On Being Prepared
Matthew 25:1-13
How do we live in a sate of preparedness?
When we read this parable our minds immediately go to what is often referred to as “the second coming of Christ.” And though some say Christ will come before the thousand years peace reign on earth and rapture his children away and others say no, He will only come after the 1000 year peace reign on earth has been established, almost all Christians believe that Jesus will come again, essentially inaugurating the end of history as we know it. It is referred to as “eschatology” in theology. The end times.
But maybe the second coming isn’t the only place our minds should go when we read this passage. Maybe we should not even call the second coming a “second” coming. It could leave us with the wrong impression that Jesus once came to earth, left and will return in the future. It is not completely wrong, but such a view does omit something very important. The fact that between Jesus’s coming at Christmas and Jesus returning one day, He “comes” every day and in many ways to us. Just think of how he came to the disciples in a storm on boat. How he came to Saul on his way to Damascus. How he met you either in need or by showing you beaty in a way that touched your heart. He will not only show up unexpectedly one day. He shows up in unexpected ways every day. If we are prepared for Jesus showing up each day; we will be prepared for his penultimate coming one day.
Nowadays, the only thing you can expect with certainty in this world we live in is that something unexpected will happen. To plan has become difficult. There are so many unknowns when it comes to politics, the climate and the future that it is almost possible to plan for everything. How many people saw Covid coming? To name just one example! But even though outward planning might be mission impossible and a waste of time, inward preparedness is not. It is hard to tell if it is intended but even though both the wise and the foolish virgins planned and had their visible lamps with them, only the wise ones were prepared inwardly with regards to the less visible oil in the lamps. Everyone planned. Only the wise ones were in a state of preparedness.
I guess a key question to make this parable relevant to our time would be to ask; “What in our time will be the oil in our lamps? What will keep us in a state of preparedness towards Jesus showing up?
To repair
When you hear the word “repair”, what comes to mind is “fixing” something. But to grasp the full meaning of repair think of it being used in the following sentence: “After dinner, we repaired to the living room for coffee”. Repair means “to changing your position and posture” to better engage. When we repair something, we change its position to serve its purpose better. That is a much richer understanding of what repairing involves than thinking of it than just fixing.
Jesus grew up as a carpenter’s son. In those days trees wasn’t cut down en masse and mechanically. There weren’t even that many trees in that hot arid climate. So much of carpentry involved repairing. Readjusting, strengthening etc. It is not difficult to see this carpentry background coming into play when Jesus adjusts the position of women and lepers in society, when he heals a blind man and when he rebukes his disciples.
When we repair in this rich sense, we join in something Jesus has been doing all along and is still doing. And just like a father and a son bond and understand each other better when they engage in carpentry together, so we become more focused on Jesus when we adjust, strengthen and repair. It is not like there isn’t ample projects of reparation for us to join in this world.
To repair is to put yourself in a state of preparedness to meet Christ.
To Learn
The unwise virgins were learned. They learned that the groom was coming and got what was necessary. The wise virgins never stop learning and when they learned that the groom is taking longer than expected they utilize that knowledge and adjusted.
A life posture of preparedness is one in which one stays open to be confronted by things you don’t know and learn from them. I came across a very apt description of the difference between being learned and being a learner. I want to share it with you:
When I was learned, life was a quiz show. Now that I am a learner, life is a Discovery channel.
When I was a learner, it was a question of how much I knew. Now that I am a learner, it is a question of how much I am being stretched.
When I was learned, knowledge was everything. Now that I am a learner, kindness is everything.
When I was learned, knowledge went to my head. Now that I am a learner, knowledge travels the longest foot in the universe-the foot that separates my head from my heart.
When I was learned, I used to point my finger and pontificate. Now that I am a learner I slap my forehead all the time.
When I was learned, I used to think that I know the best. Now that I am a learner, I do the best I can.
When I was learned, I used to be afraid of new ideas. Now that I am a learner, I am frightned by old ones.
When I was learned, I knew where I was going. Now that I am a learner, I don’t know where I am going but I do know who I am going with.
When I was learned, I had something to teach everybody. Now that I am a learner, everybody has something to teach me.
You get the message. Stay a learner. Can we agree that City Centre Church should always be a Church that never stops learning?
To live in Community
Notice how the wise and the foolish belonged to a community of wise and foolish. They are not treated as individuals but as groups. Scientists studying microbes learned something interesting. They discovered that microbes are understood better when studied in the community of relationships they find themselves. Much more so as when they are studied in isolation. Why when you meet a prospective husband and wife, why are you eager to meet the family? Because it gives you a better understanding of the person that you date. Our individualism is costing us dearly on so many levels. I am sure that a reappreciation of the value of community will be one of the big correctives in ages to come.
It is the power of relationship and community that turned willow into aspirin, poppy into morphine and foxglove into digitalis. It is the relationships networks of political candidates not their skills that will make or break them and the contingencies they lead.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer used to say: He who is afraid of community, should be afraid to be alone; and he who is afraid to be alone, should be afraid to be in community.
We cannot know God by flying solo. Community slows us down yes, but it also keeps us from assuming all our own thoughts and opinions, likes and dislikes correlate exactly with those of God. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a community to mature a Christian as well. Don’t just ask yourself how you could show up for church. Ask yourself how you can commune with others at church and in your neighbourhood.
To live Prophetically
Again, something we often have the wrong ideas about. People tend to think of prophets as future predictors. Spiritual crystal ball gazers. A true prophet never predicts. A true prophet imagines. A prophet imagines how things will turn out, should we continue on the track we are on and a prophet imagines how much better things could turn out if we recalibrate with things that are important to God. It is through their imaginative creativity that prophets inspire and give hope. We as the church do have a prophetic call. We are called to give hope y imagining how things could be even better.
The wise virgins imagined what could happen if the groom showed up late and act in their present accordingly. It takes courage to be imaginative I this way. You will usually be met with criticism and scorn by those who doesn’t employ their imagination and once it comes to fruition, you will be blamed for not warning them enough like it was the case in this parable.
There is an enemy you should be aware of in your pursuit to stay imaginative. That enemy is fear. It is like fear and creativity cannot stay in the same brain. The one pushes against the other. Pharaoh in Genesis couldn’t be imaginative about Israel and their rightful place in a kingdom. He was haunted by anxiety and fear whilst Moses kindled the fading imagination of the Israelites about God.
There is a tendency to exalt the exact sciences and neglect the humanities in our time. That is like trying to walk only on one leg. Science is precious. It gives as cures and technology. It answers the how/ questions of life. But dreaming, embracing mystery, doing art and poetry, that helps us to embrace mystery and God and attends to the why/ and the who/ questions of life. We need both. Encourage especially children showing an interest in either one of these lines of work for their future.
Wouldn’t it be great if the church could be known not for power and enforcement but for being imaginative and creative?
Close
Lightning can strike randomly. The Holy Spirit strikes where people are expectantly prepared for Jesus to show up. It gives me hope that somewhere on a hill in Whalley there are gathered people who are looking out for ways in which they can mend and repair what is broken, also in themselves. People who are eager and open to learn until the day they die. People who are committed to a community of faith and their own community. And people who never stop dreaming of how wonderful things could be, if we let Jesus take over.
Amen