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Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
God doesn't force us or coerce us or manipulate us into divine presence. We can even choose to walk away if we want to, at least for a time. But it seems to me, from these parables at least, that it takes a great deal more effort to depart from God than it does to simply discover yourself safe in the arms of the divine. Today, we are continuing our series on judgment. And we're actually halfway through the series, but we are going to spend the next 3 weeks together in a triplet of stories that Jesus tells in Matthew 25.
Jeremy Duncan:And hopefully, this series has been a little bit destabilizing for you because we've tried to tackle some of the stories that we might be tempted to elide stories that are a little uncomfortable, or perhaps just those stories that we're not sure of how to interpret. And I, for 1, think that's a good exercise for us in community. It reminds us the way of Jesus is not a blanket endorsement of the path that we're on. In fact, Jesus is pretty clear that his invitation is an off ramp to the status quo. And the problem, I think, is that often judgment is interpreted as a critique of them rather than an invitation to us.
Jeremy Duncan:And that is a shame. In fact, we saw that explicitly last week. Jesus tells a hard parable, and Peter asked, Lord, is this a story for us, or is this a story for everyone? And I love that phrase, because you read that story, and you just know that when Peter says everyone, he doesn't really mean everyone. He means, like, everyone else.
Jeremy Duncan:Right? Lord, is this a story for me, or is this a story for them? That's what he wants to ask. And we can be honest here. Isn't that how we all read the hard stories from time to time?
Jeremy Duncan:This is about insert whatever group I don't see myself as part of here. And the problem is in then doing that, we might sidestep the condemnation we don't want to hear, and it was never really the point, but we also miss out on the invitation that always was the intention for us. Remember back to how we started the series? I tried to frame these conversations using Jesus' image of a narrow path. There's a wide road that looks like you've always been told to live.
Jeremy Duncan:Look out for yourself, as choir as much as you can. Be kind when it benefits you, and ruthless when it doesn't. That's the default, and it leads to ruin. But there is an alternative, and the trick is it's often hidden away. Off to the side, just out of sight, and you have to go looking for it, but when you find it, it leads to life.
Jeremy Duncan:That story from Jesus is not about God standing at the end of one road visiting destruction on anyone. It's a story about the good and gracious judgment of God that desperately wants you to know the path you're on might not be leading to where you think it is. And so every time we read a hard story as a story about a God who will get them for us, We miss out on the story of a God who consistently whispers new invitation to us. So hear this, please, even before we begin. There are a lot of people in your life who are judgmental.
Jeremy Duncan:Religion can be judgmental. Christianity can very sadly often be quite judgmental. But the judgment of God is only ever for your good. That's the good news. And today, we want to take that framework into the first of a triplet of stories in Matthew 25.
Jeremy Duncan:But first, let's pray. Gracious God, of love and invitation, when you speak the truth that points directly at us, would we not look away or try to deflect your intent, but instead receive the grace and the correction that you hope will bring us closer to your heart? Sometimes we might wish that this narrow way would require less of us. And yet we know, we trust that your invitation will lead us to become the people you imagine us to be. So where we have spoken harshly or quickly to others, with judgment on our tongue, and we haven't earned the right first by demonstrating our love and care, would you forgive us?
Jeremy Duncan:And where we have had words devoid of love spoken to us, we've left those conversations feeling smaller or less than we should, would you heal us? Where we have been taught to fear your judgment, let your love and grace flood in, reminding us of good news around us always, an invitation toward a new way forward today. In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen. We're in Matthew 25 today, and we are gonna cover when will this happen, does it really matter, who's at the party, and who's left on the outside?
Jeremy Duncan:But we are going to be here in this chapter for the next 3 weeks together to finish off this series, looking at a triplet of parables that Jesus offers just before the events of holy week transpire. And that means that these are some of the last parables, the last teachings of Jesus. And that's important because this is a very different Jesus. In some ways, I might even say a more mature Jesus than we see at the start of, say, Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount, for example. Now, don't get me wrong.
Jeremy Duncan:I love the Sermon on the Mount. My first book, Dirt and Stardust, was about that sermon. There are free copies on the bookshelf. Take one before you leave today if you're interested. But it's also fascinating to see a Jesus who begins his public ministry with a wonderful and wise, but largely straightforward sermon, and who slowly develops a style of teaching that seems to be more abstracted, storytelling based, someone who speaks in parables that often seemed like riddles to those who were listening, a Jesus who comes at things on the slant.
Jeremy Duncan:And I don't know if you've heard that phrase before, on the slant. It's one of my favorites. It actually comes from an old Emily Dickinson poem. Tell all the truth, but tell it slant. Success in circuit lies.
Jeremy Duncan:To bright for our infirmed delight, the truth superb surprise. Is lightning to the child eased with explanation kind. The truth must dazzle gradually, or every man be blind. And it seems to be something that Jesus really takes to heart over the course of the gospel, that maybe he actually has to take things sideways, come at things on the slant for people to really get it. And I get it.
Jeremy Duncan:Often when I'm told something, that doesn't stick nearly as well as when I uncover something for myself. And that's what parables are for. They're meant to make you work for it. And that's what we've been doing all through this series. It also means that that's what we're going to do today.
Jeremy Duncan:We've got some work ahead of us. However, even before we can dig into the start of this parable, we need to dig down for some context here. And for that, we're going to go back to the start of Matthew 24. Because this is what we read. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the buildings.
Jeremy Duncan:In Mark's version of this story, they actually say, teacher, look at these massive stones. What beautiful buildings. And Jesus says to them, do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another. Every one of them will be thrown down.
Jeremy Duncan:Now that actually happened about 40 years after this interaction. There was a Jewish uprising, and Vespasian sent his son Titus in to put it down. Jerusalem was razed to the ground. It was incredibly violent. And the second Jewish temple was destroyed in 70 AD.
Jeremy Duncan:At the time, though, the idea of this second temple being destroyed was largely unthinkable. And so a little while later, probably the same day as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. Tell us, they said, when will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? And it's a really interesting moment, because the disciples had been sitting with this story about the destruction of the temple all day, and this is one of the few rare moments where they actually seem to get what Jesus is talking about.
Jeremy Duncan:If you remember, way back in John 2, Jesus has referred to himself as the temple. He says, If you destroy this temple, I will rebuild it in 3 days. And at the time, the disciples don't get it. But here, at the end, they're they're kind of putting things together. The destruction of the temple has something to do with this death that Jesus has been predicting, this return that he keeps hinting at.
Jeremy Duncan:And so they ask him, when is this going to happen? And Jesus answers by launching into an extended monologue about those who will try to deceive you and persecute you, those who will try to predict his return and use that to manipulate you. And the path of the Jesus follower will be to live rightly in the world and not get sucked into idle speculation and fear. But then, at the start of chapter 25, we read this. At that time, the kingdom of God will be like.
Jeremy Duncan:That's really important, because now we know what this whole set of parables is about. They are about the question posed by the disciples at the start of chapter 24, how will we know? And so Matthew 25 verse 1. At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 5 of them were foolish, and 5 of them wise.
Jeremy Duncan:The foolish ones took their lamps, but they didn't take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. Now, the bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, the cry rang out. Here's the bridegroom.
Jeremy Duncan:Come out to meet him. And all the 10 virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish one said to the wise, give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out. But no, they replied, there may not be enough for both us and you.
Jeremy Duncan:Instead, go to those who sell the oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. And the virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later, the others also came.
Jeremy Duncan:'Lord, Lord,' they said, 'open the door for us.' But he replied, 'I don't know who you guys are. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.' Fun times. Right? Well, understanding the context from chapter 24, we can actually reconstruct this parable pretty well. The question is, when will this happen?
Jeremy Duncan:How will we know? The answer from Jesus is, you won't. End of story. That's kind of it. And at a very basic level, that is the core of the tale.
Jeremy Duncan:You don't need to know when things will happen to be faithful. You don't need to know how everything will transpire to be gracious to your neighbor. You don't need to know the future of the stock market to be generous. You don't need to wait for the course of politics to unfold to commit yourself to the vulnerable near you right now. There's work in front of you right here that you can commit yourself to, so get to it.
Jeremy Duncan:Don't worry about the end of the age or the destruction of temples or the building of kingdoms. You are only responsible for the tiny little lamp that's in your hand and the little bit of light that you can offer to your slice of the world. That's it. Take some joy in it. And honestly, like, as simple as that is, that feels pretty meaningful to me.
Jeremy Duncan:I think part of the staggering beauty of this global information network that we all participate in today is that we can actually see and understand the pain and suffering of human beings created in the image of God all around this globe. And therefore, we can come to understand the import of our choices on neighbors we will never meet. We can consider how our vote, for example, can impact those whose stories will largely never intersect ours. And that is incredibly sacred influence that we could contemplate very carefully. But at the same time, I think that scope is honestly sometimes too big for us to manage well.
Jeremy Duncan:And what happens is this sort of paralysis of kindness born from a desire to do, well, like, maybe everything. Now sometimes that looks like apathy. We withdraw. There's nothing I can do. But you know what?
Jeremy Duncan:Sometimes it also looks like stridency. I need to change the world. Therefore, I've got no time for anyone who doesn't see things my way. I've seen that. If I'm honest, I've felt that at times.
Jeremy Duncan:But you know what? I want to be on team mustard's seat here. Good things, world changing things come from very small things. And maybe those of us who want to do great things, but can't be kind to our neighbors in small ways aren't worth following in the first place. And so the question here is, Jesus, when will the world change?
Jeremy Duncan:When will the kingdom come? When will all of it be made right? And the answer returns, Jeremy, maybe just apologize to your son and make that right first. You've got a tiny little lamp in your hand right now. Let's work on keeping that lit for the time being.
Jeremy Duncan:Can we start there? And don't get me wrong. We can do big things, all of us. We just celebrated 10 years as commons church. 10 years ago, we started with 40 people $40,000 And over the last decade together, we have since given away more than $1,000,000 to organizations working to make this city and this world better.
Jeremy Duncan:Goodness will grow faster than you can keep up with. That's my experience. But the kingdom of God is like whatever little lamp you are holding right now, whatever meager light it is capable of in this moment right here. So when will the kingdom come? Who knows?
Jeremy Duncan:It doesn't matter. Just do your best with what you've got. That's a good story to hold on to. And yet, we do still have a parable here. Right?
Jeremy Duncan:And I think that means that Jesus wants us to dig deeper. So let's take another look. And let's start with these 10 virgins. What's up with all these virgins at the party? Well, the strict translation of the Greek here is virgins.
Jeremy Duncan:But the parallel from Hebrew would suggest something more like the unmarried friends of the bride. And while we totally don't know all of the details of a traditional marriage ceremony from 1st century Jewish culture, we do have enough cultural parallels to make some pretty reasonable assumptions about this story. And likely what's happening here is that the groom has gone to the home of the bride's father to complete the marriage transaction. And probably something has broken down in that final negotiation, very possibly related to the financial transaction that would have been part of the marriage arrangement. And the groom has then been delayed in returning to the marital home where the party was scheduled to take place.
Jeremy Duncan:And the bride's friends are well, for lack of a better term, they're essentially the bridal party in the story. Their job is to meet the groom as he returns from the bride's family home and dance their way into the party as part of the processional to kick off the big celebration. Now, I just did, a wedding last Saturday. It was scheduled for 1 pm. The bride and the groom showed up at 1:0:5.
Jeremy Duncan:Perfect, on time. But imagine you are part of the bridal party, and the couple doesn't show up until, let's say, 10:15 pm. Are you still there at the back of the aisle, bouquet in hand, ready to go? I mean, probably not. Right?
Jeremy Duncan:So it's kind of a crazy scenario, but given that weddings were multi day affairs in this culture, it's actually not a story that's completely implausible. But what do we make of this starting point? Well, the first thing I notice here is that even though we have 5 bridesmaids on the inside and 5 more that are left outside lamenting the closed door, the starting point is everyone in the story got an invite. I mean, think about this. In all of these parables of judgment that we have talked about, the starting point is always an expectation of welcome.
Jeremy Duncan:In the 1st week of this series, Jesus spoke about wicked tenants of a vineyard who refuse to pay the owner the rent. And so the owner sends a messenger, and they beat him. A second, and they shame him. A third, and they turn him away. Finally, the owner sends his own son, and they murder him.
Jeremy Duncan:But the owner in that story assumes, naively even, even to his detriment, these tenants must want to be in good standing with him. In fact, they have to work really, really hard not to be. Right? Next, we saw Jesus tell a parable about a king who invites his friends to a party, and they decline, so he invites them again. But when they refuse a second time, he goes out and he invites anyone he can find on the streets to come in and celebrate with him.
Jeremy Duncan:In fact, when he eventually does have to kick one of these new guests out of his home, it's not someone who snuck into the party. It's someone who refused to participate fully in the party. Even last week. Right? The bad servant, the one who beats his fellow employees and steals from them, even he starts the story with an honored position in his master's house.
Jeremy Duncan:All of Jesus' parables, even the hardest ones, seem to assume you are in until you emphatically say you are not. And I don't think that softens his words at all. He's still saying our choices have consequence, that our relationship with the divine is one that we have to choose for ourselves. God doesn't force us or coerce us or manipulate us into divine presence. And we can even choose to walk away if we want to, at least for a time.
Jeremy Duncan:But it seems to me, from these parables at least, that it takes a great deal more effort to depart from God than it does to simply discover yourself safe in the arms of the divine. And if you have ever been taught to imagine that God is hard to find, that God is hiding from you for some reason, that God does not want to be found by you, then I wonder if ironically, maybe it's stories of judgment that might actually begin to reverse that paradigm for you. As far as God is concerned, you are in until you absolutely refuse to be. And I think that's important if we want to understand God's predesition toward us as beloved children. But there's still 2 things I want to point out in this story.
Jeremy Duncan:And the first is about this exchange between these ostensibly wise and foolish virgins. Now Richard France makes the argument that a better translation here might be sensible and silly. His argument being that the words don't really connote a lack of wisdom or wisdom thereof, but speak more about just sort of straightforward common sense. So prudent and careless might work here as well. What intrigues me is this moment.
Jeremy Duncan:The careless ones say to the prudent, give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out, but they reply, no. There may not be enough for both of us. And I wonder, can you be wise and generous all at the same time? Is there room to risk even your light for someone else?
Jeremy Duncan:And maybe we say, well, they didn't prepare. They don't deserve free oil. This is Alberta after all. We can't just be giving that stuff away to anyone. But then I'm not sure our generosity should be predicated on whether someone deserves it.
Jeremy Duncan:Like, that seems to undermine the whole concept of grace if I'm being honest. And so I think we have to understand that parables will break if you stretch them too far. I'm going to go on record here. You should share your oil whenever you can. K?
Jeremy Duncan:That said, in the context of the story, I do think there's something important here. Because what Jesus seems to be saying, to me at least, is that you can't borrow your way into God's presence. I mean, you are on the guest list. God expects you to be there at the party. But whether you show up or not, that's not up to anyone but you.
Jeremy Duncan:It's not up to who you hang out with. It's not up to what church you attend or what family you grew up in. It's not even about the person who drove you away from the thing that you once loved. Each of our stories are beautifully, wonderfully, sometimes even frustratingly unique. And while the downside of that is you can't abdicate your invitation to someone else's RSVP, it also means your story is not subject to anyone else attempting to look over your shoulder and see how full your lamp really is.
Jeremy Duncan:That doesn't matter. So sure, you can't borrow your way into the party, but equally here, you can't compare your way in either. Maybe a part of the pivot here is this reminder that while life is absolutely a team sport, and we are all going to need each other's help all the time, your path is the only path that goes to the party you were invited to. You can't borrow anyone else's light, but that's because your light is too important to be replaced by a cheap counterfeit born of invitation. You trying to live up to them.
Jeremy Duncan:There is a real, creative, faithful expression of goodness that is just looking for a chance to break out of you. That's the light that God is interested in. Still, that leaves us with our conclusion. 5 get in, 5 are left outside. And the consensus seems to be that this is all about being well prepared, staying watchful, ready for Jesus to return at any moment.
Jeremy Duncan:And if you don't, you can kick rocks outside while the rest of us party on the inside. And, yeah, the more I sit with this story, the more I wonder if maybe that interpretation has completely missed the point of it. Because look at what actually happens here. Ten bridesmaids are waiting for the party, and the groom is delayed. In fact, the delay stretches on into the evening.
Jeremy Duncan:And so, rightly, they all become drowsy and fall asleep. That's verse 5. In fact, they all let their lamps burn out, and when the groom shows up, they all scramble to get the lights back on. Do you remember where the story started? Right?
Jeremy Duncan:Chapter 24. The disciples say, When will this happen? How will we know the sign of your coming? And initially, at least, we said that Jesus' answer was, You won't. But the more I sit with it, the more I'm starting to think that's only half the story.
Jeremy Duncan:And maybe His real answer was, you won't, and the truth is you're going to miss it anyway. You're all going to fall asleep at some point. So the more I sit with the story, the less I think it's about those of us who got it right, and I think it's about those of us who know that we're going to get it wrong. Jesus' real answer to his disciples' question of how are we going to know is, it's the wrong question. Because nobody's getting into my party by the sweat of their brow or the form of their character, or even the diligence of their watchfulness.
Jeremy Duncan:That's just not how my parties work. No. My parties are for those who fall asleep and miss my arrival. Those who let their lamps go out and deny me 3 times, those who betray me to my enemies and won't believe in my resurrection till they get to poke me in the side. And if you start to think that all those things matter that you need to measure up, then maybe they will to you, because if you think that way, you're probably going to live your life counting up your wins and losses and measuring out your oil to make sure there's just enough to get you home, instead of realizing that your invitation never depended on your ability to read the signs anyway.
Jeremy Duncan:It was only ever about trusting that I would be there to wake you up when the time was right. See, I think when we make peace with our limitations, and we understand our inability to read the signs when we plan for sleep to catch us eventually, what we realize is that the party was only ever about grace to begin with, and the only way to miss it is to think you can time it with your best efforts. Jesus isn't telling this story to judge the ability of his disciples to be ready. He's saying, you can't. You're all gonna fall asleep anyway, and you're all gonna be caught off guard by grace when it comes to find you.
Jeremy Duncan:The judgment here is against our insistence that we could ever even be ready enough to warrant our inclusion in the celebration. Jesus is saying, stop trying to do just enough, and start living as if you are absolutely convinced that the party is coming eventually. The invitation then to us is simply this: to keep our light lit as long as we can, as steady as we can muster, as faithfully as we can possibly imagine, trusting that even when it goes out, God will be there to wake us up and to add our goodness and our light to God's world where God imagines trusting that everything will come together when the time is right. I think sometimes we spend all of our life trying to decide if we have done enough. Did we bring enough oil?
Jeremy Duncan:Did we measure up? Do we get to the place we need to be when God arrives? And God is saying none of it matters, because even if you're asleep, I will be the one who lifts your head, wakes you up, and invites you in. And if you can just trust that that will happen eventually, maybe that's enough for all of us. Let's pray.
Jeremy Duncan:God, for all the times that we have traded your gracious invitation and your promise to wake us up for trying to have just enough to get us over the finish line, Thinking that our best efforts are what will get us there rather than simply leaning into a life that trusts in you. We're sorry. And more than that, we are hopeful for a new way of imagining our place in this tale. That we might live not worrying about deadlines or metrics or measures, but simply just trying to keep our light lit as small as it is in this slice of the world that we get to occupy. Sharing goodness and kindness, generosity and peace in a small and delicate way as we can.
Jeremy Duncan:Trusting that when the time comes and you wake us all up and all of those lights, a thousand of them are added together, the party really will be worth it in the end. In the strong name of the risen Christ we pray. Amen. Hey. Jeremy here and thanks for listening to our podcast.
Jeremy Duncan:If you're intrigued by the work that we're doing here at commons, you can head to our website commons.church for more information. You can find us on all of the socials at commonschurch. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel where we are posting content regularly for the community. You can also join our Discord server. Head to commons.church/discord for the invite, and there you will find the community having all kinds of conversations about how we can encourage each other to follow the way of Jesus.
Jeremy Duncan:We would love to hear from you. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Have a great week. We'll talk to you soon.