Finnish Lutheran Church in Ball

Pastor Timo’s sermon, November 9th, 2008

26th Sunday after Pentecost, Swedish Sunday, Matthew 25:1-13

The gospel parable about bridesmaids (virgins) reminds of a story told by Timo Veijola, the late professor of Helsinki University Old Testament. But before I tell the story; remember Josef who worked for the Pharaoh as an advisor and managed to save the land from disaster by interpreting the meaning of the dream about seven fat and sleek cows. The dream was interpreted to mean 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of famine.

So the professor’s story goes like this; a theology student had extreme difficulties in passing a test. He could not answer the questions on the test and time after time had to retake the test. In the end both the student and the professor were both so frustrated that the professor told him , ’ok, you choose now, I want you to explain just one of Jesus’ parables to me’. The student thought about it for a long time and begun with relief in his voice, ’the parable about 7 fat and sleek bridesmaids goes like this....’

Although the parable about Joseph interpreting a dream and the parable about the bridesmaids are not related per se, they both talk about the same thing; preparing. Going back to what we talked about, the events of ancient Egypt seem very current. After Joseph had been recognized as a dream interpreter and Pharaoh learned about his financial bailout plan, he was immediately made the manager of the whole country. This position and the best plan to turn global economy around are again very much sought after both in the U.S. as well as the rest of the world. But during Joseph’s time it wasn’t an enormous operation to save investment banks with their risky subprime loans or ordinary workers losing their houses to bankruptcy. Since the recession in Egypt didn’t have any warning signs in the Cairo Stock Market or real estate market, and what followed were true hard times and hunger. Some of you may remember stories about times such as these that were especially hard on the farming communities from earlier generations both here in the U.S. and in Finland.

But by Gods grace Joseph had a special gift not only to see the future but also to make plans to avoid disasters. The plan was to save during seven fat cows, during seven abundant years. 20% of each yearly harvest was put in storage. This seven year operation paid for itself and during the seven years of famine Egypt had enough food, even to sell to others.
Joseph knew how to prepare for hard times and it saved him and thousands of people in the Middle East.

Today’s gospel about the bridesmaids also talks about preparing.
Preparing that is more significant than our daily bread or finances: preparing for Jesus’ return.

The parable has five wise and five foolish bridesmaids. The difference between wisdom and foolishness here is not based on IQ tests or education. In fact, all bridesmaids start out equal in the parable. None was in a better position than the other. None of the bridesmaids knew the bride and bridegrooms last minute plans and schedules. The parable does not have just one bridesmaid who alone got to hand the banquet to the bride at the altar while the others had more menial chores. During the almost ten years I worked as a pastor in Finland I noticed that the more commercial wedding celebrations became, the more bridesmaids there were in the wedding. Earlier it was common for the bride to have one trusted bridesmaid helping her, then it turned into two or three, all with different responsibilities of even more. I can imagine that it may be a difficult choice for the bride to decide which of her friends to have as bridesmaids and which not.

As we read in the parable, bridesmaids of Biblical times were to assist the groom also. Therefore all the bridesmaids went to see the bridegroom. They all took their lamps with them. They all also started getting tired when the groom did not show up on time. But what distinguished the five bridesmaids from the others was lamp oil. Some of them came prepared for waiting, it was a long night and morning was far ahead, and they needed lamp oil in the dark. The other five bridesmaids arrived just as well dressed and made up, but without oil it they could not travel in the dark and finish their chores before the wedding.

What makes the parable even more interesting is that all bridesmaids basically were able to prepare for the wedding to be delayed. So all bridesmaids could’ve brought oil with them. However, only five of them did this. The other five ended up being practically fired by the bridegroom and didn’t get to attend the wedding.

Now we’re getting to the interpretation of the parable: it talks about Jesus’ return, the heavenly wedding and humans’ eternal goal. The parable tells us that God’s invitation is communal. He does not differentiate between humans. The gospel belongs to everyone: 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[^a^] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John3:16)

Last Sunday the sermon was about ”practicing faith”. Preparing and practicing share the same meaning. For example, all athletes and musicians know the significance of preparing. No matter how talented you are, you also have to practice to succeed. The existence of the military system is also based on this reality. Nobody wishes for a war, but one has to prepare for it all the same, and it has to be done specifically during peaceful times.

But what then is preparing for Christians? How high do you have to aim to be ready for certain? How do you measure faith? Fortunately this task is not for humans to solve. And God’s word does say that humans would either be too merciless or too careless with this task.

That is why the salvation of humans is not based on our own deeds or achievements, but only on what the Christ has done. Paul writes: 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.(Ephesians 2:8-9).

Can humans then turn down God’s invitation? Can humans turn their backs on God? Can humans choose heresy? Surely they can. Can humans return to God? Surely they can.

It is important to be humble here. Humble to not take God’s invitation lightly. Not to think like the athlete whose motto was:”only the talentless practice”. Because faith is not just the last straw in life, it’s not the fire extinguisher in the corner not being used. It is not just a gift that should be written on the christening certificate. Faith in God is all these things, but it is much more when it is true in everyday life. And you can pray anytime, you can get strength and wisdom from the Bible every day. You can love God and your neighbors every single day of your life. You can practice your faith in Jesus today, because we don’t know about tomorrow. And here lies the foundation and uncertainty of all preparing. We only have today, we don’t know about tomorrow.

I remember well a confirmation camp in Finland, a camp that was pretty wild and restless. It felt like there was no need for reality tv or soap operas at this camp to understand that all kinds of things happen in young kids’ lives and that no gossip magazines were needed to know which stories were true and which not. Even the classes about Christianity seemed to vanish in the background behind all this.

But I do remember one particular boy, who was one of the tough guys of the camp. After the final test this boy wanted to come talk to me. I was surprised that he had done well on his test and everything was in order for him to be confirmed. The boy wanted to tell me why he had done so well on the test. The answer was on his hand, where you could still see the answers he had written to cheat on the test. But the boy said that if there was one thing he had learned at camp, it was honesty. His conscience was bothering him and he wanted to apologize and tell his pastor that he did not pass the test with honest means. He was prepared to confess even if it meant that he would not be confirmed at the end of camp. Somehow it was extremely clear that this did not happen. After going over some confirmation lessons orally with him, I was more than happy to give this boy a passing grade and see the joy and relief on his face.

Maybe there was something very essential in this boy’s attitude and Christianity. Because I think it is more or less all of us who have to look at our own lives when facing God, the heavenly judge, and say that not everything has been completely honest in our lives. We have not practiced and confessed our faith the way we should have, or at least have done it with show and self-righteousness.

If this reminds you of yourself, like it reminds me of myself, don’t forget that it is especially for you and for me that God sent Jesus to this world. You can come to him, today too, whether you are well or poorly prepared and you can rely on this word of God today too:” ”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9”

And that is why the best preparation for future life is to prepare for life in this time with Jesus’s atonement death as the basis and foundation. You can prepare for the future heavenly wedding party by humbly practicing and confessing your faith in this time. By living with courage and gratitude in the faith that Jesus dying on the cross for my sins is absolute and enough to save me too.

Saarnat Suomeksi	Previous Sermons in English

Lokak.12, 2008	Oct. 12, 2008
Syysk.28, 2008	Sep. 28, 2008
Syysk. 14, 2008	*Sep. 14, 2008*
Elok. 31, 2008	Aug. 31, 2008
*Elok. 24, 2008*	*Aug. 24, 2008*
Toukok. 25, 2008	May 25, 2008
Toukok. 11, 2008	May 11, 2008
Huhtik.27, 2008	April 27, 2008
*Maalisk. 30, 2008*	Mar. 30, 2008
Maalisk. 23, 2008	Mar. 23, 2008
Maalisk. 09, 2008	Mar.09, 2008