“Faithful Discipleship: Preparing for a Great End.  Part 2: Be Prepared” by the Rev. Don Wahlig, November 12, 2023, Year A / 24^th  Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 27) – Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16 or Amos 5:18-24 • Wisdom of Solomon 6:17-20 or Psalm 70 • 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 • Matthew 25:1-13

THEME:  Prepare for Christ’s return by loving neighbors.

Are you a fan of Hallmark movies? 

If so, you are not alone. We seem to have an insatiable appetite for those sappy romantic plots. Two attractive young people meet and fall in love.  They break up and go their separate ways. Then fate intervenes to bring them together again. They reconnect, they get over their differences, and fall madly in love. And, of course, they live happily ever after.  It's the same plot every time. You might think audiences would get tired of this, but we just cannot seem to get enough. Never is that more apparent than this time of year when Hallmark rolls out their line-up of Christmas movies.

Statistics bear this out. Over the last 15 years, the number of Hallmark Christmas movies has quadrupled. It makes you wonder how they are able to come up with new variations on the same basic plot, but they do. Clearly, the folks at Hallmark are tapping into something deep inside of us. And that something is love. In the world of a Hallmark movie, the flame of love can be extinguished and then almost instantly rekindled, no matter how much time has passed. They make loving another look almost effortless. It is an appealing fantasy. But the reality is quite different. And our parable this morning underscores that.

This Sunday we continue our Sermon Series, “Faithful Discipleship: Preparing for a Great End.” During these four weeks leading up to Advent and Christmas, we are reflecting on Jesus’ promise that he will return to usher in his father’s Kingdom at the end of time. This is the day of Jesus’ second coming when he returns seated on God’s throne. It is the day of resurrection, and the day of judgment. And it is the day when all things will be made new – including you and me and the whole wide world.

Throughout the centuries, many have tried to predict when this day will be. They look for signs and they prognosticate. But as Jesus himself says, even he does not know when he’ll be back. Only God knows. There are, however, 3 things of which you and I can be absolutely sure. First, the coming of the Kingdom will catch us all by surprise. In the language of the parable, we will all be asleep, just like all ten of those bridesmaids, the foolish and the wise alike. 

Second, on the day of Jesus’ return, there will be a crucial difference between the wise ones who are prepared and the foolish ones who are not. In terms of the parable, the wise ones will have topped up their stock of oil. They do that by living faithfully, according to the values of the Kingdom. Living unfaithfully means we will run out of oil when we need it most. And if we run out of oil, we run out of light.

Finally, when Jesus returns, there will be no last-minute opportunity for those who have allowed their supply of oil to run low. If they have not lived faithfully, they will be turned away at the door to the wedding feast.  They will be in the dark. The Lord himself will say to them, “Truly, I tell you, I do not know you.” You have probably heard lots of sermons on this passage. I have, too. Most of them are about being prepared. They focus on doing the ethical works that Christ demands of those who call themselves his disciples.

That message is absolutely right. Over the next few weeks that theme of righteous living expressed in acts of justice and compassion will become even clearer. But there is something else here that suggests an even deeper criterion for being properly prepared for Christ and his Kingdom. Jesus is our savior in this life, and our judge in the next. What matters most to him is how well we have lived the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor with our whole heart, soul, and mind.

In other words, the standard by which Jesus will judge us is not transactional. It is relational. It will not be just the quantity of our actions on behalf of our neighbor. It will be the quality and depth of our relationships with them. That is how we come to know Jesus – in the face of our neighbors, whom we serve out of love.

And that begs the really big question. Where does that love come from? You and I both know that you don’t just manufacture love. I enjoy Hallmark movies as much as the next person, but effortless, instantaneous love is not how love works! Love takes time. Love takes effort.  Love takes persistence. Love takes endurance.  When it comes to love, one of the wisest people I know is Brene Brown. She is a best-selling author and college professor in Texas. You may have read some of her many books or seen her famous TED talks on YouTube. I highly recommend both.

She says, “Love is not something you give or get. It is something that grows between two people when they allow themselves to be fully seen by each other ... Love is an action word. It needs to be practiced, not just professed.  Love is beautiful when it’s professed. But it’s only meaningful when it is practiced.” That’s how it is with God, too. We know love because God first loved us. That love between God and us did not just blossom all of a sudden. It took time. It took effort. It took persistence. And it took endurance. God did not simply profess his love for us. He put his love into practice. And, oh, man, did he ever.

He loved us when we disobeyed him and rebelled against him. He loved us when we ignored and abused the prophets he sent to bring us back to him. He loved us so much he did the unthinkable: he chose to become one of us. He willingly subjected himself to all the pain and suffering that this life has to dish out.  He loved us so much he even chose to die for us. When Jesus went to the cross, that was the moment we learned just how deep is God’s love for you and me, and all his children.

When you and I respond to his love by sharing it with our neighbors, Jesus learns just how deep is our love for him. Loving our neighbor is how we come to know Jesus. And it is how Jesus comes to know us. But, like any relationship, learning to love our neighbor does not suddenly happen. It is not like flipping a light switch. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes persistence. And it takes endurance.  It is a lot easier to love the neighbors we encounter in a parable, than it is to love the neighbors we encounter in day-to-day life. That’s why Brene Brown, the enfleshment of love is messy. We know that from experience. We know that neighbors can be difficult.  Besides, we are all busy people. It’s all too easy to convince ourselves that we don’t have time to build relationships with others. But if we are willing to slow down and make the effort, we might just be surprised by the relationships that develop.

I recently ran across a story that describes exactly that. This story was told by Jim Wallis.  He is the founder of Sojourners, a wonderful Christian ministry based in Washington DC. It’s a story about one of his missionary colleagues living in a small village in Latin America. She lived and worked in a very poor, marginalized community. The villagers had all manner of needs. She poured herself into the work of trying to address those needs. She worked night and day doing what she assumed her neighbors wanted and needed most. But then, one day, a few of the villagers asked her why she worked so hard. They were curious to know why she never stopped to join in their celebrations or simply sit and talk with them on their porches in the cool of the evening.

With some exasperation, the missionary replied “There’s too much work to do! I don’t have enough time.” The faces of her village neighbors fell. One of them said, “Oh, you are one of those.” 

“One of who?” the missionary woman asked. 

“You are one of those who come to us and work, work, work.  Soon, you will get tired, and you will leave.”  The ones who stay are the ones who sit with us on our porches in the evening and who come to our fiestas.” This American missionary was so busy doing what she thought would transform the villagers’ lives, that she neglected the most transformative thing of all: a genuine, loving, personal relationship. She got the message. She began to make it a priority to slow down and spend time with her neighbors. She joined in their parties. She sat with them chatting as the sun set.  As their relationship deepened, all their lives were changed. As Jim Wallis said when he told the story some years later, she became a party animal and she is still there.

So, who is your neighbor? Who has God put into your life so that you might build a relationship with them?  Friends, we cannot love our neighbors by keeping them at arms’ length. Yes, relationships can be messy. But the reward is heavenly.

It won’t be like a Hallmark movie, but it could make all the difference – in this life, and the next.

May it be so.