TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Prayer of the Day: O God of justice and love, you illumine our way through life with the words of your Son. Give us the light we need, and awaken us to the needs of others, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
“Then all those young women got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’” Matthew 25:7-9.
On the surface, the conduct of the “wise” women seems at odds with the one who shared his meager store of fish and bread to feed five thousand hungry mouths. This parable, however, is just that, namely, a parable. It is not a fable with a moral. What the wise women cannot share with their foolish companions is their wisdom. One must learn the hard way that life seldom goes as planned. A wedding feast can be delayed by any number of occurrences beyond the control of the participants. The baker’s assistant drops the wedding cake. The presiding clergy get stuck in traffic. The eight year old ring bearer drops the rings over a drainage grate. The cute little flower girl throws a tantrum and throws herself on the floor just as the procession is supposed to begin. Trust me, over forty years of ministry, I have seen it all. Few weddings come off entirely as planned.
Similarly, the coming of God’s reign does not go according to anyone’s schedule. It breaks without warning into a world filled with tragedy, wickedness and danger. The reign of God is revealed on an instrument of execution and the new creation comes to life where life typically ends-the grave. It takes a patient, watchful and attentive wisdom to discern precisely when, where and under what circumstances that reign will appear and what its appearing will require of us. A shallow and simplistic faith that falls apart like a cheap shirt when life goes off the rails will not do. Only faith that has grown wise through the experiences of grief, disappointment and loss can enable the disciple of Jesus to go the distance.
While I would never say that deathbed conversions are impossible, I have never seen one and I suspect they are exceedingly rare. That is because faith strong enough to brave even death grows out of experience through which one learns again and again the reliability of God’s promises, the wisdom of the scriptures and the example set by communities of saints who have traveled the path one is having to negotiate. It takes a lifetime to learn the meaning of taking up the cross, doing and saying the right thing regardless the consequences and dying with confidence, grace and dignity. It takes a lifetime to learn to recognize Jesus in the face of every stranger you meet and to realize each opportunity you have to enter into God’s reign of justice and peace by serving the neighbor dismissed as “the least” by the rest of society. Faith, as Soren Kirkegaard teaches us, is a habit of the heart. Like all habits, faith is learned and strengthened by practice, by repetition and progress from baby steps to a mature and steady walk.
“I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him.” So says Luther’s Small Catechism. That is undeniably true. Yet though I am incapable of generating faith on my own, I can join the communion of saints in worship. I can receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. I can read the scriptures, pray the psalms and listen with care to the preaching and teaching of the church. I can choose to place myself in the service of my neighbor in need, advocate for the most vulnerable among us and support with my financial resources the church’s mission and ministry to them. Through all of this, “I am enlightened [ ] with [the Holy Spirit’s] gifts, made [ ] holy and kept [ ] in the true faith.” Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, The Apostle’s Creed, Article 3. Can such faith be shared? Yes. But it is not a commodity that can be poured into a fading lamp as simply as oil. Like Philip who invited his skeptical brother Nathaniel to “come and see” the Rabbi from Nazareth, we can do no more than extend the invitation to enter into relationship with the one who promises to school us in the wisdom required to recognize the dawn of God’s reign wherever it happens to appear.
The arrival of God’s reign has begun for all who are prepared to receive it. It is happening wherever churches and individuals are opening their homes to give shelter and give sanctuary to refugees. The reign of God presses in upon this world wherever welcome is given to strangers; wherever generosity extends to the poorest, sickest and hungriest among us. The reign of God shakes the foundations of the status quo whenever truth is spoken to power. The voice of the bridegroom is calling to all who are armed with the wisdom and courage to answer it joyfully with hope and expectation.
Here is a poem by Tanya Winder that speaks of the disciplined and communal way of life that breeds wisdom required for a mature and enduring faith.
Being
Wake up, greet the sun, and pray.
Burn cedar, sweet grass, sage—
sacred herbs to honor the lives we’ve been given,
for we have been gifted these ways since the beginning of time.
Remember, when you step into the arena of your life,
think about those who stand beside you, next to, and with you.
Your ancestors are always in your corner, along with your people.
When we enter this world we are born hungry,
our spirits long for us to live out our traditions
that have been passed down for generations.
Prayer, ceremony, dance, language—our ways of being.
Never forget you were put on this earth for a reason—
honor your ancestors.
Be a good relative.
Source: Poetry (March 2021). Tanaya Winder is a performance poet, writer, motivational speaker, and educator. She was raised on the Southern Ute reservation in Ignacio, Colorado and is an enrolled member of the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe. Her interest in poetry began in her senior year of high school. Winder attended Stanford University and, although she set out to become a lawyer, she switched to English in her sophomore year, graduating in 2008 with a BA in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing. In 2010, she won the Orlando Poetry Prize and in 2013 she appeared on TEDxABQ with a talk called “Igniting Healing.” In 2016 Winder was named one of the “Native American 40 (Leaders) under 40” by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. You can read more about Tanaya Winder and sample more of her poetry at the Poetry Foundation website.
