Monday, November 3, 2014

Be Prepared!---Sunday November 9th, 2014

I think that God loves it when we expect God to show up. Call it a "holy expectancy" of God's presence, if you will.

Matthew 25: 1-13 struggles with this notion, as it portrays ten young bridesmaids as they take their lamps to go and meet the groom. 5 were "foolish" and forgot oil for the lamp, while the other 5 brought oil, thus they were "wise." The groom was late to arrive, but they were all excited when he showed up, and they prepared their lamps. Because the groom was late, the lamps burned oil, so the 5 "foolish" bridesmaids ran out and asked for the "wise" bridesmaids to share theirs. They would not share because then theirs would run out of oil, too. So they suggest that they go buy their own oil. When they did this, the groom came and the 5 "wise" bridesmaids went with him to the wedding without the "foolish"ones. They came later and the groom would not them in, saying "I don't know you."

Then Jesus closes the parable by saying "keep alert."

So this parable is about preparedness and alertness for God. It is not enough to expect God, although that is a necessary first step. Holy expectancy must meet holy preparedness. The result could be a divine encounter, which is what we all strive for.

I admit that I attempt to make nice and neat equations, formulas, and strategies for even such things as this (a divine encounter). Life does not work out to nice and neat formulas, let alone our spiritual life with God. But this helps me see that merely expecting God to show up is not enough, I must be ready, I must be prepared, I must be alert for God. I think expecting God is a declaration of faith in God, but then what happens when you notice that God has shown up? What happens when you notice God moving in some way?

If we are not prepared, our light may burn out.

God is not present in our lives to simply show up, to make appearances. God is not a celebrity, and we are not God's paparazzi. God is here to change lives, and God shows up in our lives so that we can bring about the kingdom of God in this world, in this life.

See you Sunday!

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