Today’s sermon “When the Time Comes” is based on the reading from Matthew (25:1-13). But first, we need to have an understanding of the rituals surrounding the Jewish wedding at the time this was written. Most weddings were prearranged. A representative of the groom’s family, a relative, perhaps the father, or a high ranking servant, went to the home of the bride and met with the father. At this meeting, a price was agreed upon for the bride. Remember, the birth of a boy was seen as a special blessing to the family because of his ability to add to the wealth of the family; through his labor, and ability to own property. A girl was seen as an expense because of her inability to own property and because of the fact that she would marry and leave the home; therefore the parents had to be reimbursed for the cost of raising a girl.
A contract of betrothal, signed by the groom before two witnesses, was presented to the father and the bride. In it, the groom promises to meet all of the bride’s needs. Note that the Hebrew word for bridegroom is “hatan”, which translates to “one who enters into covenant”. After reaching an agreed price, the representative would leave, and the groom would return for his bride in approximately one year. During that time frame, he was to acquire the agreed upon items/price for his bride, and prepare a place for them in his father’s home. It’s interesting to note that it was up to the father of the groom to choose the bride, determine the area of their home that was to be used for their space (perhaps even build on another room, he would direct it’s preparation, and decide when it was complete and ready for the bride. The bride would then be notified of the exact day of his return to fetch his bride. He would be accompanied by his wedding party which was mostly comprised of his male family members and servants to help with the delivery of the items agreed upon for the price of his bride. Olive oil, livestock, flour, seeds, mules, camels; whatever they had agreed, and to carry back his brides belongings and inheritance. He would then enter the home of the bride where he and the father of the bride would inventory the items, perhaps haggle a bit over their value whether the price was met or not, share a meal.
During my research I found that there was a split between theologians as to whether the bridesmaids were waiting for the groom to arrive at the bride’s house, or waiting to escort the bride and groom back to his house. I chose the later, and here’s my reasoning. The bridesmaids had been told when the groom would arrive to pick up his bride. They were waiting outside the bride’s home for the groom to exit. (They would not have been included in the first part of the day when the groom arrived. This was a private moment between groom and family.) The groom, bride, the bride’s wedding party would leave her home after the meal (with the main meal of the day always being the evening meal). The bridesmaids were to escort the wedding party to the groom’s home with their lamps. The Jewish were very superstitious, and felt that the light protected the bride and groom from evil (not to mention wild animals), as well as lighting their way. The wedding ceremony was always held at the groom’s home, because of a tradition called the seven days of Huppah. The couple would go directly from the wedding ceremony to the room the groom had prepared and would remain there for 7 days to consummate their marriage. The rest of the wedding party would then celebrate for seven days. The Huppah room would be constantly guarded, no one entering or leaving. When the marriage had been consummated, the blood stained sheets would be handed to out to the parents of the bride. They would keep the sheets as an heirloom, and an item of great pride because their daughter had been a virgin at the time of her marriage. She shed her blood to consummate the marriage and the covenant with her new husband. Christ shed His blood to consummate His covenant with us. So, see any other similarities between some of the marriage traditions and Christ’s return?
Shifting gears: In April, 1988 the evening news reported on a photographer who was also a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with several other skydivers and filmed the group as they individually dove out of the plane and opened their parachutes. As the video was being shown of each member of the crew jumping out and then pulling their rip chord so that their parachute opened to the wind, the final skydiver opened his chute and then the picture went berserk. The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without a parachute.
It wasn’t until he reached for the ripcord that he realized he was free falling without a parachute. Up until then, he was enjoying himself and was absorbed in what he was doing. But tragically, he was unprepared for the jump. It did not matter how many times he had done it before or what skill he had. By forgetting the parachute he made a foolish and deadly mistake. Nothing could save him, because his faith was in a parachute which he had never taken the trouble to buckle on. It is interesting that in the parable the bridesmaids all appeared to be alike. They all thought of themselves as bridesmaids. They all dressed alike. They were all expecting the bridegroom. When the bridegroom was delayed they all fell asleep. They all had lamps. All of them trimmed their lamps. They all wanted to be a part of the wedding feast. But not all of them were prepared.
This is a warning from the parable: Be sure that you are truly prepared, because it is possible to look just like everyone else, talk like everyone else, carry a Bible and desire to go to heaven, think of yourself as a Christian, and yet ultimately be unprepared. It is possible to know about Christ and not know Christ. It is possible to know the Bible and not be living for the God of the Bible. It is possible to be a nice person and know all the right doctrine, yet have no relationship with God. It is possible to look like everyone else, and have your Christianity on the surface, while never allowing it to penetrate who you are and change the way you live. Let’s talk about the lamps, oil, and the trip for a moment. When you hear “lamp”, what do you think of?” Probably think of something small, hand held, maybe a vision of Aladdin’s lamp? The lamps were not your every day, light for the room lamps. These were most likely torches, sticks with oil soaked rags for bright light and traveling at night. Something that would provide enough light for a celebrating wedding party. The oil needed would be considerable, depending on the length of the journey – down the street, or to another village? The amount of time they had to wait would be unknown. How long would it take to haggle the value of the items presented, have the meal, and load the bride’s belongings for travel? How long before the groom would approach leading his wedding party home? All of the bridesmaids knew it could be a long night. But only five chose to prepare.
The second lesson of the parable is: No one can do it for you. No one can wear a parachute in your place. It doesn’t work that way. You need your own. The foolish bridesmaids saw that they did not have enough oil, and they asked their wise friends to loan them some of theirs, but that was not possible. The five with oil were not greedy and thoughtless. There are some things in this life you just can not borrow. Another person’s faith will not cover you. Just because you were reared in a Christian home or you are in church with other people of faith does not necessarily mean that you have faith. It will not rub off just by sitting next to someone who has a vital relationship with Christ. You cannot “catch” faith like you catch a cold. You cannot borrow it from your friends, and you cannot get it from your parents. Every spiritual birth comes directly from God. Your faith must be your own.
 It’s good for us to sing “Faith of Our Fathers,” but you better be able to sing, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine!” The Jews of Jesus’ day were fond of calling Abraham their father. They were the physical descendants of Abraham and assumed they were also his spiritual descendants. But one day, as Jesus saw them coming toward him, he said, “Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). You may have a great heritage, but you need to make that heritage your own personal experience. Don’t try to borrow someone else’s oil, be sure to have some of your own. Character cannot be borrowed. Neither can a relationship with God be borrowed.
You cannot depend on a Sunday morning service to provide all your spiritual needs. You cannot depend on Christian fellowship to provide you with spiritual development. It comes through routine attention to ordinary spiritual disciplines — making sure you have enough oil: spiritual fuel. It comes by taking time for prayer and being alone with God; reading God’s Word; acts of service to others; moral faithfulness and loving obedience. It comes through spending time with other Christians for mutual prayer, study and encouragement. These are the things which enable a person to grow in Christ and be prepared for Christ’s coming. William Barclay said, “We cannot always be living on the spiritual capital which others have amassed. There are certain things we must acquire for ourselves.” In the story, the foolish bridesmaids did not realize their need of oil until the bridegroom appeared.
This means that a relationship with God cannot be bought at the last minute at any price. Matthew Henry said, “There are many who care not to live the Christian life, yet want to die the death of the righteous.” Jesus said, “Be dressed, ready for service and keep your lamps burning” (Luke 12:35-36). The wise bridesmaids said to the others, “Go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.” They were told to go out and buy oil, but they found that impossible. How many oil vendors do you suppose are doing business at the midnight hour? God is our dispenser of oil, and we need to come to Him while there is still time. Like the parachuting camera man, don’t let the moment of death to be the thing that alerts you to your own spiritual poverty. You will reach for a rip chord that is not there. A third point of the parable is: There is a time called “Too Late.” The experience of death is the great hope of the Christian and the great fear of the world — likewise the return to earth of Jesus Christ. The second coming of Christ will be with finality and power. Jesus viewed history as a straight line with a beginning and an end.
Today it is easy for us to ignore that line and become content, and not think of the end times. We don’t want to be reminded, even though we know it’s true, that someday there will be a reckoning, and no tomorrow. The foolish bridesmaids cried for the door to be opened to them, but their cries were insincere, for even though they said they wanted in, they never made preparation to enter. Their preparation would have been the proof of their true desire. We are to live in constant expectation, because there is coming a day when the future will be a thing of the past — stop ignoring the warning. We need to quit making excuses, and justifying our actions when we know what we’re doing is not what Jesus would do. It is always amazing how we can ignore warnings and then justify our behavior, thinking that we are getting away with something. How many have watched the sitcom “Cheers”. Do you remember Cliff’s “Buffalo Theory?” He says, “Well you see, Norm, it’s like this. . . A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo and when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive drinking of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”
The Chicago Tribune carried a story titled “Man Electrocuted After Ignoring Warnings .” Jason shouldn’t be alive. During his attempt to scale an electrical tower, the 22-year-old man received a shock that is usually fatal. Partway up the tower, 69,000 volts of electricity coursed through his body, knocking him to the ground. Despite suffering burns to his chest and having his pants explode, the newspaper said the young man was admitted to the hospital in good condition. And how did Jason get into such a predicament? It was no accident. A seven-foot-tall fence, topped with barbed wire, surrounded the electrical tower. Electric company spokeswoman said the spot where Jason climbed over the fence was bracketed by signs saying “Danger/High Voltage.” Don’t ignore the warning signs. This parable tells us that there are consequences for being unprepared. Those consequences go far beyond a few chest burns and having your pants explode. Ignoring these signs will determine your eternity. Another note on Jewish belief… They believed that an unmarried person was only half a person. The wedding day was seen to be the beginning of a new life as a complete soul for both the bride and the groom. Are you prepared to become a complete soul?