Because it is always during that “long time coming” that folks struggle. We see a similar thing going on in the parable of the Talents, don’t we? There, the kingdom of God is like a king who has gone off to a foreign land with a promise of return. His servants are expected to make responsible use of his resources while the master is away.

But it is that time that God seems far away that all the important decisions are made -- because, after all, that is when we are beset by constant temptation. Human psychology is peculiar. Scripture says that (Ecclesiastes 3:11b):

God has set eternity in the human heart.

Developing that theme, Pascal says that:

...this infinite abyss can [only] be filled ... by God himself.

Similarly, Augustine writes:

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

We might not recognize it, but we are wired to desire what only God can provide. And that inner craving is so strong, when God seems far away we are sorely tempted to punish him -- yes, you heard that right: we attempt to punish God. How do we do that? -- well, by... punishing others and punishing ourselves. (Perhaps you might have seen children “punish” their parents in a similar way). Theodore Dalrymple said, “We live in societies in which an unprecedented proportion of the total of suffering is self-inflicted.” So we indulge ourselves; and we take advantage of others. And we deceive ourselves into thinking that actions like these are to our benefit, when, in fact, they only damage us, making us very much less of the person that God intended us to be -- actually reducing our potential. It is those times that God seems far away that are the most critical times in our lives. And it is during that “long time coming” that the bridesmaids make decisions that make all the difference for them.

Your entrance into his Kingdom -- your eternal life and happiness -- depends on being wise rather than foolish. And considering how important this is, I can’t help but be reminded of something Einstein once said:

If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask...

The reason this principle is so important is that the parable before us this morning is almost certain to generate a huge number of questions. Questions like “what’s the deal with the oil?” Or “why wouldn’t the wise bridesmaids share?” But because our very lives really do depend on the “solution to this problem”, we need to carefully consider the proper question to ask about this parable. But let me suggest that in order to find the proper question, we need to consider a lead-in question first, that is:

·         Why weren’t the foolish bridesmaids admitted to the wedding celebration?

Now this one isn’t difficult to answer: the answer is all over our text. In the introduction to our parable (in the previous chapter), Jesus says (24:44):

Therefore you also must be ready

And if we look at the verse immediately following our parable, Jesus says, (v13 AMP)

Therefore, be on the alert [be prepared and ready]

Similarly, in the parable itself (v10), we read:

those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast

So the answer to our first question (“why weren’t the foolish bridesmaids admitted?”) is simply: “they weren’t ready!” But, of course, that leads us directly to the proper question (which is):

·         What does this parable tell us about how to be ready?

I’d like to offer three answers to that question this morning, starting with:

1 - It is personal.

You can’t make your way into the kingdom of God on anyone else’s coattails. The wise bridesmaids were ready, and the foolish bridesmaids thought they could use their friends’ readiness for their own advantage. But they couldn’t. Instead, it was necessary that they should make their own personal arrangements.

It doesn’t matter who you hang out with. And it doesn’t matter what your last name is. You have to take personal responsibility for your own entrance into the kingdom of God.

There is also an interesting implication here: if (may it never be), you someday hear those fateful words, "I never knew you," you can't blame your parents; you can't blame your church; you can't blame your politicians. There is only one person that is to blame.

2 - Yes: readiness is personal, but it is also precious.

Being ready requires time and resources. The fact that the foolish bridesmaids are sent off to buy extra oil indicates as much. And, of course, that investment of time and resources is the wise things to do. But you know, Jesus does not trick anyone into his kingdom, giving us flowery promises of an easy life. Rather we are told to count the cost -- and in this respect, Jesus doesn’t pull any punches, saying (Luke 14:33):

you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything.

No question about it: Jesus knows that many are going to weigh the options and walk away from his offer. But those who do can’t blame him when they hear those fateful words. But for those willing to trust in him, the more they invest, the more they find joy in their investment. Elsewhere, Jesus says (Matthew 13:44):

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

So don’t think of your investment in the Kingdom as “pricey” -- think of it as “precious”: it is so much more than worth it.

3 - Readiness is personal, and it is precious, but it also needs to be is priority.

Did you notice that every one of the bridesmaids had plenty of opportunity to be ready? Even the foolish bridesmaids could easily have gone to buy their extra oil during that “long time coming” -- rather than waiting for it to be too late. So we must invest in our readiness now. As the Bible says (2 Corinthians 6:2):

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

For some, perhaps even here this morning, this could be the critical time in your life. Now if you are thinking that you've done just fine up to the present and don't need to take any action -- well, that's precisely the mistake that the foolish bridesmaids made, isn't it? You're being given a chance to respond appropriately even now. As we read in Peter’s second letter (3:9):

The Lord is ... patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

There is going to be a party, folks -- it is going to be amazing, and you won’t want to miss it. But you’re going to have to take some responsibility if you want to make it in. In fact, you’ll want to “make every effort” to be ready: and being ready is something you’ll want to take personally; being ready is something you’ll want to consider precious and being ready is something you’ll want to make a priority. “Don’t miss that bus!”