One of my all-time
favorite comic strips, Calvin and Hobbes, ceased publication
several years back. It was a sad day because, over the years, I had
very much enjoyed following the antics of an incredibly insightful young
six-year-old boy, named Calvin, who took imaginary adventures with his
stuffed tiger, Hobbes.
In one particular
strip, Calvin was dressed in a black helmet and sporting a black cape
across his shoulders. This was Calvin’s “Spaceman Spiff” outfit.
Suddenly, Calvin appears in the living room and is standing in front of
his mother who is seated on the couch reading the newspaper. “What’s up
for today?” Calvin’s mom inquires. “Nothing so far,” Calvin replies.
“So far?” his mother asks quizzically. “Well, you never know, something
really big could happen today.” As Calvin leaves the living room he
says, “And if anything does happen, by golly, I’m going to be ready for
it!” Knowing her son and the situations he gets himself into, Calvin’s
mom thinks to herself, “I think I’m going to need a suit like that
today.”
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells his
disciples the parable of the ten maidens. On the
surface, the story appears to be communicating the importance of being
prepared for whatever will unfold and, in this particular instance, the
maidens need to be prepared for the bridegroom’s arrival. Oftentimes,
preachers have used this parable to remind their congregations about the
need to be prepared for death, “for you do not know the day, or the
time, or the hour.”
But, the parable is
actually communicating something much more important, a matter that
speaks about our character as Jesus’ disciples, namely, how the element
of surprise in our daily lives can thwart even our “best laid plans.”
And, when surprise intervenes and derails our best laid plans, the
issue Jesus is addressing concerns what our behavior manifests
about our true character as his disciples.
A bit of context is
needed to get at this important matter.
In Jesus’ day, the
bridegroom would leave his home and travel to his bride’s home, whether
that was located across the city, province, or even in a foreign
territory. Once at the bride’s home, the groom would then negotiate the
terms and conditions of the marriage with the bride’s father.
Oftentimes, the subtleties involved in these negotiations would delay
the bridegroom’s return trip. But, after the negotiations would finally
conclude in the groom’s favor, he would take his bride back to his own
home for the wedding ceremony and party. Meanwhile, those belonging to
the groom’s household would be waiting in eager anticipation of his
return. However, because of the delay caused by the negotiations, the
members of the bridegroom’s household normally didn’t have a precise
idea about the time when the bridegroom would be arriving home. So, as
the bridegroom’s retinue was approaching his home, one member of the
retinue would venture ahead to alert the members of the bridegroom’s
immanent arrival. They would then begin all of the last minute
arrangements for the ceremony and party and be prepared to greet the
bridegroom with their lamps lit if he was returning in the dark of
night. After all, it’s very difficult to “party hearty” in a dark
room!
Jesus adds a twist
to this commonplace occurrence of his day by noting that five of the
maidens from the groom’s household had not purchased extra oil
for their lamps. Because the groom might be arriving very late in the
night, it would be prudent for the maidens to have some extra oil on
hand. Not having it, however, was merely an oversight, not the point
that Jesus wanted to make concerning failure as a disciple and what it
reveals about one’s character as a disciple. Yes, all of the maidens
knew they had to be ready for the groom’s arrival. Yes, all of the
maidens also knew that they would need oil for the lamps and had
procured it. And there always was the possibility that the groom might
arrive in the middle of the night, in which case, it would be necessary
to have extra oil. This is where the issue of concern to Jesus
begins to emerge.
And so, with the
delay in the bridegroom’s arrival, the five foolish maiden’s actual
failure was that they did not use the “extra time” afforded them by the
bridegroom’s delay to procure additional oil so that they’d be ready for
the groom’s arrival and participate fully in the festivities. Instead,
the five maidens decided to take a nap and wait until the bridegroom’s
pending arrival was announced, perhaps thinking they could procure the
oil they would need after the announcement of the groom’s immanent
arrival. The five foolish maidens had been given a “second chance,” but
they did not use it wisely. They could have first procured the oil and
then taken a nap. But, they foolishly chose otherwise.
This is a very
typical failure that manifests itself in the choices many of us
make, perhaps some of us more than others but many of us all the same.
And, it is a failure that manifests our true character as Jesus’
disciples and despite any protestations we might assert to the contrary.
How often have we
been late for or missed a deadline or appointment? We knew that we have
to leave home so as to arrive on time but, because we didn’t want to
miss the last few minutes of a television show, video, or to complete
some chore, we arrived late for or didn’t go to the appointment,
meeting, dinner engagement, or party we had previously scheduled. Or,
how may of us choose to do some last-minute chores and to cut our travel
time so close that we arrived at the airport without enough time to get
through the security checkpoint and onto the plane before departure
time? Or, maybe we decided that we wanted to purchase something that we
really wanted but didn’t really need and, so, we allowed our debt to
accumulate beyond our means, on a credit card perhaps? Or, if we are
students, how many of us have handed in homework assignments and
course-related projects late?
According to the
parable of the ten maidens, the issue isn't that we choose to be late
because we accord greater priority to ourselves and doing what we want
rather than our obligations to others. Nor is the issue that we’re not
being honest either with ourselves or those who were counting on us.
No, in light of this parable, the real issue is that we are not using
the second chance we’re given when we recognize that we need to fulfill
our obligations and to do what duty requires. Further compounding
matters is our reaction when we find ourselves caught in the trap of our
own crafting. These are the important matters that manifest our true
character as Jesus’ disciples and challenge us to reflect upon whether
we are a disciple in word only or in fact.
Just yesterday, for
example, I was visiting with a freshman who had received a mid-term
report noting that she was flunking one course and had a D in a second
course. After finding out that her grades had to do more with handing
in assignments late, not studying for tests, and not attending class, I
asked, “Do your parents know about this?” “No,” she said. “Are you
going to tell your parents?” I inquired further. “No,” she responded.
After a rather lengthy conversation, it was clear that this student’s
strategy would be to try to improve her grades so that the whole problem
would disappear. I told her that her scenario sounded like Dorothy in
the Wizard of Oz, that is, she believed that all she’d have to do
is to click her heels three times and she’d end up back in Kansas with
Toto. “But, what if you don’t improve in one or both classes?” I
asked. “What’s your Christmas vacation going to be like?” “I wouldn’t
be pretty,” she told me, adding, “but I’m not going to worry about it.”
Undoubtedly, part of
the issue is that this student has bad grades in 40% of her classes.
Another part of the issue is that she’s not being honest with either her
parents or herself. But, in light of the parable about the ten maidens,
the issue Jesus is pointing to manifest itself in this student’s
response. The issue, giving us a glimpse into her understanding of
discipleship, is that this student is not using the second chance she’s
been given to build a positive and adult relationship with her parents
and to let them know, at least in this instance, how she is learning
from her poor decisions and working to turn things around.
Instead, she is trying to cover up her mistakes and is compounding them
by her behavior, just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden when
they realized the consequences of their choices.
But that is not
where Jesus’ parable ends.
When the bridegroom
finally arrives home at midnight, he locks the doors so that no one can
enter and the wedding ceremony and party can unfold unimpeded by
uninvited and unwanted guests. So, when the maidens finally do arrive
with their lamps, fully expecting to participate in the festivities, the
bridegroom ignores their pleading because the maidens were not where
they should have been and when they should have been there. The five
maidens then complain that they have been locked out and beg the
bridegroom to let them in when, in reality, the maidens made the choice
not to do what they should have done, even when they had a second chance
to do it!
That is the issue of
character and discipleship that Jesus is trying to identify in this
parable.
As this issue plays
out in our lives, when we arrive late for or altogether miss a meeting,
dinner engagement, or party, we invent all sorts of excuses about why
they weren’t able to be on time or to attend. This not only is bad
manners, but we also compound things by lying rather than stating the
truth. Travelers who arrive late for their flight blame everyone and
anyone for their tardiness, pointing accusatory fingers and issuing
threats; I’ve even seen some of these people accost gate agents. And,
students blame teachers who will not accept late homework or give “extra
credit” to help students pull up the failing grade they received. And,
if the whole thing blows up at Christmas for that student I visited with
yesterday, it’s likely that she’ll point the finger of blame at her
professors, her academic advisor, the school or anyone or anything else
but at herself.
Lying, unbridled
anger directed at undeserving people, and maligning other people in
order to save face. This is the stuff of character and
discipleship that Jesus wants his followers to contemplate.
Like the wise
maidens, it is important that we be prepared to live as disciples. But,
at the same time, life has its own quirky way of throwing us curves
along the pathway of daily life. These surprises test us and the depth
to which we have integrated the character of a disciple into our soul
and as this becomes evident in our behavior. Thus, our responses to
these surprises provide an accurate reading of our character as a
disciple.
While Calvin’s suit
prepared him to face the surprises that might come his way and Calvin’s
mother intuited that she might need the same suit later in the day,
Jesus’ disciples have the gospel as well as the Church’s moral teaching
to prepare them for the many surprises that come their way. The
question that the parable of the ten maidens places before all of us,
then, is: “Do we have enough oil to evidence the light of faith and the
character of a disciple when surprises come our way in the dark of
night?”
That’s the point of
that other, more familiar sermon I mentioned earlier. We certainly don’t know the day, the
time, or the hour of our death. But, what is more important than
that moment, Jesus is telling his disciples through the parable of the
ten maidens, is that surprises will come our way. When they do—and
they surely will—will
our behavior manifest the character of one who is a disciple or one who
merely pays lip service to the idea of being a disciple?
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