Matthew 25: 1-13
In today’s passage, the parable of the Ten Maidens speaks a profound word to each one of us; it is a fresh reminder of the need to prepare for the delay by living in the present moment faithfully, courageously, and hopefully. The only difference between wise and foolish maidens in the passage is this: the wise virgins prepared for the wait and, therefore, brought extra oil, while the foolish virgins failed to stock lamp oil.
What does it mean to be prepared for the wait? The passage asks us to prepare to wait and to avoid assuming that we have enough oil in our lamps right now. “Keep awake—preparing for the delay;
keep awake and know how much oil you have—don’t assume, don’t stay at the comfort feeling.”
Sometimes, the present moment and time may be too slippery for most of us to hang on to. No matter how much we try, humans often get caught up in what happened yesterday or what we have to do tomorrow. While we may obsess with the past, we often sit in a pit with regrets for things that we didn’t do.
How about the future? Who knows and controls the future and tomorrow? When we may obsess with that uncertainty, we often wrestle with fear and fear of the unknown and uncertainty. While we are obsessed with regrets or fear, we are easily blind to the present moment and time right now, just like my kiddos often neglect and overlook a beautiful sight while they keep asking this question, “Dad, are we there yet?”
For this season of transition, the search process, we may often ask this question to the Search committee member and God—“Hey, are we there yet? Or God, are we there yet?” Today’s passage tells us—“It is time to wake up.” “It is time to stop living in the past or worrying about the tomorrow.” “It is time to start living today—the present time—right now by living in hope for what has been promised and what will be but is not yet.”
Living in hope does not mean being immune to today's harsh realities. By contrast, it means living faithfully and courageously, trusting that the God of yesterday, of today, and of tomorrow continues to come into our lives with compassion, peace, and hope. Perhaps, we too often waste our time--questioning God about God’s timing, “God, are we there yet?”
Let’s keep refusing to live yesterday over and over again. Let’s keep resisting the temptation to save our best self for tomorrow. Let’s keep living the Good life no matter how much time is left.
Amen.