Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
October 25, 2021
Feast of Tabitha (Dorcas) of Joppa
Invitatory
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.
Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord's Name be praised.
Reading: Matthew 25:1-13
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids 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.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Meditation – Peter Vanderveen
I remember this story from my youth. It made an impression. Some Gospel texts just don’t immediately connect. They require work to understand. This story needed no additional explication. It was a clear warning, and the warning was this: we are all at risk of being left out. Or worse, shamed. Foolishness is easy, but it can be devastating. I identified with the bridesmaids who were refused. If only they had been prepared. If only they had stayed awake. If only they had known what was at stake. Threats loom over us, so often unperceived. As children we were told to beware of strangers. We were to avoid mischief. We had to make good decisions. Our well-being depended on this (this was drummed into us). And so, too, did our eternal fate. So this story seemed to say. We have one shot to get things right, and to fail in any measure would result in the coldest form of perfunctory judgment.
This is certainly the way of the world. Life can be like this. But I think it’s a terrible misreading of the Gospel.
This story is one of quite a few that Matthew gathered together near the end of his Gospel, just before Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion. They are all of the same tone. The end is near. Destruction is coming. Just about everyone is unaware or blind with carelessness. People can’t be bothered. They’re all out for themselves. They have no idea how complicit they are in evil. They have even less idea that they’re judgment is imminent and it will be woeful beyond expression. And in the midst of all this, there are urgings, here and there, for some to be exceptional -- which means not to lose sight of God’s sovereignty.
Yet in the chapters that follow, no one takes this road. No one proves able to see that God is present. No one departs from the chorus calling for Jesus’ death. No one provides any vision of life outside the brutal power politics of the moment. Things just churn on. Foolishness reigns. And the effect of all these stories in context is that it is useless for us to be exhausted by vigilance, as if we could manage our way to some other kind of outcome. None of us are exceptional enough to earn the favor of God. And this should come as a relief. Matthew creates this harsh apocalyptic vision not to scare us into desperate action. It won’t amount to anything. But it’s this judgment that opens the way to what the rest of the Gospel reveals: which is that nothing is conclusive in such a way that it is beyond the redemptive reach of God.
In the resurrection, God overturns all the judgments we make. In doing this, God is infinitely surprising. And what seems inevitable to us is not so for God. So life is not defined by threat or scrambling for reward; God’s gift to us is the freedom to live in the knowledge that, even quite apart from us, love will triumph. Love will reign.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
