The Parable of 10 Virgins and an Oil Shortage

I put the title "10 virgins and an oil shortage" on my church's sign 3 years ago, when last the parable from Matthew 25 made its way into our homilies. It got a good response. However, this week, I think I'm going somewhere different with my ideas. See what you think.

While we are a community of believers, we each have an individual job to do. We can't just assume that others will do the job for us. Being stewardship season, I think it is important for us to realize that we can't rely only on those who are "better off than we" (i.e. better supplied than we) to keep the church afloat or to do the work of the whole church. Excuses just don't work on the day of the Lord. We are ALL to participate. It is foolish NOT to do our job.

A couple of stories come to mind: one is the election. We've all just seen history being made because so many people did their jobs. My husband told me on the morning of the election that he didn't see the point of voting because the electoral college could easily discount his vote in the larger picture. I told him of the importance of just showing support, just caring, just participating. And he went out to vote (I'm smiling here). It was his first time. (I suppose that would make him one of the 10 virgin voters) But anyway, you should have seen him beaming afterwards. He felt that he was a part of the US community . . . And he wouldn't go to bed until he heard the final results. He stayed up glued to the computer and celebrated because he knew his vote had made a difference. (I'm still weighing whether or not to use this story in my congregation because my county was a red county).

I also think of the many stories when people who are not even involved in the church critique it. This scripture invites us instead to participate and to change it. "Be the change you want to see in others" comes to mind for me. And I'm thinking about the potential of what can happen if we each decide to do our job -- if we get 100% pledging (even at only $1!), if we get everyone to participate in a ministry or a mission, etc. And as I think about potential, I'm drawn to my friend, Dixie's, retelling of the feeding of the 5000 with sippy cups of apple juice and goldfish crackers -- how when we each do our duty instead of expecting others to do it for us, we can easily do more than we ever dreamed possible. He told the story reminding his congregation that the 5000 fed were men and that the story says that they also fed women and children that day. And he reminded his congregation of the many parents he knows who pack loads of snacks to go out to church or a restaurant or even the grocery store . . . anything to help the kids stay still. And so, he imagined the hungry being fed when each mother reached deeply into her pocket book and decided she DID have something to share -- she had a bag of dried fish left over from last week's soccer game or a box of raisins from the long trip to Jerusalem. Or perhaps she had a sippy cup of applejuice or some zwieback that she had leftover from when her toddler was teething. And then Dixie challenged everyone to consider what they had in excess of what they needed and, for this passage, I guess I ask people if they are willing to do their job so that everyone can be fed, so that, on the Day of the Lord, everyone can be wisely prepared because they planned ahead, they participated, and they are ready.