In the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.

The Parable of the wise and foolish virgins, or
bridesmaids told by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel could at first glance be mistaken
for some important advice about being prepared. Jesus therefore becomes an
antecedent of Baden-Powell’s whose motto has shaped the lives of many a former cub
scout; even the vicar, who on occasion wishes he had taken the motto more
seriously at times. In a week that has seen the rebirth of the bob a job week
that might seem appropriate. Being prepared is important and not to be belittled.
To take this though as the thrust of the parable is to grasp only part of what
Jesus was trying to convey.

It has sometimes been seen not only as an exemplar
of preparedness; but also of about prudence in economic affairs – I jest not –
and again given the worldwide economic uncertainty that would seem particularly
apposite.

However, whilst I believe Jesus had much to say
about the management of financial affairs; again this would be a partial
understanding rather than perhaps a fuller one.

The Parable is meant to describe the Kingdom of
Heaven, which you will recall is Matthew’s term for the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom in the teaching of Jesus is not to be seen as a specific place; that is to say like the United Kingdom; nor is it a political entity, in terms of party politics; although the Gospel has particular political things to say that sometimes bring it into tension with the kingdoms of this world. Christianity is an earthy religion: it has to be, since it is firmly rooted in God becoming human.

You cannot get more earthy than a wedding: they are
so easy to get wrong. This is why there is an enduring popularity with the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, with Rowan Atkinson’s portrayal of the bumbling vicar bringing a smile to our faces. Middle Eastern weddings, according to the anthropologists have changed little in pattern from the time of Jesus to the present day.

At a Palestinian wedding, a bridegroom would party
with his friends and family during the day, and come often late into the night to collect his bride. It was the duty of the bridesmaids to be ready to meet him; and was a cause, and still is, of social disgrace if they do not greet him. The disgrace is interestingly enough on the bridegroom; rather than the bridesmaids. By their failure to understand what was expected, the bridesmaids brought disgrace on the bridegroom. It is interesting to understand why there would be such a severe reaction from the groom: ‘I do not know you’ following not only a breach in etiquette, but in relationship.

This Parable, along with other Parables, is sometimes called a Parable of Judgement.

I would like us to hold that thought as we move to our OT reading for the day. Amos is a prophet who is a very fierce social critic. Sometimes, I think, we get the impression that the prophets are people who always were speaking of the future and whose eyes were always fixed on the hereafter rather than in the present. This would be to do all of the prophets a profound disservice; even if it would make their message more comfortable and easier on our ears.

Amos, however, is someone who knew how to grab his
hearers’ attention. In our small passage for this morning; he proclaims: ‘woe to you who desire the Day of the Lord’. This is perhaps the first time this term ‘Day of the Lord’ appears within the canon of Scripture. Now we could fall immediately into the trap of thinking that Amos is saying ‘woe to you if you desire the end of the world and God to put everything right’, which would be a very odd thing to say (presumably). The Day of the Lord though was not the end of the world; but rather an anticipated day of celebration when Israel as a nation-state could celebrate victory over her enemies; almost akin to Independence Day for the citizens of America or Bastille Day for the republic of France. This particular prophet is not afraid in this context that the great anticipated celebration would bring gloom rather than joy. The reason for this for Amos was obvious, whilst the people of God could claim to be pious they did not practice justice. Let us be clear that Israel’s God judges their lack of morality so severely that the prophets puts it like this; God cannot stand their worship; what they offer to God. This is interesting: I wonder whether we stop and think what God thinks of the worship we offer? There are two things we might like to take from this; (1) God might not like (very English way of putting things) our insular worship or activities which ignore the needs of those around us and (2) morality is not confined for the writers of the Scriptures to private deeds, but to public acts. As I have said many times; there is no such thing as a private Christian faith. This why the Church can and does have something to say not only about private conduct; but about the sometimes immoral ways in which wealth is distributed within society. For the prophet, Amos; God would judge.

Judgement can therefore be seen as something happening in the present. This might lead us back to assuming that the foolish bridesmaids were simply unprepared.

Whilst in our tradition; judgement can be about the present; it could also about the kingdom that is coming. Paul writes to the Thessalonians who were concerned about what would happen to those Christians who had died before Jesus returned. For Paul the Day of the Lord then was, for the believer, an anticipated future hope.

So, back to the Gospel:  what is the judgement occurring when the
bridesmaids are shut out? Is it occurring now or later?

The answer is relatively simple. When Jesus talked of the Kingdom; he was offering a way of life; asking those who would follow him to live their lives according to different values and be subject to God’s wise, just and gentle rule. The bridesmaids, all had a particular task to do, and some were in breach of relationship with the bridegroom.

God sets before us a choice: if we do not listen; God will eventually close the door.

Uncomfortable words: but God is not always as comfortable as we have sometimes made him.

In the Name of God: creator, redeemer and sustainer.