Virgins, Lamps, Oil, and a Wedding
We are all susceptible to focusing on our present needs, desires, and concerns.
Psychiatrist William Glasser wrote about the 5 Basic Needs which include survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun. Earlier, Abraham Maslow created a hierarchy of needs that included physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. In the midst of these pursuits we can miss out on the highest pursuit that will have eternal consequences.
The pursuit of the Triune God and His Heavenly Kingdom.
The Parable of the 10 Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) addresses such a focus.
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
This is the finish line on earth. This is where the sign, “FINISH,” is displayed. Our life is not over, but our life on this earth is.
Kingdom of Heaven: The goal and mission of life is entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. The way this takes place is to meet and be wed to the Bridegroom. Everything we do must focus on this goal of being with the groom, Jesus Christ.
Ten Virgins: Is characterized by fidelity, the love of God. They did not give themselves to another. Chastity. A virgin is in proper standing to be wed.
Purity; forgiven; without sin.
Here's another thought, a virgin, they're chaste, and they're chaste in the 5 senses. Seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. They have kept themselves for the groom.
Lamps: They took their lamps. You can’t have someone else’s lamp. It is yours and yours alone. You are soley responsible for it. The lamp helps us find our way in a foreboding and dark world. The lamp is vital for the Christian; however it is useless without the fuel source of the oil, when lit, to create light.
Bridegroom: Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 “Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Methodius’ discourse #6 on, “The Banquet of the Virgins,” states, “by profession, they have equally proposed the same end, and therefore, they are called 10, since, as I have said, they chose the same profession, but they did not, for all that, go forth in the same way.”
I think that's the key. They didn’t go the same way to meet the bridegroom.
Methodius continues to write, “for some provided abundant future nourishment for their lamps, which were fed with oil, but others were careless, thinking only of the present.”
What a danger in today’s society to think “only of the present.” Our in the moment wants, desires, impulses, and proclivities.
You can be pure, confess your sins, have a true desire to be with Jesus at the end of your days and be either wise or foolish. I would suggest that we choose wisdom over foolishness.
3 “Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
Foolish can be describe in this context as a lack of foresight and preparation. Maybe these foolish virgins that the groom would come soon, so all they had to do was wait a little while.
St. John Chrysostom in his homily 78 on Matthew writes that the virgins are foolish, because “they have done the harder thing of being a virgin, but have neglected the good things arising out of almsgiving.” He states that by lamps, he means “the gift itself of virginity, the purity of holiness,” and by oil, “humanity, almsgiving, succor to them that are in need.”
4 “but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
The wise and prudent virgins not only brought their lamps, but also a reserve of oil in their vessels.
5 “But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
Jesus delays – no one know the day or hour that He will come back, and no one knows the hour of their death.
Due to the unexpected delay the virgins fell asleep and slumbered.
Life on earth is hard. It is exhausting. So much around us is pulling for our attention. Our eyes become weary and heavy. We begin to doze and eventually fall fast asleep.
On our life journey and race to the finish line, we are to be awake, alert, and ready.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’
At some point during our sojourn on earth, the bridegroom will come for us! We are to be proactive, prepared, and go meet Him.
We must act!
All the virgins woke up, heard the call, and got their lamps ready so they could meet the bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
8 “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
What leads one to be labeled foolish?
They are unprepared to go to their groom. They kept their chastity for him, but they did not put in the preparation to have oil in reserve incase their groom tarried.
Throughout Scripture oil has represented the All-Holy Spirit.
St. John Chrysostom writes “again He calls them foolish, showing that nothing can be more foolish than they who are wealthy here and depart naked there, where most all we have need of humanity, where we want much oil… Spend not then your goods for not in luxury and vainglory, for you have need of much oil there.”
As there is time get as much oil as you can. You don’t know how much you will need!
9 “But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
No one can store oil for you. One’s experience, filling, and relationship with the Holy Spirit cannot be passed to another.
We are told by St. Paul the Apostle to be,
“continually filled with the Holy Spirit.’ (Ephesus 5:18)
It is not a one-time experience. It is to be an ongoing process that we have a role and responsibility in “acquiring”, to use the word of St. Seraphim of Sarov, the All-Holy Spirit.
And then when you think of oil, go to Leviticus 24:2-3,
“Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.”
So how is it? How do we purchase oil? It is by participating in the work the Spirit is doing.
It is interesting that Jesus uses financial and business analogies to make spiritual points. Where is your marketplace to buy oil?
There is a marketplace. There is a way to procure, to acquire more of the Holy Spirit.
Praying, fasting, almsgiving, night watches, serving, leading, teaching, counseling, pastoring, encouraging, supporting, mentoring, financing…
What are those activities where you feel strengthened, empowered, a sense of grace?
These are the activities you should concentrate on to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
The charismas, spiritual gifts, you get more of the Spirit as you are a subordinate partner in His work. Look to the spiritual gifts and your God-given inclinations.
If it is prayer, then pray more than others. If it is service, serve more than others. If it is leadership, then lead more than others. If it's teaching, teach more than others. If it is fasting, then fast more than others. If it is encouragement, then encourage more than others.
And then I was thinking about the body metaphor. God's grace through His Spirit's work in us and fills us as we cooperate with the functional design He has knitted together within us.
A big toe makes a terrible anvil (incus) in the ear for hearing. However, it is quite remarkable in providing stabilization for balance, and provides, get this, it provides up to 90% of forward propulsion in the final pivot point for push off when walking, running, or jumping. What a terrible thing that would be if our big toe refused the role of pushing off. We would be highly compromised in our personal locomotion.
The Church and the world need you to follow your divine design. As you follow your God-given design your will be led, empowered, and filled with the All-Holy Spirit.
10 “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
While, the foolish virgins were out in the market buying more oil, the doors were shut. You see, the opportunity to participate in the heavily wedding does not last forever. At some point, the doors will shut forever.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 “But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Even with pleading, the doors will not open and Jesus will even say that He does not know us.
There is a time, there is a season to knock.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
But at some point, this season of asking, seeking, and knocking will cease.
What a painful thought that is. To hear Jesus, the Son of God saying, “I don't know you.”
Look to Matthew 7:21-23.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
What is lawlessness?
Not doing the will of the Father.
Only the one who does the will of the Father will have the necessary oil in their lamp.
You see, doing God's will is how we acquire an ongoing filling of the Spirit. Confessing Jesus as Lord alone will not do it.
Let's not be left out and barred from the wedding of the Lamb.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Revelation 19:7-9
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The Conclusion.
Be Prepared and Watch.
We don't know when Jesus is coming. Therefore, always be prepared and have the lamp of your life filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
What a deeply sad state that would be if we stayed chaste before Christ, but didn't enter the kingdom of heaven for lack of acquiring enough of the Spirit of God to light our lamp.
How devastating it would be, to not acquire enough oil of the Spirit of God, by not living a life aligned with the design that God had created within us, to light our lamp, and enter through the door to the great wedding feast.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.