Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
Today’s Gospel seems to be tailor-made for our times. “Keep awake”, we are told. In other words, be ready. Have your toilet paper because you don’t know when you’re going to be able to get more again. “You know neither the hour or the day” that change will happen, which certainly continues to be the truth and reality for us. And just like those bridesmaids, there has been a lot of waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
Also, just as those bridesmaids are divided into two groups, there are those who are able to sit and wait patiently, while there are others who seem to suddenly stand up and shout “I can’t take it anymore” as they run, mask-less and manic, into the streets.
It’s hard to wait. It’s hard to live in the midst of uncertainty. It’s hard to wait for an end that we know will come, but we don’t know when.
It may be a shocking surprise to you, but being prepared does not mean hoarding toilet paper. Instead, being prepared means listening to our Psalm this morning. It means trusting in God.
Being prepared means listening to Paul’s words this morning. It means reminding ourselves that in the end God is with us and will, in the end, take us up in His arms.
Trusting in God doesn’t mean things won’t be hard, and I think it’s safe to say this year has been a trying one for all of us. Trusting in God doesn’t mean things will immediately get better. Trusting in God means remembering that even when times are at their worst, God is present and there with us in our trouble.
Here’s a new thing we should hoard instead: our connection to God and our awareness of God’s presence, even when times are tough. If we can hold on to that, then at the very least we will know that we never go through the difficult times alone, even when they are long and painful.