You know, when it comes to our spirituality and our church lives there are just some things that can really keep me up at night. There are things that matter so much to me, that I can’t really get them out of my mind. So as I walk through life, and work on things around church, attend events and different Christian activities…go to leadership trainings or even just bump into Christians out in the real world, there are things that bring tension to my life when it comes to our faith, and Christianity…things that just weigh so heavy on me and often leave me walking away from church, Christian activities, and religious people in general just confused and scratching my head and I’m just going to say it, today’s parable will really hit on some of those tension points, and leave big questions and challenges for our lives today…so this is going to be a fun one today, but just to get you thinking I want to ask you a couple of questions, and quite frankly I think they are incredibly important questions when it comes to our relationship with God…so please take a moment as we get warmed up here this morning and personalize these questions.
Are you more comfortable looking like a Christian than you are actually being one? Here’s what I mean. Do you look the part of a Christian, while not actually living out your faith? Do you come to church and do Christian activities and would tell people you are a Christian without spending time with God, without reading your Bible, with no prayer life except in those rough moments when we really need God to come through for us? I’m not sure there is a more important question we can ask ourselves than this, because so many of us are comfortable looking Christian to others without walking into the depth, and joy, and peace, and strength that an actual relationship with God would bring. We stay out of all that, and we just kind of go through the motions with our faith and wonder at times why some get so excited about their faith…because we don’t see or get anything out of ours…never processing that we aren’t living our faith out, we are just looking Christian to others.
Would you say you walk in a personal relationship with God, or would you say you try to borrow someone else’s relationship with God when you need a hand in life? Here’s what I mean, you aren’t willing to actively walk with God, you aren’t praying, reading the Bible, resting, or willing to take time to be with God as you live in the moment of right now but you know that your parents do, or the Pastor does, or maybe your spouse does…so while you aren’t willing to engage God, you run to them to engage God for you? You have a burden, and you are fine just offloading your emotions onto them, or running to them to ask for prayer, while never taking those burdens to God or praying yourself just know that you feel better knowing they are close with God? Do you try to borrow someone you look at as a Spiritual person’s relationship with God when you need it without any interest in walking with God? Ok, let me ask you one more, and this one may be the toughest one to think through.
How would you feel if today, right now was it, the last moments, and Jesus returned today? Would you feel prepared and excited, or does that concept scare you? So many of us are afraid of Jesus return…it was interesting a couple of weeks ago we went through a Parable of The Tenant Farmers, and in that parable Jesus talks about the fact that the day will come when we will be accountable for our actions and many Christians’ feel tension talking about such things…do you? If you are a Christian, and if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior there is nothing to worry about, which is why we celebrate and worship being a Christian every Sunday…the fact that we aren’t perfect, that we know we sin and mess up, but God loved us enough to send Jesus to this world to take care of this all for us! If we believe that, there isn’t anything to worry about is there? So, ask yourself how you would feel if it was today, would it be a good thing, scary thing, would you feel like you are prepared or not?
I will be honest with you these are the things that can keep me up at night staring at the ceiling as I walk through life with people, and interact with Christians here in this world, and I can’t wait to dive into this with you today…but before we do, let’s take a moment and pray that we would have those ready hearts to be open and able to receive Jesus’ teaching today. Remember Jesus told us that He tells stories for that very reason, to open us up and give us ready hearts to the things of God. Let’s Pray.
So, before we dive into this awesome Parable let’s get an idea of where we are at in Jesus’ life and the greater context around this teaching. Remember, around a month ago now, we had moved through Jesus traveling with His disciples into Jerusalem for Passover, which starts with Jesus’ triumphant walk into the crowds cheering for Him and will close with the same crowd cheering “Crucify Him!” in just a few days. So, we have been hanging out now in Passion Week for quite some time and I think it’s incredible how much of the Gospels and Jesus’ teachings seem to come out of this one week…and I think that only builds into and brings these parables to life. Last week Ken was in Matthew 22 where he took us through the Parable of The King and The Wedding Feast asking us how we respond to God’s invitation which was awesome…now today we move to Matthew 25 and look at The Parable of The 10 Bridesmaids which will lead us into those real and important questions we discussed during our warm up here this morning…so let’s dive into this parable, then look at some of the meaning and imagery and then really dive into the heart of what Jesus is teaching today.
Matthew 25:1 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ 7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ 12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ 13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return. NLT
Ok, so for us here in our culture we may not get this as clearly as those listening to Jesus would because this is a literal scenario that would play out in a Palestinian wedding…it was a custom to them. Their weddings were weeklong celebrations and, in some areas, still are, and one of the customs was that you went, and you engaged in the festivities, you partied and had a great time, and no one really knew when the Groom would show up and when the wedding would begin! It would be a fun game inside the wedding celebration for the Groom to try to show up and catch the Bridesmaids napping or unprepared to start the wedding! So, you never actually know when the ceremony could take place and if you aren’t ready, you could miss it! So, this is real life for them! You may notice the importance of the lamps and the oil and thought why would Jesus stress those lamps? Well, in those times no one was permitted outside in the streets after dark without a lighted lamp and in those days, there were no flashlights, or batteries to power lights, you needed oil in your lamp, or it was useless, and you wouldn’t be allowed outside! So, this literally would and could happen to them, this would be such clear imagery for them. The other part that was very literal was, if you weren’t inside or ready when the groom came and the ceremony started, they literally shut the doors and you missed it! You couldn’t come late, you weren’t let in, so once again this would have been very literal for them. So let’s stop and talk here because, if today was my last sermon, and this was our last chance to ever speak together this would be the very thing that I would want us talking about…let’s go back to those questions I asked you earlier and discuss a little bit. Remember I asked you three questions.
Question 1 – Are you more comfortable looking Christian than actually being a Christian?
Question 2 – Do you walk with God or do you try to borrow someone else’s relationship with Him?
Question 3 – Are you prepared for the day you meet Jesus?
Maybe these questions made you feel a little uncomfortable, maybe you thought I was being a little too aggressive today, but here at MRC we love you enough to want to speak about the things that truly matter, and your walk with God, your salvation and eternal destiny matter most. So let’s talk here about the heart and deeper meaning of this parable…because there is something I see here that is just bursting off the page as we study this story.
If we go back into this story, we see a scene that Jesus is describing that everyone would have understood and could picture in their mind. Then he describes ten bridesmaids. Five who were wise and prepared and 5 who were not prepared…
Matthew 25:1 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ NLT
These bridesmaids represent us all, and the bridegroom to me represents the day when Jesus returns…and the question is will we be prepared or not. Some will be, some will not, just like this story.
Matthew 25:6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ 7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ 12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ NLT
The lamps really stand out, not only were there rules that you couldn’t be out in the streets, but Jesus has talked about lamps before, and I think very particularly is back to lamps in this story…remember this?
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. NLT
We are to keep our lamps lit and shining for all the world to see! Now here we are with ten people and its split right down the middle, five lamps are lit and shining and five our not. This is great imagery of people and the world we live in today, isn’t it?
One of the things that has really been fascinating to read in Scripture, and also witness in our lives today is just how many people hear the message of Jesus, the Good News of the Gospel and the truth of what God provides, yet how different we all react to it. The message is there and it’s the same for everyone, yet two people can sit side by side, hear the message and truth of God’s words but react and treat that message completely differently. It’s amazing to watch, and quite frankly, it is hard to watch at times. Just a few weeks ago I showed you an example of this in Scripture…and it’s that powerful moment where Jesus is hanging on The Cross between two criminals and we focused on Jesus redeeming the one last time but let’s look at that again from this idea…that two men are here, seeing and hearing the same message from Jesus yet reacting completely opposite to Him…
Luke 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened to the cross above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” 40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” NLT
Isn’t that wild? Two men watch this unfold, one’s reaction is hard hearted and closed off to Jesus’ message, the other softens and sees and accepts Jesus for who He is. This is yet another big tension point for me as I watch so many come and go around the church world and see so many hear God’s message and react so differently. As you look at these two criminals hanging on the cross, don’t you wonder why they don’t react the same way? I mean they hear the same prayer, see the same situation unfold, but only one believes. That is the way it is for all of us though, isn’t it? Two can hear the same message and react completely opposite from it. Just incredible…and so it is with our Parable that we are studying. All ten bridesmaids know the rules and the customs. They all have heard the same message, and they all know they should have oil for their lamps and be prepared for the Groom to come and the ceremony to begin…but only five of them are prepared, following the teachings, and ready for the groom to come…they all know he will come. They all know they are to have oil, but some are standing there with empty lamps, very happy to enjoy the party, not really caring that they don’t have oil in the lamp they are holding. Now before the groom comes, all ten look the part, don’t they? They all have lamps, and no one really knows that five of the lamps are empty…and I think all ten were having a great time, and looking the part…and the five with empty lamps were completely content holding their lamps, looking good, even though they know that there was nothing in the lamp…it looks good, but in the end its empty…and this is the imagery we must see today because we see this a lot around Christianity and our people’s spirituality to this day.
Many people are completely content to go through the motions and look the part of the good Christian. They look good and appear to be Christian, but they aren’t walking in a personal relationship with God. It’s just like this story, they are holding their lamps, and are fine holding the lamps looking the part of the good bridesmaid here…but in the end it’s all on the surface…there is nothing to them. The lamp is empty. It looks right, but it’s really an empty exercise. Paul warns Timothy about such people here…
2 Timothy 3:5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! NLT
If we expand this verse to include the surrounding verses, I think we get a great view of those people looking the part, but not living the part out well here…these people are ok holding their lamps, but there just isn’t any oil in them…
2 Timothy 3:1-4 …in the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian. For people will love only themselves and their money; they will be proud and boastful, sneering at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them, and thoroughly bad. They will be hardheaded and never give in to others; they will be constant liars and troublemakers and will think nothing of immorality. They will be rough and cruel, and sneer at those who try to be good. They will betray their friends; they will be hotheaded, puffed up with pride, and prefer good times to worshiping God. 5 They will go to church, yes, but they won’t really believe anything they hear. Don’t be taken in by people like that. TLB
They look good holding their lamps, they go to church and do the right things…but there is nothing in the lamp…it’s an empty exercise while what is going on in the reality of their lives is opposite of how they look. The real challenge for so go through the motions of Christianity, holding their lamps with no oil in them with no real interest in God while living for themselves is that they probably feel good! They look good. They are doing a lot of good things, while also continuing to live for themselves. But the reality is they can fool other people into thinking they are the good Christian standing there with a full lamp, but the reality is the lamp is empty…so they are only really fooling themselves by looking the part, with no depth to their walk with God. It’s one thing to hold the lamp, it’s a whole other thing to have oil in it and be able to light your lamp and let it shine. Many people today are perfectly happy and content with people thinking they are Godly while they hold empty lamps. They are fine with fulfilling Christian duties, showing up at church, going through all the rituals, looking very good to other people in their church communities while the reality is there is no life change, and no true walk with God. They still live for themselves, doing whatever they want, whenever they want with no real interest in God. BUT hey, they look good to other humans who can’t see that they are holding that empty lamp. This makes me think of the hurt in God’s heart over religion that comes out here in Isaiah so well…
Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. NIV
Do you see it? We can look the part, and do everything well, while everyone around us sees us as Godly while the reality is it’s as empty as the lamps of the foolish bridesmaids of this story. All ten bridesmaids heard the same message. They all know the rules and the customs on how to act at a wedding feast and ceremony yet five didn’t do anything with it. They weren’t willing to change and apply that message to their lives…and they missed it. They looked just like the prepared bridesmaids, they all held lamps, and looked the part…but to me, don’t you just think the five with the empty lamps could have saved a lot of energy just not holding that empty lamp in the first place? It’s also amazing to me how important the oil was to them, when the bridegroom did show up, but at that point, it’s too late isn’t it?
I’m so thankful that I had this parable with you today, because sadly this same thing unfolds around Christianity all the time. It hurts our hearts around MRC to see so many hear the message of Jesus, and the presentation of the love of God and what it could be in our lives…and choose to continue to live as they please while going through empty motions in and around church. They show up and look the part, but the lamp is empty…and the danger is we don’t see our need of God because we feel so good about what we are doing, that we can get lulled to sleep, and never care to put oil in the lamp until it’s too late. It’s amazing and challenging and is probably the thing that keeps me up at night the most, is what we are doing real or are we just carrying around our empty lamps looking the part of the Christian while not living out the amazing life we could have in Christ?
We love you so many and truly want you to find the depth, and full life that comes when we dive into the reality of choosing to live for God rather than ourselves…and it can be yours, but you have to be willing to fill up your lamp, and live for God, rather than carry an empty lamp, look really good to people while never surrendering your life to Him. The reality is we all have that choice to make in our lives, we all hear the same message and have the same opportunity to find a true, life-giving relationship with Him…but while we all hear and are presented with the same message, not everyone responds the same way.
So, as we close here today, what is your response to the message of Christ? Take a moment and be honest here today. Are you carrying around a lamp full of oil, or are you comfortable looking the part, carrying a lamp with nothing in it. Ask yourself these questions today, and really personalize this for yourself.
Question 1 – Are you more comfortable looking Christian than actually being a Christian?
Question 2 – Do you walk with God or do you try to borrow someone else’s relationship with Him?
Question 3 – Are you prepared for the day you meet Jesus?
We love you, and we want this to be real for you. We want you to be those people who don’t just look the part, but find the love, and joy, and strength of a true relationship with God…which is just so much more than looking the part of the good Christian.