Nov 10, 2002

Mindekirken
November 10, 2002

Pr. Jens Arne Dale

We were 80 teenagers, going to a Bible camp in the woods, north of Oslo. For the last part of the trip we had to use our skis.  I remember Ola’s face when he opened a plastic bag and realized that he had taken his father’s jogging shoes instead of his ski boots.

Maybe a small detail, but important enough that he had to turn back. I’m sure you have experienced similar things, coming to the cabin and surprisingly find out that you have forgotten the key, having the shopping cart full and find out that your wallet is empty, the cell phone having dead batteries when you need to call someone…

Some people tend to have more stories like this than others.

A small tuft can upset a big load, they say.

A small detail can be fatal and make a great difference.

In today’s text, we are drawn into the exciting expectations of a wedding. Ten bridesmaids are gathered under one roof. I almost hear laughter and high spirits. Soon the groom will come.

Then they will go in procession with torches to the wedding house and they will dance until morning comes. Some places in Norway, the custom has been that all the guests at a wedding take a nap after dinner.

That’s not a dumb custom.

But in today’s text, it’s the opposite.

The bridesmaids fall asleep before the groom appears..

Maybe it was natural, because the shout didn’t come before midnight

"Look, here comes the bridegroom." In seconds, they were up and about. The lamps were trimmed. Now the banquet could start. What a disaster it must have been to the five who didn't have enough oil for their lamps.

It was a small detail, but it became the big difference.

They were not able to borrow, and there was no time to go buy any. Because of that they missed the whole wedding. One may swallow the disappointment of missing a wedding, maybe even one’s own.

I think, you don’t always marry the one you first dream about.

But the parable of Jesus is hardly meant to be about a single event.

I think he had in mind the only necessary thing that becomes the big difference in life and death. We have to ask ourselves: "What is it that really matters in the end?"

Last Sunday, we heard the beatitudes. Blessed are the poor.

Sometimes we live as if money were the most important thing in life.

True enough, we have got the task to fill the earth and subdue it, that means work in order to have something to live from.

But if the things we live from become the things we live for, it’s wrong. Jesus warned against the grief of money, and that warning is addressed to both poor and rich. The one who has little may be envious and the rich ones will always want more.

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, Paul says. 1 Tim 6:10.

We should be grateful for daily bread, but at the same time remember that man doesn’t live by bread alone. There is something which is more important than daily bread. The only necessary thing in life can’t be measured in material values.

In the beatitudes, Jesus draws a picture of an assembly that lacks elementary civil rights, people who experience grief, pressure, persecution, people who want life to be different. Quite opposite of the ideals of our society, Jesus calls these people blessed. Said in other words, the most important thing in life is not to avoid adversity, sickness and difficulties.

There is something that counts even more.

Once Jesus asked what will if profit them if they gain the whole world, but forfeit their life? Matt. 16:26. There is a value in life that is bigger than material goods and a life without want. That is to save one’s soul.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Prov. 4:23.

To live is to love, we sing in a Norwegian hymn. Love is more important than everything. Therefore, it says in the Great Commandment,

"You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself."

Paul wrote: "If I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" 1 Cor. 13:1.

Without love, we are nothing. It’s written about the last times that the love of many will grow cold. Matt 24:12. But it’s also in the last times that Jesus shall return. As the wakening shout was cried at midnight, the bridegroom is here, Jesus will return to this world and come for his people.

This is called the day of judgement because everything that’s against the will of God will come to an end. God will recreate everything, and love shall unfold in everything there is. The wedding in the parable is a picture of the time when God creates a new heaven and a new earth. The serious thing in the parable is that some got into the wedding , others did not.

The ones who didn’t have oil in their lamps got to hear "I don’t know you".

What does it mean to have oil in one’s lamp? The oil is used in the Bible as a picture of the Holy Spirit. When we were baptized we received the Holy Spirit who made us cry "Abba! Father!" says Paul. Rom. 8:15.

It is a guarantee of what will happen when God makes everything new. The decisive thing about this is that it’s all God’s gift, and never a matter of how good a human is. To have oil in your lamp is to be recognized by Jesus. And what he recognizes in us is his own work and his own Holy Spirit.

To be a Christian doesn’t always feel like we are burning with faith, hope and love. It’s rather like we become drowsy and fall asleep like the bridesmaids. We may unfortunately be dull and lukewarm.

But that doesn’t keep God from covering us with the love of Christ, giving us forgiveness of sins and the seal of the Holy Spirit, the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption. Ephes. 1:14.

And when it comes to good works, the day of judgement will reveal great surprises: "When did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink?" etc., the righteous will ask on the day of judgement. Matt. 25:37

And the Lord shall answer "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me". Matt. 25:40.

Good works are the fruit of faith.

We want to be like the wise bridesmaids, they who had the little detail in order that made the big difference. It is the life in God that is given to us as a gift and that is nourished by word and sacrament.

God recognizes what he himself has created and saved.

Glory be to God, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit,

one true God now and forever. Amen

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716