Just Not This Kind
Proper 27A | Matthew 25:1-13
That’s a weird wedding, isn’t it? Jesus tells this parable about ten bridesmaids who have to wait in the dark with lamps . . . and then they have to trim them and keep them burning? Is this for a processional or a parade? A middle of the night wedding? As much as we try to put ourselves into this parable, the details are so foreign to a midwestern American experience of weddings.
Now, we do have one similarity to the world described in the parable; our weddings rarely ever start on time. Not on the dot anyway. And I’ve found some brides (a few, not most) not only expect to start late but intend to do so. It is their day, after all. They’ll make the people wait. I can say from experience that when it breaks about forty minutes, people start to leave. That’s fun. An hour? Happiest day!
Jesus tells this parable which describes waiting and preparing, anticipating the work ahead. What the work and preparation is supposed to be isn’t clear, but it does have to do with keeping their lamps lit. And half of the bridesmaids prepare for the long haul of this and the other half don’t. Jesus calls them wise and foolish. So a surface reading encourages us to 1) not be foolish and 2) prepare for the work ahead.
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