Matthew 25:1-13
Julia Rhyne -
When Jesus speaks, it is worth listening to. That is especially true when what he is talking about is the kingdom of heaven. We wanted to understand what Jesus is saying in this parable, and what it means for us.
Emma Street -
One of the things we learned, as we started to plan for today’s sermon, was to avoid jumping to quick conclusions. We learned it was okay for us to ask why a story is told and to wonder why a story unfolds the way it does. Doing this allows us to understand the story as something that might have happened to us.
Julia
We could both relate to this story. We both have stories of not being prepared. What we came to understand about our stories is how differently we (or our friends) responded when there was a “foolish” or unprepared friend involved. We would like to share those stories with you now.
Emma
The Gospel talked about some of the Bridegrooms and how they were unprepared. And when they got back from getting oil for their lamps, the groom basically told them that they couldn’t come into the house because of lack of preparedness.
When it comes to being unprepared, that is expected of me. I am unprepared for class, packing for trips, plans for after I graduate from high school, and even this sermon. Anxiety plays a big part of being unprepared for myself.
I suffer from a lot of anxiety. I tend to forget about things and I second guess myself. I can relate to the foolish bridegrooms from the Gospel. They forgot the oil for their lamps. Like I forget assignments for class and stuff that I need for trips. And I tend to enjoy my naps...a lot.
In dealing with my unpreparedness issues, I have learned to write things down, have reminders on my phone, post-its in my Chromebook, and to have my parents and friends to remind me of things. Relying on friends and family has been a big help for me when I was not prepared in different situations. They are like my bridegrooms in the gospel. In this gospel, it made me realize that it is ok to ask for help. That we don’t need to be anxious about things especially when we have bridegrooms to help us out.
To be honest, I put off writing my part of this sermon until the last minute. The thought of speaking in front of people makes me nervous because of my anxiety and self-confidence issues. However, regardless of how unprepared I am, I feel loved by my church family. What I have learned in church is that God loves us no matter what even if you are unprepared and if you really enjoy naps. He gives us grace.
Julia
This past summer, I went to a music camp for a couple of weeks that also included a religious aspect. Every day we had bible study that we had to attend at a certain time. Typically we would eat dinner and then go straight to bible study.
One day as my friends and I were getting ready to leave from dinner, my friend realized that he had forgotten all his bible study material in his dorm. He was panicking and didn’t want to go back and get it and be late for bible study. I decided to go back with him to get his stuff because if I were in the same situation, I wouldn’t want to be late by myself either. We walked together and came back a few minutes late to our bible study, and my friend was very grateful that I had done that for him.
Today when I think back on this experience I wonder to myself: why would someone not help a friend who forgot their things? Like I mentioned before, if I were in the same situation, I would really appreciate someone coming with me and helping me. This kind of situation can be compared in a way to Jesus’ disciples and how they travel 2 by 2. They spread Jesus’ teachings by helping those in need and being prepared. Even though this is slightly different, everyone has times in their life when they are not prepared enough for certain situations-- when they are not prepared for Jesus to come into their life.
Something that I learned from this situation and from thinking about this topic was to not only prepare for the final day when Jesus comes to us. If we do this, we are letting everything else pass us by. Instead we need to prepare for every moment in between where we can see Jesus and help others see Jesus.
This is a repeat of what Emma said, about others being there to help us be prepared or get prepared. Pastor Chris listened to our stories and reported back to us how both of us came to similar conclusions. We know that the Bible teaches us to “Be Ready,” but we also feel how important it is to help each other get ready. Maybe this is because we are teens, and we are more aware of how much help we need. Or maybe it is the message of this Youth Sunday service - for all of us to identify with the bridesmaids who weren’t prepared and for each of us to be ready to help those who do need a bit of help.
Pastor Chris
We understand the need to be prepared. And we do need to be ready. Ready for Jesus to again enter our world. Ready for us to join Jesus in the celebration.
I was unprepared and totally unprepared for how both of these young women initially responded to the story. They both wanted to know why the five bridesmaids didn’t just share oil with the five who had run out. Their stories emerged from that question.
Again, we know that Jesus is telling us to be ready. One of the interesting things is whether preparation is just making sure we have more reserves than those around us; or if preparing means making sure everyone is ready to enter the banquet hall.
You - at St Michael - ought to take great pride in the way these two of your children have answered that question. You - everyone listening to their witness - ought to take great strides to look similarly at those around you.
That, my sisters and brothers, is the Word of God for the people of God.
Amen.
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