This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached on November 12, 2023, the Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time. The gospel reading was Matthew 25:1-13.

My parents have taught me a lot of things. They taught me how to read. They taught me how to ride a bike. They taught me how to write a check. And maybe the most important thing they taught me about was God’s grace. “Grace is God’s love freely given,” my father always said. Generations of confirmands at two churches where he was the pastor will forever be able to recite the answer to the question, “What is grace?” “God’s love freely given.” God’s grace is given to us with no strings attached. Pure unconditional love. There is nothing we have done to earn it, nothing we can do to earn it, and nothing we can do to lose it. My father taught me this in words. Both of my parents showed me this in their actions: in the way they loved me, in the way they raised me, in the way they never gave up on me, even in those years when they really might have.

They continue to teach me even today. And they continue to teach us all here at Prince of Peace. I like to tell myself that when they retired, my parents wanted join the church where their son was pastor. It’s probably more likely that they wanted to join the church where their grandkids were. But whatever brought them here, we are blessed to have them. And one of the things that they have taught us is how to participate with our bodies in the Thanksgiving at the Table, which is the long prayer I say as we prepare for communion each week. They taught us motions to use as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Many of you can probably do it with me right now.

Christ has died. (Make arms into a cross.)

Christ is risen. (Raise arms over your head.)

Christ will come again. (Hug yourself.)

These motions are so simple, but they have so much meaning. Christ has died. We make a cross with our arms. Christ died on a cross.

Christ is risen. We raise our arms up! And what’s more, it’s a posture of praise. So we are praising God for raising Christ.

But the last one is a little surprising. For “Christ will come again,” we might expect something more like this. (Swoop your arms down.) We might think of Jesus coming down from the clouds at the end of time. But no. We hug ourselves instead. I wonder why that is.

Well, I think about what my parents taught me about grace. They taught me that God’s love is freely given for us today, here and now, not just at the end of time, not just when we die. And I think about what you, the people of Prince of Peace, have taught me. You have taught me, and shown me, that you are a people who actively seek and serve Christ in all people. (This is the Purpose Statement of Prince of Peace.) You have shown me that Christ is in other people. Which means that “Christ will come again” isn’t just about the end of time, but also about today, here and now, in people.

You’ve taught me this. You’ve shown me this, in the way that you serve this community, the way that you serve one another, the way you serve people around the world. And so I understand whey we hug ourselves when we say “Christ will come again,” because this is where Christ is coming again. Through us. Through you and me, and all the people we encounter.

And I’m so glad that you’ve taught me this, because it helps me make sense of a problem I have with today’s confusing gospel story. Today’s gospel is about a wedding banquet – I understand that much. But I’ll be honest –the details are confusing to me. Bridesmaids waiting for the groom, waiting so long they fall asleep, then lighting lamps, then the door to the banquet hall being shut before the foolish ones arrive. I find it hard to really connect with that. Clearly wedding traditions were quite different in first century Judea than they are today.

But that’s not the problem. I don’t think we need to understand their customs in order to understand an important message here. And I think the message here is “be prepared.” Be prepared, have oil in your lamps, because you never know when the bridegroom will come.

But there’s the other confusing thing, and there’s the problem. Jesus is comparing the kingdom of God with this wedding banquet. And it seems like he’s saying that we don’t know when he’s coming again at the end of time. And it seems like he’s saying that if we’re not properly prepared for that time, if we don’t do things right in this life, then the door to the kingdom of heaven will be shut to us, and an eternity of misery awaits us.

And that’s a real problem. Where is the grace in that? If grace is God’s love freely given, then how can there be this condition on it? I would never send my own children into an eternity of torment, no matter what they did. Oh, I might punish or discipline them. But an eternity of torment? Never. Does that mean that I am kinder, more loving, more grace-filled than God? I can’t believe that. There must be something else here.

And you taught it to me. (hug yourself) Christ will come again.

Maybe this is not about being properly prepared for Christ coming at the end of time. Maybe this is about being properly prepared for the next time Christ comes to you here in this world. Because when Christ appears to us here, Christ calls us to do his work here. And maybe we do need to be prepared for that.

Think about it this way. Sometime today, or sometime this week, you will have the opportunity to serve Christ. Sometime today, or sometime this week, someone will be there waiting for you to help them. You will have the opportunity to serve, whether it’s through an act of kindness or generosity, an act of patience or compassion, an act of love or attention. And in that moment of opportunity, that’s Christ coming again to you. That’s the chance for you to be part of the kingdom of God here and now.

But – it’s really easy to miss those opportunities. And I think that’s what this story of the bridesmaids is teaching us today. I think it’s showing us that we can miss the chance to be part of God’s kingdom here on earth. It’s showing us that we need to be prepared in order to see that when it happens. In order to be part of it when we’re called on.

How do we get prepared for this? How do we keep our lamps filled with oil? Oh, I can think of a few things that might help. Prayer, for starters. Pray to God to keep your eyes open for opportunities to serve. Pray to God to keep you ready and aware for the bridegroom. Prayer gives us oil for our lamps.

And another way to be prepared is to take care of yourself. Doing all the things you know are important, but just can’t make the time to do them. You are worth it. God wants you to be healthy, in body, mind, and spirit. And you are worth whatever time it takes to get that body, mind, and spirit into a healthy shape. You know how people say that you can’t take care of others unless you take care of yourself first? It’s true! Now that’s easy for me to say. I’m not always good at doing that. But I can work on it. Self-care gives us oil for our lamps.

And another way is to cling to your faith in God. Trust that God is there. Trust that God’s promises are good. Trust that Christ is out there, coming to you, soon. Remember what my parents taught you. God’s grace is everywhere. That trust, that faith, is oil in your lamp.

And I actually thought of another way to be prepared, another way to fill our lamps with oil. It’s a little project that you and I can work on together, and I’m kind of excited about it. But I’m going to wait to talk about that. My father taught me the importance of keeping sermons short, and my mother taught me the importance of patience.

So, for now, keep yourself prepared. Christ will come again. Sometime very soon. Have some oil ready, and you can see him, and be part of his kingdom.

Image by Hans Benn from Pixabay