Oil for the Lamp
This is a hard scripture passage for me.
The surface-level interpretation here is that you need to be prepared, you need to be ready. That, I can accept. I was a boy scout, after all. Our motto was, “Be prepared!” This is a good lesson.
But when the foolish, unprepared bridesmaids asked the wise, prepared bridesmaids for some oil, the wise, prepared bridesmaids said to them: “NO!”
That doesn’t seem very compassionate… or Christ-like…That I have a problem with…
A few years ago, I was on a hiking trip with some friends from various Disciples churches. We were up in the Sierras, near Tioga Pass.
We hiked for several miles to a beautiful lake. The shoreline was covered with colorful wildflowers.
A few of my companions did some fishing, while I explored.
A short while later, one of my companions gave a little yell. She had gotten a fish hook stuck in her skin.
She had no trouble getting the fish hook out. The hook was small, and the wound was minor. But she needed a bandaid, and maybe some neosporin.
Fortunately I had my first aid kit, and I willingly, happily offered her some neosporin and a band-aid.
And she made a comment about how, of course Danny would remember his first aid kit, since he’s an Eagle scout. And she offered me her gratitude and thanks.
And then we went on with our day. It wasn’t a big deal.
I couldn’t imagine saying to her, “No! There might not be enough for me and for you. You should have brought your own.”
And this is not to brag, because I am certain that anyone on that trip would have done the same for me, and that any of you would have done the same for me, if I were the one in need of a band-aid and a little neosporin.
It’s just simple kindness. It’s an easy act of compassion that really requires very little of us. Why wouldn’t we share?
The issue of the oil and the lamps isn’t exactly the same, but it’s close enough that I can’t help but think of those so-called wise bridesmaids, and their refusal to share their oil. What is up with that? How is that a parable that shows us what the kingdom of God is like?
I mean, let’s compare it to some other parables of the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is like a sheep that got lost, and the shepherd said, “Well, I got 99 wise sheep who know how to not get lost, I can’t be bothered to go look for that foolish lost sheep…”
Or, The kingdom of God is like a traveler who was attacked and beaten by robbers. A priest came by, and a holy man came by, and they passed by on the other side. And then a Samaritan came by, and said, “Why was this guy so foolish as to travel out here by himself? And if I, a Samaritan, were to stop and help him, a Jew, that would make me the foolish one; after all, it could all be a trap…”
But that’s not how those stories go, is it?
In fact, Christ calls us to risk being seen as fools, to risk being seen as fools for choosing compassion and justice over wealth and power. In the upside-down kingdom of Christ, “foolish” is more often a compliment than it is a disparagement.
In the kingdom of God, we help one another, we share, even when doing so goes against our own self-interest, and even when others may think of us as foolish.
We know that this is not the way it is in the world.
People accumulate wealth, more than they need, while others are in need. Our economic system rewards those with wealth, because the system sees them as wise, while the poor are penalized and made to work even harder for less pay, and pay a greater share of the tax burden.
Their poverty is seen as being the result of their own foolish decisions, yet the truth is that, for most, it is the result of an economic system that puts them at a disadvantage. But even if it was their own foolishness that led them to be poor, wouldn’t those who are rich still have an obligation to help them, at least according to the rules of the kingdom of God?
So I confess that I don’t really understand how it is that not sharing is how this parable demonstrates life in God’s kingdom.
The end of this parable says it is about the need to keep awake, and be ready. Well, everything else I’ve learned from Jesus has taught me to keep awake, but it has taught me to keep awake so that I can see the plight of those who suffer from unjust economic systems, and to be ready, because the opportunity to provide help, to share, to show compassion, can arise at any given moment.
That’s what I need to be ready for.
And if I do share what I have with you—a little oil, a bandaid, or whatever—I do so because I know that ultimately, all that I have doesn’t come from me; it comes from God. The reason I have what I have is so that I can serve God by serving others, using what I have to help build God’s kingdom and share God’s love.
As a little aside, I consider every dollar I have to be a representation of my life energy. After all, our life-energy is what we exchange for the money we receive. If you earn 15 dollars an hour, fifteen dollars represents one hour of your life-energy. If you earn 50 dollars an hour, then 50 dollars represents one hour of your life energy.
So every decision about how to spend your money is really a decision about how to spend your life-energy. And where does your life energy come from? It comes from God.
Your life, your energy, your strength, your ability to work; it comes from God.
Everything you have, comes from God.
And if you have more oil for your lamp, you need to remember that your oil comes from God. God is, ultimately, the source of every good thing you have.
So, since it all comes from God, you should use it in a way that is pleasing to God and in accordance with God’s will and God’s desires.
And so I think God would want those bridesmaids to share their oil!
[Maybe I’m still missing the metaphor…
And more than one thing can be true at the same time. It is true that the foolish bridesmaids should have been ready, with oil for their lamps, if acquiring oil was within their means…and it is true that the wise bridesmaids should have shared their oil. Both things can be true.
It’s also true that this parable is a metaphor. It isn’t really about oil at all. It’s about how we need to be ready for Christ’s return, Christ’s appearance, in our world and in our lives.
But what we need to be ready for, I think, is that, at any moment, we have the opportunity to make Christ’s kingdom a present reality, by showing love, by working for justice, and, yes, by sharing what we have.
To expand the metaphor a bit further, when Bixby Knolls Christian Church called me to be your pastor over 15 years ago, you all gave me the time and the commission to go out and find that oil, then report back to you on Sunday mornings what I’ve found: to let you know where the oil is.
It’s not my oil. But you have made it possible for me to go out and search for it, and to share with you what I’ve found.
And you have also shared with me the oil you have found. You have been generous and gracious in sharing your oil.
I heard a quote once that evangelism is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. (I tried to find the source of that quote, but discovered at least three different attributions, so I don’t know which one is right…)
But whether it’s bread, or oil, or the good news that God loves each and every person, with no exceptions, no conditions, that’s really what it is: Sharing what we’ve found with one another.
I’m sorry if I ever made it about me. What this church is about is not me. The essence of what makes Bixby Knolls Christian Church such a special place was present before I arrived, and it has grown over the years because of each person who is a part of this congregation: each person who is a recent addition to this congregation and each person who has remained a part of this congregation through the years.
And if the future ministry of this church fails because I’m now being called somewhere else, then that means I have failed in my job here.
If the congregation’s ministry is dependent on one person, even if that person is the pastor, then the pastor has failed to equip the congregation for the task of ministry, which is, according to Paul, what the pastor is supposed to do.
It’s not because my faith is stronger that I’m the one up here preaching. It’s not that I have any kind of special access to God. I wouldn’t even say it’s because I know the Bible better, because some of you who have been going to church your whole lives and going to Sunday School and Bible study your whole lives are probably more familiar with some parts of the Bible than I am.
The oil we have lights our path. Sometimes we run out of oil. Maybe it is our fault. Maybe it’s because we weren’t prepared.
Or, maybe it’s just that the path we’ve had to walk is darker than others’ paths, so that we need more oil to see; or maybe we just weren’t able to acquire that much oil to begin with.
But if everyone shares their oil, then all can see where they’re going. If everyone sticks close, everyone can even use the same lamp to light their way.
So, for us, a better metaphor for the kingdom of God is an image of us sharing our light, and helping each other through the darkness.
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