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Foolish or Fuelish? - November 9, 2008

Foolish or Fuelish?

Matthew 25:1-13

November 9, 2008

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

There are two types of people in the world: those who like to get to the airport early and those who like to get to the airport right on time. God usually forms marriages out of one of each kind. Rarely do both operate on the same schedule. In our marriage, Ann hates to sit at airports and so she usually likes to get there right on the dot. I on the other hand like to get there plenty early in case something unexpected comes up. So, if they say to get there one hour a head of time, I want to get there two hours earlier. And if it takes forty-five minutes to get to the airport, I like to plan on at least an hour of travel time. So Ann finds me easiest to live with if we leave the house at least three hours before flight time. Four would be just fine.

Because things can come up. Like happened yesterday when I took her to the airport for a business trip. As we near Wayzata the gas gauge starts going nuts, telling me that I had about a teaspoon of gas left...which was crazy because I had filled up yesterday. Ann said that we better pull off and fill up. But being me, I said that we didn't have time. Besides, I knew that I had filled up yesterday. The gauge now tells me that it's warning me for the very last time. So, we pulled off and got to a station. Lo and behold, the tank WAS empty!

Turns out that yesterday I paid for the gas of someone who apparently had run off without paying. I had pulled up to the pump and hit the button that I would pay inside. Then I inserted the gas pump, engaged the handle and went to work on the windows. When I got back, the gas meter was stopped and twenty-six gallons was registered as having been dispensed. I walk into the station and tell the guy that I'm out on pump three, I hand him my credit card, he rings it up, and asks me if I want the receipt which I decline. And I drive off. Turns out I had not dispensed a drop of gas, but had paid for the last guy who had driven off without the clerk noticing. And since I had no receipt, I had no way of proving my case.

So now with a real tankful of gas, I race off for the airport, terrified that we'll miss her flight. THAT is the very reason that I like to leave a hundred hours early so that I can have time for flat tires, traffic slowdowns, bizarre gas tank mysteries and resulting speeding tickets.

But if Jesus had told that same story, He might have said that this all happened because I had been foolish - taking off with a car that didn't have any fuel. In my defense, I might have been foolish, but I sure wasn't "fuelish".

Since yesterday, I now feel a kind of kinship with those five foolish bridesmaids who came with torches but not enough oil to keep them lit. So, I feel a certain need to speak up for these poor gals. They too might have had a good reason for not being fuelish.

I mean, they WERE there on time. They did bring their torches. And they did bring oil for their torches. Just not enough, that's all.

Back in those days the wedding itself started at night so that everybody could leave their labors and participate. So, it was dark. The bride and her ten bridesmaids would be getting ready at the bride's parent's home until the groom and his assistants came for her. Then the bridesmaids would escort the bride as they followed the groom back at his newly prepared home. so each of the bridesmaids would have to be ready with a flashlight. But since they did not have flashlights, they used torches instead which amounted to oil soaked rags on a pole. these usually burned out in fifteen minutes or so, so they might also need to have a little extra oil as well.

But here was the problem: the bridesmaids did not have watches in those days to know precisely when the groom would show up. So they had to be ready with their torches from sundown on. Half of the girls came with torches but no oil. And while they rushed out to buy some oil, lo and behold, who shows up but the groom? And off goes the wedding party without them.

When they finally do get to the groom's house, the door has been shut and the groom calls out, "I don't even know who you are!"

Now, we don't know exactly what would have happened after that. This was, after all, a story that Jesus made up to describe the kingdom of heaven. But, since He made it up, how do you think He would have finished it?

It sounds like the five foolish bridesmaids had simply missed their flight. But that's not what Jesus said. In fact, He just leaves it kind of dangling. I would assume that the bridesmaids would have answered the groom with something like, "C'mon! You do too know who we are. Stop being a jerk!"

And he might have come back with, "I'm sorrrrrrrrrrry! I don't knoooooooooooooow you."

Did they finally get in? Or did they really miss the boat? We don't know. When we have been late for flights, sometimes we have made it, sometimes we have not. But all the way there, knowing that we have missed the gate time, I am sweating bullets.

But I kept truckin' on as fast as I can in the hope that just maybe I'll make that flight after all. If I had some way of knowing that I had totally missed the last flight, I would simply give up. But in hope I get moving as fast as I can.

Jesus did not say that the five foolish maidens were totally our of luck. They knew that they had missed the boarding call, but they kept truckin' on after all, obviously in hope that they could still get in. And who knows? Maybe they did.

Our bridegroom is a gracious God who desires all to come in. Therefore I will always hope in His forgiveness and His grace. But, I don't want to sweat bullets by cutting it too close in this life. When I breathe my last the door will be open or it will be closed. Forever.

So, I want to do the work of forgiving NOW, I want to do God's will in caring for the most vulnerable among us NOW, I want to ask His forgiveness NOW, so that I am prepared when He does come for me. Amen. May it be so.