I Thessalonians 4: 13 -
18
Matthew 25: 1 - 13
I Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18
( New International Version)
13 Brothers, we do not want you to
be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve
like the rest of men, who have no hope.
14 We believe that Jesus died and rose
again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord's own word,
we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left
till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede
those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come
down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive
and are left will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will
be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage each other with
these words.
Matthew 25: 1 - 13
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like
ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet
the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five
were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did
not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took
oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom
was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy
and fell asleep.
6"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom!
Come out to meet him!'
7"Then all the virgins woke up
and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the
wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going
out.'
9" 'No,' they replied, 'there
may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to
those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
10"But while they were on their
way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins
who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.
And the door was shut.
11"Later the others also came.
'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'
12"But he replied, 'I tell you
the truth, I don't know you.'
13"Therefore keep watch, because
you do not know the day or the hour. |
|
Oil and Water
Sometimes when I go to the jail I feel as though my theology and
the belief systems of some of the women are well‹like oil
and water. The text for today and the corresponding epistle from
I Thessalonians 4 bring these differences out we hold some
things in common‹deep abiding faith in Jesus‹a faith
that we are living in the in between times‹Jesus has come‹we
wait for him to come again‹but where we some sometimes differ
is in what his second coming will bring and mean.
We read the gospel on Thursday in our circle‹and one woman
said this is about waiting for the second coming of Christ‹
yep. And then she went on to ask‹which tribulation do you
think we are in? Who will be raptured up who is part of the 144,000?
The eyes of the other women turned to me . . . . They had just seen
the video on Monday from Hermantown Community Church of Heaven¹s
Gates and Hells Flames . . a drama of the rapture which shows people
being left behind based on the choices they make‹one wrong
decision and your out according to this view. . .
Oil and Water‹I was definitely on the hot seat‹Deep
breath . . I began‹I never could believe in a God that only
saves 144,000 of the humans God created and called very good . .
I think God came in Christ Jesus to save all of us . . not to leave
anyone behind . . . for God so loves the world . . . I am not sure
what tribulation we are in, but I know that God is in the midst
of it. . . .
Breathe . . the woman who asked the question‹even seemed
relieved‹yes. I continued‹I don¹t think God wants
to scare us into God¹s
arms. . . The angel said to the shepherds gathered on the hillside,"
Be
not afraid I bring you good news of great joy . ."
Talk of the rapture these days is all around us . . . The Left
Behind Series is a run away best seller. For many it is fun fiction.
. . fiction. Some have come to see it as scripture, as reality and
this frankly is very dangerous. Barbara Rossing in her book "The
Rapture Exposed, the Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation",
has been very helpful to me in my understanding of rapture theology.
Her book the Rapture Exposed was released the same day as the twelfth
Left Behind novel, The Glorious Appearing". That evening on
ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings she was asked to say
in seven seconds why she considered the Left Behind theology so
dangerous, She said, ³God is coming to heal the world, not
to kill, millions of people. God loves the world, and God will never
leave the world behind.²
As a Christian Community we have been waiting a long time for
Christ¹s return‹over 2000 years. What we do while we
wait , how we see
God¹s spirit moving among us in this time is what divides many
of the
churches-- oil and water-- only worry about individual salvation
or is
the kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven‹and we are
participants in
its creation‹caring about those who hunger and thirst
Rapture theology is based on I Thessalonians 4: 17 -- As Edgar
Krentz, professor of New Testament at Lutheran School of Theology
in Chicago
writes, "The rapture is based on the literalist reading of
one verse, verse
17 . . then we who are alive shall be be caught up together with
them (those
who have died) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
Krentz argues
that there are no eschatological or end of time maps in the Bible.
Instead
the future is consistently portrayed in metaphoric language based
on
Israel¹s past-- images such as a new creation.
Paul in his writing of I Thessalonians is trying to offer a word
of
comfort in a difficult situation. The people of faith are still
waiting
for the return of Jesus Christ. It is taking much longer than they
had
anticipated and some of their members have died in the interim.
They are
worried about the destiny of their family members and friends who
had died
before the parousia, the arrival or return of Christ. Into this
situation
Paul offers words of hope and comfort. As Krentz writes,"To
do that he
borrows a ceremony well known in Roman ruler protocol, the fitting
welcome
of an emperor and his entourage on a visit. Preparations were extensive
and careful; they included proper food and lodging; entertainment
and
ceremonies showing respect for the emperor. A herald would announce
his
imminent arrival, a trumpet fanfare would alert those far and near
and all
would come out to welcome the emperor to escort him into their city."
Paul describes such a celebration for the return of Jesus. When
he
comes as Lord, Christians will welcome him with the same procession
and
honor. His resurrection guarantees that those who have fallen asleep
, a
metaphor for death, will be raised to join in the ritual welcome.
Paul's words about the rapture were meant to be words of comfort
to those who were worried about the dead and their inclusion
in the Kingdom of God. Any use of the rapture or return of Christ
that moves the center of gravity away from the Jesus¹ significance
for the present is off the mark. Paul and the gospels consistently
call us work in the here and now, to make the hard choices of
faithful living in the present and in community. |
Jesus¹ parable of the maids makes
this clear. The kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten
maids and their lamps who went to meet the bride groom. Five
were foolish and five were wise. ..the foolish had not enough
oil to last through the night, the wise took flasks to refill
their lamps. As Walter Wink writes, " In parable after
parable, Jesus speaks of the reigning of God, using images
drawn from farming and women¹s work. It is not described
as coming from high down to earth; it rises quietly out of
the land. It is established not by armies, but by a process
of growth from below, among the common people. It comes from
the poor, the meek, broken hearted and despised who will inherit
God¹s coming reign on earth. It is the peacemakers who
will enter the joy of God."
Matthew¹s story of the 10 bridesmaids speaks of those
who light the way, they light the way with their beings and
their lamps of oil. Oil in Jesus time represented compassion
and acts of healing. The oil in the lamps light the way for
others to follow Christ and give glory to God.
Choosing to live the way of Christ with compassion and justice
day by day is what enables the community of believers to be recognizably
Christ¹s. Those daily choices can not be made retroactively
when believers recognize the significance of what they have done
or failed to do. The story is an invitation to live with compassion
and justice now.
At the time that Matthew¹s gospel had been written the people
had been working, striving to overcome the oppression and injustice
of their time for over 40 years since Jesus¹ death. Many of
the Christians had grown tired of waiting for the kingdom of heaven
to be fully realized. They were like the foolish maidens who had
not refueled.
We still wait. When is Jesus coming back? When will the kingdom
of God be fully realized? How are our lamps burning? How tired have
we become of living the radical life Jesus calls us to-- a life
of love for self, neighbor and God?
We need to share our oil, our light with the world. One of the
women on Thursday asked me another hard question‹N "why
didn¹t the five share their oil with the five who had none?
" I don¹t know -- good question. We do need to help each
other as we wait , as we build the kingdom of God together.
Another women who came to the study was filled with anger‹you
could sense it as she came in‹she had several privileges taken
from her‹she felt unfairly. She vented a little and then I
suggested we pray for her-- she knelt in the center of the circle‹and
we all gently laid our hands on her-- prayed‹each offered
a prayer that her anger be released‹and it was‹you could
see her body and face relax. God¹s love enter‹we prayed
for others in the circle, one woman spoke in tongues, and then we
sang . . Amazing Grace several women cried -- oil and water?
Tears and the oil of healing grace
Our theologies at times may be different‹ yet we await the
same Christ‹ A Christ who came I believe not to take us out
of the world, but to heal it. .Each Sunday we proclaim this as we
pray the prayer of our Savior, a prayer that is not in one of the
Left Behind novels, " thy kingdom come, thy will be done .
. on earth .. as it is in heaven . . " alleluia and amen. |
