Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those young women got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 11 Later the other young women came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ (NRSVUE)
Sister, can you spare some of your extra oil for my lamp?
NO!
What kind of friends would flat out refuse to share, as if that is just the way God would like it to be?
Maybe this should not be so surprising after all, because the reason given for not sharing is one we are all too familiar with in the world as it has been. “There will not be enough for you and for us.”
Here we are face to face with the premise upon which injustice thrives. Here we stand eye to eye with the fear that locks that premise into our minds, hearts, and social structures--and throws away the key, leaving every last one of us standing outside the door, unable to sit down with each other and enjoy the feast that God has prepared for us all, no one left out.
If we let this fear possess us, we are all left out, for no one can truly taste and see how good God is and know the joy of being together at God’s welcome table unless everyone is there. But what if we don't let ourselves be possessed by such fear?
Jesus tells parables in order to get us thinking again, thinking anew, thinking further. What if the ten young women in this story had suddenly thought of walking into the banquet two by two, maybe even arm in arm, their faces aglow from the five lamps that had plenty of oil to light their way?
Likely the door to the celebration would still be open when they arrived. Maybe their friendships would be more real. Perhaps they would walk in together, laughing and shaking their heads over their initial, mistaken assumption that there just wasn't going to be enough oil.
This commentary is by the Rev. Dr. Pat Youngdahl. As always, if you would like to quote, please feel free, and please give credit. Thank you for reading.